I launched Television Obscurities over eight years ago in June of 2003 (after an earlier attempt, best forgotten, had faltered). It was originally hosted by Tripod but I moved it to its own domain in January of 2004. Eight years is a long time in the land of television. Most of the new programs that premiere each fall don't return for a second season, let alone last for eight years. Many don't even last a full season. In June of 2003, the television landscape was quite a bit different than it is today. Keep reading to see what's changed.

Television Obscurities launched just weeks after the 2002-2003 television season came to a close, with CSI, Joe Millionaire, American Idol and Survivor among the highest-rated programs on the air. Some of the more short-lived programs that season included Bram & Alice (CBS; 9 episodes, 5 unaired), MDs (ABC; 8 episodes, 4 unaired), Black Sash (The WB; 8 episodes, 2 unaired), Queens Supreme (CBS; 13 episodes, 10 unaired), Mister Sterling (CBS; 10 episodes, 1 unaired) and Veritas: The Quest (ABC; 13 episodes, 9 unaired).

In June of 2003, both UPN and The WB were still broadcast networks and conversely The CW and MyNetworkTV were not. ION Television was still known as PAX TV. The digital transition was six years off. Netflix was exclusively a DVD rental company. Hulu didn't exist; neither did YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. Unaired episodes of canceled programs weren't routinely offered online. (By my recollection, it was during the 2006-2007 season that the networks started putting unaired episodes online, for shows like Kidnapped on NBC, The Nine on ABC and Vanished on FOX.) And TV Land was still primarily focused on "classic" television, not more recent sitcoms, original programming and reality shows.

When Television Obscurities launched, only the following five articles were available:

• "The New People"
• "The Baileys of Balboa"
• A Tale of Two Galacticas
• Building NBC’s 1966-1967 Schedule
• Batgirl and the Batman Phenomenon

Today, by my count, there are 80 articles, 19 exhibits, and more than six hours of video spread throughout the post.

I tried a few times over the years to set up a message board for Television Obscurities, but they never took off. When I implemented WordPress in November of 2008, visitors were able to leave comments on articles and posts. There have been more than 2,400 comments since then (not to mention more than 480,000 spam comments between March of 2010 and today). I've probably received at least 1,000 e-mails over the past eight years, from people trying to identify television programs, made-for-TV movies, miniseries and specials. I wish I could say I helped every single one of them but there are some vague memories even I can't do much with.

I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed to Television Obscurities over the past eight years. I'm proud of the work I've done and I'm glad there are so many people who enjoy reading about obscure/forgotten television.

The hiatus lasted quite a bit longer than I anticipated but after six months Television Obscurities is back. I'm feeling reinvigorated and I've spent a little bit of time over the past few weeks tinkering with a few things. Like the new front page, for example. And you'll notice that there is now a new tab at the top of the page for the blog.

I've never been comfortable with the idea of Television Obscurities as a blog. When I switched to WordPress in November of 2008, I never intended to be posting on a daily basis. And trying to do so didn't work out too well. So, Television Obscurities is back to what I've always wanted it to be: a website focusing on articles and exhibits that also happens to have a blog. Moving forward, my emphasis will be on updating existing articles and researching/writing new ones. Blog posts may be few and far between, perhaps once a week at best, perhaps less. I really can't say. I do have a few ideas I've been kicking around since before the hiatus for new articles as well as several new ones. I'd also like to revisit some of the exhibits.

Ironically, now that I'm actually interested in writing about obscure television again, I find myself with little free time to devote to the site. But I'll try to spend at least a few hours each week if I can.

I'd like to thank everyone who continued to visit the site while it was on hiatus. According to my site statistics, Television Obscurities did quite well without any updates, at least until I inadvertently shut the entire site down for two or three days in late May/early June while doing routine maintenance. After that, visits noticeably dropped off. We'll see if I can turn things around this month. I do plan to try to reply to all the e-mails I was sent over the past six months but it will probably take a week or two.