80's Commercials Vol. 916

These commercials aired on WGN in October of 1986
1. "Transformers" Commercial Bumper (Commercials starting here aired on October 6th, 1986)
2. G.I. JOE Tomahawk
3. My Little Pony Baby Bonnet School Of Dance
4. Corn Pops
5. Chicago Museum Of Broadcast Communications
6. "Transformers" Commercial Bumpers
7. McDonald's
8. Etch A Sketch Animator
9. Chicago Public Schools Homework Hotline PSA
10. "Transformers" Commercial Bumpers (Commercials starting at the second bumper aired on October 7th, 1986)
11. G.I. JOE Cobra Stun and Recon Sled
12. Kidscope PSA (Sorry to report this, but Ara Denise Johnson is believed to have been murdered by David Elliot Penton, who is currently serving a life sentence in Ohio)
13. WGN Promo (With Bozo the Clown)
14. "Transformers" Commercial Bumpers
15. Inhumanoids Tendril
16. WGN Station ID
17. Froot Loops
18. Nerfuls Spinner and Bopper
19. WGN Station ID
20. "Transformers" Commercial Bumpers (Commercials starting at the second bumper aired on October 8th, 1986)
21. G.I. JOE Conquest X-30
22. "Ghostbusters" Bust The Baddies Contest (Even though this is not the Ghostbusters cartoon that I liked, the action figures they made for this show were actually pretty great, and better than the Real Ghostbusters action figures made by Kenner: • Filmation Ghostbusters... )
23. Adoption Hotline PSA
24. "Transformers" Commercial Bumpers
25. Inhumanoids Metlar and Magnacore
26. Operation (The sound of that buzzer elicited much childhood trauma and still sends shivers down my spine)
27. Mothers Against Drunk Driving PSA (RIP Walter Payton)
28. "Transformers" Commercial Bumper
29. My Buddy (The rare extended version without Kid Sister)
30. United Way PSA

[@Tr0nzoid]

The toy market was so saturated with good stuff in 1986. Clever use of Billy Ocean's "When the Going Gets Tough" in that homework hotline PSA.

[@yusakug]

My Buddy would have about two more years of popularity at this point in 86 until the first Child's Play hit theaters in November 88, and pretty much made every kid terrified of the thing.

[@rstyeast73]

I still think that doll was the inspiration for Chucky.

[@Sammydx1]

Chicago 1980 born and raised. I can still hear that guys voice. The transformers will be right back....

[@bethdibartolomeo2042]

I had that My LIttle Pony Ballet set for years! I don't know if it's still in my parent's basement, like the stable set, but it's possible. God, I loved the ponies back in the day.

[@yusakug]

0:37 - So, a talking pink rabbit finds dancing baby ponies unbelievable?

[@osufan77]

October 1986, what a f*cking beautiful time to be a nine year old in suburban America.

[@TTrigg]

G.I. JOE Tomahawk-kind of a bad idea to have the passenger area open like that,theyll be exposed to enemy fire(which happened a few times in the comic) Kidscope PSA-r.i.p Ana Denise :( My Buddy-..the inspiration for Chucky..?

[@DGF2099]

My Buddy is cited as one of several dolls that inspired Chucky.

[@MyMelodyOfTheHeart]

WGN Promo- That catchy song playing throughout the montage in this promo really distracts from the creepiness of Bozo The Clown himself and the creepiness of him appearing in random places.

[@rhysredin3030]

There is something really inception-esque about watching a nearly 40 year old commercial about a broadcast museum.

[@Rouglas]

The quick camera cutaway from Walter going to make eye contact with Norma had me giggling. Thanks for another beautiful glimpse into my childhood.

[@YodaPagoda]

I wanted that GI Joe Tomahawk...I think I had most of the figures featured in the commercial, though! That McDonaldland commercial is quintessential 80s! Glad I'm not the only one still traumatized by the buzzer from "Operation." The Transformers marketing worked wonders on me...there wasn't a Transformer in the bumpers that I didn't recognize.

[@DanZero77]

WPIX in New York ran the same Ghostbusters contest! They were also a Tribune owned station. Same ad and everything! I preferred this version of Ghostbusters a lot more!

[@EpicJasonX9000]

I don't say this too often, but, now I want some Corn Pops. XD

[@WWJD85]

Is this the local WGN? I remember there being a national WGN feed.

[@DGF2099]

WGN is both. It's a very local station in Chicago since 1948, with a national feed starting around 1978.

[@rstyeast73]

@@DGF2099 Yeah, it was the second biggest superstation behind TBS in Atlanta.

[@andrejg4136]

There were a couple of years where I wasn't able to catch WB-owned cartoons on Kids' WB due to having no dedicated affiliated in Baton Rouge (opened in 1999 officially, although small stations had programming here and here) when the WB opened in 1995. So I would catch the shows on WGN Superstation until that was sorted out. Though I did eventually watch at least a bit of each show on early Kids' WB on re-runs on Cartoon Network or years later through less-than-legal means.

[@aquaman199]

Love your channel,great memories

[@yusakug]

5:23 - Props for the guy for keeping his torch steady when a clown walks up to him...

[@mrmonty86]

RIP Ara.

[@shadowmixx]

Nice. Channel 9 Chicago had some of the coolest Public Sevice Announcements. Imagine a Homework Hotline. Are there any hotlines other than the Suicide Prevention Hotline active these days?

[@andrejg4136]

I doubt it, ever since the mid 2000s a lot of "help hotlines" became "help web forums" and have now become subject-oriented communities on sundry social media platforms.

[@joel230182]

5:30 poor child must have been terrified!