I was just reading up on an old TV show that I had occasion to appear on when I was a teenager, and I had the sudden urge to get ahold of a tape of the show because I have NO idea what I said while I was on it. And then I realized, I don’t have any really good way to figure out how to find it. I thought the rest of you might have some ideas.
Here are the details: the show was called “Teen Talk” and aired locally in Los Angeles on KCAL (Channel 9) from 1981 through 1990. I don’t really have much idea when I was on it, although I’d guess it was somewhere between 1988 and 1990. I’m wondering if there’s some way to get ahold of an episode listing so that I could figure out which show I was on based on the topic.
So, assuming I could figure out which episode I was on, I’d think the logical thing to do would be to contact either the TV station or the production company (if the company still exists) to see if they have archives of the show. But is there a better way? Am I missing somthing obvious?
Anybody want to lend me a hand? Also, it occurs to me that this thread could also go in IMHO, MPSIMS or GQ – I don’t know which is best. So if someone sees fit to relocate it, then please do.
Teen Talk was nominated for an Emmy in 1991, so I’d guess there’s a good chance KCAL has it in its archives.
There appear to be episodes on YouTube. Maybe you’ll get lucky?
I’d go with calling the station. You’ll probably have to jump through a lot of hoops to talk to anyone, but it’s worth a try.
Yes, try contacting KCAL but be warned: the station has had at least three owners in the last quarter century alone. Local stations don’t have the room to keep archives and if the show still existed the station may not have the equipment available to play it.
KCAL was owned by RKO and was a big mess at the end in 1989.
Don’t expect anyone to help you find it. You’re gonna first have to figure out when you were on it. You need an exact air date. Then you have to figure out who owned the station when you were on it.
Then you need to write the station to see if there are any archives. Chances are even if there are archives, they’d just blow you off and say “No, it’s all gone.”
Look at it from there standpoint, there’s no profit in them spending money to pay a clerk to look up information for you.
You might want to try boards such as Radio-Info.com or the like and see if you can find anyone who may have worked at Channel 9 during the time you were on the board. If you get to talking to some people they may know people who can at least let you know if any archives were kept.
Both Young and RKO who owned channel 9 were in the best of shape or are not now in the case of Young, but who know if Disney kept them.