Re: what is/was your favourite computer related TV show

[Mitchell Spector <mitch2gs@hotmail.com>]

8bit@noemail.nonet (eight bitter) wrote:

>Another informal fun poll:
>
>What is and or was your favourite computer related TV show from either
>past or present.
>
>My favourite....probably the now defunct Computer Chronicles (PBS) with
>Stuart Chiefet as host. But it has been many years since I actually
>watched an episode....probably last time I saw one was 1994 on PBS, which
>was a number of years before the show ceased production.

    That was one of my favorites too. They used to air it on Saturday
mornings on the local PBS station (Vermont ETV) back in the mid to
late 80's. I especially enjoyed catching it because they'd review 
Apple IIGS products from time to time--and even back then, almost
no one acknowledged the GS's existence, so this was unique.

    I have a few episodes I taped years ago: one show entirely about
the Apple II and another where they reviewed IIGS games (Shanghai
and PBI's Tower of Myraglen). Both these episodes happen to be
available on www.archive.org, where you can watch them live.

>Another one I liked, and many of you might not have ever heard of this one
>since it was a Canadian educational show, was Bits 'N Bytes (the original
>one with Luba Goy and Billy Van) which was probably produced way back in
>the early to mid '80s.....probably around 1983 or 1984 ???   A roomful of
>Commodore PET's, TRS-80's, Apple II's, and countless other 8 bitters and
>fancy peripherals that were around at that time.

    Wow, not many people remember Bits and Bytes! Being Canadian, and 
getting TVOntario, I of course watched it as a kid. :) It was a strange show
in retrospect but I actually learned a fair bit about computer basics from it
(before I even bought my first Apple II). I still remember of theme music,
those little animated cartoons and the narrator's voice.

    It was cool to find the "Bits and Bytes Resource Book" and "Home User's
Guide to Microcomputers" (both companion pieces to the show) along with
a used Apple IIe system I bought a decade ago. Did you know there was a
sequel series called "Bits and Bytes 2" in 1991? Billy Van took Luba's place
and it was updated to teach viewers about newer generations of computers.

Here's a site with info on the original series, wish I could watch it again:
http://www.rickstv.com/tvo/bits.html


Mitchell Spector