Tag: television

A Look Back At 30 Years Of The Simpsons

Ah, The Simpsons. A show I pretty much grew up with; as much as one really could say with regards to a television series, anyway. Today, December 17th, 2019 marks 30 years since the premier of The Simpsons as a stand-alone television show, starting with that holiday classic “Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire.“ Honestly, […]

A Short Look Back At “King Of The Hill”

The 90’s was an interesting time for animation. After a few decades of what amounted to “cartoons are just for kids” thinking, things had begun to change. On one hand, Nickelodeon introduced their Nicktoons line, animation made for the kids that adults could watch and enjoy with them — made for entertainments sake. On the […]

10 Years Ago: The Digital TV Transition In The United States

Today, June 12th 2019 marks 10 years since the mandated day that terrestrial television — you know, the “over the air” type you get with an antenna — was set to end analog broadcasts and go “all digital.” It’s actually one hell of a complicated story — far too much for me to go into […]

The Captain Midnight Broadcast Signal Intrusion

Early in the morning on April 27th, 1986, the East Coast broadcast feed for the television station HBO was interrupted by a mysterious message, consisting of a standard color test pattern and a somewhat politely worded warning message: GOODEVENING HBO FROM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT $12.95/MONTH  ? NO WAY ! [SHOWTIME/MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE!] It’s quite the complex […]

Television in the Soviet Union in 1986

Last week I was watching some videos  receiving far-away TV transmission when this video was recommended by YouTube – it’s a 1986 American public access show which covers Soviet state TV recorded over 1985 and 1986 – this includes comedy programs, news (including an early Chernobyl report), game shows,special reports on their space program, and […]