Welcome to Volume 18 of Clutter Tales, a series where we tell the stories of our lives through our clutter. Today’s tale was inspired by something I found when decluttering my bookshelves. It took me back to the days when answering the question “What’s on TV tonight?” wasn’t as simple as bringing up an on-screen guide.
Clutter Tales – What’s on TV tonight?
Hiding in my bookshelves, I found these two old issues of TV Guide.
The first is from May 9, 1998—the week when the final episode of Seinfeld aired. The second is from July, 2003.
At first glance, there’s nothing remarkable about these two small magazines so you might wonder why I’ve kept them around for almost 25 years. To be honest, I had forgotten I had them—a good reminder of why decluttering is a necessary task. When I picked them up and thumbed through them, though, I was taken back to the days before PVRs, streaming services and entertainment on demand.
Twenty-five years ago, a printed list was the only way to know what was on TV. Newspapers used to print the daily TV program listing in the entertainment section, and most newspapers had a weekly TV magazine inserted into the weekend edition. TV Guide, though, offered much more information. In addition to the daily at-a-glance chart that you’d find in the newspaper, it included more detailed listings with episode descriptions and featured articles. We had a subscription to this magazine for years.
If you didn’t get your newspaper on a given day, or if your TV Guide didn’t arrive in the mail, you had to phone a friend or family member to find out what was on. I remember my dad calling me on more than one occasion and asking me to read him the evening’s TV listings.
Each week, when the TV Guide arrived, we’d flip through and plan our TV viewing for the week, carefully setting the VCR to record programs that we wouldn’t be home to watch.
So, what was on in 1998?
It’s hard to believe the final episode of Seinfeld aired almost 25 years ago. My daughter and I are currently watching it on Netflix. It really has stood the test of time. I laugh as hard now when I watch it as I did all those years ago.
Let’s see what else was on that week…
- Season finales of shows like Ellen (the sitcom, not the talk show), ER, Everybody Loves Raymond, Chicago Hope and a bunch of forgettable shows I won’t mention.
- The Lion King was featured on The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evening.
- The 47th Annual Miss Universe Pageant, live from Honolulu.
- And to prove that some things remain constant over time, the Stanley Cup Playoffs were airing on CBC—probably pre-empting Coronation Street to the annoyance of fans of the British soap.
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And what about 2003?
The 2003 edition is from the summer. Other than that epic Coronation Street episode where Richard Hillman packed Gail and her kids into the minivan and drove it into the canal, there wasn’t much on other than reruns. Although a few highlights for the week did make me smile:
- Piglet’s Big Movie was this week’s Wonderful World of Disney feature. I remember that was the first movie I took my daughter Laura to at the theatre when she was small.
- Dance Fever was an early predecessor of shows like So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With the Stars.
- And Fox aired a show called 101 Things Removed From the Human Body featuring “surgery footage and animated reenactments” of bizarre accidents. Sorry (not sorry) I missed that one.
- Finally, The Young and The Restless preview revealed “a huge gala at the Newman ranch and Victor caught in the crossfire when tensions arose between Nikki and Sharon”. I’m sure they’ve recycled that storyline at least twenty times since then.
You can still subscribe to TV Guide
What’s really interesting is TV Guide Magazine still exists, although these days it’s more about feature articles than TV listings. You’d need a magazine the size of the phone book to cover listings of all the channels we have available these days! The company has changed hands many times over the years, and apparently it’s still a profitable company, although I don’t know anyone who buys the magazine.
I’ll hang on to the Seinfeld edition until my daughter and I get to the final episode on Netflix. There’s a Seinfeld crossword in the back that will be fun to do. As for the Coronation Street edition, it’s going in the recycle bin.
I hope you enjoyed this installment of Clutter Tales. If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, please get in touch. I’d love to give you the opportunity to properly thank your clutter by sharing its story too!
Do you remember TV Guide magazine? What classic TV shows are you binge-watching these days? Tell me your stories below.
I loved this! It really made me smile. The last night of Seinfeld aired on the eve of my college graduation, and I watched it with a friend’s family from their tiny hotel room on Washington Square. I would love to write a post like this. I’ve thrown out so much in my house, but I saved two small boxes full of mementos.This inspires me to have a look for some stories. Great post!
It was such a great show and I laugh just as hard when I watch it now as I did back then. Definitely not politically correct for these times, though. Mind you, the same could be said for most of the shows we watched years ago. If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, let me know. I’d love to share your story.
Just seeing this now — I would love to write a post! Thanks so much! I’ll send you an email.
Awesome! Got your message. I will reply later.
Oh, the TV Guide… good old memories 😉
I know! It’s amazing how finding something like that takes you back in time.
I used to buy a TV Guide every week, up to about a few years ago. Things have changed so much; it’s great to watch programmes when we want to! 😀
Yes, things have changed. I do enjoy the convenience of watching things on my own schedule.
It’s amazing what things resurface and transport us back to “the old days”! Seinfeld reruns are featured every night (for the night owls, after 1am) are as funny now as they were then. Although, times have changed, certain content from then would be edited out in today’s culture, ie All In The Family-Archie Bunker. I wonder what future TV programs will look like twenty years from now?
Cheers!
Lorraine
Yes, Colleen and I are watching Seinfeld on Netflix and we laugh so hard. Definitely not politically-correct, though, but funny all the same.
What a fun find. I can watch episodes of Seinfeld over and over and still laugh. Old magazines can be valuable, not retirement valuable, but worth a few bucks. Just for fun, I looked up your Seinfeld Guide on ebay, it is listed for $20 Canadian. Keep or Sell?
Yes, those old Seinfeld episodes really are timeless and hilarious. It’s interesting that magazine is worth a few bucks. I got rid of the Coronation Street one but still have the Seinfeld edition. Maybe I’ll hang on to it. My husband has hundreds of old Road & Track magazines in our basement. He says it’s his retirement project to sell them. LOL
I hope your husband’s plan works out for him. 😃
Ha ha. Me too because I want them out of my basement.
I remember TV Guide and was actually in it once — when a movie I made in Canada as a teenager was broadcast as a “movie of the week” one night. According to my Canadian friends, it still turns up on Canadian TV (maybe because a percentage what airs on Canadian TV needs to have been made in Canada?) from time to time. It was originally called GOLDENROD — although i saw on IMDB that at some point it was re-titled GLORY DAYS. Here’s a link if you are curious: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076092/ My younger brother was in it, too.
Well that is a fascinating piece of trivia, Will. Yes, Canadian TV networks do have Canadian content regulations—much to the dismay of many filmmakers who say it diminishes the quality of our television programming. I haven’t seen Glory Days but will definitely watch for it now I know you’re in it.
Mom couldn’t live without her TV guide and she passed her FOMO on to me. Now I record certain shows if my husband doesn’t like them, or I wasn’t to watch something else. I’ve never heard of Coronation Street, but I’ve been watching or aware of The Young & the Restless since it started. I used to watch it with Mom. Yesterday, I was getting my nails done, she had it on the tv and I was shocked to see Victor is still alive and on the show!!! The things he’s seen in his career, crazy! But yeah, we loved TV guide and did the crossword too. I can’t wait to tell my husband how many years ago the final season of Seinfeld was…that’s his favorite show!
Ha ha. Yes, Victor is still alive and kicking on Y&R. And those Seinfeld episodes are as funny now as they were almost 25 (YIKES) years ago.