Reggie Jackson's World of Sports - Nick Knacks Episode

[@shadownumber2067]

Kids sports shows have always been extremely unpopular. That's even true today. Nickelodeon has been trying for decades to make kids' sport shows a thing, with everything from "World of Sports" to "Nick Gas", to "Kids Choice Sports." And nothing is working. Kids sport shows are never gonna be a thing. Most active kids are not watching TV. Or like you said, they just watch sports. But they still keep trying. They don't seem to give up. Nickelodeon has a show on their network right now, with a 2-time super bowl champion, and nobody seems to care. It's a show you've probably never even heard of called "Crashletes" with Rob Gronkowski. Cam Newton had a show on Nickelodeon called "All In with Cam Newton" that was cancelled after one season. I can't think of a really popular kids sport show ever in the history of television. Even Michael Jordan, in his prime, had a sports cartoon show called ProStars in the early 90s, that was cancelled after one season.

[@BrandonGiesing]

Ironically, it seems they've now got a working formula just a few years after this comment. NFL simulcasts and Slimetime have been huge for the network.

[@troyturner173]

As a PWD teen in the 80's-I caught more of this show than I'd like to admit-the reruns drove me nuts too. But some fun facts stuck with me: The basketball tourney from Newcastle IN featured a pre-IU and college coach Steve Alford, as well as future Notre Dame player Scott Hicks At the time-the Newcastle home gym was the largest in the country, with seating of over 10K, and it rivaled many college gyms of that era

[@zachadams4310]

My memories of this show have very little to do with the kids' sporting events and focused much more on the intros, where Reggie would explain the rules and history of the featured sport. I distinctly remember him explaining that when basketball was created someone had to get the ball out of the basket after a goal (before the modern hoop was invented) and that the US calls Association Football "soccer" because we already had a game called "football."

[@Naliamegod]

Even in the 90s, before I watched a baseball game, I knew who Reggie Jackson was just through cultural osmosis. Thats how big he was

[@DougMorris1045]

Two admittedly vague memories of RJWoS... \ I recall seeing Reggie sitting near a swimming pool (the backyard variety; not a natatorium) as part of a promo. The promo aired ahead of an episode all about swimming and diving. I even remember Reggie’s last line. “Swimming and diving - next time on ‘Reggie Jackson’s World of Sports’.” That was immediately followed by Nick’s voice talent with air times for that episode (Eastern through Pacific time zones). As for the episode itself, if I’m not mistaken, it included an interview with a girl who practiced her dives well before her school day begins. \ There was a guest appearance by (and probably an interview with) Fred Lynn for a baseball-themed episode. A Reggie Jackson sports series without baseball would be like DD and YCDTOTV without slime and pies.

[@therealduz-t6762]

Does anyone know the name of the guy that was Nick’s voice talent for promos back in the day?

[@BotmanR]

As soon as you started talking about fitness/exercise shows on early cable, I was hoping there would've been a Mousercise namedrop, and lo and behold.

[@wutzit]

11:52 ...Is that the Family Guy theme being played on organs?

[@jaz8354]

Yeah it is. It surprised me at first when I heard it

[@atodda4212]

I recall one episode Reggie introduced the viewers to the game of rugby and in particular, the 1973 Barbarians Greatest Try of all time.

[@manzoman96]

Finally caught up on all the episodes! Keep it up man, this series is awesome!

[@GetBenched2010]

7:00 Reggie had a unique contract, which was a bone of contention with his teammates when he was Yankee player rep, which stipulated that he was paid on the first of January and first of June the bulk of his annual salary. Which means he never lost a dime from the strike in the final year of his 5 year deal. At least 3 different books about the 70s Yankees cover this as his contract was an anomaly that may not have been signed to another player again.

[@BokBarber]

My money says this one is lost. You would need: 1) Somebody who had a cable subscription in the early 80s who 2) was into weekend sports shows that constantly re-ran, and 3) also had a VCR to tape them, and 4) a willingness to do so, and 5) never bothered to tape over the episodes, and 6) kept them into the present day, and 7) has the willingness and ability to share them. I imagine that the number of people who fit this criteria is close to, if not, zero. It's hurt even more by being on the weekend, when kids are home. That means less need to tape something like this for time shifting purposes, even if you were super into this show. Our best hope is honestly if somebody tried to tape whatever came on before this show, accidentally left their VCR running and never bothered to reuse the tape.

[@ChadTownsend]

I loved this show as a kid. my buddy said he watched it too. I really Love Lights Camera Action with Leonard Nemoy.

[@YujiUedaFan]

11:43 Family Guy theme? Why?

[@kirisuna19]

Yeah I'm wondering that too! 😂

[@jenniferschillig3768]

I'd like to see you do an entry on the shorts Nickelodeon used to show between shows in the mime/silver ball eras--most, if not all, from the National Film Board of Canada. This was a time when Nickelodeon showed shorts in between its programs to fill time since they didn't have commercials (and HBO used to do the same thing). Many of these shorts were the same ones they showed on Hocus Focus. That, I believe, is how I was first introduced to The Giving Tree--seeing its animated short on Nickelodeon. Some others (all animated) I remember and can't seem to find anywhere online no matter what keywords I use: -A guy in a superhero outfit and his talking cat sidekick (or he may have been a pointy-eared dog). The two were rather bumbling--they were introduced rushing down the stairs on their way to a stakeout but tripping over each other. Like Batman and Robin, they cruised the city in a car. They also drank a LOT of coffee. They were after some gangster-types, and the end was surprisingly dark for a short that had begun so tongue-in-cheek...they confronted the gangster on a rooftop, he was shot and fell off, and the two simply looked at each other and said, "Let's go home." -Two from the same animator, with a British narrator. I believe one of them was shown on The Great Space Coaster as well. Both were rather eerie and had spooky, inconclusive endings. One had to do with a guy who was tracking some kind of monster into a forest--and neither of them ever emerged again. The other was about a guy named Leonard Harry (or was it Harry Leonard?) who lived a "humdrum" life--until he discovered the art of disguise, which he mastered so well he could convincingly disguise himself as other animals or even inanimate objects. But his wife was getting so fed up with all this that when Leonard went into the attic to disguise himself once more, she locked him in and told him she wouldn't let him out until he promised to stop this nonsense. She waited...and waited...and nothing happened...and when she finally unlocked the door, he was nowhere to be found. The implication was that he'd disguised himself as something in the attic--so well that he'd forgotten he was human and never emerged again. -A sort of riff on the Emperor's New Clothes, with a rather grim ending. Some con-men tricked a king into paying a fortune for a "soft armored suit"--something that would protect him, but could be worn every day. The king went around in this suit at all times, presumably to protect himself from any threat at any time...but it was really no different than any other suit of armor, and when his son Prince Eustace returned from a trip, the king hugged him tightly while wearing the armor--fatally/critically injuring his son by crushing his bones. The short ended with the king lamenting his gullibility while holding the dead or critically injured body of the prince. -A rather touching one about a baby eagle learning to fly, with a narrator talking over it about how "There are times in our lives when we feel small, unimportant..." and going on to equate the baby eagle's progress in flying with our own experiences of growing up and gaining confidence in ourselves. -A planet/country where EVERYTHING is green...people, buildings, animals, plants, cars. One day a little boy asks his average-Joe father, "Daddy, why is everything green?" The father just answers, "I don't know," but repeats the question to his co-workers. Soon, everyone is asking the question, taking it to the streets, plaguing the country's rulers, who can't give an answer. Finally, they solve the problem--by turning everything to BLUE instead. The short ends with a red guy in a beatnik beard (presumably, an out-of-towner) visiting and asking "Hey, man, why is everything blue?"

[@411314]

Loving this show ("Nick Knacks" I mean, not "Reggie Jackson's World of Sports"). Really looking forward to more!

[@TheItachiIshtar]

So the next episode is Vegetable Soup. After that should either be The Tomorrow People or You Can't Do That On Television. I'm sure people have been anxiously awaiting a video on the latter.

[@jenniferschillig3768]

But there's still Against The Odds, Standby Lights Camera Action...

[@nostalgiaworks5999]

C H R O N O L O G I C A L O R D E R

[@gannonschlader]

He said he might occasionally break it for narrative reasons...

[@sablelioness]

Found another promo for this show: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ronWdmqqqqaKe6c (skip to 3:15)

[@TheHeroOfTomorrow]

Two episodes this quickly? "What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here?!"

[@willcarroll3712]

TheHeroOfTomorrow whatever it is keep it up I’m loving this series

[@ItsThatRetro]

Seems to be the trend lately. He's been on a good schedule to get episodes up in pairs at the least.

[@willcarroll3712]

Raymond Gallant after about a month or two to make them which is good take some time to get a flow relax then back at it

[@thomasstone3480]

Haha I just got here from the avclub link, maybe he's trying to make sure people like me stick around

[@ItsThatRetro]

Should be interesting who does stick around when he puts out his other content of Doctor Who book reviews, Goosebumps monthly and other works.

[@iam9991000]

I hear that Die Young piano cover and I want to hear where it came from.

[@darktetsuya]

another show I don't quite remember but I was a bit of a fan during his Angels days.

[@NJGuy1973]

While I was pissed that the Yankees let him go. BTW, how stacked were the 1982 Angels? Reggie, Baylor, Lynn, Downing, Grich, DeCinces, Carew...

[@cameronmarnoch5236]

I go hiking, and I think it sounds like a terrible idea for 1/18th of a show. But this is an interesting look at the sort of lost moment that doesn't happen on this scale on TV anymore.

[@amwfan88]

Back in the 90s, I remember Nickelodeon had a block called Nickelodeon Sports Theater, hosted by Shaquille O'Neal. Basically a bunch of Nickelodeon-produced made-for-TV movies. (The only one I remember was about Jackie Robinson) Every time it came on, I'd skip it. I just had no interest in watching a 90 minute to 2 hour movie about sports.

[@SketchBud]

With this being the latest episode so far, when would we get to see the next episode of Nick Knacks?

[@BallparkHunter]

Wow, I do not remember the show being on at all. I do think Reggie had another baseball theme show after he had retired in 1987. That was more like a boring episode of the Baseball Bunch.

[@continentalrcinglg]

11:22 What the hell kind of TV is that? Who would watch on a screen that small? A smartphone screen is bigger.

[@mattmc5069]

If a kid was heavy into sports, your main target audience, odds are they didnt watch tv as much as non sports people. They didn't need the motivation to exercise they probably already did as often as possible. Those who also didnt play where most likely more intrested with watching actual games as opposed to facts. Reggie Jackson fans may have loved it, but new shows stopped quickly and reruns probably got boring. Again, if they where a huge Reggie fan, odds are they would rather see him play then just talk about playing.

[@el-karasu6070]

I know you said that you'll be looking into every show that aired on Nick, but I would really like to see you talk about the cartoons that aired on Nickelodeon during the 80s, since a lot of them were foreign imports from Europe or Japan, and some of their dubs are lost.

[@GreenFlash1790]

I remember there was also a Johnny Bench children's sports show that I think preceded this, not on Nickelodeon. I think I enjoyed the footage of Bench & Jackson, but not of the boring kids sports they were covering. Okay, now I'm having this memory of Johnny Bench's show being a sort of baseball tutorial so that might have been helpful if I wasn't so afraid of getting hit by the pitch in little league!

[@pronkb000]

The Baseball Bunch. That actually was an ESPN show.

[@SHallAdiag]

i loved the reggie candy.

[@mightyfilm]

At least it wasn't the train wreck of "NFL Guardians of the RUSH Zone." A HORRIBLE Nickelodeon cartoon that's basically a Football themed Power Rangers knockoff that sometimes had actual NFL players pop up to do an obligatory line to count as an "appearance." It's about a million times worse than you could ever imagine. And it's also as "who is this for?" as a cartoon can get. If kids already like Football or if they actually hate sports, they're not going to get any more out of it having bad CGI kid characters fight a bad Cobra Commander ripoff to save giant headed homunculi that are the "spirit" of the teams. I caught part of one episode, and about 2 minutes in, the WTF wore off and became "MAKE IT STOP!!!"

[@CNFunnyJon]

Family Guy? XD