@mangeurdenuage @augustus In that past that rarely happened as the master tapes for almost all TV shows were kept around, so the only shows that really ended up gone forever was those with lost master tapes and no known VHS recording (i.e. some star trek episodes).

I do remember VHS, not the best format, but it's a fairly durable storage medium.


When it comes to lost media, the amount of media lost is increasing at an ever increasing rate thanks to digital handcuffs (there's a reason why ninty has grabbed unauthorized copies of their own games off the internet for usage in their "retro game" emulators rather than finding the old master copy or finding and dumping one of their own carts).