I Don't Want To Grow Up, I'm a TBS Kid
How One Cable TV Channel Opened a World of Possibilities To a Ten Year Old
Ted Turner, RIP
With the passing of media mogul Ted Turner earlier this week, plenty was made of his contributions to the current media landscape. Rightly so, receiving lots of attention were his founding of 24-hour news channel CNN and his transformation of Atlanta TV Channel 171 into one of the country’s first nationally broadcast satellite stations.
But I’d like to look deeper into the sheer breadth of programming options that Turner used to turn a local UHF station into…
A Cultural Touchstone
With apologies to the Toys-R-Us jingle (written by author James Patterson), I wasn’t a Toys-R-Us kid, I was a TBS kid. When my family finally joined the ranks of the cable television revolution sometime in 1982, SuperStation WTBS (as it was then known) became one of my favorite channels. It seemed to have a little bit of everything that a kid my age could love; cartoons, sitcoms, and of course those unique things that made the SuperStation a cultural touchstone for so many of my era. Here’s a look back at just a few.
Starcade
A game show, where kids compete AT VIDEO GAMES! Sometimes there were new games, sometimes it would be older, classic games. Not only was it fun to watch, but you could also pick up some handy tips on how to beat those games. A definitive part of the after-school viewing habits of the latch-key kid section of TBS Nation.
Night Tracks
It was the 1980s. To some parents, modern music was both a cause and an effect of the downfall of civilization. Between Punk, New Wave, Heavy Metal and just plain old Rock, (don’t even get me started about Rap) music was going to be the ruin of all us kids. So for some, that meant no MTV. Luckily Night Tracks delivered all the latest and greatest music videos to our homes for a solid 6 hour block on Friday and Saturday nights. At last, we were free to watch “Hungry Like the Wolf” without our parents warning us of the dangers of drug addiction and Satanism.
NWA / WCW Wrestling
Hulk Hogan. Honky Tonk Man. Ultimate Warrior. Hillbilly Jim. Overgrown cartoon characters, all of them. No, if you were a real wrasslin’ fan in the ‘80s you were put off by the over-the-top gimmicks of the WWF. You wanted your wrestlers REAL, and that meant the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Featuring “authentic” wrestlers like the limousine riding, jet flying Nature Boy Ric Flair, down to Earth son-of-a-plumber American Dream Dusty Rhodes, or the Russian Nightmare Nikita Koloff. Even if we knew in our heart of hearts that everything wasn’t on the level, we at least thought these guys weren’t animated. And WTBS brought them to us several times each week. Turner even went so far as to buy out Jim Crockett Promotions and rebrand the outfit World Championship Wrestling (WCW). And although the line between the “reality” of the WCW and the silliness of the WWF eventually wore away, even before the two entities merged in the ‘90s, those early days on WTBS were a feast for young sports fans of the day.
And of Course, Atlanta Braves Baseball
THIS was the big one. Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray and Ernie Johnson Sr in the broadcast booth. Dale Murphy and Bob Horner on the field. Whoever the manager was that season (let’s be honest, for a while there it seemed like a yearly change). Not only did being a Braves fan in the 1980s teach me baseball, it also taught me sympathy, patience and some small degree of understanding. Like most Braves fans of that era, I’m still trying to comprehend why we traded away Brett Butler for Len Barker, and why Brad Komminsk couldn’t replicate his AAA stats in The Show.
But man, what a fun ride! Pascual Perez’s ride around Atlanta.2 The Braves - Padres brawl. Murph’s two MVPs. The Braves were an introduction to baseball unlike any other, creating lifelong Braves fans across the country. To this day, if the Braves are leading by one or two runs and it appears a rally may be on the horizon, I’m obligated to do my best Skip Caray imitation - “A little insurance would be nice.” And while the variety of Braves merchandise found at Truist Park and online is great, it’s no match for the giddy anticipation of ordering the Braves Clubhouse Catalog and waiting those excruciating 4-6 weeks for its arrival.
Even the Braves’ rain delays were glorious, with reruns of The Andy Griffith Show or Sanford and Son. And the list of post-game movies promoted during Braves telecasts still come to mind. Although I’ve never actually seen “With Six You Get Eggroll” or “Butterflies Are Free”, I missed approximately 384 chances during the decade.
In hindsight, WTBS seemed to be the right channel at the right time. Turner’s ingenuity and willingness to try different things from a programming standpoint helped the station become one of cable’s most watched channels. To this ‘80s kid, perhaps no other single channel captured the era quite so well.
Thanks for the memories, Ted.
In 1976 Turner had his Atlanta Braves players start wearing their “nicknames” on the backs of their jerseys. Ever the showman, this led to Braves pitcher Andy Messersmith wearing “Channel” above his number, 17. MLB didn’t take kindly to Turner’s efforts at this free, if not out-of-the-box, marketing and ordered the practice discontinued.
Following his missed start, Perez wore a custom warmup jacket to commemorate the event.
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Wow. This was awesome, and I never really did the whole TBS breakdown in my head like that before. "Starcade" has been lost in the recesses of my memory for decades -- and goodness, was that fun. Braves baseball and Skip Caray, huge in my life (he was like the boring Caray flavor between Harry Caray's spiciness and Chip Caray's sweetness (I was an Orlando Magic fan and Chip was our Play-by-play guy for the first 10 years).
I'd also like to point out a few of my own fave TBS memories, which I might be wrong about, but I remember them this way!
-- :05 minutes later than all other channels. What a weird thing, but it was distinctly TBS, starting (and ending) their shows 5 minutes later than everyone else. Brilliant! Or insane! I have no idea.
-- "Mama's Family" -- I'm pretty sure this started there, and it was Saturday early evening viewing I think. Why I was home watching TV on a Saturday early evening instead of having an awesome Saturday outside, I don't know. But 5pm -- I enjoyed me some Mama. (Well, 5:05pm)
-- Atlanta Hawks Basketball: Seeing Dominique Wilkins IN-GAME dunks -- just insane. He's sooo underappreciated. As was Spud Webb.
Awesome trip down memory lane, all the while, whistling The Andy Griffith Show theme song, which was a show that bonded my father and I, just like those Braves games -- as a kid living in Florida without a baseball team of my own in the '80s.
Have you read "The Franchise" it's the Mark Bowman book about the Braves. Some great chapters in there about Ted, TBS, Announcers of that era and more. Worth a read for any Braves fan. They just don't make billionaires like Ted anymore... (A line I never thought I'd write)