Back When TV Signed OFF for the Night; with Music, Test Patterns and Nobel Indian Profiles

Sept. 10, 13 | Lee Martell

[Finny]

What a great post! {^) Thanks for the good chuckle!

I remember waking up to the sign-off drone plenty of times. I loved it when it was on the old Indian head or the target, somethign like that. But toward the end, it was just vertical stripes of obnoxious colors. Maybe I'd fallen asleep in my Nth watching of "The Big Sleep." I loved the crap-shoot of old movies on late-night TV. The wierd thing is while I saw "The Big Sleep" literally about 100 times over my late-night TV-sneaking youth, I still regularly watch and love that movie.

But hey, I remember when an Apple III computer cost about $4,000 and was treated with such respect in the office that few dared to approach it. It had big green screen square lettering on the screen. I think you could play pong on it, but don't recall exactly. Four thousand dollars, in the early '80s. Five years later, that fancy computer wasn't worth fifty bucks.

[Pelham]

and let’s not forget the ‘blue dot’ in the center of the tube as the television shut down.

[GeronL]

Those prices dropped fast

I do remember seeing an external CD burner once costing nearly a grand. Now every old computer has one.

[Finny]

"There was an episode involving a clown that was particularly spooky."
Is that the one that started in 2008 and ran to the present?

LOLOL!!

[Mozilla]

Here are some links to video of different sign-offs...

A generic Sign off from a station in San Francisco KBHK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M29IW13fDjQ

Another one from Texas station KRGV-TV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkDPvuidzLg

Here is one with a sign-off for four stations with the same closing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Qvev8EaF0

And one from Philadelphia in 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW2_rEBgeOo

a 1960s sign off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMZ_rQKAy7c

Sign-off from the 50s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuIic17ijP8

One More
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hZROQtZlYM

It is neat seeing the different kinds of sign-offs.

[USARightSide]

‘_______when your baby got you up at 3 in the morning______’

Have thought of that over the years, and think how lucky are these 3am parents nowadays!
With 4 babies spread over 10 years, I would have loved late-night TV!
Did have some good magazines around, tho.

I sure have no babies keeping me up nowadays, but I certainly am a nightowl!

[USARightSide]

‘_____sign off with the Star Spangled Banner___________’

Yeah, that was great.

Here in Southern CA, FOX has been playing the anthem at about 2am for some months now. Very good version.
I rarely see it - just hear it from the other room. I have never heard how this came about.
But the station isn’t signing off. . .

[Drago]

KMJ-TV24, Fresno (McClatchy before they went hard left...Eleanor was still alive) “Bee” sign off: http://youtu.be/IGmfijNQE8E

[rlmorel]

Ah. You mean THIS look:

(I got on a kick of creating these for a while...:)

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I miss all of those less-known movies you used to see late at night (although these days I’m seldom up late anyway). Seems as though all the stations started running those horrible “infomercials” instead.

[NCC-1701]

That's politically incorrect. Using an Indian and all that rot. Get rid of it now before the PC SWAT team comes for your hide.

[Rightly Biased]

KONO FM 101.1 in San Antonio plays the National Anthem EVERY day at noon.

If I ain’t driving I stand up and put my hand on my heart

My gurls shake thier heads but understand why....

I have it playing in my shop on weekends and will stop what I am doing and pay respect.. to my country.

[left that other site]

I remember “Rabbit Ears” fondly too! LOL!

And when they didn’t work well, we would tape coat hangers onto them or better reception.

[lee martell]

That’s amazing! Spooky too..A perfect fit.

[rlmorel]

How about this one I made?

The eyes of a tyrant don't lie...

[Windflier]

let’s not forget the ‘blue dot’ in the center of the tube as the television shut down.

Remember the crackle the screen used to give off as the TV shut down? Some even made a sort of 'zoink' noise.

[dfwgator]

Why did they do away with this?

[Windflier]

Why did they do away with this?

Because the degraded left pushed every decent, red blooded American out of the broadcast business. Now you have to cover your children's ears half the time during most movies and TV programs.

It makes me sick to my stomach.

[lee martell]

Don’t let Moochelle see that. She’ll want another baby!

[greene66]

That was what really KILLED local late-night television... the advent of infomercials. It ruined everything, virtually overnight. Infomercials weren’t even allowed up until the late-80s. Sadly, I say since I’m a huge Reagan supporter, I believe it was his FCC that got rid of the prohibition.