That's Incredible!

Infobox Television
show_name = That's Incredible


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genre = Reality show
creator = Alan Landsburg Productions
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presenter =
starring = John Davidson
Fran Tarkenton and Cathy Lee Crosby
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country = USA
language =
num_seasons = 4
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executive_producer =
producer = Alan Landsburg
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runtime = 60 minutes
network = ABC
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first_aired = March 17, 1980
last_aired = April 30, 1984
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related = Incredible Sunday
website =
imdb_id = 0075485
tv_com_id = 549

"That's Incredible!" was a reality television show that ran on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of "You Asked For It", "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" and "Real People", the show featured people performing stunts and reenactments of allegedly paranormal events. The show was co-hosted by John Davidson, Fran Tarkenton and Cathy Lee Crosby, and was produced by Alan Landsburg Productions. Originally aired as an hour-long program, episodes were later re-edited into 30 minute segments for syndication.

"That's Incredible!" was revived in 1988, hosted by Davidson, Cristina Ferrare, and Tracey Gold and was renamed "Incredible Sunday". It lasted only during the 1988–1989 season.

A number of the stunts performed were quite dangerous, including juggling knives, staying inside a small box for hours, and one involving a man catching a bullet between his teeth. The dangerous nature of these stunts eventually prompted producers to augment the footage with the caption "Do Not Try This Yourself". Steve Baker also known as "Mr. Escape", was frequently featured on the show.

The show has been cited as an influence on hip-hop culture in New Zealand, where much television programming in the 1980s was American. In 1983 the show featured several dancing crews, giving youth of Pacific Island and Maori heritage, many of whom were interested in hip-hop culture and dance, a sense of connectedness to global youth culture [Henderson, April K. “Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 180-199. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 200] . The Floormasters hip hop dance crew appeared on the show in 1983 [ [http://www.uic.edu/orgs/kbc/hiphop/firsts.htm Hip Hop Firsts ] ] .

The show can now be seen weekends on select Retro Television Network affiliates.

In popular culture

* On February 14, 1983, the Fray children, as adults, appeared on the program following the premiere of "Who Will Love My Children?", a film about the life of their mother. [cite news |first= John|last=O'Connor|authorlink= |title=TV: Ann-Margret Plays a Dying Mother of 10 |url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E5D6143BF937A25751C0A965948260&sec=&spon=|work=The New York Times|date=14 February 1983 |accessdate=2008-08-19]
* The program is mentioned in the song "TV Party" by the punk group Black Flag.
* On February 21, 1983, That's Incredible unwittingly gained video game immortality by broadcasting the North American Video Game Challenge -- an international video game tournament filmed at Twin Galaxies in Ottumwa, Iowa -- which since then has gained recognition as being history's first video game world championship. [cite news |title=North American Video Game Olympics |url= http://www.twingalaxies.com/images/generalinfo/navgo.gif|work=Twin Galaxies|date=21 February 1983 |accessdate=2008-08-19]

* MAD Magazine produced a feature cartoon in 1981 titled "That's Real Incredible, People", mocking the blurred distinction between "That's Incredible!" and "Real People". A later issue of MAD had "Wanted posters we'd like to see", one featuring a network executive "wanted for keeping The Dukes of Hazard and That's Incredible on the air, while depriving the country of better shows such as Paper Chase and Fame!"
* An episode of Tiny Toon Adventures featured a parody called "That's Incredibly Stupid!" wherein the contestant does over the top ridiculous stunts only to be told that the stunt was "incredibly stupid".

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0080291|title=That's Incredible!
*tv.com show|id=1488|title=That's Incredible!