It Was a Thing on TV: An Anthology on Forgotten Television
Partially an oral history of obscure TV shows, partially an oral version of MST3K, and partially a thorough episode guide, It Was a Thing on TV is an anthology podcast about obscure, forgotten, and odd TV shows, commercials, televised events, and almost anyone and anything else that was on television. For the most part, the subjects we cover are from the United States and Canada. We’re just three guys with a love for television. New episodes are generally every Monday and Thursday, sometimes more often.
Episodes
None of us take responsibility for selecting this show and putting it on our schedule, which must say how bad this show is. Two ex-cons produce a TV show about protecting people from scams, which makes sense; who'd know more about the scamming business than two reformed ex-cons? This show's shelf life was very short and for obvious reasons. At least a young Marg Helgenberger is in this.
With WrestleMania in Las Vegas this weekend, Greg and Dane look at the last Mania held in Vegas in WrestleMania IX from Caesar's Palace! It's a double main event with the Hulkster returning with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake to face Money Inc. for the WWF Tag Titles and Bret Hart defending the WWF World Title against Yokozuna!
Also, we ask ourselves were there two Doink's? How did Hogan get that black eye? What the hell was that bod...
At the height of the professional wrestling boom in the late 1990's, NBC aired a special "exposing" the "secrets" of the industry. Did you know in wrestling, there are good guys and bad guys, and that a guy arranges who wins and who loses? No? Did you also know that signs are planted and given to fans, and that a stunt granny gets pushed by one of the wrestlers every night? Prepare to blow your mind as Greg and Chico discover the s...
The 70s were a heck of a time. Anybody could get their own variety series and a pretty boy teen idol from earlier in the decade could play a undercover cop? Keith Partridge himself was the lead in this series, a complete 180 to singing and playing the guitar not 5 years prior. Ultimately, this cop show was handily defeated by another cop show, one which aired for most of that decade.
A couple of years ago, on a Live Show, we watched Tim Conway, in one of the many Dorf VHS tapes, play Baseball. Now, in our latest Live Show, we see him try to teach us how to play Bingo. Is this one of the most painful things we've ever had to sit through? Get your dabbers ready as we watch Dorf Da Bingo King!
Here's a link to download or watch the program if you want to follow along via archive.org - https://archive.org/details/v...
As you surely know, the occasional personnel change on a TV show occurs for various reasons, ranging from health issues and death to just going in a different direction. In 1982, one of television's most popular shows, The Dukes of Hazzard, experienced such a change over salary issues. Out were the popular Bo and Luke Duke, in were Coy and Vance for a lackluster season, before Bo and Luke returned.
In late 2001, Australian promoter Andrew McManus tried to capitalize on the lack of a strong number two promotion in pro wrestling after the death of WCW with World Wrestling All-Stars.
Greg and Dane look at the first pay-per-views from this short-lived promotion, where they discuss Mark Madden's bad commentary, Norman Smiley being awesome, Bret Hart refusing to have Montreal Part II on his watch, Puppet, and, of course, REVOLUTION...
We are a week into the 2025 baseball season. We chose this very short-lived series from 1983 about minor league baseball as our tribute to America's Pastime. This series featured an amazing 20 people who appeared on every episode, covering all the bases from the players, the coaches, their partners, and even the mascot. As one might guess with an entry on this podcast, the series got benched after a brief period of time.
The United Football League kicked off the 2025 season in Houston on Friday as the Houston Roughnecks hosted the St. Louis Battlehawks. In this live show we look at what notable names are in the UFL this season along with some discussion about NCAA March Madness and Opening Day in MLB.
Thanks to the WWE Vault YouTube Channel, Greg and Dane look at this early 1984 Georgia Championship Wrestling House Show from The Omni in Atlanta that was recently unearthed.
Among some of the discussion, differences in wrestling crowds then compared to now, Tommy Rich in a mask, Referee Gary Ewing, the greatness of Brad Armstrong and King Kong Bundy as a babyface?
You can watch the full show on YouTube at this link. - https://www....
Some shows age like a fine wine. Others age like bad milk. This show falls under the latter, a show which would never see the light of day in 2025 but did get 13 episodes in 1988. Scott Bakula stars in this series as a new hotshot lawyer who has a way with the ladies, a year before Bakula would hit it real big. In true 1988 "don't give a darn" fashion, there was enough misogyny and quasi-racism to go around.
The 21st century has brought new forms of inspiration for TV shows. This show is an example of that, taking one social media user's rants about his father as the basis of a comedy series. In what we believe is beautiful casting, the father is played by William Shatner, whose 94th birthday is coming this Saturday. With the Shat, you never know what $h*! he may say.
Greg and Dane, in Episode 5 of The Squared Circle Time Machine, do a deep psychological dive into their favorite maniac, Mr. Bob Backlund, who has never eaten Mary Jane!
They go back to 1982 when Superstar Billy Graham destroyed his WWF championship belt to his loss to Sheiky Baby in '83 to him holding a cardboard championship belt to cope with his loss and finally to the events after he snapped when he lost to Bret Hart in 1994.
E...
Our second and last entry into our annual foray into shows that were lost in translation takes us to this Japanese import, where a show that started with almost 1000 competitors whittled the competition until one person survived, all while traveling around the world. Sounds sort of like contemporary shows Beast Games or Squid Game? Nope. Over 4 decades ago, Ultra Quiz was the biggest game in Japan. Naturally, an American versio...
It's Lost in Translation time on the podcast! To start, we look at the second attempt to Americanize the classic British comedy Fawlty Towers, but with Bea Arthur as the lead. It followed a stinker of a show. (Condo, see episode 79.) However, it also was up against one of the most popular series of the 1980s. Despite being evicted after 13 episodes, that number is still more than the number of episodes of Fawlty Towers.
In the newest edition of Before the Show, Greg and Mike discuss the shocking heel turn of an invisible man at the WWE Elimination Chamber PLE last week in Toronto. Mike also talks about the recently released Cheers trading card set from Rittenhouse.
Then Chico joins us for Segment 2 where they discuss the Sun Belt Gauntlet, Doug Gottlieb's Reign of Error in Green Bay, and the recent passing of George Lowe the voice of Space Ghost b...
To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of this PPV, Greg and Dane are bringing you an unauthorized, unsanctioned, and UNCENSORED episode! WCW Uncensored 1995 is a show that has it all! It has a King of the Road match that transcends space and time! A Martial Arts Match! A Boxer vs. Wrestler Match! A Concession Stand Brawl! And most importantly Ric Flair in drag!
Get the leather strap ready and prepare for an episode of The Squared Circl...
Our celebration of Bryan Cranston’s nice birthday continues with a tennis match gone wrong, Linda Hamilton with a frank & vivid illustration of the state of mental health in the mid-1980s, and in the middle of it all? Mystery writer and reluctant true-crime aficionado Jessica Fletcher. It’s one of his three appearances on Murder, She Wrote. Can she solve the mystery before another car blows?
In honor of a very nice birthday coming up for Bryan Cranston we honor two guest appearances this week that he did early in his acting career. The first is a 1986 episode of "Airwolf" in a villain of the week turn in which he confronts his ex-girlfriend at a sorority reunion on the Queen Mary! Can the Airwolf crew manage to save the day?
In this and the next episode with Mike away, Greg and Chico are joined by an alternate this wee...
This coming Monday, Mike is celebrating his birthday (the big 5-0) and he chose this as his Money in the Bank pick, a cult classic about a police inspector with a hair trigger temper, as well as a hair trigger on his very large Magnum gun. It was good enough to squeak by for two seasons. As for this selection, trust Mike. He knows what he's doing.
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