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Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

Tape 1 tape label looked a lot older than the actual tape stock, unmarked:
1994/11/24 Home Alone (2:01) (WRDC28)
-What year did this become a Thanksgiving night tradition to air on NBC? 1993? 1992?
1994/11/24 Abbott & Costello Meet Seinfeld 58m (WRDC28) this makes the complete block from that night
Among the Wild Chimpanzees National Geographic copied from rental
Beverly Hills Cop copied from rental (nearly full tape but the rental copies were disappointing)

Tape 2 unmarked Scotch stock with 1980s US Olympics logo
1988/2/4 ABC Thursday Night Movie: Firefox (WLS7) (2:57)
-Always nice to find a network movie recording with commercials, too bad this ended a few minutes before the end right as Al Michaels and Frank Gifford were doing a short promo for the upcoming 1988 Winter Olympics, tape ended at 2:57

Tape 3 unmarked with mismatched label and tape stock
1998/5/14 Complete News Block of WRAL5 5PM, 530, 6PM and CBS Evening News recorded on SP of all things
-First few minutes of Inside Edition was also included, being SP ended at 2:03
-I know a few people who would use the same VHS tape over and over again to tape the nightly news as they would view one network (either CBS or NBC or ABC) then tape the other, however this looks like it was only taped once as there was little to no tape damage

Tape 4 marked comedy tape SCTV SNL
-So about 3 years ago I answered a Craigslist ad for recorded tapes from a guy about an hour from me. Sadly when I got them home many if not most were badly molded so they went in the trash. A few were clean and some others were mold fixable, and this was one of those. The guy had a very haphazard way of taping to say the least, many different programs and sometimes even genres on one tape, for example one tape had a rare 1980s documentary on strippers yet what followed was some PBS classical concert and some classic monster movies on AMC. So to the contents:
1) SCTV, Access America, and Best of SNL Halloween, I'd guess these were all Fall 1991 but all commercials were cut so hard to tell. The first two programs were recorded off very very early Comedy Central, and Access America is an impossible to find Fred Willard hosted show that profiled the wild and strange of local cable access TV.
2) 1991/11/9 Best of SNL (WXII12) (1:30) finally one with commercials I could properly date
3) More fragments of episodes of SCTV off Comedy Central
4) 1991/12/9 ? Designing Women (WFMY2) 29m syndicated episode
5) 1991? This Is Your Life Frances Farmer (AMC) included promos but they didn't have commercials then?
6) 1991? This Is Your Life Jayne Mansfield (AMC) this time promos cut
7) SCTV episode fragments plus some fragments of a weird show with talking chimpanzees from the 1970s?
8) 1991/1/27 Designing Women (WFMY2) 29m another syndicated episode dated to start of Winter Olympics
Total running time on all this was over 6 hours!

Tape 5 marked Whos The Boss Growing Pains MacGyver finale
1992/4/25 Who's The Boss, Growing Pains, and MacGyver series finales complete block (WTVD11) (3:00)
-Was this normal to have 3 popular serieses all have finales all on the same night (a Saturday night no less)? It seems now they string out a TV series over multiple years to slowly unveil an ending now. Apparently information online disagrees that this was the last official episode of MacGyver, but they did 2 TV movies after the "end" anyways.
1992/4/23 WRAL5 11PM News 26m missing first segment
1992/4/23 Married With Children (WRAL5) 30m syndicated airing
-I never knew that this show was syndicated as early as 1992. I do remember my dad watching this alot in the 90s.
1992/4/24 Crimetime After Primetime (WRAL5) (1:00) Silk Stalkings "The Sock Drawer"
-I was absolutely THRILLED to find this one. I remember watching this series (and the other shows under the Crimetime After Primetime umbrella) as a very young kid as it was more "taboo" and "adult" than anything else on TV I could see then as my parents refused to get cable. The sex themes and gratuitous use of simulated nudity and lingerie was quite racy for a 10 year old. Unfortunately it was a recording of the relatively easy to find show as Silk Stalkings, Forever Knight, and Sweating Bullets were fully released on DVD years ago. Other shows like Dark Justice and some of the extremely short lived shows from that programming series are impossible to find and probably will never be released and only exist on random recorded VHS.
1992/4/24 Inside Edition (WRAL5) 30m Bill O'Reilly era
1992/4/24 WRAL 5 11PM News 30m replay but this time complete and with different commercials than first time
Total running time on this a full 6 hours and then some....
 
Tape 1 tape label looked a lot older than the actual tape stock, unmarked:
1994/11/24 Home Alone (2:01) (WRDC28)
-What year did this become a Thanksgiving night tradition to air on NBC? 1993? 1992?
1994/11/24 Abbott & Costello Meet Seinfeld 58m (WRDC28) this makes the complete block from that night
Among the Wild Chimpanzees National Geographic copied from rental
Beverly Hills Cop copied from rental (nearly full tape but the rental copies were disappointing)

Tape 2 unmarked Scotch stock with 1980s US Olympics logo
1988/2/4 ABC Thursday Night Movie: Firefox (WLS7) (2:57)
-Always nice to find a network movie recording with commercials, too bad this ended a few minutes before the end right as Al Michaels and Frank Gifford were doing a short promo for the upcoming 1988 Winter Olympics, tape ended at 2:57

Tape 3 unmarked with mismatched label and tape stock
1998/5/14 Complete News Block of WRAL5 5PM, 530, 6PM and CBS Evening News recorded on SP of all things
-First few minutes of Inside Edition was also included, being SP ended at 2:03
-I know a few people who would use the same VHS tape over and over again to tape the nightly news as they would view one network (either CBS or NBC or ABC) then tape the other, however this looks like it was only taped once as there was little to no tape damage

Tape 4 marked comedy tape SCTV SNL
-So about 3 years ago I answered a Craigslist ad for recorded tapes from a guy about an hour from me. Sadly when I got them home many if not most were badly molded so they went in the trash. A few were clean and some others were mold fixable, and this was one of those. The guy had a very haphazard way of taping to say the least, many different programs and sometimes even genres on one tape, for example one tape had a rare 1980s documentary on strippers yet what followed was some PBS classical concert and some classic monster movies on AMC. So to the contents:
1) SCTV, Access America, and Best of SNL Halloween, I'd guess these were all Fall 1991 but all commercials were cut so hard to tell. The first two programs were recorded off very very early Comedy Central, and Access America is an impossible to find Fred Willard hosted show that profiled the wild and strange of local cable access TV.
2) 1991/11/9 Best of SNL (WXII12) (1:30) finally one with commercials I could properly date
3) More fragments of episodes of SCTV off Comedy Central
4) 1991/12/9 ? Designing Women (WFMY2) 29m syndicated episode
5) 1991? This Is Your Life Frances Farmer (AMC) included promos but they didn't have commercials then?
6) 1991? This Is Your Life Jayne Mansfield (AMC) this time promos cut
7) SCTV episode fragments plus some fragments of a weird show with talking chimpanzees from the 1970s?
8) 1991/1/27 Designing Women (WFMY2) 29m another syndicated episode dated to start of Winter Olympics
Total running time on all this was over 6 hours!

Tape 5 marked Whos The Boss Growing Pains MacGyver finale
1992/4/25 Who's The Boss, Growing Pains, and MacGyver series finales complete block (WTVD11) (3:00)
-Was this normal to have 3 popular serieses all have finales all on the same night (a Saturday night no less)? It seems now they string out a TV series over multiple years to slowly unveil an ending now. Apparently information online disagrees that this was the last official episode of MacGyver, but they did 2 TV movies after the "end" anyways.
1992/4/23 WRAL5 11PM News 26m missing first segment
1992/4/23 Married With Children (WRAL5) 30m syndicated airing
-I never knew that this show was syndicated as early as 1992. I do remember my dad watching this alot in the 90s.
1992/4/24 Crimetime After Primetime (WRAL5) (1:00) Silk Stalkings "The Sock Drawer"
-I was absolutely THRILLED to find this one. I remember watching this series (and the other shows under the Crimetime After Primetime umbrella) as a very young kid as it was more "taboo" and "adult" than anything else on TV I could see then as my parents refused to get cable. The sex themes and gratuitous use of simulated nudity and lingerie was quite racy for a 10 year old. Unfortunately it was a recording of the relatively easy to find show as Silk Stalkings, Forever Knight, and Sweating Bullets were fully released on DVD years ago. Other shows like Dark Justice and some of the extremely short lived shows from that programming series are impossible to find and probably will never be released and only exist on random recorded VHS.
1992/4/24 Inside Edition (WRAL5) 30m Bill O'Reilly era
1992/4/24 WRAL 5 11PM News 30m replay but this time complete and with different commercials than first time
Total running time on this a full 6 hours and then some....

I think 1993
 
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.


I would love to see the vacation footage!
 
It will come eventually...I have dozens of tapes to post, 1000s of videos from my cloud to re-post to Archive and YouTube plus I am selling stuff on eBay and may be going back to work before the end of the month. I am very busy right now.
 
1992/4/23 Married With Children (WRAL5) 30m syndicated airing
-I never knew that this show was syndicated as early as 1992. I do remember my dad watching this alot in the 90s.
From what I understand, TV shows usually go into syndication after airing 4-5 seasons on network TV. Married... With Children premiered on April 5, 1987. According to Wikipedia, the show entered syndication in the Fall of 1991.
 
It will come eventually...I have dozens of tapes to post, 1000s of videos from my cloud to re-post to Archive and YouTube plus I am selling stuff on eBay and may be going back to work before the end of the month. I am very busy right now.

When you get around to it do you plan on posting it on youtube or archive?
 
Both, as it should not have a lot of copyrighted stuff. However, it may take until early 2022 to get done with every re-post on my cloud. I have way too many videos and everything got pulled down from YT on 3/24-25. Currently I have about 3,100 re-uploaded videos on Archive and about 1,500 on the AVTB YouTube account.
 
Hello everyone -- first time posting! I see that a lot of people go to the Goodwill stores to find vintage VHS tapes. I was wondering if there is a distinction between the Goodwill Outlets and the regular Goodwill stores? I have a few Goodwill stores around where I live, and an Outlet not very far away, but in your experience, does the outlet tend to carry more VHS tapes? Or is it really store-by-store case? Thank you!
 
The Goodwill retail stores do NOT carry blank VHS tapes. Liability, copyright, "it could be porn" issues.
The OUTLET stores DO carry blank VHS tapes in the bins, at least most of the stores. Where are you located? I've only been into the Pasco WA outlet store, and only found one tape that was home-recorded, but it definitely had programming taped off TV w/ commercials (nothing inappropriate). It doesn't help that I likely missed the spring cleaning piles.
Best bet for finding VHS tapes in the wild: Look on your local region's Craigslist, search "garage sales" and find listings for estate sales. Most estate sale operators don't throw old tapes in the house away. Some sales won't have tapes (or just retail tapes) because the person who lived there may have not had as much interest in recording or archiving. For other folks, they archived everything or taped their favorite soaps and the tapes were left in the house...always a luck of the draw!
 
The Goodwill retail stores do NOT carry blank VHS tapes. Liability, copyright, "it could be porn" issues.
The OUTLET stores DO carry blank VHS tapes in the bins, at least most of the stores. Where are you located? I've only been into the Pasco WA outlet store, and only found one tape that was home-recorded, but it definitely had programming taped off TV w/ commercials (nothing inappropriate). It doesn't help that I likely missed the spring cleaning piles.
Best bet for finding VHS tapes in the wild: Look on your local region's Craigslist, search "garage sales" and find listings for estate sales. Most estate sale operators don't throw old tapes in the house away. Some sales won't have tapes (or just retail tapes) because the person who lived there may have not had as much interest in recording or archiving. For other folks, they archived everything or taped their favorite soaps and the tapes were left in the house...always a luck of the draw!
Thanks for the information! I might take a look at the outlet store near to me and see what they have. I'm glad you let me know about the Goodwill retails stores so I wouldn't waste a trip there looking for something they don't carry. The Craigslist suggestion is also a good one.

Incidentally, since this thread is about oldest extant VHS tapes, I found what I think to be a rather rare one: an Oct. 31, 1992 Halloween block from TNT's "Monstervision." It showed old horror movies and the like. This block contains the Rankin/Bass 1967 stop motion film "Mad Monster Party" (Rankin/Bass is the production company who created "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the like), "The Phantom of the Opera" (older version), and "Little Shop of Horrors." Exciting find, to be sure!
 
Thanks for the information! I might take a look at the outlet store near to me and see what they have. I'm glad you let me know about the Goodwill retails stores so I wouldn't waste a trip there looking for something they don't carry. The Craigslist suggestion is also a good one.

Incidentally, since this thread is about oldest extant VHS tapes, I found what I think to be a rather rare one: an Oct. 31, 1992 Halloween block from TNT's "Monstervision." It showed old horror movies and the like. This block contains the Rankin/Bass 1967 stop motion film "Mad Monster Party" (Rankin/Bass is the production company who created "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the like), "The Phantom of the Opera" (older version), and "Little Shop of Horrors." Exciting find, to be sure!
That is quite the find indeed! From personal experience, the Goodwill Outlets carry home recorded VHS tapes in the states of North Carolina, Virginia, and New Jersey. I'm not sure if there are Goodwill Outlets in every state so it does vary. Also, I'd look for local independent thrift stores in your area, they are more likely to sell anything that comes through the door. Or, if you have a local e-cycling thrift shop, they will sell these recorded blanks as well, or sell them for art projects or even just for "the parts". Some of these same stores will even give away boxes of VHS for free but it depends on the workers that day and how likely they are to just dump it instead of bringing it to the sales floor. I would also try putting out an ad on Craigslist or Nextdoor asking if people have any old VHS tapes they want to get rid of. Most folks are happy to get rid of it and will just leave it on their front doorstep for you to pick up, contactless.
 
No 'independent' thrift stores in Yakima or Ellensburg sell blank VHS tapes. Some barely sell any tapes whatsoever just because they aren't worth anything (well, except for old TV tapings and the occasional horror movie out of print).
One in Tri-Cities sells blanks (Atomic City, where I miraculously found recordings of Garfield & Friends from WGN, plus Eureeka's Castle and The Monkees from Nickelodeon).
Meanwhile, 95% of my Yakima recordings come from estate sales or moving sales! Like I said TVTime, just search craigslist for estate sales in your area and check them out. Maybe you'll end up lucky like me - finding one someday with not only VHS tapes, but tons of 1970s-1990s toys and entertainment memorabilia for sale. For me, that was the estate sale in Selah that took a whopping 4 weeks to complete. She collected so many things that it took forever for the estate sale operator to clear out the house PLUS several storage units. Did I really think I'd find an original Teddy Ruxpin w/ 7 stories on tape (needs work - eyes are broken and tape is sluggish - will be sending it to New York this winter for repairs) in the same trip as VHS tapes that contained various '90s talk shows and sitcoms? Nope! See why I love waking up very early on Saturday mornings?
 
I have never seen a flash drive (except brand new) at Goodwill, or CD-Rs to boot. Half of Goodwill nowadays is brand new crap and clothes marked up to insane prices. I haven't been inside a Goodwill (except for the Pasco Outlet) since last year, maybe even before the pandemic. They've gone downhill for the past 5-6 years. Support independent stores and mom-and-pop type places, and most definitely those thrift stores that have stuff piled up everywhere and anywhere. There's a place in Moses Lake called Bargain Town that is just like that. Don't let the bad reviews fool you. There is so much stuff in that store and they sell cheap used furniture as well. Got my ice chest there for $4 and a gently used storage organizer for my bathroom also for $4 (retail $20). They don't sell blank tapes due to liability, but it's a nice classic thrift hunt.
 
These are all great suggestions, thank you! There's one Goodwill Outlet located about 15 minutes from me. It's not very far, so it might be worth a look. I'll also have to check out if there are any independent thrift stores in my area. Placing a Craiglist/Nextdoor ad sounds like a good idea, also, especially if they'll do the type of contactless pickup described.

Sounds like you've found some really great stuff, Crainbebo! That estate sale must have been a true treasure trove of vintage and classic items and memorabilia!
 
Also outdoor flea markets or swap meets or whatever the slang term is in your area is a good place to find vintage tapes, I once found some early 1980s Beta tapes at one years ago.

To give you an example of luck from Craigslist, I once got a box of VHS tapes and a VCR free from some lady and it included all mid 1980s Duke basketball recordings that were all items that previously did not exist in any form, plus a tape with the series finale of Seinfeld and a lot of other stuff. Another time I got a box of 40 TV recorded tapes from the mid 90s, and another woman filled a whole plastic bin of commercial VHS releases, but hey if its a mass produced cheap tape I can always use the tape shells as donors.
 
I didn't think of flea markets! There's a fairly large one not far from where I live that's held every weekend, Friday through Sunday (according to their FB page). I might visit them in the upcoming weeks. All these suggestions are great! I wouldn't have ever thought of these options on my own!
 
An incredible weekend - and I still have tapes to look at! Here's a preliminary list of what I've gotten so far. Estate sale in Yakima delivered, and today, I went back up to Wenatchee for the first time in three years. The Veterans Warehouse Thrift Store moved locations a couple of years back from downtown Wenatchee, to a new building near the Town Toyota Center, north of downtown. The store was so jam-packed with items and donations, it nearly felt like I was going through contents from hoarders. So many CDs that there were storage tubs on the floor that still had more CDs. Enough books for a small-town public library. And downstairs, enough VHS tapes for a Blockbuster. In that basement, I hit a VHS jackpot. Every tenth tape (out of 1500+) seemed to be a home-recorded tape of some kind. They don't throw most of them out. I had to leave so many behind, but I'm glad I had a phone on me to check movie titles on the labels that I was not familiar with. I ended up searching one of them that was an XXX porn flick. Yikes! They can have it - and throw it in recycling for all I care. For those who are interested in the TV market logistics, Wenatchee is one of those 'in-between' towns, they get Seattle on cable and Spokane has historically been on translators in the Wenatchee Valley and west to Leavenworth. KYVE had a translator there at one point, but KCTS later took control of it. The local cable carried KIMA and KNDO Yakima in the early '80s but I believe they dropped them sometime in that decade.

15+ from Yakima, and 25 from Wenatchee.

Yakima (so far)
Tape 1 - 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939) taped off KIMA/CBS on 2/15/1986 minus commercials; 'An American in Paris' (1951) taped off The Movie Channel on 5/5/1987 with promos afterwards (the 3AM 'VCR Theater' showing); partial episode of Richie Rich (1980 series) taped off unknown CBS station in early 1985 with a few commercials, likely KIMA, but the audio was barely there and the video was in B&W - antenna or VCR issue unfortunately; last few minutes of 'All of Me' (1984) taped off The Movie Channel on 10/8/1985 with promos. Sony T-120
Tape 2 - 'Toothless' (1997) taped off KAPP/ABC on 10/5/1997 with commercials (Wonderful World of Disney); clip of Baking with Julia and about 15 minutes of The Lawrence Welk Show taped off KYVE/PBS in October 1997 with promos; a strange mix of movie clips and (mostly) TV static follow; after a good hour of this, the tape switches to most of an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun and the open to Working taped off KNDO/NBC on 11/12/1997 with commercials; partial episode of The Pretender and episode of Profiler taped off KNDO/NBC on 11/22/1997 with commercials; ends with a brief clip of 'What the Deaf Man Heard' (1997) taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/23/1997 with a couple of Hallmark ads. Scotch T-120
Tape 3 - 'Polly' (1989) taped off KNDO/NBC on 11/12/1989 with commercials; episode of M*A*S*H taped off KIMA-29 in June 1992 with commercials; episode of NOVA taped off KYVE/PBS around September 1992 with promos before; end of part 2 of 'Love, Lies and Murder' taped off KIMA/CBS on 6/22/1992 with a few commercials; episode of Nature taped off KYVE/PBS circa summer 1992 ('Grizzly Country'); Bill Moyers Listening to America, Bricks & Sticks (local KYVE home improvement show) and part of a rare SPANISH version of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour taped off KYVE/PBS on 6/23/1992 with promos in between. SKC T-120
Tape 4 - Partial broadcast of The X-Files (syndicated repeat) taped off KCYU-LP 68 in March 1999 with commercials (I'm leaning on 3/14); Rosie O'Donnell Show clip with Brian Dennehy taped off KNDO on 3/17/1999; then cuts back to a partial broadcast of Psi Factor from the same KCYU recording, with commercials; partial broadcast of 'Candleshoe' (1977) taped off KAPP-35 on 8/15/1992 with commercials; part of 'Blackbeard's Ghost' (1968) taped off KAPP-35 in June 1992 with commercials; part of 'The Shaggy Dog' (1959) taped off KAPP-35 on 6/27/1992 with commercials; ends with part of a documentary on some painter, taped off PBS no doubt. JVC T-120
Tape 5 - 'Back to the Future' (1985) taped off unknown pay-TV channel; 'The Road Warrior' (1981) taped off The Movie Channel on 4/6/1987 with a few promos prior to the film (another VCR Theater broadcast at 3AM); 'My Blue Heaven' (1990) taped off KNDO/NBC on 10/4/1992 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 6 - Episode of Star Trek taped off KNDO-23 around July 1985 with one commercial break (rest pulled out); 'Star Trek III: The Search for Spock' (1984) taped off The Movie Channel in December 1985 with promos; 'Gallipoli' (1981) taped off unknown pay-TV channel. Sony T-120
Tape 7 - 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' (1979) taped off KAPP/ABC on 3/9/1987 with commercials (already have this from KTVX SLC); two episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series taped off KNDO-23 in June 1992 with commercials; Star Trek: The Next Generation episode taped off KNDO/NBC on 6/6/1992 with commercials; end of Northern Exposure and part of KIMA NewsBeat at 11 taped off KIMA/CBS on 6/1/1992 with commercials. Sony T-120
Tape 8 - Episode of Star Trek taped off KNDO-23 in July 1990 with commercials; reverts back to brief NOVA (PBS) and Kissyfur (NBC) clips, and gets taped over by another Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation taped 6/2/1990 off KNDO with commercials; Star Trek: Voyager: Inside the New Adventure taped off KCYU-LP 68 in January 1995 with commercials; pilot of Star Trek: Voyager taped off KCYU-LP 68 on 1/21/1995 with commercials. JVC STD T-120

Wenatchee thrift store (so far, some rental duds have been thrown out)
Tape 1 - 'Scrooge' (1970) taped off KAYU-28 Spokane in December 1986 with commercials (lots of toy ads - Teddy Ruxpin, Barbies, Transformers, etc.); 'Annie' (1982) taped off KING/NBC on 12/21/1986 with commercials; part 1 of At Mother's Request taped off KIRO/CBS on 1/4/1987 with commercials. Maxell T-120
Tape 2 - Episodes of As the World Turns and Guiding Light taped off KREM/CBS (translator K51DR East Wenatchee) on 4/4/2003 with commercials; ends with a few minutes of some '90s TV-movie at the end. Polaroid T-120 that originally had three Jim Carrey films on it
Tape 3 - The Amen Solution (seminar) taped off KBTC-DT/PBS in March 2011 with pledge breaks; most of an episode of American Idol (Hollywood Week) taped off KCPQ-DT/Fox on 2/5/2011 with commercials. Sony T-120, thrown in older Wal-Mart T-120 box...confusing
Tape 4 - 'G.I. Blues' (1960) taped off TBS on 10/4/1992 with commercials; 'Chisum' (1970) taped off TBS in November 1992 minus commercials; end of 'Runaway Father' (1991) taped off KMGH/CBS in July 1992 with a few seconds of a news teaser afterwards; partial episode of Dark Justice, Ronco Amazing Inventions infomercial and 1AM sign-off taped off KREM/CBS (also from K51DR) on 7/10-11/1992 with commercials - sadly, the original VCR tracked the tape wrong and there are eight or nine nasty lines taking up about 2/3rds of the screen. Not my VCR's fault at least, it was the fault of the original VCR. After the SSB, KREM put an ID up all night long. However, the recording did end, and the last recording on the tape is about 40 minutes of CBS News Nightwatch (without VCR tracking issues) taped off KREM/CBS on 8/15/1991 with commercials (mostly 900 numbers, and Elvis Mitchell fills in for Charlie Rose). Gemini T-120
Tape 5 - 'Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story' (1993) taped off KHQ/NBC (translator K65AU Stemilt/Wenatchee) on 9/27/1993 with commercials, signal is variable going from viewable to 'ghosting'; 'Precious Victims' (1993) taped off KMGH/CBS on 9/28/1993 with commercials (no doubt off C-Band); episode of Home Improvement and part of the Grace Under Fire premiere taped off KUSA/ABC on 9/29/1993 with commercials; partial episode of Rush Limbaugh and 1 hour of NBC Nightside taped off KHQ-6 early on 9/28/1993 with commercials - variable signal especially at the end of Limbaugh. This no doubt is the continuation of the recording from Shattered Trust. JVC T-120
Tape 6 - 'Schindler's List' (1993) taped off unknown NBC station (likely KPNX-12) on 2/23/1997, aired with no commercials; Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversary Party, 20/20, and part of News 15 at 10 taped off KNXV-15 Phoenix/ABC on 2/28/1997 with commercials (my first find from channel 15 Phoenix!); part of Danny Kaye: A Legacy of Laughter and part of Victor Borge II taped off KAET/PBS in December 1996 with pledge breaks (another first for me, finding content from the Phoenix PBS station); 'Mrs. Santa Claus' (1996) taped off KPHO/CBS on 12/8/1996 with commercials (already have this from KIMA). Sony T-160
Tape 7 - Starts with a clip from Entertainment Tonight, then cuts to the 26th Annual Grammy Awards taped off KREM/CBS on 2/28/1984 with commercials, hosted by John Denver! What a treat! Also: a clip of the CBS Morning News from 3/1/1984 featuring Grammy winners; part of an episode of Entertainment Tonight taped off KREM-2 in March 1984 with commercials (my oldest ever!) The tape is a little beat up however and I will try to copy it off on a mono VCR instead of the Sony. Unknown brand T-120 with no case.
Tape 8 - 'Rear Window' (1954) taped off unknown channel with no commercials or promos; part of 'High Sierra' (1941) taped off Superstation TBS on 9/30/1988 with commercials. Kodak T-120
Tape 9 - 'Seduction in a Small Town' (1997) taped off KOMO/ABC on 2/9/1997 with commercials; 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1997) taped off TNT on 3/16/1997 with commercials, then flips over to KSTW/CBS for 'Stolen Women, Captured Hearts' (1997) with some commercials (some breaks paused); ends with part 1 of 'The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All' (1994) taped off KSTW/CBS minus commercials. Wal-Mart T-160
Tape 10 - Half of Pearl Harbor: Two Hours That Changed the World taped off KXLY/ABC on 12/5/1991 with commercials. Quasar T-60, and in SP, which explains the missing 2nd hour. If they just would have recorded in LP this wouldn't be a problem...
 
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