The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

Episode 448--Hail to the Chief

In 1984, history was made after Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to be on a major party Presidential ticket.  Possibly piggybacking on this historic occasion, the people behind Soap developed a show about a female President trying to balance her work life with running the most powerful country in the world.  After a short run, this entry didn't get a second term, and its replacement became one of the iconic sitcoms of the 1980s.

Episode 447--Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000

By the time you hear this, Chico will have celebrated his birthday.  As is tradition around here, Chico gets to pick a special birthday topic.  He selected this movie which could only be acquired at your local Chuck E. Cheese's redemption center in 1999.  And it's for the best you could only get it there.

Episode 446--Acceptable.tv

In the mid-to-late 2000s, VH-1 was looking for a comedic complement to its highly successful Best Week Ever.  One such complement was this show, created by some names who would go on to bigger and better things, where the home audience decided which short series did not cut the mustard, and which ones would see another week because...they were acceptable (dot) tv.

Episode 445--The Overmyer Network AKA The United Network and The Las Vegas Show

In television history, there have been several attempts at becoming a viable competitor to ABC, NBC, and CBS.  Some have succeeded (FOX), while others were not so lucky (MyTV, PAX).  In this installment, we turn the clock back to the mid-60s where a mogul in the warehouse industry started his own network which had a name change before going to air, aired one series in its existence, and lasted a month.

Episode 444--What happens when a star dies?

After covering the passing of a character in episode 443, we look at the more tragic side of what happens when someone on a show passes away in real life.  This episode gets into some potentially disturbing topics.  Listener discretion is advised.

Episode 443--What happens when a character dies?

This week, we're taking a look at what happens when deaths occur on TV shows.  To start, we look at a handful of incidents where a character dies in a TV show, why the character dies, and how a show handles such an occurrence.  This episode does not talk about actual actor passings; we will cover that subject on Thursday.

It Was a Thing on TV Presents: Before the Show IV

In the fourth edition of It Was a Thing on TV Presents: Before the Show, Mike and Greg discuss the recent news of the merger between the USFL and the XFL as the new version of the United Football League (UFL).

They also discuss "Steamboat Willie" and the OG Mickey Mouse entering the public domain along with the really bad horror attempts with Mickey along with Greg recently getting a PS5.

Then, Chico joins in for Segment 2 where they talk about Ric Flair shilling crypto, the latest headaches at ESPN, and Hulk Hogan with the cast of "Silver Spoons"?

 

Episode 442--The Tim Conway Show (1980)

Timing can and very might have been the reason The Tim Conway Show did not have a longer life, even going from an hour to a half an hour for season 2.  As is most anything with Tim Conway, it was entertaining.  The rest of the cast was great.  Unfortunately, the variety show was a dying breed in 1980.

Episode 441--The Good Life (1994)

Happy 2024!  We start the new year with a show that debuted 30 years ago this week.  It only ran the typical 13 episodes.  Comparisons were made to more successful shows on TV at the time, though at least one of us saw a very raw version of a show which would become a hit two seasons later with one of the show's performers.

Episode 440--The 2023 Year in Review, Part 2

We wrap up 2023 by talking about some of the people who made bad decisions this year, a selection of our favorite shows of the year, and looking back at those who we lost.