• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

I believe the Days intro was CGI at that point. The taper enjoyed Another World more than DOOL given the number of episodes I've found (mostly partials). But I find more Days of Our Lives recordings than any other soap opera. I even have a Marlena possession episode from 1995, and on the older side, my oldest soap opera find ever was (what else) a partial Days from 8/12/1980.

HEH! Michael found tapes from Hays as well?!! What a weird storyline this has been! And you found a little Nickelodeon aircheck also. The difference is no KAYS-era tapings on your lot.

I would love to find some recordings from the NW and SW KS semis (KBSD/KTVC, KSNG, and/or KLBY/KUPK). Over the years, they had localized news inserts; no doubt, it's all lost media now, unless an 88-year-old farmer has a closet full of recordings on the ranch that they haven't tossed yet.
 
I believe the Days intro was CGI at that point. The taper enjoyed Another World more than DOOL given the number of episodes I've found (mostly partials). But I find more Days of Our Lives recordings than any other soap opera. I even have a Marlena possession episode from 1995, and on the older side, my oldest soap opera find ever was (what else) a partial Days from 8/12/1980.

HEH! Michael found tapes from Hays as well?!! What a weird storyline this has been! And you found a little Nickelodeon aircheck also. The difference is no KAYS-era tapings on your lot.

I would love to find some recordings from the NW and SW KS semis (KBSD/KTVC, KSNG, and/or KLBY/KUPK). Over the years, they had localized news inserts; no doubt, it's all lost media now, unless an 88-year-old farmer has a closet full of recordings on the ranch that they haven't tossed yet.
Yes I used to watch Days episodes on your page.
 
Between two estate sales in the last two weeks and another successful haul from the Goodwill Outlet bins in Canton this morning, I have a LOT more tapes to look through. The Goodwill visit alone netted 26 tapes total, with the aforementioned estate sales netting a combined total of 30. All the '90s kids reading this will especially enjoy my latest take because I ended up finding some Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. shows (Rugrats and Little Bear) and some PBS Kids fare from Kid TV on VIZ (WVIZ). At first glance, I also found a tape full of network newscasts during the Gulf War, a couple of NFL games, episodes of La Femme Nikita, movies from an HBO free preview weekend circa 1991, some ABC soap operas circa 2005 and programs from 3ABN (Three Angels Broadcasting Network), and that's just from today. Full update later, which may take a while given how much I ended up getting within these last couple of weeks.
 
I'm back from my trip, and although I didn't find any blank tapes at the few second stores I visited, I was still being watchful to anything good online like I described in my last post, and possibly taking a page from crainbebo, purchased a lot of ten VHS tapes from an eBay seller in Hays, KS, with some labels mentioning "Star Search", "Are You Afraid Of The Dark", and the "1998 MTV Awards". If you enjoyed crainbebo's posts above, you'll also like mine. Retrocirq would also be proud. All finds contain commercials and are recorded in EP mode unless otherwise described.

TAPE 1: The series premiere of So You Think You Can Dance taped off KSAS/FOX on 7/20/2005, followed by the following episode of SYTYCD, a summer rerun of Malcom In The Middle, the KSAS 9 PM News, a syndicated rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond, and part of a syndicated rerun of Yes, Dear. Sony T-120

TAPE 2: In Shape along with the first couple minutes of Cathe Frederich taped off FitTV (later Discovery Fit and Health) in March 2005, with over 90% of the tape blank. Sony T-120.

TAPE 3: Tap (1989) copied from a rental, followed by the last 30 minutes of the A&E Stage presentation of The Andrew Lloyd Webber Story taped off A&E on 1/13/1994 with commercials. LP mode for the video rental, EP for the A&E portion. Sony T-120

TAPE 4: The last half hour of the 1998 National College Dance Team Championship taped off ESPN on 4/10/1998, followed by Lane's Rock 'n Roll Championships Company Dance National Championship also taped off ESPN on 10/5/1998, followed by about half of the 21st Annual Kennedy Center Honors taped off KBSH/CBS on 12/30/1998, followed by The Bold And The Beautiful and the first ten minutes of As The World Turns also taped off KBSH/CBS on 12/22/1998. SKC T-120, SP mode for the National College Dance Team Championship, EP for the rest

TAPE 5: Biography (Frank Zappa) taped off A&E circa late 1994 with no commercials, followed by SeaQuest DSV taped off KSNW/NBC on 1/8/1998 with commercials, followed by the closing credits of Ren and Stimpy and Are You Afraid of the Dark (rerun of a season 3 episode) taped off Nickelodeon in April/May 1995 with commercials (also from SNICK like Roundhouse), followed by Time Runner (1992) taped off Sci-Fi on 5/21/1995 with commercials (including an interstitial with "AI"- how creepy), followed by the season finale of SeaQuest DSV taped off KSNW/NBC on 5/21/1995 with commercials. Sony V T-120

TAPE 6: A rerun of the 1997 Rock & Roll Gymnastics Championship and the 1998 National High School Division 2 Cheerleading Championship taped off ESPN2 on 7/19/1998, followed by nearly the complete 15th Annual MTV Video Music Awards (begins right at the start of the "When You Believe" duet with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey) and about a half hour's worth of music videos following the special also off MTV, including an early promo for TRL. SKC T-120

TAPE 7: Six summer reruns from the 1992-93 season of Star Search, including five regular episodes and an encore presentation of the Round 1 semifinals taped off WGN on 7/4, 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8, and 8/15/1993. Yes, the season where the theme finally got lyrics and one of the episodes featured Usher as a contestant. Sony T-120

TAPE 8: A summer rerun of the Round 2 semifinals of Star Search '91 taped off KBSH on 8/11/1991, followed by the last half of an International Star Search episode taped off KBSH in December 1989, then it cuts to a special "classic" presentation of the Star Search '90 finals off KBSH on 9/5/1992, then it moves on for about the first half of Star Search's tenth season premiere off KBSH on 9/12/1992 (the first episode produced in Disney's MGM Studios), followed by about half of the KBS 10 PM News (semi-satellite KBSH didn't have a news department), Inside Edition Weekend, George Michael's Sports Machine, and the first several minutes of Star Search on 10/18/1992, followed by about three-fourths of Star Search taped off KSBH on 11/1/1992, followed by another episode with around three-quarters of Star Search taped off KSBH on 11/8/1992. I've already got the original broadcasts of the SS '91 Round 2 semifinals and the 1990 finals from that 2019 Malvern, PA Craigslist lot (taped off KDKA). Sony T-120

TAPE 9: Begins with around 20 minutes of excerpts off Star Search circa fall 1989 from the dance competition segments with no commercials, followed by the last dozen minutes or so of Late Night with David Letterman and around three-quarters of Friday Night Videos (best dance hits of the decade episode) taped off KSNC/NBC on 11/10/1989 with commercials, followed by four reruns of Star Search '91 from Round 1 taped off KBSH on 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, and 2/16/1991 with commercials, LP mode for the fall 1989 Star Search excepts, SP mode for the 2/16/91 rerun (the Round 1 semifinals which originally aired around Thanksgiving 1990), and EP for the rest. Once again, I've already got copies of those Round 1 broadcasts courtesy of that Craigslist phone call from February 2019, but anything from Friday Night Videos, especially off of a tiny market that most people only see from an airplane, is quite rare.

The tenth tape contained most of a VHS dub of the 2003 DVD From Jazz: For The Beginner To Advanced Live at Broadway Dance Center, but I'll probably pass on that one given the inferior quality to the official release.

FYI last time I checked retrocirq is still very much alive,
 
At this point, you could go down to the Outlet several times a week and find dozens of VHS tapes, sell them in mixed, unsearched Mercari lots, and make $$$! I wonder if that's how some of the eBayers sold their recorded lots (before new policies went into effect).

On top of the Kansas finds, I found four more tapes while traveling to Tri-Cities this past weekend for an amazing church/ministry conference in Pasco. Finds from two estate sales plus the Goodwill Outlet in Pasco.


Tape 1 (Zillah estate sale) - Starts with a half-hour home movie from a baby shower, then '12 Angry Men' (1957) taped off KSTW-11 early in the morning on 11/13/1990 with commercials (Nightcap Theater); then an episode of Star Trek taped off KNDO-23 in February 1991 with commercials; ends with episodes of Married...with Children taped off K53CY/Fox on 4/28/1991 and 5/5/1991 with commercials (two-part episode). Fuji T-120
Tape 2 (Naches Heights estate sale) - 'The King and I' (1956) taped off Fox Movie Channel on 8/21/2002 with commercials and some promos following the film. Sony T-120, Hi-Fi
Tape 3 (Goodwill Outlet Pasco) - Starts with about half of Rescue 911 taped off KIRO/CBS on 2/28/1990 with commercials; cuts to part of Thirtysomething taped off KXLY/ABC on 2/27/1990 with commercials (I can tell the taper lived in the Wenatchee area given the KIRO/KXLY combo); part of 'The Jewel of the Nile' (1985) taped off KOMO/ABC on 2/12/1990 with commercials; episode of Roseanne taped off one of those ABC stations on 2/13/1990 minus commercials; episode of Knots Landing taped off unknown CBS station on 2/22/1990 minus commercials; followed by the last 10 minutes of the 2/15/1990 episode of Knots Landing, KIRO News at 11 (hard to believe that whole news team is in Heaven now - Aaron, Wayne, and Harry), and opening minutes of The Pat Sajak Show taped off KIRO/CBS with commercials. TDK T-120, all in Hi-Fi
Tape 4 - Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special taped off VH1 on 8/15/1997 with commercials; Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii taped off VH1 in August 1997 minus commercials; part of Game 7 of the 1997 NBA Western Conference Semifinals (Sonics/Rockets) taped off an unknown NBC station (probably KNDU) on 5/17/1997 with commercials. TDK T-120, audio is quite low, LP mono.

I also made several finds on 5/9 at an estate sale here in Yakima.

Tape 1 - 'Escape from Sobibor' (1987) taped from the original 4/12/1987 broadcast, off KIMA/CBS with commercials (mostly Chrysler and AEtna. I already have a summer repeat from 1990.) Also includes the CBS Sunday Night News and part of Carson's Comedy Classics. Then it's followed by part of the 22nd Academy of Country Music Awards and NewsCenter 23 at 11 taped off KNDO/NBC on 4/6/1987 with commercials. Certron T-120
Tape 2 - 'Michael' (1996) taped off Direct Ticket PPV circa summer 1997; most of Real Stories of the Highway Patrol and part of MadTV taped off KCYU-LP/Fox on 2/22/1997 with commercials. Kodak T-120 Hi-Fi
Tape 3 - 'Angel in My Pocket' (1969) taped off The Family Channel on 11/22/1992 with commercials; partial broadcast of the 2nd Presidential Debate (Clinton/Perot/Bush) taped off KAPP/ABC on 10/15/1992. BASF T-130 in LP
Tape 4 - "The World of Henry Orient" (1964), "The Road to Hong Kong" (1962) and part of "Westworld" (1973) taped off Encore early morning 6/6/1995 with promos. MGM T-120 in LP
Tape 5 - 'My Name is Nobody' (1973), Hollywood One to One, "Last Frontier Uprising" (1949) and part of "Bump in the Night" taped off Starz! on 2/8/1994 with promos and free preview content. This was just days after the launch.
Tape 6 and 7 - Both of these tapes had broadcasts of the 1978 miniseries "Holocaust" taped off Family Channel in the early '90s with commercials. I haven't found a specific date yet.
 
With the crappy weather forecast for this weekend (only 54 degrees in the mid-afternoon with dreary skies), I've traded some fun in the sun for some fun on the Beta, checking out 14 Beta tapes from a seller just outside of the Motor City. Another tape was a loose copy of Elvis On Tour from MGM/UA Home Video. Two duds included a video that contained a short family movie of a festival as well as another that contained an adult video presentation of Bel Ami (1975). Two more tapes were sell pile tapes: Caddyshack (1980) recorded off WJBK in 1986 and The Young and the Restless recorded off KOLD on 2/22/1991 which I've both previously found. But the balance had a bunch of goodies, from CBS soaps to Thanksgiving specials to classic country to even a daytime game show that may be lost media, as well as finds from a tiny ADI 200+ market as well as a couple of other out-of-market finds. All tapes were Sony L-750's. This leaves ten keepers:

TAPE 1: Cannonball Run II (1984), the ABC Sunday Night Movie presentation taped off WXYZ on 3/15/1987 with commercials. BIII mode

TAPE 2: Free Willy (1993) and Reba: Starting Over taped off WBKB/CBS (that's in the northeastern corner of lower Michigan) on 11/24/1995 with commercials (I've already got the Reba special), followed by The Bold and the Beautiful taped off WBKB/CBS on 5/26/1995 with commercials. BIII mode, fair video quality for the soap

TAPE 3: The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful taped off WTVF (explains the country finds in this lot)/CBS on 3/8/1991 commercials. I've already got the Y&R, but nice to have another classic episode of B&TB. BII mode

TAPE 4: The Grand Ole Opry 65th Birthday Special taped off TNN on 10/13/1990 with commercials (missing the closing), followed by the Chips Ahoy! Mystery Theater presentation of The Thanksgiving Treasure (1983) and the first segment of Card Sharks taped off WBKB/CBS on 11/26/1987 with commercials. BII mode for the TNN find, BIII for the CBS portion.

TAPE 5: Begins with about 20 minutes of CBS News coverage of the (first) Gulf War from February 1991, then after about 90 minutes of dead air, cuts back for most of The Young and the Restless taped off KOLD/CBS on 2/21/1991 with commercials. BII mode

TAPE 6: Episodes of The Young and the Restless taped off WBKB/CBS on 11/16, 11/19, and 11/20/1990 with commercials. I find it interesting to see NE Michigan, Nashville, and Tucson recordings in the span of just a few months, perhaps a military assignment? BII mode

TAPE 7: Episodes of $ale of the Century taped off WDIV/NBC on 6/17, 6/18, and 6/19/1986 with commercials, followed by about half of part 3 of Sins taped off WJBK/CBS on 2/4/1986 with commercials, followed by an episode of Michgian Outdoors taped off WTVS/PBS on 2/6/1986 with a couple promos (not the best video quality), followed by The Price Is Right and the first couple minutes of the midday news taped off WJBK/CBS on 2/10/1986 with commercials. The video quality on the $ale episode isn't the greatest and occasionally drops out, and I've already got that TPIR episode off KCBS via a trade in better quality, but its still a great find given that the master tapes for daytime $ale pre-July 1988 are missing or possibly lost. BIII mode

TAPE 8: A Tribute To Country Greatness, The Man Who Loved Bears (starring Henry Fonda), and Michigan Outdoors taped off WTVS/PBS on 3/13/1986 with pledge breaks and promos. BIII mode

TAPE 9: Most of The (mostly) All-American Thanksgiving Parade taped off WBKB/CBS on 11/22/1990 with commercials (I've got the full NBC Macy's parade, but this is new to me), followed by Dallas taped off WBKB/CBS on 11/30/1990 with commercials. BIII mode

TAPE 10: Hooper (1978), the Eight O' Clock Movie presentation taped off WKBD on 5/21/1986 with commercials, followed by about the last 20 minutes of a Layman International Lutheran League production and the first few minutes of Sounding taped off WXYZ in December 1985 with a few commercials. BIII mode
 
It's Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember those who died for the freedoms we still have. And in Packwood, Washington, it's Flea Market weekend. Each Memorial Day and Labor Day for decades, the sleepy mountain town of Packwood (Lewis County) turns into a frenzy of activity as hundreds of vendors, including food, new items, and vintage/collectible/yard sale items, come together to serve thousands of travelers from around the Pacific Northwest. I haven't been here in a few years, but this time I found some crazy stuff - including a beautiful Alaskan Brewery wooden sign for only $10! Over at one vendor, they had a bunch of collectibles, clothes, and a handful of home-recorded VHS tapes in a giant tub, mixed with dozens of retail movies.
Not many keepers, a lot of them had '90s TV-movies with commercials carefully zapped out. But they weren't from nearby Seattle, Yakima, or Portland...in fact I knocked out a long-awaited TV market on tape 1:

Tape 1 - "What the Deaf Man Heard" (1997), CNN Headline News, Team Knight Rider, FX: The Series and a 1:30 AM sign-off via *KLEW-3 LEWISTON, ID/CBS* on 5/31-6/1/1998 with commercials! I have been looking for KLEW tapings for over a decade, much like with the holy grail finds I made last fall from Glendive and KXGN. KLEW has been part of a simulcast with KIMA and KEPR for decades. In fact, one of the news promos has Mike McCabe on it (who does weather at KEPR, and no doubt taped a segment for KLEW). The sign-off has a vintage Star-Spangled Banner video with station information voiced over. TDK T-120
Tape 2 - A classic 40+ year old find: the ABC News Viewpoint on The Day After taped off KGO/ABC on 11/20/1983 with commercials. It also has the last five minutes of the movie. I have the entire film on a Betamax via a 1989 rebroadcast. Maxell T-120 in SP
Tape 3 - I can't get away from Boise here: part of the Penn State vs. Michigan football game, the Boise State Pregame show, and the first half of the Boise State-NMSU (Big West) football game taped off KIVI/ABC on 11/16/1996 with commercials. Can't find this game on YT, so it's likely getting uploaded there (or Archive) soon. Then it's followed by part of "Separated by Murder" (1994) taped off an unknown CBS station (maybe KBCI?) on 4/11/1994 with one commercial break; ends with the last several minutes of "Pass the Ammo" (1988), a commercial break, and 2AM sign-off taped off KTRV-12 on 9/5/1993. Scotch T-120

With the KLEW 'let it run' find, the closest TV market not found on VHS is Bend, OR (home to KTVZ-21). I recall seeing an estate sale listed 2-3 years ago in the region that had 300+ VHS tapes as part of a video library (very similar to the giant collection I got from Ellensburg during Covid). The 4+ hour driving distance didn't help, unfortunately.

I've also continued to go through the Hays KS auction lot, with just a few more to go.

Tape 15 - 'Harvest of Fire' (1996) taped off KBSH/CBS on 4/21/1996 with commercials; WGN Nine O'Clock News taped 11/20/1993 with commercials; partial Knots Landing series finale taped off KGIN/CBS on 5/15/1993 with commercials; 'Nightmare in Columbia County' (1992) and about half of Eyewitness News Weekend (via KWCH) taped off KBSH/CBS on 6/27/1993 with commercials. Laser T-120
Tape 16 - First three parts of Shogun taped off The Family Channel on 9/10, 9/11 and 9/12/1990 with commercials. TDK HS T-120
 
It's Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember those who died for the freedoms we still have. And in Packwood, Washington, it's Flea Market weekend. Each Memorial Day and Labor Day for decades, the sleepy mountain town of Packwood (Lewis County) turns into a frenzy of activity as hundreds of vendors, including food, new items, and vintage/collectible/yard sale items, come together to serve thousands of travelers from around the Pacific Northwest. I haven't been here in a few years, but this time I found some crazy stuff - including a beautiful Alaskan Brewery wooden sign for only $10! Over at one vendor, they had a bunch of collectibles, clothes, and a handful of home-recorded VHS tapes in a giant tub, mixed with dozens of retail movies.
Not many keepers, a lot of them had '90s TV-movies with commercials carefully zapped out. But they weren't from nearby Seattle, Yakima, or Portland...in fact I knocked out a long-awaited TV market on tape 1:

Tape 1 - "What the Deaf Man Heard" (1997), CNN Headline News, Team Knight Rider, FX: The Series and a 1:30 AM sign-off via *KLEW-3 LEWISTON, ID/CBS* on 5/31-6/1/1998 with commercials! I have been looking for KLEW tapings for over a decade, much like with the holy grail finds I made last fall from Glendive and KXGN. KLEW has been part of a simulcast with KIMA and KEPR for decades. In fact, one of the news promos has Mike McCabe on it (who does weather at KEPR, and no doubt taped a segment for KLEW). The sign-off has a vintage Star-Spangled Banner video with station information voiced over. TDK T-120
Tape 2 - A classic 40+ year old find: the ABC News Viewpoint on The Day After taped off KGO/ABC on 11/20/1983 with commercials. It also has the last five minutes of the movie. I have the entire film on a Betamax via a 1989 rebroadcast. Maxell T-120 in SP
Tape 3 - I can't get away from Boise here: part of the Penn State vs. Michigan football game, the Boise State Pregame show, and the first half of the Boise State-NMSU (Big West) football game taped off KIVI/ABC on 11/16/1996 with commercials. Can't find this game on YT, so it's likely getting uploaded there (or Archive) soon. Then it's followed by part of "Separated by Murder" (1994) taped off an unknown CBS station (maybe KBCI?) on 4/11/1994 with one commercial break; ends with the last several minutes of "Pass the Ammo" (1988), a commercial break, and 2AM sign-off taped off KTRV-12 on 9/5/1993. Scotch T-120

With the KLEW 'let it run' find, the closest TV market not found on VHS is Bend, OR (home to KTVZ-21). I recall seeing an estate sale listed 2-3 years ago in the region that had 300+ VHS tapes as part of a video library (very similar to the giant collection I got from Ellensburg during Covid). The 4+ hour driving distance didn't help, unfortunately.

I've also continued to go through the Hays KS auction lot, with just a few more to go.

Tape 15 - 'Harvest of Fire' (1996) taped off KBSH/CBS on 4/21/1996 with commercials; WGN Nine O'Clock News taped 11/20/1993 with commercials; partial Knots Landing series finale taped off KGIN/CBS on 5/15/1993 with commercials; 'Nightmare in Columbia County' (1992) and about half of Eyewitness News Weekend (via KWCH) taped off KBSH/CBS on 6/27/1993 with commercials. Laser T-120
Tape 16 - First three parts of Shogun taped off The Family Channel on 9/10, 9/11 and 9/12/1990 with commercials. TDK HS T-120

Bend is also home to the last Blockbuster video. Going there and to that estate auction would be worth it for me.
 
The estate sale happened a long time ago unfortunately. Recently, a bunch of Beta tapes sold on eBay from Terrebonne (near Bend). But no telling if it was a long-time Deschutes County resident, or yet another California transplant who may have taped the '80s TV from Los Angeles or SF.

Wonder how many CA transplants landed in Billings/Red Lodge/Laurel? (Which is where I am moving to for the fall)
 
Here's what I ended up finding at the two estate sales I visited before the aforementioned Goodwill haul a couple of weeks ago.

Estate sale #1--Litchfield, OH (very nice farm property...ended up leaving quite a few tapes behind)
TAPE 1: How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Rules of Engagement taped from WOIO on 10/15/2007 with commercials; partial episode of Chuck taped from WKYC on 10/1/2007 with commercials. Sony T-160.

TAPE 2: Golden Opportunities (local program geared toward senior citizens) taped from WKYC on 5/27/2007 with commercials; partial broadcast of Access Hollywood taped from WJW on 5/28/2007 with commercials; The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men and The King of Queens taped from WOIO on 5/7/2007 with commercials; How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men and The King of Queens final episode taped from WOIO on 5/14/2007 with commercials; last few minutes of Golden Opportunities, Channel 3 News at Noon, Indians on Deck and partial broadcast of Cleveland Indians vs. Cincinnati Reds taped from WKYC on 5/20/2007 with commercials; partial episode of American Idol and partial episode of House taped from WJW on 4/10/2007 with commercials. Maxell T-160.

TAPE 3: The Bar Method exercise video copied from rental tape; partial episode of City Confidential and partial episode of Cold Case Files taped from A&E in October 2005 with commercials; partial episode of Will & Grace and partial episode of Medium taped from WKYC on 1/6/2005 with commercials; partial broadcast of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) taped from Cinemax in summer 2004 with promos; partial broadcast of Fight Club (1999) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 2004. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 4: 24 two-hour season finale and first segment of Fox 8 News at Ten taped from WJW on 5/22/2006 with commercials. Maxell T-160.

TAPE 5: About 90 minutes of coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II taped from MSNBC on 4/8/2005, starts with a few commercials; American Idol taped from WJW on 5/18/2005 with commercials; Oprah taped from WEWS on 4/26/2005 with commercials; Everybody Loves Raymond: The Last Laugh, Everybody Loves Raymond final episode, Two and a Half Men and partial episode of CSI: Miami taped from WOIO on 5/16/2005 with commercials. Fuji T-120.

TAPE 6: The American Experience ("Pearl Harbor: Surprise and Remembrance") taped from WVIZ on 11/11/1991; Pearl Harbor Reflections (local special) taped from WVIZ on 11/11/1991; Pearl Harbor: Two Hours That Changed the World (ABC special hosted by David Brinkley) taped from WEWS on 12/5/1991 with commercials (already have this); Remember Pearl Harbor (CBS special hosted by Charles Kuralt) taped from WJW on 12/7/1991 minus commercials (already have this with commercials). Scotch T-120.

TAPE 7: Dr. Strangelove (1964) and The Golden Equator (1956) taped from TCM circa 2003 with promos; partial broadcast of Space Truckers (1996) taped from HBO circa 1999; Spin City taped from WEWS on 1/12/1999 minus commercials. Sony T-160.

TAPE 8: Panic Room (2002) taped from unknown pay TV channel circa 2004; Murder by Numbers (2002) taped from HBO circa 2004; Insomnia (2002) taped from Cinemax in May 2004 with promos. Sony T-160.

TAPE 9: Friends, The Single Guy and Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 9/28/1995 with commercials; partial broadcast of Good Morning America, The Morning Exchange (David Modell fills in for Fred Griffith...the day after a Browns victory, but not long before one of the darkest moments in Cleveland sports history), Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, News Channel 5 at Noon, Loving and partial episode of All My Children taped from WEWS on 9/25/1995 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 10: 50 Years of Television: A Celebration of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Golden Anniversary and partial episode of Tracey Takes On taped from HBO in April 1997 with promos. Sony T-160.


Estate sale #2--Berea, OH
TAPE 11: American Bandstand's 40th Anniversary Special taped from WEWS on 5/13/1992 with commercials. BASF T-160.

TAPE 12: The Andy Griffith Show Reunion taped from WJW on 2/10/1993 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 13: Most of the 26th Annual CMA Awards and partial broadcast of Newscenter 8 at 11:00 taped from WJW on 9/30/1992 with commercials. TDK T-120.

TAPE 14: The 52nd Presidential Inaugural Gala taped from WJW on 1/19/1993 minus most commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 15: The Magic of David Copperfield XIV taped from WJW on 3/31/1992 with commercials (already have this); partial broadcast of Monday Night Football (Cincinnati Bengals vs. Houston Oilers) taped from WEWS on 11/13/1989 with commercials; partial broadcast of Single Women, Married Men (CBS made-for-TV movie) and first few minutes of Newscenter 8 at 11:00 taped from WJW on 10/27/1989 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.

TAPE 16: Most of an ABC Sunday Night Movie presentation of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) taped from WEWS on 3/22/1992 with commercials, interrupted multiple times by News Channel 5 special reports on the crash of US Air Flight 405. JCPenney T-120 (my guess is they didn't realize the movie was going to be more than two hours long with ads and recorded it in SP mode).

TAPE 17: A Gathering of Old Men (CBS made-for-TV movie) taped from WJW on 5/10/1987 with commercials. TDK T-120.

TAPE 18: The Magic of David Copperfield XII taped from WJW on 3/30/1990 with commercials; partial broadcast of part three of The Kennedys of Massachusetts (ABC miniseries) taped from WEWS on 2/21/1990 with commercials; most of Newscenter 8 at 11:00, Newhart, The Jeffersons and partial episode of The Arsenio Hall Show taped from WJW on January 30-31, 1990 with commercials. Memorex T-120.

TAPE 19: Partial broadcast of 60 Minutes, Murder She Wrote and Outlaws (CBS made-for-TV movie) taped from WJW on 12/28/1986 with commercials; partial ABC Sunday Night Movie presentation of Octopussy (1983) taped from WEWS on 2/2/1986 with commercials. Curtis Mathes T-120.

TAPE 20: End of Eyewitness News at 11:00 and Movie 5 presentation of The Rose (1979) taped from WEWS in February 1987 with commercials. TDK T-120.

TAPE 21: These Old Broads (ABC made-for-TV movie) taped from WEWS on 2/12/2001 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 22: Humor Your Stress with Loretta LaRoche taped from WVIZ sometime in 1996 with pledge breaks. Polaroid T-120, second generation recording.

Now to go through the Canton Goodwill lot. First one I went through thus far is a dud, WWE King of the Ring 2002 taped from DirecTV Pay-Per-View.
 
VHS overload on 5/30! At least 25 tapes, maybe 30. Moxee WA was doing their city-wide yard sale, and conveniently, tons of estate sales happening all throughout Yakima. One was a rummage sale for the Knights of Columbus. Everything at the sale was donation-only (you pay what you want). I gave them $5 for their Coats for Kids campaign for next fall. Others came from a yard sale near Birchfield and Hwy 24, and even more came from an estate sale in Yakima off Lincoln Ave. The estate sale also had two retail XXX tapes in a back room mixed w/ DVDs. YIKES! So far, I haven't found dirty content on these used blanks, and I hope the rest are the same way.

Tape 1R - "The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw" (1991), both parts taped off KING/NBC on 11/3 and 11/4/1991 with commercials. Already have this, but I can farm the local ads from this one. Scotch T-120. Most of the Knights tapes came from someone who originally lived in Wenatchee. There's always been a lean towards the Seattle affiliates there given the long-time cable presence, but historically, Spokane was piped into these communities on translators.
Tape 2E - "A Summer Place" (1958) taped off AMC in October 1998 with Nick Clooney's opening segment; 'Love Has Many Faces' (1965) and part of "Can Can" (1963) taped off Encore on 10/13/1998 with promos; part of 'Flame of Araby' (1951) taped off A&E on 5/30/1992 with commercials; ends with almost an hour of a Fox network bumper, which I presumed ran after sign-off on K53CY. Scotch T-120
Tape 3R - 'The Absent-Minded Professor' (1961) taped off The Disney Channel circa 1986; 'The Island at the Top of the World' (1974) and The Making of Return to Treasure Island taped off The Disney Channel on 4/26-27/1986 with free preview segments featuring Jim McKrell and Kathryn Leigh Scott. Kodak T-120
Tape 4R - 'Justin Case' (1988), a Disney Sunday Movie presentation, taped off KOMO/ABC on 5/15/1988 minus commercials; partial episode of Santa Barbara and about 10 minutes of The Wil Shriner Show (a first!) taped off KING/NBC on 12/22/1987 with commercials. Scotch T-120
Tape 5E - 'White Nights' (1985) taped off HBO circa 1987; 'Firewalker' (1986) and 'American Ninja 2' (1987) taped off unknown pay-TV channels; part of 'Eliminators' (1986) and a bit of 'The Jazz Singer' (1953) taped off Showtime on 12/7/1987 with promos. Maxell T-120
Tape 6E - 'Peyton Place' (1957) taped off AMC on 12/26-27/1995 with promos and a Movietone News segment; 'Return to Peyton Place' (1961) taped off AMC sometime in early 1996 with a Bob Dorian intro; part of 'The Ipcress File' (1965) and part of 'Gigi' (1958) taped off Encore on 3/19/1996 with promos. TDK T-120
Tape 7R - 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1940) taped off TNT on 9/20/1990 with commercials, including TCI Cable inserts for Wenatchee; channel flip to a CBS station (KIRO or KREM) for The Flash pilot minus commercials; partial coverage of the U.S. Open taped off USA Network on 8/29/1990 with commercials. Scotch T-120
Tape 8R - 'The Dark Crystal' (1982) taped off a CBS rebroadcast on 6/1/1988 minus commercials (I have the 8/6/87 broadcast with one break at the end via KIMA); partial episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation taped off KCPQ-13 on 3/25/1988 with commercials (Heart of Glory); last few minutes of Aaron's Way taped off KING/NBC on 3/30/1988 with commercials. Scotch EXG T-120, all in SP
Tape 9Y - Four episodes of the BBC schools series "The Middle Ages" taped via OETA circa 1988-89, probably on their instructional TV block; episode of Days of Our Lives taped off KFDX-3 Wichita Falls TX/NBC on 5/18/1989 with commercials...another new market! Unknown branded T-120, with a finicky tape guard (took about five attempts to get this loaded into the VCR).
Tape 10R - A rarity on its own: "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (1948) taped off American Movie Classics on 12/5/1987 with Bob Dorian's segments, promos, and sign-off. The recording keeps going as the transponder changes to part of a Wash-Matik infomercial (according to a 1980s C-Band channel chart, the "Telemart" service came on in the morning hours after AMC signed off on Satcom F4, tp 10) Then it cuts off and we get the last few minutes of General Hospital taped off KOMO/ABC in November 1987 with commercials; part of 'Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam' (1987) taped off KING/NBC on 11/15/1987 with commercials; ends with the 11/16/1987 episode of Newhart taped off a CBS station, either KIRO or KREM, minus commercials. Scotch T-120
Tape 11R - 'Ewoks: Battle of Endor' (1985) taped off Disney Channel on 4/13/1991 with promos and free preview segments; followed by 'Spaced Invaders' (1990) and the Billy Joel Yankee Stadium concert taped off Disney Channel later that evening, the latter with promos, and part of the Spring Preview Show follows. BASF T-120
Tape 12Y - Michael Jackson: The Dangerous Tour from Bucharest and a few minutes of The Larry Sanders Show taped off HBO on 10/10/1992 with promos. Sony T-120, 3/4 in SP and last 1/4 of the show in LP
Tape 13E - Episode of Mike Hammer taped off USA Network in May 1988 with commercials; most of 'The Jolson Story' (1946) taped off KIMA-29 on 5/7-8/1988 with commercials; 'The Sons of Katie Elder' (1965) taped off AMC on 3/9/1994 with promos; part of 'Generation' (1985) taped off Encore on 3/5/1994 with promos. TDK T-120
Tape 14R - Most of "To Dance with Olivia" (1997) taped off KIRO/CBS on 6/25/2000 with commercials. JVC T-120, SP Hifi
Tape 15R - 'Bedknobs & Broomsticks' (1971) and the 2-hour premiere of Return to Treasure Island taped off Disney Channel on 4/25/1986, w/ promos at the end of the second film. This was during the Sneak-a-Peek Weekend. Kodak T-120
Tape 16R - Another Disney Channel free preview on this tape, with "The Munster's Revenge" (1981) and the Holiday Preview show with Jane Seymour, taped 12/3/1992 with promos. Also has The Year Without a Santa Claus, taped later that evening with promos. Scotch T-120, LP Hi-Fi
Tape 17R - Yet another Disney Channel free preview find: and with a twist! "Kelly" (1984), History of Animation and sign-off taped off Disney Channel on 11/20-21/1986 with promos! This is the *second* time I have found this network sign off (albeit the montage is already on YouTube). Years ago, I found a 1988 Disney recording where they went to color bars for testing early in the morning. There are over 30 minutes of blue screen test pattern telling cable operators that they would test scrambling. Finally, it switches over to "Blackbeard's Ghost" (1968) taped off Disney Channel the next day with promos (11/21/86) and free preview content. Unfortunately, there's tracking issues and a big line on the top 1/3 of the screen. Afterwards, it's part of 'The Time Machine' (1973) taped off KSTW-11 on 9/13/1986 with commercials; part of "Mr. Music" (1950) taped off *KCWT-27 Wenatchee* in September 1985 with commercials(!)...first time I have found a movie from KCWT, I have several 20 Minute Workout episodes from this long-defunct station; and ends with a few minutes of a Sesame Street episode circa 1985. Older Memorex T-120, before they introduced a newer formulation that is/was prone to clogging heads.
(More to come. Some have Desperate Housewives, 9/11 coverage, the final As the World Turns from 2010, Bonanza, and other movies on the labels.)
I found two more tapes today at an estate sale near 56th and Tieton as well.
Tape 1 - Part 1 of 'Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All' taped off KIMA/CBS on 5/1/1994 with commercials. JVC T-120, SP Hi-Fi
Tape 2 - 'Meet the Parents' (2000) taped off USA Network on 1/6/2005 with commercials. Fuji T-120
 


Back
Top Bottom