Review of TV Bytes: The WWW TV Themes Home Page

Technical Information

Name of site:
Sound Bytes: The WWW TV Themes Home Page
URL:
http://www.parkhere.com/themes/
Developer:
Patrick Kenny
Contact:
pkenny@eecs.umich.edu
Date site last updated:
2/19/96
Keywords:
television
sound recordings


Review

Anyone who can remember the words to the Brady Bunch show's theme song, or for that matter anyone who ever had a theme song stuck in their heads, will love this site.

First up is the featured theme of the week (this site is regularly updated). It is followed by other new, cool tunes. The featured theme is guaranteed to send couch potatoes right down memory lane.

Beyond the new themes, sound files galore are archived here, organized into logical categories like Comedy, Drama, Action/Adventure, Action/SciFi, Westerns, Children's Shows, Cartoons, the intriguing Other Shows, the "I can't get that stupid tune out of my head!" Commercials section, and the wonderful Schoolhouse Rock.

The sound files range in size from 10K to 1MB+, and are all in AU format. The files are followed by a very valuable section with tips on downloading, typical problems and their solutions, and then a straightforward description of what machines read which extensions.

The address to an ftp site for most of the files on the main page is available for those who prefer that option. This may be an easier way to download files than using your browser.one for placement.

Since a player to convert, edit and play the sound files is needed, another section has links to the major shareware sound rendering programs. Each link lists the pertinent information about that particular program. All major platforms are represented.

FTP sites for numerous newsgroups, discussion groups on sounds, media and (of course!) TV, also are offered.

For those who like to live in the present, as well as the past, the TV Tonite link gives the current primetime TV schedule.

What can you say about a site that has all of the ABC Schoolhouse Rock songs on it? In a word: enjoy!

Notes:

The page itself loads quickly, but the size of the sound files varies widely. Be sure, if you plan on listening to the songs immediately, to check your browser preferences. Saving the files to your hard disk then listening to them offline may prove easier and faster, especially for 28.8 and slower connections.

References:

Audio Formats FAQ


Link to TV Bytes
Reviewed by Elisabeth Roche, Graduate Student University of Arizona on June 30, 1995.
ace@opus1.com