Me, I’d go back and record the first and only episode of Turn-On, so I could see how bad it really was. They say it was so legendarily bad that at least one ABC affiliate stopped the broadcast halfway through the premiere, which I think would make it the shortest-lived TV series in history.
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I’ve always wanted to see that show, too.
The story of its cancellation always reminds me of the story of Austalia’s Naughtiest Home Videos, which was cancelled halfway through its first broadcast by a very angry network owner… the write-up at the Wikipedia page gives a great breakdown.
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I’d like to recover all of the 1970s and 1980s TV shows, mostly on PBS, written by or featuring Jean Shepherd, apparently none of which have been preserved…
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Great idea! There was one that was being taped in Somerville in the late '70s when I was living there. I’d love to see it again. It was the one about the exotic allure of Polish girls.
I’d love to have all the live broadcasts of Peter Pan with Mary Martin. Some may have survived, but I think only one made it to DVD, and is now out of print.
And Alan Ayckbourn’s Norman Conquests (and anything else by Ayckbourn, for that matter). Admittedly, it made it to VHS, and this site shows it out on DVD, but evidently on in the UK from what I can find. I may have to get a Region free DVD player if your time machine breaks.
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Me, I’d go back and record the first and only episode of Turn-On, so I could see how bad it really was.
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You can see it, just only at the Museum of TV & Radio locations in New York and Hollywood.
I’d also like to see episodes of YOU ARE THERE!, which I’ve never seen an episode of and know only from references on other shows. It was a “news show” in which a modern television journalist covered historical events from ancient times to the pre-1950s with actors portraying characters being interviewed as if the even that was being reported (whether the Battle of Chaeronea or the Battle of Gettysburg) was happening. (I understand that there was a parody of this in England in the 1960s that Terry Jones wrote for and that featured such events as the locker room interviews after the Battle of Hastings.) I’ve always thought an update of it, if done well, could work on The History Channel or even perhaps CNN if done with the right combo (and this would be the hard part) of seriousness and tongue-in-cheek.
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IIRC, Steve Allen had a big part in YOU ARE THERE (and Jayne Meadows almost always seemed to play Marie Antoinette).
My parents were huge fans of Wally Cox/Tony Randall/Marion Lorne in Mr. Peepers, only some episodes of which survive. I’d like to see the early ones where the characters are established.
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Oddly enough, Wally Cox’s best friend (and rumored lover) was none other than Marlong Brando. He kept Wally Cox’s ashes on his mantle for something like 30 years - even Wally Cox’s family didn’t know where they were.
“You Can’t Do That on Television” - you can watch some episodes online, but not anywhere close to all of them. Apparently more than a few have disappeared altogether.
Jem & The Holograms - Rhino released the first couple seasons on DVD, but then the rights got bought by someone else and they haven’t made the last season.
Silverhawks (Who saw that coming? =^.^=)
Old Commercials. Wouldn’t you like to see old TV spots for your favorite toys? Or promos for old cartoons?
Anything by Ernie Kovacs. Make that everything by Ernie Kovacs!
The Flying Karamozov Brothers did a hilarious version of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, which I saw on PBS. The last I heard it was not available for sale due to rights issues.
I’d go for my favorite show as a young teen, The New People (TV Obscurities link with lots of info and even promos and snippets). It was about a group of teenagers/young adults who crash land on a desert island and have to try to get along and build their own society. It only ran for 17 episodes and I mourned it when it was cancelled. It might well have been crap, I have no idea. I just know that I loved it at the time (and, sigh, I had the biggest crush on Dennis Olivieri, makes moon eyes).
There was a show that came on right after it called The Music Scene. I might have watched it but I don’t remember anything about it, which is a shame. IMDB’s Episode Guide shows a pretty eclectic lineup, ranging from mainstream people like Tony Bennett to cutting edge(ish, comparitively) people like Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
I came in to mention the original Jonny Quest, but to my surprise all 26 episodes of the original are now on DVD, since the last time I checked. W00t!!
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There was a show that came on right after it called The Music Scene. I might have watched it but I don’t remember anything about it, which is a shame. IMDB’s Episode Guide shows a pretty eclectic lineup, ranging from mainstream people like Tony Bennett to cutting edge(ish, comparitively) people like Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
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On YouTube, you can see a brief snippet of “The Music Scene” in this collection of previews for ABC’s 1969-70 season (it appears at the 3:16 mark). I suspect the tapes of this show are still out there but the reasons why no cable network like VH1 or TV Land will rerun them (and why they’re not on DVD yet) are probably due to the myriad of legal issues related to the clearance for music rights. Also, the show was unique in that each episode ran for 45 minutes (as did its accompanying show, “The New People,” so both could fit into a 90-minute block of “youth” programming). That makes it difficult to schedule for TV programmers who are accustomed to 60-minute or 30-minute blocks. Finally, there’s the fact the show wasn’t successful and is, at best, only vaguely remembered by people who were around in 1969.
The time I appeared on TV when I was in second grade our local PBS station had a show where every week, a story was read by two students, and two other students drew pictures from the story, and a 5 student was sort of a MC. The story was written by our entire class and then read live on the TV.
I just thought of two other shows I really loved as a kid: Hot Dog, which was an inventive and comic predecessor to How It’s Made that starred Woody Allen, Jo Anne Worley, and Jonathan Winters. There are a few brief clips on YouTube, but I’d love to see the whole thing again.
Also from the same period, PBS’ Great American Dream Machine, which as I recall it was a mix of commentary and satire on current events and the American persona. Unfortunately, since I’m an old fart now, I don’t recall many details, only that I really liked the show.
I just found that there are a couple of brief clips from GADM on YouTube, including this terrific 10-minute animated film, Eggs, by John and Faith Hubley.
I’d go back and save the deleted scenes from King Kong of the sailors falling into the chasm and being eaten alive by giant spiders, scorpions and lizards. It was cut after audiences screamed and fainted during the preview (or because it slowed the movie down, or never made it past censors, depending on who you believe), and was probably destoyed and lost forever.
I remembering seeing, in elementary school, a Britannica-style career-exploration short film starring - I kid you not - William Shatner. It was really, really good. I’ve never been able to find any other mention of it, on IMDb.com or anywhere else.
I would unquestionably record the entire run of Not Only… But Also, the 60s sketch show by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Why? Because the BBC in its infinite wisdom saw no value in keeping tapes of their shows for later use, and unforgivably wiped the majority of what was probably the best work of the funniest man who ever lived*.
The very idea of being able to do this has actually made me all quivery with excitement.
(*And Dudley Moore, who, lest I be accused of meanness, I believe was utterly essential to the partnership. Cook was never quite the same without him.)
