September 14.2026: Difference between revisions
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The TV is now on Channel 3 aka Channel 38 (WSBK) out of Cambridge, Boston. I'll later find out that the episode was Shaky, but on that day all I saw was two characters dressed in white and blue uniforms pinned down under laser fire from an alien. I stopped turning the dial. The ground in front of the two characters opens up exposing a lava stream below and a blast of steam comes up. The laser fire continues and the blonde male character pushes the female character out the way... and then falls into the lava stream. | The TV is now on Channel 3 aka Channel 38 (WSBK) out of Cambridge, Boston. I'll later find out that the episode was [[Shaky]], but on that day all I saw was two characters dressed in white and blue uniforms pinned down under laser fire from an alien. I stopped turning the dial. The ground in front of the two characters opens up exposing a lava stream below and a blast of steam comes up. The laser fire continues and the blonde male character pushes the female character out the way... and then falls into the lava stream. | ||
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Revision as of 10:35, 14 September 2026
September 14.2026
Happy 40th Anniversary
40 Years.
I'd like to say that I was there on day one. In 1986, children weren't being fed information on an ongoing basis like a slow night with Alex DeLarge and unless it was on a cereal box, finding the things that got your attention was pretty much a find it on your own adventure. It was peak re-use of animated segments time after the success of He-Man, storylines were all over the place, and series with PG-rated combat had put down some fairly solid tracks through G.I. Joe and The Transformers. People getting shot at with lasers was not a new thing. Because the series aired out of order, I'll probably never know what day this was, however I remember the following vividly:
It's after 3:30PM in the afternoon and I've gotten home from school, fresh off the bus. I run inside to see if the TV was available to watch SilverHawks. No one was in the living room so I started turning the dial to get from Channel 2 to Channel 9. Any other day I would have spun that dial like it there was nothing between 2 and 9. Today, for no good reason, I started with a slow turn.
Click
The TV is now on Channel 3 aka Channel 38 (WSBK) out of Cambridge, Boston. I'll later find out that the episode was Shaky, but on that day all I saw was two characters dressed in white and blue uniforms pinned down under laser fire from an alien. I stopped turning the dial. The ground in front of the two characters opens up exposing a lava stream below and a blast of steam comes up. The laser fire continues and the blonde male character pushes the female character out the way... and then falls into the lava stream.
My hand comes away from the dial.
What just happened? The laser fire continues and it does not look good for the remaining character. And then... a glowing lava-like humanoid figure climbs out of ground, turns the tides of the battle, and then returns to the form of the blonde character.
What just happened?
I don't think I watched Silverhawks again after that moment. I was hooked on a premise from a scene that was half-way through the episode and I had absolutely zero backstory. Everyday after this I was watching the next episode. I would find out that ABC Channel 7 was playing two episodes on Saturday mornings at 6AM. I was watching. I watched them all repeatedly. I still have ancient VHS tapes that I don't have a player to play them with.
At the time of this writing I am 52 1/2 years old. I've met and interacted with a few of the creators of the series, one of them even helped me with my homework. I've been (am) a part of a fanbase that coalesced around the Galaxy Rangers over IRC and a mailing list back in the late 1900's. I host this site, which is a labor of love at times, and occasionally geek out over the series. My family knows about this channeled obsession and my kids started out with Invasion as their introduction to the series. 40 years later and the candle still burns.
This show just has its own heartbeat. I could go into the storylines, the animation, the music.. the music... what cartoon had the right to have that quality of music in it? Two things about this show that thread through my life path: I've been in IT for 28+ years (Thanks, Doc) and one of the reasons I have little time for this site is that I am in a cover band playing guitar. I play Rangers Are Forever occasionally in warm-up (no one knows what it is in the room). This show.
40 years. It just doesn't get old for me.
Before I close out, I need to mention that one of our fellow fans passed since the last update. Sharon 'Trivia' Blank passed in October 2025. Sharon was that fun personality that always seemed to have that thing where no matter how your day was going, Sharon would just light it up with a funny line or mention in chat. Truly a sad moment when someone this bright passes on. Sharon wrote fanfic for the series (see Fanfic-RurouniTriv) and helped others by editing their work. RIP, Trivia!
Six weeks ago I sent a text message to RDBlade over at Series6Podcast.com. I had looked around and knew that the podcast infrastructure was still up. With the 40th anniversary coming up quickly and my lack of updates here, I felt like I needed to see if I could find another outlet to give the nod to the series. I couldn't have had better timing in the text: he was talking with his co-host, Jerome, at that very moment. We exchanged some ideas and then we got together in late August to record Episode 23: 40th Anniversary Zombie Podcast. I will be listening to it on the ride to work this morning (which I really need to get moving on) and I publically say here to those guys: thank you for spending some of your time and geeking out over something that happened so long ago, it was fun.
Wrapping this up. In August I built a new server, upgraded the wiki and forums, and things seem faster now. Know that the forums are a continual attack point for hackers so I am watching that with interest. Thanks to all the fans, the EWC, lurkers on the mailing list, and the creators of the show: without you I'd be alone in this obsession (or without one).
Wildwood
A friend of the series works at Laika Studios and I've been waiting for the release of Wildwood (October 23, 2026), their latest stop-motion animation creation. Check out the most recent official trailer!