Here's the original uncensored pilot screener that went out to the media in early 1993, when this show was still tentatively called (according to the original tape label) Don Rickles Hates Richard Lewis. According to TV Time Machine, several of Rickles' ad-libs heard in this screener were subsequently cut before the show aired 9-5-93, such as "I hear priests are getting a lot of action lately." The BetaGems channel also has "Don Rickles 1-14-68 primetime variety show performance," "1996 Don Rickles Nightmare Gift Contest ad" and "1994 Don Rickles promo for The Critic cartoon" and "Don Rickles Sept. 1987 TV ad for San Diego Carpet."

BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded between from 1983 into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on Youtube or online. Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads.

In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.