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Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have
- Thread starter Stanislav
- Start date
That's what I was thinking. I didn't know it until just now, but the Tri-Cities metro area is actually larger than that of Yakima. I always thought the Tri-Cities stations were satellites of the Yakima stations, but it looks as though, at least in the case of these two stations, it's the other way around.
Happy new year everyone! I just came back from my Florida trip earlier this week. I only had time to check one estate sale during the trip due to exploring and having time to see my 91-year old grandmother. That estate sale only had some blank audio tapes and no pre-recorded VHS/Beta in terms of electronic media (with mostly just artists and their albums listed on the labels), but it was still nice to have those tapes. Still, I managed to snag three VHS tapes from my uncle as a late Christmas present. I'd wish two of them had more commercials, but you can't have everything. He is obviously a snowbird so the recordings came from Maryland stations.
TAPE 1: The inaugural MLB game at Oriole Park At Camden Yards between the Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles and the first 30 minutes of the WMAR 6 PM News (a special expanded edition) taped off WMAR on 4/6/1992 with commercials (some of those ads, especially the fittingly "Welcome Home" ticket campaign and the "Orioles play on NewsChannel 2" promo for the O's take me back), followed by about 20 minutes of the Big 8 NCAA Men's basketball semifinal game between Iowa State and Oklahoma State taped off HTS/Raycom Sports on 3/14/1992 with two commercial breaks. LP mode for the WMAR portion, SP for the basketball portion. TDK EHG T-120
TAPE 2: Games one and two of the 1983 ALCS between the Chicago White Sox and the Orioles taped off WMAR/NBC on 10/5 and 10/6/1983 with a few commercials for Game 1, and no commercials on Game 2, followed by a syndicated rerun of Barney Miller taped off an unknown station circa late 1983 with no commercials JVC T-120, EP mode (I may pass on this one given that both games are already posted)
TAPE 3: The 1984 USFL Championship game between the Philadelphia Stars and Arizona Starts taped off WMDT/ABC on 7/15/1984 with a few commercials and part of the halftime (sadly, no local spots serving the small Delmarva market), followed by The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1981) probably taped off a pay-TV station circa 1984 with no commercials, followed by most of Olivia Newton-John In Concert taped off HBO circa summer 1983 with no promos. TDK T-120, EP mode
TAPE 1: The inaugural MLB game at Oriole Park At Camden Yards between the Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles and the first 30 minutes of the WMAR 6 PM News (a special expanded edition) taped off WMAR on 4/6/1992 with commercials (some of those ads, especially the fittingly "Welcome Home" ticket campaign and the "Orioles play on NewsChannel 2" promo for the O's take me back), followed by about 20 minutes of the Big 8 NCAA Men's basketball semifinal game between Iowa State and Oklahoma State taped off HTS/Raycom Sports on 3/14/1992 with two commercial breaks. LP mode for the WMAR portion, SP for the basketball portion. TDK EHG T-120
TAPE 2: Games one and two of the 1983 ALCS between the Chicago White Sox and the Orioles taped off WMAR/NBC on 10/5 and 10/6/1983 with a few commercials for Game 1, and no commercials on Game 2, followed by a syndicated rerun of Barney Miller taped off an unknown station circa late 1983 with no commercials JVC T-120, EP mode (I may pass on this one given that both games are already posted)
TAPE 3: The 1984 USFL Championship game between the Philadelphia Stars and Arizona Starts taped off WMDT/ABC on 7/15/1984 with a few commercials and part of the halftime (sadly, no local spots serving the small Delmarva market), followed by The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1981) probably taped off a pay-TV station circa 1984 with no commercials, followed by most of Olivia Newton-John In Concert taped off HBO circa summer 1983 with no promos. TDK T-120, EP mode
The Tri-Cities stations did start out as satellites of the Yakima stations. I guess that as the Tri-Cities outgrew Yakima, that eventually flipped.
houston tv info autism
Banned
bonjour @ChuckTiller
I've just completed my first significant searches of the new year, and even though were now in 2026, EVERYTHING that I found was pre-1990, so if you look hard, you can still enjoy the "good ol' days" from the content on these tapes. I'll start off with a lot of 23 VHS tapes off that M-initialed site from a seller based in Wisconsin. As good fortune turns up, 19 out of the 23 were keepers, with two tapes having some tape damage and three being movie rental duds. Everything was recorded in EP mode with the commercials intact for the most part. A little over half were taped off CBN or the CBN Family Channel in 1988 or early 1989 and contained episodes of the classic '60s shows Here Come The Brides and The Big Valley, the later notable for starring Lee Majors and a young Linda Evans. All other tapes were taped off Madison or Wausau stations. This is despite the sellers description indicating that the tapes were recorded in the "1990s-2000s". It helps if you know your labels!
TAPES 1-5: Six episodes of The Big Valley per tape recorded off CBN in summer 1988 with commercials. On a couple tapes recorded near the end of season, teaser promos for the network's forthcoming change with the scripted "Family" logo are featured on some of the breaks. All Scotch T-120's.
TAPE 6: Four episodes of The Big Valley and two episodes of Here Come The Brides taped shortly after the network rebranding to the CBN Family Channel in September 1988 with commercials. TDK T-120
TAPES 7-10: Six episodes of Here Come The Brides taped off the CBN Family Channel from January-March 1989 with commercials. Four Kodak T-120's and one TDK T-120
TAPE 11: Six episodes of Star Trek recorded off WISC in fall 1985 with ads. I may have a few episodes from previous finds, but at the least, I'll get a good amount of local spots from the capital of The Badger State. Laser T-120.
TAPE 12: Begins with two episodes of The Big Valley taped off CBN in July 1988 with ads, then it jumps to more episodes of The Big Valley taped off WSAW on 7/18, 7/19, 7/22, and 7/23/1985 with commercials. Always great to find smaller market content from the mid-80s which even included a "For Sale By Owner" real estate commercials! Scotch T-120
TAPE 13: Six more episodes of Star Trek taped off WISC in November/December 1985 with commercials. JVC T-120
TAPE 14: Another six episodes of Star Trek recorded off WISC in January/February 1986 with commercials. SEL Video Tech T-120
TAPE 15: Airwolf (summer rerun) taped off WISC/CBS on 5/31/1986 with commercials, followed by Star Trek recorded off WISC on 6/1 or 6/8/1986 with ads, followed by Airwolf and the intro to West 57th taped off WISC/CBS on 6/14/1986 with commercials, followed by a summer rerun of Magnum, P.I. taped off WISC/CBS on 6/17/1986 with ads (I've already got the original broadcast), followed by another episode of Star Trek taped off WISC in summer 1986 with commercials, followed by one more summer rerun of Airwolf taped off WISC/CBS with no commercials. TDK T-120
TAPE 16: Six episodes of Stingray, the first recorded off WMTV/NBC on 1/23/1987 with commercials, the other five off WJFV/NBC on 3/20, 4/3, 410, 4/17, and 4/24/1987 with commercials. MRX T-120
TAPE 17: Six more episodes of Stingray recorded off WJFV/NBC on 6/19, 5/1, 3/27, 5/8, 5/22, and 6/12/1987 with commercials, followed by about the last eight minutes of the WISC 10 PM News and the first eight minutes of Siskel & Ebert on 12/28/1986 with commercials. TDK T-120
TAPE 18: Two more episodes of Stingray taped off WJFV/NBC on 6/26 and 7/3/1987 with commercials, followed by four episodes of the syndicated import Dempsey and Make Peace (1985) taped off WGN in August/September 1987 with commercials. HMC T-120
TAPE 19: Return of the Jedi (1983) copied from rental, followed by episodes of Mission: Impossible taped off WAOW/ABC on 4/1, 4/8, 4/15, and 4/22/1989 with commercials. Kodak T-120
That's 14 out of 15 episodes of Stingray's second (and unfortunately final) season taken from original or summer rerun broadcasts with commercials, and stay tuned for more with the results of two Beta lots that includes my oldest find in a couple of years, as well as my oldest partial Saturday Morning cartoon block find!
TAPES 1-5: Six episodes of The Big Valley per tape recorded off CBN in summer 1988 with commercials. On a couple tapes recorded near the end of season, teaser promos for the network's forthcoming change with the scripted "Family" logo are featured on some of the breaks. All Scotch T-120's.
TAPE 6: Four episodes of The Big Valley and two episodes of Here Come The Brides taped shortly after the network rebranding to the CBN Family Channel in September 1988 with commercials. TDK T-120
TAPES 7-10: Six episodes of Here Come The Brides taped off the CBN Family Channel from January-March 1989 with commercials. Four Kodak T-120's and one TDK T-120
TAPE 11: Six episodes of Star Trek recorded off WISC in fall 1985 with ads. I may have a few episodes from previous finds, but at the least, I'll get a good amount of local spots from the capital of The Badger State. Laser T-120.
TAPE 12: Begins with two episodes of The Big Valley taped off CBN in July 1988 with ads, then it jumps to more episodes of The Big Valley taped off WSAW on 7/18, 7/19, 7/22, and 7/23/1985 with commercials. Always great to find smaller market content from the mid-80s which even included a "For Sale By Owner" real estate commercials! Scotch T-120
TAPE 13: Six more episodes of Star Trek taped off WISC in November/December 1985 with commercials. JVC T-120
TAPE 14: Another six episodes of Star Trek recorded off WISC in January/February 1986 with commercials. SEL Video Tech T-120
TAPE 15: Airwolf (summer rerun) taped off WISC/CBS on 5/31/1986 with commercials, followed by Star Trek recorded off WISC on 6/1 or 6/8/1986 with ads, followed by Airwolf and the intro to West 57th taped off WISC/CBS on 6/14/1986 with commercials, followed by a summer rerun of Magnum, P.I. taped off WISC/CBS on 6/17/1986 with ads (I've already got the original broadcast), followed by another episode of Star Trek taped off WISC in summer 1986 with commercials, followed by one more summer rerun of Airwolf taped off WISC/CBS with no commercials. TDK T-120
TAPE 16: Six episodes of Stingray, the first recorded off WMTV/NBC on 1/23/1987 with commercials, the other five off WJFV/NBC on 3/20, 4/3, 410, 4/17, and 4/24/1987 with commercials. MRX T-120
TAPE 17: Six more episodes of Stingray recorded off WJFV/NBC on 6/19, 5/1, 3/27, 5/8, 5/22, and 6/12/1987 with commercials, followed by about the last eight minutes of the WISC 10 PM News and the first eight minutes of Siskel & Ebert on 12/28/1986 with commercials. TDK T-120
TAPE 18: Two more episodes of Stingray taped off WJFV/NBC on 6/26 and 7/3/1987 with commercials, followed by four episodes of the syndicated import Dempsey and Make Peace (1985) taped off WGN in August/September 1987 with commercials. HMC T-120
TAPE 19: Return of the Jedi (1983) copied from rental, followed by episodes of Mission: Impossible taped off WAOW/ABC on 4/1, 4/8, 4/15, and 4/22/1989 with commercials. Kodak T-120
That's 14 out of 15 episodes of Stingray's second (and unfortunately final) season taken from original or summer rerun broadcasts with commercials, and stay tuned for more with the results of two Beta lots that includes my oldest find in a couple of years, as well as my oldest partial Saturday Morning cartoon block find!
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And now, on with the two lots of Beta tapes from Chicagoland. Most of the tape stock was old Zenith L-250's, L-500's, and L-750's. Success was spotty as you may expect out of the 44 tapes, with about an even mix of hits, rental duds, and unused tapes (which is a shame given how expensive even an L-250 was adjusted for inflation). The rental duds are interesting in that those tapes were probably used from a mom 'n pop rental business using pirated recordings and several of the sleeves contain cards where users wrote their name and the date on them. But it is the hits that really made this lot worth it, with records for my oldest Saturday Morning cartoon partial block, NBC daytime soap block, Chicago newscast, and Family Feud original broadcast. More importantly, I've got my oldest find since the George Carlin Tonight Show partial find two years ago,
TAPE 1: The CBS Special Movie presentation of The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and about the first half hour of the WBBM 10 PM News (when it aired for 45 minutes most nights) on 6/2/1979 with commercials. Zenith L-750, BII mode
TAPE 2: Summer reruns of Battlestar: Galactica and The Love Boat recorded off WKBW/ABC on 7/21/1979 with commercials. Sony K-60, BII mode, this was also my only non-Chicago find in this lot.
TAPE 3: America At The Movies (PBS documentary) recorded off WTTW on 8/20/1979 with promos and pledge breaks, with Roger Ebert as a special guest. Zenith L-750, BII mode
TAPE 4: American Graffiti (1973) copied from a rental, then it cuts to the last 38 minutes of The NBC Big Event presentation of The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), then continues with most of the WMAQ 10 PM News on 9/23/1979 with commercials. Zenith L-750, BII mode
TAPE 5: The final episode of the PBS Free To Choose series starring Milton Friedman "How To Stay Free" and The Universe: The Search for Solutions taped off WTTW circa summer 1980 with a few promos, followed by the last few minutes of a syndicated rerun of The Rockford Files circa 1980 off WFLD with no commercials, followed by most of the re-airing of the "Miracle On Ice" 1980 winter Olympics men's ice hockey game between the USA and the USSR, with a five-minute airing of the WBBM 10 PM News from 2/26/1980 rounding out the tape. L-750, BIII mode
TAPE 6: Breaking Away (1979) taped off WMAQ/NBC on 5/5/1980 with no commercials, followed by part of the Parker vs. Love boxing fight (starts during the 7th round) along with a NCAA Tournament scoreboard taken from NBC Sportsworld along with the first several minutes of the WMAQ 6 PM News from 3/15/1980 with commercials. Zenith L-500, BII mode
TAPE 7: A special episode of the Kukla, Fran & Ollie presentation of Happy Birthday, Buelah Witch taped off off WMAQ on Halloween 1980 with one commercial present, followed by the opening of the NBC Movie The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from the same spooky night. Zenith L-250, BII mode
TAPE 8: Part two of the Godfather Saga (the second half of part one), the NBC Big Event presentation along with the first several minutes of the WMAQ 10 PM News on 11/14/1980 with commercials. Scotch L-500, BIII mode
TAPE 9: Police Academy (1984) and Police Academy 2 (1985) taped off Cinemax circa September 1986, followed by an episode of The Max Headroom Show and about ten minutes of promos off Cinemax on 9/13/1986. My first find of the innovative talk show before it moved to ABC the following year for a brief dramatic series, and it even does a "livestream" interpretation of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" video! Kodak L-750, BIII mode
TAPE 10: The WMAQ Sports special presentation, From Out Of Left Field on the Chubs Dave Kingman along with B.J. and the Bear taped off WMAQ/NBC on 4/5/1980 with commercials. Unfortunately, the video quality is poor and unwatchable for most of the tape, so it looks like an "audio-only" recording for the sports portion. Zenith L-500, BII mode
TAPE 11: Most of Little House on the Prairie and the NBC Monday Night At The Movies premiere presentation of Damien: The Leper Priest taped off WMAQ/NBC on 10/27/1980 with commercials. Zenith L-750, BII mode
TAPE 12: Days Of Our Lives, Another World, and the first few minutes of Texas taped off WMAQ/NBC on 11/3/1980 with commercials. For those who don't know, most of the Days archive pre-1983 is lost, so despite having about five minutes per soap being cut to make way for political announcements, this is a great find and my oldest for each of those soaps, along the first find of any bit of Texas footage! Zenith L-500, BII mode
TAPE 13: Another great find! Starts off with about half of The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Hekyl & Jeckyll, then continues with the Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, followed by most of The Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show (missing the last seven minutes) taped off WBBM/CBS on 10/25/1980 with commercials and three "In The News" shorts, including one on Halloween. My oldest Saturday Morning cartoon find to date! Zenith L-250, BII mode
TAPE 14: Starts off with most of a syndicated rerun of M*A*S*H and the first segment of a syndie repeat of All In The Family taped off WFLD on 3/24/1981 with commercials, then it cuts to most of Family Feud (beings after the intro) and the first ten minutes of Little House on the Prairie taped off WMAQ/NBC on 3/23/1981 with commercials, followed by part of another syndie rerun of All In The Family and most of a classic episode of The Honeymooners taped off WFLD in March 1981 with a few commercials. Zenith L-500, BII mode
TAPE 15: A special encore presentation of the Philadelphia Phillies-Chicago Cubs MLB game from 5/17/1979 that was among the highest scoring games of all-time, taped off WGN on 1/21/1980 with commercials. Zenith L-750, BII mode (tape ends in the middle of the 8th inning)
TAPE 16: The Super Bowl Saturday Night special taped off WMAQ/NBC on 120/1979 with no commercials, then it cuts for about the last 20 minutes of One Day At A Time and the first five minutes of Lou Grant taped off WBBM/CBS on 12/18/1978 with commercials. My first find of 1978 content since that Tonight Show find back in February 2024! Too bad that Super Bowl special ironically is missing the commercials, but not much of it exists online (I've got the 1978 Super Night At The Super Bowl special with ads from a trader previously, but that aired on CBS) Zenith L-500, BII mode
Well, with a storm looming, hopefully I won't lose power in the coming days, but I'll probably hold off buying more until it thaws out and also so that I can unload the tapes I've converted over the last several months.
TAPE 1: The CBS Special Movie presentation of The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and about the first half hour of the WBBM 10 PM News (when it aired for 45 minutes most nights) on 6/2/1979 with commercials. Zenith L-750, BII mode
TAPE 2: Summer reruns of Battlestar: Galactica and The Love Boat recorded off WKBW/ABC on 7/21/1979 with commercials. Sony K-60, BII mode, this was also my only non-Chicago find in this lot.
TAPE 3: America At The Movies (PBS documentary) recorded off WTTW on 8/20/1979 with promos and pledge breaks, with Roger Ebert as a special guest. Zenith L-750, BII mode
TAPE 4: American Graffiti (1973) copied from a rental, then it cuts to the last 38 minutes of The NBC Big Event presentation of The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), then continues with most of the WMAQ 10 PM News on 9/23/1979 with commercials. Zenith L-750, BII mode
TAPE 5: The final episode of the PBS Free To Choose series starring Milton Friedman "How To Stay Free" and The Universe: The Search for Solutions taped off WTTW circa summer 1980 with a few promos, followed by the last few minutes of a syndicated rerun of The Rockford Files circa 1980 off WFLD with no commercials, followed by most of the re-airing of the "Miracle On Ice" 1980 winter Olympics men's ice hockey game between the USA and the USSR, with a five-minute airing of the WBBM 10 PM News from 2/26/1980 rounding out the tape. L-750, BIII mode
TAPE 6: Breaking Away (1979) taped off WMAQ/NBC on 5/5/1980 with no commercials, followed by part of the Parker vs. Love boxing fight (starts during the 7th round) along with a NCAA Tournament scoreboard taken from NBC Sportsworld along with the first several minutes of the WMAQ 6 PM News from 3/15/1980 with commercials. Zenith L-500, BII mode
TAPE 7: A special episode of the Kukla, Fran & Ollie presentation of Happy Birthday, Buelah Witch taped off off WMAQ on Halloween 1980 with one commercial present, followed by the opening of the NBC Movie The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from the same spooky night. Zenith L-250, BII mode
TAPE 8: Part two of the Godfather Saga (the second half of part one), the NBC Big Event presentation along with the first several minutes of the WMAQ 10 PM News on 11/14/1980 with commercials. Scotch L-500, BIII mode
TAPE 9: Police Academy (1984) and Police Academy 2 (1985) taped off Cinemax circa September 1986, followed by an episode of The Max Headroom Show and about ten minutes of promos off Cinemax on 9/13/1986. My first find of the innovative talk show before it moved to ABC the following year for a brief dramatic series, and it even does a "livestream" interpretation of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" video! Kodak L-750, BIII mode
TAPE 10: The WMAQ Sports special presentation, From Out Of Left Field on the Chubs Dave Kingman along with B.J. and the Bear taped off WMAQ/NBC on 4/5/1980 with commercials. Unfortunately, the video quality is poor and unwatchable for most of the tape, so it looks like an "audio-only" recording for the sports portion. Zenith L-500, BII mode
TAPE 11: Most of Little House on the Prairie and the NBC Monday Night At The Movies premiere presentation of Damien: The Leper Priest taped off WMAQ/NBC on 10/27/1980 with commercials. Zenith L-750, BII mode
TAPE 12: Days Of Our Lives, Another World, and the first few minutes of Texas taped off WMAQ/NBC on 11/3/1980 with commercials. For those who don't know, most of the Days archive pre-1983 is lost, so despite having about five minutes per soap being cut to make way for political announcements, this is a great find and my oldest for each of those soaps, along the first find of any bit of Texas footage! Zenith L-500, BII mode
TAPE 13: Another great find! Starts off with about half of The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Hekyl & Jeckyll, then continues with the Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, followed by most of The Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show (missing the last seven minutes) taped off WBBM/CBS on 10/25/1980 with commercials and three "In The News" shorts, including one on Halloween. My oldest Saturday Morning cartoon find to date! Zenith L-250, BII mode
TAPE 14: Starts off with most of a syndicated rerun of M*A*S*H and the first segment of a syndie repeat of All In The Family taped off WFLD on 3/24/1981 with commercials, then it cuts to most of Family Feud (beings after the intro) and the first ten minutes of Little House on the Prairie taped off WMAQ/NBC on 3/23/1981 with commercials, followed by part of another syndie rerun of All In The Family and most of a classic episode of The Honeymooners taped off WFLD in March 1981 with a few commercials. Zenith L-500, BII mode
TAPE 15: A special encore presentation of the Philadelphia Phillies-Chicago Cubs MLB game from 5/17/1979 that was among the highest scoring games of all-time, taped off WGN on 1/21/1980 with commercials. Zenith L-750, BII mode (tape ends in the middle of the 8th inning)
TAPE 16: The Super Bowl Saturday Night special taped off WMAQ/NBC on 120/1979 with no commercials, then it cuts for about the last 20 minutes of One Day At A Time and the first five minutes of Lou Grant taped off WBBM/CBS on 12/18/1978 with commercials. My first find of 1978 content since that Tonight Show find back in February 2024! Too bad that Super Bowl special ironically is missing the commercials, but not much of it exists online (I've got the 1978 Super Night At The Super Bowl special with ads from a trader previously, but that aired on CBS) Zenith L-500, BII mode
Well, with a storm looming, hopefully I won't lose power in the coming days, but I'll probably hold off buying more until it thaws out and also so that I can unload the tapes I've converted over the last several months.
Awesome finds! By the way, Pannoni, your website is down. Why?
Not sure if I already shared this here, but this is the oldest off-air TV recording I have from 1/12/75, on a U-Matic tape:
An entire episode of Kojak was recorded split onto 2 30-minute tapes, swapped during the local commercial break at the half-hour mark. For this upload I cut out the actual show as Universal is very protective of their material. It came in a box of tapes from a defunct ad agency in Chicago called Downie Productions, and I suspect the show was recorded as research for this film they produced as a take-off of Kojak:
I have a few other U-Matic tapes that are even older but not recorded from TV, in fact they're professionally-done pre-recorded tapes. Absolute oldest of those is a 1971 demo tape from Sony promoting the format before it was even called U-Matic, and it's in true stereo:
An entire episode of Kojak was recorded split onto 2 30-minute tapes, swapped during the local commercial break at the half-hour mark. For this upload I cut out the actual show as Universal is very protective of their material. It came in a box of tapes from a defunct ad agency in Chicago called Downie Productions, and I suspect the show was recorded as research for this film they produced as a take-off of Kojak:
I have a few other U-Matic tapes that are even older but not recorded from TV, in fact they're professionally-done pre-recorded tapes. Absolute oldest of those is a 1971 demo tape from Sony promoting the format before it was even called U-Matic, and it's in true stereo:
Still wish I could find anything from channel 31 when it was KMUV! There’s also a local commercial for The Food Circus around 1979-80 I wish I could find.
My latest finds from two estate sales in Parma within the last few weeks...
Estate sale #1:
TAPE 1: 60 minutes of unknown program via scrambled aerial signal; partial broadcast of Game 5 of the 1995 World Series and partial broadcast of News Channel 5 at 11:00 taped from WEWS on 10/26/1995 with commercials; partial broadcast of SportsCenter taped from ESPN on 10/26/1995 with commercials; Cleveland Indians celebration parade coverage taped from WKYC, WEWS and WJW on 10/30/1995 with some sporadic commercials...after the WJW coverage ends, the tape keeps rolling into Mark Walberg joined in progress ("Girl, Birth Control Is Cheaper Than Those Babies You Keep Having!") and partial episode of Tempestt ("Be a Man, Raise Your Baby!") with commercials--I already have a tape with WJW's coverage of the parade plus the two aforementioned talk shows, the latter being complete on the other tape. Memorex T-120.
Estate sale #2--I seem to find a lot of families/homeowners in the suburbs closer to Cleveland that were digital holdouts (people who continued using VCRs well into the 2010s), and here we have another example of such:
TAPE 2: Most of a broadcast of The Robin Swoboda Show (Robin and her son Will take a tour of Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas cruise ship) taped from WJW in January 2011 with commercials; Extreme Cruise Ship (documentary on the same cruise ship) taped from Planet Green in March 2011 with commercials; partial episode of Dancing with the Stars taped from WEWS on 11/1/2010 with commercials; The Event taped from WKYC on 11/8/2010 with commercials; partial broadcast of Dad's Home taped from the Hallmark Channel on 6/19/2010 with commercials; You Lucky Dog and partial episode of Cheers taped from 6/26/2010 with commercials; partial broadcast of Wanted (2008) and start of Real Time with Bill Maher taped from HBO in October 2009 with promos. Fuji T-120.
TAPE 3: Kept Woman taped from Lifetime on 2/28/2015 with commercials; partial episode of The Young and the Restless and partial episode of The Bold and the Beautiful taped from WOIO on 2/17/2015 with commercials; Switched at Birth taped from ABC Family on 2/17/2015 with commercials; The Young and the Restless and partial episode of The Bold and the Beautiful taped from WOIO on 2/18/2015 with commercials; partial episode of Black-ish and episode of Nashville taped from WEWS on 2/18/2015 with commercials, school closing notices on screen throughout; Grey's Anatomy taped from WEWS on 2/19/2015 with commercials; end of Undercover Boss and episode of Hawaii Five-O taped from WOIO on 2/20/2015 with commercials. Maxell T-160.
TAPE 4: Fatal Acquittal taped from LMN in August 2014 with commercials (not the original broadcast); Betrayed taped from LMN in August 2014 with commercials (not the original broadcast); partial episode of Blue Bloods and start of 19 Action News at 11 taped from WOIO on 5/9/2014 with commercials; The Good Sister taped from Lifetime on 5/10/2014 with commercials; partial episode of Revenge taped from WEWS on 4/6/2014 with commercials; partial broadcast of Straw Dogs (2011) taped from Lifetime in April 2014 minus commercials, then reverts back to the remainder of Revenge on WEWS on 4/6/2014 with commercials; Dallas taped from TNT on 4/14/2014 with commercials; last few minutes of Smoke Screen taped from LMN on 11/21/2010. Maxell T-160.
TAPE 5: Summer of '42 (1971) taped from Cinemax circa 1987; short clip from Eyewitness News at 11:00 taped from WEWS on 12/24/1987; Somewhere in Time (1980) taped from the Disney Channel in November 1997 with promos; Red Skelton's More Funny Faces taped from WNEO/WEAO sometime in 1992(?) with promos; partial broadcast of Dolly Parton's Precious Memories taped from TNN on 4/1/1999 with commercials. Fuji T-120.
TAPE 6: Gone with the Wind (1939) taped from TBS in December 1991 with commercials; America's Scenic Rail Journeys taped from WVIZ on 9/10/1998 with promos; end of part one of Golden Years (CBS miniseries) taped from WJW on 7/16/1991 with commercials. Scotch T-120.
TAPE 7: Bill Cosby: Himself (1983) taped from Cinemax circa 1988(?); Barbra: The Concert taped from HBO on 8/21/1994; Sam Snead: A Swing for a Lifetime taped from the Golf Channel on 11/21/1998 with commercials; partial broadcast of Lonesome Dove (unknown which part) taped from TNT in February 1994 with commercials. Fuji T-120.
TAPE 8: Fiddler on the Roof (1971) taped from Cinemax circa 1989; Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits Live taped from HBO in February 1989 with promos (not the original broadcast). Fuji T-120.
TAPE 9: Partial broadcast of The Dream Team (1989) taped from Showtime 2 in November 1999 with promos; Merle Haggard: For the Record taped from TNN in November 1999 with commercials, moderate tape damage throughout; Great Performances (Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem) taped from WVIZ on 4/5/2000 with promos; partial broadcast of Great Performances (Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration) taped from WVIZ sometime in 1999 with a pledge break leading into The Red Green Show; Bee Gees: One Night Only taped from HBO Plus in November 1998 with promos (not the original broadcast); partial broadcast of The Juror (1996) taped from HBO circa 1997. Scotch T-120.
Estate sale #1:
TAPE 1: 60 minutes of unknown program via scrambled aerial signal; partial broadcast of Game 5 of the 1995 World Series and partial broadcast of News Channel 5 at 11:00 taped from WEWS on 10/26/1995 with commercials; partial broadcast of SportsCenter taped from ESPN on 10/26/1995 with commercials; Cleveland Indians celebration parade coverage taped from WKYC, WEWS and WJW on 10/30/1995 with some sporadic commercials...after the WJW coverage ends, the tape keeps rolling into Mark Walberg joined in progress ("Girl, Birth Control Is Cheaper Than Those Babies You Keep Having!") and partial episode of Tempestt ("Be a Man, Raise Your Baby!") with commercials--I already have a tape with WJW's coverage of the parade plus the two aforementioned talk shows, the latter being complete on the other tape. Memorex T-120.
Estate sale #2--I seem to find a lot of families/homeowners in the suburbs closer to Cleveland that were digital holdouts (people who continued using VCRs well into the 2010s), and here we have another example of such:
TAPE 2: Most of a broadcast of The Robin Swoboda Show (Robin and her son Will take a tour of Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas cruise ship) taped from WJW in January 2011 with commercials; Extreme Cruise Ship (documentary on the same cruise ship) taped from Planet Green in March 2011 with commercials; partial episode of Dancing with the Stars taped from WEWS on 11/1/2010 with commercials; The Event taped from WKYC on 11/8/2010 with commercials; partial broadcast of Dad's Home taped from the Hallmark Channel on 6/19/2010 with commercials; You Lucky Dog and partial episode of Cheers taped from 6/26/2010 with commercials; partial broadcast of Wanted (2008) and start of Real Time with Bill Maher taped from HBO in October 2009 with promos. Fuji T-120.
TAPE 3: Kept Woman taped from Lifetime on 2/28/2015 with commercials; partial episode of The Young and the Restless and partial episode of The Bold and the Beautiful taped from WOIO on 2/17/2015 with commercials; Switched at Birth taped from ABC Family on 2/17/2015 with commercials; The Young and the Restless and partial episode of The Bold and the Beautiful taped from WOIO on 2/18/2015 with commercials; partial episode of Black-ish and episode of Nashville taped from WEWS on 2/18/2015 with commercials, school closing notices on screen throughout; Grey's Anatomy taped from WEWS on 2/19/2015 with commercials; end of Undercover Boss and episode of Hawaii Five-O taped from WOIO on 2/20/2015 with commercials. Maxell T-160.
TAPE 4: Fatal Acquittal taped from LMN in August 2014 with commercials (not the original broadcast); Betrayed taped from LMN in August 2014 with commercials (not the original broadcast); partial episode of Blue Bloods and start of 19 Action News at 11 taped from WOIO on 5/9/2014 with commercials; The Good Sister taped from Lifetime on 5/10/2014 with commercials; partial episode of Revenge taped from WEWS on 4/6/2014 with commercials; partial broadcast of Straw Dogs (2011) taped from Lifetime in April 2014 minus commercials, then reverts back to the remainder of Revenge on WEWS on 4/6/2014 with commercials; Dallas taped from TNT on 4/14/2014 with commercials; last few minutes of Smoke Screen taped from LMN on 11/21/2010. Maxell T-160.
TAPE 5: Summer of '42 (1971) taped from Cinemax circa 1987; short clip from Eyewitness News at 11:00 taped from WEWS on 12/24/1987; Somewhere in Time (1980) taped from the Disney Channel in November 1997 with promos; Red Skelton's More Funny Faces taped from WNEO/WEAO sometime in 1992(?) with promos; partial broadcast of Dolly Parton's Precious Memories taped from TNN on 4/1/1999 with commercials. Fuji T-120.
TAPE 6: Gone with the Wind (1939) taped from TBS in December 1991 with commercials; America's Scenic Rail Journeys taped from WVIZ on 9/10/1998 with promos; end of part one of Golden Years (CBS miniseries) taped from WJW on 7/16/1991 with commercials. Scotch T-120.
TAPE 7: Bill Cosby: Himself (1983) taped from Cinemax circa 1988(?); Barbra: The Concert taped from HBO on 8/21/1994; Sam Snead: A Swing for a Lifetime taped from the Golf Channel on 11/21/1998 with commercials; partial broadcast of Lonesome Dove (unknown which part) taped from TNT in February 1994 with commercials. Fuji T-120.
TAPE 8: Fiddler on the Roof (1971) taped from Cinemax circa 1989; Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits Live taped from HBO in February 1989 with promos (not the original broadcast). Fuji T-120.
TAPE 9: Partial broadcast of The Dream Team (1989) taped from Showtime 2 in November 1999 with promos; Merle Haggard: For the Record taped from TNN in November 1999 with commercials, moderate tape damage throughout; Great Performances (Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem) taped from WVIZ on 4/5/2000 with promos; partial broadcast of Great Performances (Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration) taped from WVIZ sometime in 1999 with a pledge break leading into The Red Green Show; Bee Gees: One Night Only taped from HBO Plus in November 1998 with promos (not the original broadcast); partial broadcast of The Juror (1996) taped from HBO circa 1997. Scotch T-120.
Sheesh...I'd send all the 2010s tapes to the mixed lots. Currently digitizing a tape from a couple of years ago that has a Nick at Nite marathon of All in the Family. October 1999 w/ commercials. Love finding the Nick at Nite stuff, and unlike all of those (W)TBS and TNT movie tapings, I have far less archived from that channel.
I will be back in Boise the week following Easter (it's Spring Break for all school districts around here, so no subbing), and fingers crossed for another excellent haul from an untouched, decades-old estate. It's way out in the future, but I am already making plans to return to Montana in June 2026 for the Sanders County/Bitterroot 50 Mile sales. Last time I did that was 2024, and it was a doozy, over three dozen tapes found with many of them being keepers.
The ultimate goal is to get back to the Treasure Valley permanently. I came back to WA due to the lack of finding a teaching position for 2025-26 after being non-renewed. Boise is thriving and growing.
I will be back in Boise the week following Easter (it's Spring Break for all school districts around here, so no subbing), and fingers crossed for another excellent haul from an untouched, decades-old estate. It's way out in the future, but I am already making plans to return to Montana in June 2026 for the Sanders County/Bitterroot 50 Mile sales. Last time I did that was 2024, and it was a doozy, over three dozen tapes found with many of them being keepers.
The ultimate goal is to get back to the Treasure Valley permanently. I came back to WA due to the lack of finding a teaching position for 2025-26 after being non-renewed. Boise is thriving and growing.
When people think of restoring vintage/antique things, automobiles and furniture come to mind. But this can also to apply to video tapes if you know how to open them, clean the reels, position them properly, and then screw and seal them up. That's what I just did with a lot of 39 Beta tapes, where although most tapes had some degree of mold, most of them were just mild to moderate and I cleaned them up before playback, only requiring to use my dry head cleaner once. A few tapes snapped as well due to being sticky, but the price was right in terms of basically paying just shipping for this eBay lot. And what a hunt it was, with all of the recordings once again being from the '80s like that VHS lot last month (mostly from 1985 and 1986), with content ranging from Wrestling, Donahue, courtroom shows, specials, newscasts, and even a local PBS find that weather junkies will enjoy. The seller lives in Charlotte, but given "Evening Mag" and "Pittsburgh 2 Day" on a couple of the labels, I knew this seller was a transplant, who probably lived somewhere either in western Maryland or west central Pennsylvania, and this also includes my first Altoona, PA and Hagerstown, MD newscast finds. All finds are in BII speed.
TAPE 1: Oh, God! (1977) and nearly 20 minutes of promos taped off HBO on 11/8/1984 (including a behind the scenes short on their boxing coverage), followed by Magnum, PI taped off KDKA/CBS on 11/8/1984 with commercials (missing the intro and closing). Scotch L-750
TAPE 2: Starts off with a movie taped off HBO circa 1988 with no promos (didn't rewind it back to the beginning since this was a snapped tape causing me to manually fix to reel), followed by Miami Vice (missing the first minute or so) and the first 23 minutes of the WHAG 11 PM News on 11/11/1988 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 3: George Burns 90th Birthday Special taped off KDKA/CBS on 1/17/1986 with commercials (mostly for Kraft), followed by Blame It On Rio (1984) and a portion of The Last American Virgin (1982) taped off HBO on 1/18/1986 with several minutes of promos between the movies. That night's presentation of The Last American Virgin was JIP due to boxing running long. TDK L-750
TAPE 4: Starts off with NWA Wrestling: Super Stars on the Superstation Dream Match taped off WTBS on 2/7/1986 with commercials, followed by the Daytona Busch Clash taped off KDKA/CBS on 2/9/1986 with no commercials, then it cuts back to the last 25 minutes of Hunter taped off WJAC/NBC on 2/9/1986 with commercials, then it cuts to a clip of several minutes of the WJAC 11 PM News from circa February 1986. Sony L-750
TAPE 5: Episodes of ABC News 20/20 from 2/6, 2/13, and 2/20/1986 off WTAE with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 6: Starts off Between Two Women, the ABC Monday Night TV movie taped off WTAE/ABC on 3/10/1986 with no commercials, followed by a short news clip about radon off WTAE circa March 1986, followed by Hunter and the intro to the series premiere of Stingray, taped off WJAC/NBC on 3/11/1986 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 7: Starts off with an episode of KDKA's Pittsburgh 2Day taped off KDKA in August 1986 with some commercials, followed by a 12-minute clip of the Exciting World of Speed and Beauty taped off an unknown station circa August 1986 with no commercials, followed by episodes of Great Chefs and The French Chef taped off WWPD circa August 1986 with a few promos, followed by about 15 minutes of various news clips of various stations to round out the tape. Scotch EG+ L-750
TAPE 8: Starts off with a partial broadcast of 20/20 taped off WTAE on 6/5/1986 with no commercials, followed by most of WCW Wrestling and the first 45 minutes of Dixie Dynamite (1976) recorded off WTBS on 6/7/1986 with commercials. TDK L-750
TAPE 9: 5 Card Stud (1968) and part of 3:10 to Yuma (1957) taped off WTBS on 6/26/1986 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 10: Begins with an episode of ABC News Nightline taped off WTAE on 6/20/1986 with commercials, followed by about the last ten minutes of a River Journeys episode, along with a documentary on General Custer, the Ken Burns State of Liberty documentary, Good Earth Garden, and part of A House For All Seasons taped off WWPD (western Maryland MPT affiliate) on 7/5/1986 with promos. Scotch L-750
TAPE 11: Begins with most of Marty Robbins: Super Legend taped off WTAJ on 7/19/1986 with commercials, then it cuts to about ten minutes of NBC Sportsworld coverage of the 1986 Miss Olympia bodybuilding competition from the following day (sadly the video quality is intermittent here), then it cuts back to WTAJ for the last half of the 6 PM News along with the CBS Evening News from 7/19/1986 with commercials. Scotch EG+ L-750
TAPE 12: Man In The Wilderness (1971) taped off HBO circa fall 1986 with no promos, then it cuts to episodes of Superior Court, The People's Court, along with about the first two-thirds of the WTAJ 6 PM News taped off WTAJ on 9/30/1986 with commercials. Part of that Superior Court episode was pre-empted for a CBS News Special Report. Coincidentally, I previously found a VHS recording from the same day that contained much of that day's episode of Card Sharks which had its first several minutes also broken in by CBS. I also have episodes of Divorce Court and The Judge from that recording, meaning that this is first time that I have not only three, but four different courtroom shows from the same day. Scotch L-750
TAPE 13: Starts off with a certain movie off HBO along with The Great Pleasure Hunt: Japan documentary also taped off HBO on 11/18/1986 with a couple minutes of promos, followed by KDKA Evening Magazine on 11/21/1986 with commercials. TDK L-750
TAPE 14: About the first three-fourths of ABC News 20/20 taped off WTAE on 1/17/1985 with commercials, followed by last twelve minutes of Hardcastle & McCormick taped off WTAE/ABC on 12/2/1985 with a few commercials, then it cuts to the Circus of the Stars taped off KDKA/CBS on 12/2/1984 with no commercials (I've already got this with ads anyways). Scotch L-750
TAPE 15: Clips from NBC and ABC news on President Reagan's second inauguration on 1/21/1985 with no commercials, followed by a few news clips from ABC World News Tonight and Love Connection circa February 1985, followed by most of ABC News 20/20 from 2/21/1985 off WTAE with commercials, followed by a rerun of Miami Vice taped off WJAC/NBC on 3/1/1985 with commercials (I've already got the original airing), then it cuts back for the last 20 minutes of another episode of Miami Vice off WJAC/NBC on 2/22/1985 (my birthday) with commercials.
TAPE 16: Begins with an episode of Ripley's Believe It Or Not! taped off WTAE/ABC on 4/28/1985 with no commercials, followed by MacGruder & Loud also taped off WTAE/ABC on 4/30/1985 with commercials, followed by a clip from an episode of Streethawk taped off presumably WTAE/ABC circa April 1985, then it cuts for partial episodes of A.M. Weather on 2/18 and 3/4/1985 off WWPD/MPT, then it finishes up with a full edition of A.M. Weather and the first ten minutes of American Government off WWPD/MPT on 3/5/1985 with promos between the programs. Unlike The Weather Channel, A.M. Weather uses professional NOAA meteorologists. I still haven't found any 1980s Weather Channel footage yet outside of a couple seconds during channel surfs, but this is still a nice find. Sears L-750
CONTINUED
TAPE 1: Oh, God! (1977) and nearly 20 minutes of promos taped off HBO on 11/8/1984 (including a behind the scenes short on their boxing coverage), followed by Magnum, PI taped off KDKA/CBS on 11/8/1984 with commercials (missing the intro and closing). Scotch L-750
TAPE 2: Starts off with a movie taped off HBO circa 1988 with no promos (didn't rewind it back to the beginning since this was a snapped tape causing me to manually fix to reel), followed by Miami Vice (missing the first minute or so) and the first 23 minutes of the WHAG 11 PM News on 11/11/1988 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 3: George Burns 90th Birthday Special taped off KDKA/CBS on 1/17/1986 with commercials (mostly for Kraft), followed by Blame It On Rio (1984) and a portion of The Last American Virgin (1982) taped off HBO on 1/18/1986 with several minutes of promos between the movies. That night's presentation of The Last American Virgin was JIP due to boxing running long. TDK L-750
TAPE 4: Starts off with NWA Wrestling: Super Stars on the Superstation Dream Match taped off WTBS on 2/7/1986 with commercials, followed by the Daytona Busch Clash taped off KDKA/CBS on 2/9/1986 with no commercials, then it cuts back to the last 25 minutes of Hunter taped off WJAC/NBC on 2/9/1986 with commercials, then it cuts to a clip of several minutes of the WJAC 11 PM News from circa February 1986. Sony L-750
TAPE 5: Episodes of ABC News 20/20 from 2/6, 2/13, and 2/20/1986 off WTAE with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 6: Starts off Between Two Women, the ABC Monday Night TV movie taped off WTAE/ABC on 3/10/1986 with no commercials, followed by a short news clip about radon off WTAE circa March 1986, followed by Hunter and the intro to the series premiere of Stingray, taped off WJAC/NBC on 3/11/1986 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 7: Starts off with an episode of KDKA's Pittsburgh 2Day taped off KDKA in August 1986 with some commercials, followed by a 12-minute clip of the Exciting World of Speed and Beauty taped off an unknown station circa August 1986 with no commercials, followed by episodes of Great Chefs and The French Chef taped off WWPD circa August 1986 with a few promos, followed by about 15 minutes of various news clips of various stations to round out the tape. Scotch EG+ L-750
TAPE 8: Starts off with a partial broadcast of 20/20 taped off WTAE on 6/5/1986 with no commercials, followed by most of WCW Wrestling and the first 45 minutes of Dixie Dynamite (1976) recorded off WTBS on 6/7/1986 with commercials. TDK L-750
TAPE 9: 5 Card Stud (1968) and part of 3:10 to Yuma (1957) taped off WTBS on 6/26/1986 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 10: Begins with an episode of ABC News Nightline taped off WTAE on 6/20/1986 with commercials, followed by about the last ten minutes of a River Journeys episode, along with a documentary on General Custer, the Ken Burns State of Liberty documentary, Good Earth Garden, and part of A House For All Seasons taped off WWPD (western Maryland MPT affiliate) on 7/5/1986 with promos. Scotch L-750
TAPE 11: Begins with most of Marty Robbins: Super Legend taped off WTAJ on 7/19/1986 with commercials, then it cuts to about ten minutes of NBC Sportsworld coverage of the 1986 Miss Olympia bodybuilding competition from the following day (sadly the video quality is intermittent here), then it cuts back to WTAJ for the last half of the 6 PM News along with the CBS Evening News from 7/19/1986 with commercials. Scotch EG+ L-750
TAPE 12: Man In The Wilderness (1971) taped off HBO circa fall 1986 with no promos, then it cuts to episodes of Superior Court, The People's Court, along with about the first two-thirds of the WTAJ 6 PM News taped off WTAJ on 9/30/1986 with commercials. Part of that Superior Court episode was pre-empted for a CBS News Special Report. Coincidentally, I previously found a VHS recording from the same day that contained much of that day's episode of Card Sharks which had its first several minutes also broken in by CBS. I also have episodes of Divorce Court and The Judge from that recording, meaning that this is first time that I have not only three, but four different courtroom shows from the same day. Scotch L-750
TAPE 13: Starts off with a certain movie off HBO along with The Great Pleasure Hunt: Japan documentary also taped off HBO on 11/18/1986 with a couple minutes of promos, followed by KDKA Evening Magazine on 11/21/1986 with commercials. TDK L-750
TAPE 14: About the first three-fourths of ABC News 20/20 taped off WTAE on 1/17/1985 with commercials, followed by last twelve minutes of Hardcastle & McCormick taped off WTAE/ABC on 12/2/1985 with a few commercials, then it cuts to the Circus of the Stars taped off KDKA/CBS on 12/2/1984 with no commercials (I've already got this with ads anyways). Scotch L-750
TAPE 15: Clips from NBC and ABC news on President Reagan's second inauguration on 1/21/1985 with no commercials, followed by a few news clips from ABC World News Tonight and Love Connection circa February 1985, followed by most of ABC News 20/20 from 2/21/1985 off WTAE with commercials, followed by a rerun of Miami Vice taped off WJAC/NBC on 3/1/1985 with commercials (I've already got the original airing), then it cuts back for the last 20 minutes of another episode of Miami Vice off WJAC/NBC on 2/22/1985 (my birthday) with commercials.
TAPE 16: Begins with an episode of Ripley's Believe It Or Not! taped off WTAE/ABC on 4/28/1985 with no commercials, followed by MacGruder & Loud also taped off WTAE/ABC on 4/30/1985 with commercials, followed by a clip from an episode of Streethawk taped off presumably WTAE/ABC circa April 1985, then it cuts for partial episodes of A.M. Weather on 2/18 and 3/4/1985 off WWPD/MPT, then it finishes up with a full edition of A.M. Weather and the first ten minutes of American Government off WWPD/MPT on 3/5/1985 with promos between the programs. Unlike The Weather Channel, A.M. Weather uses professional NOAA meteorologists. I still haven't found any 1980s Weather Channel footage yet outside of a couple seconds during channel surfs, but this is still a nice find. Sears L-750
CONTINUED
TAPE 17: Wrestlemania taped off WTAE on 4/6/1985 (six days after being taped) with commercials, followed by WCW Wrestling taped off WTBS on 4/13/1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 18: A rerun of Simon & Simon taped off KDKA/CBS on 4/4/1985 with commercials (missing the last couple minutes), followed by ABC News 20/20 taped off WTAE from later the same night, followed by Donahue and the first few minutes of Divorce Court taped off WTAE on 5/3/1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 19: The All-New Unexpurgated Benny Hill Show taped off 5/14/1985 with no promos, followed by the last hour of the NBC Monday Night At The Movies presentation of Peyton Place: The Next Generation taped off WHAG on 5/13/1985 with commercials, followed by about the last half of a Donahue episode (from Boston), Divorce Court, and the opening to an All In The Family syndie rerun off WTAE in May 1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750 (right around the time the word "Scotch" was added to the side label above the silver L-750)
TAPE 20: Tank (1984) taped off HBO circa May/June 1985 with very few promos, then it cuts for WTAJ Action Newsmakers, a syndie rerun of Happy Days Again, and part of the movie Flying Tigers (1942) taped off WTAJ on 5/26/1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 21: The second match of the summer 1985 Bowler bowling competition from Brunswick Lanes of LaValle, MD taped off TCI Channel 6 community access cable, commercial-free and about 75 minutes in length. Very amateur with no chyrons, this is probably a one-of-a-kind find here. Scotch L-750
TAPE 22: Our Worst Fears: The AIDS Epidemic special taped off KDKA circa fall 1985 with no commercials, followed by ABC News 20/20 taped off WJLA/ABC on 10/3/1985 with commercials. I've already got the last half of that week's 20/20, so this is nice upgrade. TDK L-750
TAPE 23: Bachelor Party (1984) taped off HBO circa summer 1985 no promos, followed by ABC News 20/20 taped off WTAE on 8/29/1985 with commercials, followed by about three-fourths of Divorce Court raped off WTAE on 7/29/1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 24: Chattanooga Choo-Choo (1984) taped off HBO in August 1985 with no promos, followed by most of NWA Wrestling taped off WTBS on 8/10/1985 with commercials. That movie above, starring Barbara Eden and featuring Joe Namath, is not on DVD or Blu-Ray, so its a tough find and I may consider recording this. TDK T-120
TAPE 25: Harper Valley PTA (1978) taped off WTBS on 10/23/1985 with commercials, followed by about an hour's worth of coverage from various local and national news stations on regional flood coverage from early November 1985 with no commercials. Among the sources included KDKA, WHAG, WJLA, and ABC World News Tonight. TDK 120, I'll bet this recorder must of had a satellite dish if you can get both Pittsburgh and Washington stations wherever that VCR was.
TAPE 26: The home video dub of NWA Wrestling's Starrcade '85: The Gathering (taped 11/28/1985). The VHS isn't cheap online whenever it turns up, and footage that I see online isn't complete as it runs for two hours. Scotch L-750
Of course there were the usual HBO with few/no promo duds along with a few tapes that had a bit too much mold to check, but all in all, another enjoyable hunt to keep the '80s spirit alive. I'm currently in the middle of a round of selling tapes, with a few lots being sold so far, with hopefully more to come soon. Spring is coming, so yard sale season isn't too far away.
TAPE 18: A rerun of Simon & Simon taped off KDKA/CBS on 4/4/1985 with commercials (missing the last couple minutes), followed by ABC News 20/20 taped off WTAE from later the same night, followed by Donahue and the first few minutes of Divorce Court taped off WTAE on 5/3/1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 19: The All-New Unexpurgated Benny Hill Show taped off 5/14/1985 with no promos, followed by the last hour of the NBC Monday Night At The Movies presentation of Peyton Place: The Next Generation taped off WHAG on 5/13/1985 with commercials, followed by about the last half of a Donahue episode (from Boston), Divorce Court, and the opening to an All In The Family syndie rerun off WTAE in May 1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750 (right around the time the word "Scotch" was added to the side label above the silver L-750)
TAPE 20: Tank (1984) taped off HBO circa May/June 1985 with very few promos, then it cuts for WTAJ Action Newsmakers, a syndie rerun of Happy Days Again, and part of the movie Flying Tigers (1942) taped off WTAJ on 5/26/1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 21: The second match of the summer 1985 Bowler bowling competition from Brunswick Lanes of LaValle, MD taped off TCI Channel 6 community access cable, commercial-free and about 75 minutes in length. Very amateur with no chyrons, this is probably a one-of-a-kind find here. Scotch L-750
TAPE 22: Our Worst Fears: The AIDS Epidemic special taped off KDKA circa fall 1985 with no commercials, followed by ABC News 20/20 taped off WJLA/ABC on 10/3/1985 with commercials. I've already got the last half of that week's 20/20, so this is nice upgrade. TDK L-750
TAPE 23: Bachelor Party (1984) taped off HBO circa summer 1985 no promos, followed by ABC News 20/20 taped off WTAE on 8/29/1985 with commercials, followed by about three-fourths of Divorce Court raped off WTAE on 7/29/1985 with commercials. Scotch L-750
TAPE 24: Chattanooga Choo-Choo (1984) taped off HBO in August 1985 with no promos, followed by most of NWA Wrestling taped off WTBS on 8/10/1985 with commercials. That movie above, starring Barbara Eden and featuring Joe Namath, is not on DVD or Blu-Ray, so its a tough find and I may consider recording this. TDK T-120
TAPE 25: Harper Valley PTA (1978) taped off WTBS on 10/23/1985 with commercials, followed by about an hour's worth of coverage from various local and national news stations on regional flood coverage from early November 1985 with no commercials. Among the sources included KDKA, WHAG, WJLA, and ABC World News Tonight. TDK 120, I'll bet this recorder must of had a satellite dish if you can get both Pittsburgh and Washington stations wherever that VCR was.
TAPE 26: The home video dub of NWA Wrestling's Starrcade '85: The Gathering (taped 11/28/1985). The VHS isn't cheap online whenever it turns up, and footage that I see online isn't complete as it runs for two hours. Scotch L-750
Of course there were the usual HBO with few/no promo duds along with a few tapes that had a bit too much mold to check, but all in all, another enjoyable hunt to keep the '80s spirit alive. I'm currently in the middle of a round of selling tapes, with a few lots being sold so far, with hopefully more to come soon. Spring is coming, so yard sale season isn't too far away.
Update time! Went down to Tri-Cities on Saturday for some shopping and a couple of estate sales. One of those estate sales (in Richland) had a nice stack of tapes...also rescued several tapes at the Pasco Goodwill Outlet, from their inevitable permanent home in a nearby landfill. So far I have found multiple WSU football games w/ commercials, a 1994 Dateline NBC, a 1987 L.A. Law episode, some KVEW news clips from December 1988, and one tape (not checked yet) says it has a Washington State-UCLA basketball game from 1983!! Checked the newspapers.com microfilm for the game. It would have been aired on USA Network (will be a personal oldest find from the network if it wasn't taped over).
If the tape is in good shape, I may even contact the university archives to see if they need a digitized copy. I have been meaning to do the same w/ University of Montana and MSU regarding rivalry football games I found in the holy grail Glendive Beta lot.
Michael: Given the multiple stations represented on tape 25, the taper either had an excellent antenna (and was on top of a hill), or the cable provider had several ABC/NBC/CBS stations available. Satellite did not have local ABC/NBC/CBS until 1987 when Denver stations and Primetime 24 (east coast) went up to the skies.
If the tape is in good shape, I may even contact the university archives to see if they need a digitized copy. I have been meaning to do the same w/ University of Montana and MSU regarding rivalry football games I found in the holy grail Glendive Beta lot.
Michael: Given the multiple stations represented on tape 25, the taper either had an excellent antenna (and was on top of a hill), or the cable provider had several ABC/NBC/CBS stations available. Satellite did not have local ABC/NBC/CBS until 1987 when Denver stations and Primetime 24 (east coast) went up to the skies.
I should say that the talk of physical media should apply to YouTube and home recordings as well. I have been watching The NBC 75th anniversary special as well as the ABC 50th anniversary special and because of the copyright police some segments had to be removed. Examples: SNL, Family Ties, Elvis on the former and The Brady Bunch and roots on the latter.
If we had physical tapes we could have them uncut and unedited.
If we had physical tapes we could have them uncut and unedited.
When you own physical media, no one can take it away from you. Those who make money off the productions want to be able to control what happens to it, such that you never really "own" it, and streaming and other real-time modes of delivery enable them to do this.