Oddity Archive: Episode 276 - TBS Networkisms

An episode that’ll make you want to yell “TB-Yes”!
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[@RickinBaltimore]

Ben, I know you aren't a wrestling fan but thank you for covering GCW/NWA/WCW on this episode. Turner himself said the wrestling helped keep WTBS on the air, and promised to keep it on the air as long as he owned the station.

[@ElFuego35]

He didn't know how true that statement would become. As soon as Turner/Time Warner sold to AOL, and Ted was out of power at TBS, WCW ended ,and was sold to the WWF(E).

[@JL-sm6cg]

Also, I bet the GCW match he dimmed, reversed, and flipped was owned by WWE.

[@graymanmedia]

The Georgia War and Anne Gunkel

[@darrylu.4358]

But Ironically WWE doesn't actually have a majority of the GCW footage (even into the 80s) despite legally being entitled to claim ownership of it. There's a reason the pre-Peacock WWE Network had very paltry offerings of the promotion available on demand. Miraculously, they did locate the entire "The Last Battle of Atlanta" cage match that was long thought lost though... @@JL-sm6cg

[@darrylu.4358]

And Ted's long affair with the widowed Ann Gunkel prior to meeting Jane Fonda! @@graymanmedia

[@1000huzzahs]

In 9th grade we were assigned a biography book report on a person we admired. I picked Ted Turner. It went over his development of TBS of course. The author pointed out that - despite making a 24 hour news channel - Turner loathed the news and resented being forced by the FCC to broadcast it. So he let Bill Tush run amok. My favorite anecdote was when they put a dog in front of the camera with peanut butter in its mouth and off screen read the news in a Walter Cronkite impression. When I read that aloud to the class in my report, it got a laugh from everyone. Top tier stuff, really.

[@mr1000Cent]

Wasn't Duke Phillips in "The Critic" based on Turner and alleged stories on how he would act in his daily life?

[@1000huzzahs]

@@mr1000Cent Yes it was a loose basis.

[@Tornado1994]

@@mr1000Cent "All Hail Duke. All Hail Duke! All Hail Du--*Pigeons Fly inside it and get crushed. Well. It seems that Pigeons are drawn to my Mou-*Pigeon flies into Duke's mouth and throat*".

[@zerocool5395]

CNN has done so much harm to this country by dividing Americans (Fox News too) there's a special place for Ted down there...

[@ShawnTewes]

I have a feeling that Bill Tush must have been a direct inspiration for Will Ferrell's Anchorman character, from the look to the demeanor, as well as his at times humorously snarky interactions with his female co-anchors (as seen on various clips uploaded to YT). Side note, WTBS was one of the few satellite channels that were picked up clearly on Belize's pirate cable system in the early 80s, along with HBO, CNN and WGN. I remember watching Night Tracks as an alternative to MTV that would often feature some of the more obscure music videos.

[@Brillemeister]

TBS really helped turn this city into the media powerhouse it is today. And, speaking of things coming full circle, CNN has recently moved back into the old TBS building here in Midtown. Can't tell you how much I appreciate this episode.

[@brianknoblock8873]

My dad lived in Lawrenceville for 22 years and I did for 8 1/2. I had a chance to drive past there when I flew down in 2017 to go to the Coca-Cola Museum. The old studio building was one of those things I'm glad I had a chance to see before selling my dad's house.

[@syferdet]

I love the idea that they repurposed an Atlanta manor house for the TBS and CNN studios. Really fits in with the uniqueness of the network.

[@brianhebert6152]

I think that's the same manor house in the Turner Entertainment logo

[@TimothyMischka]

That was a former country club called the Progressive Club. But yes, they moved in when CNN launched since their old studios across the highway were just too tiny.

[@homogenized]

I still like to say "I've been there!" whenever I drive by what I still refer to as Turner Mansion. (I did a broadcast-focused week-long summer camp when I was in high school and they took us there for a tour. It was really cool)

[@mr1000Cent]

If I remember correctly, the manor house is also etched into AEW's "TNT Championship" belt. And didn't they use a wide shot of the house in the infamous Turner Broadcasting "Doomsday" video?

[@TimothyMischka]

@@mr1000Cent That Doomsday video was I think taped around the same time as the CNN sign-on, I think. And yes, it was etched into said belt since the Turner Techwood campus was the taping location for a lot of wrestling -- the WTBS studio where wrestling was taped was above the original CNN newsroom (which was in the basement), so you could sometimes hear the thudding of the wrestlers above your head in the newsroom on the weekends. The mansion was also the logo for Turner's film and home video arms in the mid-90s (including New Line VHS tapes like The Mask -- which also featured a special Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast episode after the film -- and Mortal Kombat).

[@BlitztheComicGuy]

Not meant as a nitpick, but something I honestly found rather funny: the anecdote about all the GCW wrestlers (but one) walking out in protest doesn't actually come from the 1984 WWF takeover (McMahon just fired everybody). That story is a part of an entirely separate wrestling company feud that happened way back in 1972. Yes, somehow TBS was the battleground for more than one utterly insane rasslin company war. Quite the business to be in.

[@mr1000Cent]

TBF, most people I meet that stay pro wrestling fans usually stay so because of the bat-shit insane behind-the-scenes stories that (allegedly) happen in the wrestling business (also see "Dark Side of the Ring" on Vice TV).

[@pronkb000]

He didn't quite fire everybody. Some guys went to work for Vince, including announcer Freddie Miller, and wrestlers Mr. Wrestling II, The Spoiler, and most notably, Nikolai Volkoff. He went on to be a notable name for years in the WWF and almost nobody remembers that he was acquired in the Georgia buyout.

[@briantheiss629]

Awesome job on this Ben! But I can't believe you didn't mention anything about the Atlanta braves. They were a huge part of TBS.

[@firewalker1372]

Yeah, I was rather surprised he didn’t mention them. They were a big deal here in Ga, especially here in S. Ga.

[@zerocool5395]

That's how I knew that channel was from Atlanta lol. They showed like every Braves game.

[@TheLocalLt]

Yes their national distribution of Braves games made the Braves into “America’s Team” for several generations

[@daveporter0217]

My grandfather was always watching Braves games, and they had a huge following in my area (further helped by their AAA team being in my town).

[@brianhebert6152]

SuperStation WTBS walked so WSBK (our local superstation, still carried nationally on some satellite providers) could run. They also saved American Dad! and Cougar Town from certain doom (as you said, the former is still going on the former SuperStation, even!) Oh, and Bill Tush's role at early WTBS kinda reminds me of Rich "Svengoolie" Koz's role at WFLD and WCIU.

[@electrogeek77]

As far as I’m aware, WSBK is even carried on some Canadian systems!

[@newstarcadefan]

Yup, Bill Tush did the news back when Turner owned WTBS (FCC regs back then required some sort of local affairs programming, even a 5-minute capsule like the old Field Stations). Also Bill Tush's early morning taped newscasts became legendary to say the least.

[@darrylu.4358]

WSBK today is an abomination. It is not even 1/100th of what it used to be in its superstation days. Sad, really. @@electrogeek77

[@stalegum]

That guy you couldn't ID from the TB-YES! promo is Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks. One staple of early TBS was live Atlanta Braves baseball and Atlanta Hawks basketball.

[@Rubberneck1965]

Yes. At 30:07 and I was scrolling comments before posting this myself.

[@SNARC15]

It was through TBS that my dad found his love of the Atlanta Braves and made a hobby of keeping score for every game. He even paid me to keep score for him when he wasn't at home. It was how I earned my allowance as a kid.

[@TheGreenMeanie]

Small correction here Ben; World Championship Wrestling was the name of the television show that showcased GCW wrestlers. At the time GCW had a couple of owners but the majority of the stakes were owned by the Brisco Brothers, the only other important party was Ole Anderson, head booker. Once The Brisco's sold out to Vince, Vince did offer Ole a job with the WWF, but he refused and went on to form a new company called Championship Wrestling From Georgia. Ted Turner was upset with Vince McMahon for showing c-list matches and rarely making live TV studio matches like GCW did so he (for a time) had two different wrestling shows BOTH airing on WTBS during the same time frame. Both Vince and Ted were unhappy with the agreement so Vince sold his ownership in GCW to Ted Turner, who then essentially merged GCW with Championship Wrestling From Georgia and JCP to form what (eventually) became WCW, the promotion. I know you're not a wrestling guy, but I felt I had to point that all out! Also: at 30:06 that's not an actor but basketball player Dominique Wilkins who played for the local Atlanta Hawks from 1982 to 1994.

[@OddityArchive]

...and thus is why I don't do wrestling...or any real (or not-so-real) sports stuff.

[@GrappleVision]

@@OddityArchive You did alright, we all make a mistake here and there. Thanks for the superstation Episode.

[@adamluce1901]

​@@OddityArchive you are missing out on so much not being a wrestling fan

[@dittm3r]

​@@OddityArchiveThe fans?

[@OddityArchive]

@dittm3r The subject matter is just way out of my wheelhouse.

[@CommodoreFan64]

As someone who grew up with WTBS in the 80's and into the early 90's before it went 100% cable, and is a HUGE Pro Wrestling fan, I thank you for covering this one as the sport would not be anywhere near what it is today without Ted's insistance of having it on the network, and helping to bring it to a national audance along side WWF/E.

[@gabepollock1641]

Ben, tip of the cap to you from a wrestling super-fan. You covered GCW/NWA/WCW as well as I expected given your usual area of expertise, and the care you put in shows.

[@HereForTheComments]

I haven't seen an Oddity Archive since the 10 year anniversary. I've got 101 videos to catch up on, about 37 straight hours of content. If I really buckle down, I think I can make it.

[@Tornado1994]

Its 10th Anniversary was in 2022!😂 I've been following Ben's Channel for exactly a DECADE.

[@HereForTheComments]

@@Tornado1994 I forget how long I've been watching Ben, but it was definitely as far back as the Senses Working Overtime days.

[@Tornado1994]

@@HereForTheComments Which means the Very Beginning. The Blip Days!

[@Mrshoujo]

Finally someone mentions the 5 minutes past scheduling they used to do. It also got them listings in TV Guide which stood out so their programs were easier to find.

[@homogenized]

I've often grumbled that the NHL should stagger some of their game start times to :05 and :35 so they don't all go to intermission simultaneously lol

[@theotakux5959]

I was shocked when they stopped doing it

[@pronkb000]

Turner Time! You also could be flipping around and maybe be just a little more apt to stay with TBS because a show was just starting and you hadn't missed anything yet.

[@TheLocalLt]

Yes TNT also ran on “Turner Time” into the 2000s

[@pronkb000]

@@TheLocalLtI don't believe they did.

[@CrowTRobot-ni7zu]

I really miss classic TBS. Great channel! TNT was awesome too, when it was mostly classic movies and cartoons. My dad taped a neat one in '82. TBS Theatre presented "Probe," the 1972 pilot movie to the series "Search." Fun little spy adventure.

[@steveg5122]

I remember my copy of the Smokey and the bandit movies being recorded off an early 1990s feed from TBS. I wonder if it had Turner time

[@ALWTunes]

How did I completely forget about Bill Tush? I watched a TON of TBS growing up. Especially the early wrestling programs and the 60/70's sitcom reruns. TBS really gave a second life to shows like The Brady Bunch, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, etc.Thanks for the documentary!

[@mr1000Cent]

I guess it all depends on how old you are, I'm 43, I remember watching a lot of TBS, but my neighborhood got cable far later than most other towns, so I was watching somewhere around the tail end of "The Superstation" and the "TB-Yes" ad campaign. I barely remember "Night Flight" being a thing, so of course Bill Tush, and his contributions to Turner Broadcasting, are totally new to me.

[@Jared_Wignall]

This really takes me back, especially hearing Superstation. Thanks for the video Ben, you always do a lot of great work on your channel and I applaud you for your research and presentation with everything you do. Keep up the great work and take care!

[@Fuzy2K]

31:37 -- I don't know when they started speeding up programming but I noticed that at least a little over decade or ago, they had been removing microscopic chunks of TV show intros, just enough that they made the theme songs sound ever-so-slightly off tempo. It also affected the transitions between scenes in Home Improvement, where they'd usually have music playing for a moment. It always felt off-kilter to me.

[@wesleybush8646]

They started running the same Friends opening theme, regardless of the season.

[@RageTVHTX]

There was no editing, they, as well as other cable networks, were using a time adjusting mechanism to speed or slow their programming to run during an allotted time. I even remember at the start of some movies a graphic would show that the following program was utilizing a time adjusting mechanism as well as displaying tv rating and related content. It was so noticeable on some movies and just became so over used that I quit watching any movie on those channels. It was horrible

[@jessecoffey4737]

That's a great episode. Perhaps there can be a sequel to it someday, in which _Night Tracks_ (a weekend staple of TBS that was basically Ted Turner's response to MTV) and _Tom & Jerry's Superstation Funhouse_ (a vehicle for TBS' reruns of the cartoons Ted Turner acquired from MGM in the 1985-86 timeframe) are brought up, as I remember having (and transferring) a blank tape that had those shows, which were curiously devoid of a mention here).

[@JL-sm6cg]

I recall there being a morning show in that vain called Superstation Funtime.

[@Tornado1994]

Correct! Turner Acquired MGM's Library on September 24,1985!

[@darrylu.4358]

Would you be down for a part 2? I'd enjoying seeing Ben do a WTBS history, part 2 down the road.

[@thenowhere]

Excellent video!! A couple of notes: there is actually an 8 min 1973 clip of Georgia wrestling from the WTCG studio on KZbin, which would therefore technically be the earliest extant WTCG footage available. Also, Georgia Championship Wrestling had been an Atlanta tv mainstay since 1954 on WLWA channel 11 (now modern NBC affiliate WXIA-TV)....the 1971 date was just the debut on WTCG from the Turner studios (it was just called "championship wrestling" prior to this). WLWA had apparently already been showing wrestling from Texas prior to 1954, so it was an early tv staple in the market basically from the dawn of tv....

[@mr1000Cent]

TV wrestling has always been a staple of TV (along with news broadcasts, soap operas and variety shows) simply because of the cost and simplicity that it essentially makes new original programming. Hence why "studio wrestling", especially in Memphis, TN and Atlanta, GA, were a big deal.

[@Tornado1994]

@@mr1000Cent Remember "Black Saturday"? When McMahon Illegally ran a Broadcast of WWF Saturday Night on TBS when it was supposed to be GCW? kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5-ynod6i9Gajqc

[@michaelcarpenter2498]

Ah Georgia Championship Wrestling. With Gordon Solie on commentary, was one of the best of the old territories of wrestling. I liked it and GCW, especially when Jim Crockett Promotions bought the time slot from Vince in 1985, which helped fund Wrestlemania the following year. Being from Charlotte, JCP and mid Atlantic wrestling was our local promotion, so going national really was exciting. One of the saving graces of TBS and Turner is that having the rights to all those old movies is what led to Turner Classic movies, which helped fuel my appreciation of those great movies, especially the silent movies. All in all I great history lesson Ben.

[@Tornado1994]

Also do forget Turner's Purchase of MGM's ENTIRE 1930s-1950s Catalog in September of 1985 which led to the creation of TCM and when Worldvision/TAFT Great American Broadcasting sold its Biggest IP Hanna Barbera to Turner on December 5,1990 which led to the Birth of Cartoon Network.

[@SNARC15]

I will never forget my dad's reaction to "Black Saturday" considering how much he loved GCW, and hated the WWF.

[@this_is_angel74]

Bill Tush was the Dark Prince of comedy

[@bunnybismuth]

I hope there are more networkisms. These are right up my alley.

[@mr1000Cent]

Man, the more things change, both USA and TBS programming consist of old movies, syndicated TV shows (Family Guy, American Dad, Law and Order, and Big Bang Theory) and the occasional two - three hour block of Pro Wrestling (which after two hours usually causes wrestling fans to complain) or a sports event, that is usually pushed off their main cable or broadcast network (which with rights fees for the four major sports in North American getting closer to being in the billions, probably means there's no money left over for original programming).

[@MysteryMii]

All the big media companies have effectively abandoned making original programming for cable networks as more and more people cut the cord. They’ve all been focusing on streaming content.

[@TeeVeeGames]

Yeah, cable was a lot better when it was a handful of channels. This episode made me nostalgic for when we first got cable, when they actually seem to care about their programming, even if it was old reruns and movies.

[@doctorwhofan6340]

As a Georgia native i love you covering stuff like this because it just shows me more of how great my state is.

[@homogenized]

I too am a Georgia native - couldn't agree more!

[@doctorwhofan6340]

@@homogenized we started so much

[@homogenized]

@@doctorwhofan6340 Atlanta influences everything, as I've seen written on a shirt!

[@doctorwhofan6340]

@@homogenized yeah we certainly do

[@gestaltstate]

Hey Ben, just wanted to thank you for all the work you’ve done since I discovered your channel in 2016, the oddity archive has been a consistent source of fascinating deep dives mixed with a strangely comforting form of presentation, it’s nice and I appreciate it

[@evelynvocu8731]

It's so weird that Grand Island, NE appears in relation to two of my various interests with weather (the Night of the Twisters) and now, because of TBS, broadcasting.

[@nlpnt]

My favorite Ted Turner story was the one about him meeting Lee Iacocca at some rich-guy do in 1980 and they made a deal to swap airtime for cars. Turner got a major automaker's account advertising on soon-to-be-launched CNN to show other potential advertisers (if you've seen Mad Men you'd know the prestige of "having a car" in the ad trade) and a fleet for his correspondents to use, Iacocca and Chrysler got a wider platform to launch the '81 K-Cars on and cleared out a bunch of the old gas guzzlers that had been stuck in the "Sales Bank" taking up rented parking space all over metro Detroit.

[@cpnscarlet]

Fascinating TV history, especially for those of us who went through the cable revolution.

[@luisreyes1963]

Thank You for the hidden history of TBS in its early Cable TV days. Who'd have thought Atlanta would have their answer to Chicago's Jerry G. Bishop on WFLD.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

I'd forgotten about Bill Tush, but now remember seeing him back then doing intros/interstitials for the TBS movies in the 1980s. Unfortunately all my old TBS VHS tapes with those movies and the vintage ads/promos did not survive my great purges of the 1990s and 2013 -- before I realized how culturally valuable all those funky old commercials would be, especially as content on KZbin. Luckily, I've restored some of the imbalance/loss by finding old cable VHS material at estate sales.

[@Wrestlespective]

TBS really has cone back full circle since wrestling is back! Even though it's not your thing, loved seeing Georgia Championship Wrestling getting acknowledged. And I completely know how dealing with WWE copyright goes. Well done!

[@jasonhaman4670]

Excellent episode, especially the Bill Tush part... and I literally LOLed at "Financial troubles down on the farm force Timmy's family to eat Lassie" - that was a gem. My family bought a Zenith TV around 1986, and I occasionally explored teletext on it over the following several years. I think I knew at some point back then that it was carried on TBS, but had since forgotten. It's a shame it's apparently lost to time in terms of being able to interact with it. Also wish we still had that TV, or even just its remote with the teletext function buttons.

[@TheMediaHoarder]

I was fascinated with Teletext and a station here carried it, but I never got anything to view it. Disappointed that it doesn’t hold up on tape recordings.

[@Tornado1994]

@@TheMediaHoarder Ben got me hooked on that 1994 Acid Jazz Demo from Jimmy Fifh Band thanks to his decision to include "Sunlife" on his Keyfax Episode and on the Brilliant 2015 Re-Edit of Teletext Heaven/or Hell.

[@MomServo]

This was amazing! Please keep doing these deep dives into cable channels. (Weather Channel, maybe?)

[@casemichael5184]

It's sad to think about how many cable channels used to have their own unique identity (tbs, usa, tvland, tnt) but now just exist to rerun the same sitcoms from the early 2000s or reruns of reality tv shows.

[@CypherSonic]

found this series years ago from the old prehistoric tv video, just saw this pop up in my recommended, great to see its still going, might have to catch up with what i've missed haha

[@JohnnyTong215]

TNT should be the next cable channel episode!!! Also Comedy Central!!

[@MrShortWhiteGuy]

I recall in December 1988, TBS started to air "One Day At A Time' weeknights at 6:35 eastern. They got to season 7 of the show and then the show got cancelled. They never got through the entire series. I also heard that in 1986, "The Brady Bunch" was the most watched cable TV program of 1986 on TBS weekdays at 4:35 eastern. Not sure if it is true or not.

[@xandercruz900]

TBS is where my sister and I would watch 2 hours of Little House on the Prairie every morning during summer vacation....5 minutes after the hour.

[@freemanconnell8134]

I’m old enough to remember watching cartoons and old movies on WTBS-17 on cable, and I recall the Bill Tush with the suits 😂, didn’t live in the Atlanta area when it was WTCG. Great memories!

[@WhyWhydaguy]

Fun fact: the original WTBS station offices in Atlanta is now used by the Cartoon Network block, Adultswim

[@WhyWhydaguy]

And yes I know, mg profile picture is from the show Final Space which also is a show originally created by TBS

[@Viteaification]

cn still doing things in atlanta? thought they moved everything to cali... good for us

[@iamathousandapples]

I appreciate Ben's Tush Push

[@movieedge7370]

Great video Ben a lot of great info on TBS

[@chadwik4000]

I always watch Oddity Archive at +8% speed...

[@jackatkinson3682]

I'm a little disappointed you didn't touch on their "Celebrate" ad campaign from '87-'88 which butchered the classic Three Dog Night song of the same name.

[@milob7845]

Butchered by Three Dog Night themselves, no less! But yes it's one of the first things that jumps to mind when I think WTBS back in the day.

[@carlhartwell7978]

Criminally under-subbed, and I'm from the UK. There's little reason I'd ordinarily have any interest in archived US media from way before my time, but you seem to make it interesting to even a 'through and through' 45yr old Englishman. Still here I am 2 or 3 yrs after subbing (God only knows how I found you in the first place) STILL absolutely hooked.🤷‍♂️

[@carlhartwell7978]

Still love the intro btw, beyond words awesomely well edited.👍

[@frankv7774]

Awesome love the old tv channel content...I live in Milwaukee and loved tuning in WGN Chicago over the air. Not sure if WGN was considered a super station?

[@electrogeek77]

WGN was definitely a superstation until they made a national channel.

[@sampoernaquatrain1710]

"All you have to do is throw Mr. Sticky away!"

[@MrBillmcminn]

TBS came to Canadian cable in about 1992 in a bundle with WGN, WPIX, WSBK, and KTLA that was only available to those who subscribed to one of Canada’s premium movie channels SuperChannel in Western Canada and First Choice in Eastern Canada. The odd thing of the superstations being carried in Canada is the we didn’t get the national superstation feed that Americans got, Canadians get the local market feeds of those stations. In the last couple of years before the local version of TBS seen in Atlanta switched to Peachtree TV, the corner bug actually said TBS 17. TBS was moved to the extended basic service in 1997 and other superstations were moved to a digital cable tier around 2000.

[@jacobwoodrow5289]

Any chance of a "Networkism" about another Turner venture, Cartoon Network?

[@bunnybismuth]

Seconding this. That would be a great one, especially since there's lots of early footage available

[@jacobwoodrow5289]

@@bunnybismuth Tied to TNT as well before it was its own network.

[@smcgamer1]

You know, in some ways, TBS seems like the polar opposite of a lot of the contemporary channels that aired a lot of movies, especially the weird over-the-air subscription services you covered like Tele1st, ONTV, and Spectrum. TBS wanted to be national early on and definitely succeeded; the OTA networks were mostly in Chicago, TBS was on lots of cable systems; the OTA networks obviously weren't and needed extra equipment plus a subscription fee, TBS was fine with airing old classics and B&W films, the OTA networks seemed to want more recent films that were often flops. TBS is at least still here and on basically every cable system, satellite, and Internet streaming, and those OTA services are just memories (and classic OA episodes) at this point.

[@ChaseIsDaAce]

My main memory with TBS was watching “Yes, Dear” reruns after school. Crazy how many sitcoms they have reran over the years.

[@belagracie]

Bill Tush was an institution in Atlanta for decades. Jan Hooks’ sketch about a tv preacher (We NEED your munny!) and space travelers who encounter a vocational adviser (We’ll all be SKILLED!!!) are hilarious!

[@NelvanaFan1971]

Finally a Sequel to USA Networkisms

[@nighttimevideo]

Ted Turner's attempt to colourise was so infamous, Sparks even referenced it nearly a decade after the fact in the 1994 song Now That I Own The BBC: "Hey Ted Turner, help me out I'm flying blind, I'm flying blind. You know the way to lay things out, to colorize and still feel fine"

[@robmclean4352]

5:22 Ooh, a World Football League sighting! (Atlanta was a good place to be a sports fan in the late 60s: the Braves and Falcons came to town in '66, and the Hawks two years later. And that's not even mentioning Chiefs soccer and Flames hockey, for a time...)

[@racecar_spelled_backwards868]

In the "SuperStation" battles in the early 1980's, WTBS in my opinion, will always play 2nd fiddle to WGN. In Florida, WGN was on our cable system before TBS. Nothing like childhood memories of being sick home from school and watching the Bozo show. I also enjoyed Cubs baseball in the summer as Florida had no regular season MLB at the time. WGN (which DID have Soul Train) just seemed more like a real TV station where TBS was like a few yahoos with some old movie tapes, a TV studio in a double-wide, and a satellite uplink obtained in partnership with Captain Midnight.

[@bas3q]

"where TBS was like a few yahoos with some old movie tapes, a TV studio in a double-wide, and a satellite uplink obtained in partnership with Captain Midnight." No lie, this is probably the best possible description of TBS until about the early 90s or so.

[@mr1000Cent]

I live in Rhode Island, similar story, but in my case it was WPIX, Channel 11, out of NYC. Not only did they have all of the top syndicated shows, they would also have "Shocktober" horror movie marathons in October and a Twilight Zone marathon on New Years Eve/Day. Never got WGN until years later, when we switched from Cox to Verizon, but by that time WPIX was long gone (thanks to new FCC rules and regulations on cable TV stations) and WGN was already making a switch to becoming more like the cable channels you see today (oh, and that thing where the new owners just rebranded them as "News Nation", because, you know, cable news).

[@davidriley1702]

American dad was sold to TBS by Fox

[@jefferyjones8399]

TBS has wrestling again which makes me happy.

[@ntsecrets]

7:24 WTBS call letters formerly assigned to the student radio station at MIT.

[@danmount9462]

Brian Zane of Wrestling with Wregret would have been a good cameo to help you with the GCW/NWA/WCW part of the episode. Turner would have kept it on the air if he were still charge post AOL merger. Glad it's back in the form of AEW.

[@CommodoreFan64]

Thank you, as I was about to say he forgot to mention AEW at the end of the video as a major part of the TBS lineup with AEW even having a TBS championship belt for the ladies. Also yes I agree Brian Zane would have been an excellent person to make a cameo in this episode for a bit more context on the wrestling segments, and how important it was to the station, and still is to the industry to this very day.

[@meowza3k]

i was all about Night Trax back in the early 80s. the greedy cable company moved MTV to the 2nd tier pricing. and we only had "Basic" cable

[@TheMediaHoarder]

MTV always ran commercials, why would they charge more for it? Commercials are the main reason why I’ve never had cable. At least people in Atlanta got WTBS for free over the air as it should have been.

[@brad3042]

Appreciate the mention of GCW. Grew up watching NWA and later WCW Saturday Night at 6:05pm eastern on the Muthaship!!

[@richardthefox3412]

Also of note, from 1982-2000 they would cover a number of NASCAR races per year, including the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the year and one of the premier events on the then Winston Cup schedule. They also did some Indy races too, and also sponsored a car in NASCAR from 1998-2000. (Though I dont think your a racing so I understand that you didn’t cover it)

[@mr1000Cent]

Benny admittedly isn't a sports guy (although I speculate he might be @officialJaguarGator9 since both sound similar in their videos IMO), and even so, the rise of Turner Broadcasting from "Regional Sports" to National and International (Goodwill Games) events could be a video all onto itself.

[@orbambassador5158]

yes! new history lesson episode!

[@bas3q]

30:06 That's Dominique Wilkins, then a famous basketball player for the hometown Atlanta Hawks. (Yes, I know you're not a sports fan - all is forgiven)

[@JL-sm6cg]

Hey Ben, another idea for a future episode. You should look up all those alternative names given to shows when they hit syndication back when they had to change the name a little (or a lot) to differentiate themselves from new episodes. The ones I know of are "Chips Patrol" (which was a redundancy), "Happy Days Again", "Laverne and Shirley and Company", or "Ponderosa" for "Bonanza".

[@TheMediaHoarder]

I uploaded the intro to “Emergency One” but Universal blocked it, they block everything.

[@JL-sm6cg]

@@TheMediaHoarder which one was that? For "Emergency"?

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@@JL-sm6cg Yes, Universal seems to block almost everything. They even blocked one of their older movies that was showing on my TV during a video demonstrating an old VCR.

[@venomousslayer8663]

Best local commercial break of any OA episode ever! 😂😂😂

[@pedrobecker5368]

Hey happy 2024! Good to hear from you, Ben!

[@JSSMVCJR2.1]

"Join us next time, when we finally address the elephant in the room, and talk about how the Web ruined all the Cable TV we knew and loved. With a bit of greed on the companies' side, of course"

[@ichigokarasu]

"Television Sports Arena," - the original TSA.

[@TheRocketLombax]

TBS also ran Threads uncut in the late 80s which is pretty neat for a basic cable channel, with an intro from Ted Turner himself nonetheless!

[@IanRiccaboni]

The man with the question marks (30:06) is Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins who was a long time Atlanta Hawk and arguably the franchise's most-known player.

[@mr1000Cent]

Ah, Future Shock, now that infamous James Brown interview on CNN is making a lot more sense.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

"I feel goood!" "I'm out on LOVE!" Legendary.

[@Tornado1994]

@@OuterGalaxyLounge "I was High off of God. Nothing but God. Living in Ameriiicaaa!!!"

[@Tornado1994]

In September 1988, James Brown taking alot of PCP threatened folks in his Office with Guns and yelled at them about using his "Restrooms". He then went on a High Speed Chase with State Troopers in Augusta,GA in a Ford F-150.

[@robalt1983]

Well done, Sir. It's crazy that WWE can throw up a copyright flag but they've been streaming the video archives of shows they've acquired for a decade but not one of those shows have yet to be GCW.

[@daveporter0217]

As a bizarre anecdote tied to the outro, Mr. Sticky is still used as the name of an unrelated cinnamon bun restaurant in Pennsylvania.

[@QueenOfTheNorth65]

In 1980, I was in 9th grade in southern Minnesota. I made friends with a new girl who moved to town. She and her mom lived in a trailer home, and it had a…ta da!…satellite dish! The first one I’d ever seen. And they got all of these fabulous channels I’d never heard of before, including WTBS. She would have slumber parties and we would stay up all night watching old movies on WTBS. Good times. ❤️

[@AndrewLoukidis-jr2bp]

Hey, you're still alive! Great I have no idea why these are so fascinating, it must be hypnosis with the cool intro music Keep up the weird work

[@MrScottbot101]

I loved this episode, as I we got cable around 1979-80 and I remember very well watching Tush. Although you didn’t answer a nagging question that is now haunting me: where can I find a Mr. Sticky?

[@KarlWitsman]

Good ole Bill Tush! I remember seeing some of his newscasts, just not the 3 AM version.

[@perrybarton]

2:22 We got our first UHF-capable TV in 1969, and I was a WJRJ viewer. Their cheesy mascot was a talking jaybird puppet named (wait for it...) J. R. Jay. Ah, the golden days... Nice work, as always. 🤓

[@OddityArchive]

I would so love to see that.

[@perrybarton]

@@OddityArchive I've never been able to find it online. It was so bad, it was kinda good.

[@TKRVideoCentral]

Great episode, Ben! Even though you're NOT a wrestling fan (we both are) it was a great overview. And somehow I think you could have nabbed Bill Tush to do your anniversary show - maybe you should try it now. So when are we getting the bad sitcom OA about the TBS Trilogy of shows? LOL! I liked "DOwn to Earth" and "Rocky Road" but never cared for "Safe At Home" myself...mostly because actors I liked were in them. How about a future OA show on the cable news wars - Satellite News Channel vs CNN?...Take care, my friend!

[@50shadesofbeige88]

Reminds me of the news segments from SIM Copter.

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

Independent station WTBS 17 (now CW affiliate WPCH-TV 17) of Atlanta, Georgia had "Future Shock," while independent station WGPR-TV 62 (now CBS-owned station WWJ-TV 62) of Detroit, Michigan had "The New Dance Show."

[@nashalbertson]

Electra access was built into the Primestar DSS receiver at its end in 1993. I remember reading about Monica Selas' incident on a page not unlike the ones in your video.

[@joelmclemore8798]

I used to watch their music video show “Night Tracks” religiously every weekend.

[@firewalker1372]

Thank you for doing this, you always bring back great memories when making these videos. Really enjoyed the one on USA. Can’t remember, but did you ever do one on HBO? If not, there ya go 😂. Great upload man, keep up the amazing work.

[@freeNode5]

I remember a time as a kid when superstation was our only available children's entertainment. I think that's where I watched Hanna Barbara cartoons, but there were lots of other odd cartoons it aired

[@itsjoshs]

Fascinating that WTCG aired Art Fleming's Jeopardy! in Atlanta. The master tapes were wiped by NBC, and that entire era is considered lost. I wonder if there are copies hiding in a Turner warehouse somewhere. Turner knew the value of a good rerun. Art Fleming's Jeopardy! could be worthy of its own episode !

[@PortPowerTX]

TBS still has wrestling nowadays with AEW; in fact, AEW sometimes looks back at the TBS Wrestling heritage with their adverts. But yes, TBS is a shell of its former greatness nowadays. Would be great if there was a TBS+/TNT+ that would show the old school versions again..

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

The local version of WTBS 17 was separated from the national version of TBS (which now feels more like a proper basic cable channel), resulting in the local version of WTBS 17 getting the new callsign WPCH-TV 17 in 2007, exclusively serving the Atlanta metro area with their "Peachtree TV" branding. WPCH-TV 17 became Atlanta's new home for The CW programming when CBS TV Stations flipped the former owned-and-operated The CW affiliate WUPA 69 to an independent station in 2024.

[@djhrecordhound4391]

Wow great work, Ben! Tush looks (and of course sounds) very familiar, but not from TBS. Btw, Canadian here... He did lots of ad and infomercial voiceovers--airing anywhere overnights--so maybe he was onscreen in those too...?

[@ntsecrets]

Wow I learned a lot about TBS I did not know! I grew up with TBS but only 84 and on (city didn’t have cable before then)

[@Tlebeau421]

Nice piece on TBS. Only missed section was Major League Baseball owned by Ted Turner and 162 Atlanta Braves games televised Nationally. Now TV contracts are owned by bundled together so only a few companies televise for 10 to 18 teams. The affect for the Atlanta Braves is a national following similar to Yankees and Dodgers. When the play in opposing city, they will have a big strong loud crowd loyal to the Braves. It’s mostly attributed to the SuperStation.

[@SNARC15]

Every time i see Bill Tush it brings back memories of another television station "every man" they i grew up watching in the DC area. His name is Dick Dyszel, who we knew as both Captain 20 and Count Gore de Vol (who he still performs as to this very day) on WDCA 20 until i think 1986 or 1988, when WDCA was bought and the new owners fired everyone.

[@homogenized]

Oh my God I'm pretty sure that exact same Sage Hill sign is up outside that shopping center to this day (I'm from Atlanta)!

[@iamathousandapples]

NOTE FOR FELLOW WRESTLING FANS: Jeff and Jerry Briscoe are not related to Mark and Jay(RIP) Briscoe

[@chadlewis4079]

Oh, no Atlanta Braves Baseball?! Ted Turner was also one of the most infamous professional team owners of his generation.