The Smothers Brothers perform and are interviewed on a late night television show broadcast 1-16-88. The BetaGems channel also has "2-4-89 Tommy Smothers YoYo Man & Mike Cross," "1989 Smothers Brothers: Paul Rodriguez meets YoYo Man," "1989 Smothers Brothers: Ghosts, Governments & Other Scary Things," "YoYo Man 8-9-89 Tommy Smothers TV comedy sketch," "Smothers Brothers 7-17-89 daytime television interview, yo-yo demo," "YoYo Man cartoon Smothers Brothers 8-23-89 TV short," "Smothers Brothers 1988 Stouffer's Pizza commercial," "Gallagher & Tommy Smothers 4-27-88 TV variety show," "Smothers Brothers 4-14-65 Jack Benny Show," "Smothers Brothers on Hollywood Squares 7-6-87," "Political TV commercial compilation 1985 hosted by Smothers Brothers," "Smothers Brothers 5-25-89 Politics & Poker, Will Durst," and "George Harrison meets the Smothers Brothers 11-17-68."
BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded from the early 1980s into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on KZfaq or online.
Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads. In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.