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Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have
- Thread starter Stanislav
- Start date
Quick question for the archivists out there that have dealt with such things:
So I came across a Sony DVR with original box included (and remote plus other unrelated remotes) for $19.99 at a local thrift store. Is that worth picking up or no? Has anyone been able to recover old programming on a DVR or is it locked out after a certain period of time? Granted, it would not be truly vintage (I'd guess 20 years old at the oldest) but could be a cool thing to see in operation.
So I came across a Sony DVR with original box included (and remote plus other unrelated remotes) for $19.99 at a local thrift store. Is that worth picking up or no? Has anyone been able to recover old programming on a DVR or is it locked out after a certain period of time? Granted, it would not be truly vintage (I'd guess 20 years old at the oldest) but could be a cool thing to see in operation.
Big tape update, many were found for free at a local thrift free bin...
Tape 1 marked Court Jester 1980s Maxell tape stock:
1) The Court Jester WNYW or WNEW Channel 5 airing, all commercials are cut but some bumpers showed it was a Danny Kaye in memoriam airing, so I'd guess 1987? (1h35m)
2) The Best of Wild America: The Babies (PBS Festival airing unsure of affiliate or year but I'd guess mid 80s) (1h4m)
3) At the end was 3 minutes of a random early season Cosby Show airing, tape ends after only 2h42m
Tape 2 marked Lyle Lovett, I'd say either late 80s or early 90s Maxell tape stock:
1) Hard Copy segment on the Lyle Lovett/Julia Roberts marriage, which was last segment of show, then had previews for the next day's show, this aired 1993/8/12 from commercials surrounding it (10m) (KPRC2)
2) KPRC 5PM News (30m) looks to be a 1/2 partial 1993/8/12
3) 1993/7/12 airing of the movie Rent A Cop (KHTV39) (1h47m) nearly complete, the movie was taped in SP and the other stuff in EP, hence the weird tapeover pattern of this. Thus, tape ended after only 2h31m
Tape 3 unmarked 1980s Polaroid tape stock:
1) 1989/6/30 Young and the Restless (WRAL5) (1h)
2) 1989/6/30 Bold and the Beautiful (WRAL5) (30m)
3) 1989/6/30 As the World Turns (WRAL5) (1h)
4) 1989/6/30 Guiding Light (WRAL5) (1h)
This tape ended with the opening of a syndicated episode of Punky Brewster and some CBS Historical break with Debbie Gibson. I'll say finding soap operas is not too uncommon for me, but this is the first time I've found a complete Soap Opera Block (this would have been CBS 1230PM-4PM), usually people would tape these over again and again day by day to watch in the evenings, or people would just tape a week's worth of their favorite Soap Opera. Also of note, this was the day Karate Kid 3 premiered, and there were many trailers for it in this block.
Tape 4 marked Christmas Specials 1980s TDK tape stock (another of the basement finds):
1) 1988/12/16 Smurf Christmas (24m) missing first segment (WPTF28)
2) 1988/12/16 A Chipmunks Christmas (29m) (WPTF28)
3) 1988? scene from Paddington Bear (WUNC4)
4) 1988/11/13 Magical World of Disney Mickey's 60th Birthday (WPTF28) this was taped in SP so other material cut off first half (30m) too bad because this is impossible to find online
5) 1988? The Return of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Devil's Foot" (44m partial) (WUNC4) this is a series I've enjoyed over the years, Jeremy Brett is arguably a top 3 actor that has portrayed Sherlock Holmes
6) 1988/12/2 Muppet Family Christmas (WTVD11) (52m) missing first segment, I think someone posted this exact same broadcast from this exact same affiliate on Youtube 2 years back, but I could have it confused with the 1987 airing...
7) 1988? Random unknown BBC drama (13m) SP recorded so ended tape abruptly
I used to think a tape that flipped back and forth from EP to SP and back to EP would track badly in a VCR but this one played decently.
Tape 5 marked Arthur Mitchell Dance Theater Harlem unknown 1980s tape stock based on tape guard:
1) 1991/7/25 Peter Jennings Reporting From the Heart of Harlem (40m partial missing first 1/3) (WGHP8) SP recording from cable and man it looked better than some mid 2000 cable recordings I've seen.
2) 1986/7/4 Liberty Weekend (58m) (WSET13) I knew that ABC went all in on Liberty Weekend Coverage, but never knew they did it over 4 days, at least 2 hours each day. This was to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. I'd wager that in today's day of 24 hour cable and hundreds of channels that no major network would dedicate over 8 hours of primetime schedule real estate to a news event outside of a war or Presidential election.
3) 1986/7/5 Liberty Weekend Classical Salute to Liberty (WSET13) (1h57m)
4) 1986/7/6 Liberty Weekend Closing, just ice skating event (WSET13) (14m)
5) 1986? Unknown ice skating event though I could tell it was TBS and Curt Gowdy was announcing, could it be the Goodwill Games? For what its worth it ran for a total of (38m)
6) 1986/7 Wide World of Sports Ice Skating Segment (15m)
Tape 6 unmarked Sony 1980s T120:
This tape has been a major pain to get to play, it has dropouts every 20-30 minutes in the tracking, but the content is so rare its hard not to toss it, lots of daytime TV stuff that was probably taped over many times leading to all the playback issues.
1) 1988/3/18 Wil Shriner Show episode "Beating the Odds" (WGHP8) (58m) apparently this guy was a regular in the early years of David Letterman's talk shows and he only had his own talk show for one syndicated season of daytime TV before falling into obscurity. The show style was interesting in that it had some similarities to typical late night talk shows with witty banter and separately introduced guests that pile up in chairs by the main table, yet all the guests had a theme, in this case Beating the Odds including a lottery winner, Paul Rodriquez breaking into comedy though growing up in a poor Latino immigrant family, and Jill Ireland beating cancer (though ultimately dying of it a few years later). As it is, I've never seen a complete episode or even a lengthy segment of this show online.
2) 1988/3/18 Geraldo "Hot Men of Daytime TV" (WGHP8) (57m) cheesy interviews with all the heartthrobs of soap operas, I felt like it was a live issue of Tiger Beat but for middle aged women, or a typical Oprah episode before she went high brow.
3) 1988/3/19 Dolly (WGHP8) (24m) apparently this was in a one hour time block so most of this was missing, including the commercials. Basically it a special comprising lots of live performances and interviews from Dolly Parton.
4) 1988/3? 6 different episodes of The Home Show, all in fragmentary form, the longest was 13 minutes and the shortest 9 minutes, this is where my theory of this tape being used often as a daily taper comes from. (WGHP8)
5) 1988/3? Geraldo "Young Millionaires" (WGHP8) (57m) this had a lot more substance than the soap opera episode, and it definitely encapsulated the "Greed Is Good" 80s era. The highlight of this episode was when Geraldo asked all the guests who they emulated or admired in business, and one woman said "Bill Gates" which Geraldo then asked who he was, because he genuinely had never heard of him before! She spent a minute describing him as the founder of Microsoft and being a quite rich person even then, you would think Geraldo would have known who he was, even then, but I digress.
6) 1988/3/28 The Home Show, this episode looks complete and the topic was the real life people from "Stand and Deliver"
There is still another 90 minutes left on this tape but its a chore to slog through head cleaning so may send it off to my friend for cleaning, or trying in other players for conversion...
Tape 1 marked Court Jester 1980s Maxell tape stock:
1) The Court Jester WNYW or WNEW Channel 5 airing, all commercials are cut but some bumpers showed it was a Danny Kaye in memoriam airing, so I'd guess 1987? (1h35m)
2) The Best of Wild America: The Babies (PBS Festival airing unsure of affiliate or year but I'd guess mid 80s) (1h4m)
3) At the end was 3 minutes of a random early season Cosby Show airing, tape ends after only 2h42m
Tape 2 marked Lyle Lovett, I'd say either late 80s or early 90s Maxell tape stock:
1) Hard Copy segment on the Lyle Lovett/Julia Roberts marriage, which was last segment of show, then had previews for the next day's show, this aired 1993/8/12 from commercials surrounding it (10m) (KPRC2)
2) KPRC 5PM News (30m) looks to be a 1/2 partial 1993/8/12
3) 1993/7/12 airing of the movie Rent A Cop (KHTV39) (1h47m) nearly complete, the movie was taped in SP and the other stuff in EP, hence the weird tapeover pattern of this. Thus, tape ended after only 2h31m
Tape 3 unmarked 1980s Polaroid tape stock:
1) 1989/6/30 Young and the Restless (WRAL5) (1h)
2) 1989/6/30 Bold and the Beautiful (WRAL5) (30m)
3) 1989/6/30 As the World Turns (WRAL5) (1h)
4) 1989/6/30 Guiding Light (WRAL5) (1h)
This tape ended with the opening of a syndicated episode of Punky Brewster and some CBS Historical break with Debbie Gibson. I'll say finding soap operas is not too uncommon for me, but this is the first time I've found a complete Soap Opera Block (this would have been CBS 1230PM-4PM), usually people would tape these over again and again day by day to watch in the evenings, or people would just tape a week's worth of their favorite Soap Opera. Also of note, this was the day Karate Kid 3 premiered, and there were many trailers for it in this block.
Tape 4 marked Christmas Specials 1980s TDK tape stock (another of the basement finds):
1) 1988/12/16 Smurf Christmas (24m) missing first segment (WPTF28)
2) 1988/12/16 A Chipmunks Christmas (29m) (WPTF28)
3) 1988? scene from Paddington Bear (WUNC4)
4) 1988/11/13 Magical World of Disney Mickey's 60th Birthday (WPTF28) this was taped in SP so other material cut off first half (30m) too bad because this is impossible to find online
5) 1988? The Return of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Devil's Foot" (44m partial) (WUNC4) this is a series I've enjoyed over the years, Jeremy Brett is arguably a top 3 actor that has portrayed Sherlock Holmes
6) 1988/12/2 Muppet Family Christmas (WTVD11) (52m) missing first segment, I think someone posted this exact same broadcast from this exact same affiliate on Youtube 2 years back, but I could have it confused with the 1987 airing...
7) 1988? Random unknown BBC drama (13m) SP recorded so ended tape abruptly
I used to think a tape that flipped back and forth from EP to SP and back to EP would track badly in a VCR but this one played decently.
Tape 5 marked Arthur Mitchell Dance Theater Harlem unknown 1980s tape stock based on tape guard:
1) 1991/7/25 Peter Jennings Reporting From the Heart of Harlem (40m partial missing first 1/3) (WGHP8) SP recording from cable and man it looked better than some mid 2000 cable recordings I've seen.
2) 1986/7/4 Liberty Weekend (58m) (WSET13) I knew that ABC went all in on Liberty Weekend Coverage, but never knew they did it over 4 days, at least 2 hours each day. This was to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. I'd wager that in today's day of 24 hour cable and hundreds of channels that no major network would dedicate over 8 hours of primetime schedule real estate to a news event outside of a war or Presidential election.
3) 1986/7/5 Liberty Weekend Classical Salute to Liberty (WSET13) (1h57m)
4) 1986/7/6 Liberty Weekend Closing, just ice skating event (WSET13) (14m)
5) 1986? Unknown ice skating event though I could tell it was TBS and Curt Gowdy was announcing, could it be the Goodwill Games? For what its worth it ran for a total of (38m)
6) 1986/7 Wide World of Sports Ice Skating Segment (15m)
Tape 6 unmarked Sony 1980s T120:
This tape has been a major pain to get to play, it has dropouts every 20-30 minutes in the tracking, but the content is so rare its hard not to toss it, lots of daytime TV stuff that was probably taped over many times leading to all the playback issues.
1) 1988/3/18 Wil Shriner Show episode "Beating the Odds" (WGHP8) (58m) apparently this guy was a regular in the early years of David Letterman's talk shows and he only had his own talk show for one syndicated season of daytime TV before falling into obscurity. The show style was interesting in that it had some similarities to typical late night talk shows with witty banter and separately introduced guests that pile up in chairs by the main table, yet all the guests had a theme, in this case Beating the Odds including a lottery winner, Paul Rodriquez breaking into comedy though growing up in a poor Latino immigrant family, and Jill Ireland beating cancer (though ultimately dying of it a few years later). As it is, I've never seen a complete episode or even a lengthy segment of this show online.
2) 1988/3/18 Geraldo "Hot Men of Daytime TV" (WGHP8) (57m) cheesy interviews with all the heartthrobs of soap operas, I felt like it was a live issue of Tiger Beat but for middle aged women, or a typical Oprah episode before she went high brow.
3) 1988/3/19 Dolly (WGHP8) (24m) apparently this was in a one hour time block so most of this was missing, including the commercials. Basically it a special comprising lots of live performances and interviews from Dolly Parton.
4) 1988/3? 6 different episodes of The Home Show, all in fragmentary form, the longest was 13 minutes and the shortest 9 minutes, this is where my theory of this tape being used often as a daily taper comes from. (WGHP8)
5) 1988/3? Geraldo "Young Millionaires" (WGHP8) (57m) this had a lot more substance than the soap opera episode, and it definitely encapsulated the "Greed Is Good" 80s era. The highlight of this episode was when Geraldo asked all the guests who they emulated or admired in business, and one woman said "Bill Gates" which Geraldo then asked who he was, because he genuinely had never heard of him before! She spent a minute describing him as the founder of Microsoft and being a quite rich person even then, you would think Geraldo would have known who he was, even then, but I digress.
6) 1988/3/28 The Home Show, this episode looks complete and the topic was the real life people from "Stand and Deliver"
There is still another 90 minutes left on this tape but its a chore to slog through head cleaning so may send it off to my friend for cleaning, or trying in other players for conversion...
I know Scott (near Cleveland) has in the past, but I don't bother with DVRs because the content is all '00s and later.
Oh, and I have the WHOLE Mickey's 60th Birthday special on a DVD (that I got from an eBay VHS lot in 2018, taped off KNSD San Diego). Interested?
Nice finds on the CBS soaps, the early Geraldo and the Wil Shriner show. KAPP Yakima carried Wil's show but I have not found any recordings of it, even though he was on in the afternoons after the soaps ended AND it was paired up with Oprah Winfrey.
No doubt the last tape was one that they used over and over again to record daytime TV. I have found tapes in the past that had upwards of 10 recordings jumbled in the first 15 seconds of tape, taped over and over again until the newest recording began.
Not related, but beware...
I just sold 22 tapes on eBay a few days ago. In the last lot I sent out in June, it came to the buyer damaged. I put peanuts all through that box and taped it up tight, but based on the pictures somebody broke into the package and stole tapes somewhere along the way! Only 13 of 36 tapes remained intact when they got to the buyer. :-( I'm highly betting it was right down in Yakima, because the tracking information fades to black as soon as it left the Kittitas P.O. This time around, the package is coming by UPS ($20+ shipping, UGH) but maybe the a-hole at Yakima's sort facility won't be able to access that box this time around. No insurance on Media Mail, so couldn't make a claim sadly. I did give him a full refund.
The catch? My mom told me the other day she received a package from QVC, and of course it came through that same place. There is a big dent and a tear at the bottom, like a hand was trying to rip it open, and she could literally put her finger into it and feel something (her item) moving around. Why hasn't this been publicized on KIMA and in the newspaper yet? There could be 100s or 1000s of reports from Yakima.
Last edited:
3 more tapes from the stack...
Tape 1 Polaroid T120 80s tape stock, unmarked:
1) 1991/7/11 As The World Turns (1h) WRAL5 this and the next 2 programs had bad static in reception
2) 1991/7/11 Guiding Light (1h) WRAL5
3) 1991/7/12 As The World Turns (1h) WRAL5
4) 1991/7/12 Guiding Light (1h) WRAL5
5) 1991/7/10 As The World Turns (18m partial) WRAL5 Parker Posey has a small role in this episode
6) 1991/7/10 Guiding Light (1h) WRAL5
Also some snippets of first few minutes of The Cosby Show syndicated airings Total Running Time 5h27m
Tape 2 Polaroid T120 80s tape stock, marked The Cosby Show:
1) 1988/3/10 The Cosby Show 4x2 "Theogate" rerun (27m) WPTF28
2) 1988/3/10 A Different World 1x18 "Speech Therapy" premiere (27m most) WPTF28
3) 1988/3/24 The Cosby Show 4x22 "The Prom" premiere (25m) WPTF28 Adam Sandler guest stars!
4) 1988/3/24 A Different World 1x19 "Clair's Last Stand" (22m) WPTF28
5) 1988/3/31? The Cosby Show 4x6 "Thats Not What I Said" rerun? (22m) WPTF28
Total Running Time of only 2h6m at EP, kind of a disappointing waste with how expensive tape was then
Tape 3 Polaroid T120 80s tape stock, marked Twin Peaks #6:
1) 1991 April "Gleaming the Cube" last 36m HBO airing plus 6m of HBO Promos and News
2) 1990/9/30 ABC Sunday Night Movie Twin Peaks 2x1 2nd season premiere last 1h16m WTVD11
PERSONAL GRAIL OF MINE TO FIND THIS DEFINITELY A TOP 10 ITEM ON MY WISHLIST
3) 1990/10/6 Twin Peaks 2x2 1h WTVD11
4) 1990/10/13 Twin Peaks 2x3 47m WTVD11 all bumpers and commercials cut on this episode sadly
Total Running Time 3h46m
Tape 1 Polaroid T120 80s tape stock, unmarked:
1) 1991/7/11 As The World Turns (1h) WRAL5 this and the next 2 programs had bad static in reception
2) 1991/7/11 Guiding Light (1h) WRAL5
3) 1991/7/12 As The World Turns (1h) WRAL5
4) 1991/7/12 Guiding Light (1h) WRAL5
5) 1991/7/10 As The World Turns (18m partial) WRAL5 Parker Posey has a small role in this episode
6) 1991/7/10 Guiding Light (1h) WRAL5
Also some snippets of first few minutes of The Cosby Show syndicated airings Total Running Time 5h27m
Tape 2 Polaroid T120 80s tape stock, marked The Cosby Show:
1) 1988/3/10 The Cosby Show 4x2 "Theogate" rerun (27m) WPTF28
2) 1988/3/10 A Different World 1x18 "Speech Therapy" premiere (27m most) WPTF28
3) 1988/3/24 The Cosby Show 4x22 "The Prom" premiere (25m) WPTF28 Adam Sandler guest stars!
4) 1988/3/24 A Different World 1x19 "Clair's Last Stand" (22m) WPTF28
5) 1988/3/31? The Cosby Show 4x6 "Thats Not What I Said" rerun? (22m) WPTF28
Total Running Time of only 2h6m at EP, kind of a disappointing waste with how expensive tape was then
Tape 3 Polaroid T120 80s tape stock, marked Twin Peaks #6:
1) 1991 April "Gleaming the Cube" last 36m HBO airing plus 6m of HBO Promos and News
2) 1990/9/30 ABC Sunday Night Movie Twin Peaks 2x1 2nd season premiere last 1h16m WTVD11
PERSONAL GRAIL OF MINE TO FIND THIS DEFINITELY A TOP 10 ITEM ON MY WISHLIST
3) 1990/10/6 Twin Peaks 2x2 1h WTVD11
4) 1990/10/13 Twin Peaks 2x3 47m WTVD11 all bumpers and commercials cut on this episode sadly
Total Running Time 3h46m
Saturday's finds, both in Yakima. One at a rummage sale at a school, and twelve at an estate sale near 40th and Fruitvale for a woman who was a well-known crochet artist and quilter, there was sewing equipment and quilting magazines/books up the wall in this place. In fact, there were about twenty tapes full of Aleene's Creative Living and PBS crafting shows, which I did not take. I still found one tape that ended up being Aleene's show anyways.
Estate Sale
Tape 1 - 'Dodson's Journey' (2001) taped off KIMA/CBS on 1/10/2001 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 2 - 'The Ten Commandments' (1956) taped off KAPP/ABC on 4/12/1992 with commercials. Maxell T-120
Tape 3 - Several hours of clips from Aleene's Creative Living, taped off TNN in March-April 1995 (tape even included a listing of what was on each episode), commercials were scattered on the tape. Sony T-120
Tape 4 - Season finale of The Apprentice taped off KNDO/NBC on 4/15/2004 with commercials; ends with an hour of the September 11th Commission Hearing taped off C-SPAN on 4/8/2004. TDK T-120
Tape 5 - 'St. Helens' (1981) taped off TNT on 7/12/1997 with commercials; last few minutes of Fox News Sunday taped off KCYU-LP/Fox on 7/6/1997 with a few commercials; last few minutes of 20/20 taped off KAPP/ABC in June or July 1997 with commercials; partial episode of America's Most Wanted taped off KCYU-LP/Fox on 5/17/1997 with commercials; episode of Fox News Sunday taped off KCYU-LP/Fox on 5/18/1997 with commercials. Sony Home Theater T-120
Tape 6 - Episode of Discovery on the Go taped off The Discovery Channel in September 1989 with commercials (on the Oregon Coast); episode of Rendezvous with Paul Ryan taped off Discovery Channel in October 1989 minus commercials (on Deadwood and Reno gambling); partial episode of FBI: The Untold Stories taped off KAPP/ABC on 12/14/1992 minus commercials. Memorex T-120
Tape 7 - Prime Time Country taped off TNN on 12/10/1997 with commercials (Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam, this is already up on YouTube, but without commercials); Workin' Man: A Tribute to Merle Haggard taped off TNN on 1/13/1998 with commercials. Blank after 2 hours in EP HiFi. Sony Home Theater T-120
Tape 8 - Episode of Crossfire taped off CNN in May 1989 with commercials; episode of Biography (on Joe Lewis, two parts on separate nights) taped off A&E on 5/23 and 5/30/1989 with commercials; Knockout! The Story of Boxing taped off A&E circa 1989 minus commercials; part of This Week in Japan, CNN Evening News, The Capital Gang, CNN Sports Tonight, NewsNight and part of Evans & Novak taped off CNN on 4/29/1989 with commercials. Chrome Master T-120
Tape 9 - 'The Man from Left Field' (1993) taped off KIMA/CBS on 6/15/1997 with commercials (already have this from the big Ellensburg lot of July 2020); Biography on the Nelson family (Ozzie & Harriet, and Ricky) taped off A&E on 6/21/1998 with commercials; nearly all of 'Through the Eyes of a Killer' (1992) taped off KECY-9 El Centro CA/CBS on 12/15/1992 with commercials (!!!) My first find from the Yuma market, and was taped with a VCR on an RV trip! The couple did a lot of RVing once retired.
Tape 10 - 'Wife, Mother, Murderer' (1991) taped off KAPP/ABC on 11/10/1991 with commercials; both parts of 'In A Child's Name' (1991) taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/17 and 11/19/1991 with commercials. I already have the rebroadcast from July 1994 taped off KIDK in Idaho Falls. Maxell T-120
Tape 11 - Four-hour Biography special profiling The Rat Pack, taped off A&E on 5/4/2003 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 12 - Elvis: The Great Performances taped off KIMA/CBS on 4/24/1992 with commercials; season finale of Matlock taped off KNDO/NBC on 5/8/1992 with commercials; final Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson taped off KNDO/NBC on 5/22-23/1992 with commercials (I've found this three times already); ends with part of 'E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial' (1982) taped off KIMA/CBS on Thanksgiving 1991 with commercials (already found this twice, this was recorded in SP and it ran out before the end of the movie). Maxell T-120
Rummage Sale
Tape 13 - Formula F1 Chinese Grand Prix taped off NBC Sports Network on 4/14/2013 with commercials; Formula One GP of Europe Qualifying in Spain taped off Speed Channel in June 2012 with commercials. Scotch T-120 taped over at least ten times in the past, and heading straight for an eBay mixed lot near you.
Not counted: One tape full of vacation and RV-ing footage from 1992 - Grand Coulee Dam tour, La Pine, OR, Las Vegas, Laughlin and Lake Havasu included. There were about 20 other tapes of family stuff (anniversaries, reunions, birthdays) that I left behind for obvious reasons, but these vacation trips have points of interest or restaurants that no longer exist or are open. I have already seen a drive-through of Leavenworth on this tape that had stores and restaurants that are long gone.
Estate Sale
Tape 1 - 'Dodson's Journey' (2001) taped off KIMA/CBS on 1/10/2001 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 2 - 'The Ten Commandments' (1956) taped off KAPP/ABC on 4/12/1992 with commercials. Maxell T-120
Tape 3 - Several hours of clips from Aleene's Creative Living, taped off TNN in March-April 1995 (tape even included a listing of what was on each episode), commercials were scattered on the tape. Sony T-120
Tape 4 - Season finale of The Apprentice taped off KNDO/NBC on 4/15/2004 with commercials; ends with an hour of the September 11th Commission Hearing taped off C-SPAN on 4/8/2004. TDK T-120
Tape 5 - 'St. Helens' (1981) taped off TNT on 7/12/1997 with commercials; last few minutes of Fox News Sunday taped off KCYU-LP/Fox on 7/6/1997 with a few commercials; last few minutes of 20/20 taped off KAPP/ABC in June or July 1997 with commercials; partial episode of America's Most Wanted taped off KCYU-LP/Fox on 5/17/1997 with commercials; episode of Fox News Sunday taped off KCYU-LP/Fox on 5/18/1997 with commercials. Sony Home Theater T-120
Tape 6 - Episode of Discovery on the Go taped off The Discovery Channel in September 1989 with commercials (on the Oregon Coast); episode of Rendezvous with Paul Ryan taped off Discovery Channel in October 1989 minus commercials (on Deadwood and Reno gambling); partial episode of FBI: The Untold Stories taped off KAPP/ABC on 12/14/1992 minus commercials. Memorex T-120
Tape 7 - Prime Time Country taped off TNN on 12/10/1997 with commercials (Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam, this is already up on YouTube, but without commercials); Workin' Man: A Tribute to Merle Haggard taped off TNN on 1/13/1998 with commercials. Blank after 2 hours in EP HiFi. Sony Home Theater T-120
Tape 8 - Episode of Crossfire taped off CNN in May 1989 with commercials; episode of Biography (on Joe Lewis, two parts on separate nights) taped off A&E on 5/23 and 5/30/1989 with commercials; Knockout! The Story of Boxing taped off A&E circa 1989 minus commercials; part of This Week in Japan, CNN Evening News, The Capital Gang, CNN Sports Tonight, NewsNight and part of Evans & Novak taped off CNN on 4/29/1989 with commercials. Chrome Master T-120
Tape 9 - 'The Man from Left Field' (1993) taped off KIMA/CBS on 6/15/1997 with commercials (already have this from the big Ellensburg lot of July 2020); Biography on the Nelson family (Ozzie & Harriet, and Ricky) taped off A&E on 6/21/1998 with commercials; nearly all of 'Through the Eyes of a Killer' (1992) taped off KECY-9 El Centro CA/CBS on 12/15/1992 with commercials (!!!) My first find from the Yuma market, and was taped with a VCR on an RV trip! The couple did a lot of RVing once retired.
Tape 10 - 'Wife, Mother, Murderer' (1991) taped off KAPP/ABC on 11/10/1991 with commercials; both parts of 'In A Child's Name' (1991) taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/17 and 11/19/1991 with commercials. I already have the rebroadcast from July 1994 taped off KIDK in Idaho Falls. Maxell T-120
Tape 11 - Four-hour Biography special profiling The Rat Pack, taped off A&E on 5/4/2003 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 12 - Elvis: The Great Performances taped off KIMA/CBS on 4/24/1992 with commercials; season finale of Matlock taped off KNDO/NBC on 5/8/1992 with commercials; final Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson taped off KNDO/NBC on 5/22-23/1992 with commercials (I've found this three times already); ends with part of 'E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial' (1982) taped off KIMA/CBS on Thanksgiving 1991 with commercials (already found this twice, this was recorded in SP and it ran out before the end of the movie). Maxell T-120
Rummage Sale
Tape 13 - Formula F1 Chinese Grand Prix taped off NBC Sports Network on 4/14/2013 with commercials; Formula One GP of Europe Qualifying in Spain taped off Speed Channel in June 2012 with commercials. Scotch T-120 taped over at least ten times in the past, and heading straight for an eBay mixed lot near you.
Not counted: One tape full of vacation and RV-ing footage from 1992 - Grand Coulee Dam tour, La Pine, OR, Las Vegas, Laughlin and Lake Havasu included. There were about 20 other tapes of family stuff (anniversaries, reunions, birthdays) that I left behind for obvious reasons, but these vacation trips have points of interest or restaurants that no longer exist or are open. I have already seen a drive-through of Leavenworth on this tape that had stores and restaurants that are long gone.
Found footage tapes definitely sell on Ebay, I once sold a Maine Rafting Adventure tape produced by the rafting company on Ebay for $15. Based on the content it was made sometime around 1994 or 1995 and was given to the participants in the rafting tour. I've seen visual artists use these for documentary projects or just random bootleg mashup videos.
More tapes found this weekend, at an estate sale near the Terrace Heights neighborhood in east Yakima. Quite a few duds where #1 - they pulled all the commercials out and #2 - still left 4 1/2 hours of EP tape blank. To recycling they go. Here's what survived...
Tape 1 - Part 1 of The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw minus commercials (already have this anyways), 'Kindergarten Cop' (1990) taped off unknown channel minus commercials; part of 'Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus' (1991) taped off KAPP/ABC on 12/8/1991 with commercials. Gold Master T-120
Tape 2 - 'Flight of the Navigator' (1985) taped off unknown channel minus commercials; part of the Disney Sunday Movie (Fuzzbucket and The Deacon Street Deer) taped off KAPP/ABC on 8/17/1986 with commercials; 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' (1971) taped off KAPP/ABC minus commercials. SKC T-120
Tape 3 - Begins with a few minutes of C-SPAN taped in November 1993 (clips of Kennedy and LBJ staff talking about the assassination 30 years ago); Jack (CBS News special on JFK's life) taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/17/1993 with commercials; CBS Reports: Who Killed JFK? taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/19/1993 with commercials (have part of this already); November 22nd, 1963: Where Were You? taped off TNT on 11/21/1993 with commercials. Memorex T-120
Tape 4 - Both parts of Living with the Dead taped off KIMA/CBS on 4/28 and 4/30/2002 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 5 - Both parts of Oprah Winfrey's The Wedding taped off KAPP/ABC on 2/22 and 2/23/1998 with commercials. Scotch PHG T-120
Tape 6 - 'To Sir With Love II' (1999) taped off KIMA/CBS on 8/22/1999 with commercials. RCA T-120
Also picked up four more tapes (I believe) at the FINAL weekend of the ongoing Wenas Road estate sale north of Selah, the one with all the toys, dolls, teddy bears, and Gen-X nostalgia. They will likely be talk shows and various reruns/specials like the other tapes I've found, and I will update later. But anyways, the better finds did not really involve VHS tapes.
This weekend I found a blonde baby boy Cabbage Patch for $3.00 (including clothes, but no box), a Kermit Muppet Babies plush (someone else bought a Miss Piggy plush from the Muppet Babies series. I think it was the McDonald's happy meal toy with the holiday outfit), an A.G. Bear with the box (!! - for only $10 to boot - these are the bears that make 'bear sounds' when a child talks to it - they came out in the mid-1980s), a Millennium Boyd's bear (with box) - a gorgeous bear complete with its baby bear, and the star of the show - an original 1985 Teddy Ruxpin (no box)! This also included 7 cassettes, one (Grunge Music) being two duplicate cassettes, but none of the books were available. This was one of about three or four Teddy's that they had sold at this sale, and another person bought a later Playskool version of Teddy this morning. Have not tested him yet with C batteries to see if he will move his eyes, mouth, or play the tapes, but he doesn't look damaged on the outside. A little bit of purple staining on his vest, which I think is Kool-Aid, and a trip to the laundry didn't get it out either. I paid only $5 for him, I'm not kidding, plus $2 for ALL seven tapes. Hopefully, I can get some nice eBay profit on some of the vintage toys. And speaking of Worlds of Wonder, I also found a Mickey Mouse Little Boppers (1987) for two or three dollars at the same sale. Have not put batteries into him to see if he will move his feet around like in the commercials. But would I have ever guessed in about 6 years' worth of yard and estate sale hunting, that I would find a sale with not only VHS tapes but also some of the hottest toys and dolls of the 1980s? A lot of us see estate sales as just a blur, but I definitely won't forget this place when the last item is cleared out of the home!
Oh, and to make things even better, I found a Voltron: Defender of the Universe story on cassette tape at the OTHER sale...called 'Trapped on the Jungle Planet,' based on the syndicated cartoon. I've never seen anything like it, so that was cool.
Look out - Crain's on a roll!
Tape 1 - Part 1 of The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw minus commercials (already have this anyways), 'Kindergarten Cop' (1990) taped off unknown channel minus commercials; part of 'Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus' (1991) taped off KAPP/ABC on 12/8/1991 with commercials. Gold Master T-120
Tape 2 - 'Flight of the Navigator' (1985) taped off unknown channel minus commercials; part of the Disney Sunday Movie (Fuzzbucket and The Deacon Street Deer) taped off KAPP/ABC on 8/17/1986 with commercials; 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' (1971) taped off KAPP/ABC minus commercials. SKC T-120
Tape 3 - Begins with a few minutes of C-SPAN taped in November 1993 (clips of Kennedy and LBJ staff talking about the assassination 30 years ago); Jack (CBS News special on JFK's life) taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/17/1993 with commercials; CBS Reports: Who Killed JFK? taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/19/1993 with commercials (have part of this already); November 22nd, 1963: Where Were You? taped off TNT on 11/21/1993 with commercials. Memorex T-120
Tape 4 - Both parts of Living with the Dead taped off KIMA/CBS on 4/28 and 4/30/2002 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 5 - Both parts of Oprah Winfrey's The Wedding taped off KAPP/ABC on 2/22 and 2/23/1998 with commercials. Scotch PHG T-120
Tape 6 - 'To Sir With Love II' (1999) taped off KIMA/CBS on 8/22/1999 with commercials. RCA T-120
Also picked up four more tapes (I believe) at the FINAL weekend of the ongoing Wenas Road estate sale north of Selah, the one with all the toys, dolls, teddy bears, and Gen-X nostalgia. They will likely be talk shows and various reruns/specials like the other tapes I've found, and I will update later. But anyways, the better finds did not really involve VHS tapes.
This weekend I found a blonde baby boy Cabbage Patch for $3.00 (including clothes, but no box), a Kermit Muppet Babies plush (someone else bought a Miss Piggy plush from the Muppet Babies series. I think it was the McDonald's happy meal toy with the holiday outfit), an A.G. Bear with the box (!! - for only $10 to boot - these are the bears that make 'bear sounds' when a child talks to it - they came out in the mid-1980s), a Millennium Boyd's bear (with box) - a gorgeous bear complete with its baby bear, and the star of the show - an original 1985 Teddy Ruxpin (no box)! This also included 7 cassettes, one (Grunge Music) being two duplicate cassettes, but none of the books were available. This was one of about three or four Teddy's that they had sold at this sale, and another person bought a later Playskool version of Teddy this morning. Have not tested him yet with C batteries to see if he will move his eyes, mouth, or play the tapes, but he doesn't look damaged on the outside. A little bit of purple staining on his vest, which I think is Kool-Aid, and a trip to the laundry didn't get it out either. I paid only $5 for him, I'm not kidding, plus $2 for ALL seven tapes. Hopefully, I can get some nice eBay profit on some of the vintage toys. And speaking of Worlds of Wonder, I also found a Mickey Mouse Little Boppers (1987) for two or three dollars at the same sale. Have not put batteries into him to see if he will move his feet around like in the commercials. But would I have ever guessed in about 6 years' worth of yard and estate sale hunting, that I would find a sale with not only VHS tapes but also some of the hottest toys and dolls of the 1980s? A lot of us see estate sales as just a blur, but I definitely won't forget this place when the last item is cleared out of the home!
Oh, and to make things even better, I found a Voltron: Defender of the Universe story on cassette tape at the OTHER sale...called 'Trapped on the Jungle Planet,' based on the syndicated cartoon. I've never seen anything like it, so that was cool.
Look out - Crain's on a roll!
Are you able to pay for the VHS tapes you think are "keepers" with the other stuff you find that you can sell, like the dolls/stuffed creatures you found today? That would be very cool if you could do that!
It dates me: I remember buying some of those toys for my daughters when they were little!
The VHS tapes go in separate lots of course, but yeah, I'm hoping to re-sell some of the toys. The woman was a massive collector of bears, dolls, and toys of all types. Tubs and boxes full of toys and dolls, fishing stuff, glassware, vintage dishes, and electronics. She had four storage units full of them and the house was full of stuff as well - this is the final sale of four that has been held at this house. The estate sale folks have had to take four ENTIRE WEEKENDS to sell to the public and have used most of the last three months engaging in the art of "pulling" everything out. I've never seen anything like it. The first sale here (in late March) netted a Coke clock from the '70s, like one of those you would see at a gas station or a diner. For $35 and a little extra to buy a new fluorescent light, I was able to nurse it back to life. It fully lights up now! But back then I didn't focus on dolls and old toys. In early July a light bulb went off in my brain when I missed out on several new-in-box Cabbage Patch dolls at the start of the third sale, along with G.I. Joe toys which were worth a lot of money. Two of the CPKs were even the Talking dolls, which weren't around for long. I realized that I had to go back early on the first day, at the next sale at that house (they weren't done yet, the lady said).
There was also a bunch of Raikes bears and Ashton-Drake dolls NIB. Didn't pick those up due to budgetary reasons and looking up values of sold bears on eBay.
I believe I will keep a Woody (Toy Story) figurine that I found today at that place, it was a Burger King Kids' Meal toy from when the first movie came out. I loved both the first and second films growing up, so I'll keep him around on a shelf. Funny story, there was a little boy about 6 or 7 with his parents in the cashier line (most stuff was outside in tubs and on about eight different tables). He got a bigger Woody plush, and I hope he likes it
Also debating whether to keep Teddy, but it all depends on whether the mechanisms work and if the tape player even runs.
There was also a bunch of Raikes bears and Ashton-Drake dolls NIB. Didn't pick those up due to budgetary reasons and looking up values of sold bears on eBay.
I believe I will keep a Woody (Toy Story) figurine that I found today at that place, it was a Burger King Kids' Meal toy from when the first movie came out. I loved both the first and second films growing up, so I'll keep him around on a shelf. Funny story, there was a little boy about 6 or 7 with his parents in the cashier line (most stuff was outside in tubs and on about eight different tables). He got a bigger Woody plush, and I hope he likes it
Also debating whether to keep Teddy, but it all depends on whether the mechanisms work and if the tape player even runs.Just checked through my latest eBay lot out of Central Illinois. Typical mix of "studs and duds" with some near misses, but some pretty rare mainly 1980s content here!
I'll start with the near-misses and junk. Honorable mentions include a partial first season episode of Murder, She Wrote from late 1984 from the middle of the episode with two commercial breaks (most of the tape was the Ellis Island miniseries that was scoped), the 1988 Seoul Opening and Closing ceremonies with about 95% of the commercials zapped, the Irving Berlin 100th birthday celebration from 1988 with a few commercials, the 1989 George H.W. Bush inaugural gala and most of ABC's coverage of his inauguration with very few commercials, and various coverage of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics (mostly the ceremonies) with a few commercials. The duds included several tapes from the 1988-89 War and Remembrance "superminiseries", a couple tapes of The Thornbirds without commercials, and one tape that included Gone With The Wind copied from a medal. Another tape contained the third Night of 100 Stars special from May 1990 without commercials, but I've already got that with the ads off WPXI from that big 2019 lot with all those Star Searches.
Now for the good stuff, which was about half of the lot overall. Everything was recorded in EP:
Tape 1: 11 hours of The Honeymooners New Year's Marathon off WRSP on New Year's Day 1988 with commercials.
Tape 2: Frank Sinatra: Concert for the Americas (1982) off A&E on 1/24/1988 with commercials, followed by both parts of The Bourne Identity off WAND/ABC in May 1988 with most commercials. I've already got the later off KABC.
Tape 3: The ABC Sunday Movie "Funny Lady" off WAND on Christmas Day 1983 with commercials, followed by the end of WCW wrestling (my earliest snippet, too bad it's just the last couple minutes) along with the TBS Saturday Night Movie "Funny Girl" along with the first 15 minutes of the CNN Headline News off WTBS on New Year's Eve 1983 with commercials
Tape 4: A summer rerun of the CBS Special Movie "Will There Really Be Morning" off WCIA on 7/10/1984 with commercials, followed by a rerun of Thicke of the Night off WRSP in July 1984 with commercials (one of the guests is Ray Parker, Jr, and it mentioned Marvin Gaye's death as a week ago, so it aired around the second week of April), along with two classic episodes of Laugh-In off WGN in July 1984 with commercials, another partial episode of Thicke of the Night, then it cuts back to the last 10 minutes of Capitol and PM Magazine off WCIA on 1/17/1984 with commercials.
Tape 5: Seven mostly complete episodes of The Gong Show (Syndicated run with Chuck Barris from 1978-80) off WUSA in September/October 1987 with one commercial break.
Tape 6: About the last ten minutes of 60 Minutes, part one of George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation, and about three-fourths of Walter Cronkite At Large off WCIA/CBS on 9/21/1986 with commercials, followed by part two of George Washington II off WCIA/CBS from the following night. I've already got two of the three parts of the first miniseries from 1984 off WDVM (now W*USA), but this is a nice addition here.
Tape 7: Funny, You Don't Look 200 off WAND/ABC on 10/12/1987 with commercials, the five remaining hours blank.
Tape 8: 12 mostly complete episodes of the locally produced Jazzfield Illinois from April and May 1990 off of SCAN 17 TV, with a few cable crawls on a couple episodes. Possibly a one-of-a-kind find here!
Tape 9: An Evening of Championship Skating off of WILL/PBS circa 1986 with a few promos at the end. Like tape 7, another mostly wasted one here, but I've never seen this before.
Tape 10: An Evening with Rogers and Hart off WILL/PBS from March 1987 with a few promos after the show, followed by about ten minutes of Nightlife off WICS circa March 1987 with one commercial break.
Tape 11: Most of the 1986 Tournament of Roses Parade off WICS/NBC on New Year's Day 1986, followed by Entertainment Tonight, the WAND 5 PM News, The People's Court, the WAND 6 PM News, ABC World News Tonight, WCIA PM Magazine, and Nightline all from New Year's Day 1986 with commercials. Great tape for the New Year's nerd with all the predictions and summaries of the past year.
Tape 12: Similar to Tape 8, with about a dozen episodes off Jazzfield Illinois mainly from April/May 1991 off SCAN 17 TV with a few cable crawls.
Tape 13: WCIA Newscope at 5, the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, WCIA Channel 3 News at 6, and WCIA PM Magazine from 11/30/1987 with commercials, followed by a little over half of the special "Television Academy Hall of Fame" off WRSP/FOX with commercials from the same night.
Tape 14: About five hours of coverage from the final day of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics off WAND/ABC on 8/12/1984, including the final synchronized swimming event, the Men's Marathon, some highlights, and the closing ceremony. The commercials from about the first hour of coverage are intact, with very few unpaused the rest of the way. I have only the very end of the Men's Marathon, so it's nice to see the full event through the various neighborhoods/communities of the LA Basin.
Tape 15: Starts with the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics without commercials, followed by the last 15 minutes or Lifestyles with Regis Philbin off Lifetime on 6/12/1985 (my oldest find from them!), followed by an episode of We're Cooking Now off WRSP circa June 1985 with commercials, followed by As The World Turns and the first segment of Capitol off WCIA/CBS on 6/13/1985 with commercials.
Tape 16: The Tonight Show (with Joan Rivers subbing for Johnny) and Late Night With David Letterman off WICS/NBC on 6/26/1984 with commercials, followed by Entertainment Tonight off WEEK with commercials from the same night, then the last few minutes of INN from also the same night, followed by a rerun of the Ernie Kovacs special (1982) off Showtime on 6/27/1984 with a few promos after the special, then it cuts to the last 90 minutes of part 9 of the Centennial miniseries off WTBS on 1/18/1984 with commercials.
I'll start with the near-misses and junk. Honorable mentions include a partial first season episode of Murder, She Wrote from late 1984 from the middle of the episode with two commercial breaks (most of the tape was the Ellis Island miniseries that was scoped), the 1988 Seoul Opening and Closing ceremonies with about 95% of the commercials zapped, the Irving Berlin 100th birthday celebration from 1988 with a few commercials, the 1989 George H.W. Bush inaugural gala and most of ABC's coverage of his inauguration with very few commercials, and various coverage of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics (mostly the ceremonies) with a few commercials. The duds included several tapes from the 1988-89 War and Remembrance "superminiseries", a couple tapes of The Thornbirds without commercials, and one tape that included Gone With The Wind copied from a medal. Another tape contained the third Night of 100 Stars special from May 1990 without commercials, but I've already got that with the ads off WPXI from that big 2019 lot with all those Star Searches.
Now for the good stuff, which was about half of the lot overall. Everything was recorded in EP:
Tape 1: 11 hours of The Honeymooners New Year's Marathon off WRSP on New Year's Day 1988 with commercials.
Tape 2: Frank Sinatra: Concert for the Americas (1982) off A&E on 1/24/1988 with commercials, followed by both parts of The Bourne Identity off WAND/ABC in May 1988 with most commercials. I've already got the later off KABC.
Tape 3: The ABC Sunday Movie "Funny Lady" off WAND on Christmas Day 1983 with commercials, followed by the end of WCW wrestling (my earliest snippet, too bad it's just the last couple minutes) along with the TBS Saturday Night Movie "Funny Girl" along with the first 15 minutes of the CNN Headline News off WTBS on New Year's Eve 1983 with commercials
Tape 4: A summer rerun of the CBS Special Movie "Will There Really Be Morning" off WCIA on 7/10/1984 with commercials, followed by a rerun of Thicke of the Night off WRSP in July 1984 with commercials (one of the guests is Ray Parker, Jr, and it mentioned Marvin Gaye's death as a week ago, so it aired around the second week of April), along with two classic episodes of Laugh-In off WGN in July 1984 with commercials, another partial episode of Thicke of the Night, then it cuts back to the last 10 minutes of Capitol and PM Magazine off WCIA on 1/17/1984 with commercials.
Tape 5: Seven mostly complete episodes of The Gong Show (Syndicated run with Chuck Barris from 1978-80) off WUSA in September/October 1987 with one commercial break.
Tape 6: About the last ten minutes of 60 Minutes, part one of George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation, and about three-fourths of Walter Cronkite At Large off WCIA/CBS on 9/21/1986 with commercials, followed by part two of George Washington II off WCIA/CBS from the following night. I've already got two of the three parts of the first miniseries from 1984 off WDVM (now W*USA), but this is a nice addition here.
Tape 7: Funny, You Don't Look 200 off WAND/ABC on 10/12/1987 with commercials, the five remaining hours blank.
Tape 8: 12 mostly complete episodes of the locally produced Jazzfield Illinois from April and May 1990 off of SCAN 17 TV, with a few cable crawls on a couple episodes. Possibly a one-of-a-kind find here!
Tape 9: An Evening of Championship Skating off of WILL/PBS circa 1986 with a few promos at the end. Like tape 7, another mostly wasted one here, but I've never seen this before.
Tape 10: An Evening with Rogers and Hart off WILL/PBS from March 1987 with a few promos after the show, followed by about ten minutes of Nightlife off WICS circa March 1987 with one commercial break.
Tape 11: Most of the 1986 Tournament of Roses Parade off WICS/NBC on New Year's Day 1986, followed by Entertainment Tonight, the WAND 5 PM News, The People's Court, the WAND 6 PM News, ABC World News Tonight, WCIA PM Magazine, and Nightline all from New Year's Day 1986 with commercials. Great tape for the New Year's nerd with all the predictions and summaries of the past year.
Tape 12: Similar to Tape 8, with about a dozen episodes off Jazzfield Illinois mainly from April/May 1991 off SCAN 17 TV with a few cable crawls.
Tape 13: WCIA Newscope at 5, the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, WCIA Channel 3 News at 6, and WCIA PM Magazine from 11/30/1987 with commercials, followed by a little over half of the special "Television Academy Hall of Fame" off WRSP/FOX with commercials from the same night.
Tape 14: About five hours of coverage from the final day of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics off WAND/ABC on 8/12/1984, including the final synchronized swimming event, the Men's Marathon, some highlights, and the closing ceremony. The commercials from about the first hour of coverage are intact, with very few unpaused the rest of the way. I have only the very end of the Men's Marathon, so it's nice to see the full event through the various neighborhoods/communities of the LA Basin.
Tape 15: Starts with the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics without commercials, followed by the last 15 minutes or Lifestyles with Regis Philbin off Lifetime on 6/12/1985 (my oldest find from them!), followed by an episode of We're Cooking Now off WRSP circa June 1985 with commercials, followed by As The World Turns and the first segment of Capitol off WCIA/CBS on 6/13/1985 with commercials.
Tape 16: The Tonight Show (with Joan Rivers subbing for Johnny) and Late Night With David Letterman off WICS/NBC on 6/26/1984 with commercials, followed by Entertainment Tonight off WEEK with commercials from the same night, then the last few minutes of INN from also the same night, followed by a rerun of the Ernie Kovacs special (1982) off Showtime on 6/27/1984 with a few promos after the special, then it cuts to the last 90 minutes of part 9 of the Centennial miniseries off WTBS on 1/18/1984 with commercials.
What a great lot of tapes you discovered. Thicke of the Night didn't last long in the U.S., even though he was more successful in Canada pre-Growing Pains. We're Cooking Now was on PBS at one point but also had a general syndication run. Early Entertainment Tonight (!!) And an episode of Capitol - WOW! I've been looking for any episodes of that soap for years, with no luck. I have part of a Regis Philbin Lifestyles to upload, and it's from 1984, earlier than your find. I have it buried in one of the tubs.
Road trip yesterday, went out to estate and yard sales in Ephrata and Soap Lake, WA and didn't find any tapes, but did have some luck far to the east of the coulees along Highway 2. These were all found at an estate sale in the little town of Wilbur, Washington. It's a farming town, 65 miles W of Spokane and home to about 800 people. Amazingly, I still found Seattle programming on some of these tapes, 190 miles to the west. A few duds, but here are the many keepers - some going back to 1986!
Tape 1 - 'The Shadow Riders' (1982) taped off TBS on 2/13/1992 with commercials - already have this and the commercials were posted on YouTube by CraigS1996 already. Scotch T-120
Tape 2 - One of those "left the VCR on all night tapes". 'Brush with Fate' (2003), KIRO 7 Eyewitness News at 11, Access Hollywood Weekend, Face the Nation, Famous Homes and Hideaways, three infomercials (Q-Ray Bracelet, Showtime Rotisserie...RIP Ron Popeil, and the Smart Abs System) and about five minutes of Up to the Minute taped off KIRO/CBS on 2/2-3/2003 with commercials (a big surprise...I totally expected a KREM 2 recording). The ironic part of this: I have another tape of 'Brush with Fate' from KIMA where they ALSO left the VCR on all night, but that time, I got Hot Ticket and a Seinfeld rerun before KIMA went off the air at 12:30AM. Sony T-120, old stock from the mid-'80s, originally marked with 'Swiss Family Robinson' which apparently was a rental copy, based on the FBI warning at the start that then got taped over with Brush with Fate.
Tape 3 - 'Minesweeper' (1943) and the first of a Charlie Chaplin silent double-feature (with 'Cruel, Cruel Love' from 1914) taped off Channel America in February 1995 with commercials (all direct-response). This is my first find from Channel America, one of the defunct LPTV networks! Memorex T-120
Tape 4 - Wheel of Fortune credits and part of 'Hercules' (2005) taped off KHQ/NBC on 5/16/2005 with commercials. Sony T-120 in SP, misses last hour of Hercules
Tape 5 - Both parts of Earth Star Voyager taped off unknown ABC station on 1/17 and 1/24/1988 minus commercials; 'Teachers' (1984) taped off HBO early on 2/8/1988 with promos afterwards. Maxell T-120...too bad the content I can pull off was the pay-TV and NOT the Disney movie on ABC...
Tape 6 - Series premiere of Christy taped off KREM/CBS on 4/3/1994 with commercials. Scotch T-120 (SP)
Tape 7 - 'The Reivers' (1969) copied from rental tape; 'The Karate Kid' (1984) taped off unknown pay-TV channel; Winnie the Pooh & Friends (Disney Sunday Movie) taped off KXLY/ABC on 3/16/1986 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 8 - 'Down Periscope' (1996) taped off CBC North on 9/24/1998 with commercials. I assume it's CBC North due to the lack of local ads (ala, CBUT or other local affiliates), and based on the occasional sparklies in the picture that would confirm it came from a C-Band dish...CBC North was still in the clear on Anik E2 at that time. JVC T-120
Tape 9 - Both parts of Gulliver's Travels taped off unknown NBC station minus commercials; broadcast of V: The Final Battle taped off Sci-Fi Channel in June 1998 with commercials, hosted by Robert Englund. Maxell HGX-Gold T-120
Tape 10 - Starts with rental duds: 'Legend of the Northwest' (1978) from Video Gems, obscure Denver Pyle film; 1957 NBC-TV adaptation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and North of the Yukon, an obscure documentary with Lorne Greene copied from the USA Home Video tape; 'The Three Caballeros' (1944) taped off The Disney Channel around February or March 1987 with several minutes of promos and free preview content, and a Mousterpiece Theatre segment. Kodak T-120
Tape 11 - 'Hey Boy! Hey Girl!' (1959) taped off AMC circa early 2000; unknown Tim Holt western film taped off either AMC or Westerns circa 2001; late-night broadcast of 'The Creature Walks Among Us' (1955) taped 2/21/2000 off Sci-Fi Channel with a couple of commercial breaks (some pulled out). Sony T-160
Tape 12 - 'Superman' (1978) taped off KSTW-11 over two nights, 5/10/1988 and 5/11/1988 with commercials; 'Beverly Hills Cop' (1984) taped off KOMO/ABC on 5/15/1988 with commercials. Amazing how this town is 170 miles from Seattle and I'm still finding Seattle stuff mixed with Spokane. BASF T-120
Tape 1 - 'The Shadow Riders' (1982) taped off TBS on 2/13/1992 with commercials - already have this and the commercials were posted on YouTube by CraigS1996 already. Scotch T-120
Tape 2 - One of those "left the VCR on all night tapes". 'Brush with Fate' (2003), KIRO 7 Eyewitness News at 11, Access Hollywood Weekend, Face the Nation, Famous Homes and Hideaways, three infomercials (Q-Ray Bracelet, Showtime Rotisserie...RIP Ron Popeil, and the Smart Abs System) and about five minutes of Up to the Minute taped off KIRO/CBS on 2/2-3/2003 with commercials (a big surprise...I totally expected a KREM 2 recording). The ironic part of this: I have another tape of 'Brush with Fate' from KIMA where they ALSO left the VCR on all night, but that time, I got Hot Ticket and a Seinfeld rerun before KIMA went off the air at 12:30AM. Sony T-120, old stock from the mid-'80s, originally marked with 'Swiss Family Robinson' which apparently was a rental copy, based on the FBI warning at the start that then got taped over with Brush with Fate.
Tape 3 - 'Minesweeper' (1943) and the first of a Charlie Chaplin silent double-feature (with 'Cruel, Cruel Love' from 1914) taped off Channel America in February 1995 with commercials (all direct-response). This is my first find from Channel America, one of the defunct LPTV networks! Memorex T-120
Tape 4 - Wheel of Fortune credits and part of 'Hercules' (2005) taped off KHQ/NBC on 5/16/2005 with commercials. Sony T-120 in SP, misses last hour of Hercules
Tape 5 - Both parts of Earth Star Voyager taped off unknown ABC station on 1/17 and 1/24/1988 minus commercials; 'Teachers' (1984) taped off HBO early on 2/8/1988 with promos afterwards. Maxell T-120...too bad the content I can pull off was the pay-TV and NOT the Disney movie on ABC...
Tape 6 - Series premiere of Christy taped off KREM/CBS on 4/3/1994 with commercials. Scotch T-120 (SP)
Tape 7 - 'The Reivers' (1969) copied from rental tape; 'The Karate Kid' (1984) taped off unknown pay-TV channel; Winnie the Pooh & Friends (Disney Sunday Movie) taped off KXLY/ABC on 3/16/1986 with commercials. TDK T-120
Tape 8 - 'Down Periscope' (1996) taped off CBC North on 9/24/1998 with commercials. I assume it's CBC North due to the lack of local ads (ala, CBUT or other local affiliates), and based on the occasional sparklies in the picture that would confirm it came from a C-Band dish...CBC North was still in the clear on Anik E2 at that time. JVC T-120
Tape 9 - Both parts of Gulliver's Travels taped off unknown NBC station minus commercials; broadcast of V: The Final Battle taped off Sci-Fi Channel in June 1998 with commercials, hosted by Robert Englund. Maxell HGX-Gold T-120
Tape 10 - Starts with rental duds: 'Legend of the Northwest' (1978) from Video Gems, obscure Denver Pyle film; 1957 NBC-TV adaptation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and North of the Yukon, an obscure documentary with Lorne Greene copied from the USA Home Video tape; 'The Three Caballeros' (1944) taped off The Disney Channel around February or March 1987 with several minutes of promos and free preview content, and a Mousterpiece Theatre segment. Kodak T-120
Tape 11 - 'Hey Boy! Hey Girl!' (1959) taped off AMC circa early 2000; unknown Tim Holt western film taped off either AMC or Westerns circa 2001; late-night broadcast of 'The Creature Walks Among Us' (1955) taped 2/21/2000 off Sci-Fi Channel with a couple of commercial breaks (some pulled out). Sony T-160
Tape 12 - 'Superman' (1978) taped off KSTW-11 over two nights, 5/10/1988 and 5/11/1988 with commercials; 'Beverly Hills Cop' (1984) taped off KOMO/ABC on 5/15/1988 with commercials. Amazing how this town is 170 miles from Seattle and I'm still finding Seattle stuff mixed with Spokane. BASF T-120
I recently stumbled across this website and seems to be people here who collect, amongst other things, various VHS tapes with recorded television programs.
MTV 120 Minutes was a critical part of my youth and in helping develop my love of music. Over the past year I have begun trying to archive as much of the show as I can find. While I have found a great deal of episodes or partial episodes, there is still quite a lot, of course, that is missing from my collection. I am particularly seeking any episodes from the 80s or first half of the 90s.
Does anyone here possibly have any episodes of MTV 120 Minutes on VHS (or on dvd or digital files) that you would be willing to share, trade or sell?
If so, please send me a message…would love to hear from you!!
[email protected]
MTV 120 Minutes was a critical part of my youth and in helping develop my love of music. Over the past year I have begun trying to archive as much of the show as I can find. While I have found a great deal of episodes or partial episodes, there is still quite a lot, of course, that is missing from my collection. I am particularly seeking any episodes from the 80s or first half of the 90s.
Does anyone here possibly have any episodes of MTV 120 Minutes on VHS (or on dvd or digital files) that you would be willing to share, trade or sell?
If so, please send me a message…would love to hear from you!!
[email protected]
Agree with your list, expect i'd replace 2 and 4 with two shows i loved as a kid- Life Goes On and China Beach. I'd also add American Gladiators too(original version) as well. As far as cartoons only two i'd recommend- The Real Ghostbusters and The Smurfs.
Jason - I have no episodes of 120 Minutes in my collection. I don't find MTV recordings that often, nearly always VJs or Beavis & Butthead episodes. I do have #40-#1 of the Top 100 Videos of 1985, and an hour of the New Year's Eve celebration that year with a countdown (I think) for Mountain time.
Daniel - I have never found any episodes of China Beach or Life Goes On either, in some 1,000-1,200+ tapes searched. Only promos occasionally. I can guess why I haven't found Corky yet on my tapes - it aired at 7/6c Sunday which was the same time as CBS' 60 Minutes, and most of America was glued to 60 Minutes (or taping it). No American Gladiators either! Let alone Gladiators 2000, which was Ryan Seacrest's first hosting role, long before American Idol. I mean, most of the tapes I find from the networks are made-for-TV movies or theatrical films sliced and diced for TV with commercials; or soaps. And don't forget Christmas specials, too - they pop up on a regular basis. I probably have at least five broadcasts of Frosty now, along with A Charlie Brown Xmas, and a few others.
Daniel - I have never found any episodes of China Beach or Life Goes On either, in some 1,000-1,200+ tapes searched. Only promos occasionally. I can guess why I haven't found Corky yet on my tapes - it aired at 7/6c Sunday which was the same time as CBS' 60 Minutes, and most of America was glued to 60 Minutes (or taping it). No American Gladiators either! Let alone Gladiators 2000, which was Ryan Seacrest's first hosting role, long before American Idol. I mean, most of the tapes I find from the networks are made-for-TV movies or theatrical films sliced and diced for TV with commercials; or soaps. And don't forget Christmas specials, too - they pop up on a regular basis. I probably have at least five broadcasts of Frosty now, along with A Charlie Brown Xmas, and a few others.
This reminded me to make a list, the Top 5 Things You Find On VHS Tapes again and again:
1. Movies copied directly from rental tapes, MACROVISION BE DAMNED!
2. Movies taped directly off HBO with a few seconds of intros, or movies off regular TV with all but 5 seconds of commercials cut (which makes me wonder, what was the purpose of taping it anyways if you have to hit pause or stop every 15 minutes?)
3. Big sports milestone or sports first for a local team or even national team with a big fan base, for instance:
Duke Final 4 of 1991/1992 or Chicago Bears Super Bowl 20
4. Popular TV miniseries--I have multiple recordings of North & South and Elvis & Me
5. Christmas Specials--for some I have multiple recordings from the same night but different affiliates
Top 5 Things You Would Think You Would Find On VHS Tapes Again and Again BUT DO NOT:
1. Home movies or what some people call "found footage" I have some but with the popularity of the home video camera and America's Funniest Home Videos you would think you would find more of these.
2. Complete blocks of programming or just a tape full of 2/4/6 hours of an uninterrupted recording. Wasn't that the point of a VCR in the first place, so you could set it and leave and watch it later?
3. Recordings of popular shows or popular comedy blocks. I've never found a single recording of Friends for example (between the popularity and cheapness of VHS then its a bit surprising) or a Must See TV block, and I've only one found one complete TGIF block over the years.
4. Any other Holiday Special. I've found maybe one Halloween Special over the years, and nothing for Easter or even Thanksgiving. Don't people at least record the Macy's Parade? You would think so.
5. Horror movies. For as common as all other movie genres are on tapes, you rarely find tapings of horror movies from local Horror Movie hosts or Creature Features or heck even HBO airings.
1. Movies copied directly from rental tapes, MACROVISION BE DAMNED!
2. Movies taped directly off HBO with a few seconds of intros, or movies off regular TV with all but 5 seconds of commercials cut (which makes me wonder, what was the purpose of taping it anyways if you have to hit pause or stop every 15 minutes?)
3. Big sports milestone or sports first for a local team or even national team with a big fan base, for instance:
Duke Final 4 of 1991/1992 or Chicago Bears Super Bowl 20
4. Popular TV miniseries--I have multiple recordings of North & South and Elvis & Me
5. Christmas Specials--for some I have multiple recordings from the same night but different affiliates
Top 5 Things You Would Think You Would Find On VHS Tapes Again and Again BUT DO NOT:
1. Home movies or what some people call "found footage" I have some but with the popularity of the home video camera and America's Funniest Home Videos you would think you would find more of these.
2. Complete blocks of programming or just a tape full of 2/4/6 hours of an uninterrupted recording. Wasn't that the point of a VCR in the first place, so you could set it and leave and watch it later?
3. Recordings of popular shows or popular comedy blocks. I've never found a single recording of Friends for example (between the popularity and cheapness of VHS then its a bit surprising) or a Must See TV block, and I've only one found one complete TGIF block over the years.
4. Any other Holiday Special. I've found maybe one Halloween Special over the years, and nothing for Easter or even Thanksgiving. Don't people at least record the Macy's Parade? You would think so.
5. Horror movies. For as common as all other movie genres are on tapes, you rarely find tapings of horror movies from local Horror Movie hosts or Creature Features or heck even HBO airings.
Daniel and crainbebo, I found four full episodes of China Beach from a lot with a lot of Spokane-area programming with commercials back in 2017, as well as another partial episode from another lot around the same time. I've found just one episode of Life Goes On, a summer rerun of the Season 2 episode "Arthur" last year, which interestingly was followed by Murder, She Wrote on it. Thefirst-run primetime series that I probably have found the most complete of from the '80s to now is Airwolf, mostly from a bunch of lunch based in southern California last year, including a few episodes from Season 1 summer reruns (including most of the rerun of the premiere movie), all of Season 2, and about half of Season 3, two of the episodes coming from that Spokane lot, including the CBS finale. No episodes from that USA season, but I've read that the quality really dropped for it. I have found a first-run American Gladiators episode from 1992 once, but no 120 Minutes, with the episodes I've got all coming from trades. I did hit the "jackpot" once on classic MTV back in 2015 with a lot of early '90s stuff, with many episodes of Headbangers' Ball and even an episode of Remote Control from its final season, along with some hard to find local LA ads.
You're far more likely to find Singin' In The Rain or South Pacific than Friday The 13th it seems. The "peak money demo" in the 1980s was the pre-Boomer Silent generation, and that includes a lot of those westerns they loved. I've found way more Lawrence Welk than American Bandstand episodes for instance, and with the later, its mostly been the anniversary specials. In general, the older the release at the time it was recorded, the more likely it would be preserved and not taped over like the primetime programming and soaps tend to be, and when you find the later, the video quality often is marginal with lots of wear/lines.
Also, finding stuff from a larger market than the one the seller is in. This lot shown below features plenty of 1980s (even early '80s) JVC tape stock, but you'll see a CA address on one of the label, implying that the seller is one of those Vegas refugees who moved there in the 1990s or 2000s when the city really boomed, which is a shame, since '80s Vegas content is tough to find (although I'll be posting very soon a home movie of about seven minutes of a family driving up the Strip set to an urban-leaning radio station that the Gen Xers loved at the time). You can see Sounder (1972) on one of the labels, although I'd say that's a nice movie from what I've read. Home movies actually aren't that rare, with the big clues like "birthday, wedding, graduation, trip" on the labels that you come upon every so often, but those are what you tend to keep finding, not the cool stuff like live concerts, hanging out at the mall, restaurant, downtown, at a major sporting event, festival, or any store.
Although the seller says "some shows' and there's the potential for some '80s gold, as another lot from the same seller that sold recently had a label with the M*A*S*H finale, treat it like you're pulling the reels at Caesar's Palace. But I do find those occasional "monster lots" full of interesting newscasts, music shows, primetime shows, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jeopardy!, daytime talk shows, and cooking shows.
You're far more likely to find Singin' In The Rain or South Pacific than Friday The 13th it seems. The "peak money demo" in the 1980s was the pre-Boomer Silent generation, and that includes a lot of those westerns they loved. I've found way more Lawrence Welk than American Bandstand episodes for instance, and with the later, its mostly been the anniversary specials. In general, the older the release at the time it was recorded, the more likely it would be preserved and not taped over like the primetime programming and soaps tend to be, and when you find the later, the video quality often is marginal with lots of wear/lines.
Also, finding stuff from a larger market than the one the seller is in. This lot shown below features plenty of 1980s (even early '80s) JVC tape stock, but you'll see a CA address on one of the label, implying that the seller is one of those Vegas refugees who moved there in the 1990s or 2000s when the city really boomed, which is a shame, since '80s Vegas content is tough to find (although I'll be posting very soon a home movie of about seven minutes of a family driving up the Strip set to an urban-leaning radio station that the Gen Xers loved at the time). You can see Sounder (1972) on one of the labels, although I'd say that's a nice movie from what I've read. Home movies actually aren't that rare, with the big clues like "birthday, wedding, graduation, trip" on the labels that you come upon every so often, but those are what you tend to keep finding, not the cool stuff like live concerts, hanging out at the mall, restaurant, downtown, at a major sporting event, festival, or any store.
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Although the seller says "some shows' and there's the potential for some '80s gold, as another lot from the same seller that sold recently had a label with the M*A*S*H finale, treat it like you're pulling the reels at Caesar's Palace. But I do find those occasional "monster lots" full of interesting newscasts, music shows, primetime shows, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jeopardy!, daytime talk shows, and cooking shows.
Btw the seller description seems different from the tape labels on that one, as Bob Toski Golf is a commercial tape direct dub most likely as I've sold the actual commercial release of that how to tape before. If the "Silk Stalking" they are referring to is the actual show then that would be pretty rare, especially if its from the original Crimetime After Primetime airings, not the later seasons which were on USA, either way its early to mid 90s stuff there.
The tape stock is a weird mix for sure, most look to be early to mid 80s based on JVC I've seen in the past, though those 9 hour ones are much later tapes, I'd say mid 90s at the earliest. As it is, 9 hour tapes are kind of odd, I've definitely seen 8 hour tapes and even 10 hour tapes much more often.
Good point previously about the target 80s demographic for VHS purchases (and thus tapings). One of my earliest seemingly never recorded over tape came from November 1983 (back when tapes would have still been at least $10 each) and it included back to back airings of South Pacific and Oklahoma from a independent station. If a John Wayne or Alfred Hitchcock film was also included then all the stereotype boxes would have been checked off.
Sheesh, Lawrence Welk pops up every so often too. It was popular when PBS ran him. Westerns are the most common film genre I find on home-recorded VHS tapes, next to classic dramas like Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, The African Queen or The Yearling. Lots of people around here love The Duke. Music programs are likely to be TNN rather than rock concerts, just because of the locale I live in. Conservative, farming, family values. I don't mind as several of my family members are country fans, and especially of the 1980s to 1990s acts like George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Alabama, and Garth.
Even some soaps are rarer than others. Young and the Restless has been the #1 soap for over 30 years now, but I find Days of Our Lives more than any other soap on VHS tapes. I even have an episode from 1980!! With commercials! The ABC soaps are far and few between at times, but I have found OLTL and GH going back to '84. No Loving, Ryan's Hope, or The City. Also have not found episodes of NBC's Search for Tomorrow, or the CBS soap Capitol. This is through about 1,200 tapes so far.
As for 'stereotype boxes checked off,' the most generic blank tapes I find are John Wayne movies (or insert another classic actor) that were taped off either TBS or TNT. I've found USA's Up All Night once (with Gilbert Gottfried hosting) and Night Flight once as a syndicated weekend show and not the USA version. But I've found enough (W)TBS to last me my whole life! Those James Bond films are another common occurrence.
I don't pick up home movies except for the occasional vacation tape, because it may show places (restaurants, hotels, even downtown drivethroughs) that are defunct. One of my tapes has a RV drivethrough of Leavenworth from the summer of 1992, the grocery store doesn't exist anymore (it's now Safeway) and the downtown looks different than it does now.
Also, the Disney Channel pops up on VHS more often than Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network, not to mention weekday PM cartoons or Saturday morning cartoons from the networks. Probably because Disney was a premium service and families wanted to tape programs off that network as much as possible.
Finally, finding stuff from bigger markets in eBay lots from smaller towns - it's a pet peeve for me. Lots from Oregon and northern California have both netted Los Angeles/San Diego in the past. Let's face it, a 1990 newscast from KHSL or KRCR is a lot rarer than The Channel 4 News at 11 with Paul Moyer and Fred Roggin's sports report. But with a lot of people who have moved up from CA (and particularly southern CA), signs of their previous residency show up on those tapes.
Even some soaps are rarer than others. Young and the Restless has been the #1 soap for over 30 years now, but I find Days of Our Lives more than any other soap on VHS tapes. I even have an episode from 1980!! With commercials! The ABC soaps are far and few between at times, but I have found OLTL and GH going back to '84. No Loving, Ryan's Hope, or The City. Also have not found episodes of NBC's Search for Tomorrow, or the CBS soap Capitol. This is through about 1,200 tapes so far.
As for 'stereotype boxes checked off,' the most generic blank tapes I find are John Wayne movies (or insert another classic actor) that were taped off either TBS or TNT. I've found USA's Up All Night once (with Gilbert Gottfried hosting) and Night Flight once as a syndicated weekend show and not the USA version. But I've found enough (W)TBS to last me my whole life! Those James Bond films are another common occurrence.
I don't pick up home movies except for the occasional vacation tape, because it may show places (restaurants, hotels, even downtown drivethroughs) that are defunct. One of my tapes has a RV drivethrough of Leavenworth from the summer of 1992, the grocery store doesn't exist anymore (it's now Safeway) and the downtown looks different than it does now.
Also, the Disney Channel pops up on VHS more often than Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network, not to mention weekday PM cartoons or Saturday morning cartoons from the networks. Probably because Disney was a premium service and families wanted to tape programs off that network as much as possible.
Finally, finding stuff from bigger markets in eBay lots from smaller towns - it's a pet peeve for me. Lots from Oregon and northern California have both netted Los Angeles/San Diego in the past. Let's face it, a 1990 newscast from KHSL or KRCR is a lot rarer than The Channel 4 News at 11 with Paul Moyer and Fred Roggin's sports report. But with a lot of people who have moved up from CA (and particularly southern CA), signs of their previous residency show up on those tapes.