Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

[pannoni1]

One last round of 17 Beta tapes came from e-wastemanagement came in on Monday. Most programming is off WCDN/PBS, but all programming off commercial stations contained commercials. Here are the tapes that contained any ads on them, with most of the PBS content airing around the time the shows with ads did within a week or two.

TAPE 1: Planet For The Taking "Improving on Nature", American Masters "Unknown Chaplin- My Happiest Years, Part I", Water, Birth, Planet For The Taking, followed by an episode of the short-lived NBC newsmagazine 1986 off WSMV on 7/22/1986 (missing the opening), followed by a partial episode of National Geographic Explorer on Jane Goodall's Chimps.

TAPE 2: The CBS Special Movie Sophie's Choice off WTVF on 8/20/1986, followed by D-Dayy: Liberation of France and then wraps up with part of 20/20, oddly including about the first half of the episode, then skipping to the last couple minutes, including the closing credits.

TAPE 3: An episode of Ancient Lives, Lawrence of Arabia: The Master Illusionist, the premiere of The Story Of English, the 9/16/86 edition of NBC's 1986, followed by the full WSMV 10 PM News and the first few minutes of a Three's Company rerun. WSMV gave Johnny Carson the boot at the time in the Music City, with indie WZTV picking it up.

TAPE 4: Great Railway Journeys Of The World "Blue Train", two episodes of Comrades (the first on Soviet eye surgeon Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fyodorov, the second on Estonian fashion designer Krista Kajandu), Cuba- In The Shadow Of Doubt, followed by about the first half of the 9/30/1986 edition of NBC's 1986 off WSMV.

TAPE 5: American Masters "Unknown Chaplin- My Happiest Years, pt. III", another episode of Planet For The Taking, Remembering the Bomb on the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombs in Japan, Non-Fiction Television on the 1939 World's Fair, followed by about 22 minutes of USA Night Flight coverage on The Gorilla off USA on 9/26/1986 with two commercial breaks.

TAPE 6: Ancient Lives, the premiere of The West Of The Imagination, the second episode of The Story Of English, the premiere of ABC's Our World off WKRN on 9/25/1986, followed by the second half of the 9/30/86 edition and the first half of the 10/14/86 edition of NBC's 1986 off WSMV.

TAPE 7: The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1986) off The Disney Channel circa November 1986 (a world premiere feature unlike most of their movies at the time), the short feature Can I Borrow Car? also off The Disney Channel, episodes of The Africans and Out Of The Fiery Furnace off WDCN/PBS, and finally approximately the first half of Our World off WKRN/ABC on 10/5/1986 with commercials, completing the partial episode I found on tape 7 of the previous lot.

TAPE 8: Episodes of Our World and 20/20 off ABC/WKRN on 10/2/1986, followed by the premiere of Out Of The Fiery Furnace, James Jones: Reveille To Tapes, and Matisse In Nice.

TAPE 9: Episodes of Ancient Lives, The West Of The Imagination, The Story Of English, followed by the 10/6/86 edition of NBC's 1986 off WSMV, followed by The Faces Of Japan on Noriko.

TAPE 10: The premiere of The Day The Universe Changed: A Personal View By James Burke, The West Of The Imagination, The Story Of English, and about the first two-thirds of the 10/14/86 edition of NBC's 1986 off WSMV.

TAPE 11: An episode of Austin City Limits (Ricky Skaggs and The Judds are the guests), followed by Comrades (on Dinara Asanova), Raffi (a one hour concert off The Disney Channel), Out Of The Fiery Furnace, and the season premiere of Nature. No commercial programming on this tape, but its always neat to find a couple concerts on a tape.

TAPE 12: More episodes of The Day The Universe Changed, The West Of The Imagination, The Story Of English, The Making Of Liberty (on the Statue of Liberty), and approximately the first two-thirds of the 10/28/86 edition of 1986 off WSMV/NBC.

TAPE 13: NOVA, The Africans, New York Chefs, The Faces Of Japan (on baseball players), followed by a ten minute clip of Friday Night Videos from 11/21/1986 on the greatest videos of all time (features Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" as #1) with a few commercials.

TAPE 14: LIFE: 50 Years off WKRN/ABC on 11/15/1986, followed by The Africans, Out Of The Fiery Furnace, and the WSMV news special Russia: Wrapped In Mystery on 11/22/1986, with the tape finishing up with the intro to The Facts Of Life.

TAPE 15: Nature (on Palestine in the Holy Land), Great Performances (Steve Reich: A New Musical Language), followed by West 57th off WTVF/CBS on 4/13/1987, then back to PBS for Frontline, followed by the Nightline and the first nine minutes of the religious program A Study Of The Word off WKRN/ABC on 4/28/1987.

Another tape had nearly half of an episode of Nightly Business Report from this period, but I can't recall. Still, when you rack up six full and two partial episodes of a newsmagazine that lasted just 20 episodes on a major network in just two lots, that's quite a find there.

That said, in between these two lots, I had a mostly disappointing lot from vintmedia (out of a SF Bay Area suburb, so I don't recommend him/her/they). It was just 99 cents plus shipping, so I really didn't blow too much, but all I found were a couple newscasts off KRON from 1999/2000, a Disney Channel promo block and Spring Preview special from 3/2/1995, a block of The West Wing episodes from 2005 that I'll pass on, a partial episode of Nightline from 1987, and a couple short promotional videos on the construction of an aqueduct in Contra Costa County. Mostly rental/pay TV duds out of 25 tapes here.

 

[crainbebo]

Amazing that you're finding so much from the Our World series with Linda Ellerbee. It was the LOWEST-ranked show of the entire 1986-87 season...maybe getting 5% of the prime-time audience at 8PM with the 800-lb gorilla Cosby Show way above them.

Going through unsearched tapes from a June estate sale (on N 32nd/Lincoln in Yakima) and found a 1-hour back-to-back Saved by the Bell and an NBA Inside Stuff from May 1992, off KNDO. SWEET! It was the infamous date with Eric and Lisa and Mr. Belding's totaled convertible.

 

[chandler0201]

Amazing that you're finding so much from the Our World series with Linda Ellerbee. It was the LOWEST-ranked show of the entire 1986-87 season...maybe getting 5% of the prime-time audience at 8PM with the 800-lb gorilla Cosby Show way above them.

Going through unsearched tapes from a June estate sale (on N 32nd/Lincoln in Yakima) and found a 1-hour back-to-back Saved by the Bell and an NBA Inside Stuff from May 1992, off KNDO. SWEET! It was the infamous date with Eric and Lisa and Mr. Belding's totaled convertible.

WOW you should definitely post that hour block on Archive, there aren't many Saved By the Bell original episode airings out there. I have 3 or 4 episodes from NBC but most of what is out there is off TBS or TNT re-airings, kind of like Parker Lewis Can't Lose, most of what is out there are USA network reairs.

Amazing finds on the 1986 and Our World episodes Crainbebo. On one of the tapes my dad taped decades ago is a fragment of the show Our World. I remember watching a few episodes with him and marveling at how cool the set looked, especially as compared to 20/20 at the time.

 

[crainbebo]

My Archive account was disabled, remember?
I don't know if I am able to create a new one since Archive will likely pull it down immediately knowing who I am...

1986/Our World was from Michael Pannoni, not from me. I haven't found any new VHS tapes in 2 months or more and I have avoided eBay lots due to excess backlog and very, very little time to go through tapes. I am working two jobs (substitute teaching, pizza delivery) and this week will have worked 46 hours, not to mention serving at church (A/V crew - sometimes directing, sometimes behind one of our three cameras) and Wednesday night Lifegroups.

Once I have more time and send another lot (or two) out, I do have a couple plans related to VHS hunting...
- There's a lot of tapes on eBay I am interested in from a very small Midwest market and it still hasn't sold yet, mostly 1990s stock and some have syndicated sci-fi dramas on them
- A tentative trip to Montana in April could bring small-market goodies...I'll be hitting the Spokane Goodwill Outlet possibly twice, and numerous thrift stores around the Flathead and down into Missoula. Plus, spring cleaning will be in full swing and estate sales are likely.

 

[crainbebo]

I finally put down a little cash on a Beta lot. 14 tapes coming from Quad Cities IA/Moline IL in the coming days. They are meticulously marked, 2 movies a tape with network and channel number marked ("HBO-2", "CBS-3"...which is WHBF-4, etc.) and the lot ranges from 1988-1993. Some are TV movies and specials. He has a whole bunch of lots up...it seems like the former owner had hundreds and hundreds of Betas, categorized and inventoried the same way. This is a market that does have a little content from the '80s/'90s on YT, but not as much as other markets of the same size.

In addition, 25 VHS tapes are going up tomorrow AM (I hope) before I go off to my next substitute teaching assignment.

 

[Jman8606]

I finally put down a little cash on a Beta lot. 14 tapes coming from Quad Cities IA/Moline IL in the coming days. They are meticulously marked, 2 movies a tape with network and channel number marked ("HBO-2", "CBS-3"...which is WHBF-4, etc.) and the lot ranges from 1988-1993. Some are TV movies and specials. He has a whole bunch of lots up...it seems like the former owner had hundreds and hundreds of Betas, categorized and inventoried the same way. This is a market that does have a little content from the '80s/'90s on YT, but not as much as other markets of the same size.

In addition, 25 VHS tapes are going up tomorrow AM (I hope) before I go off to my next substitute teaching assignment.

That would be great to see. Maljardin posted some stuff from the Quad Cities before. My great aunt and uncle lived there in the early 90s.

 

[Scott from NM]

Recently when moving found a box of VHS tapes I had recorded from way back when. I'm not sure if any of them would still play or just snap upon contact. Most recorded when I was at work, so with commercials.
Texas All Star wrestling (June 1985)
The Simpsons (1993)
The Stand (1994) TV mini-series
WCW Monday Nitro (1995- 1996) 2 tapes
Oh, goodness. It would be great to see these again, especially the ads.

 

[MayfieldMan]

The oldest VHS tape I currently have I got off eBay some time ago, which has the following:

* 46 minutes of footage from Night Flight (2-26-1983) (has Take Off and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet) (with commercials)
* Matt Houston episode "The Visitors" from 2-27-1983 on ABC (Only has one complete commercial and another one before that's not complete; just one that starts and recording got paused before it resumed again)
* The original airing of the Q.E.D. (US TV series) episode "The Great Motor Race" on 3-30-1982, recorded off WBNS, with commercials)
* An ABC airing of Ripley's Believe It or Not from 2-27-1983 with only one commercial break intact
* A WUAB airing of Night Gallery (partial episode as the only complete segment on the recording is"Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator" as well as Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (under the US title of My Partner, The Ghost) episode "The Man From Nowhere" from 3-28-1982 (with the commercials, but the video quality of it isn't the best)

Am hoping I can get more off eBay as well as thrift store whenever I get the chance to again. Like to build myself up a collection of old recordings and do some trading with people.

​

 

[crainbebo]

First estate sale of the year was in West Valley on 40th Ave. Four tapes found yesterday.

Tape 1 - 'Target' (1985) taped off Encore on 2/10/2001 with a few minutes of promos prior to the movie. Maxell T-120
Tape 2 - 'G.I. Jane' (1997) taped off unknown channel with no commercials; rest of tape is a 4+ hour aircheck of Home Shopping Network from December 1998, including an early appearance by the late Billy Mays! Maxell XL-HIFI T-120
Tape 3 - Clip of Your Big Break taped off KIMA-29 in September 2000 with commercials (my first time finding this show...Alfonso Ribeiro hosted it); cuts to most of 'Dance with Me' (1998) taped off unknown pay-TV channel; part of the Pontiac Excitement 400 from Richmond taped off ESPN on 5/15/1999 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 4 - 'The Return of the Musketeers' (1989) taped off Starz! circa 1996; 'No Man is an Island' (1962) taped off Encore on 1/28/1996 with several minutes of promos; 'The Black Rose' (1950) taped off AMC in February 1996 with several minutes of promos before the movie; ends with part of the opera performance 'Pagliacci' taped off an unknown station, probably KYVE, in the early 1990s. Memorex T-120

I am finding decent stuff on the Beta lot from Moline IL as well...including an episode of a very short-lived CBS program called Middle Ages that aired in 1992, with Peter Riegert of Animal House. That was taped off WHBF Rock Island and has commercials. Also found various WGN, USA, TNT, and TBS movies plus a film or two taped off KLJB, Columbo from WQAD, etc. More later. Seems to be 1989-1993.

 

[pannoni1]

I recently purchased two lots from shoreman99, a seller based out of central New Jersey. No game shows, sitcoms, or cartoons, but there was still some nice surprises that was mostly worth the purchasing and hunt. The first lot consisted of 20 tapes, the second 30. 28 of those contained good finds with '80s/'90s content, with most of the rest consisting of late '00s and '10s content, with recordings dating from a recently as 2017 with episodes of 48 Hours and Inside Edition (my newest recorded finds to date). Another tape featured the 90-minute episode of 48 Hours from 1990 with Paul McCartney that I've previously found seven years ago. Most of the tape stock was from the mid-80s to the early '90s, and as evidenced by one of tapes, this recorder had a great time taping over whenever he had the chance, and I'd imagine lots of cool pre-Internet era stuff got taped over with content where you hear stuff like 4G or Twitter instead. Still, a some hard to find stuff in here. Most recordings from the '90s were in EP mode, with the '80s and the '00s/'10s stuff in SP mode. Most finds were from the NYC market, but there were a few from Philly stations, especially the late '90s and onward stuff. Local inserts from cable stations were from Nassau County, Long Island for the '80s content, and from Central Jersey for the '90s stuff. Everything listed is with commercials intact and off NYC stations (WNBC, WCBS, WABC, WPIX, WNYW, WNET, WWOR) except as otherwise indicated.

LOT 1

TAPE 1: Two hours worth of footage off CNBC from 6/11/1999. SP mode.

TAPE 2: 48 Hours from 1/8/1998, followed by Up Close and SportsCenter off ESPN, followed by Wall Street Week, and finally the nightcap edition of SportsCenter. The label on the tape read "The Woman In Red and Not Necessarily The Year In Review- New Year's Evem 1986" and I did find the last couple minutes of that HBO special at the end of the tape (from 12/31/1985, not 1986).

TAPE 3: Up Close and SportsCenter off ESPN on 5/16/1997, followed by the same pairing of shows from the following day, then most of the first hour of NBC's Today show from 5/19/1997, another episode of Up Close from 5/21/1997, and then most of the first hour of another episode of Today from 5/21/1997.

TAPE 4: Inside The NFL off HBO on 10/3/1996 with no promos, followed by ESPN College Football Gameday and SportsCenter from 10/5/1996, then NFL Preview off CNN on 10/6/1996, followed by the NFL on NBC pregame show from the same day, an episode of Street Signs off CNBC on 10/8/1996 (ends just before the closing bell, and that theme makes me nostalgic), followed by 48 Hours on 10/10/1996.

TAPE 5: ESPN Up Close and SportsCenter from 4/11/1996, followed by 48 Hours from the same night (the original Ed Kalehoff theme and music package had been replaced by this point), then another episode of SportsCenter from 4/12/1996, followed by an episode of Bloomberg Small Business from 4/13/1996 off USA, followed by another episode of Up Close from 4/15/1996.

TAPE 6: Starts with a half hour of CNBC Tech Talk (part of its Market Wrap block) from 12/6/1995, followed by three consecutive nights of ESPN's Up Close and SportsCenter from 12/6, 12/7, and 12/8/1995, followed by an episode of the short-lived variety comedy series What's So Funny! off FOX on 12/10/1995, followed by another episode of Up Close and most of another episode of SportsCenter from 12/11/1995.

TAPE 7: Starts with CNN College Football Gameday from 11/25/1995, followed by ESPN SportsCenter from the same day, followed by NFL Gameday and SportsCenter off ESPN on 11/26/1995, followed by CNN Tech Talk, ESPN Up Close, and Sports Center from 11/27/1995, followed by another episode of ESPN Up Close from 11/28/1995.

TAPE 8: ESPN Up Close from 2/16/1995, followed by CNN Sports Late Night from that same night, followed by ESPN SportsCenter and a short clip off CNBC from 2/17/1995, followed by ABC's Primetime Live from 2/22/1995, followed by ESPN Up Close and CNN Sports Late Night from 2/23/1995, followed by CNBC Tech Talk from 2/27/1995, followed by NYPD Blue from 2/28/1995, followed by a partial broadcast of a talk show off CNBC and part of Primetime Live from 3/2/1995.

TAPE 9: The two-hour 25th Anniversary Special of 60 Minutes from 11/14/1993, followed by a couple of pay-TV movies off The Movie Channel with no promos.

TAPE 10: Begins with a couple various primetime shows off FOX circa 2003, followed by most of NBC Nightly NEws from 8/23/1992.

TAPE 11: Starts with various PBS documentaries circa 2007, then cuts to an episode of CNN Sports Late Report from 9/10/1988.

TAPE 12: This tape was snapped at the start when I received it, but I managed to get the spool rolling. I guess the recorder didn't bother doing it, but I figured there would be a better shot at these early cable gems! Starts with part of the overtime portion of the NFL on NBC game where the Miami Dolphins with from 11/16/1986 with a few commercials, followed by a couple short clips of ESPN SportsCenter from 11/16 and 11/23/1986 (mostly the NFL portions), followed by the NFL '86 Thanksgiving Pre Game Show off WNBC on 11/27/1986, followed by ESPN SportsCenter from the same day, then it wraps up with a partial episode of CNN Business Day from November 1986.

TAPE 13: Terror In The Aisles (1984) recorded off HBO on Halloween night 1985 with several minutes promos after the movie, followed by an episode of CNN Sports Late Night on the same night.

 

[pannoni1]

LOT 2

TAPE 1: Garth Brooks: Live From Central Park off HBO on 8/7/1997 with no closing credits (the culinary equivalent would be eating at a KFC in NYC), followed by most of ESPN SportsCenter from 8/8/1997, followed by ESPN Up Close from 8/9/1997.

TAPE 2: Starts with C]NET off USA on 12/8/1996 (lots of crazy early Internet sites featured), followed by ESPN SportsCenter, NFL Countdown, and 60 Minutes from the same day, followed by ESPN Up Close, SportsCenter, and 48 Hours from 12/12/1996. I've already got that 60 Minutes episode from a previous lot.

TAPE 3: Starts with two episodes of Savage Skies and NOVA off WHYY from early May 1996 with promos, followed by two more episodes of Savage Skies off WNET from the same timeframe, followed by part of an episode of NBC News Today (from Ireland) off WCAU/NBC on 5/8/1996 with some commercials during the final half hour, with a lot of the news/weather segments during the first three-quarters of the show scoped out.

TAPE 4: The Lennox Lewis-Tommy Morrison boxing match off HBO on 10/7/1995, followed by 60 Minutes and CNN Sports Late Night on 10/8/1995, followed by a couple short clips of CNBC from 10/11/1995, then episodes of ESPN Up Close and 48 Hours (still using the Kalehoff theme, but with an announcer now announcing the episode) from 10/12/1995, followed by another episode of Up Close from 10/13/1995.

TAPE 5: Episodes of ABC Primetime Live, The Late Show with David Letterman, and CNN Sports Report from 10/6/1994, followed by ESPN Up Close and a clip from CNBC Tech Talk from 10/7/1994.

TAPE 6: Starts with a couple Frank Sinatra-themed specials off WNET in March 1994 with pledge breaks, including "The Voice of our Time", followed by ABC News Turning Point from 4/13/1994, followed by L.A. Law from 4/14/1994, then it jumps back to about the last hour of the second installment of the CBS Mini-Series Family of Spies from 2/6/1990, then it finishes off with an episode of All My Children from 12/21/1989, all in EP mode.

TAPE 7: Starts with the ABC Sunday Movie A Murderous Affair: The Carolyn Warmus Story from 9/13/1992, followed by a couple pay-TV movies with no promos.

TAPE 8: Commences with the ABC News Special Me, Sex & Rape from 5/5/1992, followed by First Person with Maria Shriver from 5/6/1992 (my first find of NBC's attempted answer to Barbara Walters), followed by Harry Chapin: You Are The Only Song off NJN in May 1992 with a couple promos at the start: followed by 48 Hours from 5/27/1992, then it wraps up with Days of our Lives from 7/24/1992.

TAPE 9: Begins with the first ten minutes from an episode of Friday Night Videos from late 1986 (with Genesis "In Too Deep" and Madonna's "True Blue" videos), followed by Robert Palmer's Simply Irresistible video off MTV circa 1988, then episodes of Entertainment Tonight and CNN Sports Tonight from 9/17/1991, followed by another episode of CNN Sports from 9/18/1991, then it rolls on with episodes of ESPN Up Close, Entertainment Tonight, and CNN Sports from 9/19/1991, followed by another episode of ESPN Up Close from 9/20/1991, then i jumps ahead to both the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News from 7/12/1992, then it wraps up with most of CNBC Smart Money from 7/14/1992.

TAPE 10: Starts off with part of the CBS Evening News and a talk show off WNET, and an episode of Family Guy from 2014, then it jumps back to a partial episode of A Current Affair circa June 1990, an episode of ESPN Sports Look (the same show that would later be revamped as "Up Close") from 6/6/1990, another episode of A Current Affair from June 1990, and the last 30 minutes of Saturday Night Live from 6/2/1990. T-160, all in SP mode. Unfortunately, the poor tape quality means that the A Current Affair portions are audio only.

TAPE 11: A neat find here! This is a two-hour, studio master video of a panel discussion with the cast of 60 Minutes from the Museum of Broadcasting in NYC from 6/18/1987. This was back when the museum was in its old location before moving a couple blocks away. Harry Reasoner was the only correspondent absent at what's now the Paley Center.

TAPE 12: If only every tape in these lots was like this! Kicks off with episodes of FNN Money Talk and WNYW Sports Extra from 12/14/1986, followed by episodes of CNN Business Day and Moneyline from 12/15/1986, then it continues on with more episodes of CNN Business Day, FNN Money Talk, and an episode of ESPN SportsCenter from 12/16/1986, then it cuts back with the last few minutes of CNN Sports Sunday from 12/3/1986, followed by episodes of CNN Business Day, FNN Money Talk, and ESPN Sports Look from 12/4/1986. My earliest substantial find from the Financial News Network! All I've found previously were a couple very brief snippets during channel surfing. LP mode.

TAPE 13: The Honeymooners Special "Racoon Riot", featuring four classic 1956 episodes "Unconventional Behavior", "On Stage", "Something Fishy", and "The Deciding Vote" off WPIX on 5/27/1986. There's no "V of Doom" stinger during the "V of Moon" closings.

TAPE 14: The NFL Today and a little over half of the NFC Divisional playoff game between the New York Giants and Chicago Bears from 1/5/1986, with most commercials only during the pregame. The halftime is intact besides for most of the commercials. The recording ends after the opening drive of the 3rd quarter. LP would had made more sense than SP here.

TAPE 15: Begins with a short clip from WCBS News about the Mets missing the playoffs from 1985, followed by the CBS Tuesday Movie presentation of Murder: By Reason of Insanity, along with with a short clip from CNN after the feature from 10/2/1985.

That seller is probably about three-fourth's finished with all the lots he's sold so far, and at $1/tape plus shipping, it isn't a bad deal for the potential goodies you'll find here. Keep in mind most lots have sold within a day or two after posting. Since few tapes have a label attached, it's truly a grab bag regarding what you might find as you pop in each tape.

 

[Jman8606]

First estate sale of the year was in West Valley on 40th Ave. Four tapes found yesterday.

Tape 1 - 'Target' (1985) taped off Encore on 2/10/2001 with a few minutes of promos prior to the movie. Maxell T-120
Tape 2 - 'G.I. Jane' (1997) taped off unknown channel with no commercials; rest of tape is a 4+ hour aircheck of Home Shopping Network from December 1998, including an early appearance by the late Billy Mays! Maxell XL-HIFI T-120
Tape 3 - Clip of Your Big Break taped off KIMA-29 in September 2000 with commercials (my first time finding this show...Alfonso Ribeiro hosted it); cuts to most of 'Dance with Me' (1998) taped off unknown pay-TV channel; part of the Pontiac Excitement 400 from Richmond taped off ESPN on 5/15/1999 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 4 - 'The Return of the Musketeers' (1989) taped off Starz! circa 1996; 'No Man is an Island' (1962) taped off Encore on 1/28/1996 with several minutes of promos; 'The Black Rose' (1950) taped off AMC in February 1996 with several minutes of promos before the movie; ends with part of the opera performance 'Pagliacci' taped off an unknown station, probably KYVE, in the early 1990s. Memorex T-120

I am finding decent stuff on the Beta lot from Moline IL as well...including an episode of a very short-lived CBS program called Middle Ages that aired in 1992, with Peter Riegert of Animal House. That was taped off WHBF Rock Island and has commercials. Also found various WGN, USA, TNT, and TBS movies plus a film or two taped off KLJB, Columbo from WQAD, etc. More later. Seems to be 1989-1993.

The local feed of GN or the Superstation feed?

 

[crainbebo]

Superstation feed...lots of 800/900 numbers replacing regular commercials. One broadcast of 'Paradise Alley' (1978) dates to 1/9/90, only a week or so after the start of the SyndEx feed.

 

[chandler0201]

A bit of a quick update on Goodwill Outlet stores, went to one in Greenville, South Carolina with not much luck, there was more broken glass than VHS tapes and the Greensboro, North Carolina outlet store was not much better. Luckily I still have many hundreds of home recorded tapes yet to go through. Pretty soon we will only be able to source these tapes from Ebay lots and estate sales...

 

[crainbebo]

Funny you mention that because *I* was at the Pasco Goodwill Outlet yesterday, among several estate sale stops in Tri-Cities. I'd say a pretty decent outing. Several tapes found at one estate/garage sale that also had 2,000+ LPs and 500+ 45s...for cheap (i.e., Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' for 50 cents!). Two more found at an estate sale of an aviation enthusiast. Both of those sales were in Richland.

First sale
Tape 1 - 'Heartbreak Ridge' (1986), 'Burglar' (1987), Can a Guy Say No?, The Blunders Show (an ITV/UK cartoon) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (the anime) taped off HBO on 6/13/1988 with promos. The last 3 shows were part of the HBO Family Showcase. Fuji Super HG T-120
Tape 2 - Jack Tanner '88 special taped off HBO; episodes of Seabert, Fraggle Rock, and 'Shipwrecked!' (1978) taped off HBO on 2/19/1988 with promos. Fuji Super HG T-120 (Note: I believe this is the first time I've ever found a Fraggle Rock episode on tape!)
Tape 3 - Episode of Tour of Duty taped off KEPR/CBS on 11/14/1987 with commercials, followed by the Hearns vs. Roldan fight, 'Basic Training' (1985), 'Class' (1983) and part of Heartbreak House taped off Showtime on 11/7-8/1987 with promos. Memorex T-120
Tape 4 - 'You Only Live Twice' (1967), ABC News Weekend Report, infomercials for Space Saver and Fulfill Your Dreams, and 12:15AM sign-off taped off KVEW/ABC on 7/23-24/1989 with commercials. Awesome...I've personally NEVER found a KVEW sign off before! Maxell T-120
Tape 5 - 'Platoon Leader' (1988), Showtime Comedy Club Network, Sins of the Father Part I, 'Cindy's Love Games' (1979 softcore) and part of It's Garry Shandling's Show taped off Showtime on 11/20-21/1989 with promos. Fuji T-120
Tape 6 - First-run episodes of The Simpsons taped off K66BW/FOX (later KBWU-LP, now KFFX) taped between October 1993 and April 1994, most without commercials: exceptions are the 12/16/1993, 2/10/1994 and 3/17/1994 episodes. The only reruns were the first couple Treehouse of Horror episodes that FOX aired in a marathon on Halloween night 1993 (I think?) TDK Hi-Fi T-120
Tape 7 - Several hours of Robotech episodes taped off Sci-Fi Channel in April 1994 with commercials - AWESOME find! LP mode. RCA T-120

I haven't gone through an eighth tape also marked The Simpsons, but I expect some will be scoped and some will be unscoped. A whole bunch of other tapes there, but unfortunately at least 1/2 were wet from rain (they left them outside on Friday morning when it rained...ugh) and some of the cassettes themselves had dew and water damage. It was mostly '80s movies anyways, one with Dr. Strangelove as well. Two duds - one with scrambled Disney Channel accidentally recorded over the movies, and another with a 5-minute porno clip.

Second sale

Tape 8 - Nutcracker performed by the Bolshoi Ballet on 'Stage' taped off A&E on 12/22/1994 with commercials, but about 2/3rds is taped over by an unknown PBS special on a Russian museum; reverts back to the last 10-15 minutes of the Stage program, followed by Law & Order taped off A&E early on 12/23/1994 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 9 - 20 minutes of various advertising slides from Charter cable 3 in Tri-Cities, followed by KIRO 7 Eyewitness News at Noon from 11/21/2002 with commercials (evacuations and closures after the bomb squad finds dynamite in a Tacoma storage unit), and back to the advertising slides. The cable company had relayed KIRO's Mariners games on a public access channel in the late '90s and this was a continued remnant of that agreement. There's also an infomercial for the AB-Doer System that Charter aired on that channel.

Excited for Spring Break. I'm off to western Montana for shopping, sightseeing, church visits and more. This is a rarely-seen part of the country, at least for local television footage. Hopefully, I can hit the jackpot and find some awesome 1980s footage from this part of the country. It will be a 4-day trip and I will be the Missoula/Hamilton area on the Friday of the trip, when estate sales are likely.

 

[pannoni1]

I hear you, chandler on the dearth of VCR-era tapes appearing at second-hand stores. Most stores where I am in central MD gave up on stocking them years ago, though I occasionally still check the outdoor Goodwill bins at my nearest branch. Craigslist is my best bet now for local content. I'm also open to Facebook Marketplace as well as it operates in a similar manner, but through eBay and trading, I've been sufficient with what I've come across, and enjoy having the content across different markets.

I purchased one more lot of 17 Betas from e-wastemanagement on the 'Bay after having an even lower price then what I paid for several VHS and Beta lots from him a few months ago. Similar to what I've posted in post #1,999, there is a variety of content off Nashville stations from the later 1980s, although there was one tape recorded off Chicago stations from 1985. All tapes have the commercials or promos, in BIII mode unless as described.

TAPE 1: The CBS special movie Day One off WTVF/CBS on 3/5/1989, followed by a full episode of CBS Monday Morning on 3/26/1989 off WKRN (as previously stated, Nashville's normal CBS affiliate were focusing on the Risen Lord that day), followed by the first seven minutes of The Two Rivers Hour, broadcast live from a Baptist church across the street from a major music venue.

TAPE 2: Two parts of the PBS documentary series Television off WDCN/PBS in February 1988 (the "Variety Programs" and "Public TV" episodes), followed by the Frontline episode Comrades on the Education of Rita, then it jumps to a special Cable Month preview reel from April 1988 featuring an excerpt of TBS' Portrait of the USSR, followed by a rebroadcast of the 12/5/1987 Nick At Nite "Do It Yourself Sitcom" contest, and there are even brief clips from The Weather Channel, CNN, and The Discovery Channel also featured in that reel, along with a few commercials. As far as I know, that special is not yet available online, so a great find here!

TAPE 3: Begins with the ABC Sunday Movie "Get Smart Again" off WKRN from 2/26/1989 (I've already got this off another station), followed by Columbo: Murder, Smoke & Shadow off the same station from the following night, followed by an episode of Later with Bob Costas (guest: Larry David) off WSMV/NBC on 3/1/1989.

TAPE 4: Starts with the syndicated special Early Warning with David Hartman off WCAY in early January 1989, followed by an episode of West 57th off WTVF/CBS on 1/14/1989, followed by the Sesame Street special Big Bird In Japan off WDCN/PBS on 1/16/1989, then wraps up with the NOVA episode "Hot Enough For You?" off WDCN/PBS on 1/17/1989.

TAPE 5: Mostly PBS stuff on this tape (The American Experience episodes on the 1906 SF 'quake, Radio Bikini, and Indians, Outlaws & Angie Debo, along with Female Acrobats III off The Discovery Channel with no commercials, followed by Kristallnacht: The Journey From 1938 to 1988, then ends with an 18-minute of Geraldo from 1988 off WKRN with a few commercials.

TAPE 6: Kicks off with the three-hour TBS special Larry King's Night of Soviet Television from 11/30/1988, followed by The American Experience: Kennedy vs. Wallace, Up Close off WDCN/PBS circa November 1988, followed by an episode of Splittin' Image off CBC North from November 1988 with some commercials.

TAPE 7: Not Your Average Russian and After The War off WDCN/PBS circa June 1987, followed by 20/20 off WKRN/ABC from 6/18/1987 (I've already got the first two-thirds of this episode that features the Donna Rice interview, but now I've got it all), followed by another episode of CBS' Newsmagazine West 57th off WTVF on 6/20/1987, followed by an episode of Country Express off WDCN in June 1987 (which gave me a Pace Picante salsa moment when I noticed a video taking place in a graffiti-covered NYC Subway!), followed by the last 8 minutes of the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour from 6/22/1987 off WDCN/PBS, then wraps up with a six-minute clip of The McLaughlin Group off WDCN/PBS from summer 1987.

TAPE 8: Starts with a rerun of a 1985 episode of Austin City Limits (Guests: Ricky Skaggs, Wyonna Judd) off WDCN/PBS from June 1987, followed by another episode of West 57th from 6/13/1987 (another episode which I've found a portion of on another tape, but now have a full copy of), followed by an American Playhouse episode of Waiting For The Moon and the documentary In Search Of The Trojan War off WDCN/PBS in June 1987.

TAPE 9: Begins with Ossie & Ruby on the Revolutionary Salesman off WDCN/PBS circa March 1987, followed by an episode of ABC News' Our World off WKRN from 3/5/1987, followed by episodes of NOVA and the Arlo Guthrie Show off WDCN/PBS circa March 1987.

TAPE 10: Commences with Nature (on the arctic and its wildlife) off WDCN/PBS from January 1987, followed by Our World off WKRN/ABC from 1/29/1987 (on the spring of 1954), then jumps back to the fifth season premiere of Nightline on the Space Shuttle Program off WDCN/PBS on 1/27/1987, then skips ahead to a partial episode of Nightline from 7/17/1987 on slasher films off presumably WKRN/ABC with no commercials.

TAPE 11: Begins with the Everly Brothers Rock 'N' Roll Reunion Concert, Nature, and the animated special "The Snowman" off WDCN/PBS from December 1986, followed by an episode of NBC's 1986 off WSMV on 12/9/1986, along with the first ten minutes or so off Nashville's News 4's late news. I've previously found about half of that "1986" episode off WRC, along with a portion of that affiliate's newscast.

TAPE 12: Begins with another full episode of CBS Sunday Morning off WKRN (not WTVF as usual) on 3/30/1986, then continues with PBS episodes of Te Maori: A Celebration Of The People And Their Art, The Nature of Things, and NOVA on Dr. Edward Teller (father of the Hydrogen Bomb) off WDCN/PBS circa April 1986, then finishes off with a 14 minutes clip of an episode of 20/20 on the history of American Music from July 1986 off WKRN with no commercials.

TAPE 13: Starts off with the WWII-related documentary presentations of From Blitzkreig To The Bomb and The Home Front off WLTW/PBS circa August 1985 with very few promos, then continues with most of West 57th off presumably WBBM/CBS on 8/20/1985 with no commercials, closing, and part of the intro missing. No commercials with potential fall preview promos is a bit of a bummer, but still nice to find less popular newsmagazines from this era.

 

[crainbebo]

TAPE 6: Kicks off with the three-hour TBS special Larry King's Night of Soviet Television from 11/30/1988, followed by The American Experience: Kennedy vs. Wallace, Up Close off WDCN/PBS circa November 1988, followed by an episode of Splittin' Image off CBC North from November 1988 with some commercials.

The CBC North gives away the fact that they had a satellite dish in Nashville. It was in the clear for many, many years - love finding CBC North stuff. I hope to find some of the Northbeat newscasts soon, better yet, those that were in the Inuktitut language.

 

[Jman8606]

The CBC North gives away the fact that they had a satellite dish in Nashville. It was in the clear for many, many years - love finding CBC North stuff. I hope to find some of the Northbeat newscasts soon, better yet, those that were in the Inuktitut language.

Adam Wurtzel on his channel hosts at home has some Canadian game shows that he taped from Canada and he was living in Nashville at the time.

 

[crainbebo]

Ah, the good ole' days. You could use OnSat or Satellite TV Week to find feeds of game shows and syndicated programs that didn't get cleared in your market, too...probably where a lot of those 'studio master' copies come from. They taped the feed early in the morning. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! were fed in the mid-late mornings on the VTC Telstar transponder, for example, often in advance 2-3 days.

 

[Scott2013]

It's been some time since I last updated anyone here on my VHS finds and that's largely because for the last month I have been getting hit with hundreds of content ID matches on my YouTube videos from some organization called "LDS Affiliate US" and I've been re-editing so many of my commercial videos as of late because of it. The uploading of any new material on my end will have to wait until I finish this "rebuilding" process with my previously uploaded videos. Based on my observations and the observations of other YouTubers, this "LDS" has been going after commercials that have been shown during episodes of Oprah, similar to how T3MediaSports used to go after ads shown during NCAA games. Just to verify that theory, I have seen them target a couple of promos for the Oprah show itself.

That said, it may take a while for me to upload my newest finds, but here's what I've come across in the last couple of months. This will have to take more than one post.

Starting with my eBay finds from Boise, Idaho, although many of the contents of these tapes were recorded from Cleveland stations. It should be noted that the seller has actually listed the contents of the tapes he finds and resells in a book that can be downloaded here.

Amazon.com

TAPE 1: The Mummy (1999) taped from TNT on 1/13/2002 with commercials, then the DirecTV receiver flips over to WNBC in New York City for a partial commercial break and the end of Dateline NBC; end of Walker Texas Ranger and Blown Away (1994) taped from USA on 1/15/2002 with commercials. JVC T-120.

TAPE 2: The Patron Saint of Liars (CBS made-for-TV movie) and CBS 19 News at 11 taped from WOIO in Cleveland on 4/5/1998 with commercials; partial broadcast of The Web, The New Edge and CNET Central taped from the Sci-Fi Channel on April 5-6, 1998 with commercials; Fame: L.A., The George Michael Sports Machine and partial episode of Wild Things taped from WKYC in Cleveland on 4/6/1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 3: Partial CBS broadcast of Kentucky Wildcats vs. Tennessee Volunteers, preempted broadcast of CBS 19 News at 6 (top story is OSU's victory against Michigan), Seinfeld, Early Edition, Martial Law, Walker Texas Ranger, CBS 19 News at 11 and most of The Howard Stern Radio Show (with guest Cindy Margolis and an equally smoking hot friend of hers in a strip poker-style game complete with a wet T-shirt contest) taped from WOIO on November 21-22, 1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 4: Six Days Seven Nights (1998) taped from DirecTV Direct Ticket in December 1998 with Feature Presentation intro; The Thin Red Line (1998) taped from DirecTV Direct Ticket in December 1998. Polaroid T-120.

TAPE 5: Partial broadcast of Before They Were Rocks Stars III, music video block, Women First, Sex Appeal, Where Are They Now? (episode on the disco era) and partial broadcast of Pop-Up Video (special '70s edition) taped from VH1 on 1/6/1999 with commercials, also including an emergency alert cut-in from the Stark County Sheriff's Office regarding hazardous road conditions during the blizzard of that time. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 6: Two episodes of 7th Heaven and partial broadcast of WGN News at Nine taped from WGN on 4/13/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Masters of Fantasy, Time Trax, The Web, The New Edge, CNET Central and partial episode of The Flash taped from the Sci-Fi Channel in April 1998 with commercials; partial episode of Behind the Scenes (on The Jerry Springer Show) taped from E! in April 1998 with commercials; then reverts back to the same episode of The Flash on the Sci-Fi Channel in April 1998 with commercials; partial episode of NightMan taped from WGN on 4/14/1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 7: Beverly Hills 90210, Ally McBeal and partial broadcast of Fox 8 News at Ten taped from WJW in Cleveland on 4/1/1998 with commercials; G.I. Jane (1997) taped from Viewer's Choice Pay-Per-View in April 1998 with promos, partial encore presentation follows, as it was an All Day Movie Ticket feature. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 8: Partial episode of The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, Histeria!, California Dreams, Malibu, CA, The New Adventures of Robin Hood, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Gomer Pyle USMC and partial broadcast of Midnight Cop (1988) taped from WBNX in Akron on 11/8/1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 9: Time Trax, The Web, The New Edge and CNET Central taped from the Sci-Fi Channel on 2/15/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Suddenly Susan, pilot episode of House Rules and partial episode of Caroline in the City taped from WKYC on 3/9/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Ally McBeal and start of Fox 8 News at Ten taped from WJW on 3/9/1998 with commercials; most of Dateline NBC and first segment of Channel 3 News at 11 taped from WKYC on 3/9/1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 10: Two episodes of 7th Heaven, The Ninety and Nine Club (religious program hosted by Ernest Angley), Team Knight Rider, American Journal: Coast to Coast (from the newsmagazine's final season), LAPD: Life on the Beat, Gunsmoke and then a partial Shop at Home Network overnight block joined in progress with partial broadcasts of The Knife Collectors Show and Plugged in Electronics taped from WBNX on May 25-26, 1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 11: Closing segment of Real TV taped from WJW on 4/14/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer taped from WBNX on 4/14/1998 with commercials; partial episode of JAG, Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel and Brooklyn South taped from WOIO on 4/14/1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 12: Partial episode of Oprah (with guest Jim Carrey) and partial broadcast of Live on Five taped from WEWS in Cleveland on 4/27/1998 with commercials; 7th Heaven taped from WBNX on 4/27/1998 with commercials; 20/20, The Practice (Ally McBeal crossover), News Channel 5 at 11, Nightline (discussion about the launch of Viagra), Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and partial Movie 5 presentation of Baby Girl Scott (1987 CBS made-for-TV movie) taped from WEWS on April 27-28, 1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 13: Ally McBeal (The Practice crossover), Fox 8 News at Ten, Murphy Brown, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Mama's Family and partial broadcast of Extra (first segment delves into Jerry Springer's 1974 prostitute solicitation scandal) taped from WJW on April 27-28, 1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 14: Partial episode of M.A.N.T.I.S., CNET Central, The New Edge, The Web, Cool Tech, The Flash and partial broadcast of The Sentinel (1977) taped from the Sci-Fi Channel on 8/9/1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 15: Partial broadcast of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Hard Copy, Entertainment Tonight, Friends, Seinfeld and partial rebroadcast of the ER movie taped from WKYC on 2/12/1998 with commercials; most of The Perfect Getaway (ABC made-for-TV movie), News Channel 5 at Eleven and partial broadcast of Nightline (Forrest Sawyer fills in for Ted Koppel) taped from WEWS on 2/12/1998 with commercials; partial broadcast of CBS 19 News at 11 (preempted due to the Winter Olympics) taped from WOIO on 2/12/1998 with commercials; partial broadcast of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and partial broadcast of Late Night with Conan O'Brien taped from WKYC on February 12-13, 1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 16: Figure skating during the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, CBS 19 News at 11, Late Show with David Letterman, Olympic Late Night, M*A*S*H, Coach, Strange Universe (hosted by former WOIO news anchor Emmett Miller) and most of In the Heat of the Night taped from WOIO on February 18-19, 1998 with commercials. Maxell T-120.