I'm a sucker for old TV shows. The classics I watched growing up. The epic dramas, the mini-series, the short funny cartoons. Basically anything that I remember in a good way. This is not to say I'm a nostalgic, because I'm really not. I don't think everything was better before. And I most definitely don't look for old stuff simply because it is old. No, this is about enjoying life. I read good books more than twice. I see great movies tons of times. Music never gets old if it's good. So why should the things from my childhood be any different? If it's good, I want to see it again!
Back in the day, you had to be a millionaire to own a crappy VCR. When renting movies, you rented the player as well, and you treated it like it was made of pure gold! Nobody watched anything twice, because nobody had the option to do so. Hard disks were something only NASA had, that is if you even believed they existed. And even vinyl records were something you hardly could afford to buy. You actually went to the record store to buy TAPES! Anyway, before I totally lose track here, the point of it all is that most stuff was stuff you'd seen on television, or at the theater. Technology was exciting, but uncommon. Thus making the montly comic books, the movie premieres and the weekly TV-shows far more exciting than they ever could be today. Which is also the reason you had a different breed of shows 20 years ago than you have today.
20 years ago, before the Internet and cheap DVDs, people watched what was on. There wasn't all that much to pick from. This in turn gave the writers, actors and directors a bit more artistic freedom. Sometimes this was good, sometimes it was bad. In cases like the Fawlty Towers and Against the Wind, I'd say it was good. Both were great shows in their own genres, and they were relatively free to focus on content, rather than advertising. Today those shows would probably never have made it past their pilot episodes. But lucky for us, they were made 30+ years ago!
Now we live in a world where the Internet exists and technology is cheap. Everybody have DVD recorders. Everybody have mobile phones with built-in cameras, media players, e-mail and web browser. And radio. You put flatscreens in your bathroom, stereos in your kitchen, and your living room looks like a movie theater... only bigger. And the result? Old stuff is getting available again. You can buy remastered editions of pretty much every old show there ever was.
And I've come across something I'd almost forgotten existed.... LA LINEA!
You remember that? The line-figure that always got harassed by the artist? Did the artist ever stop killing his creation off? And did the poor creation ever get that girl...? Now you can find out! You see... not long ago, it was released in a limited edition DVD set! 3 DVDs with the episodes, plus one bonus DVD with extra material. They're completely sold out over at Amazon.com, but various used ones are available across the Internet.
Now if only I could find some nice boxed set of the original age-old Coyote and the Road Runner series... and my life would be nearly complete. ;)
