If so, you are probably my age (a Gen Xer who was growing up in the 1970s and early '80s) or older. Or a devotee of now-obscure TV shows. Or, indeed, both.

I saw a lot of them growing up, even in two-channel Wagga Wagga. In some cases they were cheap programming for the daytime/early evening slot, in others they came and went in prime time (later, such shows would be relegated to daytime or late at night until they ran their course). And still others were kids' shows, some topical with a limited shelf life.

A few were, by TV standards, very old - both The Cisco Kid (with its inevitable ending exchange between the two leads, "Ohhh, Ceesco!" "Ohhh Pancho!") and the boy-and-his-horse show My Friend Flicka came from the 1950s.

Many such shows have disappeared, in whole or in part, kept alive only in the memories - and online postings - of those who saw them.

Sometimes there are portions available online (YouTube is a great source) or in the multiplicity of platforms now available.

But even in this media age, with outlets hungry for content, many shows are still gone and sometimes what remains of them is frustratingly, tantalisingly scant.

Maybe they are now deemed dated or offensive (hello,The Black and White Minstrel Show). In some cases their tapes were wiped for reuse; maybe there were rights issues. And maybe they were deemed too limited in appeal to bother reviving.

Some short-lived series have had a sufficient cult following to make a digital comeback - like the sci-fi sitcom Quark - but other shows, shortlived or not, seem, at least in Australia, to have effectively vanished and may never be seen again.

Sure, some will say a lot of them aren't worth viewing again, but I'm a believer in keeping the past alive, the good, the bad and the mediocre: as with other media I think preservation is important before it's too late. And availability of these relics of the past also matters: the old programs can shed light on the eras in which they appeared, help trace people's careers, and entertain, horrify, amuse (intentionally or not) and pique curiosity. And like all shows, each has an atmosphere, a feeling, all its own.

Some Australian kids' shows like the sketch comedy Wayzgoose and the magazine programs Simon Townsend's Wonder World and Jam Sandwich are probably too dated to bring back, and the adaptation of the renowned Australian children's author Patricia Wrightson's fantasy novel The Nargun and the Stars would be hobbled nowadays by its dated special effects.

The Yellow House - a variety show with a clown, a group of kids, puppets, and more - appears to have been close to completely forgotten: there's almost nothing about it online.

The New Mickey Mouse Club from the mid-1970s came between the original 1950s show and its 1990s reboot, and is the least remembered of the three. It had a more ethnically diverse cast than its predecessor and a "funky" vibe including a disco-tinged arrangement of the opening theme song, but wasn't a big hit.

Far Out Space Nuts was a dumb, cheap-looking Bob Denver kids' sitcom in which he played one of his Gilligan variants. For those who want to argue not everything deserves revival, this might be a prime exhibit.

Obscure cartoons I remember include Baggy Pants & the Nitwits, a real curio pairing the adventures of a Chaplinesque cat with two characters from the long-gone Laugh-In. And I Am the Greatest!: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali placed the boxer (who voiced himself) in various adventures: I've never seen it since.

One cartoon series I haven't been able to find anything at all about was a strange, possibly European, series of cartoons from an outfit called Flamingo Studios. These were narrated with no dialogue, suggesting the films were dubbed.

It wasn't all kids' shows. The 1970s was a big time for allegedly real supernatural phenomena. One show that capitalised on this was Project UFO, vaguely reminiscent of The X-Files but supposedly based on real government investigations.

There were a lot of short-lived sitcoms that are unlikely to be remastered and released officially. Some are gimmicky and heavy-handed, like Holmes and Yoyo, about a cop with a robot partner

A few might be a bit quaint, like Carl Reiner's "each episode, an angel grants someone a wish" Good Heavens - with a sweet theme tune I was glad to hear again on YouTube.

Struck By Lightning was VERY shortlived: it starred veteran character actor Jack Elam, perfectly cast as THE Frankenstein's monster who wanted a descendant of the original doctor to make him a life-saving serum.

And When Things Were Rotten, Mel Brooks' precursor to Robin Hood: Men in Tights, had a catchy theme tune and some enjoyably goofy comedy. It starred Dick Gautier - Hymie the robot from Get Smart - in the title role.

Here's hoping at least some of these - and more - become more accessible again. Or maybe they could be released in full on a platform like YouTube?