Battle of the Network Shows

Back in the BOTNS era and before, many TV shows had licensed comic book adaptations, but many more didn't. Rick and Mike pick five each that should have had their own comic, suggest possible details like look and format, and Mike even offers to write some of them! Join us for this mixed media adventure.

In this week's bonus episode, we play a couple rounds of Golden Girls Mad Libs, combining two of podcasting's biggest trends -- grammar and senior citizens. We learn a little about parts of speech, the girls themselves, and maybe, just maybe ourselves.

This week, we talk about a recent opportunity we had to meet the great Robert Pine, patron saint of Battle of the Network Shows! Then to sweeten the deal, we offer an encore presentation of our "Lowenbrau" episode, featuring one Robert Pine!

Join us on the Astral Plane as we celebrate season 5 of Battle of the Network Shows with the Season 5 BATTY Awards! Will classics like MASH, Hill Street Blues, and The Jeffersons run away with the awards, or will a dark horse or two emerge victorious, could a wooden plank win an award, and what's that floating above Rick's head? All this and more on the Season 5 BATTY Awards from the Astral Plane.

Season 5 draws to a close with Saturday Night Live and the Not Ready for Primetime Players. Ray Charles serves as host and musical guest, making for a unique episode, and we get into the value of SNL then, later, and even now, and we even attempt a couple impressions of impressions. Also, thanks to our listeners for voting for this one.

This week, we take a look at two forgotten sitcoms, the Mel Brooks Robin Hood spoof "When Things Were Rotten" and early eighties oater "Best of the West." Along the way, we meet some old friends, encounter another take on Who's on First, and get into a heated exchange about "Alias."

Long before cinematic shared universes were a thing, the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, shared rotating weeks of "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries," and met each other on screen in a series of crossovers. They also met Dracula! Or maybe someone pretending to be Dracula! Suspects include Paul Williams, Lorne Green, and the mayor of Transylvania.

After George airs his feelings about mixed marriages, he has to engage in full-on farce to save a business deal. Years later, a near-death experience leads him to open a museum...about himself.

This week, we delve into the gritty, chaotic, groundbreaking Hill Street Blues. We hit all the important topics: the large cast of character actors, the serialized storytelling, the classic theme song, and the mustaches. Guest stars include Dennis Franz, Jonathan Banks, a robot, and Sonny Crockett?!

Trucker B.J. McKay and his best pal Bear, a chimp, face off with Sheriff Cain and his supercar...designed and built by one Erin Gray. We dig deep into this one, speculate on its role as the possible secret origin of Knight Rider, and pitch our own trucker show Truckstop Lawyer.

After your Thanksgiving feast, gather round the radio for a BOTNS-style Thanksgiving with The Waltons. This one has everything you'd want from Thanksgiving: family, turkey hunting, romance, moonshine, a pageant, test taking, and a major head injury. Plus, we speculate on the comics in John-Boy's self-published regional newspaper.

In a perfect BOTNS-era plot, Charlie's Angels (original class) go undercover at "men's" magazine "Feline" to stop a murderer from killing more centerfolds. Jill (Farrah Fawcett) might even have to become a centerfold! Guest stars include BATTY award winner Hugh O'Brian and the great Alan Fudge!

Our listeners voted again, and we listened. Pick and grin with us as we discuss two episodes of country variety classic "Hee Haw," featuring Freddy Fender, Melba Montgomery, Johnny Cash, and La Costa. Crank up the laugh track, let the banjo licks fly, and don't let the fence hit you on the way out. Plus, we hear an extra-special "Hee Haw" story from one our listeners.

When a giant puppet head and Lucille Bluth try to break down the barriers between dimensions, only one man has the prescription and mustache to stop them--Dr. Strange, Sorcerer Supreme.

Listen to us yammer and yack about this lost gem of the small screen. The Grinch and Halloween? Has anyone ever seen such a scene?! We give you the why, the where, the Who, the when, and maybe if you're lucky the to what extent! Let's have a good time, let's make a good rhyme, let's have a little fright but try to keep it light, for Halloween is Grinch Night!

We start season 5 with a true classic--MASH! To give supplies to a local orphanage, Hawkeye invents Captain Tuttle, but his best laid plans turn into a madcap scramble when Burns wants to meet the mysterious Tuttle.

After a crushing defeat in the last Fame Game, Mike returns to the hot seat to see if he can guess another BOTNS-era performer, personality, or character and get his record up to 2-2, plus an astounding amount of "Caroline in the City" discussion.

Following up on a recent bonus episode, we take a little time to discuss the pilot of the Magnum P.I. remake. Mike saw it, Rick didn't, so he asks some questions, and Mike offers some answers about the most important topics: mustaches, mustaches, and mustaches.

Live on data tapes from Theta Station, it's the Season Four BATTYs...in...space! Join the stars in the stars as they vie for the most prestigious awards this side of Neptune! Ooh and even ahh at the latest high-fashion jumpsuits! Thrill at the competition of space push ball! Learn lessons about camping in space with Barry White! Most of all, root for your favorite stars in your favorite categories like best performance by a non-human, best episode, and of course best facial hair!

After recent announcements of possible ALF and Facts of Life reboots, we asked members of our Facebook group what reboots, remakes, or returns of seventies or eighties shows they'd like to see. We break those down and offer a few suggestions of our own, plus a tale of Ray Liotta.

Can you solve the identity of this week's mysterious BOTNS-era individual before Mike does? With Turtle Wax and his reputation on the line, will Mike even solve it? Find out on the Fame Game!

Nothing quite says a show has grown long in the tooth quite like the addition of a new "cute" kid. Groan along, as we break down the worst of the worst from the seventies and eighties

The TV Guide game returns as Rick dives into his vast collection of vintage TV Guide issues and tries to guess what shows Mike would have watched. This time, we go back to January, 14, 1987, and find out what Mike and Richmond, Virginia, might have watched. Keep an ear out for past BOTNS favorites Tom Selleck and Connie Sellecca.

In our EXPLOSIVE season finale, the one-and-only A-TEAM SPRINGS into ACTION to help a struggling wild west show against...THE A-TEAM?! This one has it all: FIST FIGHTS, DISGUISES, MILITARY STOOGES, NONLETHAL VIOLENCE, BILL LUCKING, AND WEAPONIZED TAFFY!

The listeners voted again, and we listened again and discuss workplace sitcom Barney Miller. With half the NYPD out with swine flu, the overworked detectives of the 12th precinct have to contend with no coffee, shots, old people, and a werewolf! Plus, we work Marvel Comics superheroes and movie monsters into the conversation.

This week, we delve into the weird 1972 animated special "Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter," which takes Popeye and adds most of his King Features comic strip cohorts, including Blondie and Dagwood, Beetle Bailey, Hi and Lois, Quincy, Snuffy Smith, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Steve Canyon, and more! Popeye does impressions, Olive flirts with Steve, a number of characters eat a lot of food, and a Dagwood sandwich saves the day! It might not get any weirder than this.

For many of us who grew up in the eighties, one name defines late night--Dave--and this week, we focus on the "Camping with Barry White," episode, which features Jacqueline Bisset, the television debut of Bobcat Goldthwait, and of course...camping with Barry White. Awww, yeah.

To celebrate 50th Full Episode, we do something unprecedented and revisit a show--CHiPs! Just as we return to he well, do the men and women of the CHP when they deal with an annoying kid, humorous thieves played by likable character actors, and lots and lots of celebrities! Boulders, push ball, stars, Uncle Miltie, and more!

This week, we tackle the groundbreaking Norman Lear urban sitcom Good Times! Nothing goes as expected when James finds $27,000 stolen from a grocery store. Plus, we delve into the mysteries of the Norman Lear multiverse.

We put up a poll, the listeners voted, and we've responded with Buck Rogers in the 25th Century "Space Vampire." Things get spooky when Buck, Wilma, and Twiki have to face a space vampire...and his one giant eyebrow! Drinking game: drink every time we use space as an adjective.

We follow up our Mary Tyler Moore Episode with a look at its dramatic spinoff Lou Grant. When a tunnel collapses, Lou gets the "L.A. Tribune" team in high gear while managing fragile egos, a TV-loving intern, a human fly, an unhappy assistant editor, a nut job, and...Swedes? Yes, Gilligan's Island comes up, too.

Love is all around as we discuss iconic sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Mary wants a raise. Instead, she has to mastermind WJM's new "fun" news format. Everything should run smoothly as long as no one tells Ted he's the straight man. Oops! Plus...Gilligan's Island?

The zingers fly when Dean Martin gathers a cavalcade of stars and celebrities to roast Peter Marshall, host of "Hollywood Squares," including Vincent Price, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Rip Taylor, Orson Welles, and Paul Lynde! Plus, the mysterious case of Jimmie Walker.

We knew next to nothing about classic primetime sudser Dynasty, but that didn't stop us from diving into season 3 cliffhanger finale "The Cabin." Characters scheme, characters seethe, characters threaten, but mostly they talk. Also, fire, a mustache, and surprise guest stars!

This week, we look at two episodes of beloved kid-com Punky Brewster. First, Henry (George Gaynes) desperately wants to get tickets to the Cubs-Padres playoff game, but even Punky Power might not help him this time. Then, Punky (Soleil Moon Frye) tries to overcome...URBAN FEAR!

Season 4 begins with a star-spangled bang! Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America starred in not one but two TV movies! We talk about both but focus on "Captain America II: Death Too Soon." Cap (Reb Brown) must stop the mysterious rebel general Miguel (Christopher Lee) before his de-aging formula takes out Portland, Oregon!

Join Rick, Mike, plus Bobby and the BOTNS Orchestra for another thrilling round of The Fame Game! Will Mike guess this week's mystery celebrity or go down swinging? Find out on The Fame Game!

This week, we take a brief look back at the career of the late Steven Bochco, co-creator of BOTNS-era-defining dramas "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A. Law," as well as groundbreaking nineties shows like "NYPD Blue" and "Murder One."

In The Fame Game, Rick puts Mike on the hot seat and challenges him to identify a BOTNS-era celebrity based on a series of clues. Will Mike rise to the challenge or fail miserably? Find out in The Fame Game!

The Internet loves lists, and we've added another one. Mike and Rick each pick their 5 top TV chefs and cooks from the seventies and eighties--real or fictional--plus a few honorable mentions.

We asked you, the listener, to help us, the podcasters, choose two of our shows for the upcoming season 4, and the results are in! Who won in the category of sci-fi show: Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, or Space 1999? Which show emerged triumphant among the workplace sitcoms: WKRP in Cincinnati, Benson, or Barney Miller? Find out right there on our continuing coverage.

Just in time for Major League Baseball opening day, we revisit another What We Want to See segment now that we've seen it. This time, Mike saw an episode of "Ball Four," the baseball sitcom based on Jim Bouton's book of the same name. Will the players really spend "A Quiet Day at the Iroquois Hotel"? Will their antics live up to the real ones Bouton described in his book? Will that one guy ever go to the bathroom? Find out on What We Saw!

In this bonus minisode, we play a very special round of everybody's favorite Robert Pine based game Pick Your Pine as Rick tries to guess what episode of CHiPs Robert Pine and our man Dick Van Patten appeared in together!

We head back out to sea for a new game, The Love Boat Game, where Mike challenges to Rick to figure out which guest stars played which roles. For our maiden voyage, we look at Season 6, episode 10, "The Man In the Iron Shorts, Victims, Heavens to Betsy," featuring Janine Turner, Ruth Warrick, Laurence Lau, and a man called Pine.

In this bonus minisode, we play another round of everybody's favorite Robert Pine based game Pick Your Pine. This time, Rick tries to guess what show from the BOTNS era featured both Robert Pine and the great Anne Meara.

In this bonus minisode, we discuss seeing a show we once wanted to see, Year At the Top. Greg Evigan and Paul Shaffer sell their souls to rock and roll with help from Mickey Rooney! Mike saw an episode, Rick has a lot of questions, and Mike has some surprising answers.

ALL ABOARD THE PACIFIC PRINCESS FOR THE SEASON 3 BATTLE OF THE NETWORK SHOWS BATTY AWARDS…AT SEA! YOUR BARTENDER ISAAC WILL BE MIXING COLORTINIS ALL NIGHT, SO SIT BACK AND LAUGH AT THE COMEDY STYLINGS OF MERRIL STUBING! RELIVE THE BEST OF THE "EIGHT IS ENOUGH" TALENT SHOW, LOVINGLY RE-CREATED BY OUR CRACK RESEARCH TEAM! GROOVE TO A SPECIAL DUET BY MICHAEL KNIGHT AND KITT…ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE GERMAN! ALL THIS PLUS NEW AWARDS CATEGORIES, THE RETURN OF FAVORITES LIKE BEST SHOW, BEST EPISODE, AND BEST FACIAL HAIR, AND DON'T FORGET THE ROBERT PINE GENIUS AWARD! NEXT!

With anticipation running high for the season 3 BATTY Awards, we present this special teaser. Hear the Outstanding Eyebrows category before anyone else and be sure to return next Thursday for the full extravaganza!

All aboard The Love Boat for our season 3 finale. In this fascinating, timely, yet very much of its time episode: Marcia Brady competes in a beauty contest and contends with a jealous boyfriend (Bobby Sherman); our man DVP (Dick Van Patten) plays a disgraced politician courted by Mama (Vicki Lawrence) for the wrong reasons; and Isaac (Ted Lange) learns about his people from an unlikely source. Plus, Rick argues that The Love Boat is the quintessential TV show, and we try to figure out what Gopher does.

Rick fulfills a podcast dream to talk about professional wrestling, and Mike plays along. This episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event" features staples like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and Rowdy Roddy Piper, plus Jesse Ventura providing very colorful color commentary. Expect action, expect yelling, expect something resembling comedy. Oh, and did we mention the wedding?