Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Bitten by the eBay bug

I went a little crazy on eBay yesterday. I bought 18 old TV Guide “Fall Preview” editions in an auction frenzy. I got the annual special issues for the years 1974 through 1991. They’ll join my existing set for 1992 through 2008.
So now I own 35 years worth of television history.
I decided to start my collection with 1974 because that was the year several shows premiered that sparked my affection for episodic TV shows. (See cover photo above.) Among the shows that debuted that fall were “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” “Harry O,” “The Rockford Files” and “Planet of the Apes.” Hey, cut me some slack, I was 12.
It’s fun to look back at TV shows before they were hits or flops that make you wonder what network execs were smoking. The fashions and advertisements in those old issues are a kick too.
With print magazines disappearing in favor of online-only versions, I have to wonder how long the printed TV Guide has got. In recent weeks, PC Magazine and Crain’s Financial Week have joined the list of magazines that have ceased publishing print editions to focus on their Web sites.

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