Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version Vortex 1.1 8/4/83; site vortex.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!vortex!lauren From: lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) Newsgroups: net.tv Subject: Old TV Message-ID: <106@vortex.UUCP> Date: Fri, 19-Aug-83 05:18:29 EDT Article-I.D.: vortex.106 Posted: Fri Aug 19 05:18:29 1983 Date-Received: Fri, 19-Aug-83 16:43:16 EDT Organization: Vortex Technology, Los Angeles Lines: 120 OK. I give in. I've subscribed to this newsgroup. A number of persons have claimed I was comitting a crime against The Universe by not participating in this group, since I supposedly am a TV trivia "expert". All right, we'll see... --- I was sitting here trying to remember the full theme to Fireball XL5 (I don't have that one on tape). I can come up with a few words, but it's pretty hazy. I guess I'm getting old and the old neurons just don't fire like they used to. The second verse goes *something* like: ("BEAT" represents musical beat)... We'll zoom away to Venus, And fly away to Mars... (BEAT BEAT -- BEAT BEAT BEAT BEAT) I wish I were a Fireball... (BEAT BEAT BEAT BEAT SWOOSH) Fireball... (BEAT BEAT BEAT BEAT SWOOSH) [12 more words to end of song that I can't remember] By the way, a friend of mine has a precious audio copy of the theme for "Supercar" that is indeed a collector's item. --- There are basically two places to go if you want to see lots of TV shows. One is definitely cable (or a home earth station). USA network is running a variety of old animated programs, including, at least occasionally I believe, the "Superman/Aquaman" stuff that somebody mentioned (blecch! [in my opinion]). They're even running some *much* more obscure materials, including "Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles" (from the mid 60's). By the way, one of my most prized audio tapes is of the various theme segments from "Milton the Monster". The classic was the intro to the main "Milton" cartoon segment: == Narrator: On top of old horror hill in a secret laboratory, Professor Weirdo and Count Kook were in their monstrous glory... Weirdo: Six drops of the essense of terror, 5 drops of sinister sauce... Kook: When the stirring's done, may I lick the spoon? W: Of course! Ah hah, of course! Now for the Tincture of Tenderness, but I must use only a touch! For without a touch of tenderness, it might destroy me! Oops! Too much! Better hold your breath it's starting to tick... K: Better hold my hand -- I'm feeling sick. Milton: Hello Daddy! W: What have I done? M: I'm Milton. Your brand new son... == Ah, the memories flow back in an endless tirade of uselessness. While its other programming is (once again, in my opinion) totally useless, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) on cable has an excellent lineup of old programs running on weekdays, including: Burns and Allen, Love That Bob, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Jack Benny Program [one of my all time favorites], I Married Joan, Bachelor Father, The Life of Riley, and My Little Margie. These ALL run every weekeday -- Burns and Allen twice a day, in fact. WOR-TV (Channel 9 New Jersey [formerly New York]) is also available on many cable systems and often runs "The Outer Limits" -- great if you (like I) are a true fan of that great program. The original "Gumby" programs have been picked up by "The Disney Channel" on cable, by the way. --- The other place to go for old TV is clearly L.A. I've lived in different parts of the city my entire life, and the old TV fare has always been incredibly rich. No, "Clutch Cargo" (with his pals Spinner and Paddlefoot) isn't currently running, nor is "Spunky and Tadpole" or "Colonel Bleep" (anybody who honestly remembers this last one gets 10 points). But they'll all be back. "Outer Limits" runs every weekday afternoon, "Space 1999" runs back to back for 2 hours very late on Friday and Saturday nights, and on Saturday morning, the venerable Tom Hatten [a fixture around L.A. Television for as long as I can remember on KTLA (5)] runs various animated programs including, you guessed it, "Super Chicken"! KTLA, incidently, was the first commercial broadcast TV station west of the Mississippi. Note the callsign -- K (standard Western U.S. marker) T (Television) LA (Los Angeles). There are all sorts of other examples, but you get the idea. Given that L.A. has had four independent VHF stations in addition to the 3 network stations (owned by the networks, not just affiliates) for many, many years, there's always been lots of time to fill with old shows. I think "My Favorite Martian" has just started rerunning again locally. "Batman" started again recently, also. I don't want to even start counting the UHF stations... Gee, I forgot about cable's WTBS! They've got lots of old stuff on there too, from "Bachelor Father" to "My Three Sons", to the original "I Dream of Jeannie" segments in black and white. They even run at least one "Lost in Space" a week (one of my all time favorite programs, which I classify right along with "Batman" in terms of high satire.) Oh yes, half-hour versions of the original one-hour "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" programs will be running in syndication in many major markets throughout the country starting very shortly. --- Yes friends, television is marching forward into the past. And it's a good thing, too! Feel free to shoot any of your serious TV trivia questions my way -- I'm sharpest on the period from about 1960 through 1975 or so. Bye for now. --Lauren-- {decvax,ihnp4,harpo,allegra,ucbvax!lbl-csam,randvax}!vortex!lauren