The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

It's eight days before SummerSlam 1994, and on the latest episode of The SCTM, Greg and Dane look at this USA Network special hyping the PPV.

They look at Leslie Nielsen's search for The Undertaker, the possibility of Lex Luger selling out to Ted DiBiase, and Bret Hart fat-shaming Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart.

Make sure to eat a Domino's Pizza before you listen to this episode.

You’ve heard many stories about Elvis… his music, his moves, his crappy movies, but have you listened to the one where he invites Miss Tennessee to a kung fu movie and then starts a relationship? In 1981, Stephanie Zimbalist was the beauty queen, and Don Johnson was her King in a made-for-TV tragedy about the last few years of his life.

In this installment, we have yet another revival whose shelf life was incredibly short.  Was it because of the competition?  Was it because all the major characters were played by new actors?  Was the original series too fresh in the minds of viewers?  No matter the answer, The Case of the Quickly Cancelled Show got a swift verdict from viewers and CBS executives.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, there was a crew of space garbage pickers before previous installment Salvage 1.  (See episode 399.)  NBC aired the pilot episode with little fanfare and little success.  However, something happened within two weeks of the pilot airing which gave NBC a reason to turn this pilot into a full-fledged series, albeit for just a smattering of episodes.

Here is another case of taking a successful movie and turning the general premise into a lackluster TV show.  Though there is no connection between this show and Look Who's Talking, outside of slightly changed names, the similarities are there.  Despite being called the worst show on TV in its first season, the show got a second season and remained bad.

In the newest "Best of", we go back to Episode 82 when the gang covered this ABC drama from Steven Bochco from 2005 that was his big follow-up to "NYPD Blue".

It's about a NYC Police Detective who gets shot, he becomes blind, and he solves crimes! That's the show, everybody! But hey, it's the first episode we covered that has future show HoFer Rena Sofer in it! That counts for something, right? RIGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTT?

104 years ago on July 23, one of our favorites, Calvert Deforest AKA Larry "Bud" Melman, was born.  In honor of this milestone, we are watching a VHS release of a workout video for those who think Jazzercise is too strenuous.  Sit back, grab your remote, as well as a cold one and your favorite snack for Larry "Bud" Melman's workout for couch potatoes.

One thing all three of us enjoy is a good game of pinball.  With the 50th anniversary of this show happening earlier this week, it was a natural for us to cover this show.  What may have looked good on paper was not, for reasons ranging from the machine often broke down to the physics which made traditional pinball fun were non-existent.

In honor of the cinematic release of the new version of Superman, we look at a pilot that was sort of the spiritual successor to The Adventures of Superman, after its 6 season run.  This is one of those pilots that makes you ask why, between the premise of the pilot, the creepy costumes, and the overall cheapness in quality.  This time, we don't have a dog of a show for you.  We have a superdog!

In our newest edition of "Before the Show", we look at the Italian Bowl in Toledo and a hurdler having multiple wardrobe malfunctions in Segment 1.

Then, in Segment 2, we are joined by Chico as we discuss the lack of ticket sales of Hulk Hogan's Real American Wrestling at Cleveland State, along with an update on Greg's progress on "Knots Landing", before talking about the selection of movies on Bounce.

Summer movie season is upon us.  This installment, we look at a very short-lived comedy about an old time movie theater and its cast of high school-aged workers, specifically one employee who dreams of making it big in the movies one day.  The show died a quick death, in part, because it aired, ironically, on a day when many people go to the movies.

First-run syndication in the 1980s was a blessing for numerous sitcoms that might not have gotten a fair shake from the networks--Too Close for Comfort, Mama's Family, Out of This World.  Charles in Charge had a similar fate.  It didn't find enough eyes on CBS, but give it a year and a half, and it would become a comedy staple of the late 80s and early 90s.  Alas, Jamie Widdoes did not make it to the successful syndicated run.