Wipe-ology

As everybody knows, lots of old game shows got wiped. That was back when video tape was expensive and few people figured old game shows would be worth anything.

Game show boards regularly argue over the term "wiped," which is not supposed to be technically correct. Instead, we should say "reused" or "degaussed" or something. But wouldn't you know, somebody came up with an old Brit video showing a tape getting wiped. And the narrator actually says the magic word, "wiped."

Anyway, Matt Ottinger's board, after chewing over the niceties of "wiped" vs. "degaussed", got into which shows received the, er, treatment. A poster made an interesting comment:

Conversations about what exists and what (likely) doesn't always fascinate me. There are numerous other shows that had off-network reruns right through the '70s (at least in some cities, according to old TV Guides). Gambit is one that comes to mind, as is Joker's Wild. For years we thought all that was left of CBS Joker was the final season - then GSN surprised us by running most of the first season (1972-73) after the whole run was found at WCBS...I guess the real answer is, because a lot of stuff has been discovered over the years, you can never really know if something's truly gone.

For instance, those really early What's My Line eps "lost to history" (as the episode guide says) might turn up somewhere someday. Hey, maybe I've got 'em in my attic! Wikipedia often asserts that such-and-such seasons of so-and-so show are presumed lost. But as the poster says, "lost" episodes pop up now and then.