This looks exactly like another Northern California pay-tv called Channel 100. They were locally originated using Sony 3/4" VTR's and a Microtime TBC and then put on the corresponding local cable system. Usually the VTR's were located right at the cable "headend" (origination point of the cable TV system).
If anyone cares, this appears to have been recorded a little before the 1AM showing of Silver Streak on the morning of Christmas Eve 1977. The schedule that night had been: 7 PM The Slipper & The Rose/ 9:30 Silver Streak/ 11:30 Let It Be/ 1:00 Silver Streak Z Channel was only on from 7 PM until about 3AM on weekdays and 2:30 PM- 3 AM on weekends.
The Z channel and the 70's makes me think back to a time when I was a kid and everything was great. My parents were still together and the thought of having movies in your living room was 'take your breathe away exciting'. Seeing this clip brings me back to that family living room in 1979, I remember the old z channel brownish box (attached with a looooooong wire) it had a rocker switch so you get to channels above 13, and some kind of tracking wheel on the other side if the box. If I remember correctly some movies I watched as a kid: The Muppet Movie, Superman, Rocky, Dracula '79, a movie called Dreamer (which was surprising good), Star Wars (and the Hardware Wars accompaniment), and who could possibly forget Mark Hamil in Corvette Summer!! That was back when ppl used to watch movies as a family. The channel used to sign off, and IIRC the infotext and soft jazz is what you saw when channel had 'signed off'. Considering that before the Z Channel all we had was 2-13 and 56, the Z Channel was such a big thing, I have memories of it 30-some years later.
Yes, I remember those long cords connecting the channel changer to the cable box. (Our cats loved playing with the cords. I still have a picture of one cat tangled up in that cord looking delighted.) In more recent years, I've come to appreciate those cords. Nowadays it's way too easy to misplace remotes. But whenever I misplaced the Z "remote," I simply followed the cord. Plus the control box was so much bigger it was harder to lose. ............... I first heard about Z Channel around 1974 (I was in kindergarten). My mom talked about getting it someday, which we finally did in around late '77. When it was announced Z Channel would be signing off for the last time in June '89, following a showing of Darling Clementine, I made it a point to get up extra early and watch it. Z Channel died without fanfare. After the closing titles of Darling Clementine, the picture reverted to mundane written announcements (I can't remember what any of it said, though). Those announcements remained there for the ensuing days/weeks/months.
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) is a documentary about Los Angeles pay cable channel Z Channel which was directed by Xan Cassavetes, daughter of Hollywood director and actor John Cassavetes
It was available by coax cable in Santa Monica. The company was started by Hughes Aircraft who did not know how to market it. I think it was then called Theta cable and Z channel was the first "premium" tv service. It was so easy to pirate then our installer just gave it to us for $50. Later of course we paid. The "Z" channel was programmed by a brilliant guy that had a tragic end.
The "Limited Engagement" Classic: The Original version of The Front Page from 1930 (remade at least 3 times under different titles) A film that did not age well in 1970's Public Domain Prints.
@ParanormalRob Not sure where the music came from, though I'd love to find clean copies of it! I think this was on cable though I've heard it may have also been on a rented microwave antenna deal too, but either way it was only available in Los Angeles.
is the theme from exodus this one: Trumpets Ole, The Trumpets Ole Play, Decca DL 74821 www.spaceagepop.com/exodus.htm they were a tijuana brass copycat band. and does anyone have an mp3 of it?
Just had a chance to listen to my copy of the album, the song is not the same as heard here. It's quite different as having a slow build up at the opening but has the Tijuana Brass-ish feel.
Sounds more like The Fantabulous Brass. They did this and several Herb Alpert songs on the album "A Taste of Honey & Other Mariachi Hits." Any idea what the song before that one might be? (The one heard after Blue Wisteria) I heard it somewhere before, but can't place the title.
Looks like that device used the same character ROM as the Apple II series. I notice that zeroes are always identical to O's, don't know whether that's a result of the ROM not having a slash through the zero, or input data using the O character in place of zeroes. Anyone know what device this even is?
It was a character generator made by Metrodata Systems out of Seattle. Very expensive, very sophisticated in it's day. A standalone unit that could only be edited on-air.
interesting did y'all know A Star is Born is going to be remade and Lady Gaga is going to star????!!!...should be interesting huh???!!!!..I remember that lettering it was on the first computer I had an Apple II C in the '80s..I have A Star is Born...people said it was a bomb and it got only one Oscar nomination best original song for Evergreen but I liked it it was a love story which I like
This looks exactly like another Northern California pay-tv called Channel 100. They were locally originated using Sony 3/4" VTR's and a Microtime TBC and then put on the corresponding local cable system. Usually the VTR's were located right at the cable "headend" (origination point of the cable TV system).
If anyone cares, this appears to have been recorded a little before the 1AM showing of Silver Streak on the morning of Christmas Eve 1977.
The schedule that night had been: 7 PM The Slipper & The Rose/ 9:30 Silver Streak/ 11:30 Let It Be/ 1:00 Silver Streak
Z Channel was only on from 7 PM until about 3AM on weekdays and 2:30 PM- 3 AM on weekends.
The Z channel and the 70's makes me think back to a time when I was a kid and everything was great. My parents were still together and the thought of having movies in your living room was 'take your breathe away exciting'. Seeing this clip brings me back to that family living room in 1979, I remember the old z channel brownish box (attached with a looooooong wire) it had a rocker switch so you get to channels above 13, and some kind of tracking wheel on the other side if the box. If I remember correctly some movies I watched as a kid: The Muppet Movie, Superman, Rocky, Dracula '79, a movie called Dreamer (which was surprising good), Star Wars (and the Hardware Wars accompaniment), and who could possibly forget Mark Hamil in Corvette Summer!! That was back when ppl used to watch movies as a family. The channel used to sign off, and IIRC the infotext and soft jazz is what you saw when channel had 'signed off'. Considering that before the Z Channel all we had was 2-13 and 56, the Z Channel was such a big thing, I have memories of it 30-some years later.
Yes, I remember those long cords connecting the channel changer to the cable box. (Our cats loved playing with the cords. I still have a picture of one cat tangled up in that cord looking delighted.) In more recent years, I've come to appreciate those cords. Nowadays it's way too easy to misplace remotes. But whenever I misplaced the Z "remote," I simply followed the cord. Plus the control box was so much bigger it was harder to lose. ............... I first heard about Z Channel around 1974 (I was in kindergarten). My mom talked about getting it someday, which we finally did in around late '77. When it was announced Z Channel would be signing off for the last time in June '89, following a showing of Darling Clementine, I made it a point to get up extra early and watch it. Z Channel died without fanfare. After the closing titles of Darling Clementine, the picture reverted to mundane written announcements (I can't remember what any of it said, though). Those announcements remained there for the ensuing days/weeks/months.
We had z channel box and a ONtv box and selectv box
@@Stereo_Nerd Lucky you!
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) is a documentary about Los Angeles pay cable channel Z Channel which was directed by Xan Cassavetes, daughter of Hollywood director and actor John Cassavetes
That praise of Rocky was right on the money.
It was available by coax cable in Santa Monica. The company was started by Hughes Aircraft who did not know how to market it. I think it was then called Theta cable and Z channel was the first "premium" tv service. It was so easy to pirate then our installer just gave it to us for $50. Later of course we paid. The "Z" channel was programmed by a brilliant guy that had a tragic end.
Yep, the guy understood the value of pay television.
Z Channel is pay-tv movie service in Los Angeles, launched in 1974.
Infotext and soft jazz. You can still find this on cable here and there. I like it.
The movie at the end is Silver Streak and the score was by Henry Mancini.
The "Limited Engagement" Classic: The Original version of The Front Page from 1930 (remade at least 3 times under different titles) A film that did not age well in 1970's Public Domain Prints.
A look at the early days of Pay TV. Thanks for the video.
@ParanormalRob Not sure where the music came from, though I'd love to find clean copies of it! I think this was on cable though I've heard it may have also been on a rented microwave antenna deal too, but either way it was only available in Los Angeles.
Hard to believe that someone recorded this 7-8 years before my parents got a vcr.
Google "Soft lights, sweet music" by 101 strings. You can get this 2-cd set for $2.
Happy listening!
TV was definitely more fun back then.
It was.
@lee4hmz There were a number of such devices back then solely to overlay text on a screen often for channels like this.
is the theme from exodus this one:
Trumpets Ole, The Trumpets Ole Play, Decca DL 74821
www.spaceagepop.com/exodus.htm
they were a tijuana brass copycat band. and does anyone have an mp3 of it?
Thanks for ID-ing the tune! Now I love to know what the one that came after it is!
Just had a chance to listen to my copy of the album, the song is not the same as heard here. It's quite different as having a slow build up at the opening but has the Tijuana Brass-ish feel.
Sounds more like The Fantabulous Brass. They did this and several Herb Alpert songs on the album "A Taste of Honey & Other Mariachi Hits."
Any idea what the song before that one might be? (The one heard after Blue Wisteria) I heard it somewhere before, but can't place the title.
Z Channel was a different movie Channel back in the day.
Looks like that device used the same character ROM as the Apple II series. I notice that zeroes are always identical to O's, don't know whether that's a result of the ROM not having a slash through the zero, or input data using the O character in place of zeroes. Anyone know what device this even is?
It was a character generator made by Metrodata Systems out of Seattle. Very expensive, very sophisticated in it's day. A standalone unit that could only be edited on-air.
I bet! Cable TV was filled with odd moments when you could see that happen!
Featuring the strangest version of Ferrante and Teicher's Exodus I've ever heard at 6.06
Exodus on Ecstasy.
Oh wow. I wonder how they did the text on these...it looks suspciously like the Apple II's default font.
I wish to have that typing effect.
Shame they don't make that standard on modern systems!
god that audio is wobbly
@@ThatOpelVectraC I have a better Beta machine now (actually four of them!) so I need to redo this.
Where did the audio to this come from? (station?) and was this a cable or over the air tv channel?
How they did it?
I wish to have that things.
So, is 8 minutes a film interval?
On TH-cam there are even 20 minute long intervals!
I'm sure it's a matter of scheduling when it comes to why there's this much time between movies back then.
interesting did y'all know A Star is Born is going to be remade and Lady Gaga is going to star????!!!...should be interesting huh???!!!!..I remember that lettering it was on the first computer I had an Apple II C in the '80s..I have A Star is Born...people said it was a bomb and it got only one Oscar nomination best original song for Evergreen but I liked it it was a love story which I like
@MattTheSaiyan I would buy it!
The Front fucking great movie!! non-directed by Woody
check it out on Wikipedia