'Discontinued' host Bruce Campbell: 'We forget everything'

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Host Bruce Campbell said Discontinued, premiering Thursday at 8 p.m. EST on Fubo's Maximum Effort channel, will remind viewers of forgotten products. Each episode profiles several that once were popular, but no longer are produced.

"We forget everything," Campbell told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "This show's a little bit of a reminder of some of the things that we just threw out the window and discarded. This show could also be called Discarded."

Campbell said even celebrities can be forgotten by new generations.

"Ask somebody the name Mickey Mantle," Campbell said. "They're like, 'Oh, who's Mickey Mantle?'"

The first episode of Discontinued includes Furby dolls, Blackberry devices and the TV show Legends of the Hidden Temple. Campbell said that technology can become obsolete when a competitor develops a more advanced model, like the iPhone.

"It was fine that the Blackberry went away," Campbell said. "It was a great device at the time, but they just were passed by -- by other phones doing other stuff."

Some toys did not even enjoy the brief success Furbys had. Future episodes, which move to Wednesdays at 9 p.m., discuss Barbie's pregnant Midge doll, who was a character in this year's Barbie movie.

Campbell said he was not surprised Midge was discontinued, as the idea of a pregnant children's doll only worked "on paper, maybe."

Discontinued also touches on closed theme parks, like New Jersey's notorious Action Park. The documentary Class Action Park also profiled the park's closure due to devastating injuries suffered by attendees.

"They called it Traction Park because of how many people got injured there," Campbell said. "That had to be discontinued not because it wasn't popular. It was too popular. It was just too dangerous."

Profiling discontinued TV shows reminded Campbell of some of his own credits. Though Burn Notice lasted seven seasons, others like The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. only lasted one from 1993 - 1994.

"Everything gets discontinued for a reason, mostly ratings," Campbell said. "It's funny, we were the lead-in to X-Files and then X-Files was the one that took off."

One of Campbell's franchises that is in no danger of being discontinued is Evil Dead. Though Campbell's series Ash Vs. Evil Dead ended after three seasons, Campbell produced the successful Evil Dead Rise movie this year.

"You can never kill Evil Dead because it's already dead," Campbell joked. "How do you kill the dead?"

Campbell starred in the first three films directed by childhood friend Sam Raimi starting in 1981. Now, Campbell says he and Raimi enjoy finding new filmmakers to pick up the horror mantle.

"We have two more planned in the hopper," Campbell said.

Campbell confirmed he would remain behind the scenes of future Evil Dead projects. His character, Ash, did indeed retire with the TV series.

"The old chainsaw has been hung up," Campbell said. "I'm a producer on these and it keeps us plenty busy corralling these new filmmakers."

Hosting Discontinued also reminds Campbell of his early days as a working actor. While struggling to establish himself in movies and television, he hosted industrial videos that the public never saw, earning his Screen Actors Guild card in the process.

"Doing training films for car companies, teaching car salesmen about the interior of cars, they're feeding you a script and you're looking at a teleprompter," Campbell said. "It's an acquired skill, but I'm glad I acquired it a hell of a long time ago."

With up to 40 topics covered in 10 episodes of Discontinued, Campbell hopes to do more seasons. That is, if Discontinued itself doesn't get canceled.

"Discontinued could be discontinued," Campbell said. "There's always a hope to do more."