It Was a Thing on TV: Episodes 405, 406, & 407 - The Waverly Wonders/Galaxy High School/Mrs. Columbo

2023-09-13

This week on It Was a Thing on TV we go back to school while looking at a future starship captain play detective. First, legendary NFL quarterback Joe Namath's last stop in his illustrious career brought him to Los Angeles, with the Rams in 1977. The next year, one of his first post-retirement gigs was on The Waverly Wonders, which was very reminiscent of a popular show on another network at the time. Just over a month later, the show got canceled. Its replacement, however, would last over 7 years.

This week on It Was a Thing on TV we go back to school while looking at a future starship captain play detective.

First, legendary NFL quarterback Joe Namath's last stop in his illustrious career brought him to Los Angeles, with the Rams in 1977. The next year, one of his first post-retirement gigs was on The Waverly Wonders, which was very reminiscent of a popular show on another network at the time. Just over a month later, the show got canceled. Its replacement, however, would last over 7 years.

Then, a bookish girl & a jock are selected to attend high school in space. An up-and-coming movie scribe & a legendary anime studio are chosen to bring them to life. What started as a Saturday morning failure turned into a cult classic. Strap in and hold on as we round out this year’s Back to School special with a trip to Galaxy High School.

Finally, Columbo was an NBC staple in their Mystery Movie rotation throughout most of the 70s. When the network went on a huge decline at the end of the decade, NBC tried anything to get viewers including a non-canonical spinoff. At least we got to see a young Captain Janeway.

Timestamps

0:00 - Greg Cold Open

1:40 - The Waverly Wonders

45:48 - Galaxy High School

1:26:20 - Mrs. Columbo aka Kate Columbo aka Kate the Detective aka Kate Loves a Mystery (yes, the show went by all these names)

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