The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

On episode 98, we gave you Hometown Commercials.  On episode 202, we gave you a second helping.  They're back for 298, more of the local commercials that are so bad, they're good. In the third edition we are introduced to new favorites including a man who sells gold, another lawyer, a taxidermist and a guy who wants to get serious about selling you windows.

1. Horrible Insurance Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l0ZmTLdy-A
2. Hoot Wireless - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DMt3OMwArU
3. Go Wireless! Kansas - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8ivjjuo508
4. All E Gators Restaurant (1985) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XauJZlXtCwA
5. Golden Heart Utilities - Grease Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yscAsXED8jI
6. Greenfield Video Laserdiscs - Laserdiscs - YouTube
7. Big Al’s Pizza with Owl - https://youtu.be/dQZvtVafFqs
8. Jeff Martin The Heavy Hitter - https://youtu.be/rJ6fecmCWmY
9. Jeff Martin Dog Damage - https://youtu.be/VP8PRMIDmLQ
10. Red Devil Games PSA - https://vimeo.com/1062144
11. Ford Man Kansas - https://youtu.be/J06IWemV1U4
12. Futon Max - https://youtu.be/msxEUhBdNPY
13. Ojai Valley Taxidermy TV Commercial (Rhett and Link) - https://youtu.be/LJP1DphOWPs
14. Mazda Commercial Tennessee (1992) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6BiDlx9UrY
15. J&P Auto Mart - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN3nUcLs-Qc
16. Taste of Art Auction 2006 “Celebrity Squares” Commercial - https://youtu.be/VzoNlVsZ8Fg
17. Cecil Myers Rap - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WX207oDywA
18. Eastern Motors with Willis McGehee - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXW62k1aQNI
19. The Pizza Planet 1984 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AljsZSY2sPw
20. Hoy Trial Lawyers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3WuHTn2qXs
21. The Furniture Company in Lake Worth (2002) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkY3kTKGOjM
22. Primetime Automotive Advertising with Gary Busey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCFflhzfi1A Summer Ad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWL2A8Lw7Os
23. Little Johns Derby Jewelry Super Gold Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4eJNtFG10U
24. Super Sash Window Co. (Chicago) (1982) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJy9EFf-tiM
25. Crazy Gideon (“I’m Back!”) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56szyOQUA-U
26. Crazy Gideon (“I Declare War!”) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wOCzf6HTrU
27. Grand Finale (Rhett and Link) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYYdF0zcuSI&t=1s

In 1997, CBS took the bold steps of putting together a 2-hour comedy block on Friday nights versus ABC's TGIF, and even took two of TGIF's stalwarts in the process.  The two former TGIF shows were on its last legs.  We're here to talk about the two original shows to the Block Party--Meego and The Gregory Hines Show.

Greg and Chico resume their livewatch of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ as they look at the middle episodes as Obi-Wan and Young Leia encounter a not-so friendly alien truck driver, imperial spies and Ice Cube's kid.

Here are the timecodes to sync up with Episodes 3 & 4, if you are following along on Disney+.

Episode 3 - 1:46

Episode 4 - 45:35

 

In 1979, early on in Password Plus' run, George Peppard made an appearance as a celebrity player.  On the first show, Peppard put his foot in his mouth, while ranting about forms NBC (and presumably other networks) had people sign.  As a result, Peppard never played another game.

Susan St. James' 75th birthday is happening this Sunday, and we mark the occasion the only way we know how--by utilizing a running gag on this show.  Uh Oh! was a Canadian game show for kids, despite an antagonist who looks like he should be running a sex dungeon.  A kid's show with who appears to be a dungeon master ran for six seasons in Canada!

UPN tried throwing almost anything on their schedule in the late 90s.  Shasta McNasty is no exception.  It was so bad that the title was cut in half to just Shasta during the show's run.  Even cross-promotions with WWF Smackdown couldn't lure viewers. This was basically the most 1999 TV show that ever 1999'd.

In episode 61, we talked about the season when NBC owned and operated stations had primetime starting at 7:30.  We talked about one of those 5 shows, We Got it Made, in episode 66.  Another show from that experiment is this show's focus.  Marblehead Manor follows the antics of a wealthy family and their staff at their palatial residence.

In anticipation of the upcoming Amazon Prime series, this episode takes a look at the "blink and you'll miss it" television version of one of the breakout movie hits of 1992.  A League of Their Own had a handful of characters reprising their roles in one-off appearances and its TV fate may have been set in stone by a certain organization.

Norman Lear's 100th birthday celebration continues with possibly his most obscure series, airing for just 5 episodes in 1977.  A Year at the Top followed the Faustian formula of selling one's soul to the devil for instant success.  Audiences gave it a month at the bottom of the ratings.

This week, we're celebrating Norman Lear's 100th birthday by looking at two of his less successful shows.  We start with Lear's adaptation of a play about a seedy hotel with even seedier residents, Hot l Baltimore.  Most of the players were relative newcomers, and three went on to much greater success in the decades that followed.