The 1980's brought us the top and most detrimental in television programming and for every series that was memorable we had two or three that were absurd. At times the absurd and the memorable were one and the exact same. For each and every great Tv show such as "Growing Pains" we had to collectively tolerate silly but popular fare such as "A-Team" which has now already been converted into a similarly preposterous motion picture.
1980s television shows included some good sitcoms that stay with us to this very day. There were great and innovative shows such as Taxi, which brought us the late great Andy Kaufman and introduced us to the great Danny DeVito who continued to motion picture fame in films such as "Ruthless People". "Newhart" starred Bob Newhart (duh) and was a witty, very funny, adult comedy that showcased the droll humor of its sardonic star. "Cheers" brought us Woody Harrelson along with other fantastic stars. "Roseanne" starred the big-mouthed and obnoxious Roseanne Barr (later Roseanne Arnold) who, together with television husband John Goodman, introduced a working class attitude to the kind which was treasured by television watchers coming from all avenues of life.
So who recalls the god-awful "Alf" featuring a foul-mouthed, wise-cracking muppet-like puppet from space? "Nightcourt" was excellent and so was "One Day at a Time" with the very young Michael J. Fox.
One of the greatest 1980s Television shows of them all, plus the most popular sitcom was the continually number 1 "The Cosby Show" starring Mr. Jello Puddin' himself, the fantastic comedian Bill Cosby. The Huxtable family has become a part of Anericana and brought an increase of ratings success to the previously floundering network NBC. "The Cosby Show" smashed a lot of ground in the manner it treated sensitive subject matter and also paved the way for programs such as "Seinfeld" and others that followed.
"Dallas" was a serial-like primetime soap opera which started to be America's favorite addiction. The puzzle surrounding who shot villain J.R. Ewing swung the show's ratings to new heights. Dallas was the very first program of its kind and created a complete generation of copycats and tributes that followed including "Knots Landing", "Dynasty" and "Falcon Crest".
Among the many most awful eighties Tv shows was the awful "Love Boat" which was just equaled in sheer stupidity by the brain-dead "Fantasy Island". Both of them, unsurprisingly, became number one programs and blew up all the ratings. Virtually any show that showcased Zsa Zsa Gabor needed to be awful. Herve Villechaise performed the tiny Tatoo, assistant to Ricardo Montalban's dapper Mr. Roarke, host of Fantasy Island.
Action TV shows also suffered from moronic writing as well as ideas. 1980s TV shows such as "The A-Team", "The Dukes of Hazzard", as well as "Knight Rider" had been huge on explosions and low on brain cells. Since America loves mediocrity, these tv shows were destined to turn out to be gigantic hits and they did. There were also a few detective shows such as "Hill Street Blues", "Cagney and Lacey", "Matlock" and the top dog of all, "Magnum P.I." with the wonderful and good looking Tom Selleck. Eventually, 1980s TV shows proved that you can enjoy the very best and the most extreme at the same time.
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