>
> > The old tv operated on vacuum tubes and generated so much heat you had to be careful what you placed on top of it.
> > How"Where have the rabbit ears gone?"ard
>
> Do you remember those "vacuum tube testers" they had down at the drug store? When the TV stopped working, you took the suspect vacuum tubes out and down to the store to see which one was the culprit.

Heh. I was just about to post something like that.

> Vaguely related question for non-Americans: When your local station goes off the air at the end of the broadcast day, do they play your national anthem as a closer?

> koala"just wondering"mom

Yes, they do. However, there hasn't been a television station that ends a broadcast day since the early 90s, I believe. (At least not since late night informercials started airing.) The last time I recall seeing that was on a PBS station.

The stations would play the national anthem and there'd be a montage of stock footage: Mount Rushmore, a bald eagle flying over treetops, military jets flying in formation, a shot of the flag, maybe some fireworks.

-Faux "The anthem ends and then they'd switch to the color bars, because most television repairmen work do color calibration tests between midnight and 6am, uh-huh, right." Pas