Superstation memories - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

installLSC · 12-30-2013, 08:49 PM

The WGN anniversary thread in General Dramas got me thinking about the heydays of the superstations in the 80s. I always watched more WOR and WGN than WTBS, because being from a small town the commercials and news were nearly as fun as the programming.
I remember WGN for: Cubs baseball (natch), Dick van Dyke, Soul Train
I remember WOR for: "Centennial" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" reruns on the weekends, Joe Franklin, those cheesy Carvel commercials, and some kid's game show on Sunday mornings that I still can't find anything about on the internet.
Which stations did you watch and what were your faves?

visaman666 · 12-31-2013, 07:19 AM

I remember when we first got TBS in 1996, for some reason me and my parents were up in the middle of the night, and The Banana Splits came on. It blew my mind, just for the audaciousness of it. I watched it as a child in the early 70's, and what was it doing on at 2 in the morning PST?

DSfan · 01-02-2014, 01:33 AM

I remember watching Scooby-Doo on TBS at 7-8AM in the late 90s and then Saved by the Bell in that timeslot for years afterward.

WGN I watched excessively in 2003 for Fresh Prince and Home Improvement.

TKMetal · 01-02-2014, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by visaman666

I remember when we first got TBS in 1996, for some reason me and my parents were up in the middle of the night, and The Banana Splits came on. It blew my mind, just for the audaciousness of it. I watched it as a child in the early 70's, and what was it doing on at 2 in the morning PST?

I remember them running an all night 30th anniversary marathon in 1998.

70s show watcher · 01-02-2014, 08:52 PM

how about the kids beat newsbreaks in the afternoons on wtbs esp the ones with audra lee

Zoneboy · 01-02-2014, 09:25 PM

My favorite TBS memory is the brief period during the late 80's that I was able to get channel 17 from my rooftop antenna. I'm in NC and the studios are just over 300 miles away in Atlanta. The signal was strong and clear enough to record it but I didn't. The signal would also drift which is common and the best reception was at night. This isn't the furthest station I've picked up though, for a few days I was able to watch 2 stations out of Corpus Christi, TX and my antenna did not have a signal booster.

Mr. Television · 01-02-2014, 09:35 PM

We first got TBS back in 1977 I believe. It was called WTCG back then. It and HBO were the first cable channels that we got outside of NC. I used to watch it all the time back then. I loved the classics and old movies. I barely watch it anymore though. It just isn't what it used to be.

Mace Dolex · 01-07-2014, 09:02 PM

Going back to the early 90's here what I remember:

TBS had what was called Night Tracks either late Friday or Saturday nights that was a 2-3 hour block that would air random bits, music videos and Three Stooges shorts that were in the public domain. And The Beastmaster was aired constantly.

USA network had the USA Up All NIght on Saturday nights with hosts Rhonda Shear and Gilbert Gottfried.

UMFaninMD · 01-07-2014, 10:36 PM

TBS and USA aired great old horror movies on weekend afternoons and weekend nights. I remember watching "He Knows You're Alone" on TBS with my grandmother, and "Black Christmas" on USA which was hardly edited and so darn scary it kept me up at night. I watched Saturday Nightmares and Up All Night on USA. And on WOR, I watched Barnaby Jones and Streets of San Francisco on Saturday afternoons. My grandparents and I loved WOR's newscasts at 10 before the local 11 o'clock news to see what was going on in another part of the East Coast.

Baltimore had WBFF and before it became another FOX affiliate, it was an independent station that had the Captain Chesapeake show and aired tons of old reruns.

Mace Dolex · 01-08-2014, 03:28 PM

TNT on weekends had Monstervision showing a collection of bad B-movies with host Joe Bob Briggs who made hilarious commentary on them.

And Comedy Central in the 90's aired all the early seasons of SNL which was shocking when discovering that Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Gilbert Gottfried, Tim Kazurinsky, Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. used to be on it.

AB · 01-08-2014, 04:39 PM

We also used to watch WOR, WGN & WTBS with the big satellite dish back in the 80's. I also remember getting KTLA out of Los Angles and I believe we got WPIX out of New York for awhile too. Some of those stations aired reruns of Love on a Rooftop, That Girl and quite a few other shows that I liked to watch. I miss the great variety of shows they used to offer.

floyd2006 · 01-10-2014, 01:46 PM

I remember watching 24 hours of Andy Griffith unedited with trivia. I'm lucky enough to have recorded most of it so I can relive it from my childhood.

TNT was my favorite as a kid. TNT was predecessor to Turner Classic Movies they would always showing classic films such as The Good, The Bad And Ugly. Also watched a ton Monstervision.

Cinemax-Back in the 90's Cinemax would always show movies you couldn't possibly find anywhere else.They would show Sci-fi,westerns,arthouse, romance & action.Cinemax was originally created to compete with more movie buff movie channels such as Showtimes The Movie Channel which had Joe Bob Briggs Drive In Theater.

Fox- I have fond memories of watching The X-Files with the lights off and watching Married With Children with my family

12-30-2013, 08:49 PM	#1
installLSC Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 19, 2013 Location: United States Posts: 271	Superstation memories The WGN anniversary thread in General Dramas got me thinking about the heydays of the superstations in the 80s. I always watched more WOR and WGN than WTBS, because being from a small town the commercials and news were nearly as fun as the programming. I remember WGN for: Cubs baseball (natch), Dick van Dyke, Soul Train I remember WOR for: "Centennial" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" reruns on the weekends, Joe Franklin, those cheesy Carvel commercials, and some kid's game show on Sunday mornings that I still can't find anything about on the internet. Which stations did you watch and what were your faves?

01-02-2014, 09:25 PM	#6
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,346	My favorite TBS memory is the brief period during the late 80's that I was able to get channel 17 from my rooftop antenna. I'm in NC and the studios are just over 300 miles away in Atlanta. The signal was strong and clear enough to record it but I didn't. The signal would also drift which is common and the best reception was at night. This isn't the furthest station I've picked up though, for a few days I was able to watch 2 stations out of Corpus Christi, TX and my antenna did not have a signal booster.
	__________________ 'Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The Full House Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even Mighty Mouse. All My Children We're Nestled All Snug In Their Beds While Visions Of Sugarbakers Danced In Their Heads.

01-02-2014, 09:35 PM	#7
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,128	We first got TBS back in 1977 I believe. It was called WTCG back then. It and HBO were the first cable channels that we got outside of NC. I used to watch it all the time back then. I loved the classics and old movies. I barely watch it anymore though. It just isn't what it used to be.
	__________________ Sonny

01-10-2014, 01:46 PM	#12
floyd2006 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 19, 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 518	I remember watching 24 hours of Andy Griffith unedited with trivia. I'm lucky enough to have recorded most of it so I can relive it from my childhood. TNT was my favorite as a kid. TNT was predecessor to Turner Classic Movies they would always showing classic films such as The Good, The Bad And Ugly. Also watched a ton Monstervision. Cinemax-Back in the 90's Cinemax would always show movies you couldn't possibly find anywhere else.They would show Sci-fi,westerns,arthouse, romance & action.Cinemax was originally created to compete with more movie buff movie channels such as Showtimes The Movie Channel which had Joe Bob Briggs Drive In Theater. Fox- I have fond memories of watching The X-Files with the lights off and watching Married With Children with my family
	__________________ Team COCO! My Youtube Channel

12-31-2013, 07:19 AM	#2
visaman666 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 06, 2007 Posts: 818	I remember when we first got TBS in 1996, for some reason me and my parents were up in the middle of the night, and The Banana Splits came on. It blew my mind, just for the audaciousness of it. I watched it as a child in the early 70's, and what was it doing on at 2 in the morning PST?

01-02-2014, 01:33 AM	#3
DSfan Member Senior Member Join Date: Sep 15, 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,204	I remember watching Scooby-Doo on TBS at 7-8AM in the late 90s and then Saved by the Bell in that timeslot for years afterward. WGN I watched excessively in 2003 for Fresh Prince and Home Improvement.

01-02-2014, 08:52 PM	#5
70s show watcher Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: May 20, 2008 Location: between point place and studio 8 h Posts: 4,548	how about the kids beat newsbreaks in the afternoons on wtbs esp the ones with audra lee

01-07-2014, 09:02 PM	#8
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,666	Going back to the early 90's here what I remember: TBS had what was called Night Tracks either late Friday or Saturday nights that was a 2-3 hour block that would air random bits, music videos and Three Stooges shorts that were in the public domain. And The Beastmaster was aired constantly. USA network had the USA Up All NIght on Saturday nights with hosts Rhonda Shear and Gilbert Gottfried.

01-07-2014, 10:36 PM	#9
UMFaninMD I love a mystery Senior Member Join Date: Apr 19, 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,287	TBS and USA aired great old horror movies on weekend afternoons and weekend nights. I remember watching "He Knows You're Alone" on TBS with my grandmother, and "Black Christmas" on USA which was hardly edited and so darn scary it kept me up at night. I watched Saturday Nightmares and Up All Night on USA. And on WOR, I watched Barnaby Jones and Streets of San Francisco on Saturday afternoons. My grandparents and I loved WOR's newscasts at 10 before the local 11 o'clock news to see what was going on in another part of the East Coast. Baltimore had WBFF and before it became another FOX affiliate, it was an independent station that had the Captain Chesapeake show and aired tons of old reruns.

01-08-2014, 03:28 PM	#10
Mace Dolex Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 12, 2013 Posts: 2,666	TNT on weekends had Monstervision showing a collection of bad B-movies with host Joe Bob Briggs who made hilarious commentary on them. And Comedy Central in the 90's aired all the early seasons of SNL which was shocking when discovering that Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Gilbert Gottfried, Tim Kazurinsky, Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. used to be on it.

01-08-2014, 04:39 PM	#11
AB Member Eternal Member Forum Icon Join Date: Dec 26, 2006 Location: The South Posts: 59,429	We also used to watch WOR, WGN & WTBS with the big satellite dish back in the 80's. I also remember getting KTLA out of Los Angles and I believe we got WPIX out of New York for awhile too. Some of those stations aired reruns of Love on a Rooftop, That Girl and quite a few other shows that I liked to watch. I miss the great variety of shows they used to offer.