Frank Soyke
Screenwriter
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.
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.