They Reminisce Over You
Inspiration - "T.R.O.Y." Pete Rock and CL Smooth "strive to be live 'cause I got no choice/And run my own business like my Aunt Joyce/So Pete Rock hit me, nuff respect due/When they reminisce over you, listen"
What I'm Listening To - "Parade - Music from Under The Cherry Moon" - Prince
Question(s) I Asked Myself Today - "Blogger don't want me to post pictures?" I took the time to find pictures to illustrate this post, but I can't upload them. You'll just have to use your imagination.
A few months back I did a post about old cartoons I used to watch back in the day. I intended to do a follow up post about Prime Time TV, but my ADD kicked in and I moved on to something else. Well now that I can’t think of anything else to write about, what better time than to resurrect an old post? For the youngsters out there, I apologize in advance. Tenacious this means you. We bout to take a journey back to the 80’s.
Here are some of my favorite back in the day TV shows broken down by category:
Action Shows (Cops and PI's and stuff like that)
Knight Rider - I loved KITT's smartass comments to Michael Knight. I think this is where i first learned to be sarcastic. I also used to pretend my sofa was KITT and I was Michael Knight. What are you talking about? That wasn't just yesterday. It was last week. LOL
The A - Team - This show is stupid now as an adult. They always did the same thing every episode. Run from the military cops, solve a mystery, shoot up Mr. T with some drug so they can get him on a plane, then just narrowly miss the Military Police again. And how come nobody ever died? They would empty a clip or blow up a car and nobody even got hurt.
Miami Vice - This was my first grown up show. I didn't know about blow, but I was fascinated with the criminal lifestyle depicted on this show. Crockett and Tubbs were some cool ass undercover cops. I still catch this every now again on TV Land and its still good. The music on the show was tight too.
Magnum PI - This was my favorite show in the late 80's, probably cuz he drove a Ferrari. Magnum also didn't carry a gun except in extreme cases. He solved his crimes with his brain and his Black homeboy with the helicopter.
Spenser for Hire - I watched this show for one reason only: Hawk. He was the cool Black sidekick who was about 2 steps away from being a pimp and packed a .45. I don't even remember anything else about the show, except Spenser was a private eye and solved crimes that the police couldn't solve.
Honorable Mention - MacGyver, Riptide, The Equalizer, Remington Steele and Dukes of Hazzard.
Comedy (Shows that made me laugh)
The Cosby Show - I got to start with this one because it was consistently funny for years. Now a days its on all the damn time and I think I can remember every episode up until Cousin Pam came. I think I stopped watching around then.
Alice - I used to wait all episode to hear Flo say "Mel, kiss my grits" I thought that was a curse word back in the day. LOL
The Jeffersons - George and Weezy was the shit. I imitated George's pimpwalk as a kid. And Florence always had some smart ass comment to add.
Different Strokes - I only had room for one show featuring a Black midget being saved by a White family, so I watched this instead of Webster. The very special episodes were hilarious to me even then. They would try to inject social commentary in the episodes. Like when Arnold got hooked up with the creepy pedophile. I know it was supposed to be serious because there was no laugh track, but it still was funny to me.
Facts of Life - One word: Tootie
Honorable Mention - Family Ties, Gimme a Break, Benson, TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, Whos the Boss
Drama(shows with little or no violence that grown folks watched)
Murder She Wrote - Man, Jessica Fletcher was always solving some murder that just so happened to coincide with her being around. They never showed the actual murder, so I put it here instead of with the action shows. I used to try to figure out who the murderer was before Jessica figured it out, but I always ended up guessing that she was the culprit. Angela Lansbury was a damn serial killer, yo!!!
L.A. Law - I wanted to be a lawyer as a kid. I was really digging this show because I thought it was teaching me. Then I grew up and realized that court wasn't sensational like on TV.
Dallas/Dynasty - See, what had happened was... I was watching these because my sister, yeah, thats it my sister (are you reading this?) liked these shows. I was too manly to watch this crap. LOL
Anyway, I didnt watch too many dramas back in the day. So, lets move on.
Other (Various left over stuff)
Unsolved Mysteries - I don't know why I watched this show, it scared the bejesus out of me. I think it was the creepy music. Every time this show came on, I thought I saw a fugitive at the bus stop the next morning at school. I once convinced myself that my principal was actually a murderer I saw on Unsolved Mysteries. Even as a child, I had an overactive imagination.
MTV and other video shows - I was really into the White bands back then like Duran Duran and The Police. I blame/give credit to MTV not showing Black artists. In New York, there was a video show that came on at midnight on Friday nights called Hot Traxx. It showed the Black videos. I used to try to stay up, but usually fell asleep during the show. I used to have nightmares about Stephanie Mills and Reebie Jackson because the show came on too late. Remember that video for "Centipede?" That shit haunted me. And Stephanie Mill's "Mama Gonna Give You Some Medicine" video used to fuck up my sleep too.
Movies of the Week - I was living in New York when the "Atlanta Child Murders" movie came on TV. I swore that Wayne Williams was going to come and kill me. I know, I was a punk. I also liked the MOW because it was something new every week.
Real People - This show was just about people embarrassing themselves to get on TV. They would do the stupidest shit for attention. My favorite was the body contortionist that stuffed herself into a little box. Nowadays, you can see people embarrassing themselves every night. They call it reality TV.
Sports - I loved (and still do love) sports. I can still name just about all the members of the 1986 New York Mets. Really, I can do it. Ask Nikki if you dont believe me. The Mets came on channel 9 and the Yankees on channel 11. I couldn't like both teams so I loved the Mets and hated the Yankees (except Reggie Jackson). In football, I would watch Monday Night Football on channel 7 and the Jets always played on Channel 4. I watched basketball alot too. I been a Knicks fan since 1983 (Have I said, Fuck Isaiah Thomas lately?) and living in NY, I got to see all their games on TV.
Okay, that was my walk down memory lane. Did you watch any of these? What did I leave out? What shows did you watch back in the 80's? Let me know in the comments section.
It was written...
What I'm Listening To - "Parade - Music from Under The Cherry Moon" - Prince
Question(s) I Asked Myself Today - "Blogger don't want me to post pictures?" I took the time to find pictures to illustrate this post, but I can't upload them. You'll just have to use your imagination.
A few months back I did a post about old cartoons I used to watch back in the day. I intended to do a follow up post about Prime Time TV, but my ADD kicked in and I moved on to something else. Well now that I can’t think of anything else to write about, what better time than to resurrect an old post? For the youngsters out there, I apologize in advance. Tenacious this means you. We bout to take a journey back to the 80’s.
Here are some of my favorite back in the day TV shows broken down by category:
Action Shows (Cops and PI's and stuff like that)
Knight Rider - I loved KITT's smartass comments to Michael Knight. I think this is where i first learned to be sarcastic. I also used to pretend my sofa was KITT and I was Michael Knight. What are you talking about? That wasn't just yesterday. It was last week. LOL
The A - Team - This show is stupid now as an adult. They always did the same thing every episode. Run from the military cops, solve a mystery, shoot up Mr. T with some drug so they can get him on a plane, then just narrowly miss the Military Police again. And how come nobody ever died? They would empty a clip or blow up a car and nobody even got hurt.
Miami Vice - This was my first grown up show. I didn't know about blow, but I was fascinated with the criminal lifestyle depicted on this show. Crockett and Tubbs were some cool ass undercover cops. I still catch this every now again on TV Land and its still good. The music on the show was tight too.
Magnum PI - This was my favorite show in the late 80's, probably cuz he drove a Ferrari. Magnum also didn't carry a gun except in extreme cases. He solved his crimes with his brain and his Black homeboy with the helicopter.
Spenser for Hire - I watched this show for one reason only: Hawk. He was the cool Black sidekick who was about 2 steps away from being a pimp and packed a .45. I don't even remember anything else about the show, except Spenser was a private eye and solved crimes that the police couldn't solve.
Honorable Mention - MacGyver, Riptide, The Equalizer, Remington Steele and Dukes of Hazzard.
Comedy (Shows that made me laugh)
The Cosby Show - I got to start with this one because it was consistently funny for years. Now a days its on all the damn time and I think I can remember every episode up until Cousin Pam came. I think I stopped watching around then.
Alice - I used to wait all episode to hear Flo say "Mel, kiss my grits" I thought that was a curse word back in the day. LOL
The Jeffersons - George and Weezy was the shit. I imitated George's pimpwalk as a kid. And Florence always had some smart ass comment to add.
Different Strokes - I only had room for one show featuring a Black midget being saved by a White family, so I watched this instead of Webster. The very special episodes were hilarious to me even then. They would try to inject social commentary in the episodes. Like when Arnold got hooked up with the creepy pedophile. I know it was supposed to be serious because there was no laugh track, but it still was funny to me.
Facts of Life - One word: Tootie
Honorable Mention - Family Ties, Gimme a Break, Benson, TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, Whos the Boss
Drama(shows with little or no violence that grown folks watched)
Murder She Wrote - Man, Jessica Fletcher was always solving some murder that just so happened to coincide with her being around. They never showed the actual murder, so I put it here instead of with the action shows. I used to try to figure out who the murderer was before Jessica figured it out, but I always ended up guessing that she was the culprit. Angela Lansbury was a damn serial killer, yo!!!
L.A. Law - I wanted to be a lawyer as a kid. I was really digging this show because I thought it was teaching me. Then I grew up and realized that court wasn't sensational like on TV.
Dallas/Dynasty - See, what had happened was... I was watching these because my sister, yeah, thats it my sister (are you reading this?) liked these shows. I was too manly to watch this crap. LOL
Anyway, I didnt watch too many dramas back in the day. So, lets move on.
Other (Various left over stuff)
Unsolved Mysteries - I don't know why I watched this show, it scared the bejesus out of me. I think it was the creepy music. Every time this show came on, I thought I saw a fugitive at the bus stop the next morning at school. I once convinced myself that my principal was actually a murderer I saw on Unsolved Mysteries. Even as a child, I had an overactive imagination.
MTV and other video shows - I was really into the White bands back then like Duran Duran and The Police. I blame/give credit to MTV not showing Black artists. In New York, there was a video show that came on at midnight on Friday nights called Hot Traxx. It showed the Black videos. I used to try to stay up, but usually fell asleep during the show. I used to have nightmares about Stephanie Mills and Reebie Jackson because the show came on too late. Remember that video for "Centipede?" That shit haunted me. And Stephanie Mill's "Mama Gonna Give You Some Medicine" video used to fuck up my sleep too.
Movies of the Week - I was living in New York when the "Atlanta Child Murders" movie came on TV. I swore that Wayne Williams was going to come and kill me. I know, I was a punk. I also liked the MOW because it was something new every week.
Real People - This show was just about people embarrassing themselves to get on TV. They would do the stupidest shit for attention. My favorite was the body contortionist that stuffed herself into a little box. Nowadays, you can see people embarrassing themselves every night. They call it reality TV.
Sports - I loved (and still do love) sports. I can still name just about all the members of the 1986 New York Mets. Really, I can do it. Ask Nikki if you dont believe me. The Mets came on channel 9 and the Yankees on channel 11. I couldn't like both teams so I loved the Mets and hated the Yankees (except Reggie Jackson). In football, I would watch Monday Night Football on channel 7 and the Jets always played on Channel 4. I watched basketball alot too. I been a Knicks fan since 1983 (Have I said, Fuck Isaiah Thomas lately?) and living in NY, I got to see all their games on TV.
Okay, that was my walk down memory lane. Did you watch any of these? What did I leave out? What shows did you watch back in the 80's? Let me know in the comments section.
It was written...
posted by Rashan Jamal at 11:45 PM
24 Comments:
I liked McGyver. I know I am a little young but I just loved that show. You also forgot Alf. He was the shiznit
This is so funny T! I was thinking about doing a post on old 80's shows too!!
The 80's were the absolute BEST! I was in love with Webster and I loved the cartoon Heathcliff with all the cats! Remember Heathcliff's girlfriend Cleo? She was sexy! She used to walk around in leotards and leg warmers! HAHAHA!!!
That show plus Jem and She-Ra...whooo Good Stuff! And don't get me started on Punky Brewster! I used to wear two different colored shoes and tie a scarf around my knee to be just like her! ROFLMAO!
P.S-Alf sucked because he ate cats! What a sick bastard! PETA would not put up with that shit if it was still on the air!
:-)
Damn I fell young as hell man, I only seen a little over half of those.......but I do remember ALF, dude never got the cat *pun intended*...lol.
lol..Unsolved Mysteries scared the bejeesus out of me too. I hated Cosby and still do til this day. When I'm turning the TV and see an episode on, it makes my skin crawl. Back in the 80's I was pretty much strictly a sitcom watcher. So now I pretty much buy up all the DVD's..227, What's Happenin (I watched the reruns in the 80's), and Diff'rent Strokes..I'm awating the release of season 3.
Murder She Wrote was my show!!! I still watch the reruns every day on the Biography channel. LOL Sitting there thinking to myself "How come nobody ever accuses Jessica?"
"... Keeping your head above water; making a way when you can. Temporary layoffs (Good times!), easy credit rip-offs (Good times!) Aint we lucky we got'em. Good times! Yeah!" Florida and James Evans. Lord have mercy! James Jr, Thelma, and Michael. That militant ass Michael. 'Member when JJ got shot trying to be a part of a street gang? And when they all would rag of Thelma's oatmeal? And when Sweet Daddy provided the real comedy relief? And when the two gals tried to hold the family hostage when they had the winning lottery ticket? And when JJ's girlfriend (actress Debbie Allen) was a dope fiend?
Tcas, you forgot about "227", "What's Happ'nin?" and "That's My Momma!" You brought back real memories with this post, T.
I was in college when Miami Vice was on and we had a standing Friday night @ 10:00 date to watch it in the lounge.
Spenser for Hire: I wanted to marry Hawk ... or at least hit it.
LOL @ Kiss my grits!
I was addicted to Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley ... wait a minute ... was that the 70s?
Well Tee uz a little bit older than me so some of these I dont remember......From what i recall..i used to watch Growing Pains, 3's company, A Different WOrld, SMall Wonder, ALF, Family Matters and Unsolved Mysteries DOES and still DOES scare me.........i ant watch it alone..so come to Boston and hold me T
Duran Duran??? That is so funny! Why do I remember the song Hungry like a wolf and can see the video in my head now.
I used to love Miami Vice and love me some Phillip Michael Thomas. When I see him now I'm like "ewwww!" He seem so corny, but I was infatuated back then. Thanks for taking me back. Makes me realize how OLD I am. UGH! Smile
Oh and one more thing. I don't remember if it was the 70's or the early 80's, but What's Happening used to be the show back in the day; Dee used to be my girl. And I still cant get enough of Good Times! Classics
Dude - I too was fascinated by the high speed, high life, big crimes hook of Miami Vice.
All I can remember is Phil Collins. Mane!
Unsolved Mysteries scared the crap out of me, too. Matter of fact, I think this is why I have a huge fear of someone breaking into my house and stabbing me 55 times to this day!
T I am insulted :-)
I have you know that I have watched every single one of these shows via syndication :-)
My favs of course were:
Alf, Small Wonder, 227, Facts of Life, HeMan/SheRa. Fragglerock, Eureka's Castle, That damn show with the Elephants (Skin Ah Da Rinky Dinky Dink...Skin Ah Rinky De do....), Heathcliff, Pound Puppies, CareBears, My Litrle Pony, Rainbor Brite, teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles, transformers, thunder cats
For Chi-Town folks--Awakening
I dabbled in Matlock, Murder She Wrote (thanks to my G-Ma), the old old L&O, 21 Jump Street, Webster, Whats Happening, Amen, #'s Company, Jeffersons, Good Times, Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Cosby Show and The Cosby Mysteries
LOL...I spent a lot of time in the house due to various punishments for having a sassy mouth. Most of the "adult" shows (Miami Vice, ChiPs, etc) I wasnt allowed to watch due to the cursing *lol* and besides my ass had to be in bed...
besides most of these still come on TV
OMG wait until I tell you this damn story...Why do I have a French Stalker **3rd day at the new job**, this crazy ass conversation I had with a friend, and some of the folks at work...LOL
Wow...you took me back with that post. I liked Who's the Boss, Cosby Show, Webster, Law & Order the list goes on and on.
I wanted to have a 4-some with Micheal Knight, Tubbs and Crockett. Actually I still would, lol.
You missed Roseanne. I watched it a lot. People always tell me I remind them of her. WTF?
Tootie's jugs were bigger than her head. Amazing.
Yo, New York Hott Traxx was syndicated. I watched it every Saturday night as a kid in Detroit. I loved that shit!
Real People had the misfortune of introducing the world to corny ass Byron Allen.
KZ
Aww shit, not 21Jump Street, Jump....*lol*
What about Top Cat?
Aww shit, not Thunder Thunder Thunder Thunder Cats....I think I liked the song more than anything else....
The Smurfs!
OH HELL TO DA NAW!!!!!!!!!!!! where's "227" and "Amen?" or was that the 90s?
-action: "jake and the fat man," "simon & simon," "hunter," "moonlighting" (al jarreau did the DAMN thing on that theme song!), "21 jump street," "quantum leap"
-comedy: "mama's family," "bosom buddies" (damn, tom hanks has come a LONG way, huh?), "empty nest," "golden girls," "growing pains," "head of the class," "kate & allie," mr. belvedere," "night court," "perfect strangers,"
-drama: "falcon crest"
I can gig it!
i am mad that you were kept awake at night by visions of stephanie mills and reebie jackson dancing in your head! lol!
i was and still am a tv junky. i used to love all of these shows. have you ever gone to retrojunk.com. they have all kinds of shows on there a lot i had forgotten about all categorized by decade. you can listen to the soundtrack for some of them. i have been up til all hours of the night playing on that site!
Hott Traxx....WHOA!!! That too me back...way back!
If you watched Dynasty/Dallas you had to have watched Falcon Crest too. Whew I loved all three.
This was a good post! The crap they have on TV nowadays is horrible. I hardly ever watch the boob tube anymore...LOL!! That's what my grandma calls it cause she said watching it turns you into a big boob!!!
@ eps - I didn't like ALF, he was just too ugly.
@ The Mistress - Heathcliff, Heathcliff no one should/terrorize the neighborhood. Yeah, I remember that.
@911 - that's aiight. youungstas are welcom too. LOL @ your pun.
@ lq and tv - I didn't think anybody didnt like Cosby, and I'm glad I aint the only one with Unsolved Mysteries issues
@ diva (in demand) - Jessica would have been locked up if she was Black. Her DNA should have shown up at least one of those crime scenes.
@ INSANITY - Good Times was in reruns by the time I saw it, but of course its one of the all time favs. My favorite is when Larry the deaf kid almost fell down the elevator shaft.
@ pepe le blue - Sanford and Son was the 70's I think, i used to watch it syndicated in the 80's. I used to know a bad rapper named Big Money Grip... LOL
@ chele - I also thought "sit on it" from Happy Days was a curse word when I was kid
@ ill nana - I got you, we gonna have a Unsolved Mysteries date. Small Wonder used to get on my damn nerves. That little girl was creepy too.
@ Nsane - kiss my grits can be your new sign off. I forgot about Punky Brewster and Mork and Mindy. Those were good too.
@ The Goddess - Duran Duran was the ish. Rio and The Reflex were my favorites. I think Phillip Michael Thomas lost all credibility when he tried to sing.
@ cocoa - Wasn't the music on Vice good. and when they had those guest stars like Miles Davis and Bill Russell. and Unsolved Mysteries really did mess up my head back then.
@ Tenacious - I wasnt trying to insult you. LOL I was just saying people born in the 80's may not remember them, young bastards. LMAO Syndication was tight got to catch all the before your time shows
@ miz jj - I didnt like Webster, I thought he was biting Different Strokes.
@ stilt - they are probably available for the 4 some. I didnt think that Hasselhoff and Thomas would turn out to be so corny.
@ KZ - I didnt know Hot Traxx was syndicated. That was my show when I could stay up. Yeah, Byron Allen was a corny dude
@ fallen angel - Man the hairstyles on 227 are hilarious. Calvin had the bobby brown shag, someone had the jheri curl, brenda had the feathered bangs and what was Lester trying pull of with his flattop/afro hybrid things. I cant beleive I forgot Mr. Belvedere and Perfect Strangers. Balki was hilarious.
@ slump - thanks, brother
@ The L - I guess they were trying to dance seductively, but I missed it and it was just creepy. I'm gonna check out that site
@ royce's daughter - no, it was my uh sister, yeah, that's it my sister watched Falcon crest too. LOL
I cannot watch Unsolved Mysteries without getting weirded out to this day!
And don't get me started on the Twilight Zone!
I loved Murder she wrote, Matlock and Columbo...I guess that's why I work at a law firm.
Man these took me back then again nick at night takes me back too LOL
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