The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

It's hard to keep a good format down.  A decade after the Robin Ward-helmed version of To Tell the Truth (see episode 139 for more), the show returned with a mix of old and new panelists, the tried-and-true format, but also a total of five hosts, including the pilots.  A formidable reboot lasted 3/4 of a year in a time when game shows as a whole were a dying breed.

Arcade games exploded onto the scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with several shows, animated or otherwise, airing on TV.  Jump ahead to the 1990s and video games left the arcade, going to living rooms everywhere.  One popular franchise, still popular to this day, was and is Mega Man, which had an animated show from the masters of adapting video games to television, Ruby-Spears, the minds behind cartoons like Pac-Man, Saturday Supercade, and Dragon's Lair.

The show covered in this episode shares many of the same traits as episode 531, Bridget Loves Bernie--the trials and tribulations of an interfaith couple, the good ratings, but also the swift cancellation.  Social mores changed quite a bit from 1972 to 1989, meaning this show didn't get the criticism from religious leaders.  What happened?  You'll have to dive into this heaping serving of Chicken Soup to find out.

Falling in love and becoming a couple have long been a staple of television series.  In 1972, CBS, after the overwhelming success of a controversial sitcom in All in the Family, added this show, another controversial entry which was about an interfaith relationship.  Despite superb ratings, the series lasted one year due to said controversy.

Chico's birthday is coming up and he chose this as his Money in the Bank.  In 1982, NBC had an upstart sci-fi drama starring David Hasselhoff and a talking car.  Fast forward 15 years and the franchise now had quintuple the vehicles, with quintuple the drivers.  Do more talking cars mean more success?  (We're covering it.  There's your answer.)

Today, January 14, marks 45 years since the premiere of the original Chain Reaction on NBC.  In honor of this anniversary, we look at the many (three) bonus rounds from this series which ran 5 months, where Fred Grandy once declared, "Ten bucks!"

In our previous episode, episode 528, we covered one of the first shows on a new network, The WB.  This time, we're covering one of the first shows on PAX in 1998, an adaptation of a Canadian board game about movies.  The whole production had one major issue, one which led to the show's demise just over a month after its premiere.

There were a lot of things happening with the wrestling on TV that Greg wanted to do an It Was a Thing on TV Presents to discuss them. But for this edition of presents, Greg brought along a guest as his pal Dane Woychuk comes on to talk about RAW on Netflix, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom, TNA's improved TV coverage in Canada, and AEW being AEW.

When The WB started out, it had two hours on Wednesday night with three funny favorites, but there was a need for a fourth comedy.  It needed something the pushed boundaries but also felt familiar.  It needed something with gags and a storyline.  The WB muscled up to the plate with this 13 episode and done wonder.

Once upon a time, a television network aired a show about Snow White and Prince Charming living in comtemporary times, complete with a family and a magic mirror.  Alas, the enemy in this fairy tale come true was the counter-programming and the absurd premise.  After about a year, the show bit the poison apple and was sent to television heaven.  The end.