TFTP Will Return After These Messages: Commercial Block from ABC (Nov. 4, 1983)

Posted to YouTube by user 'MicroJow'
Length - 10:02

Every Wednesday, TFTP takes a break from regular programming to bring you a selection of classic commercials. We will return after these messages...

This block of commercials from November 4, 1983, comes from Tampa Bay-area ABC affiliate WTSP. It features ads for Arrid Extra Dry deodorant, Canon Snappy cameras, Biskits restaurants, Nutri Grain cereal, L'Oreal lipstick, Polaroid cameras (with longtime pitchman James Garner), Sears department stores, Wrigley's Spearmint gum, Burger King (with Emmanuel Lewis of "Webster" fame), and Gulf Oil car care centers. In addition, there are two different ads for AT&T, which was at the time trying to re-establish itself in the midst of antitrust action against it; one of these ads is for the re-branding of the Bell Telephone Phone Center into the AT&T Phone Center.

There are also several ABC program promos representing the cream of ABC's 1983 crop--for "Hardcastle and McCormick", "T.J. Hooker", "Love Boat" (a 2-hour "Oriental holiday" episode), "That's Incredible", "Monday Night Football", NCAA college football, "Trauma Center", "Nightline", the network TV premiere of the movie "Stir Crazy" with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, the special "Life's Most Embarrassing Moments, Part III", and an ABC News special on JFK that was presumably timed for the approaching 20th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination.

Interestingly, ABC was really getting a jump on promoting the 1984 Summer Olympics, as every promo here--a full nine months before the start of the games--features a line of text at the bottom that says "1984 - The Olympic Tradition Continues". A newsbreak from local WTSP news appears, too, along with a promo for the upcoming late local news from WTSP.

TFTP Will Return After These Messages: Commercial Block from NBC (Oct. 8, 1982)

Posted to YouTube by user 'pannoni4'
Length - 7:48

Every Wednesday, TFTP takes a break from regular programming to bring you a selection of classic commercials. We will return after these messages...

This commercial block from NBC from Oct. 8, 1982, features ads for Campbells Soup, Listerine, Burger King, Pam cooking spray, Phillips 66, Zerex antifreeze, Inglenook wine, Windex glass cleaner, Wal-Mart, Stayfree pads (with gymnast Cathy Rigby), Rave hair perm kits, and Prestone auto products.

The block also includes a pair of bumpers for "Remington Steele"; promos for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and for NBC's Saturday night line-up that included "Diff'rent Strokes", "Silver Spoons", "Gimme a Break", and "Love, Sidney"; and a short weather radar segment (for the state of Missouri).

Christmas at TFTP: Christmas Commercials (c. 1980s)

Posted to YouTube by user 'The Retro Archives'
Length - 12:02

This block of 1980s-era Christmas-related commercials runs the gamut. Included here are: five different Polaroid instant camera commercials, including one with the product's longtime pitch duo James Garner and Mariette Hartley; four different Kodak Instant Camera ads, two of which feature Santa himself (one of which also contains children clad in rainbow-hued footie pajamas); two different versions of a commercial for 7-Up with that product's ridiculous red dot character; a cheery Slice lemon-lime soda ad; a Christmas cookie ad for Crisco; a Christmas card ad for Hallmark; a Christmas tree ad for Toll House cookies; a spot for a Pepsi/Nintendo sweepstakes; and ads for Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and Burger King.

In addition to all of these commercials, the block also includes some bumpers and the end credits for the classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" special and CBS program promos for the "I Love Lucy Christmas Special", "A Charlie Brown Christmas", "Frosty the Snowman", and "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

TFTP Will Be Back After These Messages: Commercial Block (ABC) (Nov. 7 & 14, 1981)

Posted to YouTube by user '80sCommercialVault'

This is another block of commercials, this time from ABC on Saturday mornings, November 7 and 14, 1981. There's a lot of great stuff here, including some toy commercials (Nerf basketball, Tonka trucks, couple Barbie products), junk food (Reese's peanut butter cups, SpaghettiO's, Burger King), public service announcements (including one starring Brooke Shields and another starring Ed Asner), and the piece-de-resistance, Underoos. There are also several bumpers (the brief, usually 5-second, bits leading into and out of the commercial breaks for Saturday morning shows) and the complete end credits for an episode of "Thundarr the Barbarian.