TV Guide 1980 Fall Preview. Did TV suck in 1980?

[@CallMeChato]

The number of people correcting my pronunciation of Enos is proof of the complete collapse of Western civilization.

[@roninmedic7661]

I got the bit, but had to fight telling you we added a P to the front of his name when we were kids.

[@rightwired]

It's "Penos". The P is silent. And invisible.

[@biffstrong1079]

Yup just like Penis.

[@ankhor9252]

It would be interesting to research the name and how it is a consummate Southern moniker.

[@roninmedic7661]

@Ankhor 9 it's not so common these days, but is still used primarily by poor, white, and Southern people. It comes from both the Greek and Hebrew 'Enosh', which just means "man"; so sadly, not as interesting as it could have been.

[@BrandonTheAnimeGuy]

Brandon Tartikoff was and is a genius. NBC went to the stratosphere because of him.

[@casualcausalityy]

I'm just imagining the overall cultural impact he made, it seems like he greenlit 80% of the older shows we still remember and love

[@angusorvid8840]

I agree. He did a masterful job bringing TV into the modern era.

[@gridley]

I never watched most of the shows mentioned by Chato, but I also never felt irritated by them the way I do towards so much of "entertainment" in today's world. Everything is now so woke, so political, so obnoxious. These are mean, surly, debased times.

[@The_Ballo]

He knew quality and bet on it every time. Producers now only know what's trendy, not good.

[@diegodelsol1309]

Manimal. Just sayin'...

[@TheRedneckPreppy]

The Magnum PI show looks interesting. I hope it did well.

[@mathewguglielmi8451]

I remember watching Bosom Buddies in Australia in the 1980's where it aired on the Channel 7 network. The Channel 7 network had an output deal with NBC in the 1970's to 1990's. Peter Scolari is no slouch either. He still has an active film and tv career as a character actor. After Bosom Buddies, Tom Hanks went on to guest star in a few episodes of Family Ties, as the uncle of Michael J Fox's character, Alex Keaton.

[@savageworks]

Fun fact, Magnum P.I. star Tom Selleck was very nearly cast as Indiana Jones, but was prevented by obligations to his Magnum contract. In season 8 of Magnum they did an Indian Jones parody of sorts in the episode Legend of the Lost Art.

[@Hossak]

My family used to religiously watch HIll Street Blues in Australia. "Hey! Let's be careful out there." Such a great show.

[@wondergirl60s]

I voted for Ronald Reagan on my 18th birthday. A bunch of old men took me to the country club for lunch and talked to me about “free enterprise”, lobbyists, foreign and special interest groups.🤣 They owned Western Oil Company. I had no idea what the heck they were talking about. I graduated early and didn’t take civics.😮 The 1st 11 months of 1980 was awesome! ❤️🤘🙏 December 8th was tragic. Great video!🫶 Thank you!🥰

[@randylevy]

Two episodes!? How in the world can I remember Those Amazing Animals?

[@mattkramer4132]

I thought the same thing until I looked it up. It was actually on for a year... August 1980 to August 1981. Not sure why he said only two episodes.

[@skylx0812]

Hill Street was American television drama becoming "serious" and realistic. There's the hilarious scene where a detective is undercover at a grocery store and a woman is thoroughly examining a chicken. She spreads the legs wide open and takes a huge wiff inside the cavity and complains the chicken isn't fresh. The detective says, "Lady, could _you_ pass a test like that?"

[@Xan3119]

lord

[@tgriffin3059]

Serious and realistic? Many would say banal and crude. Back then, the fringe elements were not considered. Today, they run the culture. I do not see that as an improvement.

[@charlesratcliff2016]

Brandon Tartikoff helped shape my childhood with Knight Rider and Miami Vice, RIP. Thank you for the trip on memory lane. Love 80s TV.

[@marsoelflaco5722]

Punky Brewster's dog was named after him.

[@bazzathegreat3517]

Magnum is one of the best shows ever done. I am certain that Selleck has permanent injuries from the jeans he wore in the show. I think the shirts were just as tight. That's why he could only get two buttons done up on them. But let's be real, his mustache was the real star of the show.

[@ReglazeRX]

My girlfriend wishes I would stop watching it regularly. I refuse. Huge fan since 88.

[@richdurbin6146]

I still think original Magnum holds up better than the newer series.

[@lino222]

Tom Selleck is just an appendix of the Mustache!

[@ReglazeRX]

@@lino222 🤣👍

[@zakofrx]

@@richdurbin6146 I tried a little bit of the first new version but gave up.. It's over the top woke crap.. From memory at the start the new guy jumped from space (in the suit and everything) and parachuted into North Korea for a mission.. Such crap.. The original had lots of over the top adventures but all were possible and realistic, the only part outlandish was a single person going though so much..

[@BlazingOwnager]

I had no idea that the guy greenlit all those shows died at 48. That is a damned tragedy.

[@kathleenhensley5951]

He obviously had a lot of talent.

[@colorin81colorado]

It would appear all the talent in Hollywood went away when he died! RIP!

[@buckiemohawk3643]

yeah cancer I remembered when he died. Because it was talked about on the network and others showed their appreciation for him

[@mrhumpty]

That factoid blew my mind. I loved/watched nearly all those shows. Imagine what he could have done with another 2 decades. Chato's right... we need him now.

[@blachubear]

Around 1992, Brandon Tartikoff moved to my hometown New Orleans because his daughter had been seriously injured in a car accident & somehow Slidell had the best rehab hospital. While living in N.O. Brandon was going to start a production company & some projects that got off the ground. New Orleans was on the rise in the entertainment not only with Brandon arrived in The Big Easy, Quincy Jones bought a TV station, Larry Hagman did a TV show and two rap labels(No Limit Records and Cash Money Records) were successful. Things were looking up in The Big Easy in the 90's. But sadly Tartikoff passed on August 27, 1997. It was a big loss.

[@reecemccullough4829]

I wouldn't think I would like history content about TV but I'm really enjoying the channel!!

[@CallMeChato]

Thanks. Well, I really enjoy this history.

[@savageworks]

Magnum PI was such a classic! The stars aligned for this one. Decent budget, excellent cast with chemistry, great writing, great performances. Was my favourite show for a very long time.

[@zakofrx]

Another show that started with a crap song /opening credits before changing it to one of the best ones ever made that huge number of people remember after seeing it for a few seconds.. Simon and Simon was the same and Miami Vice did similar..

[@ktblue2bass]

I feel bad for Barbara Barrie. She played Barney Miller's wife....and was credited in the opening.....(1975-1978) but RARELY ever got on screen. She was great in the film, "Breaking Away," and it's is a shame that film didn't translate to television. (Please note: She won an Emmy that year for her performance in the T.V. version even though it only ran 8 episodes.)

[@jimclayson]

Ah yes! Mount St Helens! That was an interesting Sunday morning in Lake Stevens, WA, for six-year-old me. There was a layer of ash on everything. It was surreal seeing the mountain after it'd blown its top. You used to be able to get plastic containers of ash in vending machines, and everyone had a stash of ash stowed away as a memento. Loved "Mork and Mindy," "Buck Rogers," "BJ and the Bear" and "Bosom Buddies"... and "Enos" is pronounced "EE-nis." Yes, I watched (and enjoyed) "The Dukes of Hazard" when I was a kid... Although none of those shows was ever going to be mistaken for Shakespeare, certainly...

[@andygrams6344]

Wow - funny you should mention - I didn’t see Mt St Helen’s in person until 1990, but this Christmas I asked my dad for anything he wouldn’t mind parting with from his geology collection, and among the various volcanic items he gave me was a 4” cube container of St Helen’s ash - not from a vending machine but gathered from a friend’s yard, I think in Yakima.

[@jimclayson]

@@andygrams6344 Yeah, everyone had jars and containers of ash stashed in a closet somewhere. I know my mom still had some several years ago, along with some photos a friend-of-a-friend took of the mountain from a helicopter that had absolutely no business flying around the day before it blew its top. The eruption wasn't unexpected, but the raw destruction that resulted in the top of the mountain pretty much disintegrating was still shocking. There are some mountains in Washington that are just iconic. You can see and recognize them from miles and miles away. Mount St Helens just... changed... overnight.

[@yootoobsuks4210]

I was a teenager in Longview when it blew. I just walked out onto the deck to gather my souvenir ash.

[@escgoogle3865]

Camping at Dash Point State park May 18th

[@pl8154]

Could you repeat the part about Ronald Regan defeating Jimmy Cater? Please? That just can't be repeated enough. "Those were the days"....that was Archie agreeing with me.

[@RamblerReb]

Magnum and Buck Rogers, two of my favorite shows. Magnum was pretty good all the way through, but Buck Rogers definitely went down hill in S2, mostly because Gil Gerard wanted more serious scripts (the last broadcast episode, "The Dorian Secret," is a straight-up rip-off of a bad Twilight Zone episode) and because they took Erin Gray out of those awesome spandex jumpsuits and put her in that goddam sailor suit, and no more beautiful, gorgeous, sexy Pamela Hensley slinking her way through the scenery, destroying all in her path to the contents of Buck's tight white flight suit. Also one of my favorite theme songs of all time, both the instrumental series theme and the slower tempo lyric theme from the pilot. Opening credits of the pilot movie get a special mention because of Gray and Hensley in bikinis draped over a sleeping Gil Gerard (lucky bastard).

[@NuNugirl]

The best year ever! ❤

[@OakleyVandal]

Another excellent TV guide fall preview episode, Chato. I was just about to ask if you never saw Dukes of Hazzard cuz it's pronounced Eeniss, and you should know that if you ever saw DoH. Then you went and explained yourself while I was typing. Well played, sir. Well played.

[@bobsothoth2592]

My brother and I were big "Dukes of Hazzard" fans when we were kids (which is about the level that show seems to be made for). So when we saw "Enos" getting his own spin-off, we begged our parents to watch. We all got to see the first episode. And never saw any more. I mean, it was so bad, it couldn't hold the attention of two kids who watched "Dukes". Sadly, to this day I remember the stupid little gimmick the show tried to pass as cool when Enos and partner solved a crime: one put his hand down like one would do to "gimme five" back in the 80's, and the other would smack the open hand with a thumbs up. Dear lord, the memory of this remains and probably is taking the place of a family birthday or something. Oh well.

[@newwavepop]

i remember being really excited for it and i don not remember disliking it but it was gone quick. and the only memory i have is The Dukes teaching him how to drive on two wheels.

[@fromthesidelines]

Sonny Shroyer was lucky. His contract for "ENOS" included a clause stating that if the series was cancelled after one season, he could return to "THE DUKES OF HAZZARD". And he did, for the rest of the series.

[@bobsothoth2592]

@@fromthesidelinesLucky or very smart, for certain.

[@jhoughjr1]

My birth year. I would have been coming home from the hostpial around there. My grandma used to have a ton of tv guides.

[@MrKculp]

Me too!

[@navy2af]

As a young hillbilly from Kentucky I loved DoH. I grew up near Hazard County Kentucky and it always had a bit of a wild west flavor. When the coal miners would go on strike they'd shoot at trucks breaking the picket lines. The mining company set up counter sniper spots with range flags every 100 yards for their snipers to adjust properly for windage. Allegedly. Real life in Appalachia wasn't as fun as TV.

[@angusorvid8840]

1980 was a great year for me. I remember it very well. It was also a time of great change. There was still quite a hangover from the 70s. We didn't know what Reagan would be but we were tired of Carter and the terrible economy, the hostage crisis, etc. We wanted the "morning in America" that Reagan promised. We also wanted Sony Walkmans, cable TV, Betamax and VCRs. We also wanted our MTV.

[@shermantank7216]

MTV was in the 2nd half of 1981. I remember walking into a record shop, and the records albums had a label "As Seen on MTV". I didn't have the opportunity to watch MTV until September of 1982.

[@Roykirk]

I cannot believe Bosom Buddies only lasted 2 seasons. It's strong in my memories, and not just because it launched Tom Hanks. It's one of the most memorable shows from when I was in my teens. Hill Street Blues was something I watched with my Dad, as we both absolutely loved it, and it was a good bonding experience. We watched Magnum together as well, but Hill Street Blues was unique and a water-cooler show, at least between the two of us.

[@Peorhum]

Bosom buddies launched the careers of more then just Hanks too.

[@theknave69]

And that original theme song, Billy Joel's "My Life." Fun fact, Holland Taylor went on to do Two and a Half Men, and Peter Scolari went on to Newhart and the series of Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

[@ScottRuggels]

I remember this sight gag, where The two of them started tapping on random office equipment, and chunky Wendy Jo Sperber came into the room, dancing to the vaguely latin beat, until the two guys realized what they were doing.

[@richdurbin6146]

@@Peorhum Donna Dixon (mostly known for being Dan Akroyd's wife) and Wendy Jo Sperber of 1941 and Back to the Future.

[@AvengerII]

You'll never see Bosom Buddies the way it was originally broadcast. After the first few reruns, the license to the music for the show's theme lapsed and they had to use a generic BGM for later reruns and any home video releases (if they did one -- I never saw any DVDs for Bosom Buddies). The original theme song for Bosom Buddies was "My Life" by Billy Joel but it was sung by a soundalike. It's obvious to me now that it wasn't Billy Joel who sang it but his record company controlled the license and they were greedy bastards as usual. Same thing happened with WKRP in Cincinnati. They used so much contemporary music in that series that it's virtually impossible to re-license it for rebroadcasts and home media.

[@adamvangesen9166]

OMG I loved Bosom Buddies when I was a kid lol I was 9 at the time...kinda surprised my parents let me watch it actually. 😉✌️🖖

[@randylevy]

"surprised my parents let me watch it" actually defines the 70's/80's 🤣

[@blockmasterscott]

Battlestar Galactica 1980 anyone? 😂 I’ll never forget the episode with the Galactica Boy Scouts jumping high all over the place. 😂😂😂

[@jimclayson]

First show that pops into my head when I hear "1980." "The Return of Starbuck" was an interesting, if somewhat peculiar episode. The rest are better forgotten...

[@Halbared]

For a yank programme of the time, Magnum stands up today, it's really good, and has an extra aspect to it hat I had totally forgotten about.

[@HurriShane00]

80s were awesome. 4 on the floor was on. Sadly only 1 season but my brothers and I sang all the song s and recited every line. Even did 1 of the skits (Mr Friendly) and sang "grade 3" at big cottage get together fun times.

[@CallMeChato]

Thank you. I can feel the love.

[@GokuMcDuck]

@@CallMeChato I miss the 80s too. Saludos mi Chatito.

[@michaelconnor1542]

I was in eastern Washington, Pasco, when Mt. ST. Helens erupted. I was napping when the shockwave hit and was nocked out of bed. Later, before we knew what was happening. I went out to ride my bike. It suddenly became very foggy but stung. Very quickly it became very hard to see and I ran into a parked car. My grandparents lived in Longview and were difficult to reach for a day or two.

[@cookiemadison8529]

Your assessment of Too Close for Comfort is spot on-- but I loved it! Mostly I think because those daughters looked pretty fetching to my teenage self. Loved It's a Living, too. Hmmm, I think I'm beginning to see a pattern. Thanks for another great video. Love these tv guide episodes.

[@dingerjunkie]

SO HAPPY to see a return to this sequence/series. Hill Street was a stable of my teen years...the send-off from the morning briefing at the start of each episode still hangs in my mind. Magnum PI was a foundation of 80's TV.

[@CallMeChato]

I never left. They just take a long time. More to come.

[@MrTickleTrunk]

This is the kind of nostalgia, fan service we need right now :)

[@zakofrx]

It let's me find good old non woke shows to look for.. I have given up watching new Western TV due to the insane stuff they insert that ruins the show.. Now I just watch old shows and shows from other countries that don't do much or any woke..

[@Big_Tex]

Fall 1980 was about when I got preoccupied with girls and stopped watching TV. I watched very little TV during the 80s so I’m barely aware of all those 80s shows, aside from David Letterman, back when he was still funny.

[@david_walker_esq]

I had streamed all of Magnum P.I. a few years ago. Magnum P.I. and Remington Steele are my favourite shows of the 80s. Hill Street Blues is on my Hulu list, but I'm currently binging Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and rewatching The Orville. I hope to get into in a week or two. I'm kind of curious about Enos. The Dukes of Hazzard was one of the first "retro" series I had streamed when streaming became a thing.

[@chrisw6164]

I love these.

[@jnnx]

10:16 Pronounced ENUS (rhymes with. . .errrrr nevermind)

[@robertfeldmann542]

loved too close for comfort last four seasons never made it to dvd and if you can find the first two they are very expensive

[@silverjohn6037]

The only thing I really remember about It's a Living was that one of the actresses, Anne Jillian, played Little Bo Peep in the Disney version of Babes in Toyland. Enos was so low budget they came up with the idea that their police cars had been seized from criminals so they didn't have to paint them like patrol cars before they wrecked them in their stunts. Also he had a signature line, "God takes care of fools, drunks and children. And I don't drink."

[@BLOODRAVIN01]

nice to watch the full video after the Teaser we Got on MITM 😁

[@Demolitiondude]

Hearing both Alf and fresh prince on that list hit me right in the nostalgia.

[@jasonbeneke4710]

i couldn't watch All In The Family after Edith passed. it just didn't feel right. even today, it still feels like a crime that we never got a proper final season.

[@staciepaul]

Brandon T., what an amazing list of shows!

[@LordEriolTolkien]

Hill St Blues was must watch TV in my house

[@tim2269]

Growing up in -40C I have a soft spot for Magnum P.I. Hawaii 5O got me through the 70s.Top notch reviews.👍

[@MJanovicable]

What a year. I used to scoff about nostalgia--no more. 1980 was a cultural renaissance compared to today. Yes, it was dark too, but there was so much to experience so directly. Culture mattered. Music, comedy, movies, literature--what a time. Addendum: Wasn't this the period when Pink Lady & Jeff arrived onto television?

[@biffstrong1079]

I bet it did.... Yeaaaa canada. I was in geology in University when Mt St Helenes exploded. Solidarnosc. They killed Edith? I stopped watching ? Archies Place? by this time. Cannot imagine Archie Bunker on a date. What a nightmare. Mork and Mindy. loved Mork and Mindy though by the time a baby arrived hadn't they jumped the shark?. Loved Breaking Away the movie. Don't remember the tv show. Never was a fan of Hill Street Blues. They marketed it as a Dramedy and I found some of the transitions from farce to pathos jarring. It grew on me but never loved it. Did like the big Sergeant " Be Careful out there" Had a Wojohowitz vibe for me , but competent. Deborah van valkenburgh was the love interest in The warriors. Wow how many chances did Mark Harmon and Morgan Fairchild get? like 50??? I mean they are attractive but jeez. Ennis (like penis) the most unlikeable character from The Dukes of Hazard which is actually a long list . Go magnum. Lot of whiners on this show. "Aw Cmon TC let me use your helicopter" Oh I always liked Ann Jillian. i think she got breast cancer in and around the time this show was on the air. Still alive as of 2022 and married to the same man for the last 40 years. Feels kind of nice. Loved Bosom Buddies. Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. Can't believe they only lasted two seasons. Though they had pretty well run all their situations through the Ricer by end of two years. "Sonny, Sonny, Sonny."

[@toadsmoothy]

I was 20 that year. The only show I remember is Magnum P.I. Bikini clad girls and that hot Ferrari 308. What's not to love? The opening was epic, him taking off in the Ferrari while giving the audience a look that said: "I've got the world by the balls." I think a lot of guys just wanted to be Magnum. They tried to remake the show but it sucked. Lucas considered casting Seleck as Han. I think we lucked out with Ford but I've always liked Selleck, especially in 'High Road to China.' He made some good Westerns too.

[@llywyllngryffyn8053]

Yeah, 1980 was a great year for TV. i remember most of those hits and the names of the ones I didn't watch were still familiar. You know Paul, one of the things that is missing from these TV Guide episodes is the context. It's one thing to know what shows debuted in a season but it would also be helpful to have the context of what shows they were up against. What was still running and popular then. I know you have occasionally tossed in a comment about a show that failed by telling us it was up against M.A.S.H. or something like that but that landscape is very important for seeing why these things failed or how well they succeeded. Some of those 'hit' shows were dying off and making way for these new ones while some of the new failures were up against great shows and they never stood a chance. Maybe you could just include the competition that the shows were up against more regularly? It would be like knowing the names of the people in the ring at a boxing match :)

[@boblangill6209]

Answer to your question: some did, but mostly NO. Some of these shows, like Hill Street Blues, got serious commitments from their viewers. With no streaming services, you had to watch it when it was broadcast, or figure out how to program your VHS recorder if you weren't going to be there. A coworker once expressed concern that he might not have a blank tape available for tonight's Magnum PI. He didn't want to reuse one because he was building a library.

[@liljenborg2517]

Magnum PI is one of the most important TV shows. Our TV blew a tube in 1974, and we couldn’t afford to fix it. But because my mom wanted to watch Magnum soooo much, she finally let us get a TV in 1983. Was Battlstar Galactica 1980 a spring season show that it wasn’t in the fall preview?

[@johnnymidnight2982]

Battlestar was a 1978 premiere.

[@liljenborg2517]

@@johnnymidnight2982 Battlestar Galactica 1980 (the sequel series set after the Galactica reaches Earth) started in 1980. I looked it up and it indeed started in Jan and was cancelled after the spring season. So it was already over with when the 1980 fall preview came out.

[@johnnymidnight2982]

@@liljenborg2517 Oh! Yeah, I remember that. It takes place on present-day Earth.

[@Halbared]

Tim Berners-Lee, I salute you.

[@jimvanlieshout7657]

1980, year my wife and I were married so looking forward to this episode of the Wayback Machine! And yes, we're still together!

[@theodoreritola7641]

O Aids came out in 1981 Sorry 1980 i didnt like the 80s that much any way s music whys O ya and john Lennon Was Killed in the 80s

[@chrisw6164]

Enos rhymes with a male body part. I am not making a joke.

[@bobrew461]

too close for comfort was based on a british sitcom called "keep it in the family" it was dire as well!

[@BrundleFly868]

Lennon's murder was the first time I remember being deeply affected by the death of a 'celebrity'... truly a tragic loss. On a more positive note, 1980 was the year my family went on holiday to the USA - I was 12 at the time - my brain could barely compute the extraordinary number of television channels available to American audiences - at home, we had 2! Going to Disneyland was pretty cool at that age. Battlestar Galactica must have been a big thing too; I have home movies of my siblings and I harassing a guy in a Cylon costume at Universal Studios! P.S. Breaking Away is one of my favourite movies - didn't know they made a tv prequel... but then we didn't get a lot of these shows in Country-Town Australia.

[@vmpgsc]

In 1980 it was renamed Galactica 1980; they find earth and all sorts of hijinks ensue. I loved season 1 but 1980 was execrably bad.

[@mrhumpty]

My wife and I enjoyed this one. She's a few years older than me and remembered many of these shows and was puzzled about others. These little walks down memory lane are petty cool. Just can't wait until you get to a point where I was at least out of diapers :D

[@OldMan_PJ]

Too Close For Comfort was one of my favorites, Ted Knight had a knack for comedy and playing a cartoonist made him interesting to children watching. I still get the theme song for Bosom Buddies stuck in my head, watched every episode and was sad to see it end.

[@Keopp69]

Remember when Monroe the gay character got raped by a bunch of women in a van?

[@newwavepop]

i use to love it as well, but i just remember always thinking Jim J Bullock was so obviously not into women and i was only like 8, that the premise of the awkwardness between him and the girls always confused me.

[@georges8348]

You got me thinking. about what is the best TV show ever made? Only one stands above all the rest. The Red Green Show . No question. The best darn show ever !

[@CallMeChato]

The Frantics, I say but I won't argue.

[@Hossak]

Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they shall at least find you handy :) - very handy :)

[@jaewok5G]

kysoti

[@ScottRuggels]

Oh man. I was so looking forward to this. No Galactica 1980? Hill Street Blues and Magnum P.I. were appointment TV back then. I still remember "Did you see the sunrise?" on Magnum, after his chipper little navy buddy was killed by the Russian agent...

[@raymondsmith6870]

Two of my all time favorite shows of Hill St Blues and Magnum PI both started in the same year. Hill Street should be credited for revolutionizing tv with it's multilayered serial storytelling breaking away from episodic cops shows like Adam 12 that shows like The Sopranos,Deadwood or Mad Men may not have existed in their present form. Magnum PI is so memorable for having Tom Selleck who could do it all with comedy, drama and action and updating and upending the tired rumpled gumshoe who's office is over a flashing neon sign into a hotshot Navy veteran with the coolest car in tv living in a mansion in Hawaii. Don't forget Sharon Stone had one of her early starring roles on Magnum before she jumped to movies in King Solomon Mines and other films.

[@wavion2]

As someone who was born in 1980 I will say that the average shows from the 80s were better than the average shows now, but the best shows now are better than the best shows from back then. The worst shows are equal for different reasons: now for preachiness, then for cheesiness. I love to complain about modern shows, but the truth is 7 out of 10 of my all-time-favorite shows are from the HD-era.

[@dendostar5436]

Man, shit is real hard right now and DAMMIT I needed this! Follow-up: Ann Jillian’s super hot.

[@toweypat]

I hope things take a turn for the better.

[@dendostar5436]

@@toweypat Oh, thank you. Just turned 40 and got a lot going on.

[@richdurbin6146]

When I was in college, Hill Street Blues was the one weekday show each week that I allowed myself to watch. I remember 'too close for Comfort's' Deborah Van Valkenburgh most from "The Warriors" Sonny Shroyer had it written into his contract that he would return to "The Dukes of Hazzard" if "Enos" failed.

[@kathleenhensley5951]

I can't remember watching any TV that year - except the eruption. I lived in Washington state up near Seattle, and we didn't get dusted as badly as some parts of the eastern WA, did. I was 30. We had just bought our first house, having great fun setting up our life as a married couple in a real house. We had a black and white 12 inch TV. We were at a hardware store and we heard in the checkout line that 'the mountain had gone off' ... watched the Lahars on the Toutle river when we got home. I think that TV was more of a source of news back then. "This is an NBC special report" being words to cause a shiver down my spine. I remember it exactly... I heard of the more popular shows, but we were hardly watching anything, we were so busy fixing up the house... OH, and we had our first computer, an Apple two!! I remember my husband using the TV as a monitor though I think he bought a monitor? Confused about that. (we weren't exactly rich! and the interest on our house loan was making us FAR FAR poorer, 11.75%) The eruption was an incredible event, terribly shocking to everyone. A old man and his cats died instantly. One of the Scientists also died. I remember his last name, Johnson? "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!" Real amazing history to live through. My husband admitted to me, later, he had been considering driving down to Mt St Helens that weekend but we were so busy... God only knows if I'd be here writing this if we had. I'm a science 'nerd'... love Astronomy and Geology, and volcanoes have been a lifelong interest.. and he knew I was fascinated seeing an active one. Glad he decided against it.

[@indetigersscifireview4360]

I remember watching Too Close for Comfort regularly. Mostly for Lydia Cornell, the blonde daughter in the series, but it was a fun watch. Especially when Ted Knight's character was talking to his comic strip creation Cosmic Cow. And I remember the first scene of the first episode when Ted Knight broke his stereotype of being a loud buffoon and showed that he could play a calm, intelligent, and thoughtful character. Ted had some range as an actor.

[@fromthesidelines]

Yet ABC insisted on focusing on the girls {the "sex angle"}. When they cancelled "TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT" in 1983, it continued as a first-run syndicated series in 1984. And the producers and writers could do whatever they wanted without a "network suit" telling them what to focus on. Ted really came into his own at that point, as did the rest of the cast.

[@gregorde]

Probably the first season I remember. What a great year. HSB and Mangnum PI! I’m going to be sad when you run out of years-this is great content.

[@DarioDarrow]

This is about the first year of TV I can remember, I’d have been about 6. The UK started to show all US shows around this time.

[@jnnx]

6:35 A third less tar than the leading filter 85

[@noeldillabough]

Damn 1980 was a good year, I remembered it fondly! Hillstreet blues and magnum pi definitely are standouts

[@skylx0812]

Its A Living did have a snazzy theme song. I vaguely remember that my sisters liked the show.

[@jorgewhittaker6105]

Finally! A tv guide after my birth!... I'm feeling old... :(

[@robw4736]

Love these. Thanks for doing them.

[@chichiboypumpi]

As a non-US citizen I to grew up with pop-culture along with anime, I was very young during reruns of shows M.A.S.H. even Mork and Mindy.

[@london19657]

I've been waiting a long time for this...

[@jaewok5G]

I've resisted watching your TV guide posts because of the anticipated nostalgia … but I'm a weak man. I remember all of this … it was so horrible, and probably has a lot to do with why I am how I am. Wasn't "It's a Living" set at the "Windows on the World" restaurant atop WTC? … I noticed the advert for Tylenol - the reason that everything you can ingest now has plastic shrink wrap and a foil seal. also the name is pronounced "eeeenis" … like 'penis' but no 'p' - I'm sure it's just a coincidence =\ … if you think the 'Dukes of Hazard' was bad, do you remember 'Carter Country?'

[@Gregg29407]

As I remember, "It's A Living" took place in LA, in that round glass skyscraper that always popped up in 70's sci-fi TV shows.

[@jaewok5G]

@@Gregg29407 the capitol records building? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I distinctly remember _a_ show at wtc as clearly as I remember Nelson Mandela dying in the 90's.

[@andrewbobb3170]

Magnum, P.I. led primetime on Thursdays , but the 9:00 slot, Simon & Simon, was the highlight of the night for my family.

[@ankhor9252]

Great stuff. Thank you Big C.

[@ramabass9475]

I loved watching Too Close For Comfort. As a little kid who wanted to draw Comicbooks, I loved that Henry was a comicstrip illustrator with his own franchised character. Can I find it on 4k?🤔

[@toweypat]

Oh jeez, I watched "Enos". Don't ask me why. I know my parents liked "Magnum, PI" and "Hill Street". But wow, what thin gruel overall. Thank goodness for Brandon Tartikoff!

[@schreckpmc]

Oh yeah. Western civilization is definitely in collapse mode. Anyway, the only TV remember in 1980 was soul train, ACC football and the Luke and the Laura saga on general hospital.

[@lance134679]

I watched most of these shows, especially the ones that weren't canceled right away. Pretty good time for TV, but personally I think TV got a lot better when some of my favourite sitcoms started a few years later, such as Cheers, The Cosby Show, Family Ties and Night Court.

[@AlucardNoir]

...hei, that Magnum gui looks like the commissioner in Blue Bloods. I'm starting to think they're played by the same actor 20 years apart. Nah, probably imagining things.

[@zenwolf6073]

Enos was pronounced Eeniss. He was the sheriff's hapless deputy on Dukes. I remember that spin-off. I was glad to see his character growth.

[@TwoSevenX]

Hill Street Blues was definitely a revelation, having an ensemble without having a permanent anchor was definitely risky as hell, especially when every other drama was a character study. This was Bochco's first sneak in work, one of many. For the record the Holstein joke was used in the third episode. Too Close was literally Pun: the Show and Knight was contractually obligated to make the balls-being-electrocuted face one per episode. Enos was pronounced Enis. Dynasty had ratings off and on camera and the stars thereof were in tabloid print as often as they were on camera.

[@zackdemundo]

Wait - what about Galactica 1980? Maybe that debuted in 1979. Hard to recall since I was mostly successful in purging it from my memory banks to make room for more Gilligan’s Island trivia.

[@brenthays6539]

You never watched Dukes of Hazzard? Well, to quote Captain Marvel herself, I guess it “wasn’t made for you”. 🙂

[@ramabass9475]

I loved Too Close For Comfort.

[@BoSmith7045]

I remember watching Those Amazing Animals when I was little. I could have sworn it was on TV for a couple of years. Tho I am probably conflating it with That's Incredible. Burgess Meredith had a penguin on the show ( of course ) named Penny.

[@MrProy33]

Enos rhymes with penis. It was a spinoff from Dukes of Hazzard. I remember that show! "Grits, and greens!"

[@EasyZee69]

I was 11 years old in 1980, and I liked silly slapstick humor and corny jokes. I shied away from the serious shows, so unfortunately I missed out on a lot of good shows like Magnum PI and Hill Street Blues. I did like goofy shows like Giligan's Island, Mork and Mindy, Too Close For Comfort, Bosom Buddies, Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, and so on. But I guess Magnum and Hill Street Blues weren't really meant for kids, the target audience was probably teens to adults.

[@MichaelDavis-cy4ok]

A couple of years ago I bought the entire series of Night Court on DVD. Definitely a staple of my youth. I miss Harry Anderson. And though you're right, The Dukes of Hazzard renders the "intellectual" a loosely used part of "intellectual property," I still have fond memories of watching it with my family. Catherine Bach singlehandedly caused an entire generation of boys to spontaneously go through puberty.

[@michaelconnor1542]

I can not hear My Life by Billy Joel and not think about Boosom Buddies.

[@darrengordon-hill]

1980: The year a celebrity died and democracy happened. *NEVER FORGET!!!!*

[@theinitiate110]

I remember the eruption of Mt St Helens. I was 5 years old and my family was returning from a vacation in the mountains. While driving back to DENVER(we were in Colorado) there were piles of ash on the interstate. I thought it was snow but my mom told me "no, thats ash from the volcano eruption.". My mind was blown.

[@White_Tiger2169]

I moved from Puerto Rico as a kid in the 80s, remember seeing Bloosom Buddies. Too Close For Comfort and Magnum didn't understand what was happening. My cousin had to translated for me and my sister.

[@GaryLASQ]

11:05 That's alright, no need to apologize. I never watched an episode of DoH either (age 16, almost, at the time).

[@forumquorum8156]

I was 13, and there were a lot of crap shows, but i didnt mind too much at the time; i was out riding my bike, playing sports, etc

[@LordEriolTolkien]

I was 12 and remember all these events quite well

[@schreckpmc]

I remember sitting on green ramp at pope AFB twice because of all that Iranian embassy drama.