1 hour ago, GL Oldtimer said:

I'm sure there's a fan with a basement full of beta or VHS tapes that probably has a decent chunk of episodes covering some of the lost decades.

The thing is, home VCR use didn't really become a thing until the late 70s. We got our first one around '77. My mom and I bugged the hell out of my dad as soon as they hit the market. They were expensive at the time--I think around $800--and my dad was, ahem, on the thrifty side. But he came home with one. (To this day, I'm certain it fell off a truck.) A lot of people couldn't afford that (or lacked my dad's connections, lol). So anything pre-1977 is probably going to be either from an actor's personal collection--they usually only keep episodes they are in--or something the network overlooked.

The Bells were smart to keep all of B&B. The reason most of Ryan's Hope is available (at least the early years, before it was sold to ABC) is because creators Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer conserved the tapes.

It's heartbreaking that so much television history was tossed or taped over.

Also tapes were expensive in those days and it was normal practice to tape over previous recordings. I recall doing it by mistake and losing stuff I wanted to keep or hadn't watched yet.

8 hours ago, DeeVee said:

It's heartbreaking that so much television history was tossed or taped over.

It is strange how Game Shows from the 1970s have kept ALL their old episodes, and are now playing in reruns on "The Game Show Network" - yet P&G WIPED all their tapes to reuse!

The Locher Room has announced their special guest to celebrate their sixth anniversary will be

Carl Tye Evan (Alan-Michael) on April 2, 2026 at 7:30 PM

Edited March 27Mar 27 by TheyStartedOnSoaps

which characters do you wish returned full-time?

Hope, Rita, kelly nelson, Lucy, MH as Ed, Ross, Sam Marler, Melinda Sue, Roxie, Judi Evans as Beth

12 hours ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

It is strange how Game Shows from the 1970s have kept ALL their old episodes, and are now playing in reruns on "The Game Show Network" - yet P&G WIPED all their tapes to reuse!

Many of those were wiped too.

2 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Many of those were wiped too.

Game Show Network currently airs episodes of Match Game, Price is Right, Let's Make A Deal, Card Sharks, Newlywed Game, Family Feud, Password, Tattletales and Pyramid - all from the 1970s

As they were saved by the production company.

3 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

Game Show Network currently airs episodes of Match Game, Price is Right, Let's Make A Deal, Card Sharks, Newlywed Game, Family Feud, Password, Tattletales and Pyramid - all from the 1970s

As they were saved by the production company.

Some did, yes. Others didn't. Someone in the game show thread mentioned that most of the Wheel of Fortune episodes in those years were junked.

6 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Some did, yes. Others didn't. Someone in the game show thread mentioned that most of the Wheel of Fortune episodes in those years were junked.

But there are MORE complete episodes of Game Shows that were saved from the 1970s, not less

33 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

But there are MORE complete episodes of Game Shows that were saved from the 1970s, not less

The difference is, as long as winners don't come back the following episode, missing episodes don't matter as much as they do with soaps. I think most of the ones you listed had self-contained episodes.

Watching the July 1960 GL episode and I just realized it has a cop named Detective Wyatt. Funny to me as Larry Wyatt would be a detective on the show through the late '70s to the late '80s. I wonder if someone at the show just loved the name Wyatt, or if they were meant to be related. The Coopers stole their whole flow...

5 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Watching the July 1960 GL episode and I just realized it has a cop named Detective Wyatt. Funny to me as Larry Wyatt would be a detective on the show through the late '70s to the late '80s. I wonder if someone at the show just loved the name Wyatt, or if they were meant to be related. The Coopers stole their whole flow...

I don't think the writers really cared about the names of secondary characters like cops and secretaries.

7 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Watching the July 1960 GL episode and I just realized it has a cop named Detective Wyatt.

My theory is cops get names like Wyatt because of Wyatt Earp. So it's kind of a collective unconscious thing.

14 hours ago, Spoon said:

which characters do you wish returned full-time?

Hope, Rita, kelly nelson, Lucy, MH as Ed, Ross, Sam Marler, Melinda Sue, Roxie, Judi Evans as Beth

Hope and Rita, for sure. SO much unresolved stuff, plus they were both Bauers, one by blood, the other by marriage.

Even though I wasn't terribly fond of the character, they should have brought back Mike.

Actors are a different issue. I would not have expected Elvera, Lenore, or Don to come back. I don't think Mart or Judi would have come back if they were asked. Mart made it sound like he was at least partly let go because he was active in the actors union. And Judi heavily implied in interviews that she was not happy at GL.

13 hours ago, DeeVee said:

The difference is, as long as winners don't come back the following episode, missing episodes don't matter as much as they do with soaps. I think most of the ones you listed had self-contained episodes.

The winners do come back the following episode to face-off against a new challenger. There have been times when a winner has dominated the entire week. Plus on shows like "Match Game" they have celebrities for the entire week of the shows.

1 hour ago, P.J. said:

I don't think the writers really cared about the names of secondary characters like cops and secretaries.

Oh I know, I just thought it was a neat surprise as I associate the name with a longtime fixture of a much more different era of GL.

21 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

My theory is cops get names like Wyatt because of Wyatt Earp. So it's kind of a collective unconscious thing.

That makes sense.