The China Beach intro still gets me. I watched that show as a very young child and even though I didn't quite know what I was watching it kinda blew my mind.
If I ever watched that show at all, it was repeats on the Lifetime channel. ABC kept that show as long as they possibly could, even though it wasn't a massive hit.
@@davidprice5771 I did a rewatch several years back when our local PBS paired it with Northern Exposure reruns. It held op surprisingly well. The performances in particular were really strong.
The guy singing "In the Heat of the Night" is Bill Champlin, who was lead guitarist for Chicago at that time. Jason Hervey of Wonder Years is a business partner of wrestling personality Eric Bischoff; together they co-produced Hulk Hogan's reality shows for VH1. Olivia D'Abo from Wonder Years is the daughter of former Manfred Mann member Mike D'Abo, and she was in Bo Derek's Bolero (which wouldn't exactly have been a feather in anyone's cap).
@@censusgary Popular? It didn't even make it into the top 30 before it was canceled. Every show CBS put in that time slot was crushed by the top 10 show The Golden Girls.
@@scottlarson1548 I used to watch NBC Saturday nights when it ran comedy roughly between 1985 and 1992. Amen, 227, Nurses, Blossom's first season, Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Carol and Company with Carol Burnett, even Alf for half a season ran on Saturday nights. Eventually 10pm eastern had Hunter, a drama, on Saturdays. I began to see it then.
Wow. That Smothers Brothers opening dialogue was BRUTAL. Material you might expect for an afternoon Nickelodeon (kid show) audience, not prime time adults.
So did David Bianculli, the TV critic of the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. He once told Dana that if they ever revived "HONEY WEST" [his favorite show as a kid], she's be perfect in Anne Francis' role.
My mom was stationed in Germany and we asked our family to send videos with commercials.. We mostly had German T.V or Military T.V and no commercials.. These were the best shows of 88'. Except Lane Frost death of course by the the time I saw it, old news. RIP Lane.. I cried it was so sad..
R I P Alan Young from Coming of age and Mr Ed in 1960s (he died 2016) Carroll o Connor from In the Heart of the night and all in the family in 1970s ( he died 2001)
Just the Ten of Us was a spin off of Growing Pains. It was part of TGIF and it was my favorite show for a time. Does anyone else remember the Brady Bunch episode of Day by Day. Christopher Daniel Barnes, who played Ross went on to play Greg in the first two Brady movies.
+Kristin Márie Yes, I remember that episode. In fact that was the only episode I saw. Never knew Christopher Barnes would end up playing Greg Brady in the movies. He did sort of look like a Brady when I saw that short-lived show.
This show was a favorite of mine. The dad character was a college roommate of Steven Keaton’s from Family Ties. And this show had an amazing episode with 2/3 of the Brady Bunch cast guest starring. Christopher Daniel Barnes got his role as Greg in the Brady Bunch movies from that episode.
"THE HIGHWAYMAN", one of Brandon Tartikoff's "MTV-inspired" series on NBC's Friday night schedule (he kept trying to program a "compatible" show for "MIAMI VICE", but could never find one that lasted more than one season), lasted 10 episodes, and was filmed in and around Phoenix, Arizona.
I was working in an office building on Central and Camelback (One East Camelback) and they filmed a scene in our parking garage. I remember not being able to park there on the weekend when I had to work. Can't remember where I parked. Maybe at Uptown Plaza across the street. I remember watching the episode looking for the scenes of the garage.
The sci-fi connects do not end there, you also have: Jane Badler (Diana on 'V') The Highwayman Peter Jurasik (Londo Molari on 'Babylon 5') Beverly Hills Buntz Carmen Argenziano (Jacob Carter on 'Stargate SG1') HeartBeat
@@ambercarver791 It's less about the commercials than it is not giving the viewer an excuse to change the channel. There are a lot more options and we have a shorter attention span.
I loved China Beach! It treated the Vietnam War with respect. I have a funny story about In The Heat of the Night: my parents LOVED that series! It was one that we frequently watched as a family. After it'd been on a couple seasons, I had a chance to see the original theatrical movie on cable, probably Movie Channel, & had thoroughly enjoyed it. Some time later, when it was on again, I told my folks I wanted to put it on, explaining that it was the original movie that had INSPIRED the TV show! I thought they understood that: it wasn't a TV movie with the TV cast, it was the original movie that'd INSPIRED it! So, when the movie came on, my mom was shocked that Carroll O'Connor wasn't in it! (In all honesty, tho, this was a typical pattern of me & my mom, so much so I sometimes wondered why I bothered telling her things! I mean, if she's not gonna pay attention to me...?) I reiterated, AGAIN, that this was the original movie that had inspired the show, back before anyone had any idea it would one day be turned into a TV series. And, we watched the movie... I recall watching Aaron's Way, but not regularly. Maybe there was a conflict on another channel? (I had my own set in the bedroom, but only the living room TV was hooked up to cable.) Story I recall surrounding the SuperCarrier pilot movie: the Navy wasn't happy with the inclusion of female crew members on the show. This was back before the U.S. Armed Forces were as sexually integrated as they are now, & military hardliners were arguing against women in service. So-- in fact-- the short-lived series was ahead of its time: accurately PREDICTING that women would one day serve alongside men on Navy vessels with honor & distinction! The Highwayman was on at 5 p.m., meaning that I was EATING DINNER thru most of however long its run was, & I only discovered it by accident when Mother was running late making dinner. All of the best, most intriguing, quirky sci-fi shows always seemed to be in the dinner time slot, so I'm upstairs in my room trying to watch a FULL EPISODE while my mom's yelling at me to come down & eat! I think I saw MOST of the last 3 episodes of Highwayman before cancelation: enough to be left hopelessly intrigued & frustrated at the same time! What exactly was it about, anyways? (I had more luck with a series about a do-gooder on a super motorcycle & wearing hi-tech armor. Three seasons, either early enough that it was "before" dinner-- meaning I'm only 10 minutes late to dinner-- or "after" dinner, I was able to follow the story. Only episode I recall had a nefarious scientist "simplify" his victims' brains, making them his slaves. Nighthawk? Streethawk? Something like that!) Watched some Gary Shandling Show. America's Most Wanted was a long-running hit on Fox. It was still on when 9/11 happened! Idiotically, I turned it on that week, when I was burnt out from all the coverage, but should've known better: instead of the scheduled episode, Walsh & his camera crew were at Ground Zero, interviewing the construction workers (cutting up the tangled steel), firefighters, police & FBI agents working the active crime site.
Street Hawk was the Motorcycle version of Knight Rider (for lack of a better term) and while it finally came out in 1985, I think it's in the 1984 Video from this channel (it got held back)
According to IMDB, The Highwayman "Series starring a big high-tech 18-wheeler. The driver, the title's 'Highwayman' was one of a team of federal marshals empowered to right wrongs "where ordinary laws do not reach" - and to haul special cargo. The truck was heavily armed, and had a cab that turned into a helicopter for quick escapes."
Day By Day had a sorta famous episode where the teenage son dreamed that he was a member of the Brady Bunch. The entire cast appeared with the main joke being that Mike and Carol were always drinking coffee at the kitchen table. Ironically, the kid who played the son played Greg Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie.
I am still sad about Hugh O'Connors death. Ended the series as Carol refused to continue. He ended up suing a guy who gave his son drugs to use. Famous court case. In 2002 Carol passed away. Same day as Sammy Davis Jr.
I can actually remember just starting the 8'th grade and watching the first episode of The Wonder Years which I think would air on Sunday nights for at least the first season
Patricia's next TV series was "FM" (1989-90), which was from the same producers as Eisenhower & Lutz. It even featured DeLane Matthews and Leo Geter as well.
okay...so glad Eisenhower & Lutz didn't make it...Quantum Leap would have been WAY different (and might not have made it with someone else playing Sam)
_China Beach_ , _The Wonder Years_ , _In the Heat of the Night_ - all were mid-season replacements? How did I forget this? Putting this comment only a few minutes in, and I know I may have to edit it momentarily to note some other super-popular show in this collection. Blown away by the quality of that year's midseason.
Seems like I remember more shows from 1968 (when I was a 6th-7th grader) than 1988 (when I was 32). I didn't know the Smothers Brothers had a show in 1988 but I do remember their sitcom from 1965.
Technically you could include _The Dirty Dozen_ in that, since the movie came out in the late 1960s, irrespective of when it was set. I'm wondering to what extent it was a function of the portion of the audience as well as the portion of the studio execs who were Boomers. The oldest Boomers would have just turned 40 a couple of years before, and the youngest were reaching their mid-twenties.
13:40- "You look at that girl and say, 'She belongs in television'. She has a face that lights up the screen." -Fred Silverman [NBC's president] on Kate Mulgrew, just before she appeared as "MRS. COLUMBO" {"KATE COLUMBO", "KATE THE DETECTIVE", "KATE LOVES A MYSTERY"}, February 1979
Never knew Solid Gold lasted till 1988. I watched it between 82 and 86. I don't recall it after that. By 1988 was watching MTV and VH-1 and Friday Night Videos. Likewise I never saw American Bandstand, which ended in 1987, until reruns on VH-1. I was born in 1978 so 9 when AB went off air and 10 when SG ended.
Too bad about China Beach, ABC didn't give enough support for it. & It was going to show 10 more final eps on another network, but never came through. Marg was just luminous on that show.
wow I never new that the tom and tom brothers skit from in living color was a spoof or spin off of this smothers bros wow you find a lot out when you start looking back
I would see anything Mr. Franz did, what an amazing actor. And interesting Louise-Dreyfuss character was named here Eileen...just shuffled and added a letter "a" for her "next assignment´s name", lol
Yeah, I hear ya.😆 That was one of the shows I was stuck watching when I was a tween/teenager living with my grandma at the time. She liked the main actor because he was on Little House On The Prairie, and show reminded her of that show. Me, not so much, but I had no choice. It was either see that, or go in the bedroom to watch my shows on the crappy color tv.
One of the things that made _China Beach_ a hit was Marg Helbenberger and the fact she played K.C. to the hilt as the cold, callus, calculating c**t she was originally conceived as all the way through the finale. She made it impossible to feel sorry for her..and that was the point Viewers were supposed to wish she met a bad end before the show was over.. and then be pissed she survived. Dana Delaney as McMurphy, though and Jeff Kober as "Dodger", though.. they were the heart and soul of the show.
China Beach was a good show! I saw it as a person too young to quite get what it was about but I recall one episode where they threw a bunch of food on the ground and ran it over with a truck and said there’s today’s rations. And someone was sick and needed salt and they threw it on the ground, and I guess that stuck in my mind somehow.
Our family was so bummed when _Beverly Hills Buntz_ flopped, because Dennis Franz is married to a family friend they know from their recruiting company. Seemed back then like he'd finally gotten his big break and then it dried up. Little did we know _NYPD Blue_ would come along and make him a household name. (Not to mention making his bare butt nationally famous!)
Spot the Star Trek: Voyager cast member! Janeway is a Doctor, the Doctor was in Nam, and Tuvok… I don't even know what kind of Show The Highwayman was.
Nick Bell THE HIGHWAYMAN were deep-cover federal agents who policed & surveilled the highways & byways of the country. And investigating/enforcing federal laws. State & local police agencies not w/standing. Imagine KNIGHT RIDER w/ a super-truck instead of a tlkg car.
@@kjk7611 Couldn't have said it Better... IIRC 'Tuvok' was 'da Chief'... their stick in the mud supervisor who always wanted to fire them, but deep down respected their work and would be willing to risk his job to save them
Fun fact. Just the 10 of us was a top 20 show in the ratings but was cancelled due to corporate politics at ABC. They wanted the TGIF lineup to be produced by the same production company. But it did have a long life in syndication.
"In Stereo Where Available" The mark of a show of the mid/late 80s.
Haha yes
Only on NBC
“It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” had what had to be the most inspired lyrics ever for a TV series theme song.
The China Beach intro still gets me. I watched that show as a very young child and even though I didn't quite know what I was watching it kinda blew my mind.
Same
If I ever watched that show at all, it was repeats on the Lifetime channel. ABC kept that show as long as they possibly could, even though it wasn't a massive hit.
It was that Motown song & the way they edited it to the intro that captured me. Actually never watched the show, though.
Just bought the series on DVD and binging it now.
@@davidprice5771 I did a rewatch several years back when our local PBS paired it with Northern Exposure reruns. It held op surprisingly well. The performances in particular were really strong.
Thank you, Rwdt09 for posting these. Its very entertaining!
Gary shandlings opening song was my favorite intro
that was also the best show.....i used to have to chase it to watch it...
LOL The opening theme song is really all I remember about the show. I think I watched it a few times.
The guy singing "In the Heat of the Night" is Bill Champlin, who was lead guitarist for Chicago at that time. Jason Hervey of Wonder Years is a business partner of wrestling personality Eric Bischoff; together they co-produced Hulk Hogan's reality shows for VH1. Olivia D'Abo from Wonder Years is the daughter of former Manfred Mann member Mike D'Abo, and she was in Bo Derek's Bolero (which wouldn't exactly have been a feather in anyone's cap).
I always wanted to go on Double Dare as a kid!
I loved the Smothers Brothers but, come on, a 70's style variety show in 1988 had no chance.
It was cancelled because they wanted to use the word "doody" on the air. Otherwise, it was a big hit with all ages.
Really..I thought it was corny
It was popular. It got canceled because the network was uncomfortable with the anti-Reagan bent of the show.
@@censusgary Popular? It didn't even make it into the top 30 before it was canceled. Every show CBS put in that time slot was crushed by the top 10 show The Golden Girls.
@@scottlarson1548 I used to watch NBC Saturday nights when it ran comedy roughly between 1985 and 1992. Amen, 227, Nurses, Blossom's first season, Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Carol and Company with Carol Burnett, even Alf for half a season ran on Saturday nights. Eventually 10pm eastern had Hunter, a drama, on Saturdays. I began to see it then.
Wow. That Smothers Brothers opening dialogue was BRUTAL. Material you might expect for an afternoon Nickelodeon (kid show) audience, not prime time adults.
I wish Pat Paulsen was still alive so I could vote for him.
It was a terrible idea for an opening dialogue but, wow, the execution was even worse.
Heartbeat was shown in the UK. The theme tune still haunts me now, as it did then. Thanks for including this :)
That song is just awful!😆😆😆
I had such a mad crush on Dana Delaney. Still do, frankly.
Heck yes! That woman gets finer with time.
@@NavySharkz Well.....
Though didn't realize that she was THAT HAWT until I saw her in Exit to Eden. That best thing about it for sure!
So did David Bianculli, the TV critic of the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. He once told Dana that if they ever revived "HONEY WEST" [his favorite show as a kid], she's be perfect in Anne Francis' role.
My Saturday nights. Cops and America's Most Wanted.
Tom and Dick so cool, they parodied themselves on In Living Color as the singing voices of The Brothers Brothers.
Loved China Beach and the Wonder Years.
Scott Bakula is an amazingly good-looking man.
10 Hours later....there you go!
Love his "Enterprise."
China Beach was in 1988? Damn, I am getting old...
I loved China Beach. I bought a boxed set about 5 years ago.
Ya really eh. Said the same thing...aww fukkk China Beach. Dam. I remember that. I had it for Dana BIG TIME.
So was _Tour Of Duty._
@maxmulsanne7054 , I think Tour of Duty was in 1990.
My mom was stationed in Germany and we asked our family to send videos with commercials.. We mostly had German T.V or Military T.V and no commercials.. These were the best shows of 88'. Except Lane Frost death of course by the the time I saw it, old news. RIP Lane.. I cried it was so sad..
R I P
Alan Young from Coming of age and Mr Ed in 1960s (he died 2016)
Carroll o Connor from In the Heart of the night and all in the family in 1970s ( he died 2001)
I didn't know about that show with Scott Bakula. I'm glad it failed otherwise he wouldn't have had the success with Quantum Leap.
+minahsmom1 I know right? QL might not have happened, might not have been as successful...sounds like a job for Sam LOL
Same with JLD and Seinfeld.
Just the Ten of Us was a spin off of Growing Pains. It was part of TGIF and it was my favorite show for a time.
Does anyone else remember the Brady Bunch episode of Day by Day. Christopher Daniel Barnes, who played Ross went on to play Greg in the first two Brady movies.
+Kristin Márie Yes, I remember that episode. In fact that was the only episode I saw. Never knew Christopher Barnes would end up playing Greg Brady in the movies. He did sort of look like a Brady when I saw that short-lived show.
It was funny when he showed the report card and Bobby said they were stupid too that's why they still lived at home
Kristin Márie RIP RGIF :(
Loved that episode, along with all the others. Had a HUGE crush on Christopher Daniel Barnes at the time.
@@ambercarver791 By chance did voicing Prince Eric in "The Little Mermaid" add to this crush?
9:40 Courtney Thorne-Smith (pre Melrose Place) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (pre Seinfeld) in something called Day by Day.
This show was a favorite of mine. The dad character was a college roommate of Steven Keaton’s from Family Ties. And this show had an amazing episode with 2/3 of the Brady Bunch cast guest starring. Christopher Daniel Barnes got his role as Greg in the Brady Bunch movies from that episode.
"THE HIGHWAYMAN", one of Brandon Tartikoff's "MTV-inspired" series on NBC's Friday night schedule (he kept trying to program a "compatible" show for "MIAMI VICE", but could never find one that lasted more than one season), lasted 10 episodes, and was filmed in and around Phoenix, Arizona.
Barry I. Grauman And the star was FLAS GORDON & his side-kick was The NEW ENERGIZER MAN.
I was working in an office building on Central and Camelback (One East Camelback) and they filmed a scene in our parking garage. I remember not being able to park there on the weekend when I had to work. Can't remember where I parked. Maybe at Uptown Plaza across the street. I remember watching the episode looking for the scenes of the garage.
I found it online some time ago... it's Grade-A Cheddar... but Your inner 10 year old should love it...
Jane Badler (what a gorgeous woman)!....
What did MTV have to do with it?
As I recall, back then MTV featured music videos, instead of whatever’s on the channel now.
What lovely opening credits for Aaron's Way. Never even heard of that one before.
I swear it started as a "made for Tv movie" (two hour Pilot) and I've seen said Pilot in rotation on TV before...
my parents loved this show
If I had known Jane Badler was in The Highwayman,I would have given it a try.She was stunning.
Yeah, V & Mission Impossible!...
I had no idea what "Breaking the fouth wall" meant until Gary Shandling's show came around.
For me it was Saved By The Bell as Zach Morris always talked to the audience.
@@alanvallazza9781 yes!!! And Ferris Bueller.
So many future Star Trek actors this season: Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ! (So, three Voyagers plus an Enterprise...)
The sci-fi connects do not end there, you also have:
Jane Badler (Diana on 'V') The Highwayman
Peter Jurasik (Londo Molari on 'Babylon 5') Beverly Hills Buntz
Carmen Argenziano (Jacob Carter on 'Stargate SG1') HeartBeat
Wonder Years 1st premier was right after Washington Trounced Denver in the Super Bowl.
I remember seeing it. In particular the very end of the episode ❤️
Before there was Jerry Seinfeld, there was the Gary Shandling show!
...& he was just as unfunny.
@@laustcawz2089 If only we had more "unfunny" people like that, the world would be a better place.
How can you say unfunny Both were brilliant comedians
Gosh I remember day by day, wow...
Is it just me or were TV show intros a lot longer back then than they are now?
They have to be shorter because there are so many more commercials these days.
@@ambercarver791 I was actually thinking along those lines but I wanted to see if anyone else felt the same way.
@@ambercarver791 It's less about the commercials than it is not giving the viewer an excuse to change the channel. There are a lot more options and we have a shorter attention span.
I feel safer whenever Optimus Prime tells me that I should...
good year for theme songs
So many great shows premiered that year. I was 8 years old. What a time to be a kid!
I can't ever forget how crazy America went over "Airjazzmania". What a crazy time.
Wtf is an air jazz…?
I really liked Probe and Eisenhower & Lutz. I remember being really disappointed they didn't last longer. Shame they're not available to stream now.
I loved China Beach! It treated the Vietnam War with respect.
I have a funny story about In The Heat of the Night: my parents LOVED that series! It was one that we frequently watched as a family. After it'd been on a couple seasons, I had a chance to see the original theatrical movie on cable, probably Movie Channel, & had thoroughly enjoyed it. Some time later, when it was on again, I told my folks I wanted to put it on, explaining that it was the original movie that had INSPIRED the TV show! I thought they understood that: it wasn't a TV movie with the TV cast, it was the original movie that'd INSPIRED it!
So, when the movie came on, my mom was shocked that Carroll O'Connor wasn't in it! (In all honesty, tho, this was a typical pattern of me & my mom, so much so I sometimes wondered why I bothered telling her things! I mean, if she's not gonna pay attention to me...?)
I reiterated, AGAIN, that this was the original movie that had inspired the show, back before anyone had any idea it would one day be turned into a TV series. And, we watched the movie...
I recall watching Aaron's Way, but not regularly. Maybe there was a conflict on another channel? (I had my own set in the bedroom, but only the living room TV was hooked up to cable.)
Story I recall surrounding the SuperCarrier pilot movie: the Navy wasn't happy with the inclusion of female crew members on the show. This was back before the U.S. Armed Forces were as sexually integrated as they are now, & military hardliners were arguing against women in service. So-- in fact-- the short-lived series was ahead of its time: accurately PREDICTING that women would one day serve alongside men on Navy vessels with honor & distinction!
The Highwayman was on at 5 p.m., meaning that I was EATING DINNER thru most of however long its run was, & I only discovered it by accident when Mother was running late making dinner. All of the best, most intriguing, quirky sci-fi shows always seemed to be in the dinner time slot, so I'm upstairs in my room trying to watch a FULL EPISODE while my mom's yelling at me to come down & eat! I think I saw MOST of the last 3 episodes of Highwayman before cancelation: enough to be left hopelessly intrigued & frustrated at the same time!
What exactly was it about, anyways?
(I had more luck with a series about a do-gooder on a super motorcycle & wearing hi-tech armor. Three seasons, either early enough that it was "before" dinner-- meaning I'm only 10 minutes late to dinner-- or "after" dinner, I was able to follow the story. Only episode I recall had a nefarious scientist "simplify" his victims' brains, making them his slaves. Nighthawk? Streethawk? Something like that!)
Watched some Gary Shandling Show.
America's Most Wanted was a long-running hit on Fox. It was still on when 9/11 happened! Idiotically, I turned it on that week, when I was burnt out from all the coverage, but should've known better: instead of the scheduled episode, Walsh & his camera crew were at Ground Zero, interviewing the construction workers (cutting up the tangled steel), firefighters, police & FBI agents working the active crime site.
Street Hawk was the Motorcycle version of Knight Rider (for lack of a better term) and while it finally came out in 1985, I think it's in the 1984 Video from this channel (it got held back)
According to IMDB, The Highwayman "Series starring a big high-tech 18-wheeler. The driver, the title's 'Highwayman' was one of a team of federal marshals empowered to right wrongs "where ordinary laws do not reach" - and to haul special cargo. The truck was heavily armed, and had a cab that turned into a helicopter for quick escapes."
Elaine playing Eileen.
The late 80s loved the fuck out of the late 60s.
I need to give China Beach a Re-watch so much of it was over my head back in the day
I loved it, and I got it. I was only 14
Seriously, though, America's Most Wanted has helped catch a lot of dangerous and violent criminals. It really worked.
Of course.
Day By Day had a sorta famous episode where the teenage son dreamed that he was a member of the Brady Bunch. The entire cast appeared with the main joke being that Mike and Carol were always drinking coffee at the kitchen table. Ironically, the kid who played the son played Greg Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie.
Yeah, the episode in "Bradyvision".
that's the only episode of Day By Day that I remember...
Marcia was very pregnant and Bobby had a mustache
When Howard Rollins died, I was so pissed. Such a good actor. Caroll O’Conner really had his back. RIH to both.
I am still sad about Hugh O'Connors death. Ended the series as Carol refused to continue. He ended up suing a guy who gave his son drugs to use. Famous court case. In 2002 Carol passed away. Same day as Sammy Davis Jr.
@alanvallazza9781 that really was so tragic.
I can actually remember just starting the 8'th grade and watching the first episode of The Wonder Years which I think would air on Sunday nights for at least the first season
Would it be possible to show opening credits for 80s Mini Series like The Thorn Birds, North & South, etc.? I love your posts!!
Patricia next television show is home improvement
Julia Louis Dreyfus next television show is Seinfeld
Patricia's next TV series was "FM" (1989-90), which was from the same producers as Eisenhower & Lutz. It even featured DeLane Matthews and Leo Geter as well.
The 'Family Man' looks and sounds like a parody of 1980s television.
So in other words, it was really lame.
@@not-so-smartaleck8987 Yep.
Believe me, it *was.* Richard Libertini deserved a better series.
@@YokozunaNumber1 a bunch of ham and eggers there Monsoon.
@@MrRyan-wu4jx will you stop?
okay...so glad Eisenhower & Lutz didn't make it...Quantum Leap would have been WAY different (and might not have made it with someone else playing Sam)
and Home Improvement would've had a different "mom", not Patricia Richardson.
Look at Tuvoc looking all late 1970's in the late 1980's.
And Robert Picardo when he had hair!
The Wonder Years one of best shows ever.
Order of the Phoenix the wonder years sucks ass stupid show
I don't know if I'd call it one of the best ever, but it was a good show--maybe the only one of these that I actually watched (sometimes).
The Wonder Years I still watch it till this day never get old
_China Beach_ , _The Wonder Years_ , _In the Heat of the Night_ - all were mid-season replacements? How did I forget this? Putting this comment only a few minutes in, and I know I may have to edit it momentarily to note some other super-popular show in this collection. Blown away by the quality of that year's midseason.
Seems like I remember more shows from 1968 (when I was a 6th-7th grader) than 1988 (when I was 32). I didn't know the Smothers Brothers had a show in 1988 but I do remember their sitcom from 1965.
In your defense, when you were in 6th grade you probably didn't have anywhere else to go or be 🤷🏻♀️
Aaron's Way has a lovely opening theme.
I'm guessing that was an NBC show.
We couldn't pick up NBC no matter how many times we turned the antenna lol.
We could get ABC and CBS.
China Beach. The Smothers Brothers. Wonder Years.
That Big Chill to Forrest Gump era was SO in love with the 60s!
And Heat of the Night
Technically you could include _The Dirty Dozen_ in that, since the movie came out in the late 1960s, irrespective of when it was set. I'm wondering to what extent it was a function of the portion of the audience as well as the portion of the studio execs who were Boomers. The oldest Boomers would have just turned 40 a couple of years before, and the youngest were reaching their mid-twenties.
seems like a good sitcom time 1988 springtime a lot of shows I recognize
13:40- "You look at that girl and say, 'She belongs in television'. She has a face that lights up the screen."
-Fred Silverman [NBC's president] on Kate Mulgrew, just before she appeared as "MRS. COLUMBO" {"KATE COLUMBO", "KATE THE DETECTIVE", "KATE LOVES A MYSTERY"}, February 1979
“Stereo where available” couldn’t help most of these bombs.
A lot of throwback memberberries to the 60s during the 1980s. I guess the 70s did the same thing with the 50s; Happy Days, Sha Na Na, etc
I'm watching more of these past TV season reviews because of recent events this is an America that is gone.
In Living Color really didn't exaggerate 🤣😂😅
13:40 Captain Janeway, what are you doing?
Wondering why "the Doctor" is on China Beach
I’ve never heard of Coming
Of age.I loved day by day.I think it was in life time.
They cancelled Solid Gold and Magnum PI but thought some of these shows were a good idea.
Never knew Solid Gold lasted till 1988. I watched it between 82 and 86. I don't recall it after that. By 1988 was watching MTV and VH-1 and Friday Night Videos. Likewise I never saw American Bandstand, which ended in 1987, until reruns on VH-1. I was born in 1978 so 9 when AB went off air and 10 when SG ended.
Too bad about China Beach, ABC didn't give enough support for it. & It was going to show 10 more final eps on another network, but never came through. Marg was just luminous on that show.
Yeah, I remember China Beach well and really loved that show. That and Tour of Duty were two of my favorite later 80s shows.
She was better on this one than on CSI!...
Looked like it was expensive to produce.
Julia Louise-Dreyfus on Day By Day!
Ben Masters before Passions, too! 😊
All the themes sound like early 90s video games.
I loved the Garry Shandling Show.
wow I never new that the tom and tom brothers skit from in living color was a spoof or spin off of this smothers bros wow you find a lot out when you start looking back
The Brothers Brothers.
They were brothers who were brothers. The skit wrote itself. 😁
American Most Wanted was my favorite show.
John Ashley mine too!
Yeah it was a favorite at our house. We would always watch it to see if any of our relatives came up on the radar.
The Smothers Brothers weren’t meant for the late 80s.
"There oughtta be a law protecting girls from boys like you" lol there are several. but scott bakula can teleport so good luck apprehending him
Oh, so the Smothers Brothers came back, huh? Good.
I would see anything Mr. Franz did, what an amazing actor. And interesting Louise-Dreyfuss character was named here Eileen...just shuffled and added a letter "a" for her "next assignment´s name", lol
I'd rather live without electricity than be forced to watch Aaron's Way.
It wasn't *that* bad.
Yeah, I hear ya.😆 That was one of the shows I was stuck watching when I was a tween/teenager living with my grandma at the time. She liked the main actor because he was on Little House On The Prairie, and show reminded her of that show. Me, not so much, but I had no choice. It was either see that, or go in the bedroom to watch my shows on the crappy color tv.
Wow... going from China Beach, Wonder Years, and In the Heat of the Night to Beverly Hills Buntz was such a plummet
One of the things that made _China Beach_ a hit was Marg Helbenberger and the fact she played K.C. to the hilt as the cold, callus, calculating c**t she was originally conceived as all the way through the finale. She made it impossible to feel sorry for her..and that was the point Viewers were supposed to wish she met a bad end before the show was over.. and then be pissed she survived. Dana Delaney as McMurphy, though and Jeff Kober as "Dodger", though.. they were the heart and soul of the show.
China Beach was a good show! I saw it as a person too young to quite get what it was about but I recall one episode where they threw a bunch of food on the ground and ran it over with a truck and said there’s today’s rations. And someone was sick and needed salt and they threw it on the ground, and I guess that stuck in my mind somehow.
Scott Bakula before he was Sam Beckett, Captain Jonathan Archer, or DeWayne Pride.
Just the 10 Of Us, not a great show but man the eye candy (especially Heather Langencamp) was undeniable.
I agree with you
I think it was a way better show
than "Growing Pains".
@@laustcawz2089 It had it's good moments.
The mom and three of the daughters.
4:12 hooray, wonder years :) :)
Our family was so bummed when _Beverly Hills Buntz_ flopped, because Dennis Franz is married to a family friend they know from their recruiting company. Seemed back then like he'd finally gotten his big break and then it dried up. Little did we know _NYPD Blue_ would come along and make him a household name. (Not to mention making his bare butt nationally famous!)
These shows remind me of how much TV that I didn’t watch. 😆😆😆
In the heat of the night!
The year I finished high school! WOW! I really miss the common sense days!!
Tuvok was on the Highwayman.
That would make 3 Future Voyager Crew members with shows in the '88 season (Janeway & the Doctor are also in the video)
8:52 Patricia Richardson (pre Home Improvement) in something called Eisenhower & Lutz.
She spent most of the eighties bouncing from one crappy sitcom to another before landing Home Improvement.
Spot the Star Trek: Voyager cast member! Janeway is a Doctor, the Doctor was in Nam, and Tuvok… I don't even know what kind of Show The Highwayman was.
Nick Bell THE HIGHWAYMAN were deep-cover federal agents who policed & surveilled the highways & byways of the country. And investigating/enforcing federal laws. State & local police agencies not w/standing. Imagine KNIGHT RIDER w/ a super-truck instead of a tlkg car.
@@kjk7611 Couldn't have said it Better... IIRC 'Tuvok' was 'da Chief'... their stick in the mud supervisor who always wanted to fire them, but deep down respected their work and would be willing to risk his job to save them
@@kjk7611 And a helicopter inside that super-truck. With 1980 Flash Gordon's Sam Jones & V's Jane Badler!....
@@kjk7611 And a helicopter inside that super-truck. With 1980 Flash Gordon's Sam Jones & V's Jane Badler!....
5:20 Carroll O'Connor (from 70s show All in the Family) in, In the Heat of the Night.
That Smothers Brothers show was golden.
No, it was platinum.
I have to see if China beach has episodes anywhere. Also the Amish show is lovely,, I loved Aaron's way
I recognize most of these shows. But I had totally forgotten about just the 10 of us. Now I'm going to have to search RUclips for episodes. LoL
You may still forget it even after you watch. It's that bad.
@@tejaswoman You are not wrong. I forgot how absolutely '80s cheese it is. I guess it was fun at the time, but it's not as fun watching it now. LoL 🤣
Fun fact. Just the 10 of us was a top 20 show in the ratings but was cancelled due to corporate politics at ABC. They wanted the TGIF lineup to be produced by the same production company. But it did have a long life in syndication.
@@robertclark6349 that was indeed a fun fact. Thank you! I remember enjoying the show very much
I did not know Robert Picardo was on China Beach...with hair, no less!
China beach was a spring show...wow didn’t know that
I remember it vividly. I had my own TV and I used to watch this every week
The Highwayman had a badasss theme song
By Dave Fisher and Rocky Davis.
Great Maker! Does Londo look different.
Jacko as Jetto
Coming of Age had the same theme song and the same opening of showing old photographs as the show Daddy Dearest with Don Rickles and Richard Lewis
China Beach. Was everything.
The Wonder Years and Just the Ten of Us!!
The Beverly Hills Buntz theme music is a ripoff from the 1986 film Crossroads where Steve Vai has a guitar battle with Ralph Macchio.
Haaa good ear! Even has the harmony parts and slide guitar. Blind Dog Fulton would whoop their ass for ripping off his music! 😂
Linda Kelsey was great in Lou Grant