Wouldn't the 49ers-Redskins be shown in Philly since it was a playoff game? the doubleheader blackout only applied in the regular season, so WCAU would be free to show that game.TAPE 21: Beverly Hills 90210 and the Celebrity First Loves special off WTXF/FOX on 2/8/1995 with commercials, followed by about the last two-thirds of Seinfeld off KYW/NBC on 8/26/1992 with commercials (a rerun of "The Subway" and my earliest off-air Seinfeld find so far), followed by more episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 off WTXF/FOX on 5/5 and 5/12/1993 with commercials, then the tape wraps up with about two-thirds of Seinfeld off KYW/NBC on 5/12/1993 with commercials.
TAPE 22: Most of Mad About You, Friends, and Seinfeld off KYW/NBC on 1/5/1995 with commercials, followed by several minutes of Eye To Eye with Connie Chung off WCAU/CBS from the same night, followed by another episode of Friends, an NBC News Special Report featuring a Presidential Address by Clinton, Seinfeld, and the short-lived Madman Of The People off KYW/NBC on 12/15/1994 with commercials, followed by part of a syndicated rerun of Cheers off WTXF in December 1994 with a few commercials, followed by several minutes from the WTXF 10 O'Clock News on 12/7/1994 with a few commercials. This is my first ever find of "Madman", while I've already got the same special report off ABC from that night. Also, remember that Philadelphia's 1995 network switch that involved a Westinghouse-owned station didn't happen until September of that year, unlike Baltimore's which happened at the start of 1995.
TAPE 23: Most of Mad About You, Wings, and Seinfeld off KYW/NBC on 5/12/1994 with commercials, followed by about a 30-minute portion of The Stand miniseries off WPVI/ABC in May 1994 with a few commercials.
TAPE 24: Starts with an episode of All My Children off WPVI/ABC in August 1994 with commercials (features a funeral), followed by ESPN's coverage of the Hollywood Gold Cup from July 1994 with commercials, followed by part of the FOX movie "Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman" (1993) off WTXF in May 1994 with some commercials. That remake of the 1958 drive-in classic was originally made for HBO.
TAPE 25: About a dozen episodes of Easy Does It Off The Discovery Channel, with the episodes from 12/31/1993, 1/3, 1/7, 1/12, 1/3, 1/14, and 1/17/1994 having the commercials intact, with several episodes being scoped without the ads.
TAPE 26: Guarding Tess (1994) and The Crow (1994) off an unknown network with no commercials/promos, followed by nearly a full episode of The Beliver's Voice of Victory with Kenneth Copeland off WPHL on 11/19/1993 with a few commercials. Religious programming outside the Bible Belt? I'll take it.
TAPE 27: Episodes of All My Children off WPVI/ABC on 4/26 and 4/27/1993 with commercials, followed by an episode of Barney & Friends (ugh) and two partial episodes of Sesame Street from early 1993 off WHYY/PBS with a few promos, followed by two episodes of The Rockford Files off A&E circa May 1993 with commercials, followed by a partial episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine off WPHL circa May 1993 with a few commercials.
TAPE 28: Most of the NFC Divisional playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys off WCAU/CBS on 1/10/1993 with commercials and halftime (begins early in the second quarter), followed by some hardcore adult content for around 20 minutes, then about a ten-minute clip off the Byron Allen Show featuring Sheena Easton circa 1991, then after a bunch of channel surfing, it settles down with about the last quarter of One Life To Live, General Hospital, and about half of Oprah Winfrey (guest: Diana Ross) off WPVI/ABC on 10/25/1993 with commercials. I've already got the other NFL playoff game (Redskins-49ers) from that same afternoon that I received off a Craigslist find from a seller who was from the DC area but moved to Hawaii in 2019. Unfortunately for NFL fans, that game was blacked out in the Philly area according to a message shown near the end of the game.
TAPE 29: Three episodes of the WHYY kids' show "What Is It?" from 9/20, 9/21, and 9/22/1993 with a few funding sponsors, followed by a partial broadcast of All My Children off WPVI/ABC on 11/30/1989 with commercials, followed by Born On The Fourth Of July (1989) off an unknown premium cable station circa 1990 with no promos, followed by most of an episode of Sesame Street circa spring 1991 off WHYY/PBS with a few promos, then over two hours worth of afternoon footage off CNBC on 10/11/1993 with commercials.
TAPE 30: Begins with about half an hour of coverage of horse racing from Hollywood Park off ESPN in early 1994 with commercials, followed by 25 minutes of coverage from the 1993 Academy Awards off WPVI/ABC on 3/29/1993 with a few commercials, followed by a classic episode of The Lucy Show and two episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show off Nick at Nite in June 1993 with commercials, then it returns back for about the last 45 minutes of the 1993 Oscars with more commercials, followed by a short news clip off WPVI on the Jacksons on 11/15/1992, then it wraps up with nearly an hour's worth of coverage from TNT's NBA All-Star Saturday on 2/8/1992 with commercials, including portions of the NBA Shootout and Slam Dunk competitions.
TAPE 31: Most of E.T. (1982) and the first few minutes of Evening Shade off WCAU/CBS on Thanksgiving night 1992 with commercials, many of which were for Sears. There was also a special post-movie featurette about the memories of the film from various folks.
TAPE 32: About ten minutes from a syndicated Elton John special from late 1991 with very few commercials, followed by a brief Howard Stern clip off an unknown station with no commercials, followed by the PBS special Who Will Teach For America? (produced in 1991, aired in early 1992) off WHYY with a few commercials, followed by Elvis: The Great Performances off WCAU in April 1992 with very few commercials, followed by the final Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (it had to turn up again) off KYW/NBC on 5/22/1992 with commercials, followed by Al Gore's Speech from the 1992 Democratic National Convention off WPVI/ABC in July 1992 with no commercials
TAPE 33: Begins with a portion of the Richard Pryor: Live On The Sunset Strip (1982) and Whoopi Goldberg: Direct From Brooklyn off HBO from early 1986 with no promos, followed by Starman (1984) taped off an unknown station with no promos/commercials, then following a couple home movies, it jumps over to Nick Jr. with an episode of Maya The Bee "Grandma Locust" and the first few minutes of The Little Bits "Legend of The Red Light" from April 1992 with commercials.
TAPE 34: Begins with a couple clips from ABC's This Week With David Brinkley from late 1991 with no commercials, followed by part of the Eagles-Cowboys game off WCAU/CBS on 12/15/1991 with commercials (begins midway through the 3rd quarter), then the tape winds up with the 1992 State Of The Union address off WPVI/ABC on 1/28/1992 with the Democratic response and one commercial break after the speeches.
TAPE 35: Little Giants (1994) copied from a rental, followed by about 30 minutes of Jesus Is Lord with Kenneth Copeland off WPHL in December 1991 with a few commercials.
TAPE 36: Ray Charles: 50 Years off WTXF/FOX on 10/6/1991 with commercials, followed by episodes of All My Children from 9/18 and 11/7/1991 off WPVI/ABC with commercials, followed by about 38 minutes of footage off QVC on 11/2/1991 with commercials (yes, the "Santa" button was already activated), then it jumps back for more episodes of All My Children from 11/4 and 11/5/1991 off WPVI/ABC with commercials. My earliest QVC find, and it makes sense given the company is headquartered in the Philly area. I previously found that Ray Charles special back in 2015 in that mega lot that I've mentioned upthread with all the Beatles references in each tape.
TAPE 37: A colorized version of Ransom (1956), taped off TNT in June 1991 with commercials, followed by a partial episode of All My Children off WPVI/ABC on 6/14/1991 with a few commercials, a complete episode of AMC from 6/17/1991 with ads, then another partial episode of AMC from 5/27/1991 with ads.
TAPE 38: The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show off WCAU/CBS on 2/17/1991 with a few commercials (I've already got this anyways), followed by a clip from the Mary Tyler Moore anniversary special, some various Gulf War news coverage off CNN, ABC, and Nightline, followed by about the last hour of the 63rd Academy Awards off WPVI/ABC on 3/25/1991 with commercials.
TAPE 39: Starts off with part of the 1990 Frank Sinatra special concert off KYW with few commercials, followed by several minutes from another Eagles-Cowboys game from 1990 (no commercials), followed by President Bush's announcement on Iraq's invasion of Kuwait off WPVI/ABC on 1/15/1991 (I've already got the CBS airing), followed by A&E Stage's "The Rivals" from early 1991 with commercials, including some South Jersey inserts, followed by part of the documentary Jimmy Carter: Citzien off the Discovery Channel from early 1991 with a few commercials.
TAPE 40: Kicks off with the PBS documentary Barnum off WHYY/PBS circa early 1990 with a few promos, followed by a portion of the Family of Spies miniseries off WCAU/CBS on 2/6/1990 with commercials, then it jumps for a full WPIX 10 O'Clock newscast and the first several minutes of USA Tonight on 3/2/1990 with commercials.
TAPE 41: No off-air content on this tape, but this family video includes nearly an hour's worth of footage from Busch Gardens Tampa on 2/25/1990, and there may have been a brief clip of Cypress Gardens footage as well.
(EVEN MORE TO COME)
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Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have
- Thread starter Stanislav
- Start date
Wouldn't the 49ers-Redskins be shown in Philly since it was a playoff game? the doubleheader blackout only applied in the regular season, so WCAU would be free to show that game.
I have only found Bertice Berry's show a couple of times - it was another dime-a-dozen talk show that came out in 1993-94 and didn't last the whole season. KIMA Yakima aired it at 9AM.
Oprah Winfrey is the most common talk show I find on VHS, especially if she had a high-brow guest (like the Madonna show in 2003). Donahue, followed by Dr. Phil, are the 2nd and 3rd-most common talk shows I find on VHS. Geraldo would be in the 4th spot.
I have never found episodes of: Danny! (Danny Bonaduce's show, 1995-96), Tempestt Bledsoe, The Mark Walberg Show, Richard Bey (if I recall, also zippo), Pat Bullard's short-lived show in 1996-97, Larry Elder, Men Are From Mars...Women Are From Venus, Wil Shriner, probably a few other forgotten talk shows that I can't think of. Really would like to find Cristina Saralegui's English talk show, which aired for a few months in the summer of 1992.
As for local talk shows: I have found Seattle Today a few times (KING-5), and finally found a partial episode of KOMO's Northwest Afternoon at a June 2022 Cle Elum estate sale, taped in 1998. Since then I have found two more - including a 1987 broadcast when Dick Foley was still hosting.
Currently going through tapes from two weekends' worth of lots - and there are some gems, or rather, JEMs...with commercials too!! 1987 tapings of JEM from KSTW. Some Spokane, Seattle and Tri-Cities tapings mixed in, which I will have a full list soon. This includes several first-run episodes of Whose Line is It Anyway?, some soaps from the '90s, and part of the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards!
Oprah Winfrey is the most common talk show I find on VHS, especially if she had a high-brow guest (like the Madonna show in 2003). Donahue, followed by Dr. Phil, are the 2nd and 3rd-most common talk shows I find on VHS. Geraldo would be in the 4th spot.
I have never found episodes of: Danny! (Danny Bonaduce's show, 1995-96), Tempestt Bledsoe, The Mark Walberg Show, Richard Bey (if I recall, also zippo), Pat Bullard's short-lived show in 1996-97, Larry Elder, Men Are From Mars...Women Are From Venus, Wil Shriner, probably a few other forgotten talk shows that I can't think of. Really would like to find Cristina Saralegui's English talk show, which aired for a few months in the summer of 1992.
As for local talk shows: I have found Seattle Today a few times (KING-5), and finally found a partial episode of KOMO's Northwest Afternoon at a June 2022 Cle Elum estate sale, taped in 1998. Since then I have found two more - including a 1987 broadcast when Dick Foley was still hosting.
Currently going through tapes from two weekends' worth of lots - and there are some gems, or rather, JEMs...with commercials too!! 1987 tapings of JEM from KSTW. Some Spokane, Seattle and Tri-Cities tapings mixed in, which I will have a full list soon. This includes several first-run episodes of Whose Line is It Anyway?, some soaps from the '90s, and part of the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards!
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I believe Richard Bey was a network cable only talk show as I've only seen clips of it from WPIX, nothing from local syndicated channels or indie channels, though the local indie channel did carry Morton Downey Jr for years in the late 80s at the height of his popularity, even though the content would have been more cable appropriate at the time, but then again content ratings weren't a thing then either.
Will Shriner was another one-year wonder talk show, I found an episode on a tape I still need to convert, and after that he hosted another rare summer replacement show, Primetime Pets that lasted 6 episodes on CBS in June/July of 1990. One of the episodes is on Youtube and I found most of another episode on a tape I recorded as a small child. Vicki Lawrence (I think it went by Vicki) is another early to mid 90s mostly forgotten talk show, the only episode I've seen of it online was an infamous episode with the then stars of WCW from the early 90s. It used to air on my local FOX affiliate late night after Arsenio Hall. Jenny Jones is another late 90s one that had some popularity, especially when it dipped into the murky waters of Maury Povich and Jerry Springer.
Btw, how is everyone unloading their old tapes now that Ebay is cracking down? I stopped trying to sell any TV recordings because so many accounts have been banned because of it, I just sell obscure home movies that may be of interest to people.
Will Shriner was another one-year wonder talk show, I found an episode on a tape I still need to convert, and after that he hosted another rare summer replacement show, Primetime Pets that lasted 6 episodes on CBS in June/July of 1990. One of the episodes is on Youtube and I found most of another episode on a tape I recorded as a small child. Vicki Lawrence (I think it went by Vicki) is another early to mid 90s mostly forgotten talk show, the only episode I've seen of it online was an infamous episode with the then stars of WCW from the early 90s. It used to air on my local FOX affiliate late night after Arsenio Hall. Jenny Jones is another late 90s one that had some popularity, especially when it dipped into the murky waters of Maury Povich and Jerry Springer.
Btw, how is everyone unloading their old tapes now that Ebay is cracking down? I stopped trying to sell any TV recordings because so many accounts have been banned because of it, I just sell obscure home movies that may be of interest to people.
I plan on taking my VHS lots to another website. Probably the one that starts with an "M". SHH! Don't tell anyone the whole name or they will follow suit.......
The last two lots I sold were completely generic, I didn't show any labels or talked about content at all. Sold them, but I'm afraid eBay will crack down on those generic listings too.
I have a partial episode of Vicki! on an L-250 1-hr. Betamax buried in storage, taped off KSNC-TV in Great Bend KS. A reunion with the Mama's Family cast. My notes say I only have the last 15 minutes, then it cuts to the first 45 mins. of that day's Donahue, from Labor Day 1993.
The last two lots I sold were completely generic, I didn't show any labels or talked about content at all. Sold them, but I'm afraid eBay will crack down on those generic listings too.
I have a partial episode of Vicki! on an L-250 1-hr. Betamax buried in storage, taped off KSNC-TV in Great Bend KS. A reunion with the Mama's Family cast. My notes say I only have the last 15 minutes, then it cuts to the first 45 mins. of that day's Donahue, from Labor Day 1993.
I have seen a promo somewhere for "The Richard Bey Show", from around 1994-95, showing that it did air on KSMO-TV, Ch. 62 in Kansas City, MO.
I remember Vicki Lawrence hosting a daytime game show on NBC that aired either after Sale Of The Century or Wheel Of Fortune in the late 80s (can't remember the show), but i do remember an episode of her talk show (seem to remember it airing on WSPA before Family Feud with the late Ray Combs) and she had Summer Batholomew who was on SOTC and Susan Stafford who preceded Vanna on Wheel as her guests along with Carol Merril from Let's Make a Deal.
The game show was Win, Lose, or Draw. Vicki Lawrence hosted the daytime version from 1987 to 1989 and Bert Convy (who also produced the show with Burt Reynolds) hosted the syndicated version from 1987 to 1990.
They are all on Lifetime now, and its required that they have to be centered around a season, Easter, fall, Christmas especially.
More goodies found at estate sales these last couple of weeks, although in this case, not all of them were on VHS tapes. One yielded a DVD+R while another yielded a Betamax tape, first time I've found one of the latter since I got my Sony Beta VCR last year.
Estate sale--Copley, OH
Smithville Smithies vs. Villa Angela-St. Joseph Vikings basketball game and partial broadcast of Coaches Corner recorded from CPI Sports Network (Clear Picture Inc. cable channel 22 in Wooster) on March 5-6, 2008 with commercials, about a minute of the channel's community bulletin board separates the two programs accompanied by "When I Looked at Him" by Expose, not sure if they had a local radio station accompanying it or not. Sony DVD+R.
Estate sale--Akron, OH
TAPE 1: 1990 AFC Divisional Playoffs (Cleveland Browns vs. Buffalo Bills) taped from WKYC on 1/6/1990 minus commercials. BASF T-160.
TAPE 2: 1988 AFC Divisional Playoffs (Cleveland Browns vs. Indianapolis Colts) taped from WKYC on 1/9/1988 with commercials. TDK T-120.
TAPE 3: 1988 AFC Championship (Cleveland Browns vs. Denver Broncos) taped from WKYC on 1/17/1988 with commercials. BASF T-160.
This next set might have to take up two posts. These came from an estate sale in Parma. The basement was loaded not only with VHS tapes but Betamax tapes as well. I scooped up almost all of the recorded VHS tapes (one I left behind was Billy Ray Cyrus: Dreams Come True, which I already have) and the one recorded Beta tape there. Based on information in the online listing and items found at the house, the homeowner was a Cleveland police officer, although I suspect some of the VHS recordings I found were programmed by his wife rather than him.
One tape that unfortunately turned out to be somewhat of a dud was a dub of an instructional/promotional video for Harley-Davidson police motorcycles from 1987, followed by a partial recording of the CBS made-for-TV movie The Operation taped from WJW on 1/21/1990 with commercials. But just a couple of minutes after the first commercial break from that movie, the picture suddenly goes from clear to very snowy. Don't know what could have messed up the rest of the tape like that, but that was certainly a disappointment. Given the homeowner's profession, you'd think I would have spotted similar videotapes (police training videos) or recordings of shows like Cops, World's Wildest Police Videos, Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, Real TV, etc., but no such luck. Here's what I did end up finding.
BETAMAX #1: Rebroadcasts of the pilot episode and final episode of M*A*S*H (the latter is an Eight O'clock Movie), start of The Ten O'clock News and one more episode of M*A*S*H taped from WUAB on 2/22/1993 with commercials (I have this same recording of the finale on VHS, I initially thought this was going to be the original CBS broadcast since it was on Beta); partial broadcast of Newscenter 8 at 11:00 and Newhart taped from WJW on 2/22/1993 with commercials; Rush Limbaugh taped from WKYC on 2/23/1993 with commercials. Sony L-750.
Estate sale--Copley, OH
Smithville Smithies vs. Villa Angela-St. Joseph Vikings basketball game and partial broadcast of Coaches Corner recorded from CPI Sports Network (Clear Picture Inc. cable channel 22 in Wooster) on March 5-6, 2008 with commercials, about a minute of the channel's community bulletin board separates the two programs accompanied by "When I Looked at Him" by Expose, not sure if they had a local radio station accompanying it or not. Sony DVD+R.
Estate sale--Akron, OH
TAPE 1: 1990 AFC Divisional Playoffs (Cleveland Browns vs. Buffalo Bills) taped from WKYC on 1/6/1990 minus commercials. BASF T-160.
TAPE 2: 1988 AFC Divisional Playoffs (Cleveland Browns vs. Indianapolis Colts) taped from WKYC on 1/9/1988 with commercials. TDK T-120.
TAPE 3: 1988 AFC Championship (Cleveland Browns vs. Denver Broncos) taped from WKYC on 1/17/1988 with commercials. BASF T-160.
This next set might have to take up two posts. These came from an estate sale in Parma. The basement was loaded not only with VHS tapes but Betamax tapes as well. I scooped up almost all of the recorded VHS tapes (one I left behind was Billy Ray Cyrus: Dreams Come True, which I already have) and the one recorded Beta tape there. Based on information in the online listing and items found at the house, the homeowner was a Cleveland police officer, although I suspect some of the VHS recordings I found were programmed by his wife rather than him.
One tape that unfortunately turned out to be somewhat of a dud was a dub of an instructional/promotional video for Harley-Davidson police motorcycles from 1987, followed by a partial recording of the CBS made-for-TV movie The Operation taped from WJW on 1/21/1990 with commercials. But just a couple of minutes after the first commercial break from that movie, the picture suddenly goes from clear to very snowy. Don't know what could have messed up the rest of the tape like that, but that was certainly a disappointment. Given the homeowner's profession, you'd think I would have spotted similar videotapes (police training videos) or recordings of shows like Cops, World's Wildest Police Videos, Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, Real TV, etc., but no such luck. Here's what I did end up finding.
BETAMAX #1: Rebroadcasts of the pilot episode and final episode of M*A*S*H (the latter is an Eight O'clock Movie), start of The Ten O'clock News and one more episode of M*A*S*H taped from WUAB on 2/22/1993 with commercials (I have this same recording of the finale on VHS, I initially thought this was going to be the original CBS broadcast since it was on Beta); partial broadcast of Newscenter 8 at 11:00 and Newhart taped from WJW on 2/22/1993 with commercials; Rush Limbaugh taped from WKYC on 2/23/1993 with commercials. Sony L-750.
Now for the VHS finds:
TAPE 4: A&E in Concert: Rod Stewart and partial broadcast of Poirot taped from A&E on 12/22/2002 with commercials; partial episode of Jenny Jones ("This Looks Like a Job for Me, 'Cuz I'm Just Another Eminem Wannabe!") and partial episode of Jerry Springer ("Midget Holiday Hell") taped from WUAB on 12/2/2002 with commercials, interrupted twice by Action News cut-ins regarding the day's severe winter weather; partial episode of Judge Mathis taped from WOIO in May 2002 with commercials; partial episode of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful taped from WOIO on 4/2/2002 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 5: Partial broadcast of Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night (1988 Cinemax special) taped from WVIZ in 2004 with one partial pledge break; partial broadcast of Bobby Darin: Mack Is Back taped from WNEO/WEAO in 2004 with two partial pledge breaks; As the World Turns, Guiding Light and start of Judge Mathis taped from WOIO on 1/20/2004 with commercials; most of Judge Mathis and start of 19 Action News at 5 taped from WOIO on 1/19/2004 with commercials; partial episode of Judge Mathis, 19 Action News at 5, 19 Action News at 5:30, 19 Action News at 6 and partial broadcast of CBS Evening News (John Roberts fills in for Dan Rather) taped from WOIO on 1/8/2004 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 6: Electra Glide in Blue (1973) taped from the Movie Channel circa 1983, no promos but does have a Feature Presentation intro at the beginning, very dim picture though. Scotch T-120.
TAPE 7: Twelve Mile Road (CBS made-for-TV movie) and partial broadcast of 19 Action News at 11 taped from WOIO on 9/28/2003 with commercials; The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and start of The Talk taped from WOIO on 6/22/2012 with commercials; partial episode of Guiding Light and start of Judge Mathis taped from WOIO on 8/7/2001 with commercials; partial episode of Judge Mathis taped from WOIO on 8/6/2001 with commercials; end of Hannity & Colmes and start of The Edge with Paula Zahn taped from Fox News Channel on 4/25/2000; end of The Fox Report with Shepard Smith, The O'Reilly Factor and partial broadcast of Hannity & Colmes taped from Fox News Channel on 4/26/2000 with commercials, signal switches to scrambled and black and white with no audio 40 minutes into The Factor. Unknown brand T-120.
TAPE 8: American Idol taped from WJW on 4/9/2014 with commercials; clip from The Voice taped from WKYC on 5/20/2014 (Josh Kaufman performs "Set Fire to the Rain"); partial episode of General Hospital and partial episode of Katie Couric (ABC News correspondent Dan Harris opens up about his battle with drug addiction and promotes his new book) taped from WEWS on 4/1/2014 with commercials; partial episode of The Voice taped from WKYC on 10/5/2015 with commercials; partial episode of The Voice taped from WKYC on 10/6/2015 with commercials, then a lot of channel surfing on the Cox Digital Cable box, landing briefly on The Kelly File on Fox News Channel, 20/20 on ID on Investigation Discovery, NCAA football on Fox College Sports, Sex and the City on Oxygen and Landmark Cases on C-SPAN; partial episode of The Dr. Oz Show and partial broadcast of Live on Five taped from WEWS on 7/12/2013 with commercials; partial broadcast of 19 Action News at 5:30 taped from WOIO on 5/11/2013 with commercials, also includes a partial segment of Triv TV with WTAM's Mike Trivisonno; partial broadcast of Live on Five, News Channel 5 at 6 and most of ABC World News with Diane Sawyer taped from WEWS on 4/23/2013 with commercials; partial broadcast of ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, The List and partial episode of Let's Ask America taped from WEWS on 3/7/2013 with commercials. Maxell T-160.
TAPE 9: End of 19 Action News at Noon and partial episode of The Young and the Restless taped from WOIO on 10/17/2014 with commercials; clip from 19 Action News at 6 taped from WOIO on 1/12/2015; 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship (Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Oregon Ducks) taped from ESPN on 1/12/2015 with commercials; partial episode of Steve Harvey and start of The Now Cleveland taped from WEWS in October 2014 with commercials; partial episode of The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and partial broadcast of The Talk taped from WOIO on 10/3/2014 with commercials; partial episode of General Hospital and partial episode of Steve Harvey taped from WEWS on 10/3/2014 with commercials; partial broadcast of 19 Action News at 6 and partial broadcast of CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley taped from WOIO on 10/1/2014 with commercials. Maxell T-120.
TAPE 10: Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 3/28/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 3/28/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 3/29/1996, 3/31/1996, 4/17/1996 and 5/2/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and start of Romona's Kids (local special hosted by Romona Robinson) taped from WUAB on 5/28/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and start of The Sentinel taped from WUAB on 5/29/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 5/30/1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Game 6 of the 1996 NBA Western Conference Finals taped from WKYC on 5/30/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 5/31/1996 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 11: Four episodes of Seinfeld taped from WUAB in December 1995 with commercials; end of Korea: The Forgotten War and start of Justice Files taped from the Discovery Channel in 1995 with commercials. Sony T-120.
TAPE 12: Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 2/9/1996, 2/12/1996, 2/13/1996 and 2/16/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 2/15/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 2/27/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 2/29/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 2/29/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 3/17/1996, 3/22/1996 and 3/24/1996 with commercials; partial episode of Another World taped from WKYC in August 1994 with commercials. Memorex T-120.
TAPE 13: Seinfeld taped from WUAB in December 1995 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 12/14/1995 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 12/27/1995 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 12/29/1995 with commercials; end of Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 12/28/1995 with commercials; partial episode of Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 12/31/1995 with commercials. Sony T-120.
TAPE 14: Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 8/27/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Frasier taped from WKYC on 9/3/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 9/10/1998 with commercials (a rebroadcast of the final episode); Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 6/25/1998, 7/2/1998, 7/9/1998 and 7/16/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Just Shoot Me taped from WKYC on 7/23/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 7/30/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Just Shoot Me taped from WKYC on 8/6/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Just Shoot Me taped from WKYC on 8/13/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 8/20/1998 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 15: Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/3/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 1/4/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 1/5/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/7/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 1/8/1996 and 1/9/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/23/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 1/24/1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Revco Sports Extra from the Ten O'clock News taped from WUAB on 1/24/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/25/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/29/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/31/1996 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 4: A&E in Concert: Rod Stewart and partial broadcast of Poirot taped from A&E on 12/22/2002 with commercials; partial episode of Jenny Jones ("This Looks Like a Job for Me, 'Cuz I'm Just Another Eminem Wannabe!") and partial episode of Jerry Springer ("Midget Holiday Hell") taped from WUAB on 12/2/2002 with commercials, interrupted twice by Action News cut-ins regarding the day's severe winter weather; partial episode of Judge Mathis taped from WOIO in May 2002 with commercials; partial episode of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful taped from WOIO on 4/2/2002 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 5: Partial broadcast of Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night (1988 Cinemax special) taped from WVIZ in 2004 with one partial pledge break; partial broadcast of Bobby Darin: Mack Is Back taped from WNEO/WEAO in 2004 with two partial pledge breaks; As the World Turns, Guiding Light and start of Judge Mathis taped from WOIO on 1/20/2004 with commercials; most of Judge Mathis and start of 19 Action News at 5 taped from WOIO on 1/19/2004 with commercials; partial episode of Judge Mathis, 19 Action News at 5, 19 Action News at 5:30, 19 Action News at 6 and partial broadcast of CBS Evening News (John Roberts fills in for Dan Rather) taped from WOIO on 1/8/2004 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 6: Electra Glide in Blue (1973) taped from the Movie Channel circa 1983, no promos but does have a Feature Presentation intro at the beginning, very dim picture though. Scotch T-120.
TAPE 7: Twelve Mile Road (CBS made-for-TV movie) and partial broadcast of 19 Action News at 11 taped from WOIO on 9/28/2003 with commercials; The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and start of The Talk taped from WOIO on 6/22/2012 with commercials; partial episode of Guiding Light and start of Judge Mathis taped from WOIO on 8/7/2001 with commercials; partial episode of Judge Mathis taped from WOIO on 8/6/2001 with commercials; end of Hannity & Colmes and start of The Edge with Paula Zahn taped from Fox News Channel on 4/25/2000; end of The Fox Report with Shepard Smith, The O'Reilly Factor and partial broadcast of Hannity & Colmes taped from Fox News Channel on 4/26/2000 with commercials, signal switches to scrambled and black and white with no audio 40 minutes into The Factor. Unknown brand T-120.
TAPE 8: American Idol taped from WJW on 4/9/2014 with commercials; clip from The Voice taped from WKYC on 5/20/2014 (Josh Kaufman performs "Set Fire to the Rain"); partial episode of General Hospital and partial episode of Katie Couric (ABC News correspondent Dan Harris opens up about his battle with drug addiction and promotes his new book) taped from WEWS on 4/1/2014 with commercials; partial episode of The Voice taped from WKYC on 10/5/2015 with commercials; partial episode of The Voice taped from WKYC on 10/6/2015 with commercials, then a lot of channel surfing on the Cox Digital Cable box, landing briefly on The Kelly File on Fox News Channel, 20/20 on ID on Investigation Discovery, NCAA football on Fox College Sports, Sex and the City on Oxygen and Landmark Cases on C-SPAN; partial episode of The Dr. Oz Show and partial broadcast of Live on Five taped from WEWS on 7/12/2013 with commercials; partial broadcast of 19 Action News at 5:30 taped from WOIO on 5/11/2013 with commercials, also includes a partial segment of Triv TV with WTAM's Mike Trivisonno; partial broadcast of Live on Five, News Channel 5 at 6 and most of ABC World News with Diane Sawyer taped from WEWS on 4/23/2013 with commercials; partial broadcast of ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, The List and partial episode of Let's Ask America taped from WEWS on 3/7/2013 with commercials. Maxell T-160.
TAPE 9: End of 19 Action News at Noon and partial episode of The Young and the Restless taped from WOIO on 10/17/2014 with commercials; clip from 19 Action News at 6 taped from WOIO on 1/12/2015; 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship (Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Oregon Ducks) taped from ESPN on 1/12/2015 with commercials; partial episode of Steve Harvey and start of The Now Cleveland taped from WEWS in October 2014 with commercials; partial episode of The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and partial broadcast of The Talk taped from WOIO on 10/3/2014 with commercials; partial episode of General Hospital and partial episode of Steve Harvey taped from WEWS on 10/3/2014 with commercials; partial broadcast of 19 Action News at 6 and partial broadcast of CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley taped from WOIO on 10/1/2014 with commercials. Maxell T-120.
TAPE 10: Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 3/28/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 3/28/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 3/29/1996, 3/31/1996, 4/17/1996 and 5/2/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and start of Romona's Kids (local special hosted by Romona Robinson) taped from WUAB on 5/28/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and start of The Sentinel taped from WUAB on 5/29/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 5/30/1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Game 6 of the 1996 NBA Western Conference Finals taped from WKYC on 5/30/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 5/31/1996 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 11: Four episodes of Seinfeld taped from WUAB in December 1995 with commercials; end of Korea: The Forgotten War and start of Justice Files taped from the Discovery Channel in 1995 with commercials. Sony T-120.
TAPE 12: Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 2/9/1996, 2/12/1996, 2/13/1996 and 2/16/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 2/15/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 2/27/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 2/29/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 2/29/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 3/17/1996, 3/22/1996 and 3/24/1996 with commercials; partial episode of Another World taped from WKYC in August 1994 with commercials. Memorex T-120.
TAPE 13: Seinfeld taped from WUAB in December 1995 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 12/14/1995 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 12/27/1995 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 12/29/1995 with commercials; end of Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 12/28/1995 with commercials; partial episode of Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 12/31/1995 with commercials. Sony T-120.
TAPE 14: Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 8/27/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Frasier taped from WKYC on 9/3/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 9/10/1998 with commercials (a rebroadcast of the final episode); Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 6/25/1998, 7/2/1998, 7/9/1998 and 7/16/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Just Shoot Me taped from WKYC on 7/23/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 7/30/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Just Shoot Me taped from WKYC on 8/6/1998 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Just Shoot Me taped from WKYC on 8/13/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 8/20/1998 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
TAPE 15: Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/3/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WKYC on 1/4/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 1/5/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/7/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 1/8/1996 and 1/9/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/23/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld taped from WUAB on 1/24/1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Revco Sports Extra from the Ten O'clock News taped from WUAB on 1/24/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/25/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/29/1996 with commercials; Seinfeld and partial episode of Cheers taped from WUAB on 1/31/1996 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.
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And Hallmark Channel
I have some good news and bad news regarding my last two eBay lots. I'll start with the bad news first given I purchased that one first, which consisted of a lot from the seller pool1 from Iowa City, which was for a lot of 28 Betas that didn't have any labels on them except for about half of the tapes which indicated numbered stickers. There was even a quantity tab indicating that there were more than ten lots available, so if I had a good lot, I'd purchase another. Given there was an untested and no shipping return warning, I knew I would be pressing my luck. Unfortunately, I stopped at a Whammy after discovering that the tapes that were recorded were bulk erased, with the faintest of picture flickers indicating that I was out about 60 bucks after replying to the seller after I received it explaining that situation. I knew it's a good lesson that if there are no returns, buy responsibly.
But the day I received those, I happened to purchase a lot from a different seller, comprising of 35 VHS tapes. Yes, the seller was from around 25 miles outside of NYC in central Jersey, but with a peek at the mid-80s Scotch tape stock, complete with many of the T-120 labels on the face out side before the Scotch was added on top of them along with the faintest hint of a VK250 visible, there was definitely potential for some big hits, and with a return policy (I certainly won't be returning these), an 80% hit rate was a nice redemption from that skunking, and that didn't include a full recording of the 1984 Academy Awards complete with commercials that I've already got that I placed in the sell pile. In fact, the only two outright duds were a recording of the Godfather, parts 1 & 2 off HBO with no promos and an official release of The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride that got mixed up. There were several near misses that featured content with just a few minutes of promos off HBO as well. Everything was recorded in EP mode as well, giving lots of potential time for those frequent end-of-tape surprises.
TAPE 1: The Philadelphia Story (1940), recorded off WNEW on 1/14/1984 with commercials, followed by The Lost Honor Of Kathryn Beck, the CBS Tuesday Night Movies off WCBS on 1/24/1984 with commercials. JVC Dynarec T-120 with the granular surface.
TAPE 2: I Ought To Be In Pictures (1982) and Best Friends (1982) taped off HBO on 1/25/1984 with promos between the movies, followed by the two-hour series premiere of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer off WCBS on 1/26/1984 with commercials. I've already got the repeat from 12/22/1984, so this is a nice addition in a week that also saw the premiere of Airwolf as a two-hour "pilot" movie. Maxell T-120
TAPE 3: Starts off with the ever-popular Casablanca (1942) off WPIX on 2/13/1984 with ads, followed by Flashdance (1983) off Showtime on 2/18/1984 with a few promos before the movie (coincidentally, just a day after Footloose was released), then Liar's Moon (1982) off HBO in February 1984 with no promos. Maxell T-120
TAPE 4: Les Miserables (1978) taped off WNEW on 2/23/1984 with commercials, along with the Tom Gregory News headlines report shortly before the sign-off. Another JVC Dynarec T-120
TAPE 5: Starts with Urban Cowboy (1980) off WNBC on 2/26/1984 with no commercials (cue the "New York CITY!" from the Pace salsa ads), followed by The Way We Were (1973) off WTAF on 2/27/1984 with commercials, followed by Letter To Three Wives (1949) off WPIX on 2/28/1984 with commercials. Maxell T-160 (T-160's are really tough to find from this era)
TAPE 6: The ABC Monday Night Movie presentation of Best Kept Secrets off WABC on 3/26/1984 with commercials, followed by the ITT Theater presentation of Terrible Joe Moran Ends off WCBS on 3/27/1984 with commercials (most of them from that high-tech corporation). One more JVC Dynarec T-120
TAPE 7: Tender Mercies (1982) and Second Thoughts (1983), taped off HBO on 4/1/1984 with promos after each movie. Maxell T-120
TAPE 8: Easter Parade (1948) and The April Fools (1967) along with the first few minutes of Fame recorded off WNEW on 4/22/1984 with commercials. I've already got most of the broadcast of Easter Parade as received in a trade back in 2015 when I thought that the item was some Disney or local parade when it turned out to be the movie starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Maxell T-120.
TAPE 9: The CBS Special Movie on Pope John Paul II taped off WCBS on 4/22/1984 with commercials, followed by most of Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) recorded off WTBS on 4/23/1984 with ads. Maxell T-120
TAPE 10: A Tale Of Two Cities (1958) taped off WOR on 4/20/1984 with some commercials, followed by Chapter Two (1979) taped off WABC on 4/28/1984 with commercials, followed by Tic Tac Dough, The Joker's Wild, The New $25,000 Pyramid, and the first few minutes of Press Your Luck off WCBS on 4/30/1984 with commercials! Maxell T-120
TAPE 11: Another copy of The Godfather Part II (1974) taped off HBO on 5/9/1984 with a few promos after the movie, followed by the ABC News Special Final Salute: Vietnam Unknown tapedd off WABC on 5/28/1984 with very few commercials. That pre-empted One Life To Live and a portion of General Hospital in the east and midwest. Maxell T-120
TAPE 12: The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Black Bird (1975) recorded off WNEW on 6/23/1984 with commercials, followed by Doc (1971) taped off WNEW on 6/24/1984 with commercials. Maxwell T-120.
TAPE 13: Begins with a brief clip from a Johnny Mathis concert off presumably WNET/PBS, followed by Tootsie (1982) taped off HBO circa August 1984 with no promos, followed by The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), the INN News, and a classic episode of The Odd Couple taped off WPIX on 8/27/1984 with commercials. RCA SelectaVision VK 250.
TAPE 14: If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) taped off WNEW on 7/1/1984 with most ads, followed by a rerun of the 1982 TV movie Something So Right off WCBS on 9/12/1984 with no commercials, followed by Educating Rita (1983) taped off HBO circa September 1984 with no promos. Scotch T-120
But the day I received those, I happened to purchase a lot from a different seller, comprising of 35 VHS tapes. Yes, the seller was from around 25 miles outside of NYC in central Jersey, but with a peek at the mid-80s Scotch tape stock, complete with many of the T-120 labels on the face out side before the Scotch was added on top of them along with the faintest hint of a VK250 visible, there was definitely potential for some big hits, and with a return policy (I certainly won't be returning these), an 80% hit rate was a nice redemption from that skunking, and that didn't include a full recording of the 1984 Academy Awards complete with commercials that I've already got that I placed in the sell pile. In fact, the only two outright duds were a recording of the Godfather, parts 1 & 2 off HBO with no promos and an official release of The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride that got mixed up. There were several near misses that featured content with just a few minutes of promos off HBO as well. Everything was recorded in EP mode as well, giving lots of potential time for those frequent end-of-tape surprises.
TAPE 1: The Philadelphia Story (1940), recorded off WNEW on 1/14/1984 with commercials, followed by The Lost Honor Of Kathryn Beck, the CBS Tuesday Night Movies off WCBS on 1/24/1984 with commercials. JVC Dynarec T-120 with the granular surface.
TAPE 2: I Ought To Be In Pictures (1982) and Best Friends (1982) taped off HBO on 1/25/1984 with promos between the movies, followed by the two-hour series premiere of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer off WCBS on 1/26/1984 with commercials. I've already got the repeat from 12/22/1984, so this is a nice addition in a week that also saw the premiere of Airwolf as a two-hour "pilot" movie. Maxell T-120
TAPE 3: Starts off with the ever-popular Casablanca (1942) off WPIX on 2/13/1984 with ads, followed by Flashdance (1983) off Showtime on 2/18/1984 with a few promos before the movie (coincidentally, just a day after Footloose was released), then Liar's Moon (1982) off HBO in February 1984 with no promos. Maxell T-120
TAPE 4: Les Miserables (1978) taped off WNEW on 2/23/1984 with commercials, along with the Tom Gregory News headlines report shortly before the sign-off. Another JVC Dynarec T-120
TAPE 5: Starts with Urban Cowboy (1980) off WNBC on 2/26/1984 with no commercials (cue the "New York CITY!" from the Pace salsa ads), followed by The Way We Were (1973) off WTAF on 2/27/1984 with commercials, followed by Letter To Three Wives (1949) off WPIX on 2/28/1984 with commercials. Maxell T-160 (T-160's are really tough to find from this era)
TAPE 6: The ABC Monday Night Movie presentation of Best Kept Secrets off WABC on 3/26/1984 with commercials, followed by the ITT Theater presentation of Terrible Joe Moran Ends off WCBS on 3/27/1984 with commercials (most of them from that high-tech corporation). One more JVC Dynarec T-120
TAPE 7: Tender Mercies (1982) and Second Thoughts (1983), taped off HBO on 4/1/1984 with promos after each movie. Maxell T-120
TAPE 8: Easter Parade (1948) and The April Fools (1967) along with the first few minutes of Fame recorded off WNEW on 4/22/1984 with commercials. I've already got most of the broadcast of Easter Parade as received in a trade back in 2015 when I thought that the item was some Disney or local parade when it turned out to be the movie starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Maxell T-120.
TAPE 9: The CBS Special Movie on Pope John Paul II taped off WCBS on 4/22/1984 with commercials, followed by most of Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) recorded off WTBS on 4/23/1984 with ads. Maxell T-120
TAPE 10: A Tale Of Two Cities (1958) taped off WOR on 4/20/1984 with some commercials, followed by Chapter Two (1979) taped off WABC on 4/28/1984 with commercials, followed by Tic Tac Dough, The Joker's Wild, The New $25,000 Pyramid, and the first few minutes of Press Your Luck off WCBS on 4/30/1984 with commercials! Maxell T-120
TAPE 11: Another copy of The Godfather Part II (1974) taped off HBO on 5/9/1984 with a few promos after the movie, followed by the ABC News Special Final Salute: Vietnam Unknown tapedd off WABC on 5/28/1984 with very few commercials. That pre-empted One Life To Live and a portion of General Hospital in the east and midwest. Maxell T-120
TAPE 12: The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Black Bird (1975) recorded off WNEW on 6/23/1984 with commercials, followed by Doc (1971) taped off WNEW on 6/24/1984 with commercials. Maxwell T-120.
TAPE 13: Begins with a brief clip from a Johnny Mathis concert off presumably WNET/PBS, followed by Tootsie (1982) taped off HBO circa August 1984 with no promos, followed by The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), the INN News, and a classic episode of The Odd Couple taped off WPIX on 8/27/1984 with commercials. RCA SelectaVision VK 250.
TAPE 14: If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) taped off WNEW on 7/1/1984 with most ads, followed by a rerun of the 1982 TV movie Something So Right off WCBS on 9/12/1984 with no commercials, followed by Educating Rita (1983) taped off HBO circa September 1984 with no promos. Scotch T-120
TAPE 15: A rerun of the 1983 tv flick The Other Woman taped off WCBS on 9/5/1984 with no commercials, followed by The Verdict (1982), Not Necessarily The News, and Romantic Comedy (1983) recorded off HBO on 9/7/1984 with promos after each presentation. Scotch T-120.
TAPE 16: Begins with a classic episode of MacMillan and Wife as part of the CBS Late Movie off WCBS on 9/11/1984 with commercials, then a complete four-hour block of CBS News Nightwatch, WCBS Daybreak, and the first few minutes of the CBS Early Morning News off WCBS on 9/11/1984 with commercials. For those who don't know, the four-hour overnight block was repeated for its second half hour to accommodate the stations that would pre-empt part of its coverage for other programming. Its hard to believe that CBS 2 New York's morning news show at 6 AM was actually a TALK show and not hard news with stuff like traffic reports and school lunches like most local news outlets have done since the '90s. Scotch T-120.
TAPE 17: Begins with the second season premiere of Scarecrow and Mrs. King off WCBS on 10/1/1984 with a few commercials (I've already got this off KCBS with the full ads), followed by the CBS Special Movie presentation off Passions from the same night with commercials, followed by Two For The Road (1967) and Sandi Freeman In The Middle East: Portraits of Power off WTBS on 10/7/1984 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 18: The ABC Theater presentation of Heartsounds off WABC on 9/30/1984 with commercials, followed by The Big Chill (1983) taped off an unknown pay-tv channel circa October 1984 with no promos, followed by most of His Mistress taped off WNBC on 10/21/1984 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 19: Home Sweet Home (1946) taped off USA on 10/11/1984 with commercials, followed by Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) recorded off WPIX on 1/5/1985 with commercials, then it jumps back to USA on 10/11/1984 for a full newscast of the obscure BIZNet News before ending a few minutes into the Cartoon Express. Scotch T-120
TAPE 20: George Washington Slept Here (1942) recorded off Showtime on 12/24/1984 with no promos, followed Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969), Fame "Dreams", and part of Point Blank (1967) taped off WNEW on 1/6/1985 with commercials. It's always nice to find an episode of Fame from the season featuring Janet Jackson, with an episode title resembling here most recent album. Scotch T-120
TAPE 21: Part one of The Thornbirds (1983 mini-series) taped off WABC on 1/6/1985 with commercials, followed by part two of The Thornbirds, the WABC 11 PM News, Nightline, and most of Eye On Hollywood taped off WABC on 1/7/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 22: Part three of The Thornbirds (1983 mini-series) taped off WABC on 1/8/1985 with commercials, followed by part four of The Thornbirds, the WABC 11 PM News, Nightline, and most of Eye On Hollywood taped off WABC on 1/10/1985 with commercials. I've got this full miniseries from WLS from Beta recordings, but always nice to find the late night extras, with the Eye On Hollywood being a San Diego-themed episode. Scotch T-120
TAPE 23: Starts off with Terms of Endearment (1983) and a Shirley McLaine special recorded off Showtime on 2/17/1985 with promos between the features, followed by about the last seven minutes of the sitcom E/R, the CBS Wednesday Movie Murder With Mirrors, and about half of the WCBS 11 PM News, taped off WCBS on 2/20/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 24: The HBO premiere film presentation of Finnegan Begin Again, Lassiter (1984), and The Buddy System (1984) taped off HBO on 2/24/1985 with promos after each movie. Scotch T-120
TAPE 25: Shadow Of The Thin Man (1941) recorded off WNEW on 1/12/1985 with commercials, followed by Splash (1984), a rerun of Garry Shandling Alone In Las Vegas, and part of Dracula (1979) taped off Showtime on 3/3/1985 with promos after each feature. Scotch T-120
TAPE 26: Part one of the Jamaica Inn miniseries taped off WNEW on 6/6/1985 with commercials, followed by part two of the same miniseries and part of the Philadelphia Phillies/San Diego Padres baseball game taped off WTAF on 6/6/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 27: Seems Like Old Times (1980) taped off HBO circa fall 1985 with no promos, followed by The Long, Long Trailer (1954) recorded off WPIX on 10/18/1985 with commercials, followed by the CBS Saturday Movie presentation of Thirteen At Dinner and about half of the WCBS 11 PM News on 10/19/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 28: Kicks off with Pocket Full Of Miracles (1961) off WOR on 12/20/1985 with commercials, followed by Miracle On 34th Street (1947) taped off WTBS on 12/3/1985 with commercials, followed by a portion of a Magnum, PI syndie rerun before cutting back to most of The Morning Show (my first pre-national find of what would become Live with Regis & Kathie Lee and so on...) and the first few minutes of Sally Jessy Raphael off WABC on 12/20/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
That's right, EVERY thing I found was recorded in the two quintessential years of that fabulous decade that's been parodied to death, which makes you wonder if there was more from where that came from. Yes, the recorder was probably middle aged due to recording that big band special from one tape that I passed, but you never know what will turn up.
TAPE 16: Begins with a classic episode of MacMillan and Wife as part of the CBS Late Movie off WCBS on 9/11/1984 with commercials, then a complete four-hour block of CBS News Nightwatch, WCBS Daybreak, and the first few minutes of the CBS Early Morning News off WCBS on 9/11/1984 with commercials. For those who don't know, the four-hour overnight block was repeated for its second half hour to accommodate the stations that would pre-empt part of its coverage for other programming. Its hard to believe that CBS 2 New York's morning news show at 6 AM was actually a TALK show and not hard news with stuff like traffic reports and school lunches like most local news outlets have done since the '90s. Scotch T-120.
TAPE 17: Begins with the second season premiere of Scarecrow and Mrs. King off WCBS on 10/1/1984 with a few commercials (I've already got this off KCBS with the full ads), followed by the CBS Special Movie presentation off Passions from the same night with commercials, followed by Two For The Road (1967) and Sandi Freeman In The Middle East: Portraits of Power off WTBS on 10/7/1984 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 18: The ABC Theater presentation of Heartsounds off WABC on 9/30/1984 with commercials, followed by The Big Chill (1983) taped off an unknown pay-tv channel circa October 1984 with no promos, followed by most of His Mistress taped off WNBC on 10/21/1984 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 19: Home Sweet Home (1946) taped off USA on 10/11/1984 with commercials, followed by Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) recorded off WPIX on 1/5/1985 with commercials, then it jumps back to USA on 10/11/1984 for a full newscast of the obscure BIZNet News before ending a few minutes into the Cartoon Express. Scotch T-120
TAPE 20: George Washington Slept Here (1942) recorded off Showtime on 12/24/1984 with no promos, followed Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969), Fame "Dreams", and part of Point Blank (1967) taped off WNEW on 1/6/1985 with commercials. It's always nice to find an episode of Fame from the season featuring Janet Jackson, with an episode title resembling here most recent album. Scotch T-120
TAPE 21: Part one of The Thornbirds (1983 mini-series) taped off WABC on 1/6/1985 with commercials, followed by part two of The Thornbirds, the WABC 11 PM News, Nightline, and most of Eye On Hollywood taped off WABC on 1/7/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 22: Part three of The Thornbirds (1983 mini-series) taped off WABC on 1/8/1985 with commercials, followed by part four of The Thornbirds, the WABC 11 PM News, Nightline, and most of Eye On Hollywood taped off WABC on 1/10/1985 with commercials. I've got this full miniseries from WLS from Beta recordings, but always nice to find the late night extras, with the Eye On Hollywood being a San Diego-themed episode. Scotch T-120
TAPE 23: Starts off with Terms of Endearment (1983) and a Shirley McLaine special recorded off Showtime on 2/17/1985 with promos between the features, followed by about the last seven minutes of the sitcom E/R, the CBS Wednesday Movie Murder With Mirrors, and about half of the WCBS 11 PM News, taped off WCBS on 2/20/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 24: The HBO premiere film presentation of Finnegan Begin Again, Lassiter (1984), and The Buddy System (1984) taped off HBO on 2/24/1985 with promos after each movie. Scotch T-120
TAPE 25: Shadow Of The Thin Man (1941) recorded off WNEW on 1/12/1985 with commercials, followed by Splash (1984), a rerun of Garry Shandling Alone In Las Vegas, and part of Dracula (1979) taped off Showtime on 3/3/1985 with promos after each feature. Scotch T-120
TAPE 26: Part one of the Jamaica Inn miniseries taped off WNEW on 6/6/1985 with commercials, followed by part two of the same miniseries and part of the Philadelphia Phillies/San Diego Padres baseball game taped off WTAF on 6/6/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 27: Seems Like Old Times (1980) taped off HBO circa fall 1985 with no promos, followed by The Long, Long Trailer (1954) recorded off WPIX on 10/18/1985 with commercials, followed by the CBS Saturday Movie presentation of Thirteen At Dinner and about half of the WCBS 11 PM News on 10/19/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
TAPE 28: Kicks off with Pocket Full Of Miracles (1961) off WOR on 12/20/1985 with commercials, followed by Miracle On 34th Street (1947) taped off WTBS on 12/3/1985 with commercials, followed by a portion of a Magnum, PI syndie rerun before cutting back to most of The Morning Show (my first pre-national find of what would become Live with Regis & Kathie Lee and so on...) and the first few minutes of Sally Jessy Raphael off WABC on 12/20/1985 with commercials. Scotch T-120
That's right, EVERY thing I found was recorded in the two quintessential years of that fabulous decade that's been parodied to death, which makes you wonder if there was more from where that came from. Yes, the recorder was probably middle aged due to recording that big band special from one tape that I passed, but you never know what will turn up.
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I have off the air WKRP 1st run of reruns. But where do you find a VHS machine to play the tapes so they can be imported to a HD?
Use a VHS to digital local business to get them converted, buying a used VCR online will be a crapshoot
Someday I might trade with you for tape 14. The NBC 75th anniversary special on youtube is edited.
I will have a full list soon of tapes I have found in the past few weeks (I never have time - subbing, DoorDash shifts on weekends, now FM DX season is coming, prepping to move to Idaho, etc.) but here's the 'back of the DVD cover' version:
The last few weeks have been mixed for VHS finds. I found one tape on May 11th out in West Valley with a 5-hour+ aircheck of Lifetime from April 2005 with commercials. On May 18th, I went to another estate sale in Yakima that had several blanks, most with various skating specials with commercials, also found 'An Affair to Remember' taped off Disney Channel in 1993 with several minutes of promos afterwards. This past Saturday I drove all the way out to Rimrock WA for a massive yard sale that was near the Trout Lodge restaurant. This is a pretty area - lots of ponderosa pines and cliffside views, but was it windy or what? The yard sale had many home-recorded and retail VHS plus a bunch of recorded DVDs of various TV programs. Local recordings are from Portland, but I found a 9-hour S-VHS tape that had several DirecTV DNS or C-Band PT24 recordings on it - NYPD Blue, '99 Grammys, Ally McBeal off stations from various markets with commercials. The Ally McBeal episodes were off Foxnet! Where else could you find a promo for 'the Fox Report at 10 ET' during Fox network primetime? Foxnet aired the FOX Report from FNC following primetime for several years.
He also seemed to have a fetish for hot women (or maybe a teenaged son did ;-) ). Multiple Playboy TV clips are also on these tapes, all of them 'movies'.
This Rimrock sale had some great deals regardless and was designed to be a quick stop for those heading to Packwood's flea market or camping sites further west.
Full inventory later. Still going through the pile.
In late June I will be back in Montana for the Sanders County and Bitterroot 50 Mile Sales, and then make my way down to Cascade ID to visit with the Superintendent and take a tour of the elementary school I will be teaching at, and check out what my new classroom will look like. I secured an Airbnb in Corvallis MT for the last weekend of June, 28th to 30th.
The last few weeks have been mixed for VHS finds. I found one tape on May 11th out in West Valley with a 5-hour+ aircheck of Lifetime from April 2005 with commercials. On May 18th, I went to another estate sale in Yakima that had several blanks, most with various skating specials with commercials, also found 'An Affair to Remember' taped off Disney Channel in 1993 with several minutes of promos afterwards. This past Saturday I drove all the way out to Rimrock WA for a massive yard sale that was near the Trout Lodge restaurant. This is a pretty area - lots of ponderosa pines and cliffside views, but was it windy or what? The yard sale had many home-recorded and retail VHS plus a bunch of recorded DVDs of various TV programs. Local recordings are from Portland, but I found a 9-hour S-VHS tape that had several DirecTV DNS or C-Band PT24 recordings on it - NYPD Blue, '99 Grammys, Ally McBeal off stations from various markets with commercials. The Ally McBeal episodes were off Foxnet! Where else could you find a promo for 'the Fox Report at 10 ET' during Fox network primetime? Foxnet aired the FOX Report from FNC following primetime for several years.
He also seemed to have a fetish for hot women (or maybe a teenaged son did ;-) ). Multiple Playboy TV clips are also on these tapes, all of them 'movies'.
This Rimrock sale had some great deals regardless and was designed to be a quick stop for those heading to Packwood's flea market or camping sites further west.
Full inventory later. Still going through the pile.
In late June I will be back in Montana for the Sanders County and Bitterroot 50 Mile Sales, and then make my way down to Cascade ID to visit with the Superintendent and take a tour of the elementary school I will be teaching at, and check out what my new classroom will look like. I secured an Airbnb in Corvallis MT for the last weekend of June, 28th to 30th.
I just purchased and checked two lots of 25 Scotch L-750 Beta tapes over the last couple weeks from the seller tersbay off eBay. I've dealt with the seller about six years ago where I purchased a lot of TDK L-750 tapes with recordings mostly from the early 1990s, ranging from golf to college football recordings along with vintage movies, but these lots consist of mostly mid-80s content. I've batted around .500 with the two lots with the first better than the last, while placing a few into the sell pile that consists of either WTBS recordings with ads or only a few minutes of promos. There were a few duds including a single blank tape along, but still a decent amount goodies, even if the finds suggest that the recorder was well into middle age that truly shows how old this now is given that D-Day was as approximately as old then as that era is now. Most of the finds were movies taped off WTBS, WGN, USA, CBN, or Tampa-area stations, mostly from late 1985 or early 1986, but there were a couple tapes with summer 1983 recordings from usually vintage (at the time) movies with commercials, one of them including part of the TBS Morning News. Other notable finds include a 1984 Bob Hope special off WXFL with most ads, an episode of Donahue from 1985 from Los Angeles, an episode of 20/20 from the final night of the 1984 Republican National Convention (albeit with no commercials or closing), a Best of Carson rerun from 1985 (albeit zapped of the ads), several MLB games from fall 1985 with some, most, or all of the commercials (including Game 5 of the Cardinals-Royals World Series along with some from just before and after Pete Rose broke the all-time hits record, quite fitting with Tucupita Marcano in the news with all the wrong reasons), a rerun of The $1.98 Beauty Show from 1985 (Chuck Barris game show from the late '70s), an episode of This Week In Baseball from 1985 with ads, a couple episodes of Baseball's Greatest Hits off ESPN in 1985 (before there was Ken Burns...), a CBN recording of the 1957 movie Woman and the Hunter that currently has no official video release, a partial episode of The Joe Franklin Show off WOR following a ate movie from 1986, an episode of Inside The PGA Tour along about three hours of final round coverage of The Memorial PGA tournament off WTVN/CBS from May 1986, the 1986 US Open (golf) preview show, a 1986 episode of Backstage At The Grand Old Opry off TNN (rock was the devil's music to him/her), and a tape full of special reports off NBC from 1986. The seller still has a couple lots with the same tape stock if you're interested, and a couple tapes were recorded off Columbus, OH stations, along with a few from other brands.