Remember When...

[tactical_nuke]

PORKCHOP SANDWICHES

[Zagnorch]

For some reason, my fave childhood things tended to be different from that of others. It wasn't because I was willfully trying to be different or "ironic" like some proto-hipster; my different tastes were quite earnest and sincere. For example, I might be the only person in existence who liked 15-piece Vehicle Voltron more than 5-piece Lion Voltron. My favorite show in the Disney Afternoon lineup was TaleSpin. And what self-respecting child-of-the-80s would make Night Court his favorite sitcom? On the flip side, I never found The Cosby Show even remotely funny whatsoever.

BTW anybody remember Burger King's disastrous "Where's Herb?" ad campaign? For some reason, that pops up in my mind every time someone brings up "Where's the beef?"

[shaggy]

For some reason, my fave childhood things tended to be different from that of others. It wasn't because I was willfully trying to be different or "ironic" like some proto-hipster; my different tastes were quite earnest and sincere. For example, I might be the only person in existence who liked 15-piece Vehicle Voltron more than 5-piece Lion Voltron. My favorite show in the Disney Afternoon lineup was TaleSpin. And what self-respecting child-of-the-80s would make Night Court his favorite sitcom? On the flip side, I never found The Cosby Show even remotely funny whatsoever.

BTW anybody remember Burger King's disastrous "Where's Herb?" ad campaign? For some reason, that pops up in my mind every time someone brings up "Where's the beef?"

Dang, how could I forget about Talespin?  I loved that show!  Along with Duck Tales and Darkwing Duck.  Night Court was a favorite along with Married With Children.  Cosby show I never really liked.  Sounds like we have the same tastes...  Don't recall "Where's Herb?", though.

[shaggy]

He-Man PSA

[shaggy]

He-Man Montage PSA

[Zagnorch]

Dang, how could I forget about Talespin?

TaleSpin... and, later, Gargoyles, were the only two Disney Afternoon shows I ever really cared for. 'Course, it didn't hurt that I was into Star Trek The Next Generation at the time, and half the cast was doing voice-over work on Gargoyles.

Don't recall "Where's Herb?", though.

The "Where's Herb?" campaign was one of those things I'd completely forgotten about until I was reminded of it in a cracked.com list article some time back. Which goes to show how much of a flop the campaign was.

A little background on the debacle can be read here: http://www.goretro.com/20...ertising-fail-burger.html

Hey, I just realized something: the 1980s was probably the only time saxophonists were full members of pop & rock bands, and not just temp hires for recording sessions. You had Clarence Clemons with Bruce Springsteen's E-Street band, along with "Johnny!" Colla from Huey Lewis & the News...





..."ALL RIGHT RICO!" letting Billy Joel know what rock-and-roll still is to him...




...that lady who helped Glenn Frey out in "The Heat is On" and "You Belong to the City"...





...and what's-his-face in Men at Work.





Of course, the pop-rock-sax-guy was forever ruined when this unholy abomination was unleashed on the unsuspecting masses:



Molesting Mr. Garrison was the least of his crimes against humanity.


All right, it's time for me to stop geezing, and let someone else pick up the slack for a little while.

NEXT!

[shaggy]

Good picks, Zag.

[Zagnorch]

Good picks, Zag.

Speaking of "picks:"




BTW did anyone here watch The Great Space Coaster? I caught a few episodes from time to time. Sadly, I admitted this to someone in middle school, and when the word spread, a good portion of the student body thought I was a "fag" for watching it. Bad enough I was already one of the biggest losers in the place, and now this. It's one of an endless string of reasons why I have complete and utter contempt for humanity. Yeah, that's right: F*CK PEOPLE! But figuratively, not literally, 'cuz that just leads to even more people. And Eon knows we don't need any more of that bullsh*t.

Man, I need a little pick-me-up to counter all this misanthropy. It's time to take in an episode of nothing less than the second-greatest sketch comedy show to come from the Great White North: You Can't Do That on Television!


Where Nickelodeon's trademark green slime originated from.


And when the latest episode was over, it was off to the back room to play a little Gridrunner on the family computer:

 


Human interaction? Feh, who needs it.

[shaggy]

Remember Zayres sp? stores and when people could actually smoke inside buildings, even hospitals?

[Zagnorch]

Remember Zayres sp? stores

'Fraid not; there were none of those to be found out west. What could be found out west, particularly in southern and central California back in the mid-to-late 80s, were commercials for Federated electronics stores. Noted Hollywood b-lister Shadoe Stevens made the big time writing and starring in just about every silly Federated TV spot.



If you've seen Lethal Weapon, you might recognize the commercial that starts at 1:18.

and when people could actually smoke inside buildings, even hospitals?

Ma was a smoker, so I do recall smoking in restaurants at least. I don't miss those days.

[shaggy]

Ma was a smoker, so I do recall smoking in restaurants at least. I don't miss those days.

Agreed!  Great Coaster, heard the name but that is it.  You can't do that on television was awesome!  I forgot about that!  And Mr. Wizard!  What's the first best Canadian show?

[Zagnorch]

Ma was a smoker, so I do recall smoking in restaurants at least. I don't miss those days.

Agreed!  Great Coaster, heard the name but that is it.

It was a live-action-with-puppets type deal. Edjamacashunal stuff, like Sesame Street... only on independent commercial TV. IIRC, the show's creator worked on the Muppet Show and Sesame Street before striking out on his own. ANYway, The three human characters who get picked up by the coaster in the opening credits sequence co-hosted the show, and would also sing a few tunes per episode, some of them covers of popular songs of the time. They also sang the show theme:




I recall them singing "Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon" and Queen's "Bicycle Race". Sadly, it's the cover tunes that have kept Great Space Coaster from being rebroadcast or released for home video or on-demand streaming; the rights have expired, and it's probably not worth it to renew them.

You can't do that on television was awesome!  I forgot about that!  And Mr. Wizard!  What's the first best Canadian show?

I know Degrassi High hailed from the Great White North, but I only watched a few episodes. One of those episodes dealt with abortion, however, which was pretty heavy subject matter to throw at the show's target audience. Well, the U.S. target audience, anyway; apparently Canada gave their youth more credit for being able to handle more mature topics without the 'rents freaking the hell out.

ANYway, there were only two shows from the Great White North I ever watched with interest. Both of them were sketch-comedy shows, and one of them was You Can't Do That on Television! Sadly, like Great Space Coaster, rights issues have kept YCDTOTV from being released on home video and streaming-on-demand. 

Speaking of opening credits sequences: today's shows don't really have those anymore, do they? Or even an opening theme for that matter. It's all just cold opens nowadays. So, in celebration of the lost art of opening credits sequences and/or theme music, here are a few of my all-time faves:



I dug the hell outta the A-Team's final-season theme.


I wonder how many kids got into playing synthesizers after hearing the original version?


An underrated classic.


I just can't decide if this one...


...or this one...


...or this one is my fave Hunter theme.


I know what you're thinking...


Good lord, did Mike Post and/or Pete Carpenter compose the opening theme to every single 1980s action TV show?


...'Late

[shaggy]

Silverhawks was awesome!



Hmm, I can't seem to embed this.

[bombatomba]

Spiral Zone was awesome and had a great intro song.




Saturday morning for me consisted of me watching cartoons until 11am, leaving the house to hunt for bottles to play arcade games at the 7-11, then making it home in time to watch Thriller Double Feature on channel 20 until 5pm.  Sadly disgusting, bloody, and scary movies were too hardcore for the '90s, but it was fun while it lasted.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Embedding link was fine. Not sure what's up with the embed right now, but it goes in and out sometimes.