Battle of the Network Shows

Each week, hosts Rick Brooks and Mike Cowgill explore the TV of the '70s and '80s through hand-picked episodes.

Episode 12-5: Donny and Marie 09/05/2024

Episode 12-5: Donny and Marie Last season, Sonny and Cher narrowly beat out Donny and Marie in a listener poll, but we promised to cover Donny and Marie this season, and here we are! In our cutest episode to date, the brother-sister duo celebrates the history of TV with regular Paul Lynde and the likes of Milton Berle, Art Linkletter, and the one and only George Gobel! This one has everything you'd expect from a seventies variety show: celebrities, singing, dancing, "comedy"...and ice skating. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #varietyshow #donnyandmarie #osmonds Read full show notes and more at Join our Facebook group at Support the show by buying merch at /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/32857237

Episode 12-4: Dan August 08/29/2024

Episode 12-4: Dan August After 12 seasons, we finally talk about a Quinn Martin Production--Dan August! Before Burt Reynolds was BURT REYNOLDS, he starred as the titular homicide detective Dan August for one season alongside Norman Fell, Richard Anderson, and in this episode a galaxy of guest stars. A murder of a young woman leads Dan into the dark alleys of California politics, where he encounters a scoundrel, an old smoothie, and a sparkplug political operative. If you're lucky, he might make a leaping tackle or three! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #quinnmartinproduction #burtreynolds #burt #copshow #danaugust /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/32726402

Encore: The Golden Girls 08/22/2024

Encore: The Golden Girls This week, we revisit an episode from all the way back in season two. Tickets to the world premiere and after party for Mr. Burt Reynolds' latest movie land the Golden Girls in exactly the wrong place--jail...for prostitution. Will they get out in time to meet Burt and the rest of the Burt Pack? Will Rose ever get over losing Butter Queen? Will Burt lead a game of Win, Lose, or Draw? It all depends on the kindness of Sophia! Uh-oh. #podcast #tv #retrotv #eighties #sitcom #goldengirls #beaarthur #bettywhite #burtreynolds /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/32583547

Episode 12-3: The Kid with the Broken Halo 08/15/2024

Episode 12-3: The Kid with the Broken Halo BOTNS proposes, our listeners dispose...or something like that. We held another listener poll, and as always, our listeners have spoken. This time we asked them to choose between the Gary Coleman-Robert Guillaume "Kid" trilogy. It was close, but the middle TV movie "The Kid With the Broken Halo" won. In it, Coleman's angel-in-training Andy has to solve three "cases"...or else he'll find himself hanging out with Sammy Davis Jr. and Christopher Lee. With the mild assistance of Guillaume's grumpy Blake, he heads to Earth to use his charms and street smarts to help a family have fun, a pro football player retire with grace, and a bitter Golden Age film star/widow find joy. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #tvmovie #garycoleman #robertguillaume #angels /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/32433097

Episode 12-2: The 1984 Summer Olympics 08/08/2024

Episode 12-2: The 1984 Summer Olympics Do you have Olympic fever? We do...for the 1984 Summer Games in L.A. We can't cover it all, but we try to hit some of the high marks of this peak eighties event: Carl Lewis, Mary Lou Retton, Mary Decker and Zola Budd, Al Michaels, Jim McKay and Peter Jennings, 84 grand pianos playing "Rhapsody in Blue," Lionel Richie, and a flying saucer! #podcast #tv #retrotv #eighties #olympics #summerolympics #1984 #1984summerolympics #carllewis #marylouretton #lionelrichie #flyingsaucer /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/32331277

Episode 12-1: All in the Family 08/01/2024

Episode 12-1: All in the Family To open season 12, we finally turn to the foundation of the Lear-verse, the controversial, groundbreaking, list-making, terlet-flushing all-time great All in the Family. We've got Archie, we've got Edith, we've got Gloria, and, yes, we have Meathead...with a purse! Plus one of our favorite sports as Archie tries out for an "exclusive" bowling team and learns a thing or two about the way of the world. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #allinthefamily #normanlear #archiebunker #meathead #sitcom #bowling /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/32299617

Season 11 BATTY Awards 12/28/2023

Season 11 BATTY Awards Live whenever you’re hearing it from Southfork Ranch, it’s the season 11 BATTY Awards! Join the stars, the youths, the non-humans, and the dopes for the biggest night in retro TV podcasting! We might not have a choir of 500 people or Oprah on a rooftop, but we do have a random number generator and two Dennises the Menace! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #battyawards #awardsshow /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/29222413

Encore: Holiday Special - The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold and A Family Circus Christmas 12/21/2023

Encore: Holiday Special - The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold and A Family Circus Christmas This holiday season, gather round the ol' fireplace, roast some chestnuts, sip some hot chocolate and join us we go all the way back to our first ever holiday special, and nothing says the holidays like dopey kids, ghosts, leprechauns, and hags! Rankin and Bass weave one of their most complicated stories yet in The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold, and Jeffy Keane takes a trip into own subconscious to learn the meaning of Christmas...or something. Come to think of it. You might want some eggnog for this one. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #holidayspecial #familycircus #rankinbass #leprechauns /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/29139308

Episode 11-14: Dallas 10/05/2023

Episode 11-14: Dallas In our Season 11 finale, all roads lead to Dallas and Southfork Ranch! That's right. We finally tackle the grandpappy of the nighttime soaps, and we go all the way back to the very first episode. This one has everything you'd expect: oil, scheming, bakstabbing, family feuds, and cowboy hats! It also have a few things you might not expect like grounded sincerity. Join us for all the fun and a few Larry Hagman chuckles. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #dallas #soaps #larryhagman #patrickduffy #victoriaprincipal #oil #jrewing /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/28222889

Episode 11-13: NBC's Disastrous 1983 09/28/2023

Episode 11-13: NBC's Disastrous 1983 For the 1983-1984 TV season, NBC asked audiences to "Be there!" Audiences had somewhere else to be, and by the end of the season, the network had canceled all nine new shows it had introduced in the fall. What could lead to such a catastrophe? Why wouldn't people want to watch shows about talking orangutans, manimals, ghosts, and more? This week, we dig into this season and talk about some of these failed shows to see if we can find some answers. Be there! #podcast #tv #retrotv #1983 #eighties #NBC #Manimal #mrsmith #jenniferslepthere #disaster /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/28135037

TV Guide Card Game 09/21/2023

TV Guide Card Game Using a set of trading card-sized reproductions of TV Guide covers, we wing our way through a new game, The TV Guide Card Game. Like baseball cards, each card features stats and trivia on the back, and Rick uses that to see if Mike can guess the cover subjects. Play along and maybe learn some "fun facts" about some of your favorite BOTNS-era shows! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #games #tvguide #trivia /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/28058661

Episode 11-12: Starsky and Hutch 09/14/2023

Episode 11-12: Starsky and Hutch Buckle your seat belt and cinch your cardigan because this week we're hitting the mean streets of Bay City with Starsky and Hutch! Things get harry for the boys after someone poisons Starksy with a deadly neurotoxin. As they race against a ticking clock to find the culprit and an antidote, they make time for their emotions and a fair amount of proprety damage. All in a day's work for these 1970s stalwarts. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #starskyandhutch #tvcops #bestfriends /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27999765

Episode 11-11: 227 09/07/2023

Episode 11-11: 227 Season 11 returns with a look at 227, Marla Gibbs' follow-up to The Jeffersons. The sitcom introduced the world to Jackee Harry and a young Regina King, but it also featured the likes of the great Hal Williams and Alaina Reed Hall (Olivia from Sesame Street). In 5 seasons, they covered a lot of ground from kitchen-sink comedy to social commentary to random celebrity encounters to wacky sitcom premises. We'll let you decide which category an episode where Gibbs' Mary and Hall's Rose win a butler for a week falls. Did we mention one of Gibbs' old Jeffersons co-stars plays the butler? #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #227 #marlagibbs #jackeeharry #reginaking #butlers /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27940818

Encore: Knight Rider 08/31/2023

Encore: Knight Rider Before we get back into the swing of season 11, we present one more encore episode. This time, we look back at Knight Rider, starring one TV's most charismatic stars and David Hasselhoff! We kid the Hoff! Still, a big shout-out to William Daniels as KITT, the talking, thinking, turbo boosting car. Why of all our episodes did we choose Knight Rider? Well, one, we had to check out a sweet KITT replica at a comics convnetion. Two, we wanted to give the well-known BOTNS boost to Knight Rider guest star and fellow podcaster Jason Bateman. Three, to remind everyone of the devastating affliction of CAR AMNESIA! One day...we'll find a cure. #podcast #tv #retrotv #eighties #knightrider #thehoff #davidhasselhoff #jasonbateman #caramnesia /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27876051

Encore: In Search Of 08/24/2023

Encore: In Search Of In honor of the big Loch Ness Monster search this weekend in Scotland, we offer an encore presentation of one of our favorite early episodes. We once again join Leonard Nimoy on a voyage of mystery and discovery as he searches for answers to Nessie and the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Will he find answers this time? Will he reveal that Amelia Earhart is the Loch Ness Monster? Does this encore presentation have anything to do with a slight production delay on our part? We might never know the answers. Then again, it's just possible that one day we might...maybe. We'll see. Only time will tell...or not. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #insearchof #leonardnimoy #lochnessmonster #ameliaearhart /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27818835

List-o-rama: Battle of the Network Networks 08/17/2023

List-o-rama: Battle of the Network Networks For this week's very special oversized bonus episode, Rick and Mike dig deep into their memories and pick their favorite networks for each TV season from the 1980s. ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and eventually the fledgling Fox Network all get at shot at the title, but wil one come out victorious? #podcast #tv #retrotv #eighties #list #networks #nbc #abc #cbs #pbs #fox /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27761910

Episode 11-10: Retro-Retro The Rifleman 08/10/2023

Episode 11-10: Retro-Retro The Rifleman The Old West comes to BOTNS in this season's Retro-Retro episode. Chuck Connors stars as Lucas "The Rifelman" McCain in this half-hour oater from the late fifties and early sixties. In "Ordeal," Lucas and his son Mark find themselves stranded in the desert after their meat salt mining expedition goes awry. Will they make it to safety or end up buzzard food? Find out on this exciting episode of Battle of the Network Shows! #podcast #tv #retrotv #fifties #sixties #therifelman #chuckconnors #ordeal #westerns #oater #meatsalt /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27686253

Ep. 11-9: Sonny and Cher 08/03/2023

Ep. 11-9: Sonny and Cher In our second listener poll episode of the season, we look at a seventies variety show forma, and Sonny and Cher beat out Donny and Marie and Captain & Tennille for top honors. We discuss an episode from the post-divorce iteration of the show, featuring guests David Steinberg, Shields and Yarnell, and the great Tina Turner! Witty banter, comedy, mime, and music. The only things missing are puppets and...comedy. We kid! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #varietyshow #sonnyandcher #cher #tinaturner #davidsteinberg #shieldsandyarnell #mime /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27611685

Ep. 11-8: MASH Redux 07/27/2023

Ep. 11-8: MASH Redux Back in season 5 when we originally covered the classic sitcom MASH, we vowed to return to the later B.J., Potter, Winchester years, and so we have! This time out, Hawkeye's conning himself when he gets a sneezing fit but won't address the root cause. Luckily, for him and us, Potter calls in Dr. Sidney. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #mash #alanalda /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27563616

TV Guide Game 1982 Edition 07/20/2023

TV Guide Game 1982 Edition This week, we return to a game we've been playing since the beginning of the podcast: The TV Guide Game! Rick digs into his vast collection of old TV Guides and tries to guess what Mike would watch on a particular night in 1982. Pull out your copy of TV Gude from the between the couch cushions and play along! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #tvguide #tvguidegame #games /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27487986

Episode 11-7: Exo-Man 07/13/2023

Episode 11-7: Exo-Man A confident, passionate physics professor witnesses a bank robbery, and it turns his life upside down. Jose Ferrer's minions paralyze him, but they can't keep him down, and they certainly don't expect his greatest creation ever...Exo-Man! Unfortunately, this 1977 TV movie/series pilot from many of the people behind "The Six Million Dollar Man" doesn't even live up to its potential as a cheap Iron Man knockoff. Still, we have fun talking about it and maybe even learn a thing or two about physics. Also, stay tuned for a rare musical surprise. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #tvmovie #exoman #superhero #failedpilot /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27427638

Episode 11-6: Dennis the Menace 07/06/2023

Episode 11-6: Dennis the Menace What do two Mr. Wilsons, a living mannequin, and Mark Twain have in common? Would you believe Dennis the Menace? We peel back the layers of the various Dennisverses to try to find what makes the tyrannical tyke's dark heart tick. Well, we look at a wild episode of the 1980s animated version and throw in the late '50s, early '60s live action version for good measure, and, yes, that includes a living mannequin, Mark Twain, and a couple Mr. Wilsons. Plus, Mike ranks the menace level of the various Dennises. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #dennisthemenace #amiation #dic #mrwilson #philhartman #jaynorth /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27368952

Episode 11-5: ABC's A Star-Spangled Celebration 06/29/2023

Episode 11-5: ABC's A Star-Spangled Celebration In 1987, ABC celebrated Independence Day by combining an evening of variety with a rally for literacy. Oprah and Robert Urich host from St. Louis as the likes of Suzanne Somers, Yakov Smirnoff, Barbara Mandell, Atlantic Starr, and a choir of 500 singers entertain from across the country. In between, filmed segments show the different ways America celebrates and provide testimonials from adults who've recently learned to read. If that weren't enough, the wife of the vice president makes an appearance! Rick and Mike break it all down and reveal a little of Rick's carny past. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #abc #oprah #roberturich #july4 #independenceday #america #literacy /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27199023

Episode 11-4: Hart to Hart 06/22/2023

Episode 11-4: Hart to Hart In a "Rear Windowesque" moment, Jonathan Hart witnesses a possible mur-DAH. Then in his rush to stop it, he collides with a moped and gets...AMNESIA. Sure, he remembers how to hail a cab, how to dress to the nines, how to live a life of luxury, but he doesn't remember his wife Jennifer, his loyal aide-de-camp Max, his dog Freeway, or the mur-DAH. How will this calamity affect the Harts' marriage, Max's access to sporting events, and Freeway's access to the couch? Will they solve the mur-DAH? Will Jonathan have to collide with another moped to cure his AMNESIA? Plus, what do Rick and Mike think of this latest and most famous TV entry in the married couple solving mysteries subgenre? Find out! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #harttohart #mystery #amnesia #robertwagner #jillstjohn /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27112398

The All-New Game 06/15/2023

The All-New Game Rick has long espoused the theory that adding "new," "all-new," "brand-new," etc. to the title of a show never works creatively or commercially. This week with the help of the BOTNS Games Lab (TM), we put that to the test in more ways than one as he runs Mike through the paces of "The All-New Game"! Ccan he distinguish shows that had "new" versions from those that didn't? #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #games #new /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/27112326

Episode 11-3: The Littlest Hobo 06/08/2023

Episode 11-3: The Littlest Hobo This week, we venture north to Canada, where resourceful, wise, and perhaps supernatural German Shepherd The Littlest Hobo wanders Ontario in search of humans in need of help. This time, the action centers around an arcade, where he finds a deaf guy, a mime, and a grumpy old man and helps stop a couple of nogoodniks bent on robbing the place. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #littlesthobo #dogs #arcades #videogames #canada /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/26904750

Episode 11-2: Entertainment Tonight 06/01/2023

Episode 11-2: Entertainment Tonight In our first listener poll episode of the season, we cover two episodes of the original entertainment news magazine Entertainment Tonight. First up, the series premiere. While the show looks familiar, the hosts might not. Luckily, Burt Reynolds is there to hold the hands the audience and fifty pregnant women. Next, an episode from the classic Mary Hart-John Tesh era. This one has 1986 written all over it--Lionel Richie, the Mets, and Judd Nelson! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #entertainmenttonight #maryhart #johntesh #leezagibbons /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/26904681

Episode 11-1: Night Court 05/25/2023

Episode 11-1: Night Court Season 11 is now in session, and it opens with a gavel bang as we take on the original Night Court. We focus our attention on the season 5 episode "Another Day in the Life." If Harry and the gang can make it through 207 cases by midnight, an eccentric tycoon will save an orphanage from foreclosure. Wackiness ensues. We also find time to talk about the various cast changes, the pronunciation of Reinhold Weege, Yakov, Smirnoff, and more! Join us an eighties classic! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #nightcourt #sitcoms /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/26904585

Season 10 BATTY Awards 10/06/2022

Season 10 BATTY Awards Live on tape from the Spectrum in Philadelphia, we look back at season 10 and dole out another heap of BATTY Awards on the shows and stars that made the season special. As always, we honor everything from outstanding show to outstanding facial hair with a few surprises in between. Plus, we honor a singular figure with the Robert Pine Genius Award! #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #awardshow /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/24592491

Episode 10-13: Little House on the Prairie 08/11/2022

Episode 10-13: Little House on the Prairie In our season 10 finale, Christmas Eve arrives in Walnut Grove...but so does a blizzard! The men must head into the storm in a desperate search for the children, who left school early. Bucolic it ain't! We also cover important topics like religion, paste-eating, and orangutans. #podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #littlehouseontheprairie #michaellandon #melissagilbert #victorfrench #blizzard #christmas /episode/index/show/battleofthenetworkshows/id/24005661

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