HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sss@castle.ed.ac.uk (S S Sturrock)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: Aiwa NTSC<->PAL converter videos on sale in US yet?
Date: 21 Aug 92 12:33:21 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

In article <memo.585455@cix.compulink.co.uk> dbailey@cix.compulink.co.uk writes:
>A couple of months ago a posting on this conference alerted me to
>the showing of a new range of Aiwa domestic videos at a US
>electronics show.  These had built in electronic digital
>convertion between PAL, NTSC and SECAM.

I posted an article about these after I saw them at the AIWA show in London
over my Easter break.
>
>This means that someone in the US could record US broadcasts (or
>from another machine's output) on to a tape as PAL, which could
>then be played on any UK domestic machine, and various other
>combinations - very clever but quality yet unknown.

Others have said it is good, well to be honest, for a digital conversion
with drop frame and line doubling NTSC to PAL, it is OK I guess but really
it is quite poor.  Definitely not very clever either.
>
>I have followed this up in the UK and find that although about
>100 machines have been imported and sold the official release
>here is in October (at seemingly reasonable prices by UK standards
>of around 300 pounds).

Yep, that is about right, no LP facility though and stereo is out too.
>
>They offer some form of enhanced still frame facility and a
>universal power supply but there is no model with such facilities
>as Hi-Fi, stereo or NICAM, unfortunately.

yeah, well, with the digital standards conversion I guess a digital field
store is no great touble.
>
>My question is: are these machines yet available in the US, and
>if so, what are the prices?  A friend is travelling to the US in
>14 days and would like to buy one there for an American
>collaborator so that they can exchange tapes.

No no no no no.  If you really want to do this get a VCR that can play NTSC
tapes transcoded to PAL colour and let the PAL set figure out the
frame/line rates, most modern sets can do this.  The effect is much (OK,
vastly) better and you do get hifi sound with many of these types of
machines.  Problem is that you cannot record in NTSC on the machine so your
friend will need to buy the same type of machine but which converts the PAL
to NTSC for his set.  That way you will be able to trade tapes, get far
better picture quality and the stereo sound you might want.  I know
Panasonic and a few others including Aiwa make such machines.  Please
believe me, the difference is so marked you really will squirm when you see
the output of these hideous digital converters.



-- 
Shane Sturrock, Biocomputing Research Unit, Darwin Building, Mayfield Road,
University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Commonwealth of Independant Kingdoms.  :-)

Civilisation is a Haggis Supper with salt and sauce and a bottle of Irn Bru.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
From: peter@tardis.trl.OZ.AU (Peter K. Campbell)
Subject: Is HORIZON still going?
Summary: No response from mail
Keywords: HORIZON, Blake's 7
Organization: Telecom Research Labs, Melbourne, Australia
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 07:28:13 GMT

Howdy out there.  A couple of months ago I decided that it would finally
be worthwhile joining HORIZON, as I heard they were offering discounts
on things like videoes.  I sent off the obligatory 2 international
reply coupons to the address I was given, i.e.

            Horizon, the Blake's 7 Appreciation Society
            c/o Nicola Best
            71 Cowdenbeath Path
            Bemerton Street
            London N1 0LE
            ENGLAND

about 5 weeks ago via air-mail, but I have received no reply since.
Could someone please tell me if it's still going & if the address I
sent it to was correct?  If so, then could I prevail upon you to
supply an email address of someone in the club who could send me
some info, or perhaps tell them that I've been trying to get through
to them?

Thanks in advance.

Peter K. Campbell
p.campbell@trl.oz.au.
11/465 Clayton Road,
Clayton South
Victoria  3169
Australia
From: lawrence@access.isc-br.com (Lawrence Kelley)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Good Life Royal Special - HELP!
Date: 18 Aug 92 14:40:58 GMT
Organization: ISC-Bunker Ramo

As a fan of THE GOOD LIFE  (Good Neighbors in the U.S.), I taped every
epsiode (29, I think).  However, last week our local PBS station broadcast the
GOOD LIFE ROYAL SPECIAL as the last show in the series.  I happened to spot it
in the TV magazine, so I programed my VCR to tape it.  

Alas, I didn't look closely enough at the time.  Instead of being in the 
usual 1/2 hour time slot, it was 45 minutes and I chopped off the last 10
or so minutes of the program.  The beginning of the program showed the Queen 
arriving and then the Program Manager talked a bit and they introduced the cast.

If anyone has any information about this program or knows where I can get a copy, 
please either post a message here or e-mail me at the address shown below.

Thanks, Lawrence

____________________________________________________________________________
When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; 
but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember 
any but the things that never happened.  It is sad to go to pieces like this, 
but we all have to do it.  ---  Mark Twain
____________________________________________________________________________
Lawrence Kelley, ISC-Bunker Ramo, Spokane, Washington, USA
lawrence@access.isc-br.com  -  My company accepts no responsibility.
From: ekho.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: Need B7 Episode!s! on VHS
Date: 13 Aug 92 23:49:44 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

walshm@craft.camp.clarkson.edu (Matt 'MTM' Walsh) writes:

> My local PBS station has been through budget cuts, resulting in the cancellat
> of my favorite Sf tv show: Blakes seven.  Just in the midst of season2, the
> last episode shown was Gambit.
> 
> Does anyone have these episodes on tape?  are they for sale anywhere?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Matt

  This seems to be the case in quite a few places in America:  Blakes 7 
withdrawl! ;)  I have good news for you. Yes, Blakes 7 is now being sold 
on videotape.  Here in America, as far as I know, tapes #1-6 have been 
released with #7 & 8 due out in October.  With two episodes on one tape, 
this means that we are through the first season... However, our lucky 
counterparts in the UK are aproximately through the third! (I'm not sure, 
would someone care to update me?)  Try looking for the tapes in a comic 
store which sells vid-tapes as well, they should have them, or they can 
order them for you.  If not, try a big name bookstore such as Waldenbooks 
and have them order the tapes... 

  Also an update on our attempt at creating a Blakes 7 newsgroup:  we 
have the information on starting it.  I will post information on voting 
if we can attempt a rec group, otherwise I'll update you about the alt 
group. (This is a higher possibility at this time...)

  Stay Safe!


         Yours in Time and Space,

             Ekho (Killer Queen, Dynamite with a Laser Beam)
From: zzassgl@uts.mcc.ac.uk (Geoff Lane)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: Bloody annoyed
Date: 17 Aug 92 09:37:00 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre, Manchester, England, M13 9PL.

In article <zlsiida.70@fs1.mcc.ac.uk> zlsiida@fs1.mcc.ac.uk (dave budd) writes:
> But we don't want them to start too late, or nobody will bother, 
>so best start at 9.  And of course it is IMPOSSIBLE to reschedule the News.


The way that the News is given a God like status in the schedules is really
annoying. There is after all about 250 minutes of news broadcast between 6pm
and 11pm on the four channels - most of which does not overlap.  

If you look at the viewing figures, for example, of the BBC 1 6 o'clock news
they barely exceed 6M and quite often fall to 5M or less.  Programs in the
same timeslot on BBC 2 (ST:TNG etc) often exceed 5M.  

We will all know that the revolution has come when the 6 o'clock news
(rather than ST) is cancelled in favour of snooker :-) 



-- 
Geoff. Lane.                                  Janet: zzassgl@uk.ac.mcc.uts
UTS Sys Admin, Manchester Computing Centre, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9PL
From: sbradley@wiz.outb.wimsey.bc.ca (Steve Bradley)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Date: 14 Aug 92 19:15:29 PDT
Organization: Wizard Online

It
seems that A&E are showing it too on the 24th August at 6:00pm and
10:00 pm pacific time.....

Regards Steve

--- Via UCI v1.02 (C-Net Amiga)
From: epc@cs.nott.ac.uk (Elvis Presley's Corpse)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: Need B7 Episode!s! on VHS
Date: 14 Aug 92 12:11:59 GMT
Organization: Nottingham University

In article <LPygPB2w164w@cybernet.cse.fau.edu> ekho.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu writes:

>this means that we are through the first season... However, our lucky 
>counterparts in the UK are aproximately through the third! (I'm not sure, 
>would someone care to update me?)

We're up to tape 22 (Stardrive/Animals) from the fourth season.  Only
four more tapes to go!  The next two should be out in October and the
last two in January and then in May(?) there'll be a video on The
Making of Blake's 7. 

The last two tapes had an offer for a Blake's 7 video cabinet to hold
the collection.  Unfortunately it only holds 26 tapes so those of us
who bought the four previously released edited tapes and who plan to
get the Making of ... video will have to get another box :-(

>             Ekho (Killer Queen, Dynamite with a Laser Beam)

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Eddie Clarke      | Machine Intelligence Group | "Personally, I don't |
| ============      | Dept of Computer Science   |  care if the whole   |
| epc@cs.nott.ac.uk | University of Nottingham   |  planet turns into a |
| Tel. 0602-514232  | Nottingham, NG7 2RD        |  mushroom" - Avon    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
From: tfj@apusapus.demon.co.uk (Trevor Jenkins)
Subject: Bloody annoyed 
Distribution: world
Organization: Job hunters use Parachute
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 19:29:05 +0000


In article <1992Aug12.075638.21426@spider.co.uk> andrewc@spider.co.uk writes:

> One question, Why do ITV insist on showing their films at 21:00 with 40>  minutes
> of news stuck in the middle ?
> 
> I find it very distracting to watch a film in two bits, does anyone know if>  they
> get many complaints about their format ?

There are other VERY irritating things about the manner of British
broadcasting and the recent ITV franchise sales and the up-coming BBC
warrant renewal will without doubt make the situation worse.

I'll cite only a few instances but the examples are legion:

1)  Interuption of programs for "important" news items.

    My daughter, then four, was upset that at 09:53 the BBC interupted
    pre-school programme to announce the release of John Macarthy. They
    didn't apologise nor did they show the end of the programme itself.
    Whilst this was obviously something of interest it could have waited
    until the next SCHEDULED news broadcast. Oh "when was the next
    scheduled news?" I hear you ask 10:00 a wait of only seen minutes. As
    the pre-school programme only last 15 they lost 50% of it!
    
    A similar interuption happened when Nelson Mandela was release from
    jail.

2)  Postponement of episodes from fictional programmes because they cover
    sensitive current affairs topics.
    
    The BBC postponed the "Black and White on Fire" episode from Quantum
    Leap because of the (new) Watts riot which had taken place a few weeks
    earlier. However, they did show "By dawn's early light" two days before
    the anniversary of Hiroshima! The ITV companies have similarly
    postponed items for such crass reasoning.
    
    The usual excuse for postponment is that a sports event is running
    late. If one looks at the viewing figures for the snooker that the BBC
    inflicted upon us for two weeks recently, which interupted the QL run,
    the audience did not match that attracted by QL itself! They choose to
    broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesdays (when QL would be shown) but scheduled
    it around other regular programmes broadcast later in the week!
    
3)  [I'd better stop or the net bandwidth will never be recovered...]

However, before closing let me say that I do not support the forceful
imprisonment of people because they happen to hold different political
views from others nor because they just happened to be there. I did/do wish
and pray for the release of all those incarcerated falsely.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Trevor Jenkins                                   Radio: G6AJG
134 Frankland Rd, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, WD3 3AU
email: tfj@apusapus.demon.co.uk
phone: +44 (0)923 776436

Xref: sparky rec.arts.tv.uk:4907 soc.culture.british:11574
From: guy@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Guy Barry)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: longest running shows.
Date: 16 Aug 92 11:56:50 GMT
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK

sprackle@rel8.ncsa.uiuc.edu (David Spracklen) writes:

> Someone writes:

>> I can't think of many UK TV comedies which have lasted > 10 yrs

>Wasn't "Are You Being Served?" on for 10 years?

Come on Dave, we were talking about comedies...

-- 
Guy Barry | Computer Laboratory     | Centre for Cognitive Science
          | University of Cambridge | University of Edinburgh
          | Guy.Barry@cl.cam.ac.uk  | guy@cogsci.ed.ac.uk
          | +44 (0)223 334757       | +44 (0)31 650 4422
From: mbm@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Malcolm Mladenovic)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: Need B7 Episode!s! on VHS
Date: 14 Aug 92 19:18:21 GMT
Organization: UNIX Centre, ICL, Bracknell, UK

In article <14985@umd5.umd.edu> otten@quark.umd.edu (Neil Ottenstein) writes:
>Well, I guess I am glad to see that Stardrive and Animals worked out to
>be on the same tape.  They were my two least favorite episodes and I
>think in the last poll they were pretty close to bottom for most of the
>entries.  

Poll? What poll?

I don't remember seeing these two episodes before - I missed a lot of the
last season.   _Animals_ is certainly close to bottom in my list, but
there are plenty of candidates to go below _Stardrive_ (definitely
_Dawn of the Gods_, which must be bottom!)   I had forgotten how nasty
Avon was getting at the end of season 3/beginning of season 4.

-Malcolm
Xref: sparky rec.arts.tv.uk:4974 soc.culture.british:11684
From: pete@minster.york.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Stinkers!
Date: 19 Aug 92 09:46:30 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of York, England
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

David Spracklen (sprackle@rel4.ncsa.uiuc.edu) wrote:
: What are some of the shows in the UK we here in the US will never see?
: I know you will NEVER see "Cop Rock."  I know that all US readers are even
: now having to hold back their gag reflex.  This was one of the numerous cop
: shows; its angle was that along with the skits, the actors would break out
: (pun intended) into some ridiculous song and dance.  It looked far more
: stupid than I can describe in words.  Trust me.  However, I did get to
: thinking, "Have the British ever had a show as bad as that one?"
: 
: Dave Spracklen

We've already had Cop Rock. Unfortunately.
We've also had The Street, the worst US cop show I've ever seen.

I bet you've never had Bottle Boys, or Juliet Bravo, or It Takes A Worried
Man, or Sam Saturday, or ELDORADO!!!!!!!!!!!

Pete
--
*Peter Fenelon -- Research Associate -- Software Safety Assessment Procedures*
Dept. of Computer Science, University of York, York, Y01 5DD (+44/0)904 433388
EMAIL: pete@minster.york.ac.uk `There's no room for enigmas in built up areas'
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk,soc.culture.british
From: boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place)
Subject: Re: The Avengers, Again
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 13:12:11 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.074217.7355@osf.org>, david@postman.gr.osf.org (David George) writes...

} A number of the early Honor Blackmans episodes (in B&W) are also missing
} as the tape was reused  [...]

Not at all true. All but one of the Honor Blackman episodes have been found.
While the original tapes *were* reused, the episodes had been transferred
to 16mm film for broadcasting in Canada. Converting from PAL to NTSC (which
Canada, as well as the US, uses) wasn't as easy then as now, which is why
a lot of the early British videotaped series never made it to the US. At
any rate, it was easier to convert the episodes to film to send to Canada,
and it was after scouring various TV stations across Canada that Dave
Rogers managed to find copies of all (but one) of the Blackman episodes.
Rogers is still trying to find any hypothetical 16mm copies of the Hendry
episodes, but he's had no luck. If memory serves, the one Hendry episode
that exists was recovered from a kinescope.

It was in trying to capture the American network market that convinced the
producers of THE AVENGERS to switch to film starting with the Rigg episodes,
and a year later to go to colour.

-- 

	"She's my radiation baby.
	 She's my teenage fallout girl."

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, "The Mill", Maynard, MA)

    boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com
From: eia018@comp.lancs.ac.uk (Mr.A.Wilson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: Hugh, Phew, Barley Magrew...
Date: 19 Aug 92 14:41:16 GMT
Organization: Department of Linguistics at Lancaster University, UK.

In article <zlsiida.137@fs1.mcc.ac.uk> zlsiida@fs1.mcc.ac.uk (dave budd) writes:
>
>Barney McGrew [Barley! Hah!]
>

I think it was Barleymagrew (sp?) --  a surname anyway.  Why would he
get his whole name read out when all the others just get their surnames?

Andrew Wilson
From: cousins@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Kathy Cousins)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: Sandbaggers info
Date: 14 Aug 92 15:54:35 GMT
Reply-To: cousins@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Kathy Cousins)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD

In rec.arts.tv.uk, barry@jab.tucson.az.us (Barry Mishkind) writes:
>rb06@newshost.gte.com (Ruth Chapman) writes:

>>  -- just came back from a con with info about a Sandbaggers club, 'zines,
>> etc.  If anyone is interested, let me know and I will e-mail or post
>> details

>Yes, Please! I have just been initiated with some tapes, and would like any
>background infomation available.


Please post!  I had wanted to go to the conference but couldn't make
it.  (I tried to send e-mail to Ruth, twice, but both times it was
returned as "host unknown".)
Thanks
Kathy
cousins@oasys.dt.navy.mil
From: kat@bacchus.esa.oz.au (Kathryn Andersen)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
Subject: Re: The Omega Factor
Keywords: Omega factor
Date: 13 Aug 92 00:19:24 GMT
Organization: none

In <1992Aug11.214050.12653@u.washington.edu> pnm@milton.u.washington.edu (John Rahn) writes:

>In article <1992Aug6.103758.6865@ccsun.strath.ac.uk> matt@spd.eee.strathclyde.ac.uk (Matt Brown) writes:
>>Does anyone remember a series called the The Omega Factor, from the 

>I never actually saw it, but I do know it was in ten 50-minute episodes,
>transmitted on BBC1 in 1979.  It was a BBC Scotland production, starred
>James Hazeldine, Louise Jameson, and Cyril Luckham, and got some rather
>dismal reviews at the time. Apparently the "dark forces" stuff went badly
>over the top.  Maybe someone who has seen it can correct this impression?

I watched this series many years ago, and the "dark forces" stuff was
not over the top.  It was very creepy, so much so that when I finally
managed to get copies of the series on tape from a friend, I re-watched
it, and then decided not to keep it because it was *too* creepy, too
Occult, in a scarey way, not in an Over-The-Top way.

For people who don't mind that kind of thing, it was an excellent series.
Downbeat, which is not surprising, since I think Chris Boucher was script
editor or something.

Kathryn Andersen
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Doctor: High degree of seismic activity...
Romana: What?
Doctor: Lots of Earthquakes.
Romana: Oh, Seismic! I thought you said Psychic!
Doctor: Psychic?
Romana: Like it? I haven't seen it yet!
					(Doctor Who: Destiny of the Daleks)
-- 
 _--_|\		#include <std/disclaimer.h>
/      \	Kathryn Andersen		<kat@bacchus.esa.oz.au>
\_.--.*/	Expert Solutions Australia
      v		First Floor, 172 Burwood Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122 Australia
Xref: sparky rec.arts.tv.uk:5001 soc.culture.british:11715
From: dj@ssd.kodak.com (Dave Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Stinkers!
Keywords: really bad shows!
Date: 20 Aug 92 15:26:26 GMT
Article-I.D.: pixel.1992Aug20.152626.8188
Organization: :noitazinagrO

In article <1992Aug20.114840.13070@inmos.co.uk> antony@lion.inmos.co.uk (Antony King) writes:
>In article <Bt6zn6.6E5@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, sprackle@rel4.ncsa.uiuc.edu (David Spracklen) writes:
>|> I know you will NEVER see "Cop Rock."  I know that all US readers are even
>
>I believe that the I have seen this series on the BBC (about 1 yr ago ?). If
>it was produced by Steve Bocho (sp?) and consisted of a Hill Street Blues
>style of realism (except that everthing was clean) interspersed with songs
>then is it the same show. I think the commisioner was played by the same
>actress who played the ex-wife of Captain ... (damn I forgotten the name
>- Turillo ?) in Hill Street Blues.
>
The name was Furillo, the actress is Barbara Bosson, and she just
happens to be married to Steven Bochco......


-- 
||)) Dump the Whatizit!  Ren and Stimpy for Olympic mascots in '96 ! )))))))|
||)) "What is it, man?!?" ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))|
||))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))|
||Dave Jones (dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com) | Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY   |
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.uk
From: Ken Urquhart <urquhart@sfu.ca>
Subject: Re: Thunderbirds on CNN
Organization: Simon Fraser University
X-Xxdate: Tue, 18 Aug 92 17:49:26 GMT
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d7
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 16:43:16 GMT
X-Posted-From: rs13-annex3.sfu.ca
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <1992Aug18.133329.185@pixel.kodak.com> Dave Jones,
dj@ssd.kodak.com writes:
>The Japanese have long had a "Thunderbirds" which was an animated
>feature only very distantly related to the Gerry Anderson show.  I
>think it had an International Rescue, and various Thunderbird vehicles,
>and there the similarity ended.

It was animated and called "Thunderbirds 2086" (produced in 1986 - what
a coincidence)...

Aside from the name, and a similar mission, it really wasn't anything
like the original series. Tapes of this animated series are still
available for rental in some of the video stores.

Gerry Anderson had something to do with it, although maybe only
as Executive Producer (I can't remember exactly).

What I do remember about the English-language version of the series
was a lot of in-jokes like a supercomputer called "Metal Head"
that sounded like Steve Martin (actually a rather bad imitation of
him).

What I was talking about was the popularity of the *original* series
in Japan. They are re-running it over there as well as in Britain.

Ken