Tedium Highlight in Tv: Why TV networks used to dump their unsold pilots on the air. 

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Tag results: Tv

Turn-On’s Turning Point

The infamous cancelled-during-the-first-episode show, a lost-media legend, is on YouTube, which makes it the perfect time to analyze its legacy.

UHF 2.0

In a world of overwhelming media conglomerates, do regular folks have a shot at building TV for themselves anymore? In one rural Georgia mountain town, the answer is yes.

Package Deal

Why did the television industry put so much energy into combining TV sets with VCRs, anyway? It seems like they were everywhere for a while.

Too Terrible For Television

For decades, TV networks have spent millions of dollars on unsold pilots that will never become series. Here's how they've tried to recoup their investment.

Fourth Failures

The many people who tried and failed to launch a fourth television network in the United States. Regulations and high costs made it harder than it looked.

Double Vision

The history of picture-in-picture technology, an idea that seems a lot less impressive now than it did in the 1980s, and an era of forgotten set-top devices.

Moldy Oldie Marketing

How the music industry’s TV-driven direct marketing strategies revived vintage hits, salvaged floundering careers, and brought us Zamfir’s epic pan flute.

TV’s Hidden Math

How the calculus of ’80s television programming lives on into the present day—and why the Disney Channel always seems to cancel shows after 65 episodes.

It’s Not HBO, It’s UHF

The quickly forgotten phenomenon of scrambled television stations that ran over the air on UHF signals. Not everyone had cable TV at first.

A Distinguished Panel

The panel show, an icon of early television, was a purely American invention, yet somehow it's become deeply associated with modern British TV. Here's why.

Our Next Annoying National Upgrade

Nine years ago, the federal government painfully pushed the public into the arms of digital TV. Soon enough, we could be making that upgrade all over again.

Universal Themes

The universal remote control, love it or hate it, made our lives just a little bit simpler starting in the ‘80s. It's not as good as it could be. That's OK.

We’ll Send Him Cheesy Movies

The much-hyped revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a rare thing: A chance for a creator to take a second stab at his best idea.

Your Secret Amiga

In the '90s, the Prevue Guide—the scrolling spreadsheet of a cable channel that told you what was on the air—kept the Amiga alive way after Commodore died.

Ted Turner's Satellite Of Love

These days, Ted Turner's media mogul status is just a footnote, but when he turned TBS into a superstation in the '70s, he remade television forever.
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