Nickelodeon's 'Total Panic' show (circa 1989) looks at Genesis, TurboGrafx games

**parallaxscroll** · 04 Apr 2006, 06:45 PM

from 1989 to 1990, Nickelodeon had this 3 hour variety show
on Sunday mornings called Total Panic.

They had these live action 'virtual' video-games like 'Eat A Bug'
(think PS2's eye toy on a huge screen) and Power Pad Pyramid that IIRC used the NES power pads.

anyway Total Panic was, to me, an awesome variety show that included videogame previews and reviews, including TurboGrafx-16 and Genesis which were both new at the time in the U.S.

I had a tape with a small amount of footage still there (most of it was gone) but the best of what remains on that tape are amusing previews of Sega Genesis Forgotten Worlds and, NEC TurboGrafx-16 R-Type.

I've uploaded the Forgotten Worlds and R-Type segments to Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3z3K5y5iB0
(patience with youtube, they seem to be having a slow day)

it seems that i couldn't get it to play through FireFox, but with
Internet Explorer it plays fine, yay!

there is not a whole lot, and the tape cuts off when they actually get down to 'review' R-Type, but not before a look at 4 of its levels.

for more info on Nickelodeon's TOTAL PANIC, see this post on Retrojunk
http://www.retrojunk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9285

when Total Panic was canceled by spring 1990, and after the re-runs ended, that was the end of my watching Nickelodeon. Nick crossed over into their era of 'complete crap', IMO, during the 1990s.

**ChaoofNee** · 04 Apr 2006, 06:48 PM

Pete & Pete is not complete crap.
Bad supergraf...whatever. Bad.

**parallaxscroll** · 04 Apr 2006, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by ChaoofNee

Pete & Pete is not complete crap.
Bad supergraf...whatever. Bad.

each to his own

**Grave** · 04 Apr 2006, 07:18 PM

I remember Total Panic reviewing the first TMNT game for NES. My sister and I used to watch it, and I haven't seen any footage of it since it went off the air... if I can get these clips to work, this is going to be awesome. Looks like they don't like Safari either.

**parallaxscroll** · 04 Apr 2006, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by Grave

I remember Total Panic reviewing the first TMNT game for NES. My sister and I used to watch it, and I haven't seen any footage of it since it went off the air... if I can get these clips to work, this is going to be awesome. Looks like they don't like Safari either.

whoa, someone who actually remembers Total Panic, and doesn't just ignore it and go off talking about that other Nick show that came out a few years later. I'm highly impressed

It would be SWEET to see any clips you might have from any segment of
Total Panic. that show, brings me back to the good ole days.

**Glass Joe** · 04 Apr 2006, 08:32 PM

For some reason I don't remember that show at all. By the way, it ran fine when I used Firefox.

**parallaxscroll** · 04 Apr 2006, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by Glass Joe

For some reason I don't remember that show at all. By the way, it ran fine when I used Firefox.

well it was on for roughly a year, or no more than two years. I started watching it in late summer or fall 1989, through spring of 1990.

3 hours on Sunday mornings. for me, in the central time zone, IIRC it was on from 8:30 am to 11:30 am but I could be off by a half hour to an hour, though it was definitally 3 hours long, every Sunday. enough time to have plenty of videogame segments, and I also watched the commercials which often were for the then-new Genesis and TurboGrafx-16.

check out the 2nd link in my OP for more info on Total Panic.