Series synopsis
Oddity Archive is an American documentary television series that premiered on YouTube on July 5, 2012. It was created by Ben Minnotte. It stars Ben Minnotte.
The Oddity Archive is a web series that revolves around the "cultural dustbin", especially as it pertains to media. The Archive also functions as an actual archive of sorts, with a modest collection of off-air Betamax and VHS recordings (about 400 total as of June, 2014). There's also a decent collection of ephemeral video, "ripoff" and "drugstore" LP's/cassettes/8-tracks, as well as (working) obsolete technology.
Premise
The Oddity Archive is a web series that revolves around the "cultural dustbin", especially as it pertains to media. The Archive also functions as an actual archive of sorts, with a modest collection of off-air Betamax and VHS recordings (about 400 total as of June, 2014). There's also a decent collection of ephemeral video, "ripoff" and "drugstore" LP's/cassettes/8-tracks, as well as (working) obsolete technology.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Ben Minnotte as Self - Host
Guest cast
- Eric Gerstein as Narrator (voice)
- David A. Scott Jr. as Himself
- Linda Evans as Self (archive footage)
- John Schuck as Herman Munster (archive footage)
- Lee Meriwether as Lily Munster (archive footage)
- Jason Marsden as Eddie Munster (archive footage)
- Hilary Van Dyke as Marilyn Munster (archive footage)
- Howard Morton as Grandpa Munster (archive footage)
- Ernest Lee Thomas as Roger "Raj" Thomas (archive footage)
- Anne-Marie Johnson as Nadine Hudson-Thomas (archive footage)
- Haywood Nelson as Dwayne Nelson (archive footage)
- Fred Berry as Fred "Rerun" Stubbs (archive footage)
Episodes
This series spans 15 seasons with 691 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 387 | July 26, 2012 | July 2, 2026 |
| Season 1 | 26 | July 5, 2012 | May 23, 2013 |
| Season 2 | 26 | July 4, 2013 | May 29, 2014 |
| Season 3 | 26 | July 10, 2014 | June 4, 2015 |
| Season 4 | 24 | July 16, 2015 | May 26, 2016 |
| Season 5 | 24 | July 7, 2016 | May 25, 2017 |
| Season 6 | 25 | July 6, 2017 | June 7, 2018 |
| Season 7 | 22 | July 26, 2018 | May 30, 2019 |
| Season 8 | 24 | July 11, 2019 | June 4, 2020 |
| Season 9 | 23 | July 16, 2020 | June 3, 2021 |
| Season 10 | 22 | July 22, 2021 | June 9, 2022 |
| Season 11 | 23 | July 21, 2022 | June 15, 2023 |
| Season 12 | 16 | July 27, 2023 | June 6, 2024 |
| Season 13 | 9 | July 25, 2024 | July 10, 2025 |
| Season 14 | 14 | October 9, 2025 | June 11, 2026 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Donny Osmond - Soldier of Love (Michael Bay Salute) Michael Bay directed music videos? That would explain a lot. |
July 26, 2012 |
| 2 |
National Anthem Conspiracy Theory This video has been censored by "The Man" for your pleasure. |
August 23, 2012 |
| 3 |
Everlasting Love What the hell would make this overplayed moldy-oldie count as an oddity? Find out... |
September 20, 2012 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Max Headroom Incident of 1987 On the night of Sunday, November 22nd, 1987, a mysterious figure in a Max Headroom mask hijacked two Chicago TV stations. Spoiler alert: The perpetrators were never found. |
July 5, 2012 |
| 2 |
Emergency Broadcast Salute An informal (not to mention, loose) history of Civil Defense Broadcasting in the U.S. |
July 19, 2012 |
| 3 |
TV Sign-offs Remember when TV stations used to go off the air late at night? Anyone? |
August 2, 2012 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Bicentennial Fever Because nothing says "Happy 200th, America" like crappy "collectibles", Up With People and bizarre Government films. |
July 4, 2013 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Featuring such great (non-)hits from the likes of Hairy Nielsen, BAAB, William Turkey and many, many more! Order today!!! |
July 18, 2013 |
| 3 |
VHS Vault Vol. 2 (Fashion Videos) What do you mean Ben is fashion-challenged? |
August 1, 2013 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
U-Matic (or, How I Spent My Summer) So much for taking a break... |
July 10, 2014 |
| 2 |
The Great Archive Treasure Hunt Another existential crisis in Archive-land? Get your head out of your ass, Benny boy! NOTE: If viewing this episode on a Pioneer VP-1000 unit (Serial #'s: 12467-21804), please turn your frame display function to the ON position. |
July 24, 2014 |
| 3 |
Return of the Son of Record Rip-Offs (or, Record Rip-offs, vol. 3) We've only just begun...to hurt. |
August 7, 2014 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Microbroadcasting (or, Oddity Archive Goes Part 15) The Archive is back on YouTube! But, not without (desperately) seeking out some alternatives in the meantime. |
July 16, 2015 |
| 2 |
Stereo Test Records (or, The Official Archive Stereo Test) Today's burning question: Is it pronounced "stare-eo" or "steer-eo"? |
July 30, 2015 |
| 3 |
Nanny Boxes (TV Content Filters) Naughty words WITHOUT Oddity Archive® – 22 Naughty words WITH Oddity Archive® – 21 |
August 13, 2015 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
How I Spent My Summer III A little success, a little failure, a little intrigue, a little frustration. In other words, your standard between-season break for Ben. |
July 7, 2016 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Vol. 6 (98% 70's-free!) …dragging the Record Ripoff concept kicking and screaming out of the 70’s. What the hell was I thinking?!? |
July 21, 2016 |
| 3 |
Home Shopping Channels Have your credit cards handy because we're about to launch our own Home-Shopping-type channel! What could possibly go wrong? |
August 4, 2016 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
How I Spent My Summer IV (Ben Vs. Laserdisc Audio & Turntable Tune-up) 12 inches of Archivian goodness! |
July 6, 2017 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Vol. 7 (Revenge of the 70's!) What’cha doin’ on your rump? Hopefully, you’re watching this episode! |
July 20, 2017 |
| 3 |
Elvis Has(n't) Left The Building (Elvisploitation) A King-sized episode for a King-sized anniversary. Of course, we can't play any actual Elvis, so let's look at some of the cash-ins based around the man. |
August 3, 2017 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
How I Spent My Summer V: The New Frontier Archive HQ Version 2.0. Was it worth it? |
July 26, 2018 |
| 2 | Record Ripoffs Vol. 8 (‘80’s & ‘90’s Hits!) | August 9, 2018 |
| 3 |
Ben’s Music “Career” Vol. 2 (The Outsider Years, Pt. 2) By (inexplicably) popular demand, the Rock N’ Roll equivalent to “American Movie” rolls on. |
August 23, 2018 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
How I Spent My Summer VI (The Great A/V Overhaul of 2019) Ben gets far more than he bargained for…and it was hardly a bargain. |
July 11, 2019 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Vol. 9 (HITS on the '60's!) A special limited addition—because we don’t think this’ll sell too well. |
July 25, 2019 |
| 3 |
The Right Way To Tape Record (1965-Style) Oddity Archive®: On the cutting edge of amateur, home recording (as of 1965). |
August 8, 2019 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
How I Spent My Summer VII (A Change of Plans) Well, my (working) Summer Vacation turned into a (working) Summer Staycation… |
July 16, 2020 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Vol. 10 (A Tribute To...) Featuring some of the genuine leg ends of Rock N’ Roll! |
July 30, 2020 |
| 3 |
Oddity Archive: Behind The Box (A Documentary) A film made especially for the occasion by Swedish documentarian Hans Krullitzer. |
August 20, 2020 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
How I Spent My Summer VIII (Ben Vs. The Sony AV-3600 Videocorder) ...because cassettes are for poseurs. |
July 22, 2021 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Vol. 11 ('80's Hits: Woodgrain & Neon) Some of the most grody tunes we’ve ever covered fer sure, fer sure. |
August 12, 2021 |
| 3 |
USA Networkisms (A Willfully Premature Eulogy) Let us take an all-night flight to remember why USA once was “America’s Favorite Cable Network”… |
August 26, 2021 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
In Search of AM Stereo (or, How I Spent My Summer IX) …or, the OA’s (slightly-belated) 10th Anniversary Special. |
July 21, 2022 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Vol. 12 (Gon' Country) The Archive finally presents some 100%-pure, down-home musical manure! |
August 11, 2022 |
| 3 |
Bad(?) '90's Syndicated Sitcoms This episode is dedicated to those that say we don’t do TV stuff anymore. Maybe we shouldn’t… |
August 25, 2022 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
In Search of AM Stereo REDUX (or, How I Spent My Summer X) Quite possibly the ultimate “headphone” episode of OA…for realsies this time. |
July 27, 2023 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Vol. 13 (At The Movies) The Archive finds itself caught in a celluloid jam… |
August 17, 2023 |
| 3 |
Random (Video) Reel-To-Reel The Archive does a little home video archaeology… |
August 31, 2023 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
How I Spent My Summer XI (Sold(i)ering On...) “Fun” Project. “Fun” Time.* *According to the uber-cheap DIY FM transmitter I bought. |
July 25, 2024 |
| 2 |
Record Ripoffs Vol. 14 (The 70's Strike Back) Record Ripoffs gets back to its roots…man. |
August 29, 2024 |
| 3 |
Surréalist Sinéma (Silent Movie Day 2024) Let’s get real! Surreal, that is… (er, sur-reel?) |
September 29, 2024 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Archive Thrifting #34: Getting Back On The Horse Consider this a “soft-launch” of Season 14 of OA. I’m finally off the sidelines and…things are as dusty as ever. |
October 9, 2025 |
| 2 |
KLAK Goes Commercial (Halloween Special 2025) KLAK has had to take on a few advertisers*. Tough times, ya know… *Yes, YouTube, this is a joke. This is NOT a sponsored video. |
October 30, 2025 |
| 3 |
Random (Video) Reel-To-Reel Vol. 2 (Leftover Turkeys) The OA equivalent of popcorn, pretzel sticks and jellybeans as a Thanksgiving feast… |
November 27, 2025 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | YouTube |
|---|---|
| First aired | July 5, 2012 |
| Last aired | March 5, 2026 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Status | Returning Series |