Historical Question

[CSUPYLFAN]

I hope this topic is okay to post.  Forgive me and lock it if it's not...

About when did ATGS (which evolved to this forum) start, and what is some of the history behind it?  (Who formed it, what motivated he/she to form it--in additon to game shows, of course.  Was it around before Internet popularity exploded?).

Just curious, really.  I have an interest in online communities from a historical standpoint, especially this one...

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'CSUPYLFAN\' date=\'Dec 16 2003, 12:02 AM\'] I hope this topic is okay to post.  Forgive me and lock it if it's not...

About when did ATGS (which evolved to this forum) start [/quote]
 Well, at least I can answer this question... November 17, 1993.  Here's a link to the first ATGS post.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&...K5%40netcom.com

 - David

[gameshowguy2000]

And it's been 10 years since its debut.

I learned something about ATGS that I never learned about before: It's an unmoderated newsgroup, which explains all the trolls and swearing and stuff of that mature nature.

Speaking of mature, those trolls aren't mature. Here, we're mature. ATGS was an un-mature group. This is more mature, and that's a reason why I am so glad to be here, 10 years after ATGS's debut.

You guys glad to be here and away from ATGS after 10 years of immaturity?

[Casey Buck]

And it's been 10 years since its debut.

10 years and 1 month. And actually, the newsgroup could have been formed weeks, or even months before that first post.

I learned something about ATGS that I never learned about before: It's an unmoderated newsgroup, which explains all the trolls and swearing and stuff of that mature nature.

It took you this long to figure that out?

You guys glad to be here and away from ATGS after 10 years of immaturity?

I'll let you answer that question yourself.

[DrJWJustice]

I gotta answer yes and no to being glad about the maturity level here.  On the one hand, it's great that we don't have to pick through messages to see which are legitimate and which aren't.  On the other hand, I did have a fondness for "Who Wants to Be a Moronionaire."

[gameshowguy2000]

I guess everyone's glad to be here, including me!

Now, while I wasn't an ATGS member, I've had a chance to browse the archives, and I gotta say, I was pretty unhappy about what was there!

And Casey, it took me at least a year to figure it out.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Dec 15 2003, 11:29 PM\'] And Casey, it took me at least a year to figure it out. [/quote]
 Wow. Just wow.

[AH3RD]

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Dec 16 2003, 12:46 AM\'] And it's been 10 years since its debut.

I learned something about ATGS that I never learned about before: It's an unmoderated newsgroup, which explains all the trolls and swearing and stuff of that mature nature.

Speaking of mature, those trolls aren't mature. Here, we're mature. ATGS was an un-mature group. This is more mature, and that's a reason why I am so glad to be here, 10 years after ATGS's debut.

You guys glad to be here and away from ATGS after 10 years of immaturity? [/quote]

Am I ever! I've never posted one message in alt.tv.game-shows, and now, judging from the current state it's in, I don't plan to!

People like them thar trolls to give game show fans a bad name...and ruin the spirit of GS discusion.

[MarkBarrett]

The ATGS was and still is a place to find out which celebrities recently died.  Sure the garbage posts far outweighed the legitimate ones, but good game show discussions were still around.  Some new people interested in game shows find the ATGS first, so it's nice to have a better place to send those fans.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'MarkBarrett\' date=\'Dec 16 2003, 10:39 AM\'] The ATGS was and still is a place to find out which celebrities recently died [/quote]
 Keep in mind, Mark, that the way to use ATGS to find out what famous people recently died is to look for the posts from the trolls du jour over there that say "What game shows will (insert name of person)'s corpse host?". There is virtually nothing to post about there, and hardly any non-troll audience at ATGS anymore, and it's been that way for a year as of this week.

[ChuckNet]

Am I ever! I've never posted one message in alt.tv.game-shows, and now, judging from the current state it's in, I don't plan to!

Hell, the only thing worth reading there nowadays are PB's "Pyramid celebs" posts, which I can easily retrieve via Google and always C&P here (crediting him, of course) as a service to the board.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[Matt Ottinger]

Well, at least I can answer this question... November 17, 1993. Here's a link to the first ATGS post.

A little bit more for historical reference:

Don Del Grande, who responded to that first post, is a member here.  That's got to make him the most veteran member of this community.  There are about a dozen of us (including Chris Lemon, Zach Horan, Chris Lambert, Dave and Robair Mackey, and, of course, your benevolent dictators) who still regularly post here and have ties to ATGS going back to 1994 and 1995.

When Mr. Lambert calls his website "The Original Game Show Page", that's not idle boasting.  It dates to October, 1994, back when most people still hadn't even discovered the internet.

For those of you joining the party fairly recently, it's really hard to describe what a wonderful place ATGS was for many, many years.  I have many close friends that I wouldn't have if it hadn't been for ATGS bringing us together.  I also know many people I consider friends that I've never even met in person, but for whom I would do favors at the drop of a hat.

As much as this forum has been successful in most meaningful ways, there was something special about the sense of community we established in those early days, when we were all just feeling our way around the new technology and simply discovering for the first time that there were people out there who knew more about game shows than we did!

[melman1]

there was something special about the sense of community we established in those early days, when we were all just feeling our way around the new technology and simply discovering for the first time that there were people out there who knew more about game shows than we did!

This was the spirit in most of the early Usenet groups, I can speak for alt.fan.letterman which started just before Dave's run at NBC ended in 1993.  It is now pretty much inhabited by a group of "chatty Cathy's" - housewives, mostly - and has relatively little to do with Letterman or his show.  Even so, it never turned into the sewer that a.t.g-s became.

[tommycharles]

[quote name=\'melman1\' date=\'Dec 16 2003, 12:35 PM\']

there was something special about the sense of community we established in those early days, when we were all just feeling our way around the new technology and simply discovering for the first time that there were people out there who knew more about game shows than we did!

This was the spirit in most of the early Usenet groups, I can speak for alt.fan.letterman which started just before Dave's run at NBC ended in 1993.  It is now pretty much inhabited by a group of "chatty Cathy's" - housewives, mostly - and has relatively little to do with Letterman or his show.  Even so, it never turned into the sewer that a.t.g-s became. [/quote]
 No - in fact I haven't run across one single NG that's gotten as bad as ATGS.