This past weekend’s Fight Back! episode from 1990 featured Tina Turner, six tall, gorgeous men, and a surprise cameo from the original Cousin Itt. No spoilers though — you’ll have to watch it to find out more.

Beyond the lineup, what makes this episode so special is that it comes from Lloyd Thaxton’s archive. Lloyd was the 1960s TV host behind The Lloyd Thaxton Show, which aired nationally for seven years across the U.S., and featured guests like the Supremes, James Brown and Cher, to name a few.

You might be wondering: What does the host of a hit 1960s teen dance show have in common with a consumer reporter? You may recognize Lloyd from Fight Back! commercial challenges, where he played comedic characters such as Dr. Webbly Freon and Chef Dirty Moore.

Behind the scenes, Lloyd was the five-time Emmy-winning supervising producer and director of Fight Back!, originally called Consumer Buyline. Before teaming up with my dad in the 1970s, Lloyd was already a fixture in American pop culture. According to Northwestern University, his alma mater and the home of his archive collection, he was considered by some to be the father of the music video. Lloyd also co-founded the teen magazine Tiger Beat, which was around for more than 50 years. He even had a day named in his honor — June 26, 1965, was declared “Lloyd Thaxton Day” in Baltimore.

My dad created, executive produced, and hosted the first TV show to blend investigative journalism with a variety show format, pioneering what became known as “infotainment” on television. Fun fact: his grandparents—my great-grandparents—were vaudeville performers, and according to our family history book, we’re related to The Three Stooges. So, his creative instincts seem to be genetic! It was the creative chemistry between my dad and Lloyd, combined with their many talents, that helped make Fight Back! a pop culture phenomenon. Not to mention, they had an amazing, hard-working production staff behind them.

My dad and Lloyd were both proud alumni of Northwestern University, and I'm honored to be one too! Big thanks to Northwestern for supporting our channel by providing content from Lloyd’s archive to share.

There’s more where this came from, and you can subscribe to our YouTube to watch it.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes tour of Northwestern’s archive, where Lloyd’s collection is housed.

More Rare TV

I recently posted another rare TV relic on our channel: a 1978 episode of NBC’s America Alive!, the short-lived daytime show hosted by Jack Linkletter and co-hosted by Caitlyn Jenner (then known as Bruce Jenner). The episode comes directly from my dad’s archive, and you won’t find it anywhere else online. You can watch it below.

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