Wow, I guess this thread has gone everywhere from free-trade to stinky car plastics!!
domfjbrown: As a McGyver fan, you might like to know that the term "McGyver'ed" lives on today in American slang. As in: "You really Mcgyver'ed-up that old TV set with a bunch of incorrect tubes and parts, but at least it works" OR... "How did you get out of that locked car trunk? Are you freakin' McGyver?" (I know this one through personal experience... Don't ask!)
I can also identify with watching shows months behind when they are seen in their home country. What's my dirty secret??
I'm a Coronation Street fan. I catch it across the border from Canada, albiet 6 months late!
I remember a local electronics dealer sold Grundig TV sets here with that exposed CRT design. Looked like an accident waiting to happen!
On a similar note, re-badged garbage from China... I was at BedBath&Beyond yesterday, and they were selling a "Grundig" AM/FM/SW radio for $40!!
Total piece of junk, with poorly screen-printed dials and crooked, flimsy switches. A real shame... Even made my wife (who is German) a little sad. I guess for her it was like me seeing the Zenith name on a set of flimsy $2.99 headphones.