The blink of an eye
Jun. 28th, 2005 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysFor a good chunk of the history of the medium, television was an entirely ephemeral experience. Much was broadcast live or broadcast once and then the video tape recycled. There are episodes of Dr Who that I remember watching which are now "lost". Many other shows from that time have never been seen again. As time passed, better archiving and changes to the way licences to transmit a show meant that repeat broadcasts happened. But if you missed a show, it might take years before it came around. It took me many years before I ever got to see all the episodes of Star Trek.
Then video recorders came along and the world changed. With planning and luck, you wouldn't miss the shows that you wanted to see. It also meant that pre-recorded VHS tapes came on the market for hire and purchase. However these were mainly only movies. TV series were only rarely available initially - this gradually changed but they were still the exception rather than the rule. For most TV series if you didn't tape it yourself, there was a good chance that you would never have a copy.
Again there was a shift with DVDs. Most recent TV series are available on DVD within 6 to 12 months of broadcast. And there is a steady backfilling of older series becoming available. Some will never be released for licencing reasons but many of my old favourites are there to be seen since the first time I saw them all those years back. Two series from my childhood, At last the 1948 show and Do not adjust your set are about to be released.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lobelet already has his copies pre-ordered - I won't be far behind. *joy*
I did a bit of tutoring today for a colleague. It has put me in lecture mode, hence the little history spiel above.
Then video recorders came along and the world changed. With planning and luck, you wouldn't miss the shows that you wanted to see. It also meant that pre-recorded VHS tapes came on the market for hire and purchase. However these were mainly only movies. TV series were only rarely available initially - this gradually changed but they were still the exception rather than the rule. For most TV series if you didn't tape it yourself, there was a good chance that you would never have a copy.
Again there was a shift with DVDs. Most recent TV series are available on DVD within 6 to 12 months of broadcast. And there is a steady backfilling of older series becoming available. Some will never be released for licencing reasons but many of my old favourites are there to be seen since the first time I saw them all those years back. Two series from my childhood, At last the 1948 show and Do not adjust your set are about to be released.
lobelet already has his copies pre-ordered - I won't be far behind. *joy*I did a bit of tutoring today for a colleague. It has put me in lecture mode, hence the little history spiel above.