Check, Please! Flashes Back On 1/16

Fans of "Check, Please!" know that WTTW often runs repeats of previous episodes, helping to propagate the "'Check, Please! Effect'" and make household names, for a brief time, of folks named Fred Solomon and Manase Latu.

They'll be going deep into the vaults on January 16. In response to a recent feature on WBEZ's "Eight Forty-Eight," WTTW will be running a never-before-seen episode from the show's first season featuring a young state Senator and law professor from Hyde Park named Barack Obama, who's gone on to bigger and better things since then. Obama was on the show to recommend Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop. The time capsule element to the episode will also give viewers a chance to remember things like the original, minimalist set and host Amanda Puck, who was working at her famed ex-brother-in-law's Spago Chicago at the time. We can remember the cries of self-styled "Puckheads" when Singh replaced Puck.

In addition to Obama becoming POTUS # 44, Amanda Puck works in PR, Wolfgang Puck closed Spago Chicago and Dixie Kitchen is looking to relocate its Hyde Park location, as Harper Court is slated to be redeveloped beginning in the summer. things sure do change in eight seasons.