The following is a guest post by Rich Bartlebaugh. Interested in submitting a guest post? Ping us to let us know!
Back in the "good old days" (before the internet or DVD releases), fans of Doctor
Who used to trade home VHS tapes recorded off-the-air from KTEH and other PBS stations. Or so the legend had it.
I had never actually seen somebody's fan collection… until this past Sunday night.
A collection of 26 hours of Jon Pertwee and Peter Davison episodes from their 2002
airings on KTEH, found in the "Free Stuff" area of my San Francisco apartment
building. Out of just 60 units in this building, there are at least two longtime fans of Doctor Who
on KTEH living here.
And now…
Death to the Daleks!
–Rich Bartlebaugh
March 30th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Although I watched Dr. Who fairly regularly with either my Dad or one of my good school friends gorwing up in thw 1980s on good ol KTCA-TV (MPLS/St. Paul) It wans't until about 1989 that I became proper, researched fan of the show- seeking out Target books, behind-the-scenes info, DW Magazine, what scraps of merchandise I could find and yes - bootleg tapes from PBS stations across the nation via two very good friends of mine- one local, another I'd met on this new-fangled internet BBS board system. By '91 KTCA had stopped showing Who altogether after one last run of Tom Baker episodes (until 2001 anyway). So I remember those days well. Over about 3 years I amassed the entires series on VHS. Over the next 5-6 years I re-amassed the series on nice good quality 'official' WB/CBS Fox tapes and now, Yep, I'm up-to-date on the lovely remastered DVDs.
It's great to find someone else who's a fan in your building. It seems this is pretty much going to be the fate of practically all VHS tapes - especially bootlegs - understandable in this age of HD and Blu-ray but still a little sad too. I'm going to miss those days.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I'm loving the little bits recorded before and after the episodes. Peter Davision taped a bunch of intros for the episodes… and reminded you to pledge, pledge, pledge to KTEH.
(Also, Tom Fanella is on a few of the tapes. He was the GM of KTEH for 19 years- the guy with the walrus mustache reminding you to pledge, pledge, pledge. He passed away in 2007.)
I've never been much of a collector of stuff. George Carlin made a lot of sense to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
After not seeing these episodes for 15 years, the classic Who on VHS has been REALLY entertaining, but the tapes will eventually end up back in the "Free Stuff" area of either my building or Craigslist.
April 1st, 2009 at 7:37 am
After several years of Who fandom and wearing out the VCR, my parents finally decided to a)get me my own VCR and b)tell me to record and keep all of Dr Who on VHS. I did this…unfortuantely, it was long after I'd left the KTEH viewing area. I did have a few favorites on some tapes from KTEH back in the mid-80's that I kept around becuase they were in episode format–the way God intended classic Who to be seen.
After collecting all the available stories off-air, I then began collecting the commerically released tapes. It started off with a few favorites and then grew to an obsession that was only completed just in time for the DVD line to begin.
So many great memories…
I recall a friend of mine got a bootleg of an old Pertwee story on VHS and as we sat down to watch it, I heard a familiar voice on there. It was a KTEH announcer…I got a little misty eyed hearing it.
You guys were and are awesome….