Google Groups has updated their database of Usenet articles with loads of material dating back as far as 1981! I've been browsing through this for hours, and it's truly fascinating stuff.
Google has a page of links to particularly interesting articles, including the first reference to Return of the Jedi, penned by none other than Randal Schwartz. But so much for the linked stuff; here are some more that I found myself.
- Who would have thought this would become so huge?
- The first mention of Babylon 5?
- Somebody's opinion of Star Trek TNG: ‘I give this series less than one season, if the past four episodes are representative... (which they seem to be, since four crummy episodes in a row could not be due to coincidence alone).’
- Some things that seemed of small importance at the time...
- ...ended up as stories of terrible tragedy.
I hope to post some more of these later...