NBC Way Back Wednesdays
April 3, 2008 9:25 PM   Subscribe

NBC offers Way Back Wednesdays where you can watch full vintage episodes online of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Emergency, Battlestar Galactica, The A-Team, Buck Rogers, and Miami Vice.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner (24 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
As usual with these things, the video cannot be viewed by those outside of America. The exception being the clueful SouthParkStudios, where I've spent the last week happily watching old episodes I missed the first time 'round.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:53 PM on April 3, 2008 [1 favorite]


Tried to watch Buck Rogers and got a commercial, followed the 30 second "on tonight's episode" introductory clip, followed by the same commercial again, followed the 30 second opening titles, followed by the same commercial again. Turned it off after that.
posted by Potsy at 10:10 PM on April 3, 2008 [2 favorites]


The episodes I have watched generally have a repeated commercial in the spots where original commercials ran. I hate commercials, but I'd rather at least see different ones, instead of the same one over and over. Still, a 30 second ad is better than 2 minutes worth of commercials each time, but not as good as skipping them on my Tifaux.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 10:15 PM on April 3, 2008


Tried to watch Buck Rogers and got a commercial, followed the 30 second "on tonight's episode" introductory clip, followed by the same commercial again, followed the 30 second opening titles, followed by the same commercial again. Turned it off after that.

I tried to watch The Office on NBC's website, but the same shit with the commercials finally drove me nuts. How many times do they have to pitch Crest Whitening Strips to me?!?!?
posted by sbutler at 10:18 PM on April 3, 2008


[insert rant about cluelessness of big old media companies here]

I'll stick with bittorrent.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:21 PM on April 3, 2008 [4 favorites]


How many times do they have to pitch Crest Whitening Strips to me?!?!?

Until you buy them, yellowteeth. Duh. They're using Internetopsychical technology to determine which ads to serve you, and you're going to keep getting the Crest ads until your teeth become at least 20% whiter. Of course, then they'll serve repetitive ads for some other Procter & Gamble product... if your shirt's dirty, Tide Detergent, if you have beard stubble, Gillette Razors, if you have dandruff, Head & Shoulders... consider yourself lucky, I got Old Spice.
posted by wendell at 10:48 PM on April 3, 2008 [2 favorites]


I just bought the first season of Night Gallery on DVD. Three things:

1. The titles creeped me out as a little kid, and they creep me out now.
2. The first season did not include the episode that really scared the crap out of my eight-year-old self, which was the one where Sondra Locke had that brooch that turned into some sort of growing killer shrew.
3. The absolute scariest thing is Rod Serling's tar-soaked, crooked teeth, perma-tan, and helmet hair. Especially on a 96-inch screen.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 10:59 PM on April 3, 2008


All of these are also available on hulu. And when I watch shows on hulu theres no ads or just a short 30 second ad at the beginning.
posted by lilkeith07 at 11:06 PM on April 3, 2008


This looks good. Screw "A-Team" and all that, but the Hitchcock shows are first rate. The first one I watched (with Richard Basehart) was excellent suspense, and I was surprised to see it was directed by the then 28 year-old Sydney Pollack ("Tootsie", "The Firm", "Out of Africa"etc.). Great stuff. NBC is also running Rod Serling's old "Night Gallery" series here, from which I hope to find that Spielberg-directed episode starring Joan Crawford. Strong early work by these then-unheard of wunderkind directors. Ahh, the magic of the Interwebs (at least between the annoying ads for Outbacks)!
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 11:13 PM on April 3, 2008


On a related note...I bought the complete series of Buck Rogers on DVD for only twenty bucks. Erin Gray was one of my earliest crushes as a kid.
posted by GavinR at 12:16 AM on April 4, 2008


"Night Gallery" scared the shit out of me long ago, when it was on the tv and I was five years old. I'm watching a few on this "Hulu" now. Oh jesus, they were terrible, like everything.
posted by kenlayne at 12:24 AM on April 4, 2008


lilkeith07 writes "All of these are also available on hulu."

Dang it, also not available in my area.
posted by Mitheral at 12:27 AM on April 4, 2008




CBS offers classic shows too (I think it was FPP'd, or at least the Star Trek part).
posted by starman at 5:12 AM on April 4, 2008


Hey, that Crest Whitening Strips commercial is better than most of the other shows currently on NBC!
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 5:22 AM on April 4, 2008


Thanks for the Hulu link. That, combined with the networks offering video on their own sites shows that they are at least making strides in the right direction. I don't begrudge them running ads in order to make the content available. And, heck, my teeth are a bit yellow!
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 5:32 AM on April 4, 2008


Where the hell do some of these advertisers get off making the commercials 70 db louder than the show? Do these ad execs think assaulting their audience's ears and speakers or making change the volume every few minutes will somehow endear us to the product more effectively? I already hate that obnoxious Windows Server robot more than I normally would from its being Microsoft-made.
posted by brownpau at 5:39 AM on April 4, 2008


NBC might actually try to complete one of their contemporary shows, ie Las Vegas*, instead of repackaging their back catalogue. Arseholes.

* So I have some lowbrow tastes. Call ya lawyer :-)
posted by i_cola at 5:48 AM on April 4, 2008


Is TV on the web something that I'd have to have a computer to understand?

HA! Fuck that shit, weaselcarrots!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:41 AM on April 4, 2008


How the hell are they going to monitor how many times people watch these episodes online if they offer them on this, HULU, or fancast? There's more than one ad per episode, but yeah, you get REALLY sick of the same ads if you watch more than one episode (or, with a low tolerance, a single one)

I got a good chance to analyze this last month, when, after fancast got a FPP, I fell into a self-imposed marathon of TOS star trek episodes.
posted by Busithoth at 7:18 AM on April 4, 2008


I've been watching The Mary Tyler Moore show on hulu. I've always loved old sitcoms but it's been a while since my favorites have been on Nick at Nite. I didn't know they had Twilight Zone on CBS.com, though. That's cool. Since I don't watch any new shows on CBS, I hadn't been keeping up with their online presence.

I don't begrudge their showing ads for full shows, and one 30-second ad per break is a lot better than watching on TV. Some sites handle it better than others, though. I like ABC.com's system because the ads are just more web-friendly and they usually have an option to mute or even pause the ad. Then once it's over, you click to resume the show. That way you can mute and click away or even walk away to get a snack or something and you won't miss the beginning of the next segment.
posted by lampoil at 9:21 AM on April 4, 2008


I'm not sure if all of the NBC ads have a mute option, but the Outback ads do. I agree, that's a superior way to do it. If you don't mute the ad, the show continues with no pause. If you mute, the ad plays, but the show doesn't start until you click to continue. Agreed that those ads can be wayyyy louder than the show! Just like on TV!
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 10:22 AM on April 4, 2008


Damn it:

Simon and Simon: CBS
Magnum PI: CBS
The Fall Guy: ABC

I hope the other networks pick up on this idea...
posted by quin at 10:49 AM on April 4, 2008


NBC is also running Rod Serling's old "Night Gallery" series here, from which I hope to find that Spielberg-directed episode starring Joan Crawford.

That was one portion of the original pilot movie.

From what I've heard, Serling had almost nothing to do with Night Gallery other than hosting it.
posted by pmurray63 at 9:03 PM on April 4, 2008


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