What were the 80s like?

[Fuzzybabyducks]

Would you watch any of them now? Make no mistake, I'm of the belief that the UK ceded control of TV comedy in the early 90s, but the US was still in second place by the end of the 80s.

I rewatched all of cheers. I never actually watched Golden girls until a few years ago. I work weird hours and it was the only thing on before bed.. well that and I love Lucy right after it. We get a lot of British comedies now because of Netflix and stuff but they hardly ever air british shows on TV here.. If they like a British show here they remake it.. Shameless, the Office, Top Gear, exc.. In the 80's though we didnt get any British TV shows.
My Moms from Europe so in summers when I went to Ireland I remember watching one foot in the grave, only fools and horses ( I still watch that I have it on DVD) and was surprised how many US shows they would air over there.

I didnt know you were saying or arfuing that England had better Comedies, wasnt sure what you were replying to as you didnt quote anyone.. I was just saying that I liked Family Ties and Cheers was a cool show also..

 

[MaureenCretis]

For the record, I'm not mocking tourette's sufferers. It just happened to be the case that the hero of that (and subsequent) documentaries, John Davidson, happens to also be - naturally - an extremely funny bloke.

 

[Me]

I guess M*A*S*H was still running, and shown without canned laughter in the UK (improving it hugely). But as you say, The Cosby Show, Diff'rent Strokes, Who's The Boss, Family Ties and Charles In Charge weren't a high point in US tv history.

I haven't seen the Cosby Show as an adult, but I loved it then. Most likely because it idealized family life, which was lacking for me. Those others seemed cheap, though. M*A*S*H was a little too adult for a young me.

 

[MaureenCretis]

I rewatched all of cheers. I never actually watched Golden girls until a few years ago. I work weird hours and it was the only thing on before bed.. well that and I love Lucy right after it. We get a lot of British comedies now because of Netflix and stuff but they hardly ever air british shows on TV here.. If they like a British show here they remake it.. Shameless, the Office, Top Gear, exc.. In the 80's though we didnt get any British TV shows.
My Moms from Europe so in summers when I went to Ireland I remember watching one foot in the grave, only fools and horses ( I still watch that I have it on DVD) and was surprised how many US shows they would air over there.

I didnt know you were saying or arfuing that England had better Comedies, wasnt sure what you were replying to as you didnt quote anyone.. I was just saying that I liked Family Ties and Cheers was a cool show also..

No no, fair point. I wasn't sure if you were making a counter-case for the US in terms of "who was the best 80s comedy producer?". I had forgotten a bunch of shows, such as Cheers, though, but I'd still maintain that prime UK 80s TV comedy had no peer.

And we certainly did get a lot of US TV shown in the UK. Remember, for much of the 80s, we only had 3 channels, and we never had the financial muscle of the US to produce lots of shows - so buying them in was an obvious move.

When M*A*S*H gets shown these days, complete with laughter track, I die a little inside.

 

[Fuzzybabyducks]

They made a movie about the creator of ALF.. that dude was messed up.. Big into drugs. its a Ben Stiller movie forget what it was called.

 

[MaureenCretis]

If you never watched M*A*S*H, I highly recommend it - but only without the laughter track. It was a wonderfully bittersweet sit com, far more poignant than was typical for the time. Quite highbrow, too, which went counter to a lot of 80s comedy, which tended toward the "more outrageous = more funny" approach.

 

[Patrick Jane]

The 80's were like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

 

[pinger]

The best decade of printed porn and hiding it under drawer cavities.

It was classy too, instead of calling your magazine Wank, some genius came up with Swank. You could seriously tell your mum when she asked why you spent half your life on the toilet that you were researching high society.

 

[Rhood]

Definitely the GOAT era.
The amount of music genre's, fashion/style culture, video game culture, movies, TV series....etc exploded in the 80's.

I don't think there has ever been a decade that has produced the same amount of originality and creativity that came from the 80's.

I mean don't get me wrong the 90's was awesome too, but I was able to witness at a young age the birth of hip-hop, punk, heavy metal, and early electronic music to make a statement about it.

 

[mmaelitefan000]

 

[mmaelitefan000]

these dudes were the alpha male gangsters from the 80s. if u looked like them, u were a cool dude.

 

[WrestlinganJudo]

Fat people were the minority.

The double digit inflation of the 70's was slowing down.

I got to see an inverse yield curve.

The start of a very long bull market.

A family could be raised still with only one person in the workforce.

Employment was still a bit hard to find at the start of the 80's because of the recession of the 70's but it improved contiguously until finally reaching a point where we had a labor shortage.

 

[Sir Galahad]

The best decade for movies and music.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

Cars were at their worst, I remember that. I loved watching music videos as a kid and first crush was Martha Quinn.

Having had my 1987 Grand National I'd have to disagree with that statement, admittedly most cars were at their worst, but there were a few mean machines from the 1980's

 

[TeTe]

Having had my 1987 Grand National I'd have to disagree with that statement, admittedly most cars were at their worst, but there were a few mean machines from the 1980's

You won't get an argument from me with the GN, I had one back in the early 2000s

 

[Benoitthegr8]

You won't get an argument from me with the GN, I had one back in the early 2000s

I sold mine last November, the deal with my wife was I had to get rid of it to make room in the garage for a bass boat, still shopping for the boat however.

 

[bubbleboyjones]

Cars had to be the worst thing about the decade. You have to realize if you drove down a major highway in the summer you always saw people on the side of the roads with the hoods up and radiators ready to blow up. My parents car caught on fire one time when it broke down.

Action Movies were probably the best(Die Hard, Predator, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Terminator, First Blood, Aliens)

Horror movies were probably at its best just by sheer number(Evil Dead, Shining, Freddy Movies, Poltergeist, Friday the 13th, Pet Sematary, Fright Night, the entire killer doll genre...Childs Play/ Puppetmaster/ Dolls)

There was some really good music but a lot of the actual music production in the 80's was pretty bad. Downed in reverb with shitty recordings.

Arcades were very popular and actual social hangouts. Malls were huge hang outs as well.

Oh did I forget Bloodsport?

 

[TeTe]

I sold mine last November, the deal with my wife was I had to get rid of it to make room in the garage for a bass boat, still shopping for the boat however.

If it was clean, you probably sold it for a lot. Back when I had one you could still pick one up in good shape for about $8,000. Now, one with low miles and clean are damn near $20,000 cars.

 

[Hyperglide]

If it was clean, you probably sold it for a lot. Back when I had one you could still pick one up in good shape for about $8,000. Now, one with low miles and clean are damn near $20,000 cars.

Hell ya!



I still gotta see your Faction in GTA V.

 

[TeTe]

Hell ya!



I still gotta see your Faction in GTA V.

I even have the black honeycomb wheels with the chrome barrel like the GNX on it. Fully maxed acceleration, slammed suspension, full armor and an astro roof.