The Importance of Archive Channels, according to Aspie ADog
I would say my reasons for being so interested in VHS Archives can be grouped into two camps: Micro Reasons focused on myself, and Macro Reasons that could be important to society at large. Especially in today’s socio-economic climate. And I have three of each.
The first Micro Reason is the fact these channels are giving me an avalanche of potential post ideas for possibly years to come! Here are three examples that I have generated in my head.
- The UK’s Satanic Panic: I’m pretty sure a lot of people have a rough idea of the craziness of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s in America. But… I think there was a UK version in the late 80s and early 90s that, while not influenced by Dungeons and Dragons, probably has some striking similarities. My starting point for this idea: This edition of News at Ten from 1991. Any books and reference material that can help inform the background and analysis is most welcome.
- Bedsitcom (2003): [2frog], sister channel of [bluefrog], uploaded the whole series of this attempt at what Jury Duty seemed to master 20 years later. When I did a quick scan for reviews and such, the few I could find were pretty scathing. But I want to watch it for myself and come to my own conclusion as to whether it was really that bad in hindsight.
- Tomorrow’s World & The Net: These are two examples of shows from the 1990s that made predictions about the future. I think they are worth looking at with the benefit of hindsight and the reality of what’s happened since they were first broadcast about 30 years ago.
There are so many others I could list here, mostly television shows that flew under my radar but have piqued my curiosity either because of a clip I’ve seen, or a significant factoid allegedly connected to it that I’ve read.
In the meantime, my second Micro Reason is the fact that stuff that I saw growing up is now watchable again and again on a platform like YouTube, whether it was good or has aged like sad milk. And unlike Hollywood’s ever-increasing attempts at manufacturing nostalgia, you can’t beat that which comes from seeing something you vaguely remember seeing once resurfacing pretty much exactly as your brain has processed it. Or being reminded of a sponsorship you took part in as a young buck in the case of those Goodfellas Pizza stings that sponsored RTÉ’s Big Big Movie from 2006 to 2009-ish.
Finally, my third Micro Reason for loving these channels are the things I learn about that either went under my radar, appeal to my curious side, I kind of remembered seeing, or heard about through the grapevine but couldn’t find a proper source. Until I came across a YouTube Video that set the record straight. As an example of the third element in this quartet, let’s talk about Who Wants To Be A Superhero? It was a Reality TV Show for wannabe Superheroes created by the late Stan Lee in 2006 that aired two seasons on the Sci Fi Channel. I discovered the first season in full around 2020. And that brought up memories of me watching a children’s equivalent that aired on CBBC in 2009. I searched and searched all over the internet for even just clips of it since I remember watching at least half of it at the time it was broadcast. Until childhoodncstalgia, the absolute legend, uploaded Episode 9 (the Top 8) and then the full series over the course of many months. They pretty much upload a lot of CBBC and Cbeebies’ back catalogue of shows so it’s worth a look if you’re after that kind of nostalgia. My point is, discovering one-off series like this, documentaries on a variety of topics, or the way news and current affairs were discussed yesteryear, is what attracts me to VHS Archives the most. Especially since I have no idea what’s going to get uploaded day after day, week after week, month after month. But it’s not just me that potentially benefits from all these discoveries being made by the dedicated people who dig and dig and somehow strike gold a lot of the time!
It’s time to talk about the Macro Reasons YouTube VHS Archives deserve to live on. And there are three particular groups that I think benefit most from each and every discovery that is made. The first are those that either created or took part in the content uploaded. My rationale for this is two-fold. Creators can confirm that they designed or contributed to an ident, opening titles, or even an entire show or advertisement, which could help plug gaps that those Fan Wikis or IMDb have through no fault of their own. Participants, meanwhile, can confirm that they are the central figure of an advert or sponsorship sting, or took part in one of those TV Shows that I’ve heard about which piqued my curiosity. They can also give behind-the-scenes details of those same productions. Both of which people like me would be interested in if my curiosity was really piqued. It might even lead to some Curious Aspie posts featuring the people responsible for being a part of the best and worst of television that I consumed growing up. Mostly on weekends.
The second group I have in mind are academics, especially those who lecture in journalism. Why do I single out that department? Well, every organisation that writes and presents news has bias, subtle ways of introducing stories and interviewing people and experts. I think having complete editions of news bulletins across the decades, especially of major historical events, would allow students to identify those subtle ways, learn when they are effective and when they are detrimental, and how best to be more like Sir Trevor McDonald. I also think the way different organisations have covered the same stories could be the foundation for an FYP in, for example, why does this happen and how has journalism reporting evolved over the years. Especially when you compare the standards expected of the Mainstream Media with the wild west of TikTok, which I HATE for a multitude of reasons I feel I need several posts to explain thoroughly. But in essence, the more news broadcasts get preserved online, I think the more organic potential resources could be for those who dare to be journalists, particularly with the way of the world today.
And the third and final group I have in mind are those websites that already preserve TV Continuity and Presentation. Why? Because, as hard as they try to find stills and clips, there are always going to be parts of a collection that they miss, usually through no fault of their own. For example, there are certain UTV Idents from prior to around 2000 that I know TVARK are missing because I’ve seen on a fragment of Continuity and Adverts from UTV uploaded by a VHS Archive Channel. For example, Frank Mitchell whistling to Singing in the Rain with a UTV-branded Umbrella [1], the late Ken Reid at Westminster Abbey while Big Ben chimes the ident jingle of the time [2], and Electric Guitar [3], Xylophone [4] and Electric Keyboard [5] Idents that fit in with the other musical instrument idents at the bottom of the page. I discovered them while combing through over 270 pieces of UTV Continuity & Adverts that can be dated reliably. And I think websites could find quite a lot to add to their own collections by doing this. However, I think that would be asking too much… And it’s not the only issue that ARK Towers and places like it have to contend with every time they do their thing as VHS Archivists.
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