Things That Go Bump in the USA Action Extreme Team

We've added something to the archive that we once tried to forget! When we started preserving Wing Commander Academy way back in 1997 using RealMedia encodings one of the first things we did was cut out all the commercials… and the 'bumpers' that advertised the show. These are the commercials that ran in between segments of the show letting you know it was coming up, starting, going in and out of commercials and so on. They're peak 1990s goofy, mixing Academy clips with children in crazy outfits and things like basketballs. But while they seemed cringeworthy once upon a time now they're a pretty fascinating part of history. One especially interesting thing, though, is that they use the original 2D logo for the show that was dropped (inset)!

We've collected nine so far and expect to find more as more old VHS tapes are digiized and published online. Our 'holy grails' are the show's original teaser (showing the logo on a starfield) and two 'making of' featurettes that would occasionally run during other shows in the Action Extreme Team lineup. Someday! You can find the entire collection to date with transcripts and other notes on the WCPedia here.

Bock Intro

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Show Intro

Commercial A Intro

Commercial A Outro

Commercial B Intro

Commercial B Outro

Show Outro

Lineup Commercial