What’s Old Is Viewed Again
I have a confession to make. Now that I am a “semi-retired” man of leisure, I spend many of my afternoons and some of my evenings time-traveling — transported back to the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s by means of nostalgia television networks like BUZZR, MeTV, Decades, Cozi TV, Antenna TV, and others. While my woke friends binge on the latest edgy, must-see offerings from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Acorn, and the rest of the streaming services, I settle back to enjoy classic game shows like To Tell the Truth, What’s My Line, Password, Super Password, Card Sharks, and Match Game. I also immerse myself in such vintage TV fare as M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Bewitched, Columbo, Gomer Pyle, The Munsters, and The Love Boat.
It’s like stepping through a wormhole and into a comforting, less confusing time. It’s not just reruns; it’s a parallel television dimension.
Welcome to the retro dimension.
More precisely, it’s digital multicasting, and it’s relatively new. Starting in 2009, broadcasters switched from analog to digital technology, which enabled them to run more than one signal from their transmitters. Local stations could now broadcast as many as six different channels, making money from each of them. This created a need for 24-hours-a-day content, which enterprising media companies stepped in to produce and distribute. Today, there are more than 30 English-language multicast networks (or diginets) available, depending on where you live.
“It’s a refuge from the dark aspects of our world today. People come to us because we’re family-friendly, safe, an environment that you can be nostalgic about and be entertained by. … It’s comfort TV.”
Luckily for me, our cable provider here in suburban Philadelphia includes BUZZR, , the current versions of and , and prestige dramas like ), BUZZR describes itself as “a pop culture time capsule” on its website. With owner Fremantle’s vast portfolio of 40,000 iconic game show episodes at its disposal (including the landmark Goodson-Todman catalogue), BUZZR programs four decades worth of hosts and challenges — from with Bud Collyer to with Alex Trebek — that, in my humble opinion, still entertain today. (Some better than others, but that’s a quibble.)
