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Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

You guys seem to be finding the most ironic combinations on a single tape in some of your latest finds--a public access program about Christian homeschooling followed by a Playboy TV movie, and Pannoni recently finding recordings of religious programs and adult movies in the same eBay lot from Philadelphia.

Recently at an estate sale in Bath Township (LeBron's old stomping grounds), I found several VHS recordings similar to the start of crainbebo's second tape from Rimrock, conservative/Christian "educational" videos copied from other tapes. One of them was titled "Hollywood vs. Catholicism," which was basically a 60-minute compilation and analysis of scenes from major motion pictures that were perceived to be anti-Catholic or anti-Christian. The only recordings I found from this particular haul that I personally found worthwhile were a couple of old black-and-white movies taped from TCM circa 2006.

Meanwhile, I'm in the middle of a VHS overload in general because I still have a HUGE backlog of content to get onto YouTube from estate sales going back the last couple of months. It also doesn't help that one of my accounts is now on a daily upload limit, so I can only upload so many videos within a 24-hour period, although that limited number of uploads seems to vary from one day to the next.

On top of that, a co-worker of mine at the radio station I work at, who happens to be a long-time subscriber of mine on YouTube, generously gifted me a HUGE load of VHS tapes that were given to him by a co-worker of his at his second job. He opted to pass them along to me knowing that I'd be putting them to good use. Thus far, I've largely been finding baseball and football games, Gilmore Girls and some other shows from The WB and some other random odds and ends. Most recent content I've found here thus far is from 2007 (Ohio State losing horribly to Florida in the BCS Championship) and the oldest I've found so far is from 1989, and the latter was actually a tape of various shows recorded from local stations in Denver, including a rather timely find, a partial episode of The Pat Sajak Show taped from KMGH on April 20, 1989 (insert Colorado joke here). Heather Locklear was one of the guests on this episode. Here in the Cleveland/Akron/Canton market, WJW opted not to air The Pat Sajak Show in favor of airing Newhart at 11:30 PM, St. Elsewhere at midnight and Arsenio Hall at 1AM. The show instead was picked up by formerly independent WOAC in Canton, which, as you can imagine, likely made for low viewership for the show in that market.

More details on my finds from this generous donation later. Another estate sale in Parma last week yielded more tapes as well, mostly movie titles on the labels. And one recorded tape of The Lion King (supposedly) from another sale in Barberton last weekend.

iIRC Videohollic who was a known YouTube user and had footage of classic Cleveland TV told me that Arsenio never saw the light of day in Cleveland.
 
I just checked a lot of ten Betas from an eBay seller after about ten lots had sold quickly after being posted. Before I get to my lot, some of the labels on those sold lots included titles ranging from "Star Trek NG", Family Ties, Sammy Davis Jr's 60th Anniversary Celebration, The Partridge Family (likely old syndie reruns), Firefox, "George Washington April 1984" (the miniseries), "Lake Placid" (possibly 1980 Winter Olympics recordings?), The Cosby Show, In The Heat Of The Night, 3-2-1 Contact, Cheers, Cagney & Lacey, "Bears-Detroit 9/24/89", Facts Of Life, "Tom Cruise on Oprah Winfrey Show", "Baywatch 5/93", and Growing Pains. The seller was based in the Milwaukee area, but all recordings were off of stations recorded off that even bigger city down Lake Michigan, as evidenced by an address label on one of those lots as being from Chicago Heights.

Now back to my lot, which on the eBay photo had the word "General Hospital" on what turned out to be a vintage shoebox. Except for a single tape, every tape featured various Luke & Laura scenes. Most were just excerpts, but there were some partial/full episodes with a varying degree of commercials. I did have to throw away two Ampex tapes due to their notorious nature of ruining machines, and one of the old Scotch tapes (with the pre-1980 font) required me to use my head cleaner a couple times. Two more tapes were in the pass file due to containing just Luke & Laura scenes and almost no commercials, say for the odd promo. But I did keep the following six:

TAPE 1: About 2 1/2 hours worth of General Hospital off WLS/ABC circa July/August 1980 with one commercial break intact as well as a promo for the All-Star Family Feud Special. 1980 Scotch L-500, alternating between BII and BIII.

TAPE 2: Most of General Hospital from 9/2/1980 off WLS/ABC with some commercials, followed by about three hours worth of Luke & Laura scenes circa September 1980 with no commercials, save for a single promo, followed by a clip of Good Morning America from 10/27/1980, featuring an interview of one of daytime's hottest stars. First generation Sony L-750, mostly in BIII.

TAPE 3: Most of another episode of GH from 9/26/1980 off WLS/ABC with most commercials, followed by another three hours of various Luke & Laura scenes circa September/October 1980 off WLS/ABC with no commercials, save for a couple promos. 1980 Scotch L-750 in mostly BIII

TAPE 4: Most of GH from 12/11/1980 with some commercials, followed by another 2 1/2 hours of mostly Luke & Laura scenes from GH from December 1980 with no commercials, ending with the New Year's Eve episode. 1980 Scotch L-750 alternating between BII and BIII

TAPE 5: Starts with around an hour of various Luke & Laura scenes off GH off WLS/ABC circa February 1981 with no commercials, followed by AM Chicago from February 1981 featuring Anthony Geary (Luke), followed by about two-thirds of GH from 2/23/1981 with some commercials, then it wraps up with about another hour of Luke & Laura scenes off GH circa late February/March 1981 with no commercials, except for the odd promo. 1979 Scotch L-500 mostly in BIII

TAPE 6: First off, "L.ALAW" was faintly visible on the front, and as it turns out, it was a goodies. Features of episodes of NBC's then-new cop drama from 10/24, 10/31, and 11/7/1986 with commercials (missing the closing on the first two episodes, and missing the first segment on the third), with the later episode also including about half of the WMAQ 10 PM News, before cutting back to about the last five minutes of One Life To Live, General Hospital, True Confessions, and the first few minutes of Jeopardy! off WLS/ABC on 11/6/1986 with commercials. Mid-80s Sony L750 in BIII mode. That episode of True Confessions was a nice surprise as that soap only lasted a single season, and I never even knew about it until I received a different episode in a trade last month.

Speaking of Oprah, my next lot, this time with VHS tapes taken from an owner who lived in the same house for 60 years will be coming soon, and the eBay lot had three labels with Oprah visible. Details were probably be posted next weekend.

Still, to those who purchased those joe-6 lots, expect a good chance of some nice network finds from the mid-late '80s to early '90s with the commercials present based on that tape with 1986 content that I had just found. I'd wish my lot had more complete episodes, but you can't complain much when you find a soap that even teen-oriented magazines featured reports about it!

LA Law was not a cop drama
 
Oops, it was a law drama.

Over the weekend, I just hit up another quick Craigslist offer, despite the broiling heat outside. It included an offer of 40 Betas for $10. As I arrived, I was greeted with a bonus with around a dozen VHS tapes for free. As it turns out, the bonus had the overall better find rate, and also set a record for most talk shows found on a single given day. This was because most of the Betamax tapes consisted of 1930s-50s Hollywood films, Mystery! (especially Agatha Christie's Poirot), Brideshead, BBC imports, and some foreign films taped off local PBS stations (usually WETA or WMPT, with a couple off Howard University's WHMT). Since most of the tape stock was from the '80s or early '90s, much of it were Clinton-era tape overs (even a couple tapes were recorded in 1999), and only a few promos were found on those tapes, and given how common PBS content is from my area, I passed on most of those. The seller even had a mid-1980s Pontiac Bonneville on hand. Still, there were some notable finds.

Beta Tape 1: Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) taped off Cinemax circa 1988, followed by partial episodes of Hometime and Bodywatch off WMHT from late 1987 or early 1988 with a promo break in between. Scotch L-750

Beta Tape 2: The Blue Dahlia (1946) and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) taped off WETA circa 1995 with a few promos, followed by about half of part 2 of Deliberate Stranger (1986), the NBC Mini-Series recorded off WRC on 7/25/1988 with commercials, SKC L-750

Beta Tape 3: My Fair Lady (1964) copied off a rental, followed by CBS Sunday Morning (a special episode on location from Japan) from 2/19/1989 off presumably W*USA with very few commercials, followed by part of The Collectors recorded off WETA circa early 1989 with no promos. TDK L-750

Beta Tape 4: Begins with a couple episodes of the miniseries Brideshead Revisited off WETA circa 1994 with a few promos, followed by part of Showbiz Today, The World Today, and most of Moneyline off CNN on 10/18/1989 (lots of Bay area earthquake coverage) with commercials. Sony L-750.

Beta Tape 5: Starts with an episode of The American Experience on Lillian Hellman from 1999 off WMPT with no promos, followed by the last few minutes of Whitney- The Concert for a New South Africa in October 1994, then it jumps to Reba and much of the 100 Years of the Hollywood Western (missing about the last 20 minutes) specials off WRC/NBC on 11/25/1994 with commercials. Sony L-750 (this was actually mid-90s tape stock with the blue/gold Betamax label on the tape itself)

Beta Tape 6: Monkey Business (1950) off WETA circa 1994 with a few promos, followed by part of Charlie Rose also off WETA in 1994 with some promos, then it jumps back with about a 12-minute clip from Miami Vice from November 1987 off WRC with a few commercials. Kodak L-750

VHS Tape 1: Mrs. Miniver (1942) taped off WNUV in February 1989 with commercials, followed by Treasure Island (1950) taped off WFTY circa February 1989 with commercials. Scotch T-120

VHS Tape 2: Moulin Rouge (1952) and Gallipoli (1981) taped off WBFF on 4/13/1989 with commercials, followed by Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958) taped off WTTG on 4/16/1989 with commercials. Scotch T-120

VHS Tape 3: Starts with Robocop 2 (1990) and Short Time (1990) copied off rentals, followed by about the last 30 minutes of the ABC Sunday Night Movie Columbo Goes To College off WJLA on 12/9/1990 with commercials, followed by Donahue and Sally Jessy Raphael off W*USA on 12/10/1990 with commercials, FUJI Super HG Hi-Fi T-120

VHS Tape 4: Murder on the Bayou (1992) copied from a rental, followed by part of the WJLA 6 PM News and ABC World News Saturday on 6/29/1991 with commercials (so close to a weekend rerun of Wheel of Fortune with still a couple hours of tape space left!)) Sony ESX HiFi T-120

VHS Tape 5: Confessions of a Serial Killer (1989) copied off a rental, followed by about the last half of the CBS Tuesday Movie Quiet Killer off W*USA on 3/24/1992 with commercials, followed by part of the WBAL late movie A Cade of Deadly Force (1986) with commercials, sign-off, dead air period, and the first few seconds of the sign-on. WBAL at the time only signed off for about half an hour on weekend nights. T-120, unknown brand

VHS Tape 6: Cape Fear (1991) copied off a rental, then it cuts to almost half of the series premiere of Bodies of Evidence off W*USA/CBS on 6/18/1992 with commercials, followed by about half of Sally Jessy Raphael (SJR) on 6/4/1992 off W*USA with commercials, followed by Live with Regis and Kathie Lee off WJLA on 6/5/1992 with ads (Boyz II Men are among the guests), followed by another episode of SJR off W*USA on 6/5/1992 with ads, then it wraps up with an episode of Geraldo off WJLA on 5/20/1992 with commercials. FUJI SuperHG Hi-Fi T-120.

VHS Tape 7: Episodes of The Jerry Springer Show and SJR each day off WRC on 11/8, 11/9, and 11/10/1993 with commercials. Fuji Super HG T-120

VHS Tape 8: Episodes of Jerry Springer and SJR each day off WRC as well as The Ricki Lake Show off WTTG on 11/11 and 11/12/1993 with commercials. Sony ESX HiFi T-120. That's right, a COMPLETE week of Jerry Springer and Sally, and this includes my earliest complete episodes of Springer as well as Ricki Lake!

VHS Tape 9: Donahue off WRC and Geraldo off WJLA on 11/11/1993 with commercials, followed by the same two talk shows off the same stations from the following day, along with an episode of The Montel Williams Show off WMAR also on 11/12/1993 with ads, followed by Bob and the final episode of the short-lived sitcom Family Album (by the same production company that would fare much better next season that involved a hangout named Central Perk) off W*USA/CBS on 11/12/1993 with commercials. That's right, a whopping SIX hours of talk shows from the same day just from the last two tapes, and that doesn't even include the most popular one at the time! SKC T-120.

VHS Tape 10: Episodes of Donahue off WRC and Geraldo off WJLA on 11/15, 11/16, and 11/17/1993 with commercials. Unknown T-120

Well, I'll be listing some tapes online about a week or two from now, but if that seller has more of the same regarding those '90s talk shows, I may give it a second round in a couple weeks.
 
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Beta Tape 4 is a great find, especially since Lou Dobbs just passed away a few days ago. He hosted Moneyline for *years*, I think it started in 1983? 1985?
And those Jerry Springer episodes are from the pre-stripper/KKK/fights over cheaters era that it became infamous for. It was a traditional discussion show at that point.
No luck at 3 sales this weekend (Thursday and Sunday) but I am trying to get rid of as much as I can before I move to Idaho, the week of August 11th.
 
I just checked a lot of ten Betas from an eBay seller after about ten lots had sold quickly after being posted. Before I get to my lot, some of the labels on those sold lots included titles ranging from "Star Trek NG", Family Ties, Sammy Davis Jr's 60th Anniversary Celebration, The Partridge Family (likely old syndie reruns), Firefox, "George Washington April 1984" (the miniseries), "Lake Placid" (possibly 1980 Winter Olympics recordings?), The Cosby Show, In The Heat Of The Night, 3-2-1 Contact, Cheers, Cagney & Lacey, "Bears-Detroit 9/24/89", Facts Of Life, "Tom Cruise on Oprah Winfrey Show", "Baywatch 5/93", and Growing Pains. The seller was based in the Milwaukee area, but all recordings were off of stations recorded off that even bigger city down Lake Michigan, as evidenced by an address label on one of those lots as being from Chicago Heights.

Now back to my lot, which on the eBay photo had the word "General Hospital" on what turned out to be a vintage shoebox. Except for a single tape, every tape featured various Luke & Laura scenes. Most were just excerpts, but there were some partial/full episodes with a varying degree of commercials. I did have to throw away two Ampex tapes due to their notorious nature of ruining machines, and one of the old Scotch tapes (with the pre-1980 font) required me to use my head cleaner a couple times. Two more tapes were in the pass file due to containing just Luke & Laura scenes and almost no commercials, say for the odd promo. But I did keep the following six:

TAPE 1: About 2 1/2 hours worth of General Hospital off WLS/ABC circa July/August 1980 with one commercial break intact as well as a promo for the All-Star Family Feud Special. 1980 Scotch L-500, alternating between BII and BIII.

TAPE 2: Most of General Hospital from 9/2/1980 off WLS/ABC with some commercials, followed by about three hours worth of Luke & Laura scenes circa September 1980 with no commercials, save for a single promo, followed by a clip of Good Morning America from 10/27/1980, featuring an interview of one of daytime's hottest stars. First generation Sony L-750, mostly in BIII.

TAPE 3: Most of another episode of GH from 9/26/1980 off WLS/ABC with most commercials, followed by another three hours of various Luke & Laura scenes circa September/October 1980 off WLS/ABC with no commercials, save for a couple promos. 1980 Scotch L-750 in mostly BIII

TAPE 4: Most of GH from 12/11/1980 with some commercials, followed by another 2 1/2 hours of mostly Luke & Laura scenes from GH from December 1980 with no commercials, ending with the New Year's Eve episode. 1980 Scotch L-750 alternating between BII and BIII

TAPE 5: Starts with around an hour of various Luke & Laura scenes off GH off WLS/ABC circa February 1981 with no commercials, followed by AM Chicago from February 1981 featuring Anthony Geary (Luke), followed by about two-thirds of GH from 2/23/1981 with some commercials, then it wraps up with about another hour of Luke & Laura scenes off GH circa late February/March 1981 with no commercials, except for the odd promo. 1979 Scotch L-500 mostly in BIII

TAPE 6: First off, "L.ALAW" was faintly visible on the front, and as it turns out, it was a goodies. Features of episodes of NBC's then-new cop drama from 10/24, 10/31, and 11/7/1986 with commercials (missing the closing on the first two episodes, and missing the first segment on the third), with the later episode also including about half of the WMAQ 10 PM News, before cutting back to about the last five minutes of One Life To Live, General Hospital, True Confessions, and the first few minutes of Jeopardy! off WLS/ABC on 11/6/1986 with commercials. Mid-80s Sony L750 in BIII mode. That episode of True Confessions was a nice surprise as that soap only lasted a single season, and I never even knew about it until I received a different episode in a trade last month.

Speaking of Oprah, my next lot, this time with VHS tapes taken from an owner who lived in the same house for 60 years will be coming soon, and the eBay lot had three labels with Oprah visible. Details were probably be posted next weekend.

Still, to those who purchased those joe-6 lots, expect a good chance of some nice network finds from the mid-late '80s to early '90s with the commercials present based on that tape with 1986 content that I had just found. I'd wish my lot had more complete episodes, but you can't complain much when you find a soap that even teen-oriented magazines featured reports about it!
glad you have obs of LA Law. Because there are some scenes from syndication that were cut. Like the scenes during the opening credits they were cut even on Amazon. And Hulu's prints
 
Well, I've decided to try another round of Beta tapes with that same local seller from the last lot. Even though there was still a lot of duds, with 80 tapes instead of 40 last time, I was apt to do a little better, and I did, which isn't a bad value for a quarter a piece. Almost everything was recorded in BIII mode.

TAPE 1: Fugitive Nights: Danger In The Desert, the NBC Friday Night Movie taped off WRC/NBC on 11/19/1993 with most commercials, followed by Madonna: The Girlie Show Live Down Under taped off HBO on 11/20/1993 with a few promos after the special, followed by a goood chunk of Walker, Texas Ranger taped off W*USA/CBS on 11/27/1993 with commercials (missing the first ten minutes and the closing).

TAPE 2: Starts off with four episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot from Mystery! off WHMM in 1993 with a few promos, then it cuts back to about 50 minutes worth from the second installment of Judith Krantz's 'Til We Meet Again off W*USA/CBS on 11/20/1989 with commercials.

TAPE 3: Starts with several episodes of the Britcom As Time Goes By off WETA circa 1997 with no promos, then it cuts for around the last 25 minutes of the Super Bowl XXVII postgame show and about the first 30 minutes of the series premiere of Homicide: Life On The Street off WRC/NBC on 1/31/1993 with commercials.

TAPE 4: Starts with most of an encore presentation of the 1986 TV movie Houston: The Legend of Texas off WBAL/CBS on 6/29/1991 with commercials, then about ten minutes before the end, cuts off to some various PBS documentaries.

TAPE 5: Kicks off with Gone With The Wind (1939) taped off WFTY circa 1990 with no commercials, then it cuts to about half of The People's Court and around the first ten minutes of The Judge off WJLA in early June 1987 with commercials, then it jumps to around 20 minutes of footage from CBS News Nightwatch around late April/early May 1987 off W*USA with commercials.

TAPE 6: Features four hours of coverage from a special rebroadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing from ABC News off WETA in 1994, followed by a few commercials off WFTY and an Incredible Inventions infomercial circa 1992.

TAPE 7: After a movie off HBO that I can't recall with no promos (no label on the tape), it continues on with Bob Newhart: Off The Record off Showtime on 4/12/1992 with a few promos

TAPE 8: Thunder Road (1958) recorded off TBS on 2/23/1989 with commercials, followed by Fatima (1984) and about 17 minutes of New Video Country taped off WMPT circa spring 1989 with promos between the programs (interestingly, one of the videos featured is John Denver's "Country Girl In Paris", but you'll probably not hear it at the Olympics).

TAPE 9: Matlock and In The Heat of the Night (credits cut) off WRC/NBC on 4/30/1991 with commercials, followed by an NBC News Special Report on President Bush's health, the NBC Sunday Movie premiere presentation of White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd, the WRC 11 PM News (features candid footage from the Mount Pleasant riots), and the first ten minutes of the George Michael Sports Machine from 5/5/1991 with commercials. In case you're wondering, the movie was continued in progress rather than in its entirety, so unless if you knew someone from the West Coast, you would have to wait until the 1994 rerun to see the first 15 minutes of that movie.

TAPE 10: The Best Years of Our Lives (1947) taped off WETA in 1988 with a couple intermission breaks, followed by around the first 15 minutes of an educational show called The Eagle.

TAPE 11: From Here To Eternity (1954) taped off WETA from around the mid-90s with no promos, followed by about 35 minutes of Sally Jessy Raphael (early days of the hourlong format) off WJLA on 8/16/1988 with commercials

TAPE 12: Years ago, I replied that I've never found any off-air content from a retail VHS or Beta tape. As it turns out, this lot had several, mostly comprised of classic film taken from HBO, PBS, or a non-Big 3 DC station with no commercials, but this tape, a retail copy of the 1969 film Stiletto, was taped over by the 1933 classic King Kong off WETA with no promos, followed by part five of the documentary "Making Sense of the Sixties" (Picking Up The Pieces, which was more about the early 1970s) along with about the first seven minutes of Technopolitics off WETA on 1/23/1991 with promos between the programs.

TAPES 13 and 14: Eight episodes each of the 1979 Maryland Center For Public Broadcasting-produced series on Socrates, recorded off MPT circa 1997 with very few promos, with one of the two tapes featuring the last few minutes of a network daytime rerun of Silver Spoons and the opening of $ale of the Century off WRC/NBC in July/August 1985 with a few commercials. Thankfully, a Californian taped most of those daytime $ale episodes at the time.

TAPE 15: Letter To Three Wives (1949) taped off WMPT in the mid-1990s with no promos, then it cuts to about the last eight minutes of the ABC News Weekend Report, New York Hot Tracks, and about the first 15 minutes of Hit City off WJLA on 7/13/1985 with commercials. Looking at my TV Guide collection, it turns out that WJLA had an eight-day delay compared to flagship WJLA based on the episode's description (profiles of Prince and Menudo). Still, it's my first complete find of this weekly music video show that I've only received in trades (which were edited in some way or another whether it was commercials or videos cut), and I've found most of another episode of Hit City previously from a friend who is also a trader.

TAPE 16: A long documentary on JFK off WETA circa 1992 with no promos, followed by most of Port Baltimore taped off WMPT in 1992 with no promos. If the Key Bridge didn't go down, I may have passed on this.

TAPE 17: Starts with a documentary of Rome off WETA in 2000 with a few promos, followed by part of the 1996 Fiesta Bowl (begins midway through the 3rd quarter) and about the first half of the W*USA 11 PM News off W*USA/CBS on 1/2/1996 with commercials

TAPE 18: Dead Calm (1988), America Undercover, Convicts on the Street: One Year of Parole, Cookie (1989), and about the first 20 minutes of Dream On, taped off HBO on 8/9/1990 with some promos between the shows

TAPE 19: Bill Cosby: Himself (1982) off HBO circa 1997 with no promos, the Marx Bros. short "Day at the Races" off an unknown station, followed by most of Seinfeld, ER, the WRC 11 PM News, and the monologue segment of The Tonight Show off WRC/NBC on 6/6/1996 with commercials

TAPE 20: Don't Tell Mom- The Babysitter's Dead (1991) recorded off HBO 8/16/1992 with some promos after the movie, followed by most of ESPN's coverage of the 1992 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction special on 8/1/1992 with commercials (missing about the first ten minutes).

TAPE 21: Starts with various clips of American Bandstand from 6/9/1984 with no commercials except for a small portion of a network promo after the credits (about ten minutes total, including much of the dance contest segment), followed by around another ten minutes of Soul Train from the same day, followed by more excerpts from American Bandstand on 6/30/1984 (once again, no commercials, but this time, about 30 minutes of the show were intact, including the closing credits), then about another six minute clip of Soul Train from the same day, including the Pointer Sisters' performance of "Automatic", then it cuts to about the last 18 minutes of an episode HBO's version of Consumer Reports from 1983 with no promos. Unlike most tapes which where L-750s, this was on an L-250. I'd wish some of the music shows didn't have skips like a worn out record, but content from this era, especially since a lot of these shows have non-circulating footage, is welcome to see.

Hopefully my lots on that new website that I've listed will sell soon despite cross-promoting my two lots on eBay that avoided the AI guillotine. Thankfully, these AI removals from what I've read don't count toward account suspensions as of yet.
 
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I have the original broadcast of Houston: The Legend of Texas (taped 11/22/1986). New York Hot Tracks is a great find, indeed.
Too bad the NBC daytime stuff was taped over. I'd rather have seen the $OtC instead of some PBS program. I've only found one episode, a partial syndicated episode with legendary contestant Curtis Warren. It's from the same 2016 lot that netted Steve & Phil Mahre's gold-medal run at the '84 Olympics, the last Johnny Carson, MTV Top 100 Videos of 1985, and lots of other EXCELLENT goodies.

Very rarely do I find taped-over retail cassettes, but I did have one with 5 hours of Fox Family content from 1999 (like Show Me the Funny) that taped over a Miramax foreign film. And a few people used the blank space at the end to record TV clips. I have a video downloaded of someone who found a Magnetic Video release of 'Anastasia' (the 1956 film) that had a good chunk of a 1979 CBS broadcast of Mowgli's Brothers at the end of the tape.
You might want to check retail tapes with evidence of Scotch or duct tape over the tab.
 
Great stuff as always Pannoni1, I wonder what year they decided to keep primetime blocks as is, and not "join them in progress"? These days the NFL games always seem to run long on Sundays but 60 Minutes seems to be shown in its entirety but that definitely was not the case in the 1990s. I'd love to see some of those TV movies in the future...
 
Great stuff as always Pannoni1, I wonder what year they decided to keep primetime blocks as is, and not "join them in progress"? These days the NFL games always seem to run long on Sundays but 60 Minutes seems to be shown in its entirety but that definitely was not the case in the 1990s. I'd love to see some of those TV movies in the future...
ABC did that with college football then, whenever the last game finished, they'd join primetime in progress, even for a West Coast only game. Since they often did as many as 6 regionals in one day, JIP's were inevitable since they'd want everyone on the same page (even for a Pac-10 or even a WAC game once Frenso State-San Diego State). NBC did it too on the NFL, they'd usually go to another game, and let the 7pm show eat the overrun. I'm sure the only reason NBC did a JIP was Johnny Carson couldn't start after midnight, so you either cut the movie, or Johnny.
 
ABC did that with college football then, whenever the last game finished, they'd join primetime in progress, even for a West Coast only game. Since they often did as many as 6 regionals in one day, JIP's were inevitable since they'd want everyone on the same page (even for a Pac-10 or even a WAC game once Frenso State-San Diego State). NBC did it too on the NFL, they'd usually go to another game, and let the 7pm show eat the overrun. I'm sure the only reason NBC did a JIP was Johnny Carson couldn't start after midnight, so you either cut the movie, or Johnny.
Except Johnny Carson was never on Sunday. I think the Sunday night movie starting on time was probably the important point for them, as those were pretty big back then.
 
Except Johnny Carson was never on Sunday. I think the Sunday night movie starting on time was probably the important point for them, as those were pretty big back then.
As much as Carson or the Sunday night movie starting on time was probably the important point for them so was its baseball coverage. NBC under its original owner, RCA, considered baseball a place of pride and postseason coverage as a crown jewel. The major leagues arranged the League Championship Series so NBC could show every game to the entire country, even if it meant Santa Barbara the soap opera, or the primetime shows (Cosby excluded, since they could start the game at 8:30) or Johnny being bumped or even the local news if there was a long game. And the World Series was a bigger priority than Johnny, especially after the "Heidi" debacle in 1968, NBC made sure games were shown to their conclusion. Now during the NFL postseason, there was a very small chance the movie might not start on time if the NFL playoff game went past one overtime period.
 
I have the original broadcast of Houston: The Legend of Texas (taped 11/22/1986). New York Hot Tracks is a great find, indeed.
Too bad the NBC daytime stuff was taped over. I'd rather have seen the $OtC instead of some PBS program. I've only found one episode, a partial syndicated episode with legendary contestant Curtis Warren. It's from the same 2016 lot that netted Steve & Phil Mahre's gold-medal run at the '84 Olympics, the last Johnny Carson, MTV Top 100 Videos of 1985, and lots of other EXCELLENT goodies.

Very rarely do I find taped-over retail cassettes, but I did have one with 5 hours of Fox Family content from 1999 (like Show Me the Funny) that taped over a Miramax foreign film. And a few people used the blank space at the end to record TV clips. I have a video downloaded of someone who found a Magnetic Video release of 'Anastasia' (the 1956 film) that had a good chunk of a 1979 CBS broadcast of Mowgli's Brothers at the end of the tape.
You might want to check retail tapes with evidence of Scotch or duct tape over the tab.
I forgot to mention, I have about 13 or 14 tapes from Spokane TV from 1988-1992. All of which contain syndicated broadcasts of films and some TV movies.
 
Tape 188
1.1987/2/8 Romancing The Stone network premiere (WTVD) ends right at final credits (2h12m)
2.1987/2/14 Star Wars (WRAL) later same night airing (2h32m)
3.1987/2/15 CNN Headline News (WRAL) (12m partial)
4.1987/2/15 Duke Basketball with Coach K (WRAL) (30m)
5.1986/6/21 Baltimore at Boston (NBC GOW) last part of game (WECT) (11m)
6.1986/6/21 World Cup Brazil vs France (NBC WECT) (11m partial)
TRT 5h48m

Tape 189
1.1988/5/ Indianapolis 500 (WTVD) (3h56m complete)
2.1988? Nova- Spy Network some tracking issues (53m) (WUNC?)
TRT 4h49m

Tape 190
1.2000/6/14 Today Show (WNCN) (1h3m partial)
TRT 1h3m EP?

Tape 191
1.1993/11/15 Return To Lonesome Dove Part 2 (WRAL) (1h57m)
2.1993/11/15 WRAL 11PM News (2m partial)
TRT 1h59m SP

Tape 192
1.1989/11/23 CNN News (2m partial)
2.1989/11/23 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (WPTF) (2h39m) missing first 20 minutes
TRT 2h41m EP

Tape 193
1.2004/3/30 NCAA Womens Basketball Regional Final Duke vs Minnesota (ESPN) (2h2m) JIP 16m 1st Half
2.2004/6? Law and Order syndicated airing (USA) (20m partial)
TRT 2h22m

Tape 194
1.1997/9/6 Princess Diana Funeral Coverage (WRAL CBS) (2h16m most commercials cut) EP
2.1st Annual Soul Train Comedy Awards (3m partial) SP
3.CBS This Morning Clip (4m partial) SP
4.1993/9/x Extreme Prejudice (USA edit local RDU commercials) (89m partial) SP
TRT 3h52m EP/SP

Tape 195
1.1996/8/x Easy Does It (Discovery Channel) (25m most) SP
2.1996/8/x? Lynette Jennings Home (Discovery Channel) (25m most) SP
3.1996/8/x? Graham Kerr Cooks (Discovery Channel) (4m partial) SP
TRT 54m SP?

Tape 196
1.? John Stossel segment on welfare work (4m)
2.1998? Teletubbies (PBS) (20m most with after show short)
3.1998? Titanic (HBO free preview weekend) (2h36m most)
4.1998/1/25 Super Bowl 32 (WWBT) (2h22m 2nd half through end of postgame)
5.1998/1/25 3rd Rock From the Sun after Super Bowl (WWBT) (23m partial bad tracking)
TRT 5h46m

Tape 197
1.1992/8/7 Def Comedy Jam- Chris Tucker, Bernie Mac, etc. (HBO) (30m)
2.1992/8/7 HBO One Night Stand- Martin Lawrence (HBO) (28m)
3.1992? Def Comedy Jam (HBO) (27m)
4.1992? HBO One Night Stand? Eddie Griffin (HBO) (22m partial)
5.1992? Def Comedy Jam- Dave Chappelle, DL Hughley etc (HBO) (28m)
6.1992? Def Comedy Jam (HBO) (26m)
7.1992/9 Def Comedy Jam (HBO) (31m)
8.1992/8/27 Martin 1x1 original pilot airing (WLFL) (20m partial)
9.1992/9 Def Comedy Jam- Bill Bellamy etc.(HBO) (28m)
10.1992/9/17 Martin 1x4 (WLFL) (24m most)
11.1992/9 Def Comedy Jam- JB Smooth etc. (HBO) (28m)
12.1992/10/1 and 1992/10/15 Martin 1x6/1x8 tapeover (WLFL) (28m combined)
13.1992? Def Comedy Jam (HBO) (27m)
14.Random Gospel Music Performance (3m)
15.1992/10/8 Martin 1x7 (18m partial) (WLFL)
16.1992/10/x Def Comedy Jam (3m partial)
TRT 6h11m

Tape 198
1.1988/5/11 Double Trouble (TBS) tracking issues (2h)
TRT 2h SP

Tape 199
1.Jack Nicklaus Golf My Way rental copy (2h10m)
2.1987/6 Late Night WIth David Letterman (WPTF) (11m partial)
3.1987/6 WPTF 28 Signoff (4m)
4.1987/6/18 WPTF 11PM News (16m partial)
5.1987/6/18 Tonight Show with Johnny Carson- Steve Martin, Art Garfunkel (WPTF) (1h)
6.1987/6/18 Late Night With David Letterman (WPTF) (23m partial)

Tape 200
1.1992/11/14 Alabama Salutes Richard Petty (TNN) (3h1m) aired night before his retirement race
2.1992/11/15 Hooters 500 (ESPN) (30m partial cuts out from where Petty leaves race to end of race)
3.1992/11/15 Portrait of a King- Richard Petty (ESPN) (48m some commercials cut)
4.1992/11/x Amazing Discoveries infomercial (5m partial)
5.1992/11/x Miracle Blade 2 infomercial (30m)
6.1992/11/x Kathy Smith Fat Burning System (30m)
7.1992/11/x Personal Power with Tony Robbins (4m partial)
TRT 5h29m EP/SP

Tape 201
1.1991/2/17The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show (WRAL) (1h58m)
2.1991/2/20 Nostradamus The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (WPTF) (55m one commercial break cut)
TRT 2h53m EP

Tape 202
1.1992/9/20 American Experience- The Kennedys Part 1 (1h57m) (WSJK)
2.1992/9/21 American Experience- The Kennedys Part 2 (1h58m) (WSJK)
3.1992/10/4 The Danger of Love network premiere (2h) (WSPA)
TRT 5h55m EP

Tape 203
1.Hallmark Channel 2008? Inexplicably Muted with no closed caption (2h13m)
2.2003/3/13 Without A Trace 1x17 (WCBS) (1h)
3.2003/3/13 WCBS 11PM News (14m partial)
TRT 3h30m EP

Tape 204
1.2000/2/22-23? Clips from 2 straight nights of WTVD 11PM News (28m)
2.Dilbert (3m partial) (KMAX)
TRT 31m EP?!?!?

Tape 205
1.2001/9/9 Band of Brothers Ep 1 premiere (HBO) (1h16m with original intros)
2.2001/9/9 Band of Brothers Ep. 2 premiere (HBO) (53m)

Tape 206
1.1992/11/2x Crook & Chase Roy Acuff Tribute Show (TNN) (55m one commercial break cut)
2.1992/11/2x Roy Acuff tribute clips (TNN) (5m)
3.1993/3/x Crook & Chase (TNN) (1h)
4.1993/3/x Nashville Now 10th Anniversary (TNN) (2h)
5.1993/3/x Music City News Country Songwriters Awards (TNN) (1h37m most)
TRT 5h34m

Tape 207
1.1991/3/30 NCAA Final 4 Duke vs UNLV (WRAL) (2h2m)
2.1991/4/2 NCAA Championship Duke vs Kansas (WRAL) (2h20m)
3.1991/4/2 WRAL 11PM News (41m)
4.1991/4/3 Amen syndicated airing (WRAL) (intro only 3m)
5.1989/2 Reform School Girls (HBO) (32m end plus promos)
6.1984/1/1 Orange Bowl (WPTF) (25m partial)
TRT 6h4m

Tape 208
1.1999/1/31 Super Bowl 33 (WRAZ) (3h47m begins at starting lineups, some commercials and halftime cut)
2.1998/10/x South Park Chef Behind The Menu (Comedy Central) (12m partial)
3.1997/12/15 Buffalo Sabres at Dallas Stars (Empire Sports) (1h21m partial 2nd period to mid 3rd period)
4.1997/12/12 Carolina Hurricanes at Buffalo Sabres (Empire Sports) (1h17m) (partial 2nd period to end)
5.1997/12/12 Shop at Home- Knife Collectors Show 52m, Coin Collectors Show (Empire Sports)
TRT 8h8m EP T160

Tape 209
1.2007/11/8 CSI 8x6 (WRAL) part of 2 hour crossover episode with Without A Trace
2.2007/11/8 Without a Trace 6x6 (WRAL)
3.2007/11/8 WRAL 11PM News (2m open only)
4.2005/10/30 Charmed 8x6 (WLFL) (28m partial)
5.2005/11/2 CSI New York (WRAL) (1h)
6.Bones (WRAZ) (10m partial)
7.2004/1/18 WRAL 6PM News (23m shortened)
8.2004/1/18 60 Minutes 35th Anniversary (20m partial)
9.2004/2/ Law & Order (WNCN) (13m partial)
10.2003/12/3 Law & Order (WNCN) (27m partial)
11.2003/12/4 Friends 7x10 (WNCN) (30m)
12.2003/12/4 The Tracy Morgan Show 1x3 (WNCN) (30m)
13.2003/12/4 Will & Grace 6x9 (WNCN) (30m)
14.2003/12/4 Scrubs 3x8 (WNCN) (30m)
15.2003/12/4 ER 10x9 (WNCN) (1h)
TRT 8h9m EP T160


Tape 210
1.1993/1/19 Inaugural Gala- An American Reunion (WRAL) (1h35m most commercials cut)
2.1993/1/1x More Inauguration Coverage clips- HBO, CSPAN (23m)
3.1993/1/21? MTV Rock n Roll Inaugural Jam (2h9m)
4.1992? Unknown BB King Concert (Family Channel) (38m partial)
TRT 4h45m

Tape 211
1.1993/7/3 Pepsi 400 (ESPN) (2h53m)
2.1993/7/3 NASCAR Midseason Report (ESPN) (26m)
3.1993 Michigan 400 (CBS WRAL) (38m to end)
4.1993 Champion Spark Plug 500 (ESPN) 29m to end)
5.1991? Repeat airing?- When He’s Not A Stranger (WRAL) (22m to end)
6.1991? Grand Ole Opry Christmas (25m) commercials cut so uncertain of network
TRT 5h14m

Tape 212
1.1997/9/6 Princess Diana Funeral Early Morning Coverage (CNN) 5h52m continuous recording

Tape 213
1.1987/7/x? WNEW (AKA WNYW) Channel 5 Movie Club- Diner (1982) (2h)
Fighting 69th colorized (4m partial)
2.1987/7/x? Joy of Gardening (WNBC) (30m oddly enough all commercials were PSAs)
3.1987/7/26? 5 Star Movie- National Velvet (WNYW) (2h30m)
They Call Me Mr. Tibbs (6m partial)

Tape 214
1.Top Gun and Space Camp rental copies
2.1987/4/5 Disney Sunday Movie- The Parent Trap (1h36m almost all commercials cut) (WTVD)
3.1987/4/6 WPTF 6PM News (15m partial)
4.1987/4/6 WRAL 6PM News (2m partial)
5.1986? Friday Night Videos- Malcolm Jamaal Warner and Lisa Bonet host (12m partial SP) (WPTF)
TRT 5h43m

Tape 215
1.1991/10/1 Star Trek TNG 4x1 repeat (WLFL) (57m)
2.1990/11/x Strange Companions (Disney Channel Free Preview) (27m partial with promos)
3.1990/11/x Danger Bay 3x3 (Disney Channel Free Preview) (30m with promos)
4.1990/11/x The Wuzzles (Disney Channel Free Preview) (8m partial)
The Disney Channel Free Preview was a Christmas Edition hosted by Markie Post
TRT 2h2m SP
 
Tape 216
1.1991/6? Star Trek TNG 4x3 repeat (WLFL) (58m) Hairspray network premiere night
2.1993/1? Star Trek TNG 3x10 repeat (WLFL) (1h)
3.1993/2/27? Star Trek TNG 6x17 premiere (WLFL) (1h)
4.1993/3/x Star Trek TNG 3x16 repeat (WLFL) (52m most)
5.1993/3/x Star Trek TNG 3x19 repeat (WLFL) (55m)
TRT 4h46m

Tape 217
1.1991/5/ Dallas series finale (WRAL) (1h58m)
2.1991/5/ J. Edgar Hoover (WKFT) (1h38m) bad reception
3.1991/5/x Roggin’s Heroes (17m partial) (WKFT?)
4.1991/x Talespin (WLFL) (25m most)
TRT 4h18m

Tape 218
1.1997/1/12 NFL Countdown (ESPN) (1h3m)
2.1997/1/12 NFC Championship Game Carolina at Green Bay (WTIC) (3h30m)
3.1997/1/12 AFC Championship Game Jacksonville at New England (WVIT) (3h30m)
4.1997/1/12 NFL Primetime (ESPN) (30m)
TRT 8h33m EP T200 BASF

Tape 219
1.Vision Quest (rental copy?) (1h47m)
2.Mask (Showtime) (1h58m)
3.1987/1/5 Footloose (WTVJ) (1h58m) network premiere
TRT 5h44m

Tape 220
1.1992/3/19 NCAA Tournament 1st RD Duke vs Campbell (WRAL CBS) (1h58m)
2.1992/3/20 Andrew Dice Clay- For Ladies Only (HBO) (1h3m with promos)
3.1992/3/20 Def Comedy Jam (HBO) (30m with promos)
4.1992/3/20 Tales From the Crypt- The Reluctant Vampire (HBO) (12m partial)
TRT 3h44m

Tape 221
1.1993/9/2x Time Machine- 10 Greatest Cars in American History (A&E) (58m)
2.1995/3/x Harley Davidson The American Motorcycle (TBS) (1h)
3.1995/3/x Live From The House of Blues- Sheryl Crow (TBS) (4m partial)
4.1993/9/2x Ancient Mysteries- Pyramids (A&E) (25m partial)
5.1993/9/2x A&E’s Night at the Improv (A&E) (33m partial)
TRT 2h59m

Tape 222
1.1986? K-9 (BBC show) (49m) (PBS)
2.1986? Blake’s 7 (51m) (PBS)
3.1986/ Georgia Tech at Duke (NBC WECT) (22m partial ending only)
4.1986/ Nutrasweet World Professional Figure Skating Championships (NBC WECT) (27m partial)
TRT 2h30m

Tape 223
1.1994/11/13 Scarlett Part 1 (WRAL) (1h56m end credits cut)
2.1994/11/15 Scarlett Part 2 (WRAL) (1h56m end credits cut)
TRT 3h52m

Tape 224
1.1994/5/11 The Stand Part 3 (WGHP) (1h55m end credits cut)
2.1994/5/12 The Stand Part 4 (WGHP) (2h)
TRT 3h55m

Tape 225
1.1991/1/15 CNN Newsday (CNN) (42m commercials cut)
2.1991/1/15 MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour (PBS) (56m)
3.1991/1/15 Frontline- To The Brink Of War (PBS) (56m)
4.1991/1/15 CNN Evening News (CNN) (20m)
5.1991/1/15 CNN Special Report- Deadline in the Desert (CNN) (48m)
6.1991/1/16 CNN Live/World Day (CNN) (1h44m)
TRT 5h26m

Tape 226
1.The Natural (HBO airing) (2h18m)
2.1994/3/7 Big South Championship Liberty vs Campbell 2nd half only (ESPN) (1h4m)
TRT 3h22m

Tape 227
1.2002/2/8 Fox 5 Morning News (1h35m partial) unknown affiliate call sign
2.2002? 5 Artists In Arlington County (Arlington Community Television Ch. 33) (32m)
TRT 2h6m SP T160

Tape 228
1.1991/4/17 Bugs Bunny Overture To Disaster (WRAL) (23m most)
2.1991/4/17 Prime Time Pets unsure of episode number surprised this still aired into 1991! (WRAL) (28m)
TRT 51m EP
 
Tape 227
1.2002/2/8 Fox 5 Morning News (1h35m partial) unknown affiliate call sign
2.2002? 5 Artists In Arlington County (Arlington Community Television Ch. 33) (32m)
TRT 2h6m SP T160
Considering that the Arlington County Comunity Television is from Arlington, VA (A suburb of Washington D.C.), the "Fox 5 Morning News" is very likely from nearby WTTG-TV, Ch. 5 in Washington D.C..
 
Lots more tapes I found and went through, starting with a few more tapes from my co-worker's collection.

TAPE 28: Partial broadcast of the 2003 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball National Championship taped from ESPN2 on 12/20/2003 with commercials; various events from the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Entertainment Tonight Weekend ("Dynasty: The Real Drama"), Baywatch: Hawaii, Earthly Solutions infomercial, Early Today, Channel 3 News Today at Sunrise and partial broadcast of Channel 3 News Today taped from WKYC on September 17-18, 2000 with commercials. TDK T-120.

TAPE 29: Various events from the 2004 Summer Olympic Games taped from Bravo, MSNBC, WKYC and CNBC in August 2004, commercials are sporadic throughout; This Week in Baseball taped from WJW on 8/28/2004 minus most commercials; clip from Outside the Lines taped from ESPN circa 2004. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 30: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan Wolverines and partial broadcast of Michigan State Spartans vs. Penn State Nittany Lions taped from WEWS on 11/23/2002 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 31: Super Bowl XXXIV taped from WEWS on 1/30/2000 with commercials; partial episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire taped from WEWS on 2/2/2000 with commercials; partial episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire taped from WEWS on 2/6/2000 minus commercials. TDK T-160.

TAPE 32: Partial broadcast of Clash in Columbus (local pregame show preceding the OSU vs. Michigan game) and partial broadcast of Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan Wolverines taped from WEWS on 11/20/2004 with commercials. Maxell T-120 in SP mode.

TAPE 33: Super Bowl XXXV taped from WOIO on 1/28/2001 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

Still have another box of tapes from him to go through, supposedly all of which contain Gilmore Girls episodes.


Parma, Ohio estate sale #1
TAPE 34: Partial broadcast of Live on Five taped from WEWS on 2/25/2004 with commercials; partial broadcast of Round 4 of the the 1995 Masters Tournament taped from WOIO on 4/9/1995 minus commercials; partial broadcast of Round 3 of the 1995 Masters Tournament taped from WOIO on 4/8/1995 minus most commercials. Maxell T-120.

A second tape I picked up at that sale initially looked promising, containing the West Virginia Public Television special Dancing Outlaw, but it ended up being copied from a retail release rather than recorded off air.


Parma, Ohio estate sale #2
TAPE 35: 8 All Night presentation of I Married a Witch (1942) and start of Rhoda taped from WJW in April 1988 with commercials; end of Buddy Holly and the Crickets: A Tribute and partial episode of Hollywood Legends taped from WVIZ on 3/8/1988 with a pledge break. Laser T-120.

TAPE 36: Disney Sunday Movie presentation of Mary Poppins (1964) taped from WEWS on 5/3/1987 minus commercials, but does include the Disney Sunday Movie opening. Laser T-120.

TAPE 37: The Bear (1988) and partial broadcast of Hamburger Hill (1987) taped from the Movie Channel in January 1991 with promos. Kodak T-120.

TAPE 38: The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987) taped from TBS in December 1991 minus commercials; partial broadcast of Suburban Command (1951) and partial broadcast of I Wanted Wings (1941) taped from AMC in November 1991 with promos. Kodak T-120.

TAPE 39: Gone with the Wind (1939) taped from TBS in November 1993 with commercials; partial broadcast of Sister Act (1992) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 1993; partial broadcast of Lonesome Dove (1989 CBS miniseries) taped from TBS in March 1993 minus commercials; partial broadcast of The Sugarland Express (1974) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 1993. Certron T-120.


Medina, Ohio estate sale--super surprised to find what I found on these!
TAPE 40: Six episodes of Road to Avonlea taped from CHSJ (St. John, New Brunswick) in September, October and November 1990 with commercials. Embassy Gold T-120.

TAPE 41: Partial episode of Front Page Challenge taped from CHSJ in August 1990 with commercials; six episodes of Road to Avonlea taped from CHSJ in August and September 1990 with commercials; end of Kiss Me Goodbye (1982) and partial NBC simulcast of the final round of the 1988 Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational taped from CKLT (ATV) on 5/8/1988 with commercials. Fuji T-120.

TAPE 42: Several more episodes of Road to Avonlea taped from CHSJ in March 1990, only one episode includes commercials. Embassy Gold T-120.

I saw at least a couple more Road to Avonlea tapes being sold at this sale, but at least one was moldy and one of them, believe it or not, was a Le Clic E-180, indicating it's only compatible in PAL VCRs. Also saw at least a couple of tapes of Anne of Green Gables, which I already have PBS recordings of, but my understanding is CBC aired the miniseries in Canada.


Fairlawn, Ohio garage sale
TAPE 43: This one was a compilation of news coverage regarding the death of Pope John Paul II--partial broadcast of 60 Minutes taped from WOIO on 4/3/2005 minus commercials; partial broadcast of The News Hour with Jim Lehrer taped from WNEO/WEAO on 4/4/2005; clip from Fox 8 News at Ten taped from WJW on 4/4/2005; clip from Channel 3 News at 11:00 taped from WKYC on 4/4/2005; clip from News Channel 5 at 11:00 taped from WEWS on 4/4/2005 (including Ted Henry with a live report from Rome); partial broadcast of Nightline taped from WEWS on 4/4/2005 with commercials; clip from 19 Action News at 11 taped from WOIO on April 4-5, 2005 (newscast was preempted due to the NCAA Basketball Championship); partial broadcast of The Early Show taped from WOIO on 4/6/2005 with commercials; partial broadcast of The News Hour with Jim Lehrer taped from WNEO/WEAO on 4/7/2005; partial CBS News coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II taped from WOIO on 4/8/2005. Maxell T-120.

Valley City, Ohio estate sale--local content from New York City this time
TAPE 44: End of Less Than Perfect and NYPD Blue taped from WABC on 10/14/2003 with commercials; partial recording of I Am Joe's Heart (1983 VHS print of the 1971 Reader's Digest film) copied from rental tape; partial broadcast of part one of V: The Final Battle (NBC miniseries) taped from WNBC on 5/6/1984 with commercials. Fuji T-120.

TAPE 45: Unknown video about model airplanes copied from rental tape (evidently they started copying after the title was displayed on screen, tape was labeled "Big Models," which could have very easily been misconstrued as something else...); partial episode of Ask the Pro taped from Speedvision sometime in 2001 with commercials. Recoton T-120 (based on the label, it looks like they taped over some early episodes of Cops, and the earliest episodes Reelz and Pluto TV have are from the 1996-97 season).

Now I'm looking through about eight tapes from another estate sale in Independence, so we'll see what turns up there.
By the way, please forgive any spelling mistakes because my backspace key is loose and close to breaking off. 😤
 
I just checked round three from that same Craigslist seller not far from me (Burtonsville). Once again, so many '90s British exports and movie duds that you'd think I was re-enacting the Boston Tea Party regarding my duds. Still, given the price of what Beta tapes go for on eBay, it wasn't a bad value, and there were still some nice finds, including one cable news channel service that I haven't seen in nearly 30 years. Because there were so many tapes that I hunted (over 100), I'm only going to give a rough idea of some of those PBS finds given that most of the "good" stuff came near the end of each tape.

TAPE 1: The Show He Never Gave (1981) recorded off WFTY in May 1990 with commercials, followed by Things To Come (1936) taped off WNUV in May 1990 with commercials. This was one of several tapes in this lot that featured Saturday Night's Main Event crossed out.

TAPE 2: After various '90s PBS stuff for about three hours, the tape cuts to about 75 minutes of CBS The Morning Program from 5/4/1987 with commercials and a couple newsbreaks from W*USA. For those who don't know, The Morning Program was a short-lived morning news show that aired on CBS for most of 1987 that was created from the network as a means to dilute the boundaries between news and entertainment, with actress Maritette Hartley and former news anchor Rolland Smith as co-hosts. It was only 90 minutes long that was preceded by a half-hour edition of essentially the morning version of The CBS Evening News.

TAPE 3: Begins with the colorized version of The Fighting 69th (1940) taped off WTBS on 5/28/1987 with commercials, followed by Return of the Jedi (1983) taped off HBO circa 1987 with no promos, then it jumps to about the last ten minutes of the INN news off WDCA on 9/19/1986 with a few commercials

TAPE 4: Three episodes of the BBC series Ballykissangel taped off WETA circa 1999 with no promos, followed by about the last 15 minutes of Super Bowl XXI's postgame show off W*USA/CBS on 1/25/1987 with a few commercials (I've already got this off WFMY anyways), followed by 25 minutes worth of coverage from the 1986 National Corporate Sports Battle finals taped off ESPN on 12/28/1986 with commercials. Seen as a knockoff of the Battle of the Network Stars, representatives from various corporations such as AT&T competed in several events from Orlando, FL. Early ESPN was surely interesting.

TAPE 5: Sunset Boulevard (1950) taped off WETA with a few promos at the end circa 1992, followed by part two of the Creative Spirit educational miniseries and about the first 20 minutes of UK election coverage off WMPT/PBS on 4/9/1992 with commercials. My first ever find of election coverage from across the pond.

TAPE 6: Begins with about 3 1/2 hours of various UK imports off local PBS stations (WETA, WMPT, WHMM), then it cuts back to about the last 15 minutes of a special sneak preview featurette of A League Of Their Own off HBO in May 1992 with a couple promos, then it cuts to the last couple minutes of Late Night with David Letterman and the first 33 minutes of Friday Night Videos off WRC/NBC on 5/22/1992 with commercials. I'll bet somewhere out there another "let 'em run" tape features the full episode that of course included Johnny Carson's send-off. Crainbebo once found the same episode of Letterman, but of course it was off KNDO that signed-off for the night before the chance to see co-host Vanessa Williams give a send off to Johnny.

TAPE 7: The first four parts of the American Revolution documentary series Liberty off WMPT and WETA in November 1997, with promos after each installment. Compared to Ken Burns' The Civil War (which I've found a couple tapes of in this lot), this documentary series is very underrated IMO.

TAPE 8: Four more episodes of the BBC series Ballykissangel taped off WETA circa 1999 with no promos, then it jumps to about the first 30 minutes of Into The Night With Rick Dees off WJLA/ABC on 5/7/1991 with commercials, featuring soul group Riff and comedian Peter Fogel as guests. It's always nice to find footage from these obscure R&B groups.

TAPE 9: This will carry obvious restrictions, but it kicks off with most of the 1985 Playboy Playmate Playoffs (I've already found the '86 Playoffs also co-hosted by Chuck Woolery), followed by A Portrait Of Dorothy Stratten off Playboy circa January 1985 with a few promos. The Playmate Playoffs really don't feel any more explicit than the swimwear portions of a beauty pageant, so I'll include it for future trades.

TAPE 10: Starts with four episodes of the UK series Last of the Summer Wine off WETA circa 1997, then it cuts back with about 15 minutes worth of footage from AP News Plus from 4/18/1986, featuring an adult contemporary station in the background (not sure what station it is). Yes, this brought back some memories growing up when Comcast offered this service as a cable channel, and it was still used until around 1996, which by that time started to feel quite dated with its then-contemporary graphics like this recording featured.

TAPE 11: Two episodes of Mystery! (Agatha Christie's Poirot) off WMPT circa 1996 with a few promos, then it jumps to a half hour worth of footage of Bloomberg Information Television, Jack Horkeimer's Star Hustler, and the sign-off off WMPT/PBS on 1/5/1996 with some promos.

TAPE 12: Starts with Sabrina (1995) taped off HBO circa 1997 with no promos, followed about the last ten minutes of the WRC 6 PM News, the NBC Nightly News, and about the first ten minutes of Hard Copy from 9/24/1993 with commercials

TAPE 13: Starts with a Mystery! episode about Rumpole off a PBS station from sometime in the '90s, then it cuts to the last few minutes of The Little Tree, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, and the first 15 minutes of Charles Christmas Project off WRC on 12/19/1987 with commercials. Nothing of the later special exists online, including the unique Multimedia Entertainment logo (RIP Phil Donahue) at the beginning.

TAPE 14: Three episodes of the PBS documentary series Battlefield off a local PBS station as described above circa 1993, followed by about the last half of the Fame concert special off WTTG on 1/29/1984 with commercials, then it cuts to about 34 minutes of Playboy's VideoMagazine circa August 1983 (based on the Playmate of the Month featured).

TAPE 15: Most of the first quarter of the Penn State vs. Maryland college football game from 9/7/1985 with commercials. This was on an L-125 tape in BII speed, so only around 35 minutes of the game were featured. A bit pointless when L-500 or L-750s were readily available. I also don't know what many newspapers regionally classified this game in the "South" region when PA State is clearly northern and MD is disputed.

TAPE 16: Jackie, Nature: Land of Eagles, and a Swiss Rail documentary off WETA/PBS in 1994 with a few promos, then it cuts to about the last 24 minutes of Sally Jessy Raphael and about the first half hour of the WRC 5 PM News on 11/10/1993 with commercials. I recently found the entire Sally episode in the first round from above, presumably from a relative of the gentleman.

TAPE 17: Houseboat (1958) and Switching Channels (1988) taped off Cinemax circa 1989 with a few promos, then it jumps to about the last 35 minutes of SportsCenter and around the first 25 minutes of NFL's Great Moments: Best Ever Runners (1985) taped off ESPN on 1/29/1989 with commercials.

TAPE 18: Begins with over three hours of various PBS dramatic shows, then it jumps to just over an hour's worth of footage of VH1 from October 1988 with commercials. I've already found two previous blocks of VH1 from around this time, one of them with Rosie O'Donnell also the VJ and another during a John Lennon tribute weekend, but her earrings were different, as were the Entertainment Watch reports.

TAPE 19: After about fours worth of UK imports off PBS circa the late '90s, it jumps to about the last 12 minutes of an unknown court show followed by the first 16 minutes of Siskel & Ebert (a special episode on home videos) off W*USA in August 1988 with commercials

TAPE 20: Starts with over three hours of various PBS content (UK imports or documentaries with very few or no promos), then it cuts back for the last few minutes of B.L. Stryker: Winner Takes All and around the first 20 minutes off the WJLA 11 PM News on 1/13/1990 with commercials, then it jumps back for around the last 20 minutes of a rerun of Night Head and about the first 26 minutes off CBS News Nightwatch off W*USA/CBS on 1/12/1990 with commercials
 
TAPE 21: Begins with a Mystery! episode on Sherlock Holmes off WETA circa 1995 with a few promos, followed by two classic episodes of Perry Mason off WTTG circa March 1995 with commercials on the second episode, then it ends with most of a special episode of Nightly Business Report (taped Feb. 1994) on mutual funds off WMPT in February 1995 with promos before the show

TAPE 22: The last four parts of the PBS documentary series on The Great Depression off WETA in 1993 with some promos, followed by Who Killed JFK?: The Final Chapter off presumably W*USA/CBS on 11/19/1993 with no commercials

TAPE 23: Four episodes of The American Experience, including one called America 1900 and another on the Pearl Harbor attack taped off WETA in 1998 with no promos, then it cuts to around the last 20 minutes of the Super Bowl XX postgame show and the first 15 minutes of the premiere of The Last Precinct off WRC/NBC on 1/25/1986 with commercials

TAPE 24: Bonnie and Clyde (1967) taped off WMPT circa 1994 with no promos, followed by Mystery! and most of Charlie Rose off WETA on 2/10/1994 with some promos

TAPE 25: The Color Of Money (1986) and Born In East LA (1987) taped off HBO in 1989 with some promos after each movie, then it jumps to around the last five minutes of WTTG Sports Extra and part of the WTTG Late Movie Exposed (1979) on 1/22/1989 with commercials.


I'm expected to have one final round with this seller in September that may include another Beta machine. Hopefully, its stereo and working at a reasonable price.
 
Let's see...
I have the Star Wars broadcast that Chandler mentioned (via KREM-2, 2/14/87)
The Mary Poppins I also have, via KTVM Butte (5/3/87)
All of Scarlett (via KIMA Yakima), this is a common one to find as are the Lonesome Dove broadcasts.

And from New Brunswick to Ohio...wonder how that move came about? Unless they lived in Presque Isle or Caribou ME, and got CHSJ/CKLT on cable. CHSJ was carried in northern Maine for a long time and probably still is.

I'm holding true (for the most part) to my promise of NO estate sales, yard sales, and flea markets until I can get more of this huge collection cleared out, and sold to buyers on Mer-Cari. I am going down to 'the valley' (Boise area) tomorrow for Costco/Winco runs, and I did see a sale in Garden City that looked promising, plus a flea market. So who knows?
The school district here has a *4-day* week, so I'm off every Friday except for once a month for professional development and training. But again, Boise is a 1 1/2 hour drive and is longer in winter given the snowfall and occasional Hwy 55 closures.
 


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