ALF
It makes perfect sense, really. Combine a sarcastic furry alien who likes to eat cats, an average suburban family, and one destroyed planet and you end up with a television hit—in the 80s at least. That was certainly the case with the popular NBC family sitcom ALF which first aired on September 22, 1986 and ran until June 18, 1990. A spoof of the 1982 hit movie ET, the show ALF features Gordon Shumway, a 230 year old alien from the...
Fantasy Island
What show featured an exotic island located somewhere in the Pacific and a suave charismatic host who allowed his guests to live out their greatest fantasy? No, it wasn’t a popular reality show but rather ABC’s hit television show Fantasy Island which debuted in 1978 and continued to entertain viewers until 1984. Featuring Mr. Roarke, played by Ricardo Montalban, and his side-kick Tattoo the series was based on two made for television...
The A-Team, 1983
Who can forget this famous television voice over? “In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire: THE A-TEAM.” NBC’s...
The Smurfs, 1981-1989
The little blue creatures known as the Smurfs first appeared in October of 1958, the creation of Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford (known as Peyo). However, it would take the 1980’s Saturday morning cartoon to launch them into stardom and cartoon history. The Hanna-Barbera cartoon ran on NBC Saturday morning cartoons from 1981 to 1989 and are a permanent part of 80s pop culture. I was a huge Smurfs fan much to the dismay of my...
Add-a-Bead Necklace
Eighties fashion for women included jewelry – lots of jewelry. One such trend for women and girls was the Add-a-Bead necklace. It is actually one of the nicer (or should we say enduringly tasteful) trends of the 80s and continues to a much lesser extent today. The Add-a-Bead Craze Add-a-Bead necklaces came in several different forms. They were most popular in the early 80s and were favored by the slightly preppier crowd, owing...
