I’m having a Have Gun – Will Travel marathon on the Roku. Netflix has HG-WT through its deal with Starz — a deal that expires on Wednesday, so I’m going through as many episodes as I can before then.
Most of what I’ve read about the Netflix-Starz contract focuses on the loss of recent hit movies, but my preference for casual viewing is for TV shows from the late 50’s and the early 60’s, like Have Gun – Will Travel, and Leave It To Beaver. (I like The Dick Van Dyke Show, but don’t revere it as others do.) How much money can there be left in owning the distribution rights to a 50-year-old TV series, anyway? It doesn’t appear that any restoration work was done on Have Gun – Will Travel, so any money it makes now must be pure profit.
This is my entertainment center, in the corner of the 4-season porch, where I do most of my TV viewing.
I’ve been considering replacing my 13-year-old Sony 32XBR100, but being the best conventional NTSC TV ever made for consumers it’s perfect for SD 4:3 material. If too much of the good, old stuff disappears from Netflix, and/or Turner Classic Movies goes HD, I’ll see about re-purposing the venerable, and extremely heavy, Sony as Eric’s setup for classic video gaming and getting a flat panel TV for the porch.
A few months after this blog post I replaced the 32XBR100 with a Samsung flat panel that I’m still using. The Sony was moved to the basement for my son’s classic video game console setup, and it also continues to be used. Every time I look at the screen two things stand out — the incredible contrast ratio and the scan lines.
There were 2 models of “XBR Squared”. One was the KV-32XBR96 launched around 1992, followed by the KV-32XBR100 in 1995. They were both 32” models. The later one had the electronic components stored in an external box. It also had the neat feature of lighting up the controls when your hand was waved in front on it. The later one had the optional “Shigei Stand” seen in the photo. I owned the KV-32XBR96 model and bought that stand for it since I thought it looked really cool. Sony also made a matching AV stand that looked the same but was taller for holding stereo components. I actually have 2 of them in storage along with the stand since I haven’t own a tube tv in 15 years.
Hi Ed – My 32XBR100 is still working perfectly, four years after I wrote this post. I bought the set at the Sony outlet store in Wrentham, MA (which closed a couple of years ago). At that time, in late 1998, I was told the model had been discontinued earlier that year, which would mean that it had been in production for up to three years.
Hi,
I am still watching my Sony KV32XBR100!! The thing will NOT die!!! My problem is that I cannot remember when I bought it! All I remember is that it was in the last year of its production. Do you know when Sony stopped producing it?
Thanks in advance,
Ed