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80-84, A Great Time To Watch TV (1 Viewer)

Frank Soyke

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I watched quite a lot of TV since I had the ability to remember, but looking back, the time period when I was in junior high and early high school, 80-84 was easily my favorite.This was a very interesting transitional period for TV and because of it there was quite a bit of quality TV on, particularly in prime time.
There were two different happenings going on during this period. First there were the new hit shows coming to the forefront the era. Shows such as Cosby, Hill Street Blues, Cheers, Family Ties, St Elsewhere, Miami Vice, A Team, etc brought us some fresh super quality programming (for the most part).
The fun part for me though was in addition to these "new" classics" we also had a lot of the classic shows of the late 70's winding down and they also were airing side by side with these new shows giving us so many quality show choices. No while I will admit, there were some drop off (some substantial) to some of these shows, we still had transitional hits of the mid to late 70's left in the prime time schedule. So in addition to Miami Vice, Cosby et al. we still had One Day At A Time, Different Strokes, Barney Miller, WKRP, Happy Days, MASH, Laverne and Shirley, Alice, AITF/Bunker, Facts Of Life,Taxi, Dukes, Three's Company, The Love Boat, etc.
All I can say is WOW. That's a lot of great programming choices when you put the two together. Additionally, there were quite a few great one season shows aired during that era that didn't catch on but were still quality shows, probably moreso than any era since the mid 60's IMO. From 80-84, we had shows like It's Your Move, Bret Maverick, Best Of The West, Enos, Open All Night, Filthy Rich, Square Pegs, etc that should have made it but didn't.
It should be noted that syndicated programming was different then as well. We were still in the era before stations started filling their open slots with the dreaded infomercial and you could still find a lot of quality reruns of 60's and early 70's programming during the afternoon and late night hours instead of hour long commercials and trash talk shows and the like. This was still an era were you could find Colonel Hogan and Ralph Kramdon instead of Springer, Judge Judy and hour long Oxy clean ads.
Of course around 85, things really begin the change. TV wasn't as fun for me anymore. The 70's transitional shows by this time were all gone, as were most of the syndicated reruns of 60's and 70's shows until Nick at Nite brought some back later. Cosby and Miami Vice started being replaced as hits by what I refer to as lowest common denominator type hit shows that many people watched but just were not quality programming IMO, I'm referring to shows like Growing Pains, Roseanne, Family Matters, Home Improvement, Full House etc. No offense to fans of those shows. I just don't believe the writing or the acting of those shows is on par with the hit shows that came before. There was still quality programming to be found. There just wasn't as much of it anymore IMO. Of course prime time TV enjoyed a renaissance a few years later and things began to improve again, but that is a post for another time.
I did love TV during 80-84, though. Great time to watch TV.
 

MartinP.

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Everyone likes different things, so I respect your tastes, but for me I wasn't interested in very many shows of this time period and haven't even been able to watch some of them now that I did watch then. I'm glad we have so many opportunities now to find the things that we do like!
Of course, I got my first VCR in 1981 and so I didn't have to watch what was on and I gravitated to a lot of movies then.

Two shows you mentioned out of the blue pricked up my ears: Best of the West--I saw a taping of that show (!) and I remember liking Open All Night--wasn't that only on about ten episodes?
 

shoeshineboy

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I'd love to see Bring 'Em Back Alive, that adventure-serial style series spinning tales of Frank Buck. Starred Bruce Boxleitner...
 

jcroy

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In hindsight, this 80-84 time period would also be definitive tv for me too.

Though I would only attribute this to me being a preteen/teenager during this time period. Nothing more, nothing less. I strongly suspect if I was a decade younger or older, I might think differently about 80-84's television.



When I first started buying a lot of dvds in 2011, I came to the realization another possible "definitive tv" time period for me might possibly have been the two decades of first-run syndicated + cable sci-fi tv shows from the late-1980s to the early-2010's. Stuff like X-Files, the Star Trek and Stargate franchises, Andromeda, the revived Outer Limits and Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Sliders, etc ...

Over these two decades or so, I didn't really pay much attention to television at all. For extended periods of time during the 1990s and 2000s, there were times I didn't even have a television set at home. I didn't ask any friends if I could watch tv with them.
 
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Ron1973

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I watched quite a lot of TV since I had the ability to remember, but looking back, the time period when I was in junior high and early high school, 80-84 was easily my favorite.This was a very interesting transitional period for TV and because of it there was quite a bit of quality TV on, particularly in prime time.
There were two different happenings going on during this period. First there were the new hit shows coming to the forefront the era. Shows such as Cosby, Hill Street Blues, Cheers, Family Ties, St Elsewhere, Miami Vice, A Team, etc brought us some fresh super quality programming (for the most part).
The fun part for me though was in addition to these "new" classics" we also had a lot of the classic shows of the late 70's winding down and they also were airing side by side with these new shows giving us so many quality show choices. No while I will admit, there were some drop off (some substantial) to some of these shows, we still had transitional hits of the mid to late 70's left in the prime time schedule. So in addition to Miami Vice, Cosby et al. we still had One Day At A Time, Different Strokes, Barney Miller, WKRP, Happy Days, MASH, Laverne and Shirley, Alice, AITF/Bunker, Facts Of Life,Taxi, Dukes, Three's Company, The Love Boat, etc.

Not to mention the 80's saw reunion movies of series like Gilligan's Island and The Beverly Hillbillies. No one is going to say they were exactly wonderful, but I'd still take them over the majority of modern TV. You missed one substantial show in Hawaii Five-O that was winding down in the early 80's. You also had Hee Haw that hit its stride in the late 70's and early 80's. It did lose a lot of its luster in the mid-80's when Buck Owens and numerous others left, but it was good for a while in the 80's.

All I can say is WOW. That's a lot of great programming choices when you put the two together. Additionally, there were quite a few great one season shows aired during that era that didn't catch on but were still quality shows, probably moreso than any era since the mid 60's IMO. From 80-84, we had shows like It's Your Move, Bret Maverick, Best Of The West, Enos, Open All Night, Filthy Rich, Square Pegs, etc that should have made it but didn't.

The 80's seemed to be spin-off Heaven. Happy Days alone had already spun off Laverne and Shirley, and then by the 80's, it had spun off Mork and Mindy as well as Joanie loves Chachi. Three's Company gave us The Ropers and Three's a Crowd. I wouldn't call those exactly top drawer, but they weren't awful either.

It should be noted that syndicated programming was different then as well. We were still in the era before stations started filling their open slots with the dreaded infomercial and you could still find a lot of quality reruns of 60's and early 70's programming during the afternoon and late night hours instead of hour long commercials and trash talk shows and the like. This was still an era were you could find Colonel Hogan and Ralph Kramdon instead of Springer, Judge Judy and hour long Oxy clean ads.

I loved afternoons during the week; tons of classic TV on our Memphis CBS affiliate, WREG. WMC, TV5, had Championship Wrestling on Saturday morning, a classic in its own right that had aired since the 50's (it finally ended its run around 2000-a pretty good feat!), and then The Lone Ranger followed right after. [/QUOTE]

Of course around 85, things really begin the change. TV wasn't as fun for me anymore. The 70's transitional shows by this time were all gone, as were most of the syndicated reruns of 60's and 70's shows until Nick at Nite brought some back later. Cosby and Miami Vice started being replaced as hits by what I refer to as lowest common denominator type hit shows that many people watched but just were not quality programming IMO, I'm referring to shows like Growing Pains, Roseanne, Family Matters, Home Improvement, Full House etc. No offense to fans of those shows. I just don't believe the writing or the acting of those shows is on par with the hit shows that came before. There was still quality programming to be found. There just wasn't as much of it anymore IMO. Of course prime time TV enjoyed a renaissance a few years later and things began to improve again, but that is a post for another time.
I did love TV during 80-84, though. Great time to watch TV.
It was a few years later for us. WREG still slotted the overnight hours with Gunsmoke, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and other classic shows, many times without commercials. I never was a huge fan of Growing Pains or Roseanne, but the rest on your list I loved, and I thought it was a 2nd golden era of TV. I do feel Family Matters "jumped the shark" when Urkel had the ability to clone himself, but it was a good show until then. And let's not forget Dallas was still in its run during that time. Heck, Hee Haw had one last hurrah in 1992 when they changed to being Hee Haw Silver with all classic episodes!
 

Bob_S.

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There were many shows I enjoyed during the '80s (which happened to be my teenage years into my early 20s). I probably enjoyed more shows in the early '80s than the later part of the decade. I did like Growing Pains, and Home Improvement and Valerie's Family, and Saved By The Bell. IMO, Full House is the stupidest show I've ever seen (right next to Small Wonder). Started watching One Day At A Time on one of the classic show channels Antenna TV maybe? Enjoyed it as a kid but now is too dated for me. Too much emphasism on women's rights. Maybe relevent for that time but got tired of being beat over the head with it. Today forget it. I have very little time to watch current shows. I'm either watching my old favorite shows or doing something else. I think the last sitcom that actually made me laugh out loud was King of Queens. Since I love comic books, I am watching Arrow, Flash and Supergirl but that's it.

I do find myself watching the Buzzr Channel alot. Love watching Match Game, Card Sharks and Let's make a Deal. It's fun trying to guess how much a product cost back in 1977! While watching Match Game it's fun to hear references made to movies that just came out like Jaws and Star Wars before they became classics!
 

Ron1973

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There were many shows I enjoyed during the '80s (which happened to be my teenage years into my early 20s). I probably enjoyed more shows in the early '80s than the later part of the decade. I did like Growing Pains, and Home Improvement and Valerie's Family, and Saved By The Bell. IMO, Full House is the stupidest show I've ever seen (right next to Small Wonder). Started watching One Day At A Time on one of the classic show channels Antenna TV maybe? Enjoyed it as a kid but now is too dated for me. Too much emphasism on women's rights. Maybe relevent for that time but got tired of being beat over the head with it. Today forget it. I have very little time to watch current shows. I'm either watching my old favorite shows or doing something else. I think the last sitcom that actually made me laugh out loud was King of Queens. Since I love comic books, I am watching Arrow, Flash and Supergirl but that's it.

I do find myself watching the Buzzr Channel alot. Love watching Match Game, Card Sharks and Let's make a Deal. It's fun trying to guess how much a product cost back in 1977! While watching Match Game it's fun to hear references made to movies that just came out like Jaws and Star Wars before they became classics!
There's my problem. As a kid, certain things just flew over my head. As an adult, I get them, therefore some of the Lear shows are really unwatchable for me today. Even though I'm a conservative, I don't want conservative or liberal values pushed at me; let me simply sit down and enjoy a good show.
 

Randy Korstick

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For me the high point of TV was 76-81. 4th grade - 9th grade for me. I started losing interest in TV in 82 and when I graduated in 84 I started working nights got into to collecting movies on Laserdisc and VHS and stopped watching TV completely. I didn't start watching TV again until 1992. So all TV from 1985 - 1991 I missed.
 

JoeDoakes

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For me the high point of TV was 76-81. 4th grade - 9th grade for me. I started losing interest in TV in 82 and when I graduated in 84 I started working nights got into to collecting movies on Laserdisc and VHS and stopped watching TV completely. I didn't start watching TV again until 1992. So all TV from 1985 - 1991 I missed.
The early 80s is when I started to lose interest in network television. I still watched most of the major network sitcoms, but I came to realize that I didn't like them that much. There are a few shows that stand out (WKRP, Dukes of Hazzard), but for me, most the magic was gone. The part of that era I most fondly remember is the showing of older sitcoms from the 50s and 60s, The Twilight Zone, old movies from the 30s to the 50s, and 70s era cop and mystery shows shown on the CBS Late Movie. That was the best part of tv viewing in the early 80s IMO.
 

jcroy

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For me the high point of TV was 76-81. 4th grade - 9th grade for me. I started losing interest in TV in 82 and when I graduated in 84 I started working nights got into to collecting movies on Laserdisc and VHS and stopped watching TV completely. I didn't start watching TV again until 1992. So all TV from 1985 - 1991 I missed.

Similar timeline for me, though my dates are slightly shifted from yours.

Back in the day, the last show I remember attempting to watch regularly, was the first season of MacGyver. After that, I didn't really regularly watch much of anything until around 2007. (Sometime over the summer of 2007, I started obsessively watching reruns of the CSI franchise on Spike and AETV. At the time, Spike was playing as many as 3 or 4 different CSI reruns every day. Even today, I still have no idea why I started doing this).

This change in my viewing habits back in the day, largely coincided with me going to college, where I didn't really watch a lot of tv at all. I was one of those diligent straight A students who spent more time studying and doing homework, than partying/socializing and watching tv.

During college, the only tv shows I remember watching (mostly random episodes), were some Saturday morning cartoons and the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. At the time, I thought ST:TNG season 1 was a lousy rehash/duplicate of the original Star Trek, where I more or less stopped watching before season 1 was even finished.
 
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AndyMcKinney

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At the time, I thought ST:TNG season 1 was a lousy rehash/duplicate of the original Star Trek, where I more or less stopped watching before season 1 was even finished.

Too bad you didn't stick with it. It improved considerably near the end of that season ("Heart of Glory", "Conspiracy" and "The Neutral Zone" were as good as anything TOS ever managed), and by the end of season 3 (the same summer as Star Trek V), it was becoming much better thought of in general (indeed, the episode "The Best of Both Worlds, part 1" was light years better than that summer's cinematic effort from the original cast).

After the summer of "Best of Both Worlds"/Star Trek V, the criticisms from the TOS original cast had pretty much ceased, and almost no-one was saying "rip-off" anymore.
 

jcroy

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Too bad you didn't stick with it. It improved considerably near the end of that season ("Heart of Glory", "Conspiracy" and "The Neutral Zone" were as good as anything TOS ever managed), and by the end of season 3 (the same summer as Star Trek V), it was becoming much better thought of in general (indeed, the episode "The Best of Both Worlds, part 1" was light years better than that summer's cinematic effort from the original cast).

After the summer of "Best of Both Worlds"/Star Trek V, the criticisms from the TOS original cast had pretty much ceased, and almost no-one was saying "rip-off" anymore.

I would agree with this ^.

Years later when I eventually watched ST:TNG in reruns (ie. after 2007), I found the show got into its groove with season 3. I found season 2 was somewhat lackluster.
 

jcroy

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Since I love comic books, I am watching Arrow, Flash and Supergirl but that's it.

(On a rambling tangent).

I was also into comic books when I was a kid and preteen. Though I stopped collecting shortly after the Secret Wars 2 series ended. (In hindsight, it was largely pointless buying comic books for speculation/investment type purposes after the mid-80s. Even back then, it was already well after the early Claremont era of The Uncanny X-Men which became valuable at the time).

I found too many superhero DC/Marvel movies + tv shows were difficult to watch. The only superhero movies I found "watchable" were the first two Superman movies (with Christopher Reeve), and the first X-Men movie (from y2k).

I'm not exactly sure why I found this to be the the case for me. In principle, I should be the target audience for superhero films/shows!


I still read graphic novels/omnibuses. Though I don't collect them. These days I just borrow them from the local library.


Most comic books I found to have very little to no re-read value for me.

For that matter, I've been learning the hard way that most tv shows and movies have very little to no re-watch value for me too. The only dvd sets I have which have a lot of rewatch value for me, is the original Battlestar Galactica and ironically CSI: Cyber.

I have no idea why CSI: Cyber season 1 has a lot of rewatch value for me. It was a really really lousy tv show over its two seasons. There are much better tv shows about computers/hacking/surveillance such as Mr Robot, Person of Interest, etc ... but I found the latter shows were either very difficult to watch and/or have no rewatch value for me. (For that matter, generic procedurals also have very little to no rewatch value for me, such as the other franchises of CSI, Criminal Minds, Law & Order + Chicago, NCIS, etc ...).

Still somewhat of a mystery as to why I find CSI Cyber to have a lot of rewatch value for me.
 
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jcroy

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when I graduated in 84 I started working nights got into to collecting movies on Laserdisc and VHS and stopped watching TV completely.

I too did this briefly, but in the early 1990s. I only picked up a few laserdiscs: Terminator 2 (widescreen), Akira, Blade Runner (criterion), etc ... and abruptly stopped.

At the time, I found out very quickly that I hardly ever watched my laserdiscs and vhs tapes, after watching them once or twice. They were largely collecting dust on my bookshelf for many years after. Shortly thereafter, I didn't continue collecting laserdiscs.

(I completely ignored this "hard learned lesson" when I started buying a lot of dvds/blurays in 2011. Back in 2011, I erroneously thought "this time it would be different". Fast forward five years to today, it turns out this "hard learned lesson" is more true than ever for me).
 

Randy Korstick

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I too did this briefly, but in the early 1990s. I only picked up a few laserdiscs: Terminator 2 (widescreen), Akira, Blade Runner (criterion), etc ... and abruptly stopped.

At the time, I found out very quickly that I hardly ever watched my laserdiscs and vhs tapes, after watching them once or twice. They were largely collecting dust on my bookshelf for many years after. Shortly thereafter, I didn't continue collecting laserdiscs.

.

This is true for me with modern movies. I love just about every genre of movie. But I mainly love movies from the 1930's-1960's. There are a couple of new movies I consider classics and rewatchable that come out every year but most are not for me. The majority of the movies that were modern in my laserdiscs days in the 80's and 90's are the ones I only watched once or twice and now have no desire to watch. Half the reason of buying them seemed to be because they were modern they were going to have the best picture quality and the best surround sound. Bad reasons. On the other hand the older classics are the ones I updated to DVD and Blu Ray and continue to watch over and over. Not every year but I go through cycles like comedy teams, directors and actors. I will watch all their films in a row and then not view any for a few years or more. So the lesson I learned is that with a few exceptions of new movies that I really like I do not buy modern films because those are the ones I will only watch once or twice.
 

jcroy

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The majority of the movies that were modern in my laserdiscs days in the 80's and 90's are the ones I only watched once or twice and now have no desire to watch. Half the reason of buying them seemed to be because they were modern they were going to have the best picture quality and the best surround sound. Bad reasons.

I can relate to this. ;)

When I first started buying a lot of blurays in 2011, I was buying tons of movies + tv shows largely to be captivated by the hd resolution and lossless sound. It was very easy to do this when many blurays were only $5 a pop.

After a few years of this, I came to the realization many movies were mediocre or outright crappy. Both classic and modern. (Independent of picture and sound quality).
 

jcroy

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On the other hand the older classics are the ones I updated to DVD and Blu Ray and continue to watch over and over. Not every year but I go through cycles like comedy teams, directors and actors. I will watch all their films in a row and then not view any for a few years or more. So the lesson I learned is that with a few exceptions of new movies that I really like I do not buy modern films because those are the ones I will only watch once or twice.

At this point I haven't figured out any precise criteria for determining what movies/shows that I would watch over and over again. So far, it is largely trial and error.

Many movies which I (initially) thought I would watch over and over again, turned out to be "duds" which I ended up only watching once or not at all. For example, many superhero and sci-fi/fantasy type movies/shows which I recorded on the DVR or purchased the bluray. (I'm normally a big sci-fi fan).

On the other hand, the few things that I ended up watching repeatedly over and over again, turns out to be stuff that I would least expect. For example, really horribly bad stuff like CSI Cyber or Sharknado 2 and 3.
 

MartinP.

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I don't want conservative or liberal values pushed at me; let me simply sit down and enjoy a good show.
Exactly how I feel Ron!!

I don't get this. I watch something I'm interested in. It may lean to a viewpoint I agree with or not. I may find my mind changed about something or I may find I'm more inclined to agree or not. I don't feel like something is being pushed at me or someone's deliberately trying to attack me or whatever. I don't get why it's so bothersome that some things come with a point of view. All things do, really. Nowadays everyone tries to demonize the "other" and not realize we actually need both sides of the equation. Both sides.
 

bmasters9

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Many movies which I (initially) thought I would watch over and over again, turned out to be "duds" which I ended up only watching once or not at all.

It's been the same way with many series I've purchased on DVD, whether as the whole series or a seasonal release or two-- they look promising and appear to have great premises and players, but end up crashing and burning and being incredible wastes of money; examples for me have included The A-Team, Starsky & Hutch, Mork & Mindy, Night Court, et al.
 

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