March 26, 2025 • 53 mins
Some of the worst TV shows of the 70s. The brief return of 3-D movies in the 80s. Some great Made-for-TV movies.
Episode 188 of the podcast celebrates spring with a colorful menagerie of nostalgia in bloom.
It all begins with a look back at the relatively brief and somewhat unspectacular return of 3-D movies in the 1980s. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion and memories of the 1950s 3-D films prompted a comeback. Some films were alright. Some were downright awful. In the end, it was a short return and we will do a deep dive into 3-D.
We go way back in the day to find some of the biggest television show failures of the 1970s. These run the gamut of flops from established names, budgetary disasters, spin-off sadness, and insane ideas. We'll look at all of them.
Made-for-TV movies are a bit of a relic of a bygone era. For we who grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s we remember them well. This week's Top 5 will look at some of the best Made for TV movies ever. Did you watch any of these when they first aired?
There is also a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule centered around the quarantine of the infamous Typhoid Mary.
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Helpful Links from this Episode
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- In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide(2nd Edition)
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- DJ Williams Music
- KeeKee's Cape Cod Kitchen
- Christopher Setterlund.com
- Cape Cod Living - Zazzle Store
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 04 (00:00):
Hello world, and welcome to the In My Footsteps
podcast.
I am Christopher Setterlund,coming to you from the vacation
destination known as Cape Cod,Massachusetts, and this is
episode 188.
We are busting through the endof March, getting ready for the
(00:22):
April showers to bring Mayflowers and all that good stuff.
Everything's gonna start tobloom and we're gonna kick it
off with a load of nostalgia.
We're going to kick it off witha look back at the return of 3D
movies in the 1980s.
Some were okay, some werepretty terrible.
Speaking of terrible, we'regoing to go way back in the day
(00:44):
and look at some of the worsttelevision shows of the 1970s.
These definitely put the F infail.
There'll be a brand new topfive as we look at the top five
made-for-TV movies.
And there'll be a brand newThis Week in History and Time
Capsule looking back at thequarantine of typhoid Mary.
(01:05):
All of that is coming up rightnow on episode 188 of the In My
Footsteps podcast.
So what are we going to talkabout this week?
About how Cape Cod spring is infull bloom, 45 and foggy with
drizzle pretty much every day.
Maybe we'll talk aboutfinishing up my first ever
(01:28):
acting gig.
Obviously, first, I've got tothank my Patreon subscribers,
those that are my biggest fans,my actual backers who put their
money where their mouth is tosupport me and support my
podcast, my content work.
Lori, Mary Lou, Ashley, Kevin,Leo, Marguerite, Neglectoid,
(01:50):
Crystal, Matt, Thank you all somuch for being my biggest
supporters.
I really appreciate you.
In fact, I just finished uprecording next month's bonus
podcast episode for the Patreonsubscribers.
That will drop on April Fool'sDay, but I promise it's a real
podcast.
(02:10):
It's not fake.
Although I should have donesomething like that.
Ah, man, it's too late now.
Now I'm thinking I shouldn'thave mentioned April Fool's at
all.
Because I could have made somekind of a post on Patreon saying
something outlandish, but nowyou'll know it's April Fool's.
Although I give the big shoutout to my Patreon subscribers, I
(02:33):
obviously appreciate all of youthat tune into the show, who
share it, who tell others, hey,you should listen to this Gen X
Nostalgia podcast.
He talks about a lot of stuffthat we who are now in our 40s,
50s, 60s really enjoyed as kids.
Because that's the main thing.
I do this because I knowthere's an audience out there.
(02:54):
Those of you that areinterested in the same things as
me.
But the big thing is I do itfor myself.
Any excuse to get to reminisceabout my childhood, I take
advantage of as I stare down 50in a few years.
But just remember, 50 doesn'tmean you're old, you're just
vintage.
Or whatever excuse we try tocome up with that we're not half
(03:17):
a century old.
Anyway, let me pause this andgo cry a little.
By the time this podcast goeslive, the filming for my first
acting gig will be done.
My scenes are already done.
But this weekend, so I recordthis on the Friday, it goes live
on the Wednesday.
The full filming wraps up thisweekend.
(03:39):
I'll be on set a little later.
to maybe get some behind thescenes photos, videos, unless
the director doesn't want methere, then I'm not going to try
to become a diva and say youneed to bow down to my wishes.
This weekend, I'm going to bewalking to Race Point Lighthouse
with my friend producer FrankDurant and our other friend
(04:00):
Brian.
I have been suckered intogetting up earlier with promises
of breakfast purchased byFrank, so we'll see how it goes.
I'm going to have to get upEarlier on my day off to go hike
out to this lighthouse than Iwould on days that I work.
So on next week's podcast, I'lldefinitely have news about how
(04:21):
this hike went.
And the hike out there, thevideo, the interview, that's
going to be on my YouTubechannel in a couple of weeks.
So that'll be fun.
You'll get to see behind thescenes of us struggling to walk
out there early in the morning.
My plan is to also, in the nextcouple of weeks, do kind of a
standalone video where I justtalk about the process of my
(04:44):
scenes in the film, you know,without spoiling too much and
what goes into preparing forthings like that.
My scenes are smaller, they'relow-key, so I'm definitely not a
pro when it comes to acting,but I do now have an idea.
And I did enjoy it, so I'mhoping this is not my only
dalliance into acting.
But only future me will knowthe answer to that.
(05:07):
I can tell you one thing.
I'm pretty sure that futureacting gigs will not be in 3D
for me.
Who knows?
But we're going to kick off thepodcast with a terrible segue
that I just tried.
As we look back at the returnof 3D movies in the early 1980s,
including some examples of thegood and the bad.
(05:30):
So let's get into those rightnow.
I say so much on this podcastabout how powerful of an emotion
nostalgia is, reminiscing aboutchildhood, what's old is new
again.
We're living in a world where alot of 90s stuff has come back
into fashion.
It seems like typically thecycle of nostalgia is like 30
(05:54):
years in the past.
One such example of thecyclical nature of nostalgia is
was the return of 3D movies inthe early 1980s.
It was like they came back andwere just everywhere, and then
they were gone again.
3D movies had first capturedaudiences' imaginations in the
(06:16):
early 1950s.
The revival in the early 80sproduced a mix of cult classics,
horror hits, and some justterrible ones.
In order to understand thisboom and bust cycle, We got to
go back to the origins of 3Dfilms, which ironically date
back to the mid-19th century.
(06:37):
This was with the invention ofsomething called stereoscopic
photography.
This used two images viewedthrough special viewers to
create the illusion of depth.
Filmmakers began experimentingwith the idea of
three-dimensional motionpictures in the early 20th
century.
The first ever 3D film wascalled The Power of Love and it
(07:02):
came out in 1922.
This was shown using ananaglyph process, which is the
red and blue lenses, but itfailed to spark public interest.
There are a lot of cases wherethe revolutionary technology
seems to fail at first becausepeople aren't ready for it and
it takes a couple of kicks atthe can before people come
(07:25):
aboard with it.
So when it comes to 3D, thetrue golden age was the early to
mid-1950s.
Television sets became morecommon in American households
and Hollywood sought new ways tolure audiences back to the
theaters.
Because why are you going to goto the movie theater when you
can sit in your living room andwatch Howdy Doody, I Love Lucy,
(07:46):
The Honeymooners?
The first major 3D motionpicture hit was Buona Devil,
which came out in 1952.
It was a low-budgetaction-adventure film that
became a surprise box officesuccess.
You know what that means.
Surprise success, making money,that leads to a lot of people
(08:08):
jumping on the bandwagon.
What ended up coming out in the1950s were a big wave of 3D
releases, including House of Waxin 1953, which starred Vincent
Price, Creature from the BlackLagoon in 1954, which is a
monster movie, and the AlfredHitchcock foray into 3D Dial M
(08:30):
for Murder from 1954.
Although that movie wasactually released mostly in
two-dimensional because of thedecline in interest in 3D movies
already.
The initial boom of 3D filmswent away pretty quickly with
some major issues, first beingtechnical problems, There was a
dual projector system requiredto screen 3D films, and that was
(08:54):
prone to misalignment.
They'd be blurry images,headaches for viewers.
Not to mention the cardboardglasses with the red and blue
lenses.
These were clunky, often poorlycalibrated.
A big problem with 3D films ingeneral...
is the gimmick over substanceissue where the films have no
(09:16):
plot.
It's just a lot of cheap trickswith things flying towards the
camera.
For me, a prime example of thisis the 1953 Three Stooges short
called Spooks that was in 3D.
And it was all these gimmicksof things flying at the screen.
Mo doing the eye poke, but itwas just fingers coming at you.
It was funny as a kid, but whenit comes to things like that,
(09:40):
it's like you've seen one,you've seen them all.
By 1955, 3D had basicallydisappeared from theaters, with
only a few scattered releases inthe 60s and 70s that were more
as novelties.
But you can't keep a goodgimmick down.
So the early 80s saw a renewedinterest in 3D.
This was driven by advancementsin technology, a growing
(10:03):
appetite for genre films.
And, of course, the power ofnostalgia.
Adults saying, remember 3Dmovies when we were kids?
Well, here we go.
A big thing that helped there-emergence of 3D was the
development of a single-strip 3Dprocess, so it was one
projector rather than two.
This made it easier fortheaters to show 3D films
(10:27):
without technical issues.
The resurgence in 3D alsocoincided with the rise of
slasher films and low-budgethorror, which were well-suited
for that in-your-face nature of3D effects.
When we look back at the early1980s and the resurgence of 3D
films, there are some that werebig-budget ones, but might not
(10:51):
have been as well-received, Iguess, critically.
I'll be straight up.
My favorite...
Friday the 13th movie is partthree, which is the 3D version
that came out in 1982.
It is a whopping 11% fresh onRotten Tomatoes, but I don't
care about that.
This is the movie where Jasongets his mask.
(11:13):
It also has some iconic killsin it, where he shoots the arrow
towards the screen that goesinto the girl's eye.
Or the famous one where theguy's walking on his hands and
he looks up and there's Jason tojust fillet him with a machete.
Those of you that have seen themovie know exactly the scene
I'm talking about.
And if you haven't seen it,well, maybe go see it, but don't
(11:37):
hold me to that as far as beingtraumatized.
Another notable 3D film fromthe early 80s was Jaws 3D.
Again, this had the noveltyfactor of 3D, so it would get
people to go, but man, the 3Dgraphics were terrible, the
shark looked terrible.
Ironically, Jaws 3D is also 11%fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
(12:03):
This is one of those, if youhaven't seen it, maybe watch a
little bit of it, like findclips on YouTube, but don't
waste an hour and a halfwatching this junk.
Another poorly received 3Dmovie was Amityville 3D from
1983.
This was slightly better at 18%fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
(12:24):
Ooh, go see it.
It became the last major 3Dhorror release of the 80s.
I don't know if it killed thegenre as far as horror 3D goes,
but those were a few of thebigger budget 3D films, and you
can hear how the reviews wentfor that.
And there were also low-budgetfilms.
So you imagine Friday the 13th,Jaws, Amityville, they had
(12:48):
money behind them.
What about low-budget ones?
There were films like Parasitefrom 1982, which starred a young
Demi Moore, but again, pooreffects made it a box office
failure.
Treasure of the Four Crownsfrom 1983, which was basically
an Indiana Jones ripoff thatrelied heavily on the cheap 3D
(13:11):
tricks like objects flyingtowards the screen.
Finally, there was theoriginator of the return of 3D
movies called Comin' At Ya from1981.
It was an Italian-producedspaghetti western marketed as
the first new 3D film of the1980s.
This movie's 25% fresh onRotten Tomatoes and had a budget
(13:34):
of $2.5 million and made aboutdouble its budget.
So it wasn't a failure, but itfalls into the same trap with a
lot of the 3D movies.
Heavy reliance on the gimmickand very thin plot.
So it's sort of like you seethe first few things flying at
the screen and you're like,okay, that was fun.
We're done.
By 1984, the novelty of 3D hadworn off again, so it only took
(14:00):
a couple of years.
The problems that resurfaced,it was the same stuff.
Poor storytelling, technicaldifficulties, which, while there
were single projector systems,it was still poor calibration,
darkened images, those dangglasses.
Then it came to audiencefatigue, because once you find a
(14:20):
gimmick that might be popular,you know it gets run into the
ground.
So if you've gone to the moviesto see one 3D film, you
probably don't need to go andsee the next dozen that come
out.
An interesting problem with 3Din the 80s kind of goes full
circle with the 50s.
In the 50s, it was the rise ofTV.
(14:40):
In the 80s, it was the rise ofVHS and home video, which made
it easier for people to stay athome and watch movies, but also
made it hard for 3D films totranslate to television.
Even though the 3D craze of the80s died out pretty early,
there were still some moviesthat came out that had a little
bit of 3D in them.
(15:01):
In particular, I remember being13 years old, going to see
Freddy's Dead The FinalNightmare in 1991.
That had a 3D scene near theend, so the main character, she
puts on her 3D glasses, andthat's supposed to be the cue
for us in the audience to putours on too.
And it was good.
(15:22):
I liked the movie.
It didn't get great reviews,but I was 13, so I don't care
what critics thought.
I think it was more palatablebecause it was only the last 15
minutes of the film that was 3Dinstead of the full hour and a
half.
Looking back now, 40 yearsafter the 3D boom went bust in
the 1980s, there was still alasting cultural impact.
(15:45):
Love Em or Hate Em, Friday the13th Part 3, Jaws 3D, Amityville
3D.
They have their audiences.
I said I love Friday the 13thPart 3.
But you can't keep a good 3Ddown, and it started making a
comeback in the early 2000s withthe rise of digital projection,
culminating with the massivesuccess of James Cameron's
(16:09):
Avatar in 2009.
So when we who were alive atthe time look back, the 1980s,
if we're being honest, probablydidn't produce a lot of
cinematic masterpieces, but itwas an important chapter in the
ongoing experiment to makemovies more immersive.
Those of you out there, do youremember going to see movies in
(16:31):
3D in the early 80s?
Or are there 3D films in thetime since that I forgot?
Like I said, Freddy's Dead was1991.
But I figure with the cyclicalnature of nostalgia, probably
sometime in the 2040s, 3D willcome back around.
We'll have those foolishglasses again.
This week in history, we aregoing back 110 years ago to
(17:02):
March 27th, 1915 and thequarantine of the infamous
typhoid Mary.
This is an interesting story ofa life of isolation and
controversy.
In the early 20th century, awoman named Mary Mallon became
infamous as the first identifiedasymptomatic carrier of typhoid
(17:24):
fever in the United States.
Mary Mallon was born September23rd, 1869 in Cookstown in
Ireland.
Like many Irish citizens at thetime, she immigrated to the
United States in search ofbetter opportunities, arriving
in 1883 when she was about 14years old.
But this segment is not so muchabout Mary Mallon's life
(17:47):
before.
It's about how she became acarrier of typhoid.
Typhoid fever is caused by thebacterium Salmonella typhi,
which spreads throughcontaminated food and water,
primarily thriving in poorsanitary conditions, It causes
high fever, weakness, stomachpain, constipation or diarrhea,
(18:09):
and a rash in some cases.
At the time, there was limitedunderstanding of the
transmission of typhoid.
Mary Mallon, she was a uniquecase because she was a healthy
carrier of typhoid fever.
She was someone who harboredthe bacteria but showed no
symptoms.
It's believed that shecontracted the disease in her
(18:30):
early childhood in Ireland,where poor sanitation and
contaminated water were common.
The bacteria likely settled inher gallbladder, allowing her to
shed the pathogen through herstool without feeling sick
herself.
In the United States, MaryMallon became a cook, so with
that her job involved handlingfood, which made her an ideal
(18:54):
vector for transmitting thedisease.
This meant that when she failedto properly wash her hands or
use contaminated utensils,typhoid bacteria was transferred
to the food she prepared.
Mary's connection to theoutbreaks of typhoid fever began
to unravel in 1906 when wealthybanker Charles Warren's family
(19:16):
rented a summer home in OysterBay, Long Island.
Over the summer, six of the 11people in the household caught
typhoid fever.
Warren's landlord, then hiredGeorge Soper to investigate, and
his research eventually led himto Mary Mallon.
In 1907, she was quarantinedfor the first time, confined to
(19:38):
Riverside Hospital on NorthBrother Island, a small island
in the East River in New York.
She was held there for threeyears before being released in
1910 after agreeing not to workas a cook.
After several years ofhardship, she changed her name
to Mary Brown and quietlyreturned to cooking despite
(20:00):
public health risk.
In 1915, a major typhoidoutbreak occurred at Sloan
Maternity Hospital in Manhattan,infecting 25 people, resulting
in two deaths, and againinvestigations led to Mary
Mallon using the alias MaryBrown.
She was arrested and sent backto North Brother Island where
(20:23):
she remained for the rest of herlife.
23 years in quarantine.
She lived in a small cottageprovided by the health
department and reportedly liveda quiet life with a little bit
of freedom on the confines ofthe hospital grounds.
To her death, Mary Malloninsisted she was not responsible
(20:44):
for spreading typhoid andbelieved that she had been
unfairly persecuted.
Upon her death on November11th, 1938 at the age of 69, an
autopsy was performed on MaryMallon, confirming that her
gallbladder did in fact stillharbor live Salmonella typhi
(21:04):
bacteria.
And Mary Mallon, aka TyphoidMary, was quarantined for the
second time for the rest of hernatural life 110 years ago this
week in history.
Oh, the only thing contagiousis this funky beat for the new
(21:27):
time capsule.
This week we're going back 27years ago to March 27th, 1998.
What was going on in the worldof pop culture back then?
Well, let's find out.
The number one song was Gettin'Jiggy With It by Will Smith.
This was off of his album BigWillie Style.
(21:49):
It spent three weeks at numberone and won a Grammy for Best
Rap Solo Performance.
This was Will Smith's return tomusic after getting really deep
into acting and his first albumshedding the Fresh Prince
nickname, although he didcollaborate with DJ Jazzy Jeff
(22:09):
on a few songs on Big Williestyle.
The number one movie wasTitanic.
And you could get into thetheater with a ticket costing
$4.59.
One of the highest grossingmovies of all time.
One of the most decorated,critically acclaimed.
A romantic adventure historicalfilm starring Leonardo
(22:34):
DiCaprio, Kate Winslet asstar-crossed lovers on the
ill-fated Titanic ship.
The effects in this movie areincredible.
The shipwreck scenes.
The movie is 3 hours and 15minutes long, so if you've never
seen it, just be prepared forthat.
The film had a budget of $200million and has raked in more
(22:56):
than $2.3 billion.
So you spend money to makemoney.
The number one TV show was the70th Annual Academy Awards.
Big winners included JackNicholson for Best Actor, Robin
Williams Best Supporting Actor,Helen Hunt as Best Actress, Kim
(23:18):
Basinger as Best SupportingActress, and the aforementioned
Titanic as Best Picture.
And if you were around backthen, March 27th, 1998, maybe
you're looking for a fun newtechnological innovation to
waste money on, well, I gotsomething for you.
Did you know there was aspecial camera for Game Boy?
(23:41):
Oh yes, there was at Toys R Us.
It looks like a very primitivewebcam that you could link to
your Game Boy.
You could shoot photos, save upto 30 of them, even edit them
on your Game Boy.
Oh, but this comes with a catchif you didn't know.
The Game Boy itself is $49.99.
(24:01):
The Game Boy camera itself isalso $49.99.
And if you wanted to print outany of the photos you took with
your Game Boy, that would costyou $59.99.
with special Game Boy printerpaper costing $9.99.
That brings the total to$169.96, or about $331 when
(24:27):
adjusted for inflation to 2025.
So how badly do you want to beable to take pictures with your
Game Boy?
That wraps up another TimeCapsule, another This Week in
History.
Now let's jump into a brand newtop five and look at some of
the best made-for-TV moviesever, starting now.
This segment was a lot ofresearch.
(24:54):
When it came to made-for-TVmovies, I really didn't know
where to start besides justlooking up every one that's ever
been made.
I don't think the made-for-TVmovie is as big of a thing now
in the 2020s.
I don't even think it's been abig thing in the 21st century.
I think the made-for-TV moviesnow are more of the
(25:17):
made-for-streaming movies, onesthat are exclusive to Netflix or
Hulu or something like that.
But back in my day, as the oldman says, made-for-TV movies
were a big deal in the 70s, 80s,even into the 90s.
And I figured I would give youall some homework with some made
for TV movies that you shouldgo and see.
(25:38):
As I was doing my research,there were some made for TV
movies I found that ended upbeing released in theaters
afterwards.
So I had to do my best to makesure that I stuck to ones that
were just made for TV.
As with many of these top fivelists, there are some honorable
(25:58):
mentions and they are in noparticular order.
I'll do my best to kind of flythrough the honorable mentions
while giving you a little bit ofinfo.
So let's get to sharing, shallwe?
Honorable mentions for bestmade-for-TV movies include The
Jericho Mile.
This movie's from 1979 and isabout an inmate at Folsom Prison
(26:23):
who discovers that he can run amile in less than four minutes.
Another honorable mention is AnAmerican Christmas Carol.
This movie is from 1979.
It's a loose adaptation of theCharles Dickens Christmas Carol.
And it also broke actor HenryWinkler out of his typecasting
(26:44):
as the Fonz from Happy Days.
Another honorable mention is IKnow My First Name is Stephen.
This is from 1989.
It's technically a two-partminiseries, but come on.
It's about a kid who waskidnapped and survived his
ordeal for seven years.
and is based on a true story.
(27:04):
Another honorable mention isSpecial Bulletin.
This is from 1983, with a TVreporter and cameraman being
taken hostage by terrorists whoare threatening to detonate a
nuke off the coast of SouthCarolina.
And the final honorable mentionis Helter Skelter.
(27:25):
This is also a miniseries.
It's from 1976, based on thecrimes of Charles Manson and his
family.
This was one where they showedit in some countries in theaters
with additional footage, whichincluded a lot of nudity.
But those were the honorablementions.
Do you remember watching any ofthose films as you were growing
(27:48):
up in the 70s, 80s?
One thing I'm not sure of, andmaybe those of you out there
that have more information mightknow, but do you remember
made-for-TV movies getting a lotof reruns?
To me, it seems like amade-for-TV movie got released
in whatever year, they mightshow it once or twice, and then
that was it.
Anyway, let's get into theactual top five best made-for-TV
(28:12):
movies, starting with numberone, Duel.
This movie is from 1971.
It is the debut film of StevenSpielberg.
It's an action thriller aboutan electronics salesman driving
along a long stretch of kind ofrural highway.
And this old oil tanker drivenby someone that you never see
(28:37):
antagonizes him.
And it gets more and moredangerous throughout the film.
It starred Dennis Weaver as theelectronics salesman.
It's 89% fresh on RottenTomatoes.
It's amazing to think of StevenSpielberg, the legendary
director, that his start was amade-for-TV movie.
(28:57):
But if you watch it, you cansee some of the Spielberg
tendencies in it.
It's sort of like the unseendriver of the truck is kind of a
stand-in for the shark in Jaws.
Number two is It.
Yes, granted, I know this isanother miniseries, but it was
made for TV.
It's from 1990.
(29:19):
It stars Tim Curry as the evilPennywise the Clown.
A lot of you out there know theIt movies that came out in the
last 10 years.
This, again, it's based on theStephen King book.
It's every bit psychologicalhorror as the movies in
theaters.
Far less graphic because it wasmade for TV.
(29:40):
You'll find debates online.
as which versions of It werescarier, the 1990 version or the
2017 film.
Debate is all well and good,but you can like both versions.
There's no law that says that.
Number three is The Day After.
This is from 1983, and ittraumatized a whole lot of
(30:05):
people.
The film is about a nuclearexchange between the U.S.
and Soviet Union with thecharacters being based around
small towns in Kansas andMissouri.
It stars Steve Guttenberg, JoBeth Williams, John Lithgow.
During its initial broadcast,more than 100 million people in
(30:26):
the U.S.
watched this movie.
And at that time, it was theseventh highest rated non-sports
show ever in the country.
The movie was highlyinfluential on then-U.S.
President Ronald Reagan and hisviews on nuclear armament,
nuclear war.
With the Intermediate-RangeNuclear Forces Treaty from 1987
(30:49):
between the U.S.
and Russia and MikhailGorbachev, Reagan pointing a
direct line to the day aftermovie as influential on it.
Number four is The Boy in thePlastic Bubble.
This is a romantic drama from1976 starring John Travolta as
(31:11):
the boy in the bubble.
It's based on a true story of aboy with severe immune
deficiencies who has to live inthis germ-free environment.
I never saw this movie when itwas on TV, but I do remember the
Seinfeld episode with thebubble boy who wants to meet
Jerry, but instead he getsGeorge and they get in a fight
(31:33):
and George pops his bubble.
That episode is not the highlyemotional drama that the Boy in
the Plastic Bubble movie is.
And finally, number five on thelist of best ever made-for-TV
movies is Sybil.
This is from 1976.
It's a two-part film starringSally Field as a woman with
(31:56):
multiple personalities.
The film won four primetimeEmmys, including Sally Field
Best Actress Award.
The movie's based on a bookfrom 1973, which is based on a
real person named Sybil Dorsett.
My memories of this film don'thave to do with the film itself,
but the name Sybil.
(32:17):
When I was a kid, probablyfive, six years old, we had a
cat named Sybil that waspsychotic.
Maybe family who's listeningcan clue me in, but I don't
remember how we got Sybil.
I just remember being terrifiedof her, that she was very
claw-happy.
And being a five, six-year-oldkid, you're not that much bigger
(32:41):
than a cat.
Well, you are, but not comparedto when you're fully grown.
So a hissing, sharp-clawed,angry cat is not something you
like.
And I don't know if the cat wasnamed Sybil already, or if
because she was psychotic, wenamed her Sybil.
I also don't remember whathappened to that cat.
(33:02):
I'm assuming if she was clawingup me and my sister that she
was brought to the pound.
So that's my connection to themade-for-TV movie Sybil is a
psychotic cat I had as a child.
So there you go.
Some of the best made-for-TVmovies ever.
How many of those did you see,including the honorable
(33:22):
mentions?
I've seen three of the ten, andit was the first three of the
top five.
Duel, It, and The Day After.
We go from some of the best TVmovies to some of the worst TV
shows of the 1970s.
None of these are recommendedfor you to watch.
All of these TV shows I'm aboutto talk about should come with
(33:51):
a warning label.
Please do not watch.
This was a fun list to come upwith as far as worst TV shows of
the 1970s.
A lot of these shows had acertain number of episodes they
were scheduled for, and most ofthem did not make it to that
number.
There's a lot of unairedcontent in these shows.
(34:14):
Way back in episode 89 of thepodcast, I did a top five
segment on fastest canceled TVshows.
Basically shows that werecanceled after like one or two
episodes.
None of these shows in thissegment were in that top five,
so it's all fresh.
But boy, oh boy, I found 10 TVshows that aren't even good
(34:37):
enough to be found in thebargain bin in some gas station
in the middle of nowhere.
So let's let the laughs begin.
The first show is called A.E.S.
Hudson Street.
This is a sitcom from 1978sitcom, meaning it's supposed to
(35:07):
be funny.
It was on from March to Aprilof 1978, five whole episodes.
It follows the antics of thestaff at a rundown ambulance
emergency service hospital onHudson Street in Manhattan.
In a bad harbinger of things tocome for this show, the pilot
(35:29):
aired in July 1977, and itstarred F.
Murray Abraham, who's anAcademy Award-winning actor, And
when it came time to film theactual show, he wasn't there
anymore.
It's like he knew it was goingto be a bomb and he said, nah, I
don't want to be involved inthat junk.
So it was canceled after fiveepisodes.
And then, as if people didn'tlearn, in 1991, they made a
(35:54):
remake of this show just calledStat.
It lasted longer, but it wassix episodes instead of five.
I wonder if we're due foranother remake of AES Hudson
Street or STAT.
They'll just call it CancelAfter Five Episodes.
The next on this list of worstTV shows of the 70s is called
(36:18):
Assignment Vienna.
Assignment Vienna.
This is a drama series from1972.
This starred Robert Conrad asJake Webster as the man
(36:43):
undercover tracking spies inVienna.
This show lasted a whoppingeight episodes, and probably its
biggest claim to fame besidesbeing terrible and canceled
after eight episodes is that ithad Leslie Nielsen as a guest
star in one episode.
When trying to research thisshow, there's very little detail
(37:04):
for any of these eightepisodes.
Although I was able to findthat Paul Stanley directed one
of the episodes, but then Ifound it was not the singer from
Kiss.
Anyway, we move on from a dramafail to one that I had to laugh
at because all of the info Icould find about it was just how
terrible it was.
It's a show called Big SeamusLittle Seamus.
Speaker 03 (37:29):
It's
Speaker 04 (37:42):
a detective drama that lasted two whole episodes
in 1979.
It starred Brian Dennehy, as inthe dad from Tommy Boy.
So Brian Dennehy is ArnieSutter, a house detective at the
Ansonia Hotel in Atlantic City.
(38:02):
And he and his 13-year-old son,Max, solve crimes based around
gambling.
Two whole episodes and it gotcanceled.
I'm researching.
I can't figure out why the hellit was called Big Seamus,
Little Seamus.
It must be the nicknames of thedad and kid, I guess.
This plot of this show againbrings me back to the South Park
(38:25):
episode where they make fun ofFamily Guy, saying that it's
just manatees taking randomballs and putting them in order
to create these random plots.
I'm pretty sure that the peoplethat pitched all of these shows
were really enthused by them.
Man, can you imagine BigSeamus, Little Seamus, and
they're all excited and it'scanceled after two episodes?
(38:48):
The next failure of the 70s wasa show called Blanksy's
Beauties.
This is a sitcom from 1977, andit's actually a spinoff of
(39:11):
Happy Days.
It starred Nancy Walker asNancy Blansky.
Howard Cunningham from HappyDays, his cousin.
Nancy Walker is a Vegas showbizvet that is running a house
full of Vegas showgirls.
Despite being a Happy Daysspinoff and created by Gary
(39:32):
Marshall, it was a bomb thatonly lasted 13 episodes from
February through June of 1977.
The show tried to be acrossover with Happy Days,
including characters Scott Baioand Pat Morita being on it, but
they didn't get any of the mainstars, so I think that's
partially why it failed.
(39:53):
Speaking of famous shows withcrossovers that failed in the
70s, what about the Brady BunchVariety Hour?
🎵
Speaker 01 (40:10):
The Brady Bunch Hour.
Speaker 04 (40:15):
Starring Florence Henderson and Robert Reed.
The premise of this show is theBrady Bunch family is chosen to
have a variety show.
So it's supposed to be almostlike reality TV, except they're
all characters.
The show lasted one season andnine episodes between 1976 and
77, and they did, you know,songs and skits.
(40:36):
But the show's probably mostwell-known for the fake Jan.
Actress Eve Plum did not returnto be Jan Brady, so they had a
fake one.
This was made fun of on TheSimpsons when The Simpsons had a
variety show and Lisa was notpart of it, so they had fake
Lisa.
For as popular of a show as TheBrady Bunch was, it's kind of
(40:59):
surprising that this didn't lastlonger.
I don't know if people wereconfused, thinking it was going
to be another type of sitcom andnot a variety show with songs.
It's almost like they shouldhave just had the actors just be
themselves.
The next failed 70s TV show isone called In the Beginning.
Speaker 02 (41:19):
This
Speaker 04 (41:33):
was a sitcom created by Norman Lear who made All in
the Family.
It came out in 1978 and detailsthe relationship between a
stuffy priest and a liberal thatrun a Baltimore mission.
Nine episodes were filmed ofthis show.
It was canceled after five, andno one knows where the other
four went.
It's sort of like Blanksy'sBeauties, where a famed director
(41:58):
like Gary Marshall, who didHappy Days and Laverne and
Shirley, has a bomb.
This one, it's Norman Lear, allin the family, the Jeffersons,
Maude.
But I guess he couldn't make astuffy priest funny.
I guess the show tried to touchon some of the taboo subjects
of the 70s, much like All in theFamily did, but it just didn't
(42:21):
resonate with people.
It must stink to be told, yeah,we're going to film nine
episodes, and then after five,they're like, yeah, we hate you.
Because you never know.
Episode seven or eight of Inthe Beginning could have been
the one that broke them through,but we'll never know now.
Next up is a show called GeminiMan.
Did any of you watch GeminiMan?
(42:42):
This has nothing to do withastrology.
It's a drama show from 1976,and it had a leg up.
(43:04):
It's based on a legendary bookby H.G.
Wells.
It's about a man who's a secretagent, and he has a watch that
can make him invisible, but ifhe stays invisible for more than
15 minutes, he remainsinvisible forever.
The two-hour pilot aired in May1976, with the show kicking off
proper that September.
(43:25):
There were 11 total episodes,but the show was canceled in the
U.S.
after five.
Low ratings and high costs forthe show were the main reasons.
Interestingly, despite the showbombing in the U.S., all 11
episodes aired over in Englandand it was somewhat greater
success, including a recordalbum and a hardcover book based
(43:49):
on the show.
So Gemini Man in England iskind of like David Hasselhoff's
popularity in Germany.
Hey, you never know whereyou're popular.
I know with this podcast,second to the U.S.
in popularity for the show isSingapore.
I never would have guessedthat.
We move on, though, to anotherspinoff fail of the 70s.
(44:11):
That is Grady.
Speaker 03 (44:13):
You
Speaker 04 (44:27):
know who Grady was?
He was Fred Sanford's friend onSanford and Son.
If you've never heard of Gradyfrom that show, there's a reason
why this show failed.
You take like the fourth orfifth most popular side
character on a show and try tocreate something based on them.
It's usually not going to work.
(44:48):
I think Frasier is kind of theexception to the rule where you
had Frasier Crane on Cheers whowas down the list of popular
characters, but somehow heworked and his show became
almost as popular as Cheers was.
Not so with Grady.
So Grady, the character, leavesSanford and Son in 1975 to move
(45:12):
in with his daughter and theshow lasts 10 episodes and Grady
was soon back on Sanford andSon.
It's almost like the Clevelandshow with Family Guy where
Cleveland left for his own showand then that show didn't make
it.
It lasted four seasons, Ithink, but he still ended up
back on Family Guy.
So Grady failed because nobodycared about him having his own
(45:35):
show.
This next show failed becauseof the huge, huge costs of it.
And that was Super Train.
Super Train.
This was a sci-fi action seriesabout the story of passengers
(46:01):
on a nuclear-powered high-speedtrain.
The show was on for nineepisodes in 1979.
Like I said, it's theproduction costs.
In 1979, NBC paid $10 millionfor three trains to be made.
That translates to nearly $44million when adjusted for
(46:21):
inflation to 2025.
So that's already putting thembehind the eight ball with this
show.
It would have had to have beenthe biggest rating success
possible to mitigate thosecosts.
It was ranked one of the worstshows of all time by TV Guide.
And even when the show was out,the reviews were predicting it
(46:41):
to be canceled within 13 weeks.
And it did.
It was canceled within nine.
I think I saved the best forlast here, though.
This is one of those thedefinition of lost media.
The last show is called McGurk,A Dog's Life.
Speaker 00 (46:58):
I woke up this morning.
I guess it was the usual time.
I don't know for sure.
I can't tell time.
I'm a dog.
Speaker 01 (47:05):
In a dog's life, actors in dog suits barked
one-liners at each other, andcommented on society,
relationships, and politics froma canine perspective.
Speaker 04 (47:15):
This show is from 1979.
It stars Barney Martin, who wasJerry's dad on Seinfeld.
And he's a anthropomorphic dog,or more specifically, a human
in a dog costume.
And it's the life of this dog.
This show was only a half-hourpilot, aired on June 15th, 1979.
(47:38):
It was shown once and thennever seen again.
The idea was from Norman Lear,again, All in the Family.
His idea was to tackle some ofthese controversial issues like
on All in the Family, but from adog's point of view.
This show failed so badly thatit was Norman Lear's last ever
(48:01):
TV concept.
So McGurk, A Dog's Life, killedthe TV career of Norman Lear.
You can find very poor qualityclips, but the full pilot
episode is nowhere to be found.
It's probably burned and thrownin the trash right after it
aired.
So there you go.
(48:22):
Some of the worst TV show failsof the 1970s.
Were any of these on your list?
Did you watch them?
Or any of these, I name themand make fun of them, and you're
saying, wait, I liked BigSeamus, Little Seamus, or Grady.
Or did you see McGurk, A Dog'sLife?
That seems to have aired onceand just vanished forever with
(48:43):
good reason.
In the future, I'll definitelydo other TV show fails from
different decades, so don'tworry, I'm not picking on the
70s.
But until next week, that'sgoing to wrap up episode 188 of
the In My Footsteps podcast.
Thank you all so much fortuning in, hopefully for making
it to the end.
(49:04):
I hope I have given you yourfull dose of nostalgia you need
for the week.
I always find fun things totalk about from the good old
days past.
Next week on episode 189, I ambringing back Blink and You'll
Miss It Retro.
This will be the fourth one.
(49:24):
We're going to look at somehousehold items that came and
went in a flash.
I'm also going to have aspecial this week in history as
we look at one of the cruelApril Fool's jokes from New
England.
I do not want to spoil it.
You can do your own research ifyou can't wait till next week.
If you enjoy my work, mycontent, you can become a
(49:46):
subscriber on Patreon for $5 amonth.
It gets you access to the bonusmonthly podcast episodes.
Now the remastered without amap live streams.
And I'm always looking for newcontent to put up there for my
paying customers.
If becoming a member isn'tfeasible right now, you can
(50:07):
always check out the freecontent.
There's an ever-growing freetier for those of you to try
before you buy.
Or of course, you could buy mea coffee.
All the links are in thedescription of the podcast,
including a lot of links to myother content, YouTube channel,
the Initial Impressions 2.0blog.
(50:28):
some of my books.
You can visit my homepage,ChristopherSetterlin.com, links
to all nine of my books.
Hopefully within the next monthor so, the In My Footsteps
podcast website will be up.
Right now, it's a lot offinishing up details, getting
every link I've ever shared upthere so you can check them out,
(50:52):
getting all of the cover artfor every episode up there, I am
by no means a web designer.
I am by no means a graphicdesigner.
So for me, trying to do it onmy own takes a lot more time
because I'm trying to do itright.
I don't want my website to beout there looking like a
(51:13):
five-year-old's crayon drawingswhere you're like, boy, I feel
so bad for him.
He tried.
Happy birthdays this week to mycousin Ryan and my uncle Frank.
I hope all of you out there areenjoying the first full week of
spring.
I hope the weather where youare is better than on Cape Cod.
(51:33):
The first month of spring forus here is really what I say.
I'm not joking when I say it's45, cloudy, foggy, drizzly.
And then it's like late April.
Suddenly someone remembers it'sspring.
And then it's upper 50s, 60,sunny.
Me, I'm an outdoor cat.
(51:54):
I love being outside in nature.
I do lots of podcast walks,which is why I recommend it to
you listening.
Take the podcast outside.
I keep them just under an hour,which is perfect for a walk.
But however you listen to thepodcast, wherever you listen to
it, it's all good as long as youlisten and enjoy, and I'll keep
(52:18):
pumping out the content.
I will keep you posted in thecoming weeks and months as to
where you can find my filmdebut.
It will be streaming.
I don't know about anything intheaters as far as local
showings go and such, but I doknow you will be able to see it
and you will hear about it fromme.
(52:39):
And who knows?
Maybe you'll hear about moreacting gigs besides me acting
like a fool.
Actual real ones.
So let's wrap this show up Sowe can all get outside and enjoy
that weather.
Remember, in this life, don'twalk in anyone else's footsteps.
Create your own path and enjoyevery moment you can on this
(53:02):
journey we call life.
Because you never know whattomorrow brings.
This has been the In MyFootsteps podcast.
I am Christopher Setterlund.
You already knew that.
And I'll talk to you all againsoon.
Hello world, and welcome to the In My Footsteps
podcast.
I am Christopher Setterlund,coming to you from the vacation
destination known as Cape Cod,Massachusetts, and this is
episode 188.
We are busting through the endof March, getting ready for the
(00:22):
April showers to bring Mayflowers and all that good stuff.
Everything's gonna start tobloom and we're gonna kick it
off with a load of nostalgia.
We're going to kick it off witha look back at the return of 3D
movies in the 1980s.
Some were okay, some werepretty terrible.
Speaking of terrible, we'regoing to go way back in the day
(00:44):
and look at some of the worsttelevision shows of the 1970s.
These definitely put the F infail.
There'll be a brand new topfive as we look at the top five
made-for-TV movies.
And there'll be a brand newThis Week in History and Time
Capsule looking back at thequarantine of typhoid Mary.
(01:05):
All of that is coming up rightnow on episode 188 of the In My
Footsteps podcast.
So what are we going to talkabout this week?
About how Cape Cod spring is infull bloom, 45 and foggy with
drizzle pretty much every day.
Maybe we'll talk aboutfinishing up my first ever
(01:28):
acting gig.
Obviously, first, I've got tothank my Patreon subscribers,
those that are my biggest fans,my actual backers who put their
money where their mouth is tosupport me and support my
podcast, my content work.
Lori, Mary Lou, Ashley, Kevin,Leo, Marguerite, Neglectoid,
(01:50):
Crystal, Matt, Thank you all somuch for being my biggest
supporters.
I really appreciate you.
In fact, I just finished uprecording next month's bonus
podcast episode for the Patreonsubscribers.
That will drop on April Fool'sDay, but I promise it's a real
podcast.
(02:10):
It's not fake.
Although I should have donesomething like that.
Ah, man, it's too late now.
Now I'm thinking I shouldn'thave mentioned April Fool's at
all.
Because I could have made somekind of a post on Patreon saying
something outlandish, but nowyou'll know it's April Fool's.
Although I give the big shoutout to my Patreon subscribers, I
(02:33):
obviously appreciate all of youthat tune into the show, who
share it, who tell others, hey,you should listen to this Gen X
Nostalgia podcast.
He talks about a lot of stuffthat we who are now in our 40s,
50s, 60s really enjoyed as kids.
Because that's the main thing.
I do this because I knowthere's an audience out there.
(02:54):
Those of you that areinterested in the same things as
me.
But the big thing is I do itfor myself.
Any excuse to get to reminisceabout my childhood, I take
advantage of as I stare down 50in a few years.
But just remember, 50 doesn'tmean you're old, you're just
vintage.
Or whatever excuse we try tocome up with that we're not half
(03:17):
a century old.
Anyway, let me pause this andgo cry a little.
By the time this podcast goeslive, the filming for my first
acting gig will be done.
My scenes are already done.
But this weekend, so I recordthis on the Friday, it goes live
on the Wednesday.
The full filming wraps up thisweekend.
(03:39):
I'll be on set a little later.
to maybe get some behind thescenes photos, videos, unless
the director doesn't want methere, then I'm not going to try
to become a diva and say youneed to bow down to my wishes.
This weekend, I'm going to bewalking to Race Point Lighthouse
with my friend producer FrankDurant and our other friend
(04:00):
Brian.
I have been suckered intogetting up earlier with promises
of breakfast purchased byFrank, so we'll see how it goes.
I'm going to have to get upEarlier on my day off to go hike
out to this lighthouse than Iwould on days that I work.
So on next week's podcast, I'lldefinitely have news about how
(04:21):
this hike went.
And the hike out there, thevideo, the interview, that's
going to be on my YouTubechannel in a couple of weeks.
So that'll be fun.
You'll get to see behind thescenes of us struggling to walk
out there early in the morning.
My plan is to also, in the nextcouple of weeks, do kind of a
standalone video where I justtalk about the process of my
(04:44):
scenes in the film, you know,without spoiling too much and
what goes into preparing forthings like that.
My scenes are smaller, they'relow-key, so I'm definitely not a
pro when it comes to acting,but I do now have an idea.
And I did enjoy it, so I'mhoping this is not my only
dalliance into acting.
But only future me will knowthe answer to that.
(05:07):
I can tell you one thing.
I'm pretty sure that futureacting gigs will not be in 3D
for me.
Who knows?
But we're going to kick off thepodcast with a terrible segue
that I just tried.
As we look back at the returnof 3D movies in the early 1980s,
including some examples of thegood and the bad.
(05:30):
So let's get into those rightnow.
I say so much on this podcastabout how powerful of an emotion
nostalgia is, reminiscing aboutchildhood, what's old is new
again.
We're living in a world where alot of 90s stuff has come back
into fashion.
It seems like typically thecycle of nostalgia is like 30
(05:54):
years in the past.
One such example of thecyclical nature of nostalgia is
was the return of 3D movies inthe early 1980s.
It was like they came back andwere just everywhere, and then
they were gone again.
3D movies had first capturedaudiences' imaginations in the
(06:16):
early 1950s.
The revival in the early 80sproduced a mix of cult classics,
horror hits, and some justterrible ones.
In order to understand thisboom and bust cycle, We got to
go back to the origins of 3Dfilms, which ironically date
back to the mid-19th century.
(06:37):
This was with the invention ofsomething called stereoscopic
photography.
This used two images viewedthrough special viewers to
create the illusion of depth.
Filmmakers began experimentingwith the idea of
three-dimensional motionpictures in the early 20th
century.
The first ever 3D film wascalled The Power of Love and it
(07:02):
came out in 1922.
This was shown using ananaglyph process, which is the
red and blue lenses, but itfailed to spark public interest.
There are a lot of cases wherethe revolutionary technology
seems to fail at first becausepeople aren't ready for it and
it takes a couple of kicks atthe can before people come
(07:25):
aboard with it.
So when it comes to 3D, thetrue golden age was the early to
mid-1950s.
Television sets became morecommon in American households
and Hollywood sought new ways tolure audiences back to the
theaters.
Because why are you going to goto the movie theater when you
can sit in your living room andwatch Howdy Doody, I Love Lucy,
(07:46):
The Honeymooners?
The first major 3D motionpicture hit was Buona Devil,
which came out in 1952.
It was a low-budgetaction-adventure film that
became a surprise box officesuccess.
You know what that means.
Surprise success, making money,that leads to a lot of people
(08:08):
jumping on the bandwagon.
What ended up coming out in the1950s were a big wave of 3D
releases, including House of Waxin 1953, which starred Vincent
Price, Creature from the BlackLagoon in 1954, which is a
monster movie, and the AlfredHitchcock foray into 3D Dial M
(08:30):
for Murder from 1954.
Although that movie wasactually released mostly in
two-dimensional because of thedecline in interest in 3D movies
already.
The initial boom of 3D filmswent away pretty quickly with
some major issues, first beingtechnical problems, There was a
dual projector system requiredto screen 3D films, and that was
(08:54):
prone to misalignment.
They'd be blurry images,headaches for viewers.
Not to mention the cardboardglasses with the red and blue
lenses.
These were clunky, often poorlycalibrated.
A big problem with 3D films ingeneral...
is the gimmick over substanceissue where the films have no
(09:16):
plot.
It's just a lot of cheap trickswith things flying towards the
camera.
For me, a prime example of thisis the 1953 Three Stooges short
called Spooks that was in 3D.
And it was all these gimmicksof things flying at the screen.
Mo doing the eye poke, but itwas just fingers coming at you.
It was funny as a kid, but whenit comes to things like that,
(09:40):
it's like you've seen one,you've seen them all.
By 1955, 3D had basicallydisappeared from theaters, with
only a few scattered releases inthe 60s and 70s that were more
as novelties.
But you can't keep a goodgimmick down.
So the early 80s saw a renewedinterest in 3D.
This was driven by advancementsin technology, a growing
(10:03):
appetite for genre films.
And, of course, the power ofnostalgia.
Adults saying, remember 3Dmovies when we were kids?
Well, here we go.
A big thing that helped there-emergence of 3D was the
development of a single-strip 3Dprocess, so it was one
projector rather than two.
This made it easier fortheaters to show 3D films
(10:27):
without technical issues.
The resurgence in 3D alsocoincided with the rise of
slasher films and low-budgethorror, which were well-suited
for that in-your-face nature of3D effects.
When we look back at the early1980s and the resurgence of 3D
films, there are some that werebig-budget ones, but might not
(10:51):
have been as well-received, Iguess, critically.
I'll be straight up.
My favorite...
Friday the 13th movie is partthree, which is the 3D version
that came out in 1982.
It is a whopping 11% fresh onRotten Tomatoes, but I don't
care about that.
This is the movie where Jasongets his mask.
(11:13):
It also has some iconic killsin it, where he shoots the arrow
towards the screen that goesinto the girl's eye.
Or the famous one where theguy's walking on his hands and
he looks up and there's Jason tojust fillet him with a machete.
Those of you that have seen themovie know exactly the scene
I'm talking about.
And if you haven't seen it,well, maybe go see it, but don't
(11:37):
hold me to that as far as beingtraumatized.
Another notable 3D film fromthe early 80s was Jaws 3D.
Again, this had the noveltyfactor of 3D, so it would get
people to go, but man, the 3Dgraphics were terrible, the
shark looked terrible.
Ironically, Jaws 3D is also 11%fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
(12:03):
This is one of those, if youhaven't seen it, maybe watch a
little bit of it, like findclips on YouTube, but don't
waste an hour and a halfwatching this junk.
Another poorly received 3Dmovie was Amityville 3D from
1983.
This was slightly better at 18%fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
(12:24):
Ooh, go see it.
It became the last major 3Dhorror release of the 80s.
I don't know if it killed thegenre as far as horror 3D goes,
but those were a few of thebigger budget 3D films, and you
can hear how the reviews wentfor that.
And there were also low-budgetfilms.
So you imagine Friday the 13th,Jaws, Amityville, they had
(12:48):
money behind them.
What about low-budget ones?
There were films like Parasitefrom 1982, which starred a young
Demi Moore, but again, pooreffects made it a box office
failure.
Treasure of the Four Crownsfrom 1983, which was basically
an Indiana Jones ripoff thatrelied heavily on the cheap 3D
(13:11):
tricks like objects flyingtowards the screen.
Finally, there was theoriginator of the return of 3D
movies called Comin' At Ya from1981.
It was an Italian-producedspaghetti western marketed as
the first new 3D film of the1980s.
This movie's 25% fresh onRotten Tomatoes and had a budget
(13:34):
of $2.5 million and made aboutdouble its budget.
So it wasn't a failure, but itfalls into the same trap with a
lot of the 3D movies.
Heavy reliance on the gimmickand very thin plot.
So it's sort of like you seethe first few things flying at
the screen and you're like,okay, that was fun.
We're done.
By 1984, the novelty of 3D hadworn off again, so it only took
(14:00):
a couple of years.
The problems that resurfaced,it was the same stuff.
Poor storytelling, technicaldifficulties, which, while there
were single projector systems,it was still poor calibration,
darkened images, those dangglasses.
Then it came to audiencefatigue, because once you find a
(14:20):
gimmick that might be popular,you know it gets run into the
ground.
So if you've gone to the moviesto see one 3D film, you
probably don't need to go andsee the next dozen that come
out.
An interesting problem with 3Din the 80s kind of goes full
circle with the 50s.
In the 50s, it was the rise ofTV.
(14:40):
In the 80s, it was the rise ofVHS and home video, which made
it easier for people to stay athome and watch movies, but also
made it hard for 3D films totranslate to television.
Even though the 3D craze of the80s died out pretty early,
there were still some moviesthat came out that had a little
bit of 3D in them.
(15:01):
In particular, I remember being13 years old, going to see
Freddy's Dead The FinalNightmare in 1991.
That had a 3D scene near theend, so the main character, she
puts on her 3D glasses, andthat's supposed to be the cue
for us in the audience to putours on too.
And it was good.
(15:22):
I liked the movie.
It didn't get great reviews,but I was 13, so I don't care
what critics thought.
I think it was more palatablebecause it was only the last 15
minutes of the film that was 3Dinstead of the full hour and a
half.
Looking back now, 40 yearsafter the 3D boom went bust in
the 1980s, there was still alasting cultural impact.
(15:45):
Love Em or Hate Em, Friday the13th Part 3, Jaws 3D, Amityville
3D.
They have their audiences.
I said I love Friday the 13thPart 3.
But you can't keep a good 3Ddown, and it started making a
comeback in the early 2000s withthe rise of digital projection,
culminating with the massivesuccess of James Cameron's
(16:09):
Avatar in 2009.
So when we who were alive atthe time look back, the 1980s,
if we're being honest, probablydidn't produce a lot of
cinematic masterpieces, but itwas an important chapter in the
ongoing experiment to makemovies more immersive.
Those of you out there, do youremember going to see movies in
(16:31):
3D in the early 80s?
Or are there 3D films in thetime since that I forgot?
Like I said, Freddy's Dead was1991.
But I figure with the cyclicalnature of nostalgia, probably
sometime in the 2040s, 3D willcome back around.
We'll have those foolishglasses again.
This week in history, we aregoing back 110 years ago to
(17:02):
March 27th, 1915 and thequarantine of the infamous
typhoid Mary.
This is an interesting story ofa life of isolation and
controversy.
In the early 20th century, awoman named Mary Mallon became
infamous as the first identifiedasymptomatic carrier of typhoid
(17:24):
fever in the United States.
Mary Mallon was born September23rd, 1869 in Cookstown in
Ireland.
Like many Irish citizens at thetime, she immigrated to the
United States in search ofbetter opportunities, arriving
in 1883 when she was about 14years old.
But this segment is not so muchabout Mary Mallon's life
(17:47):
before.
It's about how she became acarrier of typhoid.
Typhoid fever is caused by thebacterium Salmonella typhi,
which spreads throughcontaminated food and water,
primarily thriving in poorsanitary conditions, It causes
high fever, weakness, stomachpain, constipation or diarrhea,
(18:09):
and a rash in some cases.
At the time, there was limitedunderstanding of the
transmission of typhoid.
Mary Mallon, she was a uniquecase because she was a healthy
carrier of typhoid fever.
She was someone who harboredthe bacteria but showed no
symptoms.
It's believed that shecontracted the disease in her
(18:30):
early childhood in Ireland,where poor sanitation and
contaminated water were common.
The bacteria likely settled inher gallbladder, allowing her to
shed the pathogen through herstool without feeling sick
herself.
In the United States, MaryMallon became a cook, so with
that her job involved handlingfood, which made her an ideal
(18:54):
vector for transmitting thedisease.
This meant that when she failedto properly wash her hands or
use contaminated utensils,typhoid bacteria was transferred
to the food she prepared.
Mary's connection to theoutbreaks of typhoid fever began
to unravel in 1906 when wealthybanker Charles Warren's family
(19:16):
rented a summer home in OysterBay, Long Island.
Over the summer, six of the 11people in the household caught
typhoid fever.
Warren's landlord, then hiredGeorge Soper to investigate, and
his research eventually led himto Mary Mallon.
In 1907, she was quarantinedfor the first time, confined to
(19:38):
Riverside Hospital on NorthBrother Island, a small island
in the East River in New York.
She was held there for threeyears before being released in
1910 after agreeing not to workas a cook.
After several years ofhardship, she changed her name
to Mary Brown and quietlyreturned to cooking despite
(20:00):
public health risk.
In 1915, a major typhoidoutbreak occurred at Sloan
Maternity Hospital in Manhattan,infecting 25 people, resulting
in two deaths, and againinvestigations led to Mary
Mallon using the alias MaryBrown.
She was arrested and sent backto North Brother Island where
(20:23):
she remained for the rest of herlife.
23 years in quarantine.
She lived in a small cottageprovided by the health
department and reportedly liveda quiet life with a little bit
of freedom on the confines ofthe hospital grounds.
To her death, Mary Malloninsisted she was not responsible
(20:44):
for spreading typhoid andbelieved that she had been
unfairly persecuted.
Upon her death on November11th, 1938 at the age of 69, an
autopsy was performed on MaryMallon, confirming that her
gallbladder did in fact stillharbor live Salmonella typhi
(21:04):
bacteria.
And Mary Mallon, aka TyphoidMary, was quarantined for the
second time for the rest of hernatural life 110 years ago this
week in history.
Oh, the only thing contagiousis this funky beat for the new
(21:27):
time capsule.
This week we're going back 27years ago to March 27th, 1998.
What was going on in the worldof pop culture back then?
Well, let's find out.
The number one song was Gettin'Jiggy With It by Will Smith.
This was off of his album BigWillie Style.
(21:49):
It spent three weeks at numberone and won a Grammy for Best
Rap Solo Performance.
This was Will Smith's return tomusic after getting really deep
into acting and his first albumshedding the Fresh Prince
nickname, although he didcollaborate with DJ Jazzy Jeff
(22:09):
on a few songs on Big Williestyle.
The number one movie wasTitanic.
And you could get into thetheater with a ticket costing
$4.59.
One of the highest grossingmovies of all time.
One of the most decorated,critically acclaimed.
A romantic adventure historicalfilm starring Leonardo
(22:34):
DiCaprio, Kate Winslet asstar-crossed lovers on the
ill-fated Titanic ship.
The effects in this movie areincredible.
The shipwreck scenes.
The movie is 3 hours and 15minutes long, so if you've never
seen it, just be prepared forthat.
The film had a budget of $200million and has raked in more
(22:56):
than $2.3 billion.
So you spend money to makemoney.
The number one TV show was the70th Annual Academy Awards.
Big winners included JackNicholson for Best Actor, Robin
Williams Best Supporting Actor,Helen Hunt as Best Actress, Kim
(23:18):
Basinger as Best SupportingActress, and the aforementioned
Titanic as Best Picture.
And if you were around backthen, March 27th, 1998, maybe
you're looking for a fun newtechnological innovation to
waste money on, well, I gotsomething for you.
Did you know there was aspecial camera for Game Boy?
(23:41):
Oh yes, there was at Toys R Us.
It looks like a very primitivewebcam that you could link to
your Game Boy.
You could shoot photos, save upto 30 of them, even edit them
on your Game Boy.
Oh, but this comes with a catchif you didn't know.
The Game Boy itself is $49.99.
(24:01):
The Game Boy camera itself isalso $49.99.
And if you wanted to print outany of the photos you took with
your Game Boy, that would costyou $59.99.
with special Game Boy printerpaper costing $9.99.
That brings the total to$169.96, or about $331 when
(24:27):
adjusted for inflation to 2025.
So how badly do you want to beable to take pictures with your
Game Boy?
That wraps up another TimeCapsule, another This Week in
History.
Now let's jump into a brand newtop five and look at some of
the best made-for-TV moviesever, starting now.
This segment was a lot ofresearch.
(24:54):
When it came to made-for-TVmovies, I really didn't know
where to start besides justlooking up every one that's ever
been made.
I don't think the made-for-TVmovie is as big of a thing now
in the 2020s.
I don't even think it's been abig thing in the 21st century.
I think the made-for-TV moviesnow are more of the
(25:17):
made-for-streaming movies, onesthat are exclusive to Netflix or
Hulu or something like that.
But back in my day, as the oldman says, made-for-TV movies
were a big deal in the 70s, 80s,even into the 90s.
And I figured I would give youall some homework with some made
for TV movies that you shouldgo and see.
(25:38):
As I was doing my research,there were some made for TV
movies I found that ended upbeing released in theaters
afterwards.
So I had to do my best to makesure that I stuck to ones that
were just made for TV.
As with many of these top fivelists, there are some honorable
(25:58):
mentions and they are in noparticular order.
I'll do my best to kind of flythrough the honorable mentions
while giving you a little bit ofinfo.
So let's get to sharing, shallwe?
Honorable mentions for bestmade-for-TV movies include The
Jericho Mile.
This movie's from 1979 and isabout an inmate at Folsom Prison
(26:23):
who discovers that he can run amile in less than four minutes.
Another honorable mention is AnAmerican Christmas Carol.
This movie is from 1979.
It's a loose adaptation of theCharles Dickens Christmas Carol.
And it also broke actor HenryWinkler out of his typecasting
(26:44):
as the Fonz from Happy Days.
Another honorable mention is IKnow My First Name is Stephen.
This is from 1989.
It's technically a two-partminiseries, but come on.
It's about a kid who waskidnapped and survived his
ordeal for seven years.
and is based on a true story.
(27:04):
Another honorable mention isSpecial Bulletin.
This is from 1983, with a TVreporter and cameraman being
taken hostage by terrorists whoare threatening to detonate a
nuke off the coast of SouthCarolina.
And the final honorable mentionis Helter Skelter.
(27:25):
This is also a miniseries.
It's from 1976, based on thecrimes of Charles Manson and his
family.
This was one where they showedit in some countries in theaters
with additional footage, whichincluded a lot of nudity.
But those were the honorablementions.
Do you remember watching any ofthose films as you were growing
(27:48):
up in the 70s, 80s?
One thing I'm not sure of, andmaybe those of you out there
that have more information mightknow, but do you remember
made-for-TV movies getting a lotof reruns?
To me, it seems like amade-for-TV movie got released
in whatever year, they mightshow it once or twice, and then
that was it.
Anyway, let's get into theactual top five best made-for-TV
(28:12):
movies, starting with numberone, Duel.
This movie is from 1971.
It is the debut film of StevenSpielberg.
It's an action thriller aboutan electronics salesman driving
along a long stretch of kind ofrural highway.
And this old oil tanker drivenby someone that you never see
(28:37):
antagonizes him.
And it gets more and moredangerous throughout the film.
It starred Dennis Weaver as theelectronics salesman.
It's 89% fresh on RottenTomatoes.
It's amazing to think of StevenSpielberg, the legendary
director, that his start was amade-for-TV movie.
(28:57):
But if you watch it, you cansee some of the Spielberg
tendencies in it.
It's sort of like the unseendriver of the truck is kind of a
stand-in for the shark in Jaws.
Number two is It.
Yes, granted, I know this isanother miniseries, but it was
made for TV.
It's from 1990.
(29:19):
It stars Tim Curry as the evilPennywise the Clown.
A lot of you out there know theIt movies that came out in the
last 10 years.
This, again, it's based on theStephen King book.
It's every bit psychologicalhorror as the movies in
theaters.
Far less graphic because it wasmade for TV.
(29:40):
You'll find debates online.
as which versions of It werescarier, the 1990 version or the
2017 film.
Debate is all well and good,but you can like both versions.
There's no law that says that.
Number three is The Day After.
This is from 1983, and ittraumatized a whole lot of
(30:05):
people.
The film is about a nuclearexchange between the U.S.
and Soviet Union with thecharacters being based around
small towns in Kansas andMissouri.
It stars Steve Guttenberg, JoBeth Williams, John Lithgow.
During its initial broadcast,more than 100 million people in
(30:26):
the U.S.
watched this movie.
And at that time, it was theseventh highest rated non-sports
show ever in the country.
The movie was highlyinfluential on then-U.S.
President Ronald Reagan and hisviews on nuclear armament,
nuclear war.
With the Intermediate-RangeNuclear Forces Treaty from 1987
(30:49):
between the U.S.
and Russia and MikhailGorbachev, Reagan pointing a
direct line to the day aftermovie as influential on it.
Number four is The Boy in thePlastic Bubble.
This is a romantic drama from1976 starring John Travolta as
(31:11):
the boy in the bubble.
It's based on a true story of aboy with severe immune
deficiencies who has to live inthis germ-free environment.
I never saw this movie when itwas on TV, but I do remember the
Seinfeld episode with thebubble boy who wants to meet
Jerry, but instead he getsGeorge and they get in a fight
(31:33):
and George pops his bubble.
That episode is not the highlyemotional drama that the Boy in
the Plastic Bubble movie is.
And finally, number five on thelist of best ever made-for-TV
movies is Sybil.
This is from 1976.
It's a two-part film starringSally Field as a woman with
(31:56):
multiple personalities.
The film won four primetimeEmmys, including Sally Field
Best Actress Award.
The movie's based on a bookfrom 1973, which is based on a
real person named Sybil Dorsett.
My memories of this film don'thave to do with the film itself,
but the name Sybil.
(32:17):
When I was a kid, probablyfive, six years old, we had a
cat named Sybil that waspsychotic.
Maybe family who's listeningcan clue me in, but I don't
remember how we got Sybil.
I just remember being terrifiedof her, that she was very
claw-happy.
And being a five, six-year-oldkid, you're not that much bigger
(32:41):
than a cat.
Well, you are, but not comparedto when you're fully grown.
So a hissing, sharp-clawed,angry cat is not something you
like.
And I don't know if the cat wasnamed Sybil already, or if
because she was psychotic, wenamed her Sybil.
I also don't remember whathappened to that cat.
(33:02):
I'm assuming if she was clawingup me and my sister that she
was brought to the pound.
So that's my connection to themade-for-TV movie Sybil is a
psychotic cat I had as a child.
So there you go.
Some of the best made-for-TVmovies ever.
How many of those did you see,including the honorable
(33:22):
mentions?
I've seen three of the ten, andit was the first three of the
top five.
Duel, It, and The Day After.
We go from some of the best TVmovies to some of the worst TV
shows of the 1970s.
None of these are recommendedfor you to watch.
All of these TV shows I'm aboutto talk about should come with
(33:51):
a warning label.
Please do not watch.
This was a fun list to come upwith as far as worst TV shows of
the 1970s.
A lot of these shows had acertain number of episodes they
were scheduled for, and most ofthem did not make it to that
number.
There's a lot of unairedcontent in these shows.
(34:14):
Way back in episode 89 of thepodcast, I did a top five
segment on fastest canceled TVshows.
Basically shows that werecanceled after like one or two
episodes.
None of these shows in thissegment were in that top five,
so it's all fresh.
But boy, oh boy, I found 10 TVshows that aren't even good
(34:37):
enough to be found in thebargain bin in some gas station
in the middle of nowhere.
So let's let the laughs begin.
The first show is called A.E.S.
Hudson Street.
This is a sitcom from 1978sitcom, meaning it's supposed to
(35:07):
be funny.
It was on from March to Aprilof 1978, five whole episodes.
It follows the antics of thestaff at a rundown ambulance
emergency service hospital onHudson Street in Manhattan.
In a bad harbinger of things tocome for this show, the pilot
(35:29):
aired in July 1977, and itstarred F.
Murray Abraham, who's anAcademy Award-winning actor, And
when it came time to film theactual show, he wasn't there
anymore.
It's like he knew it was goingto be a bomb and he said, nah, I
don't want to be involved inthat junk.
So it was canceled after fiveepisodes.
And then, as if people didn'tlearn, in 1991, they made a
(35:54):
remake of this show just calledStat.
It lasted longer, but it wassix episodes instead of five.
I wonder if we're due foranother remake of AES Hudson
Street or STAT.
They'll just call it CancelAfter Five Episodes.
The next on this list of worstTV shows of the 70s is called
(36:18):
Assignment Vienna.
Assignment Vienna.
This is a drama series from1972.
This starred Robert Conrad asJake Webster as the man
(36:43):
undercover tracking spies inVienna.
This show lasted a whoppingeight episodes, and probably its
biggest claim to fame besidesbeing terrible and canceled
after eight episodes is that ithad Leslie Nielsen as a guest
star in one episode.
When trying to research thisshow, there's very little detail
(37:04):
for any of these eightepisodes.
Although I was able to findthat Paul Stanley directed one
of the episodes, but then Ifound it was not the singer from
Kiss.
Anyway, we move on from a dramafail to one that I had to laugh
at because all of the info Icould find about it was just how
terrible it was.
It's a show called Big SeamusLittle Seamus.
Speaker 03 (37:29):
It's
Speaker 04 (37:42):
a detective drama that lasted two whole episodes
in 1979.
It starred Brian Dennehy, as inthe dad from Tommy Boy.
So Brian Dennehy is ArnieSutter, a house detective at the
Ansonia Hotel in Atlantic City.
(38:02):
And he and his 13-year-old son,Max, solve crimes based around
gambling.
Two whole episodes and it gotcanceled.
I'm researching.
I can't figure out why the hellit was called Big Seamus,
Little Seamus.
It must be the nicknames of thedad and kid, I guess.
This plot of this show againbrings me back to the South Park
(38:25):
episode where they make fun ofFamily Guy, saying that it's
just manatees taking randomballs and putting them in order
to create these random plots.
I'm pretty sure that the peoplethat pitched all of these shows
were really enthused by them.
Man, can you imagine BigSeamus, Little Seamus, and
they're all excited and it'scanceled after two episodes?
(38:48):
The next failure of the 70s wasa show called Blanksy's
Beauties.
This is a sitcom from 1977, andit's actually a spinoff of
(39:11):
Happy Days.
It starred Nancy Walker asNancy Blansky.
Howard Cunningham from HappyDays, his cousin.
Nancy Walker is a Vegas showbizvet that is running a house
full of Vegas showgirls.
Despite being a Happy Daysspinoff and created by Gary
(39:32):
Marshall, it was a bomb thatonly lasted 13 episodes from
February through June of 1977.
The show tried to be acrossover with Happy Days,
including characters Scott Baioand Pat Morita being on it, but
they didn't get any of the mainstars, so I think that's
partially why it failed.
(39:53):
Speaking of famous shows withcrossovers that failed in the
70s, what about the Brady BunchVariety Hour?
🎵
Speaker 01 (40:10):
The Brady Bunch Hour.
Speaker 04 (40:15):
Starring Florence Henderson and Robert Reed.
The premise of this show is theBrady Bunch family is chosen to
have a variety show.
So it's supposed to be almostlike reality TV, except they're
all characters.
The show lasted one season andnine episodes between 1976 and
77, and they did, you know,songs and skits.
(40:36):
But the show's probably mostwell-known for the fake Jan.
Actress Eve Plum did not returnto be Jan Brady, so they had a
fake one.
This was made fun of on TheSimpsons when The Simpsons had a
variety show and Lisa was notpart of it, so they had fake
Lisa.
For as popular of a show as TheBrady Bunch was, it's kind of
(40:59):
surprising that this didn't lastlonger.
I don't know if people wereconfused, thinking it was going
to be another type of sitcom andnot a variety show with songs.
It's almost like they shouldhave just had the actors just be
themselves.
The next failed 70s TV show isone called In the Beginning.
Speaker 02 (41:19):
This
Speaker 04 (41:33):
was a sitcom created by Norman Lear who made All in
the Family.
It came out in 1978 and detailsthe relationship between a
stuffy priest and a liberal thatrun a Baltimore mission.
Nine episodes were filmed ofthis show.
It was canceled after five, andno one knows where the other
four went.
It's sort of like Blanksy'sBeauties, where a famed director
(41:58):
like Gary Marshall, who didHappy Days and Laverne and
Shirley, has a bomb.
This one, it's Norman Lear, allin the family, the Jeffersons,
Maude.
But I guess he couldn't make astuffy priest funny.
I guess the show tried to touchon some of the taboo subjects
of the 70s, much like All in theFamily did, but it just didn't
(42:21):
resonate with people.
It must stink to be told, yeah,we're going to film nine
episodes, and then after five,they're like, yeah, we hate you.
Because you never know.
Episode seven or eight of Inthe Beginning could have been
the one that broke them through,but we'll never know now.
Next up is a show called GeminiMan.
Did any of you watch GeminiMan?
(42:42):
This has nothing to do withastrology.
It's a drama show from 1976,and it had a leg up.
(43:04):
It's based on a legendary bookby H.G.
Wells.
It's about a man who's a secretagent, and he has a watch that
can make him invisible, but ifhe stays invisible for more than
15 minutes, he remainsinvisible forever.
The two-hour pilot aired in May1976, with the show kicking off
proper that September.
(43:25):
There were 11 total episodes,but the show was canceled in the
U.S.
after five.
Low ratings and high costs forthe show were the main reasons.
Interestingly, despite the showbombing in the U.S., all 11
episodes aired over in Englandand it was somewhat greater
success, including a recordalbum and a hardcover book based
(43:49):
on the show.
So Gemini Man in England iskind of like David Hasselhoff's
popularity in Germany.
Hey, you never know whereyou're popular.
I know with this podcast,second to the U.S.
in popularity for the show isSingapore.
I never would have guessedthat.
We move on, though, to anotherspinoff fail of the 70s.
(44:11):
That is Grady.
Speaker 03 (44:13):
You
Speaker 04 (44:27):
know who Grady was?
He was Fred Sanford's friend onSanford and Son.
If you've never heard of Gradyfrom that show, there's a reason
why this show failed.
You take like the fourth orfifth most popular side
character on a show and try tocreate something based on them.
It's usually not going to work.
(44:48):
I think Frasier is kind of theexception to the rule where you
had Frasier Crane on Cheers whowas down the list of popular
characters, but somehow heworked and his show became
almost as popular as Cheers was.
Not so with Grady.
So Grady, the character, leavesSanford and Son in 1975 to move
(45:12):
in with his daughter and theshow lasts 10 episodes and Grady
was soon back on Sanford andSon.
It's almost like the Clevelandshow with Family Guy where
Cleveland left for his own showand then that show didn't make
it.
It lasted four seasons, Ithink, but he still ended up
back on Family Guy.
So Grady failed because nobodycared about him having his own
(45:35):
show.
This next show failed becauseof the huge, huge costs of it.
And that was Super Train.
Super Train.
This was a sci-fi action seriesabout the story of passengers
(46:01):
on a nuclear-powered high-speedtrain.
The show was on for nineepisodes in 1979.
Like I said, it's theproduction costs.
In 1979, NBC paid $10 millionfor three trains to be made.
That translates to nearly $44million when adjusted for
(46:21):
inflation to 2025.
So that's already putting thembehind the eight ball with this
show.
It would have had to have beenthe biggest rating success
possible to mitigate thosecosts.
It was ranked one of the worstshows of all time by TV Guide.
And even when the show was out,the reviews were predicting it
(46:41):
to be canceled within 13 weeks.
And it did.
It was canceled within nine.
I think I saved the best forlast here, though.
This is one of those thedefinition of lost media.
The last show is called McGurk,A Dog's Life.
Speaker 00 (46:58):
I woke up this morning.
I guess it was the usual time.
I don't know for sure.
I can't tell time.
I'm a dog.
Speaker 01 (47:05):
In a dog's life, actors in dog suits barked
one-liners at each other, andcommented on society,
relationships, and politics froma canine perspective.
Speaker 04 (47:15):
This show is from 1979.
It stars Barney Martin, who wasJerry's dad on Seinfeld.
And he's a anthropomorphic dog,or more specifically, a human
in a dog costume.
And it's the life of this dog.
This show was only a half-hourpilot, aired on June 15th, 1979.
(47:38):
It was shown once and thennever seen again.
The idea was from Norman Lear,again, All in the Family.
His idea was to tackle some ofthese controversial issues like
on All in the Family, but from adog's point of view.
This show failed so badly thatit was Norman Lear's last ever
(48:01):
TV concept.
So McGurk, A Dog's Life, killedthe TV career of Norman Lear.
You can find very poor qualityclips, but the full pilot
episode is nowhere to be found.
It's probably burned and thrownin the trash right after it
aired.
So there you go.
(48:22):
Some of the worst TV show failsof the 1970s.
Were any of these on your list?
Did you watch them?
Or any of these, I name themand make fun of them, and you're
saying, wait, I liked BigSeamus, Little Seamus, or Grady.
Or did you see McGurk, A Dog'sLife?
That seems to have aired onceand just vanished forever with
(48:43):
good reason.
In the future, I'll definitelydo other TV show fails from
different decades, so don'tworry, I'm not picking on the
70s.
But until next week, that'sgoing to wrap up episode 188 of
the In My Footsteps podcast.
Thank you all so much fortuning in, hopefully for making
it to the end.
(49:04):
I hope I have given you yourfull dose of nostalgia you need
for the week.
I always find fun things totalk about from the good old
days past.
Next week on episode 189, I ambringing back Blink and You'll
Miss It Retro.
This will be the fourth one.
(49:24):
We're going to look at somehousehold items that came and
went in a flash.
I'm also going to have aspecial this week in history as
we look at one of the cruelApril Fool's jokes from New
England.
I do not want to spoil it.
You can do your own research ifyou can't wait till next week.
If you enjoy my work, mycontent, you can become a
(49:46):
subscriber on Patreon for $5 amonth.
It gets you access to the bonusmonthly podcast episodes.
Now the remastered without amap live streams.
And I'm always looking for newcontent to put up there for my
paying customers.
If becoming a member isn'tfeasible right now, you can
(50:07):
always check out the freecontent.
There's an ever-growing freetier for those of you to try
before you buy.
Or of course, you could buy mea coffee.
All the links are in thedescription of the podcast,
including a lot of links to myother content, YouTube channel,
the Initial Impressions 2.0blog.
(50:28):
some of my books.
You can visit my homepage,ChristopherSetterlin.com, links
to all nine of my books.
Hopefully within the next monthor so, the In My Footsteps
podcast website will be up.
Right now, it's a lot offinishing up details, getting
every link I've ever shared upthere so you can check them out,
(50:52):
getting all of the cover artfor every episode up there, I am
by no means a web designer.
I am by no means a graphicdesigner.
So for me, trying to do it onmy own takes a lot more time
because I'm trying to do itright.
I don't want my website to beout there looking like a
(51:13):
five-year-old's crayon drawingswhere you're like, boy, I feel
so bad for him.
He tried.
Happy birthdays this week to mycousin Ryan and my uncle Frank.
I hope all of you out there areenjoying the first full week of
spring.
I hope the weather where youare is better than on Cape Cod.
(51:33):
The first month of spring forus here is really what I say.
I'm not joking when I say it's45, cloudy, foggy, drizzly.
And then it's like late April.
Suddenly someone remembers it'sspring.
And then it's upper 50s, 60,sunny.
Me, I'm an outdoor cat.
(51:54):
I love being outside in nature.
I do lots of podcast walks,which is why I recommend it to
you listening.
Take the podcast outside.
I keep them just under an hour,which is perfect for a walk.
But however you listen to thepodcast, wherever you listen to
it, it's all good as long as youlisten and enjoy, and I'll keep
(52:18):
pumping out the content.
I will keep you posted in thecoming weeks and months as to
where you can find my filmdebut.
It will be streaming.
I don't know about anything intheaters as far as local
showings go and such, but I doknow you will be able to see it
and you will hear about it fromme.
(52:39):
And who knows?
Maybe you'll hear about moreacting gigs besides me acting
like a fool.
Actual real ones.
So let's wrap this show up Sowe can all get outside and enjoy
that weather.
Remember, in this life, don'twalk in anyone else's footsteps.
Create your own path and enjoyevery moment you can on this
(53:02):
journey we call life.
Because you never know whattomorrow brings.
This has been the In MyFootsteps podcast.
I am Christopher Setterlund.
You already knew that.
And I'll talk to you all againsoon.
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