It’s the third episode of the seven-part miniseries IT CAME FROM SYNDICATION! This time around, I continue my look at syndicated television from the 1980s and 1990s with a look at a category known as “Infotainment,” which includes news programs, sports programs, entertainment journalism, and talk shows. Join me and Amanda as we talk about everything from The George Michael Sports Machine to A Current Affair and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
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After the cut is some fun stuff that was featured in the episode …
“Eye on Springfield”:
The intro to Soul Train:
The intro to Puttin’ On the Hits:
The intro to The George Michael Sports Machine:
The intro to American Gladiators:
Scenes from the Simpsons episode “A Milhouse Divided” with an American Gladiators reference:
The opening to Entertainment Tonight (bonus: check out the Better Off Dead … clip at the beginning):
Bill O’Reilly’s “We’ll do it live!” rant:
Homer talking about the babysitter’s “Sweet Sweet Can”:
A commercial for A Current Affair:
Another commercial for A Current Affair:
The opening to Starting Over (aka “Old Lady Real World”):
The “Oprah’s On!” commercial:
The intro to The Arsenio Hall Show:
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As much as I love listening to Tom’s various podcasts (I’ve been a fan of The ‘Nam since episode 1!), I was not able to make it through this episode due to the topic and (to a lesser degree) the cadence of his wife’s voice. Hopefully the next episode will be cheerier as this one struck me as pretty dour in mood.
Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. The idea for our episode(much like other episodes like this) the number of times over our 20+ years together that we’ve had fun conversations like this and recording them seemed natural. We had a lot of fun recording and I had a lot of fun putting this episode together. Glad you like “In Country,” though.