Hope everyone had a great Earth Day yesterday! Although the day is in the past now, there’s still Arbor Day to look forward to next week, and I have at least one more strip planned for this “Going Green” series.
And about the strip: my mom used to have tons of VHS tapes since (before TiVO came along) she used to record everything, and then keep the tapes. As in today’s strip, I was as guilty of this practice as she was and yes, I had stacks of Max Headroom and Manimal tapes, among others, including Robotech, Transformers, Automan, Babylon 5 and random MTV videos. She got rid of a bunch of these tapes recently and I was able to rescue some of the ones I wanted to keep, although I’ll probably never watch any of them; most of the programs I recorded that are still worth watching I’ve since bought on DVD, and the tapes that I’d like to keep are probably warped and unwatchable due to the crappy VHS medium.
FIRST!! and who?
😎
no, really who is that. my family ran a video store but i never heard of those.
by “who” do you mean Mombot’s reference to Murder She Wrote or Simon & Simon (both TV shows popular in the 80s) or jefbot’s reference to Manimal and Max Headroom (more 80s TV), Animie fan?
funny, i was talking to some people about Manimal and Max Headroom this weekend and only about half knew what i was talking about. guess these shows haven’t stood the test of time, sadly.
the shows that Mombot was threatening to let Lor recycle. manimal and whatnaught.
I’m pretty much VHS-free at this point. Although I think my high school graduation is still on Betamax! 🙂
ha! wow. you should definitely get that footage transferred to DVD or some digital format immediately, Kev!
don’t recognize “manimal”, but max headroom. geez. that takes me back. or rather, 20 minutes into the future. : )
jeff, dude. put some ice on that shiner.
i can see how Max Headroom (with its merchandising tie-ins and popular show) would be more familiar than Manimal (cancelled after eight episodes) to you Cogwell, but for some reason, that show was really popular with me and my friends at the time. maybe i should rethink some of these obscure references. heheh.
and after this storyline, the shiner should be good and gone! unless bot’s face meets up with some other tragedy, of course. 😉
We have unpluged the VCR some two years ago but we still have all the tapes. I realy wonder why… Especialy since they are stored in MY room. Hoarder storyline anyone? I realy need to decide what is garbage and what isnt so I know what to get rid of. Tapes will most definitely be on first collumn.
I dig the family interactions. Just something everyone has in his life so makes an addictive webcomic.
Facial expresions are great.
Everybody loves Mombot. Even if she has bad taste of movies.
good for you for unplugging the VCR, Maryz. coincidentally, i just plugged one back in for my dad yesterday, so he can watch a bunch of movies his neighbors gave him.
glad you like the stuff with the bot family!
Ha VCR… What’s that!?! I LOVE Max Headroom! Outstanding strip as always Jefbot!
ya know, you joke, but soon there’s going to be a whole generation of kids who have no idea what a VCR is, Funnyshaffer!
OMG Manimal!!!! I haven’t seen Maninal in *coughcough* years!
And Max Headroom….Wow. *sings* “Meeeeeeeemories, Like the corners of my Miiiiind…” I was a wee whisp of a girl when Max Headroom was the poo and I thought he was just it.
MomBOT is the living end. Do all Moms have those facial expressions installed when they have little deamons? My Mommy makes the SAME exact faces. She alwas told me “Some day you will learn. I hope you have kids just like you.” Yeaaaaaahhhh this is why the Hubby and I have no liltte deamons cause wow.
And Jeff, the look on your face in the last panel cracked me up!
Is it bad that I know and remember EVERY ONE of the shows mentioned in this thread? Loved Manimanl, and still looking for Max Headroom episodes to be posted on youtube or something. Automan was a classic, too. Loved his secret identity name, “Otto” (jeeze who would make THAT connection?). Gotta get Jefbot to make me a copy of those tapes.
not “bad” at all, NytCrawlr – in fact, quite the opposite! glad to know others out there shared my tv-watching habits. heheh. i don’t have all the Max Headroom episodes, but i do have quite a few. not sure what condition they’re in at this point, tho. and yeah, LOVED Automan, even though it was such a rip-off of one of my favorite movies, Tron. in fact, it was probably because of this that i liked it so much.
Tron Rocks! Cant wait for second one. Just a few more months!
SO glad you’re familiar with Manimal, Pixie! so many people i’ve talked to haven’t even heard of it! and yeah, Max Headroom was awesome back in the day. would actually like to check out the show again just to see how it hits me now.
and the face that Mombot has in the 2nd panel is exactly the face she makes at my sisters and i all the time! glad to hear your mom shares the expression. 🙂
Murder She Wrote. I remember liking old reruns of it when I was a kid. As for the rest… never heard of it. Haha.
aww vhs. I miss that old piece of tech. I remember loving rewinding the thing with that car-looking rewinder we used to have.
nostalgia. nice.
not surprised you haven’t heard of those other shows, Jaeh – i don’t think they even issued Manimal or Max Headroom on DVD, yet!
and i remember those car rewinder things! we never had one but they looked cool and saved wear and tear on the vcr, i seem to remember. 🙂
Never lose the Robotech! Never!! *still dreaming of a day when Minmay falls under the giant metal foot of Rick Hunter’s mecha*
i have the DVD box sets for Robotech now, but i can’t get myself to throw away those old tapes, Uilleand! i even have the soundtrack i taped off the television on a cassette somewhere. used to play that minmei song, “Last Battle” over and over. 😀
Ha! Mombot should go to Laney’s house…her DVR is filled with “Murder She Wrote” and “Columbo”!
does she have any Simon & Simon, or better yet – Riptide, Pearl? 😉
Great strip Bot. 😀 We don’t have a VCR anymore that I remember. But we do still have most of my Disney VHS tapes boxed up in the basement.
i still have so many Disney VHS tapes too, DJ. some still unopened!
and did i mention how much i love your avatar? 🙂
I have a few more that I made too, All primarily Abraxas based because he hasn’t been in a strip for a while.
I STILL tape the UFC on my VCR and recently watched Bladerunner (Director’s Version) on VHS!
wow! you’re kickin’ it old school, Menapace! and i lovelovelove Blade Runner.
Automan… Any time I try and tell someone about this series they think I’m making it up.
Gawd! That Tron ripoff? Yeah, I saw a couple of eps. Two hours I’ll never get back…
i think i’m gonna have to dig out the old tapes and watch at least an episode or two, reynard61. gotta see if it holds up at all.
i was just trying to explain Automan to some friends the other day and had the same reaction, 11TN. i was like, “and the virtual car would make a sudden 90 degree turn and the guy’s face would hit the window…”
they didn’t believe.
Hey Bot! Remember when they decided to kill off optimus prime and replace him with hod rod?
ha! yeah, Lazor! HUGE mistake. though i do kinda like The Transformers The Movie where that happened. Dinobots, ftw!
Still have a few of the old Jon Pertwee episodes on VHS from the PBS days….
still watching the show from 2005, The Doctor! once i catch up, i might have to borrow those tapes from you, tho. 🙂
Glad to oblige, although I burned most to DVD by now… ;o)
I LOVEd Max Headroom! We still have VHS — probably some taped X-files shows.
yeah, i have some X-Files episodes lurking on those tapes somewhere, too, Stan.
Haha! Awesome! We’ve got a dvd/vcr combo because we still have a few VHS tapes that we sometimes watch. Otherwise it’s our dvd player.
And you gotta love the mombot threat. *giggle*
i need a vhs/dvd/laserdisc/umd combo player, TCG, so i can have just ONE device for video plugged into my power strip!
I still have my old VHS player (Magnavox, bought in 1988 and *still* runs flawlessly!), but I’m trying to convert the few tapes I still have to digital format so that I can burn them to DVD. The main problem is trying to find the *time* to do so…
i hear ya, r61 – i keep telling myself i’m gonna transfer all my old records to my computer but there’s no time. haven’t even started!
uuuuuuu..mom threats. Better watch out of those XD!
LOVE THE STRIP!
thanks, nicobot! and yeah, you don’t wanna cross Mombot!
Wow, Manimal. I kinda remember that. I was like 8 or 9 when that was on TV, I think. I don’t really recall anything about it except the close ups of his hand pulsing when he was transforming or something like that.
heh. my main memory of that show is the whiskers growing out of a fake-looking panther-face, Anonymouse.
I love mombot’s expression in the last panel. Classic Mom threat look! 😀
Ah, Murder She Wrote. I used to watch that crappy show when I was a kid and was home sick. It always seemed to be on. That and Gilligan’s Island and Magnum PI.
Since we have all the older Disney movies on VHS and have kids, we still use them in addition to DVDs. Videos really are crappy quality compared to DVDs tho. But then again, we still have a 300 lb old school TV, so it doesn’t really matter much. It is currently dying a slow and painful death, so we will have to join the new millennium and get a new TV sometime soon. :/ I’d be excited except I’d rather spend the buckage on something else.
you do not want to see that glare from Mombot in real life, Shanna! just sayin’.
and yeah, Gilligan’s Island and Magnum P.I. were shows I watched all the time, too. i don’t think i taped any episodes of either, tho. i’m sure my mom has some Magnum shows recorded.
you ain’t kidding about the quality of VHS: when i was hooking up my dad’s VCR and testing it out the other day, it was painful to see how bad the video quality was compared to DVDs (and Blu-Rays, of course), especially on his huge LED HDTV. once you get the new TV, believe me, you won’t regret it! especially if your old one’s standard-def.
“Murder She Wrote”? Read that book! Didn’t know it was a movie…
well, a TV movie, Rinthia. i’m sure it wasn’t very good. (kidding, mom!)
I think my parent still have the tape I made of the last Garfield TV special. In working order. ^^
heh. i might’ve missed that one, Holaved. any good?
oh yay! i’m caught up to date. love the comic, and this particular one as well. i have the first two seasons of sailor moon in japanese w/ english subtitles on vhs and don’t even own a vcr anymore. >_< but it was like my first anime so i can't get rid of it lol.
woo! glad you’re up-to-date, goldielocks. and i think that’s why i can’t throw away my multiple episodes and copies of Robotech and Akira away – they were my first anime loves and i just can’t do it!
oh well those are classic of course you can’t lol. 😀
ow…. you just got owned… by your mum too!
happens all the time, Leithal. 😉
Max Headroom?
+5 geek cred, and can I borrow? I’ll drive all the way from Iowa…
heh. unfortunately, i don’t have all the episodes, Thin, so don’t make the drive just yet! can’t believe they don’t have this series on DVD. i know so many people who would love to watch it (again), including myself.
if she did,that would be sacrilege!
good thing i got airwolf,auto man,the highway men and night hawk to hold me over.
are you serious, t_d!? i used to LOVE Airwolf – my friend and i would play like we were in that helicopter all the time! and i might just need to borrow those Automan tapes from you.
You need to fix that eye. It’s getting bad
it’ll heal as soon as this storyline’s over, IDTMRB! i’ll be glad to not have to draw it, believe me.
Great expression and text in the last panel, made me lol 😀
glad you liked it, Lax!
Go MOMBOT!!! Oh and great strip, bot. I loved “Manimal.” Will Smith was amazing in it.
woo! GO MOMBOT!
and that wasn’t Will Smith in… oh, forget it. 😉
awesome selection. i love Manimal too jb. awe man. but i cant seem to remember any of its story line. burn me a copy jb. i gotta have it.
so happy you remember Manimal, JF#300! i can’t recall much about it either, tho. the guy could change into a panther or a hawk and helped the police solve crimes, right?
Just had to say… as long as you’re poking fun at my collection.. you forgot to mention Gabriel’s Fire and Midnight Caller…. the Last McGyver, Wonder Years,… 🙂
There’s not enough space, nor time, to mention them all, Mombot;D
Oof that last panel really had me laughing out loud. Reading through your blog post about this, I still remember all the shows you’re talking about. Max Headroom stands out the most for me, but I also remember Manimal… just not everything that happened in it. I still have a ton of tapes with shows and videos and such on them, but they’re just collecting dust in a box in my closet. 😛
is manimal some sort of porn?
Only for you it is
My mother used to love watching Murder, She Wrote as well, but ever since she got hooked on Law and Order criminal mysteries just don’t pack the punch they used to. Ho hum~
I did my part for Earth Day. Instead of driving to the bank to cash a couple of checks as I usually do, I walked, and that’s a great thing to do since it took me about an hour to get to the bank and another hour to get home.