Tag Archives: 1980s

‘The World of Strawberry Shortcake’ (1980) & ‘Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City’ (1981): Charming, unpretentious

It’s berry berry good!

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‘Hammer House of Horror’: Early 80s UK anthology sports tight scripts, nimble direction

The Complete Hammer House of Horror is perfect Halloween viewing for anyone interested in 80s UK horror and the Hammer Films studio: the scripts are tight, the direction nimble, and the performances spot-on…with plenty of gore and slight nudity to keep you tuned in.

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‘I Dream of Jeannie…Fifteen Years Later’ (1985): Eden & Co. try to rekindle magic in mid-80s reboot attempt

Sad news: funny actor Bill Daily passed away this week. Pulling the rare trick of appearing in two iconic TV comedies—I Dream of Jeannie and The Bob Newhart Show—Daily was one of those actors lovers of vintage television took to their hearts like a cherished friend. He’ll be missed. So…in that spirit, let’s look at one of his lamer outings: I Dream of Jeannie…Fifteen Years Later.

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‘The Jeffersons’: Norman Lear sitcom disrespected, but gets the love

The strangest thing: my younger kids think television coming over our old aerial—complete with commercials and limited choice of channels—is the coolest thing now (high tech burnout was inevitable). And one of their favorite digital channels is our local MeTV outlet, with its old timey sched of classic television fare (yes, they have taste, but of course, I’m shilling for a potential job offer, too…). So the upcoming “Summer of Me” programming change this Monday should be a lot of fun for them—and for you, too, particularly since The Jeffersons will be movin’ on up into the primo 6:30pm (Eastern) timeslot (now you don’t have to watch the fake news!).

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‘The Yellow Rose’: 80s primetime soap could have been a contender

All the talk this week about the 40th anniversary of Dallas’s debut got me thinking about one of the many pretenders to its prime time network soap opera throne—NBC’s The Yellow Rose—right before I saw word this morning that actress Susan Anspach had just passed. She was quite good in this expensive, all-star outing from NBC, so in memory of Miss Anspach, let’s look back at The Yellow Rose.

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‘Wiseguy’ (Season 1): Stephen J. Cannell gets edgy, serious, & serialized

Classic TV fans will no doubt want to cut a slice of birthday cake today for Stephen J. Cannell, the prolific creator of such muscular, iconic tube fare as The Rockford Files, Baretta, Baa Baa Black Sheep, The A-Team, Riptide, and 21 Jump Street. For a birthday treat, let’s look at the first season of Cannell’s critically acclaimed cop/mob series, Wiseguy.

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‘Magnum, P.I.’ (Season 5): Quintessential 80s detective show still delivers

Sad news: versatile character actor John Hillerman passed away the other day, so we thought we’d dig out a Magnum, P.I. season five review, featuring Hillerman in his most recognizable role as the indomitable Higgins.

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‘Falcon Crest’ (Season 1): Intrigue, drunk on wine

We like our 80s prime time soaps here at Drunk TV. Oh yes we do.

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‘GLOW’: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling invade Netflix

If you’re an old-old school pro wrestling fan, you may remember the real life GLOW wrestling promotion from Las Vegas, which produced a low-budget female version of what fans enjoyed with the more mainstream World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Continue reading ‘GLOW’: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling invade Netflix