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Retro Vision

dncsky1530 writes "The Sydney Morning Herald reports: It babysat generations, distracted countless teenagers from homework and, as Homer Simpson sagely observed about television, became our 'teacher, mother, secret lover'. Sure, the shows may have been ludicrous - think Webster, The A-Team, Charles In Charge - but they became part of our lives nonetheless. So what do you do when they end? Immortalise them online. At least, you do if you're a diehard fan - and there are plenty of them out there. Look up a show, any show, and the odds are there'll be at least one fan site, possibly with a tinny version of the soundtrack playing in the background and certainly with photos galore, plot lines, trivia as well as 'where are they now?' information on the actors."

56 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. This story brings to mind fat, lonely nerds by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Worst story ever.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  2. What...? by clean_stoner · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What exactly is this story supposed to be about? Why is this newsworthy?

    --

    Sigs are for the weak.

    1. Re:What...? by identity0 · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Hey, there's a Simpsons quote in it! I've never seen that on Slashdot before, it must be newsworthy!" - michael

    2. Re:What...? by haydon4 · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's a living testimony to an entire generation of children with sub-standard social skills.

    3. Re:What...? by general_re · · Score: 2, Funny
      Why is this newsworthy?

      Because someday retro-80's fashions will be what the cool kids are wearing once again. It's just a matter of time, I figure. And then I'm calling my mother and sending her up to the attic for my old clothes, so that all those parachute pants and "Members Only" jackets and Izod shirts can command top dollar on eBay, as actual period garb. Remember, Youth Of Today, when that day comes, demand authenticity! Don't settle for cheap knockoffs of the classic originals!

      --
      ABSURDITY, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
  3. It's not just for memories and trivia by Savatte · · Score: 5, Interesting

    the popularity and fanaticism of family guy on the web contributed to it getting put back on the air.

    1. Re:It's not just for memories and trivia by doormat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, that and selling over 1 Million copies of Family Guy Volume 1 DVD. Almost as much for Volume 2.

      --
      The Doormat

      If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
    2. Re:It's not just for memories and trivia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      the popularity and fanaticism of family guy on the web contributed to it getting put back on the air.

      Trust me, that had little to do with it. TV execs don't give a shit if people love the show, they only care if the show is profitable.

      They saw that the Family Guy DVDs were selling like hotcakes, and that it's getting high ratings on Cartoon Network, and realized that they put it out to pasture prematurely when there was still cash to suck from its teat.

  4. Jump The Shark: Chronicling The Moments When TV Sh by myownkidney · · Score: 5, Informative

    Jump the shark site has info about hundreds and hundreds of TV shows, and the point at which they started going south.

  5. i confess by larry+bagina · · Score: 3, Insightful
    i watched tv from the 80s. magnum pi, dukes of hazzard, a-team, et cetera. i liked it. i was young.

    However, watching old reruns on cable, i can't believe how bad some of them were. Magnum PI, stands the test of time (though the fight scenes seem corny), but for the rest, they seem stuck in the past. I've moved on.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  6. Tv show research by Stonan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://www.tvtome.com/list/all.html

    Very extensive site for tv shows animated or otherwise includes episode lists & guides as well as all people accociated with them.

    It's not my site but one I consult regularly.

    --
    The GEEK shall inherit the earth...
  7. Obligatory quote. by monstroyer · · Score: 4, Funny

    We need the wisdom of Herman's Head now, more than ever.

    - Comic Book Guy.

    1. Re:Obligatory quote. by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 4, Informative

      It took me a second to realize why The Simpsons would reference such a short lived and forgettable sitcom. Then I remembered that both Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria were on it. It made more sense.

      -B

  8. Just wait a while by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Someday someone will come up with a fansite for Slashdot, remembering when it used to be about news for nerds, stuff that matters.

  9. One thing I've discovered... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...is that most of the TV shows I loved as a kid are best left as fond memories. Trying to watch even one episode of them again as an adult wasn't the enjoyable dose of nostalgia that I expected-- instead I was just sitting there thinking, 'Wow, this is so corny, how did I ever think this was a cool show?' I'm talking about stuff like CHiPs, Knight Rider, The Dukes of Hazzard, etc.

    If "I Love the 80's" has given you the urge to set your TiVo to pick up a few episodes of some show they talked about, trust me-- ignore that urge.

    1. Re:One thing I've discovered... by ArmorFiend · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That, my young apprentice, is why they created the concept of a "remake". Take the example of Battlestar Galactica - Old: boring, fights almost never happen, silly robots. New: Fights happen every 3 seconds. Robots now look like foxy women -- and they're incredibly horny. Changing tastes for changing demographics.... :)

    2. Re:One thing I've discovered... by aonifer · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, but the A-Team is still awesome.

      The Dukes of Hazzard, though. Wow, I feel shame for ever liking that show.

    3. Re:One thing I've discovered... by MikeHunt69 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Agreed. Just don't let the Starwars fans know this, otherwise they won't be able to keep blaming Lucas for ep1-3..

    4. Re:One thing I've discovered... by evil+crash · · Score: 2, Insightful

      two words: Daisy Duke

      --
      "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."-THG
  10. um nice example by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    '"Full House still lives in the hearts of many and, therefore, the show will live forever. As long as there are people who like the show, they will keep it alive in their hearts and in their thoughts and that's why I started Full House Forever."'

    jesus christ someone actually liked full house? are they blind and just read the scripts in brail or something? even bob saget had to admit he "sucked dick for coke" because of what the show did to him..

    sad.
  11. Alternate article title by nametaken · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...why the internet should be destroyed.

  12. Truman Show by fembots · · Score: 4, Interesting

    To answer the question "So what do you do when they end", one only needs to look at the ending of Truman Show.

    People just find the remote and switch channel.

    Funny enough though, Truman Show itself has plenty of fan sites immortalizing the show.

  13. Jump the shark by challahc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm just waiting for jump the shark for websites. Then there can be retro fan sites about retro-tv sites. "Remember that A-team site..."

    --
    01100010 01101001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101
    1. Re:Jump the shark by dmaxwell · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm just waiting for jump the shark for websites.

      "Remember that funny website all the tech nerds used to hang out on? I think it was DotSlash or Slashthroat or something like that........"

      "Yeah it really JTSed when they started moderating trolls down. The trolls were the only good part of the site....."

    2. Re:Jump the shark by doc_traig · · Score: 2, Funny


      Slashdot jumped the shark when we started seeing the OSDN Personals ads.

      --
      So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
  14. thank you Mister Rogers and Gi joe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sure, I spent my early years watching Mister Rogers and Gi Joe. Then came Webster, the A-Team and Dukes of Hazard. Then came Gi joe and Transformers. Then came Duck Tales and Saved by the bell. Then came Porn and the Screensavers on Tech TV. Thank you for making me so messed up.

    1. Re:thank you Mister Rogers and Gi joe by dmaxwell · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Cartoon Network was playing GI Joe late Saturday nights for awhile. I remember thinking it was kinda corny but still fun as a kid. The "still fun" must have worn off somewhere in the last 15 years. It was just incredibly bad.

      I came across a site with Transformers episodes once. I was able to watch a few of those. I liked Transformers a bit better that GI joe as kid..might have had something to do with it. I loved the way Transformers could ravage several conservation laws at least 20 times an episode. Optimus must have a pocket dimension or something that he kept his trailer part in when he was a robot. For that matter, where did Omega Supreme keep his friggen body when he was robot? Then we have Astrotrain carrying around several Decepticons the same size he is in shuttle form, with scads of personal space for each one I might add. Come to think of it, damn near every action cartoon is incredibly bad. I still think Transformers is the king of implausible topology.

  15. Retro Mental Images by Ray+Radlein · · Score: 4, Funny

    One day, at a science fiction con, I was glancing across one of those large tables full of videotapes of, shall we say, dubious provenance, when I noticed, at the left edge of a box full of old TV shows, a tape labelled "AIR WOLF / THE A-TEAM".

    I'm somewhat ashamed to say that my initial thought was, "That has got to be the worst bit of slash ever written."

  16. A-Team rocked! by tylernt · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ludicrous?! A-team was a darn sight better than the crap on TV today. Young whippersnappers... Why, when I was your age we were lucky to have a color TV!

    --
    DRM 'manages access' in the same way that a prison 'manages freedom'
    1. Re:A-Team rocked! by Brandybuck · · Score: 4, Funny

      I remember once getting bored and channel surfing. This was before the days of remote controls, so I surfed the old fashioned way by turning the dial.

      Anyway, I stumbled across this bouncer competition. It's not every day that you get to see a televised competition of big ugly dudes hoisting drunks out the saloon door. I can't remember if this was the nationals or internationals. Anyway, this especially ugly dude named "Mr. T" won.

      That was his fifteen minutes of fame. But that was too short for him, so he stretched that fifteen minutes into half a decade. First he fights Sylvester Stallone in Rocky. Very cheesy. I was thinking, "Hey, your fifteen minutes are over!" Then he shows up on A-Team. Come on! This guy couldn't act his way out of a paper bag!

      His career finally stuttered, stalled, and crashed into Florida swampland after a particularly atrocious Barbara Walters interview.

      Epilogue: I thought the ghost of Mr. T had been laid to rest. But I was wrong. An CS professor with a bad sense of humour was describing an algorithm to my class, when he suddenly jabbed his pointer at the chalkboard, right at a meta-variable, and loudly announced: "I pity da foo!"

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  17. TV or not TV by howhardcanitbetocrea · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I haven't had a TV for almost 20 years...have I missed anything?

    --

    President ISES
    (International Society for Elimination of Sigs)
  18. Re:Jump The Shark: Chronicling The Moments When TV by quantax · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those who don't know, 'Jumping the Shark' is a reference to an episode in 'Happy Days' in which at the end of the show, the fonze is shown trying to water-ski a jump over a pool of sharks, in order to get more people to watch the following weeks episode which will show if he makes it. A reference to a show 'jumping the shark' means that whatever made that show unique and watchable is gone/going and thus the show must resort to gimmicks to keep it interesting.

    --
    "What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
  19. Re:ITVDB? by doormat · · Score: 4, Informative
    --
    The Doormat

    If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
  20. Damn good thing by Spytap · · Score: 3, Funny

    Damn good thing this story was put on the front page of /. otherwise i would have never known about this "internet" that you speak of.
    Man, so much more to this world than I ever knew ;)

  21. I pity the fool by doormat · · Score: 5, Funny

    who posted this story....

    --
    The Doormat

    If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
  22. Another good site for cancelled comedies/toons by wynterwynd · · Score: 5, Informative

    One site they forgot to mention was Digital Archive Project. They use a P2P community for the legal trading of cancelled shows. They're very good about removing things that go to video or are otherwise re-sold. It's kinda nice to see someone using P2P for something legal and worthwhile. Lots of animated series, comedy shows, and sci-fi/fantasy series. (the. Worth a click.

    --
    "Not all who wander are lost" -- JRR Tolkien
    1. Re:Another good site for cancelled comedies/toons by Milkyman · · Score: 2, Informative

      another site worth looking at for nostalgia is X-Entertainment.com. When I first discovered this site I spent hours reading the articles about all the crap i had/watched when I was a kid.

    2. Re:Another good site for cancelled comedies/toons by SPK · · Score: 5, Informative

      Nice site and such, but I would hesitate to call it "legal trading" (of cancelled shows or whatever). Somebody *still* owns the copyrights on those shows, and just because they're not selling DVDs on Amazon.com does not mean it is legal to trade them online or elsewhere -- it's just that, to a certain extent, the owners of the copyright (and/or distribution rights) don't care enough to go after folks.

      There's a difference between 'legal' and 'low probability of legal difficulties'.

      --
      Regnant populi. (The people rule.) Pregnant ropuli. (The snake will soon lay eggs.)
  23. Bad 80s is much better than bad 2000s by chia_monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ya know, you sit back and watch reruns of "A-Team", "Knight Rider", "Greatest American Hero", etc (only when you're sick in bed, of course...) and go "holy crap, how in the hell did I watch this?" You laugh as bullets go flying everywhere and miss people, but cars explode. Or when you see the hood of the General Lee (Dukes of Hazzard for you kids that don't know) get crumpled to all hell from jumping over a dirt pile (huh?) but then it's all fixed as they speed down the road. I sure get a good laugh.

    BUT...in 20 years when people look back at OUR shows, they're gonna think we're a bunch of morons. Ohhhhh..."American Idol" is amazing! Or today's "reality" shows like "I Married a 7'3" Midget" and such. THAT'S going to be scary...looking back at today's stuff. Egads...

    --

    "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
    1. Re:Bad 80s is much better than bad 2000s by zakezuke · · Score: 3, Insightful

      these shows from the 80s that you speak of weren't bad for their time. A-Team and Knight Rider kicked ass, and lots of people watched them

      No, they were pretty bad for their time period. The only reason people watched them was

      1. There was nothing better on
      2. Everyone didn't have cable to find something better.

      Knight Rider, a show who's ad campain said to dial some 800 number inder to get details why the KI3000 is better then the Dukes of Hazzard car. What's worse is this marketing attempt has been sited as a good use for an 800 number.

      I'll give you Friends... that ranks up there in three's company in my book, popular enough to have a few spinoffs, and likely to be shown just for it's cheeze value.

      X-files, while I didn't typicaly watch it, had some some decent writing.

      Seinfeld is harder to judge, but I rank it much higher then a-team, air wolf, or knight rider.

      --
      There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
    2. Re:Bad 80s is much better than bad 2000s by wibs · · Score: 2, Insightful

      We can learn a valuable lesson from this, and that is...

      TV sucks.

      --
      If you get nervous, just remember that there are a few billion other people who don't really give a damn.
  24. TV sucks lives...Millions and counting... by Bl33d4merican · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We live in a world where some people are literally obsessed with TV (Probably a fair deal of \.ers. People actually go home on Friday nights to make sure they catch the new episode of whatever. It's really sad when a website dedicated to saving the TV show Angel (http://www.renewangel.com/) is considered a charity! Maybe it is a great show (try not to laugh...) but honestly...that money could be used to...I don't know...fight cancer?

    --

    Every windows user is a sadomasochist.

  25. Re:I don't watch TV by Basehart · · Score: 4, Funny

    "idiot box"

    I prefer Shit Pump

  26. In Soviet Russia... by hankaholic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This seems like the perfect time to mention the fact that under original copyright law, the television shows you remembered watching as a child would fall under the public domain at some point in your lifetime.

    Music, television shows, movies -- all these are stolen from the public by excessive copyright terms. Copyright was supposed to encourage "content developers" to share the fruits of their labors so that the public could benefit from (and eventually take ownership of) their works.

    Lately I keep thinking of a short bit of an Arthur C. Clark's "2061: Odyssey Three" in which Haywood Floyd remembers a bit of an old tune and considers asking his computer to help him to find the actual song. It strikes me as quite sad that because we seem to have forgotten the benefits of copyright expiration, it's likely that whatever old tunes I try to remember in 2061 will probably still be controlled as tightly as possible by the recording industry.

    I feel like the media industries beat me up and stole my lunch money.

    --
    Somebody get that guy an ambulance!
  27. Who can forget "Riptide"? by cr0sh · · Score: 2
    Hey, alongside Magnum P.I. and Miami Vice - what about "Riptide" for old 80's TV?

    Riptide Fan Page

    From the site:

    Welcome aboard the Riptide, home of the world-famous Riptide Detective Agency. Meet, from left to right, Murray Bozinsky, computer expert, inventer of the Roboz, Nick Ryder, pilot of the Screaming Mimi, an old Sikorsky helicopter with a big smile on its 'face', and Cody Allen, owner of the Riptide.

    Sadly, this seems to be one of the few (or only?) Riptide fan sites around - most people don't even remember this series (it only lasted a few seasons, IIRC)...

    --
    Reason is the Path to God - Anon
  28. Australian Shows by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you thought the Dukes of Hazzard and Kight Rider were bad... it's a far cry from "Neighbours" and the Australian "Young Talent Time".

    "Full House" is slow torture compared to "Young Talent Time".

    There was a time for everything 80s... and that was in the 80s.

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
  29. That's nothing... by Magus311X · · Score: 4, Funny

    A while back, a bunch of us, for whatever reason, were arguing what the Hamburgler used to say. Whether is was "robble robble", or "rabble rabble". We debated this for 5 minutes, no fooling. Just kept going on and on, until someone suggested, "Why don't you just find out at a Hamburgler fan site?".

    After that sentence, we all just fell silent. It was an absolutely strange suggestion when you thought about it, but we also realized that they probably do exist.

    And lo and behold, Google didn't just find one, it found about a dozen. We laughed, both at the idea of googling for it, and the sad truth that there are Hamburgler fansites out there.

    ----- ----

    1. Re:That's nothing... by Scurrilous+Knave · · Score: 2, Funny

      We debated this for 5 minutes, no fooling.

      Only five minutes? Clearly the weed was better back in the 80's, if nothing else.

  30. I defy you to find this show on P2P. by Blaede · · Score: 2, Funny

    COP ROCK

    Yes, Cop Rock, a show where the characters would break out into song at key moments. I believe only five episodes were shown before the show was fed to the shark. In fact, this show's concept was so bad it jumped before one single line of script was written. I seriously don't know what Bochco was thinking, as well as the execs who green-lighted this. What piece of blackmail did Bochco have on them to get this aired?

    Anyway, if you can find some video of this (as well as Mexican wrestling movies from the 70s), you would be the king of Googling.

  31. Hell... by Cyno01 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For a lot of classic shows you can find them on kazaa if the dvds not out yet (eventually every show ever will be avalible on dvd). I've got old Doctor Who episodes, Quantum Leap, every episode of Sliders, some A-Team eps, along with Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy and a few dozen other shows. And before anyone starts a flamewar, yes it is copyright infingment, but where else am i going to find Daria or Greg the Bunny or Roswell with the original soundtrack intact. It all evens out since i own the first 2 seasons of Farscape on DVD, both Family Guy sets, Chappelles Show, Clerks the Animated Series, Firefly, Cowboy Bebop (i do feel a little guilty because my cowboy bebop set is a bootleg, but i bought it from amazon, so i blame them.) and some others...

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  32. Work the lock by uberdave · · Score: 2, Funny
    Work the lock. Work the lock. Don't look at the dogs. Work the lock... You looked at the dogs.
    Magnum - To himself while picking the lock on the Ferrari.
    What a start to a show!
  33. In other news... by Rexz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Internet contains 'web' 'pages' on various subjects.

  34. Re:Buy Transformers DVD by dmaxwell · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When the autobots fire a laser beam, decepticons really get it up the ass.

    It still severely lacked in the fatality department. The Autobots and Decepticons must have been piloting non-lethal weaponry for UN peacekeepers. If it was really necessary for the plot, someone would be knocked down with a smoking hole in him until the next scene. Otherwise the consequences were "Hey! That really scorched my paint!" or something.

    The movie had some fatality it but only characters from the old line of toys bought it in the first twenty minutes. I think the idea was you were supposed to throw your dead Transformers in the trash and go buy some new ones. Well, Starscream died a bit later but they trot his ghost back out in afternoon programming so you could go buy Starscream again.

  35. Quantum Leap by darkitecture · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What do you do when one of your favorite show ends?

    That's a good god-damn question.

    I'd like to hear from some Quantum Leap fans after they were left with their mouths gaping open, speechless after watching the last episode, thinking to themselves simultaneously, "WTF?!"

    Sure, some people change the channel. But there are times where you're just left ALL SORTS of screwed up, not knowing what the hell just happened.

  36. You Can't Do That On Television by frizz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's sad to me that You Can't Do That On Television, along with the other 80's Nickelodeon shows that I grew up watching, will probably never be shown again.

  37. Re:This is a great topic by jkubecki · · Score: 2, Funny
    Really, what else would it be?

    Max Power?