80s cable TV

[Nice Guy Eddie 13412]

Anyone else remember the national superstations that were nothing more than local stations broadcast to the nation. WTBS (Atlanta) WGN (Chicago) and WOR (NYC/NJ)?

It was easier to watch the Cubs, Mets, Braves, Bulls and Hawks then it was to watch Houston, Dallas or SA sports teams.

WOR was a a glorified cable access station. Morton Downey Jr, Joe Franklin and even Howard Stern later on in the 90s but I was off in college by Stern's time on WOR. Downey's show was like Geraldo but 5 times more intense. I swear that Downey would chain smoke 10 cigarettes over 1 hour.

Or watching Harry Carey get drunk on Cubs and/or get dementia over the years. Not too mention that you could always find decent reruns on these channels. MASH, Andy Griffith, WRKP, Happy Days, whatever. They even dabbled in some first run shows.

good memories of TV when 40 channels seemed like a lot especially in my earliest years we had 5.

[Pig Bellmont 8691]

Pepperidge Farm remembers 

[mdmost 42865]

[RPM 26228]

Also want to add Late Night with David Letterman. I was living in Refugio when he started and the Corpus Christi station signed off after Carson. The only way to watch was turn the antenna to San Antonio and pray. Most nights you got a signal you could watch, but you had to put in the effort.

Edited March 10, 2023 by RPM

[UTCzech III 2901]

58 minutes ago, RPM said:

Also want to add Late Night with David Letterman. I was living in Refugio when he started and the Corpus Christi station signed off after Carson. The only way to watch was turn the antenna to San Antonio and pray. Most nights you got a signal you could watch, but you had to put in the effort.

Also this

Edit to add:  my wife is a huge Braves fan due to WTBS, used to keep a notebook with stats on all the players (she's a keeper, and a redhead, so I got that going for me...).  Have an Ozzie Guillen autograph stuck somewhere in our house from around 86 or so when we went to go see the Braves play the Stros in the Dome (got to chat with Pops Stargell during batting practice, that was cool...)

Edited March 10, 2023 by UTCzech III

[Nice Guy Eddie 13412]

in my hometown if you carefully selected halfway between channels Q & R on the cable set top box, you effectively got the the adult channel. Or so I was told. I feel there is a homage to that experience on this site.

Another good memory is receiving the HBO viewing guide and schedule, via mail, for the upcoming month.

[Guest]

I watched many a Cubs game at Wrigley during the summer because we got WGN.

Same with Bozo the Clown.

[hayden_horn 11360]

harry carey was my father's spirit animal. they were like best friends. they would get drunk together nearly every afternoon and watch the cubbies.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

harry carey was my father's spirit animal. they were like best friends. they would get drunk together nearly every afternoon and watch the cubbies.

There are worse ways to go through life.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1669]

I remember the EMF Bulls promo on WGN… “You’re Un-believe-a-BULL!”

I also remember catching the final minutes of WGN’s Chicago based newscast every night at 9:55’ish waiting for Seinfeld, Night Court, or Cheers reruns to start. 

[YGIFS 19449]

Takes me back to my youth.  Latest Cubs game could start was 3:05p until they got lights in 1988.  So it was not uncommon to watch Bozo/Cooky in the morning before school on WGN and then watch Cubs/Harry on WGN as soon as I got home via bike/bus.     It was a badge of honor to get to go see Bozo live on your birthday and skip the first half day of school and you weren't penalized for the absence.                                                                                                                                                                               

I feared every clown I ever saw except those two, I guess it was just Chicago in the 80's.  Then one day, for career day...my parents split up so dad didn't show up.  So I had to make up some excuse and sat down.  And Kathy Kunkel went next and introduced her dad.  This was early-to-mid 80's, so we're not even ten at this point.  He had slides with him and says he's a prosecutor that puts bad guys away.  We think that's cool.  Put's up a photo of a guy in clown makeup and we all laugh, 'cause hey---who doesn't like Bozo and Cooky and this third guy?  Well guess who Mr. Kunkel put away forever in a box?  A clown pedophile mass murderer named John Wayne Gacy.  So 'cause my dad didn't show up and had extra time, we went from loving WGN clowns to 41 1/2 minutes of Mr. Kunkel telling us the most gruesome details of the Gacy murder spree that even the fucking jury didn't hear because the judge ruled it inadmissible.  So next time you're wondering what the fuck is wrong with Lobo...that day didn't fucking help.  But goddamn, WGN is a part of my soul.  Always and forever. 

I'll never forget June 1985.  Week of First Father's day in a split household.  Harry completely shitfaced by 2pm.

"Hey Stoney, Father's Day is coming up.  Might be a good time to pick up dear old Dad some Cubs box seats."

-Yes, Harry.  Nothing like a day at the ballpark with Pop.

"Right?  Or maybe even get him a case of Budweiser Beer"

-Yes, Harry.  Cubs baseball is brought to you by our friends at Anheiser-Busch Brewery."

"Or maybe even get him a Buick automobile." 

-Okay, Harry.  We are also thankful to our partners at chicago-area buick dealerships.  Are you just reading the list of Sponsors, Harry?

"I told you already Steve, I don't need a Sponsor.  I'm fine!"  

[Knoxtnhorn 5932]

Ha!  As a child, I could never understand why my cousin, who lived in Brownwood, was such a huge Braves fan.  It used to piss me off.  

Dallas folks will probably recall HSE for Ranger and Mav games.  

[Bender Bending Rodriguez 1669]

HSE was in Houston, also. Same company. Astros and Rockets games were on HSE. 

[Stunns38 3357]

Anyone else remember the national superstations that were nothing more than local stations broadcast to the nation. WTBS (Atlanta) WGN (Chicago) and WOR (NYC/NJ)?
It was easier to watch the Cubs, Mets, Braves, Bulls and Hawks then it was to watch Houston, Dallas or SA sports teams.
WOR was a a glorified cable access station. Morton Downey Jr, Joe Franklin and even Howard Stern later on in the 90s but I was off in college by Stern's time on WOR. Downey's show was like Geraldo but 5 times more intense. I swear that Downey would chain smoke 10 cigarettes over 1 hour.
Or watching Harry Carey get drunk on Cubs and/or get dementia over the years. Not too mention that you could always find decent reruns on these channels. MASH, Andy Griffith, WRKP, Happy Days, whatever. They even dabbled in some first run shows.
good memories of TV when 40 channels seemed like a lot especially in my earliest years we had 5.

For some reason, WOR was a premium channel for our cable system. It seemed like all they played was Andy Griffith, Benny Hill, and their local news. NYC’s local news was entertaining back then when the city had 2,000 plus murders.

[Dewey 3280]

We're there any kids shows that originated in the 80s? Because all I watched were shows from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Kids were an afterthought in the 80s, send them to school, make sure they stay outside til dinner and keep em out of sight til morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crony 352]

I remember having KTLA when I grew up in El Paso. It was great for the Rodney King riots and OJ.

[shadow_operative2.0 15829]

10 hours ago, UTCzech III said:

Have an Ozzie Guillen autograph stuck somewhere in our house from around 86 or so when we went to go see the Braves play the Stros in the Dome

Get your Ozzies mixed up? 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/virgioz02.shtml

[UTCzech III 2901]

48 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Get your Ozzies mixed up? 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/virgioz02.shtml

Yes I did, day drinking and all....  Mr. Virgil of course...  Found it btw...

 

[Beau Vine 54001]

6 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Dallas folks will probably recall HSE for Ranger and Mav games.  

And New Jersey Devils games.

[Ignatius 4001]

10 hours ago, Bender Bending Rodriguez said:

I remember the EMF Bulls promo on WGN… “You’re Un-believe-a-BULL!”

I also remember catching the final minutes of WGN’s Chicago based newscast every night at 9:55’ish waiting for Seinfeld, Night Court, or Cheers reruns to start. 

588-2300, EMPIIIIIRE!

[atomheartbevo 89430]

4 hours ago, Dewey said:

We're there any kids shows that originated in the 80s? Because all I watched were shows from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Kids were an afterthought in the 80s, send them to school, make sure they stay outside til dinner and keep em out of sight til morning.

[billfromlaketravis 11361]

I’ll always have a soft spot for Chicago because of WGN and John Hughes films. I don’t want to date myself, I remember watching Bozo and Harry Caray. 
 

I went to my first Cubs game as a freshman in college with a fake ID. Those Old Styles were glorious. 
 

Cubs season ticket holders are head scratchers. With so many day game, how the hell do they work from April to October?

Edited March 11, 2023 by billfromlaketravis

[notre dame joe 172]

Takes me back to like 3 years ago before my cable co moved WGN into the next tier.  Great sitcom syndication and their local news has way more murders

[GoPokes83 2236]

TBS always had the best local commercials for sketchy looking clubs in Underground Atlanta

[Lat22 3994]

I didn’t go to school until the Grand Prize Game was over. 

[South Austin 52144]

I became a huge Bulls fan in the late 80s because of WGN. It was like they were my hometown team. Of course, having Michael Jordan also helped.

[WhatTheBuck 28711]

12 hours ago, Dewey said:

We're there any kids shows that originated in the 80s? Because all I watched were shows from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Kids were an afterthought in the 80s, send them to school, make sure they stay outside til dinner and keep em out of sight til morning.

[WhatTheBuck 28711]

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13412]

My kid show watching days were roughly between 74 and 82. The 70s definitely has some live action shows on Saturday morning. They would basically produce ~10 episodes and replay them for 52 straight weeks. My recollection is that by 1980 it seemed like the shift was to cartoons only on Saturday. Besides I was more interested in sleeping in or sports by then.

Nickelodeon appeared in the scene at this time with some live action including buying British shows like the tomorrow people. Or Canadian shows like you can’t do that on television. It was probably easier and cheaper to buy foreign shows than create original productions.

[Pato del Muerto 52342]

 

[Deej 76567]

13 hours ago, Dewey said:

We're there any kids shows that originated in the 80s? Because all I watched were shows from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Kids were an afterthought in the 80s, send them to school, make sure they stay outside til dinner and keep em out of sight til morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28711]

This was another good one. ALF Tales was great. It was sort of like the old Fractured Fairy Tales. It re-told classic fairy tales with a lot of pop culture mixed in. It was a show that had a lot of jokes the kids wouldn’t get but their parents would. Like Johnny Carson as the genie in the lamp.

 

[WhatTheBuck 28711]

2 minutes ago, Deej said:

Lords of Light!

Ookla! Ariel! We ride!

[dcbc 14407]

22 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Another good memory is receiving the HBO viewing guide and schedule, via mail, for the upcoming month.

This hits close.  A friend and I wrote a book many years ago that amounted to a life's little instruction book if all of the life lessons were things you learned watching movies on cable in the 80s.  For one reason or another, I'd saved a ton of those guides.  So this became the back cover of the book jacket.

 

[Underdog 28455]

Don't recall getting WOR in Austin but regular WGN/TBS viewer, mainly for the sports. 

[Beau Vine 54001]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:52 PM, FirstTimeCaller said:

I watched many a Cubs game at Wrigley during the summer because we got WGN.

Same with Bozo the Clown.

You're living in the past man! You're hung up on some clown from the sixties.

[notre dame joe 172]

19 hours ago, Dewey said:

We're there any kids shows that originated in the 80s? Because all I watched were shows from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Kids were an afterthought in the 80s, send them to school, make sure they stay outside til dinner and keep em out of sight til morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't tell whether Yogi Bear or the Jetsons was made in the 80s or 50s.  Animation had not changed that radically.  Now if it doesn't look like anime it is the equivalent of black and white tv.

 

The Muppet Babies was very memorable and I could rattle off every character from the star wars episode like Kermit Skyhopper and Skeeter 3PO.  I don't think I can remember a single joke from Gummy Bears. 

[CooterBrown 17907]

After the Saturday morning cartoon run, one of the San Antonio station’s would show one of the old Universal Monster, Tarzan, Abbott and Costello, or Three Stooges movies. Always loved that when I was a kid.

If you woke up early, preceding the first 8am cartoon, you would get the live action Japanese Ultra Man TV show.

[Lone Star Horn 2010]

Granted it was the late 60s, early 70s.

On Friday nights after the local news, KENS the San Antonio station had "Project Terror" (Where the scientific and the terrifying emerge)

They would show old black and white sci-fi and horror movies. 

intro

 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2724]

I practiced the bucket game in the event I ever went to Chicago for the Bozo show.
I would have dominated.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Yessss. Bozo every morning before elementary. Later in jr high watching Morton Downey Jr late at night.

[DeepEastTexas 640]

7 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

I practiced the bucket game in the event I ever went to Chicago for the Bozo show.
I would have dominated.

Grand Prize Game.

It never failed, there would always be some cocky shit who thought he was too good for this "clown game" and he'd fuck up the first bucket. Loser.

I wanted in that game badly!

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2724]

Grand Prize Game.
It never failed, there would always be some cocky shit who thought he was too good for this "clown game" and he'd fuck up the first bucket. Loser.
I wanted in that game badly!

I’d get really irritated when you had the kids that couldn’t even hit the first bucket.

[Dr Fear 1265]

HSE was one of the first RSNs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bally_Sports_Southwest

[Pato del Muerto 52342]

Was danger mouse and count duckula on cable/Nickelodeon?

i know Pinwheel was. 
 

I looked, and apparently 3-2-1 contact! was on pbs. 

[MagicSoccerSpray 1725]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:23 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

in my hometown if you carefully selected halfway between channels Q & R on the cable set top box, you effectively got the the adult channel. Or so I was told. I feel there is a homage to that experience on this site.

Another good memory is receiving the HBO viewing guide and schedule, via mail, for the upcoming month.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18523]

On 3/10/2023 at 11:42 PM, Ignatius said:

588-2300, EMPIIIIIRE!

 

 

[Ignatius 4001]

2 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

 

 

…and when they came to install it they’d probably park in front of your Danley Garage….

[notre dame joe 172]

6 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Was danger mouse and count duckula on cable/Nickelodeon?

i know Pinwheel was. 
 

I looked, and apparently 3-2-1 contact! was on pbs. 

Was it anywhere else?

[Texzilla58 4717]

Before infomercials and shopping networks, we had the TV Telephone Auction, which was a bogus auction selling a variety of junk that was great fun while stoned late at night.