Abstract: A video cassette recorder is provided with a reel table driving apparatus for preventing slackness of a loaded magnetic tape in the switching of the operating mode, which comprises a pair of idlers disposed between a supply reel table and a take-up reel table rotatably mounted to a deck of the recorder, a support plate mounted to the deck for movably supporting the respective idlers, coil springs for biasing the respective idlers upward, a slide plate slidably mounted the deck for causing at least one of the idlers to selectively engage with and disengage from the supply and the take-up reel tables, and a driving mechanism for transmitting its drive force to one of the reel tables through the one of the idlers. The support plate includes a pair of generally curved slots arranged in a substantially opposite relationship with each other, which are adapted to accommodate shafts of the respective idlers therein.