The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

Combine elements of Name That Tune and Password Plus, add an emcee with very limited hosting ability, throw in a singer and a band, and enter a legendary cheapskate of a producer and what do you get?  One of the most memorable cult classic shows from the golden age of cable, Face the Music.

The WB (and now, The CW) like their superhero shows.  In 2001, The WB piloted a reboot of a mid-70s superhero duo, but brought them to the modern day including making the main character (we're not joking) a 50-year-old divorcee who lives in a trailer and is a raging alcoholic.  Needless to say, The WB said thanks but no thanks to Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl.

Kung Fu originally ran for 3 seasons on ABC and made David Carradine a star.  Just like any quality show, a network (in this case, CBS) wanted to reboot it.  Kung Fu: The Next Generation didn't make it out of pilot stage, but did air on CBS in the summer of 1987.  It did give us a glimpse of a future legend in a key role.

In the early 90s, if you had a beef with someone, you couldn't necessarily take them to a TV courtroom.  Enter a show with boxing, trash cans, and feather dusters, where combatants took their issues to the ring.  The Grudge Match is a show we have wanted to cover for some time and thanks to another podcast, a full episode made its way online recently.

Pyramid was cancelled months earlier, Blackout wasn't getting the viewers, and CBS had Family Feud waiting in the wings in early 1988.  Enter Wink Martindale with his format Top Secret which didn't crack CBS' lineup but had its own board game.  Be warned there is some whispering, followed by louder audio.  Respect your eardrums.

It was a movie in 1990, and a successful one at that.  Two years later, a Darkman pilot was done for FOX.  The password is "expository."  And what's the deal with a 16-year-old playing a cop?  Listen to this episode and you'll know what we're talking about.

CBS was having a tough go in the late 80s, in an era dominated by NBC.  They gave a pilot not unlike UHF spearheaded by Eddie Murphy a chance, but it was one and done.  Don't change that channel and discover What's Alan Watching?

It's the early 70s.  Gene Roddenberry hit it big with Star Trek and is looking to create the next big thing.  He pitches Genesis II to CBS in 1973, who is not interested.  He tinkers with the format a bit, pitches it to ABC as Planet Earth in 1974, and is shut out again.  There was a third pilot with this format pitched a year later and guess what?  Three strikes and you're out.

This is the first (of hopefully many) It Was a Thing on TV Hall of Fame ceremonies.  Our inaugural class of 12 includes some known names, a definite unknown, and even an animal.

In 1986, Disney did what Disney does best--make money, specifically with a new cartoon that already had a line of plush dolls.  But the direction Disney went was unconventional.  Fluppy Dogs were not dogs.  Rather, they were interdimensional travelers.  It's not your average Disney cartoon.

Fluppy Dogs - History of Disney Television Animation (Toonamp) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oNfB1biUnc