I had a GE Emerson 13" color TV for about 3 years and one fine day,
while we were watching something (I doubt if the program was the cause),
we heard a mild explosion.   Our screen went blank but there was sound,
so we thought, 'oh we have special effects on the program'.  But soon
the sound stopped and smoke started to appear at the back of the TV.
The brilliant EEs we are, we unplugged the TV and called customer service
only to be thrown around by please hold, I will transfer u to blah blah..
  Finally we abandoned the idea of trying to fix the TV and got a new one
(we wanted a bigger one too!).
 After all the story, what I wanted to know is: Is my problem an isolated
incident or a common one? (I recall reading about Russian TVs exploding, but
not here, in the US). Why would the picture tube explode or even smoke?
 I still have the left over TV set, I might dig into it this summer. Any
idea where I can get parts for these things? (probably will cost more than TV).