(It is? In what way?) The spectating Network Stars (James B. “It’s like Let’s Make a Deal,” she screams. Brenda was in her early 40s at the time, therefore invisible to Howard Cosell, who gives her this unforgettable honorific: “BRENDA VACCARO: A REMARKABLE WOMAN.” After much effort and obvious panic, she takes her seat in the tank, remaining clothed head to toe, sneakers and all.

We will not see his kind again.ĭespite a deep bench of young beauties, including both significant early-’80s Heathers (Locklear and Thomas), Marc Singer (flawless in a Speedo, incidentally) selects Brenda Vaccaro, slumming at the time on short-lived prime-time soap Paper Dolls.

Dude is hard-wired to tell the human interest stories. But stay tuned for Cosell’s oddly thoughtful commentary during Daniel J. Watch future Oscar winner Helen Hunt go all college softball on Dean Butler of Little House: A New Beginning. Behold as underrated Dynasty hunk John James accidentally moistens Trapper John, M.D.’s Christopher Norris, who, as it turns out, is a woman, and as such is called “Chrissy Norris” by Howard Cosell, who never met a lady whose name he couldn’t turn into a diminutive. In the world of Battle of the Network Stars, the dunk tank is good-natured fun, a breezy way to see our favorite TV stars in swimwear. Come with me as I count down the 12 best reasons why vintage BotNS is the binge-watch-worthiest show on television. So guess what: On Monday nights, ESPN Classic shows four back-to-back reruns of ’70s and ’80s Battles of the Network Stars, and I can tell you with confidence that it’s worth changing your cable tier for, because that’s exactly what I did. It was an all-out war for bragging rights (and actual money - each player for the winning team would win $20,000 for themselves and not for charity), and I don’t think there’s anything I miss more.

If you were alive in the 1970s and 1980s, and if you were raised by a television set as I was, you have fond memories of the biannual TV extravaganza event Battle of the Network Stars, in which your favorite personalities from ABC, CBS, and NBC would show off their athleticism (by which I mean their thighs and chests). So for this week’s installment of Somewhere in Time, we’re going to take a little day trip in my Delorean GIF in the opposite direction. We are coming up on another Coachella weekend and, even though I’m not going, my ringing ears need a break.

Dunk tank battle of the network stars