I don't know why, but I recently got to thinking about all the crappy TV I used to watch in the 80s. It seems like there were a lot of shows that I really liked then, but seem so inane now, and they just leave me wondering "Why the heck did I look forward to them?" I focus on the 80s because I was in my late teens/early 20s, so I should have had enough sense to realize these shows were pretty poor, but somehow found myself glued to the TV when they were on.
Here then, are a bunch of shows that owe me huge chunks of my life back:
Family Ties- I guess it was originally supposed to be some sort of satirical "Generation Gap" comedy, but the kicker was, it was the kids who were the conservatives, and the parents were the liberals! Wow! The show ended up having little impact on society at large, other than launching Michael J. Fox's acting career, and Tina Yother's singing "career." Actually- it did introduce the sit-com concept of The Rapidly Aging Kid- in which the Keaton's had a baby. One season focussed on Elise's pregnancy, the next season focussed on the infant, and the next season the kid was 5 years old! I guess they couldn't wait to get on with the obligatory "Cute Kid" jokes.
Night Court- OK, starting with Season 2, we had Markie Post's cleavage, but was that enough to justify the show's existance? Actually, pretty much, yes.
Kate and Allie- Mix an ignorant slut and Mrs. MacMillan, throw in a couple of not-quite-cute kids, and you've got comedy gold. Well, comedy tin maybe. Still, I'm pretty sure I saw every episode. Good God, why?
Golden Girls- I swear I'm straight- with my fashion sense and hair, there's no way I could be gay. So why did I watch this show? For Sophia's biting with, or the Gracie Allenish comedy stylings of Betty White? I can't believe I was with this one from the beginning, but somehow missed out on the first few seasons of Newhart and Cheers.
Evening Shade/Designing Women- The less said about the horrid oeuvre of Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, the better. I just want to blank every episode out of my mind.
On the bright side, I can say that I've never voluntarily seen even part of an episode of Who's The Boss, Full House or that show with Urkel. But, still, the 80s were not a high point of my TV-watching career.
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I commented to your recent comments on my blog... so check them out.
I used to watch Night Court (my favorite episode was in Season 1 where Harry's blond helper, the mousy secretary?, gets all hopped up on cold medicine and hangs from the bookshelves), Cosby Show, Remington Steele, Simon and Simon, A-Team, Newhart (with the brothers), and Bosom Buddies. I can't watch them now, too dated, but living in Germany and only having access to one channel thanks to the US military made TV a huge part of our preteen and teen years. Thus underlining the truth in the comment you want what you can't have.
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