1976

"THIS IS OREGON" You might recognize this as KATU's signoff sequence from the late 70's. It was first shown clean, sans the voiceover legal info, at a KATU presentation banquet during the final week of August, 1976. This is that version.

1977

ENTIRE TRAIL BLAZERS 1977 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! No kidding, folks--this is the entire game. Of course, in order to get each slice of it to a reasonable size I had to compress the picture to Artifacting City, but it's not too bad...

1979

	FARRELLS AAAAAD!! OMG!! Come back, Farrell's...seriously.
	THE KPTV "BUGS BUNNY AND FRIENDS" THEME SONG FUN FACT: This tune was composed on a Univac VIII computer the size of a two-story building, and cost $1,212,349,855 to produce.
	"THE ECLIPSTICK" If you spent all day surrounded by high-end video equipment, could you resist the temptation to goof around with it? This fake ad was made at KATU in 1979, and was never broadcast.

1980

	VARIOUS 1980 PROMOS FROM KPTV No one knows why, but staring at that leaf is more therapeutic than a jacuzzi bath in steaming hot fudge.
	CHUCK E. CHEESE'S PIZZA TIME THEATRE The robot Chuck E was more edible than the pizza.
	LONGER FARRELLS AAAAAD!! An extended version of the ad up above, this shows even more elements of the old-timey restraunt we miss, including the big drum.
	MAN SCREWS LIGHT BULB INTO TREE I couldn't place an exact date on this ad. It looks old; that's all I know. If the mountain at the beginning is St. Helens, then it's even older than '80.
	KPTV PROMO FOR "THE GREAT SPACE COASTER" Get on board!
	ATARI 2600s FOR SALE AT MACY'S MEIER & FRANK Two 1980 ads from the dearly departed department store.
	KATU'S 1980 SIGNOFF SEQUENCE Back when television stations actually shut down every night...
	TOM PETERSON'S 1980 CHRISTMAS GIFT You won't believe this one. Or maybe you will.

1981

	VARIOUS 1981 PROMOS FROM KPTV Three and a half minutes of KPTV promos! Putting this new batch together made me sad. I miss the earthy, homespun feel channel 12 once had. Though I wasn't alive in 1981, it was still the same in 1991.
	1981 P.M. MAGAZINE PROMO WHAT'S THAT ON PAUL LINNMAN'S HEAD??? Oh. Hair.
	NOW IS THE TIME, CHANNEL 2 IS THE PLACE....FOR RICHARD SIMMONS Work those buns!

	On the first anniversary of the Mt. St. Helens explosion, a KATU narrator vividly compares the experience to a woman's bre--HEY, I SWEAR I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP!
	BEHOLD NEWS 8'S NEW HELICOPTER With microwave power! And Pete Schulberg!
	THAT BEER'S GOT LEGS! This ad would have scared me as a kid.
	GO OLINGER!!! SSSSHHHOOOOMMMM!!! Apparently the name "Olinger" once meant more than RVs. The guy is pulling so much weight in this ad, he's defiantly parked three vehicles in the MIDDLE of I-205. See for yourself...
	SMITHS HOME FURNISHINGS The earliest Smiths ad in the collection is a real curiosity...It plays the Indiana Jones theme while showing shots of their warehouse. Was this unintentional or were they actually implying they were the ones who wound up with the Ark?
	GEORGE LUCAS CHEVROLET Speaking of Lucasfilm...he says his name is John, but who does that look like to you? I now have every reason to believe he lived a double life as a used car salesman in Oregon. Listen to that music and tell me wrong...
	H.K. LIMITED AD Anyone remember H.K? Well, apparently, it was really tasty or something.
	KATU IS....THE NEWS SOURCE Big deal, they don't have TWO helicopters....
	KATU IS....THE NEWS SOURCE AGAIN A second 1981 promo, this time focusing on the anchors.
	CHANNEL 8: OUR EPIDERMIS IS SHOWING Or something like that.
	LEAVE YOUR NAME ON A PIONEER COURTHOUSE SQUARE BRICK The Square was still under construction, and for the price of a donation they would engrave your name onto one of the bricks. Last time I looked, the names were still there....and my own name is on one of them; Dad paid for it shortly after I was born. Can you find it?
	THIS MESSAGE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE GREAT KIDS OF BEAUMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL They must be pretty great if they can resist picking on Joanie here. I know I couldn't.
	A NEW YORK NORTHWEST STATE OF MIND I'll admit it--this is from the KPTV 40th Anniversary special, not an original airing. I do have a tape from 1981 that has one second of footage...but it's one second. I get the word "river" and nothing else. Note to archivers: DON'T CUT OUT THE ADS.
	A SECOND NORTHWEST STATE OF MIND Update: I DID manage to find one taped in its original airtime. Only problem is, it's not the same one. But hey, now I have two.
	EQUITABLE SAVINGS IS PEOPLE! EQUITABLE SAVINGS IS PEOPLE!
	IS VIETNAM STILL A PROBLEM IN YOUR LIFE? Well? Is it?
	VARIOUS RADIO SPOTS OF 1981 If KINK FM can put an angry gorilla to sleep, why shouldn't it work for you?
	CASCADE RUN-OFF Do you recognize that music? It's part of the KPTV 10 O'Clock News theme. If KATU's using it, the tune must have been public domain. On a related note, "Emerald Yeh" was one of the best Asian names ever, though it doesn't beat current Multnomah Circuit Court member "Youlee Yim You."
	A.M. NORTHWEST CIRCA 1981 With Margie Boule and The Boz.
	60 SECOND A.M. NORTHWEST PROMO Their housewife focus hasn't changed much in 25 years.
	uh.....what? Seriously....
	ARCTIC CIRCLE SQUARE PUMPKIN I hated Arctic Circle and I hated their advertising as well. I thought the yearly "Square Pumpkin" was a stupid concept and I also found AC's estimations on my childhood intelligence insulting. When I first saw that cheapie "C-Prize" I thought it was a pacifier! (But I think it's actually a...top, of some kind.)
	FACES AND PLACES Here's one for the obscurity books.
	PIG-MAN This is the only "Faces and Places" segment I could dig up. If the whole show was as weird as this one segment is, I want to see more....
	OMSI AD Every OMSI ad I've ever seen has dealt only with the traveling exhibit of the month...an ad for OMSI itself is rarer than rare. It's not the highest-budget of productions, and it's made worse by the bad recording it got. Half of what you see is actually from a story on Mt. St. Helens--only the audio came in for the first few seconds.
	COMMERCIAL FOR MT. ST. HELENS MOVIE It was a cheapie film trying to capitalize on recent events, and it'd only be worth watching today if Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot were inserted.
	KATU'S FILM CRITIC REVIEWS "ST. HELENS" He didn't like it.
	MORE RADIO SPOTS FROM 1981 That early KGON commercial does indeed rock. Wish I could say the same for Z100 in this era. See for yourself...
	PORTLAND POLICE MUSEUM Never heard of it. Judging by the fate of every other building that gets sold around here, this is now probably "THUY THUIY TRANH THRNHY FRIED BEETLE CUISINE."
	STAR WARS: COMING TO RADIO This is what you call "an old chestnut."
	MALIBU GRAND PRIX Never drive go-karts under the influence, like these unusually enthusiastic people are.
	HEY BABY! DRINK YOUR MILK! A locally-produced milk spot starring 1981's current governor and some ancient Blazer.
	SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM TELEVISION TWO Even Bumpity is in it.

1982

	CITY COUNCIL PLANS TO RENOVATE OLD PARAMOUNT THEATRE But what could they possibly put in it?
	MEL BLANC VISITS PORTLAND Bugs Bunny graduated from Lincoln High!
	RADIO SPOTS FROM 1982 KCNR is back with a decidedly strange marketing strategy. You know...NONE of the ads for KCNR ever said exactly what kind of music the station PLAYED.
	MORE RADIO SPOTS FROM 1982 Another KGON spot. By contrast, this one clearly spells out for you what you'll get from KGON--it's spelled out rather loudly, in fact.
	SMITHS HOME FURNISHINGS Now they're ripping the Superman theme...have they no shame? And there's Bert and Ernie!
	THE ORGAN GRINDER! Some of you younger readers out there might be wondering if the Organ Grinder was every bit as great as this ad makes it look. Ohhhhh yes. Yes it was.
	OAKS PARK ROLLER RINK I can say a lot about Farrells and the Organ Grinder, but I have no memories of this. The people in this ad do, though.
	KPTV MOVIE MARQUEES FROM 1981 AND 1983 I put 1981 and 1983 together (and put it in with the 1982 stuff, splitting the difference). KPTV's 1981 marquees had several different names depending on the time of day and day of the week; they all pass the screen. The 1983 marquee did away with this in favor of N64-type CGI graphics.

1983

	KPDX TV 49 -- HOME OF THE STAAAARS! Before it changed networks more times than your boss changes underwear, KPDX 49 began as an independent station that showed nothing but movies. This video has their first station identification.
	CLIP FROM THE 1983 GRAND FLORAL PARADE Arguably, this is the best video on the entire site.
	PRESSING ISSUES OF 1983 Will Oregon adopt a sales tax? Will the government finally crack down on people videotaping copyrighted TV programs? Will a hobo win the mayoral race? All this plus stuff blowing up!
	RARE KOIN SIGNOFF SEQUENCE We've seen several signoff sequences on this site, but this one's a little different...it's what it looked like when KOIN temporarily went off the air for a few hours in the middle of one night. For the curious...
	PAUL LINNMAN GONE WILD You just never know what Paul Linnman's going to do next! This time, he's running a marathon! WHOA! (Note: Paul says in this ad "Brought to you by RC 100," not "Brought to you by Our Z100." Z100 didn't come in regular and sugar-free varieties back then.)
	VERA KATZ IN 1983? Egad, she must have gone back in history! And now she's altered the time-space continuum and Helen Hunt is in the NFL!
	THE NEW PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ASKS FOR DONATIONS Arlene Schnitzer must have been watching this while sitting on a pile of money.
	WAITIN' FOR SESAME STREET TO COME ON... This one'll take you back. Until the mid-90's, OPB used to play jazz music in between its programs, accompanied by still photos of either the program they were about to show or some serene view of nature.
	AROUND OREGON "Public Affairs" are what you call those community postings that air on local television during ads. This is a vintage 1983 example, set to an off-key rendition of "Jesus Loves the Little Children," from the normally secular KOIN.
	OREGON CRAFT AND FLORAL My mom spent a lot of time here. Though I remember it in detail, I can't say that much about it other than it smelled like straw and it only held appeal for older women.
	FRED MEYER HOLIDAY AD I know...the picture in the TV doesn't look like something you'd see from Fred Meyer. There was something before it on the tape, and I left it on. You'll agree...you'd have done the same.
	NEW! NEWS STORY ON TRI-MET Wow, look at those old buses! And look at that closing shot--82nd and Eastport, 25 years ago! Here's a bigger image.
	NEW! ROSE 100 FM This is after it was Solid Gold, but before it was Z.
	NEW! KUPL #1 When you think of KUPL, you think "fairy dust," right?

1984

	BILL O'REILLY AT KATU?? This video can't be real...it must be a Barack Obama conspiracy!
	NEW! COURAGE. CLOUT. (Non-marital) COMMITMENT. BOB PACKWOOD. He's the CLOUTIEST!

1986

	MR. PLYWOOD Mr. Plywood is so in-your-face.
	"TWO" Another obscurity from KATU. The name isn't even accurate--it came on at four.
	IS THIS MAN GOING TO EXPLOIT THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF LADY LIBERTY BY USING CHEESY SENTIMENTALITY JUST TO SELL CARS?? Duh.
	BI-MART CIRCA 1986 Does anyone here remember the act of "jarring"? My grandma does...
	FAR WEST FEDERAL BANK A lot of banks either died or merged in the early 90's, and this was one of the casualties. It was swallowed by Bank of America.
	VANCOUVER FURNITURE "....Simply sells.....for less." I don't know who Nancy is, I just wanted the song.
	SMITHS HOME FURNISHINGS Nobody cares like Smiths.

1987

	NEW! KGW-TV CELEBRATES 30 YEARS Yes, they did remember their 50th in 2007.
	NEW! CHANNEL 8: THE TEAM THAT WORKS FOR YOU Works for me!
	NEW! RAD BAD BLAZERS Just imagine. If it weren't for FPO, people would actually get away with burying moments like this.
	NEW! STEREO SUPER STORES I don't think the "Stereo Stupid Stores" moniker is ever going to go away. If it weren't for this company existing, we'd be riding a rollercoaster on 82nd shaped like Tom Peterson's head by now.
	NEW! KUPL #2 Now this one's more familiar-looking.

1988

	NEVER TOO OLD TO ROCK AND ROLL Three office monkeys playing air guitar makes this the best ad of 1988 by far.
	LES SCHWAB "FREE BEEF" AD FROM 1988 I'm surprised this hasn't caught on. If CBS offered free beef, I might actually watch it.
	BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SAVINGS AND LOAN A beach-bopper couple from the 50's becomes a money-grubbing couple from the 80's, thanks to the BENJAMIN FRANKLIN!
	SMITHS HOME FURNISHINGS Nobody cares like Smiths. NOBODY. Not even your mom. Not even her!
	END SEQUENCE FROM "KPDX KIDS CLUB" I'm eternally grateful to the person who sent this one in....I thought I'd NEVER see this again.
	KPDX "SMALL WONDER" PROMO If there were ever any doubts about what audience that show was targeting, this should lay them to rest. Small Wonder was clearly for kids...and your crazy aunt.
	PRICE ARE COMING DOWN Super Bob Kendall Hyper Chevy Sale Transformation Monkey Force Go!!
	TONY THE TIGER STALKS PORTLAND This ad solves a big mystery from the folders of my childhood: one autographed picture of a guy in a Tony the Tiger costume. I could never figure out how I wound up with such a thing, but now I know: Tony must have visited the apartments where I and a million other kids lived. I don't think he came to my door, but I must have caught him strolling 'round.
	80'S FASHION AT FRED MEYER This one is more radical than FIVE teenagers with mullets named "Corey"!
	PAY LESS DRUGSTORE Though it's not very audible, this has the 80's Pay Less theme song, which played on the radio speakers every single time you were inside one.
	A 60-SECOND TOUR OF CANNON BEACH, CIRCA 1988 Ahh, the memories. Now Ecola Square is dead, and the ice cream shop and bakery are in different places. ...But seriously, Teresa, who thinks about calories in the bakery?
	NEWLY REMODELED 80'S FRED MEYERS The Gateway Fred Meyer also got this same makeover. It lasted two months before they made that store over AGAIN.

1989

	THAT DARN SPOTTED OWL You either wanted to hug or lynch him.
	THE KATU "SPIRIT OF THE NORTHWEST" THEME SONG! Just to remove all doubt: I made this by stitching together two ads that played the first half of the song, and the second half respectively. I'm sure a proper full version lies out there somewhere...do you got it?
	THE BACKSIDE OF TED KULONGOSKI, CIRCA 1989 Enjoy.
	FIRST INTERSTATE BANK They went the extra mile for you.
	OY, MATE! NOW IF YOU COME TO BRUCE CHEVROLET, YOU CAN GIT A FREE COWBOY HAT! FREE HAT! FREE HAT!
	REVENGE OF THE NOID Curse that Dominos....

1990

PM MAGAZINE WRAPAROUNDS OF CURIOSITY #1 Margie Boule takes viewers on a tour of the Oregonian offices, circa January 1990. Suffice it to say, the cut-and-paste process shown here isn't how you make a newspaper anymore. Consider it more of a museum exhibit...

PM MAGAZINE WRAPAROUNDS OF CURIOSITY #2 The next day's episode: behind the scenes at Z100 Morning Zoo! A feature story on Matt Groening is mentioned here; remember that this was January 1990 and The Simpsons had just begun. Guess what...Dad cut that part of the episode out! He left in the Phantom Food Reviewer that day but he didn't record the most historically relevant part! There is no emoticon for the rage I am feeling!

1992

	KATU VIDEO COUPONS Wow, that's technologic! ....wait, how do they work again?
	"I LOVE MY PIZZA, YES I DO. I CAN EAT IT THROUGH AND THROUGH." It's the Papa Pre-Murphy's Brat. Aw, isn't that aldo-rable?

1993

	"SPRING BREAK QUAKE" COLLAGE Includes coverage from all the major networks, even KPTV.
	EARTH ALERT!! Carl Click! He's a hero! He's gonna take pollution down to zero!
	KIENOWS' FINAL AD CAMPAIGN Portland's last remaining Kienow's, near Hawthorne, is now a Rite Aid.
	BLAZER GAME PROMO Unfortunately, that was their only ball.
	OREGON CHICKEN It seemed like this one was in every local ad break that 1993 had to offer.
	"PEOPLE SAY I'M INTIMIDATING..." This was part two of a trilogy of local ads Dairy Queen produced for their Trail Blazer Collectible Glasses promotion. The Blazer shown here pleaded to be given his own glass in each ad, but was always ignored. In 1994 he finally got his.
	COME TO THE FAIR AND RIDE THE CHAIR!!! Come to the Fair and ride the Chair! Come to the Fair and ride the Chair!
	CLYDE DREXLER HAS A MESSAGE FOR YOU If you drink your school, stay in drugs, and don't do milk, you can get work!
	"ROSE FESTIVAL VOICES" A princess says some...stuff. It didn't have enough meat on its own, so I added a Gianola/Emry '93 KATU spot.
	SMITHS HOME FURNISHINGS The final Smiths ad in the collection is different from the rest--it's diabetically sugary. The guy who sent this one in remarked that the people behind it must have gone on to create Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

1994

	KID CITY MEDICAL CENTER AT THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM It's a whole new way of playing doctor.
	FOX 49 IN THE AFTERNOONS Ahh, to be back in '94 again...wait, school stunk. Never mind.

1996

	KRAZY KARS OF PORTLAND There are a lot more than just these three, too...crazy hippies.
	RICK WITH EMPIRE GLASS "Let Empire Glass replace your cracked windshield, and we'll give you 24 free dinners!" This is the first Empire Glass commercial to air. It's too bad about Rick. You know...his being shot in a hotel by a hooker and all.
	ORYGONE'S 12 In the late 90's KPTV went by the name "Oregon's 12." The actors off in Hollywood had to film themselves mentioning the station's name, and tapes frequently came back with those actors saying "Orygone's 12." Eventually KPTV made a string of ads out of them. Dang, if you can't count on the guy from "Homeboys in Outer Space" to get it right, then who CAN you count on?
	WORST. LOCAL AD. EVER. The flawed logic, the "animation" consisting of two static images, the bad voices...this is Oregon's Plan 9.

1997

	JEFF GIANOLA AND STEVE DUNN STEAL ONE OF THE KATU HELICOPTERS, BLOW UP THE OTHER ONE, AND FLY TO SEATTLE What, you don't remember when this happened? Must have been living in a cave.
	"INSERT FAVORITE FOOD HERE" Best Izzy's Pizza ad EVER.

1998

TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW Tell Me Something I Don't Know was a series of spots from KWBP where they asked children to "tell them something they didn't know." It was the only good thing that came out of the dorky "Crew 32."

1999

	"MOMENT IN TIME" Part of KATU's "Power of 2000" promotion. Where were YOU during the Columbus Day Storm? I was sitting somewhere, not born.
	Y2K PREPAREDNESS MESSAGE! Aside from the KATU logo pasted onto the beginning, this ad has nothing to do with the Northwest...but a cache of 1999 videos HAS to include a Y2K hysteria clip.
	THE HAPPY STAFF OF KOIN NEWS They're sweet and nice and never disagree. ....Yeah, right. This is when Lars Larson worked there. I don't buy it for a second.

2002

TED KULONGOSKI'S GUBERNATORIAL RACE CAMPAIGN AD The story you are about to see is a fib....but it's short.

2005

	MATTRESS FAIRY The best part is that in her next ad, she had to apologize for herself.
	ARE YOU MISSING YOUR SOCKS? Then obey the nerdy Rod Serling knockoff and buy some more.
	DARIA O'NEILL INTERVIEWS RUSTY NAILS THE CLOWN At this age, his nails prob'ly ARE rusty.

2006

	OUTRAGEOUS AUDIO!!! He's truly outrageous! Truly truly outrageous!
	OREGON RAIN You can't sell ice to an eskimo, but you apparently CAN sell Oregonians their own rain. Guys....this stuff isn't that hard to find.
	FREE DONUT FRIDAY During the final months of what was "UPN 49," the station raffled off free donuts to one business a week. They ran this ad every day during every single syndicated thing they owned. After this ends, you'll also see a promo announcing the oncoming PDX 49.
	THE TROJAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IMPLODES Cool, it blowed up!
	"I LOVE THE ROSE FESTIVAL! PIRATES! ARR!" That's about all the dialogue in what has to be the shortest Rose Festival ad ever made, as well as the shortest ad on the whole site. To pad things out, I added some...extra stuff to the end.
	PORTLAND LUMBERJAX What's lacrosse? It must be a game where you beat people with giant cotton swabs.
	OUTRAGEOUS AUDIO, PART TWO Now with the "ALL MONTH LONG" dancers!

2007

	THAT'S NOT A HAIR QUESTION "They seemed to think the whole situation was a joke!" ...Wow, really?
	MARDI GRAS FAUX PAS Could you ask for a better setup than this?
	MY DAD'S IN THIS ONE If you'll allow me a moment of nepotism...this IS my site.
	RON CARLSON'S LAST DAY He was on camera at KATU for twenty-eight years; he's in some of those clips from 1981.

2008

	NEW! FAREWELL JIM BOSLEY I still say he faked his death.
	NEW! PDX 49'S "MICHAEL ROCKSTAR" Boy, with this guy around, you hardly miss Daria, do you?