5.17.2010

Favorite TV shows of the '80s and early '90s

I recently came up with a list of shows that I enjoyed while growing up. I can even remember the theme songs to most of them.
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood (corny, I know, but I loved it, especially Trolley and the world of Make Believe)
Sesame Street (Not the Elmo show racket that's going on now. Who doesn't remember this?)
Inspector Gadget
The Real Ghostbusters (I had a crush on Peter Venkman)
He-Man (I had a crush on He-Man)
She-Ra
Galaxy High (*ahem*, bought the DVD set of this one)
Mr. Belvedere (Mashed potatoes slopped into Bob Uecker's lap in the intro=comic gold)
Benson (who can't love a show where the wise-cracking butler makes it to lieutenant governor?)
The Muppet Show (a show that I loved, which also spurred what I call "M.A.M.M.A. phobia")
Diff'rent Strokes
Perfect Strangers
The Golden Girls
The Facts of Life
Gimme a Break (I sure deserve it!)
Webster (Yes, a total "diff'rent strokes" knock off with a height challenged black kid and adoptive white parents, but we still watched it)
Amazing Stories
Wonderworks specials on PBS (Very favorite episode is "All of summer in a day)
Double Dare
Moonlighting (The Taming of the Shrew episode was classic)
Dynasty (or, as my sister and I called it, "Die nasty)
The Cosby Show
A Different World
Friday Night Videos (we didn't have cable so this was our MTV)
What's Happening
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Quantum Leap
Murphy Brown
The Wonder Years (My favorite line is probably "In your sleep, pal." threat uttered by older brother Wayne.)
Doogie Howser, M.D. (Wasn't the computer journal he kept so high tech at the time? It was like a predecessor to blogging)
Family Ties (We wanted a pushover of a dad like Michael Keaton)
Growing Pains
MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson+sandy blond mullet+ability to weasel out of impending doom=hot)

Some of these can be watched instantly on Netflix. I attempted a Quantum Leap episode, except I didn't make it past the opening theme song. Sometimes you watch these things and realize they were better in the era that they were first viewed. Some things just don't stand the test of time. If I watched many of these shows now, the list would be a whole lot shorter.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I loved the Taming of the Shrew episode too. I'm re-watching all the episodes of Buck Rogers on Netflix now.