Interestingly enough, the legacy of QUBE still lives on. Two channels that began on QUBE, Star Channel and Pinwheel, formed the basis for The Movie Channel and Nickelodeon. A third channel, Sight on Sound, would give birth to MTV. And did anyone else catch the Chickenman music in Lulu?
So that means that this system originated 3 CBS-owned cable / satellite channels, amazing... (as I type Viacom is in the verge of reuniting with the rest of the former company under CBS administration)
"Pinwheel, pinwheel , turning around..." wow thank you for reminding me that that was a thing, I only saw it one time when I was very young on a vacation to my aunt's
Hate to be the Ackchually guy here, but the name of what eventually became Nickelodeon was just "C-3". It ended up being called Pinwheel since the show of the same name was shown in C-3 all the time. Sorry.
"SCTV" parodied QUBE in one episode. In it, viewers kept choosing "Leave it to Beaver" over "The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood" for their viewing pleasure. I recall I was amazed by the concept as a child and wished that we'd had something similar.
My mom and dad had a Qube set when they were living in Columbus in the early 1980s. They actually recorded Strange Brew onto VHS through a Qube recording; there's a small discoloration at the left side of the screen. Also, they said that there were instances where people could vote on which NHL game they wanted to watch on Friday nights - just about every game involved Detroit, Chicago or either of the NY teams though. They don't have the controller anymore unfortunately.
Yeah when I was looking for that song he was singing, I came across Tiny TIm's "Livin' in the Sunlight". I always assume the song that was sung was a Tiny Tim song, but I couldn't find it. Can you give me some help here?
Did I see that correctly.. These motherfuckers offered comparative shopping as far back as 1978?! That is Awesome! Nowadays there are websites that compare prices amongst several different websites/stores and they act,as if it were a new idea! I knew it existed back in the 90's, albeit in print, but I had no Idea it went back to the 70's!
In addition to Flippo's Magic Circus and that live auction, Flippo the Clown also hosted a movie trivia game for QUBE called Flippo's Screen Test, and as himself (Bob Marvin), also hosted kids' stunt show Across the Board.
Bill was a terrific game show host. BTW, "How Do You Like Your Eggs" was not a Family Feud clone. Family Feud was based on the Match Game concept, which itself was copied from earlier shows. These types of shows were based on matching audience or polled group answers. I would have voted for Geraldine. One big problem is politicians lie during elections. They don't reveal their true selves until after they win. But with Geraldine, what you see is what you get.
QUBE once had a football game between two Semi Pro teams where the fans called the plays between the teams on both sides of the ball. It lasted 6 hours.
Dan Russo Here is the newspaper clipping so there's documentation it really happened. news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19800715&id=IyEqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rysEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4388,2159721&hl=en
One word, Videotron's Videoway in 98 before it's time witch was Internet just before it's time time too (obvious ton many but Videotron who was f. Late at this game.
Whwn i was 15 living in Dallas, Texas, in 1985, we (meaning my dad and i) had the cable company Qube. it also had a pay per view channels called "Viewer's Choice" for some odd reason i got a kick out of watching the latest trailers, dont know why. to this day i remember the exact words of the announcer after every trailer: "Now through Tuesday starting every two hours on Viewer's Choice". and useless trivia at 0:34 that song was written and originaly performed by Neil Sedaka.
+Derek Roberts When PPV came to my town finally (cir. 1989), my cable company ran such a preview channel that played the same previews over and over for the films they ran and I use to watch that channel endless.
Can anyone find information on the child that was named by group voting (and if they did in fact use the winning name Elizabeth?) If anyone can I'd love to read it!
That talent show had the same set as "How do you like your eggs?" (No, I am not making that name up). Interesting story about that game show as they actually got Bill Cullen to host it and may be the only show during the lifespan of QUBE that had any real life celebrity in it. It was essentially a Family Feud clone and the game itself was slow. FUN FACT: They did four pilots for it and everyone of those had it's rules tweaked in some way to either make the game faster or easier. th-cam.com/video/hQTwqqNuwgA/w-d-xo.html
+HappySnoutHour Well it was production values on par with what local TV stations were doing. I'm sure they had only one or two studio spaces to use in that building.
HappySnoutHour - The second pilot was a complete disaster... neither couple was able to reach the winning score, so Bill finally had to end the show 37 minutes in!
Ahh, back when Warner Cable (now Time Warner Cable) in Columbus was actually good, too bad it was before I was born, now TWC sucks balls, shoddy DVRs, unreliable Internet and VoIP, installers who don't even know how any of it works let alone be able to set it up properly Now the only good choices in Columbus (other than satellite or OTA) are WOW! And U-verse (me personally choosing the latter) TWC has also released other oddities on their network (like the SEGA Channel), which also went south If TWC released an updated version of QUBE, or at least better interactivity than they do now, I might think about switching back to TWC
Ben your videos about different interactive television services are my favorites of the sort on the internet.Being a New Englander myself,I was always curious why there was never (to my knowledge) an interactive television service in either New Hamphsire or Maine. Certainly the 1980's and some of the 90's had a culture there ripe for it. Generally though,of course the culture ended up defined by a UHF based public access TV subculture that included it's own David Letterman type late night show,the assortment of scratchy Christian oriented stop motion animated cartoons and as with many of these services so it seems,it's own talent show. Because no one has ever researched this,I had a perception I was the only person in my home state who spent Saturday afternoons watching these local oddity's. If only I'd had a VCR handy because some of what I saw was ripe for inclusion in one of your Oddity Archive television based videos.
Here in Houston when we first got cable in 1981, they were called Qube cable even though we never had the interactive system. Back then there were several cable companies throughout Houston. Qube in my area became Warner then Warner Amex and then Time Warner. Today Comcast has the market.
Why is Gummo even an option? He left the act in WW1 and thus didn't appear in any movies and there is only one picture of him that I know off, what was the point of bringing him up? I have to say that if this had been around when I was a kid in the late 80s I would have thought this was cool for all of its jankiness.
hahaha.. the performance of this „singer“ at 13:30 min reminds me so much of a performance by a very famous comedian here in germany called „otto waalkes“ .. voila: th-cam.com/video/xb77EPHZgfo/w-d-xo.html ...maybe skip the first 30 seconds, if you dont speak german
Plus all five of Nickelodeon's original shows had connections to QUBE. Pinwheel and Columbus (later America) Goes Bananas. Plus cast of crew of few of Pinwheel plus Flippo himself worked on the other three shows. Nickel Flicks featuring Flippo's actor, By The Way which used some of Pinwheel's crew, Jim Jinkins with the art and George James with the music that Lulu's actress hosted, and Hocus Focus Which Jim Jinkins and Brad Williams starred with George James again did the music for that show. As for Video Comics I'm pretty sure QUBE aired it at one point before Nickelodeon picked it up to air.
This was the first attempt at Interactive Television long before the Internet (and long after WebTV). QUBE never caught on due to the antediluvian technology & prohibitive cost of said technology. And the shows sucked eggs.
13:21 Red Jamison on the left (with the bad 70s prom tux). Already a former Detroit sports reporter for channel 2 (WJBK), he would commit suicide by the end of the decade.
Interestingly enough, the legacy of QUBE still lives on. Two channels that began on QUBE, Star Channel and Pinwheel, formed the basis for The Movie Channel and Nickelodeon. A third channel, Sight on Sound, would give birth to MTV.
And did anyone else catch the Chickenman music in Lulu?
So that means that this system originated 3 CBS-owned cable / satellite channels, amazing... (as I type Viacom is in the verge of reuniting with the rest of the former company under CBS administration)
now ViacomCBS - that reunited two Warner-amex Companies
"Pinwheel, pinwheel , turning around..." wow thank you for reminding me that that was a thing, I only saw it one time when I was very young on a vacation to my aunt's
@@joweemutia9400 And now that company is just called Paramount.
Hate to be the Ackchually guy here, but the name of what eventually became Nickelodeon was just "C-3". It ended up being called Pinwheel since the show of the same name was shown in C-3 all the time.
Sorry.
"The final episode of Lulu is, a masterpiece of we don't give a sh** TV" 18:15
13:30 It's the lovechild of Tiny Tim and Emo Philips.
Ryan Jones He is auite good with the guitar thou...
Consider it Johnny Cash on helium
jack whites brother..
nah.....it's wee Craig Ferguson & Daniel, Monty wants to make a deal with a Scott.
"SCTV" parodied QUBE in one episode. In it, viewers kept choosing "Leave it to Beaver" over "The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood" for their viewing pleasure.
I recall I was amazed by the concept as a child and wished that we'd had something similar.
QUBE was also parodied in "You Can't Do that on Television," which I found rather humorous considering Nickelodeon's roots as a QUBE service.
imaging some guy on qube in 82-83 trying to click the other option against its will
My mom and dad had a Qube set when they were living in Columbus in the early 1980s. They actually recorded Strange Brew onto VHS through a Qube recording; there's a small discoloration at the left side of the screen. Also, they said that there were instances where people could vote on which NHL game they wanted to watch on Friday nights - just about every game involved Detroit, Chicago or either of the NY teams though.
They don't have the controller anymore unfortunately.
QUBE, the semi-birthplace of Nickelodeon...
Piefav2 it looks like you have no mouth and must screm
is it due to my pony icon pic? if yes then the user I responded to is a brony too..............oh! I found a hater! do you hate fnaf fans?
I actually hate FNAF fans, but I know you're not asking me.
+Parker Hetzel GLADOS rip-off?
And spongebob will be show that'll kill the company! (COUGH, COUGH SEASON 6-9... COUGH COUGH)
I actually really like the cover of “Make Your Own Sunshine” at the beginning.
I do too. That lady could belt out a tune, and she had so much energy that it made the tune catchier.
I prefer the o g version, personally.
How did the guy with the guitar and long hair not become a huge hit? I would buy that record.
There was only room for one Weird Al Yancovic and one Tiny Tim.
3:22 Yeah, let's have white lettering on the screen...and in front of a shot of clouds...that shouldn't be hard to read....lol
+chrisjamesr77 I'm sure though the title was written while not knowing the cameraman outdoors was going to be shooting at the sky.
dan kessler reminds me of tiny tim
The guy on the box was really doing his best Tiny Tim impression.
Yeah when I was looking for that song he was singing, I came across Tiny TIm's "Livin' in the Sunlight". I always assume the song that was sung was a Tiny Tim song, but I couldn't find it. Can you give me some help here?
The song seems to be a throwback to vaudeville. I still believe the performance is a homage to Tiny Tim's style but I doubt he performed this song.
www.imdb.com/name/nm0524249/bio Oh wow... and apparently Tiny Tim was a homage to this guy, Nick Lucas.
Did I see that correctly.. These motherfuckers offered comparative shopping as far back as 1978?! That is Awesome! Nowadays there are websites that compare prices amongst several different websites/stores and they act,as if it were a new idea! I knew it existed back in the 90's, albeit in print, but I had no Idea it went back to the 70's!
Begin touching...
In addition to Flippo's Magic Circus and that live auction, Flippo the Clown also hosted a movie trivia game for QUBE called Flippo's Screen Test, and as himself (Bob Marvin), also hosted kids' stunt show Across the Board.
Well if it weren't for QUBE we would not have Nickelodeon. Look it up it is true
+Hunter “Super Vegeta” Lloyd that was pinwheel
+retro Kaiba I know I just figured I mention it since pinwheel did become the Nickelodeon we all know today
I push number on the keyboard and the video would jump to different points. Although I could not vote it was interactive.
Bill was a terrific game show host.
BTW, "How Do You Like Your Eggs" was not a Family Feud clone. Family Feud was based on the Match Game concept, which itself was copied from earlier shows. These types of shows were based on matching audience or polled group answers.
I would have voted for Geraldine. One big problem is politicians lie during elections. They don't reveal their true selves until after they win. But with Geraldine, what you see is what you get.
SnuffaluffagUs PantaGes!!
3!!!
1!!!!
13:27: Crispin Glover in The Tiny Tim Story.
I wonder if Qube ever got into trouble with MGM/United Artists for using music from the Bond films in Lulu.
Columbus was chosen because the area has been a testing ground for new products for decades.
+Clay3613 That is true. Toledo has also been used by the restaurant industry to test out new fast food concepts as well.
My reaction to see the guy with the guitar: OH MY GODDESS ITS TINY TIM
13:28 Was that a bootleg Tiny Tim?
12:50 Ray Manzarek could play better organ in 2015
yeah, that's the way Nickelodeon started, as Pinwheel
Four hundred dollars for two lousy books? I thought that PBS was bad when it came to their fundraising. Geesh.
Sounds more like POLITICAL FUNDRAISING, which would explain the price...
You have to admit, though, the “Make Your Own Sunshine” lady can really belt out a song. 🌞
I don't know who she is, but she sure made an already catchy Sedaka song even catchier.
Totally agree. She could sing, and she had a lot of energy.
QUBE once had a football game between two Semi Pro teams where the fans called the plays between the teams on both sides of the ball. It lasted 6 hours.
If that really happened that's hilarious
Dan Russo Here is the newspaper clipping so there's documentation it really happened.
news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19800715&id=IyEqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rysEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4388,2159721&hl=en
+rockvilleraven oh my god
God help us if said interactivity were to affect something on a lager scale, say the US Presidential Election?
Dan Russo Perhaps they should have brought it back for the XFL, then again maybe not!
One word, Videotron's Videoway in 98 before it's time witch was Internet just before it's time time too (obvious ton many but Videotron who was f. Late at this game.
I think Web/MSNTV would fit well with this.
Whwn i was 15 living in Dallas, Texas, in 1985, we (meaning my dad and i) had the cable company Qube. it also had a pay per view channels called "Viewer's Choice" for some odd reason i got a kick out of watching the latest trailers, dont know why. to this day i remember the exact words of the announcer after every trailer: "Now through Tuesday starting every two hours on Viewer's Choice".
and useless trivia at 0:34 that song was written and originaly performed by Neil Sedaka.
+Derek Roberts When PPV came to my town finally (cir. 1989), my cable company ran such a preview channel that played the same previews over and over for the films they ran and I use to watch that channel endless.
Can anyone find information on the child that was named by group voting (and if they did in fact use the winning name Elizabeth?) If anyone can I'd love to read it!
+commenterofneopia Yes. Ann is now a mother of four in Cleveland.
The whole idea seemed like a good idea on paper
That talent show had the same set as "How do you like your eggs?" (No, I am not making that name up). Interesting story about that game show as they actually got Bill Cullen to host it and may be the only show during the lifespan of QUBE that had any real life celebrity in it. It was essentially a Family Feud clone and the game itself was slow. FUN FACT: They did four pilots for it and everyone of those had it's rules tweaked in some way to either make the game faster or easier. th-cam.com/video/hQTwqqNuwgA/w-d-xo.html
+HappySnoutHour Well it was production values on par with what local TV stations were doing. I'm sure they had only one or two studio spaces to use in that building.
+HappySnoutHour Did the games have regular rules, or only it is rules?
HappySnoutHour - The second pilot was a complete disaster... neither couple was able to reach the winning score, so Bill finally had to end the show 37 minutes in!
The guy at 13:55 kind of looks like Crispin Glover
As I'm from Columbus, I know all too well about Warner QUBE...
Flippo!
i just found out about this flippo, he seems like a real creep and lulu had the most depressing ending in tv history
***** nope
@@monsterx3055 Not at all, Marvin was a sweet guy all around and well loved. Lulu, though, I agree.
Ahh, back when Warner Cable (now Time Warner Cable) in Columbus was actually good, too bad it was before I was born, now TWC sucks balls, shoddy DVRs, unreliable Internet and VoIP, installers who don't even know how any of it works let alone be able to set it up properly
Now the only good choices in Columbus (other than satellite or OTA) are WOW! And U-verse (me personally choosing the latter)
TWC has also released other oddities on their network (like the SEGA Channel), which also went south
If TWC released an updated version of QUBE, or at least better interactivity than they do now, I might think about switching back to TWC
Now Charter Cable Is About To Merge With Time Warner.
+mrgiosb123 Sad really.
+Michael Dickens I wish TV had it's message board channel set to "beautiful music" as well.
19:03 literally QUBE ran so that Netflix could run (with black mirror Bandersnatch).
Ben your videos about different interactive television services are my favorites of the sort on the internet.Being a New Englander myself,I was always curious why there was never (to my knowledge) an interactive television service in either New Hamphsire or Maine. Certainly the 1980's and some of the 90's had a culture there ripe for it. Generally though,of course the culture ended up defined by a UHF based public access TV subculture that included it's own David Letterman type late night show,the assortment of scratchy Christian oriented stop motion animated cartoons and as with many of these services so it seems,it's own talent show. Because no one has ever researched this,I had a perception I was the only person in my home state who spent Saturday afternoons watching these local oddity's. If only I'd had a VCR handy because some of what I saw was ripe for inclusion in one of your Oddity Archive television based videos.
hello there, fellow new Englander.
Here in Houston when we first got cable in 1981, they were called Qube cable even though we never had the interactive system. Back then there were several cable companies throughout Houston. Qube in my area became Warner then Warner Amex and then Time Warner. Today Comcast has the market.
+billybassman21 Warner started QUBE. Then Warner took investment from Amex, and that company later merged with Time.
Man, if that were around today I can only imagine the brigading and trolling that would ensue....
So....you imagine C-Span?
That lovely tune we’re hearing ending at 4:05 is the 101 Strings Orchestra’s rendition of “Goodbye to Love.”
@@xmelodystarx Siri identified it for me.
Why is Gummo even an option? He left the act in WW1 and thus didn't appear in any movies and there is only one picture of him that I know off, what was the point of bringing him up?
I have to say that if this had been around when I was a kid in the late 80s I would have thought this was cool for all of its jankiness.
hahaha.. the performance of this „singer“ at 13:30 min reminds me so much of a performance by a very famous comedian here in germany called „otto waalkes“ .. voila: th-cam.com/video/xb77EPHZgfo/w-d-xo.html ...maybe skip the first 30 seconds, if you dont speak german
I find this really fascinating. Back in the late 70's and early 80's, this would have been really ahead of its time. I'm surprised it didn't take off.
That's probably why it didn't take off. people a lot of times aren't ready for things till years later.
Lulu ended up being a perfect example of why you don't give normies creative control
Trying to do an imitation of "Wilson" of "Home Improvement"
You would know better than I would.
Qube ended in 1987 in Houston TX. VC II which was channel 36 was qube only as of October 1986.
Can't help but laugh - in 2011, I came across this channel named Qubo. Then I (through this video) find out about Qube's existence.
1-ceefax
Plus all five of Nickelodeon's original shows had connections to QUBE. Pinwheel and Columbus (later America) Goes Bananas. Plus cast of crew of few of Pinwheel plus Flippo himself worked on the other three shows. Nickel Flicks featuring Flippo's actor, By The Way which used some of Pinwheel's crew, Jim Jinkins with the art and George James with the music that Lulu's actress hosted, and Hocus Focus Which Jim Jinkins and Brad Williams starred with George James again did the music for that show. As for Video Comics I'm pretty sure QUBE aired it at one point before Nickelodeon picked it up to air.
Jim Jinkins, the guy who created Doug?
@@artistwithouttalent Yes the same one.
My mum was visited by her local radio station in hospital with me like that. Thank god I didn't end up named Bernadette!
Very married with children
16:40 PHEONIX WRIGHT ACE ATTORNEY! called it!
Warner cable Houston was also the first to get viewers choice ppv.
Talent Search was the precursor to GSN's Extreme Gong.
"TOUCH NOW! NO, WAIT, NOT THAT!!!" ROFLMAO
6:42 where's that baby now?
I Actualy Thought The Voteing System Would Work.
6:30
4chan has entered the chat...
78% voted for 'Boaty McBoatface did nothing wrong'
Did QUBE need phone lines or was it 100% through coaxial cable?
I think it's 100% Coax. But, i'm not so sure.
Windows OS
It was coaxial cable.
Jim C
Indeed, we had a fairly large cable tv system...Coaxial Communications, Warner Cable, about 4 different companies at the time.
+Jim C My town has had one since the mid 60's.
It was. But the "upstream" did not scale well to the larger markets after the Columbus test. (This was the late 70s.)
12:49 It's the organ player who will ruin the performance
6:35 That's not how you pronounce "banal".
13:29 - Uh, no thanks, don’t swing that way.
Is that Jeffery Epstein at 7:00 minutes???
The Tiny Tim guy looked like Crispin Glover.
Sounded like a cool idea.
Ben looks like he had a court date or something...
Not use to seeing him in a dress shirt.
This was the first attempt at Interactive Television long before the Internet (and long after WebTV). QUBE never caught on due to the antediluvian technology & prohibitive cost of said technology.
And the shows sucked eggs.
+TimelordR No different from now.
9:40 -- Boom mic in sh-- Oh. Oh, that's what that is...
I lived this in Columbus. We had Qube 77-83
Well that little jam at the beginning sure made me happy ! You got to make your own sunshine !
I loved this episode!!!!!!!!!!
I am still pressing the button on my keyboard for the first question...did i get the answer right?
Where's Terry bruge hiplo and Carol krabit
Decade-late observation: 12:26 future "Entertainment tonight" host Rob Weller.
At least QUBE gave us one good thing, Nickelodeon
Didn't QUBE TV become the name of some kind of failed right-wing TH-cam at one point?
You mean GOPTV? I'm uncertain about the connection, though. Try Wikipedia. 🔎
@@luisreyes1963 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QubeTV?wprov=sfla1
Hey homie. You should do a episode on T.V horror movie host's like Rich Koz (Son Of Svengoolie) and others of that sort.
Ben already talked about horror movie hosts in the "Local TV Special" episode of the Archive.
In the last two weeks I think I've watched every episode.
1 person pressed 4 and is STILL holding onto it.
I have A question what group sings the beginning song in this video?
This is interesting
13:21 Red Jamison on the left (with the bad 70s prom tux). Already a former Detroit sports reporter for channel 2 (WJBK), he would commit suicide by the end of the decade.
I'll sponsor you. I work for a soda company.
And to think Nickelodeon had its birth on this service. Before SpongeBob, there was Pinwheel.
What's the name of that woman singing the celebration song? Can I find that song anywhere because I like it
Lulu's Twin Sister
th-cam.com/video/grjq8GGncdY/w-d-xo.html
AGH MY EARS! THAT DAMN NOISE!!
im gonna press 10 p
4 eight hours
9:22 that laugh is amazing 🤣🤣
Tiny Tim's better looking brother.
SnuffaluffagUs PantaGes
2
Was that announcer from talent search Tom Bergeron?
+waterandafter I don't think so, despite the similar-sounding voices. (Tom was still based in Boston at the time, IINM.)
+waterandafter The Host Was Rob Weller.
6:59....Ben Stiller Doppleganger! amiright?
Yeah! He looks just like Ben Stiller looks like right now at his current age. That is when he's off camera and not shooting movies.
1 - Ceefax!
Haven't I seen Flippo before? I believe it was in the "Local TV Special" episode.
*****
No, I remember seeing a brief clip of him in the "They Murdered the Clown" montage at the beginning of the first segment.
+iamnomad101 Flippo was a local TV show host who had a show on a regular station before moving his show to Warner's QUBE service.
SnuffaluffagUS PantaGes
2,1
Wow cube was ahead of it’s time
Too bad the programs were crap. 💩
@@luisreyes1963 yeah too bad
@@luisreyes1963 we’re these programs woke in the 70’s
2 - 4 hours!