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80s Home > 80s Capsules > 1981
1981 Capsule
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 Walter Cronkite Signs Off  1st Heart-Lung Transplant  Pope John Paul II is Shot  Diana Weds Prince Charles  MTV Launches  5150 IBM PC is Released  O'Connor is 1st Female Supreme Court Justice |
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• Betty Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes
• Endless Love - Diana Ross / Lionel
Richie
• Lady - Kenny Rogers
• (Just Like) Starting Over - John
Lennon
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Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
• One That You Love - Air Supply
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Tide Is High - Blondie
• 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
• Queen of Hearts - Juice Newton
• Kiss on My List - Hall & Oates
• Being With You - Smokey Robinson
• Celebration - Kool & the Gang
• Mickey
- Toni Basil
•
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
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The Fall Guy Starring: Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, & Heather Thomas Colt Seavers is a stuntman, who when he is in a financial crunch, works as a bounty hunter. He is aided by his cousin Howie, who has gone to practically every college and studied every course for a semester, and his protégé Jody. |
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 The
Greatest American HeroStarring: William Katt & Robert Culp Ralph Hinkley was minding his own business, a teacher on a field trip with his high school students, when the bus he's driving mysteriously drives itself out into the desert. A startled Ralph is soon visited by aliens, who had decided to endow him with superhuman powers to fight the battle against injustice and crime. To this end, they gave him a special suit and an instruction manual. Unfortunately, Ralph managed to lose the instruction manual, and the aliens have a nasty habit of never being around when you need them. |
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Hill Street Blues Story of an overworked, under-staffed police precinct in an anonymous inner city patterned after Chicago. We follow the lives of many characters, from the lowly beat and traffic cops to the captain of the precinct himself. |
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 Falcon
CrestStarring: Jane Wyman, Margaret Ladd, Susan Sullivan, Robert Foxworth, William R. Moses, Lorenzo Lamas, Abby Dalton, & Chao Li Chi Set in the vineyards of California, this prime-time soap opera featured the conflict between two families: the Channings, headed by ruthless family matriarch Angela Channing, and the Giobertis, led by Chase and Maggie Gioberti. |
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 General HospitalLuke and Laura get married; the soap-opera is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history. |
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 Raiders
of the Lost ArkStarring: Harrison Ford & Karen Allen Renowned archeologist and expert in the occult, Dr. Indiana Jones, is hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to still hold the ten commandments. Unfortunately, agents of Hitler are also after the Ark. Indy, and his ex-flame Marion, escape from various close scrapes in a quest that takes them from Nepal to Cairo. |
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 On
Golden PondStarring: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, & Jane Fonda The loons are back again on Golden Pond and so are Norman Thayer, a retired professor, and Ethel who have had a summer cottage there since early in their marriage. This summer their daughter Chelsea -- whom they haven't seen for years -- feels she must be there for Norman's birthday. Chelsea and her fiance are on their way to Europe the next day but will be back in a couple of weeks to pick up the fiance's son. When she returns Chelsea is married and her stepson has the relationship with her father that she always wanted. Will father and daughter be able to communicate at last? |
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Superman II Starring: Christopher Reeve Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to marry Lois, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth. |
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Arthur Starring: Dudley Moore Arthur is a happy drunk with no pretensions at any ambition. He is also the heir to a vast fortune which he is told will only be his if he marries Susan. |
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 StripesStarring: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun. |
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The Cannonball Run Starring: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Elam A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country car race. |
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For Your Eyes Only Starring: Roger Moore & Carole Bouquet Agent 007 is assigned to hunt for a lost British encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands. |
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 Chariots
of FireThe story of two British track athletes, one a determined Jew, and the other a devout Christian who compete in the 1924 Olympics. |
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Time Bandits A young boy accidently joins a band of dwarves as they jump from time-period to time-period looking for treasure to steal. |
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 Clash
of the TitansStarring: Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin A film adaptation of the myth of Perseus and his quest to battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster to save the Princess Andromeda. |
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Absence of Malice Starring: Paul Newman, Sally Field Michael Colin Gallagher, the son of a long dead Mafia boss, is a simple liquor warehouse owner. Frustrated in his attempt to solve a murder of a union head, a prosecutor leaks a false story to reporter Megan Carter that Michael is a target of the investigation, hoping that this will provoke Michael to tell them something for protection. As his life begins to unravel, others are hurt by the story. Knowing nothing to trade to the prosecutors, Michael must regain control of his life on different ground. |
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Reds Starring: Warren Beatty & Diane Keaton A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States. A Love Story told inside period politics at the height of the Russian Revolution. |
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 The
Fox and the HoundTwo friends, Tod the fox & Hunter the hunting dog, that didn't know they were supposed to be enemies. |
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Taps Starring: Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn & Tom Cruise Military cadets take extreme measures to insure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers. |
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Excalibur The myth of King Arthur brought once again to the screen. |
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Indianapolis 500: Bobby Unser wins for a
third time for both he as a driver and Roger Penske as a car owner, but
the race sanctioning-body USAC temporarily strips him of victory over an
accusation of illegally passing other cars under a caution period (see
racing flags). After the team's appeal, Unser's win is reinstated on
October 8. -
Major League Baseball goes on strike, forcing the cancellation of 38 percent of the schedule, but play resumes with the All-Star Game in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.
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A Minor League baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings.
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The Philadelphia Eagles were defeated by the Oakland Raiders, 27–10. The Raiders became the first wild card playoff team to win a Super Bowl.
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New York Islanders win the Stanley Cup.
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Pleasant Colony wins the Kentucky Derby
with a time of 2:02.00. -
John McEnroe defeats Björn Borg to win Men's Singles & Chris Evert Lloyd defeats Hana Mandlikova to win Lady's Singles at Wimbledon.
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John McEnroe defeats Björn Borg to win Men's Singles & Tracy Austin defeats Martina Navrátilová to win Women's Singles at the US Open.
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Bernard Hinault (France) wins the Tour de France.
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Darrell Waltrip #11 won the NEXTEL Cup (formerly Winston Cup).
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Bill Haley (b. 1925) - One of the
1st American rock & roll musicians - His group Bill Haley & His Comets had
the hit song "Rock Around the Clock." -
Joe Louis (b. 1914) - Heavyweight boxer - nicknamed "The Brown Bomber"
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Bob Marley (b. 1945) - Jamaican singer / musician - "I Shot the Sheriff," "No Woman, No Cry," "Jammin," & "Redemption Song"
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Jenny Maxwell (b. 1941) - Actress - played Ellie Corbett alongside Elvis in Blue Hawaii
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William Wyler (b. 1902) - Movie Director - Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben-Hur, Wuthering Heights, The Little Foxes, The Heiress, Roman Holiday
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Vera-Ellen (b. 1921) - Actress /
Dancer - Known for her dance partnerships w/ Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly &
Donald O'Connor - Appeared in White Christmas -
William Holden (b. 1918) - Actor - Golden Boy, Streets of Laredo, Sabrina, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Casino Royale, The Towering Inferno, S.O.B.
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Jack Albertson (b. 1907) - Actor - as Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Ed Brown in Chico & the Man, John Cleary in The Subject Was Roses, Manny Rosen in The Poseidon Adventure, Vic Davis in Top Banana, & Dr. J. Wilson Shields in Man of a Thousand Faces
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Natalie Wood (b. 1938) - Actress - as Susan Walker in Miracle on 34th Street, Anna Muir as a child in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Judy in Rebel Without
a Cause, Maria in West Side
Story, Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy, & Maggie DuBois in The Great Race -
Hoagy Carmichael (b. 1899) - Composer / Actor - Wrote melody to "Stardust" & collaborated with Johnny Mercer on "Lazybones," "Skylark," & "In the Cool, Cool, Coll of the Evening" and acted in To Have and Have Not, Young Man with a Horn, & The Best Years of Our Lives.
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Hans Adolf Krebs (b. 1900) - German physician/biochemst who won a Nobel Prize for identifying 2 metabolic cycles: the urea cycle & the citric acid cycle aka the Krebs cycle.
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