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Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

Beverly died years ago as I recall. I believe her house caved in and she was killed by the impact. And this was after her tape collection was thrown out to the junkyard.
Hey, at least she was taping airchecks from local radio stations - that's a reason why I rarely buy old recorded cassette tapes, because 95% of them are dubbed from CDs or LPs. Rarely do you find an actual C-60 or C-90 that has an hour or more of top 40 music taped off an FM station in the '80s, commercials, DJ chatter and all. The best cassette find I've made were two that had recordings from KIXI-880, Seattle's adult standards station, taped in 1988 and 1998, w/ commercials to boot. Still need to post them. Much of the music back then was 1940s to early 1960s.
That's too bad what happened to her. The tape collection really should have gone to some tape archival place. Hopefully somebody at the junkyard saved some of the tapes.
 
Just received a lot of Beta tapes from western Kansas (Leoti, small town N of Dodge City) and already finding some spectacular stuff. This will be the only eBay lot, Beta or VHS, I buy this winter. As 16 tapes arrive, another 26 are going up for auction. That's how it's gonna go for the foreseeable future...trying to clean out early. I think all except one are L-750s, one is an L-250.

Meanwhile, I've only checked two tapes out of 16, they aren't from western Kansas as I was hoping (taped from Houston TV stations instead), but there has been GREAT stuff.
- Hooperman series premiere (KTRK) w/ commercials
- Slap Maxwell Story series premiere (KTRK) w/ commercials - both of these are from 9/23/87 and were on the first tape

- Entire late afternoon/early evening aircheck of KHOU from 10/30/87 w/ commercials on tape 2, full Oprah Winfrey with the parents of Baby Jessica (who fell in that well in Odessa and it took 50+ hours to rescue her), Oprah went down with her crew to Odessa and taped at the local convention center; FULL 5 and 6PM KHOU newscasts, full CBS News with Dan Rather (which aired at 5:30), full Wheel of Fortune (my oldest yet! - and first I've found with the late Jack Clark announcing), full Beauty and the Beast and 1/2 of Dallas.

Can't wait to see what's on the others!
 
Long airchecks that don't just consist of a primetime movie, late news, and some late night (save if there's a music or other rare show) are always the best out there, especially pre-1995. I'll bet there's quite a few Halloween-themed ads in there and perhaps a story about the holiday during the KHOU newscasts. Nice find on the Wheel during its first month of the all-cash format that still remains to this day! Too bad all those toss-ups and extra sponsors eat up a lot of Wheel time. Adam Siegel has likely the world record for most Wheel episodes personally taped (over 3,000, with over half of those posted online), but that doesn't look to be one of them as GSN aired very few episodes from that season. Looking forward to seeing the rest as that's usually a good omen!
 
Would be nice to get some Wheel without Charlie O'Donnell, Jack Clark, or MG Kelly announcing. Like those with Jeopardy! Announcer Johnny Gilbert announcing.
 
Found a peculiar thing in a circa 1988/89/90 recording of the movie "The Yellow Cab Man" from TNT. In the middle of the recording was a few minutes of an episode of the game show "Scrabble," yet the video was in B&W and was very noisy, and the audio was roaring static. I theorize that the cable feed of the channel that had that program was very poor; I've come across WTBS recordings that were in B&W and had crackly audio.
 
Found a peculiar thing in a circa 1988/89/90 recording of the movie "The Yellow Cab Man" from TNT. In the middle of the recording was a few minutes of an episode of the game show "Scrabble," yet the video was in B&W and was very noisy, and the audio was roaring static. I theorize that the cable feed of the channel that had that program was very poor; I've come across WTBS recordings that were in B&W and had crackly audio.
Its possible it was a poorly done tapeover, and the taper realized they never fully Fastforwarded the tape to the blank spot, I've noticed that also happening if there is a stark change in tape speed, usually from SP to EP.
 
Well, I ended up giving in and purchasing that lot of tapes from Lake Elsinore, California on eBay. Decent content on most of these. Almost all of the local content/major network shows are recorded from Los Angeles stations, except for one from a San Diego station.

TAPE 1: Garlits: The Legend Lives On taped from TNN on 12/4/1988 with commercials; partial broadcast of Saturday Night Live taped from KNBC on December 3-4, 1988 with commercials; partial episode of All My Children and most of One Life to Live taped from KABC on 12/1/1988 with commercials; Loving, All My Children, One Life to Live and partial episode of General Hospital taped from KABC on 12/2/1988 with commercials. JVC T-120.

TAPE 2: End of Dharma & Greg, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place and The Drew Carey Show taped from KABC on 5/26/1999 with commercials; partial episode of NYPD Blue and start of Eyewitness News at 11:00 taped from KABC on 5/18/1999 with commercials; end of Dharma & Greg, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, The Drew Carey Show and start of The Norm Show taped from KABC on 5/19/1999 with commercials; partial one-hour season finale of Friends taped from KNBC on 5/20/1999 with commercials; Forbidden Depths taped from the Discovery Channel on 6/6/1999 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 3: Partial episode of Mad About You and partial episode of NewsRadio taped from KNBC on 1/6/1998 minus commercials; partial broadcast of Channel 4 News at 11:00, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and partial broadcast of Late Night with Conan O'Brien taped from KNBC on May 14-15, 1998 with commercials--contains two news cut-ins on the death of Frank Sinatra, one from Channel 4 News and one from NBC News, the latter is incomplete; partial episode of ER and start of Channel 4 News at 11:00 taped from KNBC on 12/10/1998 with commercials; Mad About You taped from KNBC on 12/14/1998 with commercials; partial episode of Home Improvement taped from KABC on 9/23/1997 with commercials; partial episode of Getting Fit with Denise Austin taped from ESPN sometime in 1991 with commercials. Fuji T-120.

TAPE 4: Partial broadcast of the 1989 ACC Men's Basketball Championship and coverage of the 1989 NHRA Winternationals taped from KNBC on 3/12/1989 with commercials; coverage of the 1989 Fram NHRA Supernationals taped from ESPN in April 1989 with commercials; end of SpeedWeek and coverage of the 1989 Motorcraft NHRA Gatornationals taped from ESPN on 4/7/1989 with commercials; American Sports Cavalcade broadcast of the 1989 NHRA Mid-South Nationals and start of Inside Winston Cup Racing taped from TNN in May 1989 with commercials; partial episode of The Cosby Show taped from KNBC on 3/17/1988 with commercials; partial episode of Full House taped from KABC on 3/18/1988 with commercials; partial episode of M*A*S*H taped from KTTV in March 1988 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 5: 1996 Brickyard 400 Pre-Race taped from ESPN on 8/3/1996 with commercials; 1996 Brickyard 400, episode of The Extremists and start of Eyewitness News at 6:00 taped from KABC on 8/3/1996 with commercials. TDK T-120.

TAPE 6: Pilot episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and start of Channel 4 News at 11:00 taped from KNBC on 9/18/2006 with commercials; Modern Marvels taped from the History Channel on 9/20/2006 with commercials; partial episode of Deal or No Deal and episode of ER taped from KNBC on 9/21/2006 with commercials; coverage of the 2006 Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals taped from ESPN2 on 10/1/2006 with commercials; partial broadcast of NHRA 2Day taped from ESPN2 on 9/30/2006 with commercials; partial coverage of the 2006 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony taped from ESPN2 on 7/30/2006. Kodak T-120.

TAPE 7: Easy Rider (1969) taped from HBO in October 1987 with promos; St. Elsewhere taped from KNBC on 11/4/1987 with commercials; partial episode of General Hospital taped from KABC on 10/30/1987 with commercials; partial episode of One Life to Live and episode of General Hospital taped from KABC on 10/29/1987 with commercials; partial episode of General Hospital and first couple minutes of The Tom Snyder Show with guest Robert Blake taped from KABC on 2/25/1986 with commercials. Maxell T-120.

TAPE 8: Soul of the Game (1996 made-for-TV movie) taped from HBO in April 1996 (not the original broadcast); One Life to Live and General Hospital taped from KABC on 4/22/1996 with commercials; Wheel of Fortune taped from KABC on 4/12/1996 with commercials; partial episode of Wheel of Fortune taped from KABC on 3/12/1996 with commercials; partial episode of The American Experience taped from KCET on 1/29/1996 with promos; end of One Life to Live and start of General Hospital taped from KABC in December 1995 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 9: Sister Act (1992) taped from Showtime in summer 1993 with promos; Northern Exposure, partial broadcast of News 8 Nightside (has the first minute or so, then cuts to about halfway through the newscast) and partial broadcast of the Late Show with David Letterman taped from KFMB on 4/11/1994 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 10: The New American Sportsman, NHRA 2Day and Inside Drag Racing taped from ESPN2 on 11/19/2006 with commercials; partial episode of Unsolved History taped from the Discovery Channel on 12/2/2006 with commercials; partial coverage of the 2006 Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals taped from ESPN2 on 11/12/2006 with commercials; partial coverage of the 2005 Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals taped from ESPN2 on 11/13/2005 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 11: End of Dharma & Greg, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line Is It Anyway taped from KABC on 12/16/1998 with commercials; partial broadcast of the 1998 Winston Cup Awards Banquet taped from ESPN on 12/4/1998 with commercials, rough audio throughout; partial episode of NYPD Blue and start of Eyewitness News at 11:00 taped from KABC on 11/7/1995 with commercials; partial broadcast of NHRA Today and broadcast of Inside Winston Cup Racing taped from TNN on 11/5/1995 with commercials; partial episode of Shadetree Mechanic taped from TNN on 10/22/1995 with commercials; partial coverage of the 1995 X Games and start of Top Rank Boxing taped from ESPN on 7/1/1995 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 12: VH1 Legends episode on John Fogerty and John Fogerty: Premonition taped from VH1 on 6/9/1998 with commercials. Sony T-120.

Will continue in another post due to the 10,000 character limit.
 
TAPE 13: NHRA Today taped from ESPN2 on 6/27/2004 with commercials; coverage of the 2004 Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals (including the fatal crash of Darrell Russell) taped from ESPN2 on 6/27/2004 with commercials; partial coverage of the 2004 K&N NHRA Supernationals taped from ESPN2 on 6/20/2004 with commercials; partial broadcast of The Men Who Killed Kennedy taped from the History Channel on 11/17/2003 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 14: RPM 2Night taped from ESPN2 on 8/30/1999 with commercials; Front Row Center with Deana Carter and Brian Wilson taped from TNN on 8/31/1999 with commercials; RPM 2Night taped from ESPN2 on 8/31/1999 with commercials; partial broadcast of SportsCenter taped from ESPN on 8/28/1999 with commercials; most of NFL 2Night taped from ESPN2 on 8/28/1999 with commercials; partial final episode of Mad About You and start of Dateline NBC taped from KNBC on 5/24/1999 with commercials; partial episode of Veronica's Closet and first couple minutes of ER taped from KNBC on 12/10/1998 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 15: Paul McCartney Live at the Cavern Club taped from DirecTV Freeview on 5/5/2000 with promos. Sony T-120.

TAPE 16: Coverage of the 2002 Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals taped from ESPN2 on 9/1/2002 with commercials; syndicated reruns of Malcolm in the Middle and The Simpsons (the latter is a Treehouse of Horror episode) taped from KTTV on 11/2/2005 with commercials; Las Vegas taped from KNBC on 11/7/2005 with commercials; ER taped from KNBC on 11/10/2005 with commercials; Pacific: The Lost Evidence taped from the History Channel on 11/18/2005 with commercials; That '70s Show taped from KTTV on 11/30/2005 with commercials; more coverage of the 2002 Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals taped from ESPN2 on 9/2/2002 with commercials. Polaroid T-120.

TAPE 17: Partial broadcast of ESPNews and coverage of the 2000 IHBA Greater Austin Nitro Nationals taped from ESPN2 in June 2000 with commercials; partial broadcast of Inside Drag Racing, coverage of the 2000 IHBA Mid-America Summer Nationals and partial broadcast of RPM 2Night taped from ESPN2 in June 2000 with commercials; Whose Line Is It Anyway and partial 90-minute episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire taped from KABC on 9/21/2000 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 18: Sports Night, NYPD Blue and start of Eyewitness News at 11:00 taped from KABC on 5/16/2000 with commercials; partial broadcast of CBS 2 News at 11:00 taped from KCBS on 5/16/2000 with commercials; most of NYPD Blue taped from KABC on 5/2/2000 with commercials (already have this episode taped from WEWS, in better quality at that); Whose Line Is It Anyway taped from KABC on 5/4/2000 with commercials; ER taped from KNBC on 5/4/2000 with commercials; partial broadcast of NASCAR Shop Talk then rejoining the remainder of the 1996 Winston Select 500 following the red flag and partial final round of the 1996 Las Vegas Senior Classic taped from ESPN on 5/18/1996 with commercials. Panasonic T-120.

TAPE 19: Cheers, Wings and L.A. Law taped from KNBC on 1/9/1992 with commercials; Cheers, Wings and L.A. Law taped from KNBC on 1/16/1992 with commercials; This Is Garth Brooks taped from KNBC on 1/17/1992 with commercials (already have this special taped from WKYC without the ads); partial episode of One Life to Live and partial episode of General Hospital taped from KABC on 12/5/1991 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 20: Parts nine and ten of From the Earth to the Moon taped from HBO on 5/3/1998 with promos; parts eleven and twelve of From the Earth to the Moon taped from HBO on 5/10/1998 with promos. Sony T-120.

TAPE 21: Coverage of the 1999 IHBA Coors Light World Finals and partial episode of In-Fisherman Television taped from TNN in November 1999 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 22: Oprah (Paul Reiser talks about Mad About You and his book Couplehood) and start of Eyewitness News at 4:00 taped from KABC on 11/1/1994 with commercials; NYPD Blue taped from KABC on 11/1/1994 with commercials; Oprah (Tom Cruise talks about Interview with the Vampire) taped from KABC on 11/8/1994 with commercials, includes a breaking news cut-in on a fire at a Home Depot in Signal Hill; Frasier and The John Larroquette Show taped from KNBC on 11/8/1994 with commercials, includes two election updates from Channel 4 News; The Barbara Walters Special and start of Eyewitness News Tonight taped from KABC on 11/9/1994 with commercials; partial episode of One Life to Live taped from 1/28/1994 with commercials; most of Grace Under Fire taped from KABC on 10/27/1993 with commercials. Memorex T-120.

TAPE 23: NASCAR Today taped from ESPN on 9/23/1995 with commercials; NHRA Today and Inside Winston Cup Racing taped from TNN on 9/24/1995 with commercials; end of NFL Gameday, partial broadcast of the 1995 Goody's 500 and partial broadcast of NASCAR Shop Talk taped from ESPN on 9/24/1995 with commercials; Mad About You, pilot episode of Hope & Gloria and start of The Unspoken Truth (NBC made-for-TV movie) taped from KNBC on 9/24/1995 with commercials; partial broadcast of the 1995 MBNA 500 taped from TNN on 9/17/1995 with commercials. Sony T-120.

TAPE 24: NYPD Blue taped from KABC on 4/2/1996 with commercials; JAG taped from KNBC on 4/3/1996 with commercials; MTV Unplugged with Hootie and the Blowfish taped from MTV on 4/22/1996 with commercials; partial broadcast of Floating Palaces and partial episode of Law & Order taped from A&E on 4/22/1996 with commercials; Late Show with David Letterman taped from KCBS on April 23-24, 1996 with commercials; partial rebroadcast of the 1997 Craftsman Truck Series Pronto Auto Parts 400 taped from ESPN2 in June 1997 with commercials; partial episode of Home Improvement taped from KABC on 10/11/1994 with commercials. Sony T-120, rough audio throughout.

TAPE 25: Home video footage of a slot car racing tournament taped circa 1987; partial episode of Loving, All My Children, One Life to Live, General Hospital and first minute of so of Oprah from her first season taped from KABC on 6/12/1987 with commercials; partial broadcast of Late Night with David Letterman taped from KNBC on 4/4/1987 with commercials. Kodak T-120.
 
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I'd say some good stuff to keep you occupied for now! Late '80s soaps, a Wheel episode from '96, lots of original broadcasts of sitcoms (including some a couple of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, which only lasted a couple seasons), and some L.A. newscasts. These folks were probably swing-shift workers who time-shifted...a lot.

Meanwhile, more Beta tapes inventoried from Kansas (Houston recordings):

- On tape 3, the first recording was 'Paris, Texas' (1984) taped off unknown channel, but leads into a KTRK recording of Dennis Weaver's 'Buck James,' a short-lived medical drama taped 11/8/1987 with commercials! Ends with part of the original 'The Fly' (1958) taped off KTXH 20Vision in October '87 w/ commercials.
- Tape 4 had HBO recordings of 'The Karate Kid Part II' and 'Enemy Mine' with lots of promos, taped 7/19 and 7/21/1987
- Tape 5 had a KHOU 'Great Late Movie' recording of 'Julia' (1977) taped 9/20-21/1986 w/ commercials, along with the '60s Reunion at the Fillmore show with Bill Graham, taped off HBO (no promos)
- 'The Secret Garden' (1987) was on tape 6 off KHOU/CBS 11/30/1987, with the usual Hallmark ads
- Tape 7 had 'Gremlins' (1984) taped off HBO on 6/11/1986 with lots of promos afterwards, including a behind-the-scenes look at 'SpaceCamp' with a Kate Capshaw interview also shown.
Hopefully, more goodies to come in the last 6-8 tapes.

There are also a few new VHS tapes from an estate sale last Saturday in Yakima.
Tape 1 - Most of an episode of Murder, She Wrote and part of a rerun of The View taped off A&E in August 2002 with commercials. I had no idea that The View was reran on A&E after the ABC airing! Maxell T-160
Tape 2 - 'The Magic of Ordinary Days' (2005) taped off KIMA/CBS on 1/30/2005, mostly Hallmark commercials as it was a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. Fuji T-120, SP.
Tape 3 - Most of 'The Trail to Hope Rose' (2004) taped off Hallmark Channel on 7/14/2004 with commercials. Sony T-120 in SP
Tape 4 - 'Black & Blue' (1999) taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/17/1999 with commercials; partial episode of New Attitudes taped off Lifetime in March 1999 with commercials. Sony T-160

Don't worry, I'm still keeping my promise of selling more than buying. ;-)
 
I'd say some good stuff to keep you occupied for now! Late '80s soaps, a Wheel episode from '96, lots of original broadcasts of sitcoms (including some a couple of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, which only lasted a couple seasons), and some L.A. newscasts. These folks were probably swing-shift workers who time-shifted...a lot.

Meanwhile, more Beta tapes inventoried from Kansas (Houston recordings):

- On tape 3, the first recording was 'Paris, Texas' (1984) taped off unknown channel, but leads into a KTRK recording of Dennis Weaver's 'Buck James,' a short-lived medical drama taped 11/8/1987 with commercials! Ends with part of the original 'The Fly' (1958) taped off KTXH 20Vision in October '87 w/ commercials.
- Tape 4 had HBO recordings of 'The Karate Kid Part II' and 'Enemy Mine' with lots of promos, taped 7/19 and 7/21/1987
- Tape 5 had a KHOU 'Great Late Movie' recording of 'Julia' (1977) taped 9/20-21/1986 w/ commercials, along with the '60s Reunion at the Fillmore show with Bill Graham, taped off HBO (no promos)
- 'The Secret Garden' (1987) was on tape 6 off KHOU/CBS 11/30/1987, with the usual Hallmark ads
- Tape 7 had 'Gremlins' (1984) taped off HBO on 6/11/1986 with lots of promos afterwards, including a behind-the-scenes look at 'SpaceCamp' with a Kate Capshaw interview also shown.
Hopefully, more goodies to come in the last 6-8 tapes.

There are also a few new VHS tapes from an estate sale last Saturday in Yakima.
Tape 1 - Most of an episode of Murder, She Wrote and part of a rerun of The View taped off A&E in August 2002 with commercials. I had no idea that The View was reran on A&E after the ABC airing! Maxell T-160
Tape 2 - 'The Magic of Ordinary Days' (2005) taped off KIMA/CBS on 1/30/2005, mostly Hallmark commercials as it was a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. Fuji T-120, SP.
Tape 3 - Most of 'The Trail to Hope Rose' (2004) taped off Hallmark Channel on 7/14/2004 with commercials. Sony T-120 in SP
Tape 4 - 'Black & Blue' (1999) taped off KIMA/CBS on 11/17/1999 with commercials; partial episode of New Attitudes taped off Lifetime in March 1999 with commercials. Sony T-160

Don't worry, I'm still keeping my promise of selling more than buying. ;-)


I had no idea either! And I was thinking about Buck James grzterday! Can you put that ep on your archive?
 
Looking through Tape #47 of the collection of tapes that I found a few months ago in Western Kentucky, and this one has a peculiarity in it. After a Feb. 20, 1987 WTBS recording of "For Me and My Gal" and "Perry Mason" is a recording of an episode of "The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime." The contestants are Ken and Sam vs. Rodney and Valerie. The recording begins partway through the episode. Is this episode lost?
 
That show probably is found deep in WB's vault since it was once a Lorimar-Telepictures production, but I don't see any record of that episode circulating anywhere. A recent find included the short-lived 1980-81 run of Let's Make A Deal produced in Canada. Even if partial, it's still a nice find, given that it has not only never been reran after its run, but it's unlikely to do so anytime soon. It's not technically lost, but it's unlikely many will get to see the show somewhere anytime soon, although the streaming boom does provide some slight hope much like what cable was doing at the time making older game shows suddenly reusable. Only crainbebo has found an episode of it, and that's a nice find because of this!
 
That show probably is found deep in WB's vault since it was once a Lorimar-Telepictures production, but I don't see any record of that episode circulating anywhere. A recent find included the short-lived 1980-81 run of Let's Make A Deal produced in Canada. Even if partial, it's still a nice find, given that it has not only never been reran after its run, but it's unlikely to do so anytime soon. It's not technically lost, but it's unlikely many will get to see the show somewhere anytime soon, although the streaming boom does provide some slight hope much like what cable was doing at the time making older game shows suddenly reusable. Only crainbebo has found an episode of it, and that's a nice find because of this!
Sounds like it would be a good idea to upload the recording to YT and the Internet Archive, then. And indeed, the end of the episode has the Lorimar-Telepictures logo of the time (the "crashing comets").
I've since found out that the recording is from March 4, 1987, and is from the station WPSD, of Paducah, Kentucky.
 
It kind of annoys me how John Carpenter was touted as the 'first millionaire in U.S. TV history.' Nine couples won an equivalent of $1,000,000 (either annuity or mixed with prizes) on Jim Lange's Chance of a Lifetime...over a DECADE before John Carpenter sat in the Hot Seat. And there were winners of *over* a million on California's The Big Spin, including a nearly $4 million winner in 1987 ($9+ million equivalent today).
If it wasn't for the 'Wheel-copycat' format they followed, I think it could have been the smash hit in syndication...what Oprah was to talk shows. If they only followed a different format to the million dollar payout.

Meanwhile, I found two tapes in the Kansas Beta lot that had G.I. Joe episodes on them!! 3 hours of episodes (Beta II, L-750) on each tape, recorded from KSTU-13 Salt Lake City around 1988, commercials and all. Some have closing segments from Jimmy Swaggart's daily program. They were old reruns from the early '80s. I'm guessing they were aired due to the fallout over his sex scandal.
 
That show probably is found deep in WB's vault since it was once a Lorimar-Telepictures production, but I don't see any record of that episode circulating anywhere. A recent find included the short-lived 1980-81 run of Let's Make A Deal produced in Canada. Even if partial, it's still a nice find, given that it has not only never been reran after its run, but it's unlikely to do so anytime soon. It's not technically lost, but it's unlikely many will get to see the show somewhere anytime soon, although the streaming boom does provide some slight hope much like what cable was doing at the time making older game shows suddenly reusable. Only crainbebo has found an episode of it, and that's a nice find because of this!

Actually There is a streaming website called bonusround.ca which has unearthed episodes of the 1980 version of LMAD. And they also.unearthed the Canadian game show Definition hosted by Jim Perry (of Card Sharks and $ale of the century fame) and you would recognize the theme song as the theme song to Austin Powers.
 
I'm still in the process of going through my latest VHS haul from an estate sale in Medina this past Friday. I grabbed a total of 15 tapes from the sale, but there were many, many more available at this house. More specifically, these tapes were found in three or four big boxes inside the garage and yet another box of tapes in the basement. When I paid for the tapes, the lady at the counter actually said to me, "What are you going to do with all of these? YouTube?" LOL. They charged five tapes for a dollar for the ones in the garage and--wait for this--ten cents per tape for the ones in the basement! If I could have gone back to that house the next day to grab more, I probably would have.
So far, the biggest highlight of this haul has been a partial episode of a short-lived syndicated soap opera from 1994 called Valley of the Dolls, recorded from WJW. Throughout the show's 65-episode run, WJW aired it after Newscenter 8 at 11:00, followed by Letterman at midnight. All 65 episodes of that show are available to view on DailyMotion, but unfortunately, they're all dubbed in Russian! That's another reason why I wish I could have grabbed more tapes the next day, who knows if the original owners recorded any other episodes! My understanding is this show only aired in 13 markets in the late night hours, as it was known to get rather NSFW at times, so evidently, NYPD Blue (which I did find an episode of on another tape from this sale) may not necessarily have been the most risque show on terrestrial TV in the '90s.
I'll provide a more detailed list of my finds once I go through the rest of the tapes.
 
Good work Scott! I love those types of estate sales, where it's not just a few random blanks next to a bunch of Disney movies and DVDs - but these were people that used their VCR often and wanted to devote their house to a video library.

When anyone asks me what I do with the tapes, I often talk about how I am looking for old Yakima newscasts and special programs (like Sunfair parades), knowing that ALL THREE STATIONS threw their tape archives out, including KIMA, the lone one left in town, and that sometime I hope to donate all the news, parade, and local specials footage I find to the Yakima Valley Museum for future preservation.

It helps that I have personally met and talked with Stu Seibel, KIMA's long-time meteorologist and program director who retired about 15 years ago and is still alive and well - he is a member of the Yakima Amateur Radio Club which is ironic. Seibel told me that KIMA's management one day threw out countless tapes and film reels into dumpsters...but thankfully many employees were going out there and dumpster diving, saving a lot of the films - many did get landfilled sadly.
One show that people ask me to find is Uncle Jimmy's Clubhouse, the kids' show with Jimmy Nolan that KIMA aired from 1953-1978. Unfortunately, I will likely never find anything from that show because I doubt anyone in Yakima had a Betamax at the very beginning with the K-60 tapes, let alone the fact that the show was filmed LIVE and NOT to tape. Pictures and the theme song survive.
As you can see, this is why it's crucial for me to find these old KIMA NewsBeats, News 35's, and NewsCenter 23 broadcasts. A vast majority do not exist in any archives. That is sad for a town with so much growth and so much change, in demographics, with trends in crime, and with expansion.

That's a reason why I actually prefer going to estate sales in Yakima instead of Wenatchee or the Basin (i.e., Moses Lake/Ephrata), because Yakima newscasts are much more valuable to me than another KREM newscast with Charles Rowe and now-Mayor Nadine Woodward. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to see old Spokane TV recordings too, but Yakima is where my family grew up and where I am hoping to archive and preserve 'the news.'
 
Found out that Tape #27 in the collection I found at a yard sale last year had more footage on it than I thought. Just discovered a December 11, 1983 recording of "All Star Party for Frank Sinatra" from KFVS, the Cape Girardeau, Missouri CBS affiliate. This is the same tape that had the recordings of the ABC drama "Lottery!", which I plan on digitizing soon.
 

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