In 1956 Ampex introduced the 2-inch quadruplex videotape, which became the first commercially successful format for television broadcasting.
Wouldn’t the joke work better with “new”?
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DVDs came out in the late 90s and quickly supplanted VHS. There are people old enough to buy booze in the US that have never seen video tape. Video tape is officially antique.
The joke could just as easily have used audio tape or phone cords. Maybe even Ethernet cable, though most people wouldn’t have understood that one.
Just as a point of language, “videotape” here almost certainly means “VHS tape,” which is the most common use of the term. People don’t really refer to studio tapes or reels very often and will usually be specific if they do.
The joke is that VHS is obsolete. It’s so very obsolete that it may as well be a relic of the ancient world.
If it said, “new,” it wouldn’t be funny, just very random and incomprehensible. Just. . . someone mummified in modern times, in a sarcophagus, presumably in one of the pictured pyramids. Being studied by scientists as “one” of a collection for some reason. A fever dream without a joke.
The above commenters are undoubtedly right, but now I wonder what replaced videotape in this cartoon’s universe, as far as mummy-wrapping is concerned. It’s hard to wrap a body in DVDs or Blu-rays, and even harder to wrap one in a streaming service.
The joke here is that analog video is so antiquated that ancient civilizations used it for mummification. It’s a ridiculous thing to consider and that is why it’s funny.
The old joke about mummies being wrapped in toilet paper is also pretty antiquated. My favorite example of this was a Far Side cartoon where someone is in a bathroom stall and you can see the feet of an Egyptian mummy in the next stall and they of course mistake the mummies wrapping for toilet paper. The caption says something about the wrath of the mummies curse.
VHS is for some inexplicable reason becoming popular again for collectors
The recent Terrifier horror movies about a psychotic evil clown got limited VHS release and the horror fans lined up at Walmart to buy every copy.
Red Letter Media did a segment on this…apparently a mint VHS copy of “Back to the Future” sold for some ridiculous amount of money (several thousands if memory serves).
I think the value of my Betamax collection has outperformed my 401K this year…
I had a Rocky and Bullwinkle comic strip. For some reason, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha were all Egyptologists and they were unwrapping a mummy, some ancient King of Egypt. King Tut or whatever. Natasha: “It is likely his wife Saran assisted in the preparation of his mummy.” Bullwinkle: “Yes, this is Saran’s wrap.” Boris: “I think his son Reynolds may have had a hand in it too.”
Akin to the collection of vinyl records, vintage but also newly manufactured for the “buff”.
What the Generation Z people fail to understand is that we stopped using video cassettes because the quality was not good. We are only tolerated them because at the time it was all we had available.
We also stopped going to video rental stores because that was a nuisance. Blockbuster Video management was terrible at their jobs.
Aw, man, now you tell me. Just a few months ago, I threw out dozens of VHS tapes. Maybe I should audition for The Born Loser‘s cast.
Video tape quality is OK if you have a 1970’s-era television set.
Are there analog buffs for video as there are for audio? Who like the quality of old CRT’s because it’s “warmer” or “less abrasive” or something?
Be kind. Rewind.
BTW there are people restoring old CRT TV sets, and there are those who might want to play their vintage video games on them.
So no one’s made a crack about is it live, or is it Memorex? (Guess I just did…)
When we got engaged he bought me an antique ring (not a solitaire as he knew I would not like one – okay, we bought it together and then he kept it until he got around to proposing – for I think the 5th time as there were problems with the earlier attempts as in “Okay, but where we will tell my parents “the other couple” who were suppose to on this trip with us were when you proposed?’ (Finally proposed to me in his car on campus at the college where we met and had graduated from some
years earlier.)
I mention this as I bought him a Zenith Beta recorder/player (cheaper than a Sony) as an engagement gift. I always thought he got the better of the deal. He could not wear the ring, but I could watch video tapes.
This was followed over the decades – as joint purchases – by a VHS recorder/player, a couple of CD players and a couple of DVD players. Let alone the tapes and DVDs which have been downloaded from TV/Cable over the decades.
We still have all the collections of movies, TV shows, etc.
(We also have analog TVs in addition to 2 digital ones as my eyes are apparently analog and I have trouble watching digital TV – when things move I often see the little boxes which make up the picture with digital TV/recordings. When we watch his “big TV” on Friday and Saturday nights for “Friday midnight movie date” and “Saturday night date night movie” I have to wear special glasses over my eyeglasses to be able to watch them as they are too sharp and bright for me.) Right now while reading and posting I am in the kitchen with a digital TV on – mostly to listen to occasionally look at for a few seconds if something is happening as I really don’t like watching little boxes which make up the picture.
Comics I Don't Understand 
DVDs came out in the late 90s and quickly supplanted VHS. There are people old enough to buy booze in the US that have never seen video tape. Video tape is officially antique.
The joke could just as easily have used audio tape or phone cords. Maybe even Ethernet cable, though most people wouldn’t have understood that one.
Just as a point of language, “videotape” here almost certainly means “VHS tape,” which is the most common use of the term. People don’t really refer to studio tapes or reels very often and will usually be specific if they do.
The joke is that VHS is obsolete. It’s so very obsolete that it may as well be a relic of the ancient world.
If it said, “new,” it wouldn’t be funny, just very random and incomprehensible. Just. . . someone mummified in modern times, in a sarcophagus, presumably in one of the pictured pyramids. Being studied by scientists as “one” of a collection for some reason. A fever dream without a joke.
The above commenters are undoubtedly right, but now I wonder what replaced videotape in this cartoon’s universe, as far as mummy-wrapping is concerned. It’s hard to wrap a body in DVDs or Blu-rays, and even harder to wrap one in a streaming service.
The joke here is that analog video is so antiquated that ancient civilizations used it for mummification. It’s a ridiculous thing to consider and that is why it’s funny.
The old joke about mummies being wrapped in toilet paper is also pretty antiquated. My favorite example of this was a Far Side cartoon where someone is in a bathroom stall and you can see the feet of an Egyptian mummy in the next stall and they of course mistake the mummies wrapping for toilet paper. The caption says something about the wrath of the mummies curse.
VHS is for some inexplicable reason becoming popular again for collectors
The recent Terrifier horror movies about a psychotic evil clown got limited VHS release and the horror fans lined up at Walmart to buy every copy.
Red Letter Media did a segment on this…apparently a mint VHS copy of “Back to the Future” sold for some ridiculous amount of money (several thousands if memory serves).
I think the value of my Betamax collection has outperformed my 401K this year…
I had a Rocky and Bullwinkle comic strip. For some reason, Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha were all Egyptologists and they were unwrapping a mummy, some ancient King of Egypt. King Tut or whatever. Natasha: “It is likely his wife Saran assisted in the preparation of his mummy.” Bullwinkle: “Yes, this is Saran’s wrap.” Boris: “I think his son Reynolds may have had a hand in it too.”
Akin to the collection of vinyl records, vintage but also newly manufactured for the “buff”.
What the Generation Z people fail to understand is that we stopped using video cassettes because the quality was not good. We are only tolerated them because at the time it was all we had available.
We also stopped going to video rental stores because that was a nuisance. Blockbuster Video management was terrible at their jobs.
Aw, man, now you tell me. Just a few months ago, I threw out dozens of VHS tapes. Maybe I should audition for The Born Loser‘s cast.
Video tape quality is OK if you have a 1970’s-era television set.
Are there analog buffs for video as there are for audio? Who like the quality of old CRT’s because it’s “warmer” or “less abrasive” or something?
Be kind. Rewind.
BTW there are people restoring old CRT TV sets, and there are those who might want to play their vintage video games on them.
So no one’s made a crack about is it live, or is it Memorex? (Guess I just did…)
Here is a video of a 1950’s TV set being used to play probably the most appropriate game to play on a 1950’s TV set: Cuphead. https://youtu.be/X-D5FdOmQaI?si=7sch_2GH4h8hg0dv
When we got engaged he bought me an antique ring (not a solitaire as he knew I would not like one – okay, we bought it together and then he kept it until he got around to proposing – for I think the 5th time as there were problems with the earlier attempts as in “Okay, but where we will tell my parents “the other couple” who were suppose to on this trip with us were when you proposed?’ (Finally proposed to me in his car on campus at the college where we met and had graduated from some
years earlier.)
I mention this as I bought him a Zenith Beta recorder/player (cheaper than a Sony) as an engagement gift. I always thought he got the better of the deal. He could not wear the ring, but I could watch video tapes.
This was followed over the decades – as joint purchases – by a VHS recorder/player, a couple of CD players and a couple of DVD players. Let alone the tapes and DVDs which have been downloaded from TV/Cable over the decades.
We still have all the collections of movies, TV shows, etc.
(We also have analog TVs in addition to 2 digital ones as my eyes are apparently analog and I have trouble watching digital TV – when things move I often see the little boxes which make up the picture with digital TV/recordings. When we watch his “big TV” on Friday and Saturday nights for “Friday midnight movie date” and “Saturday night date night movie” I have to wear special glasses over my eyeglasses to be able to watch them as they are too sharp and bright for me.) Right now while reading and posting I am in the kitchen with a digital TV on – mostly to listen to occasionally look at for a few seconds if something is happening as I really don’t like watching little boxes which make up the picture.