This week on It Was a Thing on TV we have a lot of stock footage and glop but remember that our topics are Top Secret!
 
First, it was a movie in 1990, and a successful one at that.  Two years later, a Darkman pilot was done for FOX.  The password is "expository."  And what's the deal with a 16-year-old playing a cop?  Listen to this episode and you'll know what we're talking about.
 
Next, Pyramid was cancelled months earlier, Blackout wasn't getting the viewers, and CBS had Family Feud waiting in the wings in early 1988.  Enter Wink Martindale with his format Top Secret which didn't crack CBS' lineup but had its own board game.  Be warned there is some whispering, followed by louder audio.  Respect your eardrums.
 
Finally, in the early 90s, if you had a beef with someone, you couldn't necessarily take them to a TV courtroom.  Enter a show with boxing, trash cans, and feather dusters, where combatants took their issues to the ring.  The Grudge Match is a show we have wanted to cover for some time and thanks to another podcast, a full episode made its way online recently.
 
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Timestamps
0:30 - Darkman Pilot
33:37 - Classic Commercial Break
35:51 - Top Secret (1988 Pilot)
1:26:45 - The Jenny Position Commercial
1:27:51 - The Grudge Match