Okay, I bet a lot of you are wondering what I was on when I wrote that above lyrics. Suffice it to say, I didn’t write it. It’s the lyrics to one of my favorite shows of the 90’s, ‘Video Power’. Not the crappy half cartoon monstrosity that was the first season, I’m talking about the pseudo game show that the second season became.
There are writeups all over the net about it (like here), so I won’t go into all the details. Go ahead and click on that link to read all about the show. I’ll wait on you.
Ok. Video Power was a pretty decent show. It featured really crappy tips for some of the older games out there, granted, but it was the first show that I can remember that actually talked up Nintendo games on TV.
The host was an absoulte spaz. “Johnny Arcade” would bounce all over the place generally making himself obnoxious and handing out the prizes/challenges/tips/questions/points on the show. He could get away with it because he had all the power (the Video Power!) to give the contestants a dream run through the maze at the end of the show and stick the games to their chest. Yes, I wanted his job. Heck, I still do!
Memorable Video Power Moment #328:Johhny Arcade farts on the air, and the footage was left in the copy that made it to air. This is the first time that I can recall that actual factual gas passery was aired on television, and the already overactive host got about fifteen times more excited. I swear I thought his head was going to explode.
I haven’t seen the show since it was cancelled in the early 90’s, and I’m really surprised that G4 hasn’t picked it up with the recent trend in retro gaming.