So many great shows, no wonder I never did homework! I remember my mom saying of Cathy Lee Crosby every week " what the hell is that woman wearing now!?" Good times!!!!
I was uniquely innocent as far as moral compass goes then in 1981 and intently wanted to stay good in society . I knew I did right , but only falling short in not getting high grades in school until graduation . But I sought to , but I was kind of slow . But I knew what mattered then morally . My parents did instill right things in us . My sibs got into drugs later because rural neighbors that had meth . Is when that area started going down hill and meth was picking up in the southern Mojave desert areas nearby . What happened how it was tolerated this way I can't figure ? The town went down hill slowly and felons got sent to it to live like they're dumped here and that led to serious crimes in town . But in the 80s you wouldn't have to lock any doors .
I was 9 in 1981 and I love going down memory lane. Any show where the characters exhibited super powers is what I loved so The Greatest American Hero was a treat. Three's Company was my favorite out of this whole lot. My whole family was glued to the TV to watch John Ritter being Jack.
I love GAH and used to tie a towel around my neck and try to fly around the living room but kept crashing into the couch and knocking holes in the walls
Local Chicago station ran a Greatest American Hero marathon a couple weekends ago...had that theme song in my head for days..”Believe it or not, I’m walkin’ on air...”
Fall 1981 on ABC seems to have had some of the greatest TV show theme songs of all time in one place! Humble nod to your tireless work on all these videos!!! For an Asperger'ey guy who grew up and thrilled to so many of these themes and shows, it's a wonderful visit back in time. Really great work, thanks.
I remember vividly Dynasty theme song especially when in high school going to bed on school nights my parents watching it doen the hall in den room . Fell asleep almost while hearing it . Sometimes I saw the shows whenever that was in the weeks . 1981 Fall was a senior in HS already ,but we by then lived 10 miles east of a rural town by then moving to it that year . Moving from LA county in CA . Had to catch school bus at rural firestation 2 miles away off county road there . Now living another location as adult of course.
I love the fact that The Greatest American Hero had two full verses for the opening theme. And even more amazingly, it STILL does in syndication. I mean, it's no Quantum Leap with a 2 minute opening theme, but it is still strange to watch one of the many cable channels that started out as niche channels that all eventually just become filled with reruns of 70s and 80s shows, and they haven't shortened the intro for extra commercials.
They cannot shorten the intros for those older shows per the original contractual arrangements. There's no doubt they would like to shorten them but a contract is a contract.
@@greg6363 I think I'd ant to see sources on this claim. (Mainly because I HAVE seen this on some networks that have shortened it to just the one verse.) I mean, it isn't as if The Greatest American Hero's owners are holding all the cards in any syndication deal. They are just happy to get anything they can. So they are not going to risk a deal falling through completely, or the syndicator offering MUCH less for this.
@@rucksackzen I was very young when that show was airing but I remembered the song instantly and even though it's not something I would listen to I have to say it's probably one of the best theme songs I've heard written specifically for a show.
As myself similar to yourself though I was 18 then still in HS in 1981 . The year we moved from Glendora CA to rural desert town 200 miles away ! Gotten tired of that town and can miss my old house I grew up in in LA county .
Another wonderful trip down memory lane! Of the eight new programs--"Code Red," "Today's F.B.I.," "The Fall Guy," "Best of the West," "Darkroom," "Strike Force," "Maggie," and "Open All Night"--premiering on ABC in the fall of 1981, only "The Fall Guy" was renewed for a second season ("Dynasty" and "The Greatest American Hero" both premiered midway through the 1980-81 season). Sadly, this would be the final seasons for "Mork & Mindy," "Barney Miller," "Bosom Buddies," "Taxi," and "It's A Living" (NBC picked up "Taxi" in the autumn of '82 for its fifth--and final--season, and "It's A Living" [retitled "Making A Living" for its second season] was revived in the fall of '85; it lasted four years in first-run syndication). Thanks for uploading, RWdt09...keep up the good work, bro!
.....with most of those ("Fantasy Island", "Dynasty", "The Fall Guy", etc) still being rerun on a weekday or weekend basis on our local channels and their alternate digital free-to-air services as of tonight with great acclaim and praise. Greetings.
As far as I'm concerned...The Greatest American Hero...was the best of the new shows that year!!! I really wish they would reboot that, after all, William Katt and Connie Selleca are still alive and well!
They had the greatest theme songs back then. Too bad there is no theme songs and the cast and credits are shrunk to nothing in the closing themes. So much better then than now.
This is stacked with all the common local channel early evening/afternoon rerun staples! Threes Co, Too Close, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Barney Miller, Taxi, Benson.
What was great was that we could escape back then. No political agendas , every one did not whine about being offended, just turned on the tv relax and enjoyed the show. What has happened to us?
I couldn't agree more...back then we had sincerity, our culture had somewhat of a moral compass, we weren't entitled. I think people spout the "offended" rhetoric when they want to show how deep and cool they are...
Yes it was that all that later crap had not been thought up yet . Some of the agendas and ways people whined of being offended subtly got going in the 90s . Then soon smoking was banned inside certain places. By 1990 shoes got more trendy with Nikes and such . Making it a kind of reference standard . Rap just barely going .When a 1993 president eventually had sexual issue withba lady by 97 or 96. In the 90s tv show the Simpsons was then raunchy like . TV shows devolved morally when it is okay they had been better clean . This got the down hill move going . TV then impacted society somewhat since people kept watching down hill ideas . The 90s was the bigger first turning point . The 2000s hardened some of it and by 2005 major social and political things came like a gradual tsumami . Then we started towards what we got now . There is more details but this is a useful outline or summary . I have a good memory is the source .
That Dynasty theme is a classic. Bill Conti did some incredible themes throughout the decade. I love how he put a new spin on the Dynasty one for the spin off, Dynasty II The Colbys. Took the beginning of the original and then gave a whole new feel for the rest of it.
That first show of the greatest American hero he is a high school teacher the students are about 27-30 years old I was thinking they were special ed students. ✌
ABC was still riding high from its ascent to number one in the late 1970’s. They were a few clunkers on Sunday and Friday but overall still a strong lineup.
That's a good thing, millennial! That's a very good thing! P.S.: If you're not a "millennial", I apologize. However, your comment seems to reflect that kind of an attitude. I happen to be a member of what some call the "Buster" generation (1965-83, born in the late '70's) and others call by other names. Oh, if we only knew at the time how good we had it!
@@thomash.schwed3662 I was born in 1985 so technically a millennial, but I really think the classification is stupid because I didn’t have good internet access or a cell phone until I was well into high school and had a drivers license. I grew up entirely differently than “ millenials” born in the mid 90s.
Absolutely. The early 80’s (80-82) were almost their own mini-era with their own feel. They had a lot of the style and look of the 70’s (just a bit more polished). The popular music was very much a holdover from the 70’s, just in adult contemporary form (it would later be known as yacht rock). Despite the glitz of disco, the 70’s could be a little gritty and the country was going through a down, awkward phase. The late 70’s had an almost melancholy feel. When the 80’s began, there was a lot of new optimism and a fresh feeling as society tried to figure itself out in this new decade. You hit it on the head. It wasn’t until 1983 that the “80’s” really began. Music, fashion, design, and popular culture transformed almost overnight. By 1984, it was like we were in a new world.
He fell off the radar, everyone said Peter Scolari was going to be the star anyway....Poor Tom....all those flops..."Forrest Gump", "Saving Private Ryan", "Philadelphia", "Big", "Punchline" all relegated to the dollar bin at Recycled Records....lol. Ok I know "Punchline" was bad but I love it for some unknown psych reason...
IIRC he moved to the Burbs, had a Bonfire on a Volcano, Tried his hand at Baseball which was Peachy, Battled insomnia in Seattle, had a Bad time in Philadelphia. He took up running, went to the Moon (almost), found a Snake in his Boot , saved some kid named Ryan, walked a Green Mile on the Road to Perdition to get Mail from a Desert Island... hw spent some time in the Vatican, and learned about Water Landings and his having a Beautiful day.
This would have been the beginning of my senior year in high school, an amazing and scary time...I give you a thumbs up for the Greatest American Hero thumbnail alone!
Nice to see one about my generation age as I was going into my senior year Fall 81 . I wonder what we have in common in relating to then and now ?! Since that time I been eventually feeling stuck in the town I live seeking to move away from and because it's hot desert in summer , too hot from the sun in sky with decades of walking in it to go out of my place . That is boring .
2:55 The ABC Sunday Night Movie. I hated that musical score because that meant that school was only hours away, and I was a big homework procrastinator. Give me the ABC Saturday Night Movie anytime. The good old days.
In with that one thing I ponder in memory of school in the 70s and early 80s IS that if I knew I would enjoy studying from books on oddities of ancient history and cultures liking it personally , I would of given more attention young to learn better how to study things I read about to did deep into curious things. I do best I know seek information of discovery of such matters . Example is Genesis 10 how it parallels Sumerian lines of sentence and phrase on tablets and also backs up or elaborates on Gen 10:5. Is uncanny to me . Not to disprove scripture since it's assumed is why I do that .
Wow brings back memories Fantasy Island every Saturday hearing Tattoo "The plane the plane" Tuesday night lineup would go for another 2 or 3 years then gone ABC still had great programming at that time
Man.. I had the hugest crush on Lydia Cornell. The fact that it is 2020 and she still looks as hot as she does... reminds me of the good old days. LOL But then.. Stefanie Powers does as well. And My family NEVER missed an episode of _Hart to Hart_ . That was back in the days when they really knew what shows should be on TV for three or more seasons... Although.. I will always say that ABC pulled an "NBC idiot move" with _The Greatest American Hero_ , _Mork and Mindy_ , and _Dynasty_ (one of the few nighttime soaps I tolerated because of my crush on both Heather Locklear and Emma Samms).. meaning that, like NBC does with too many shows.. they "fixed it till it was broke" with both shows. Lastly.. the BEST part of _The Fall Guy_ was that I found out that most criminals are just as "arrogantly stupid" as the show depicted...
It's not particularly surprising that ABC would occasionally make moves similar to NBC, considering the fact that what is now ABC actually started out as the NBC Blue Network on radio. What is now just NBC was the Red Network. That's right, NBC operated two radio networks until the mid-to-late '40's when they were forced to break up due to antitrust laws. Regrettably, nowadays, for the most part, the only thing all three networks (plus Columbia Warner and the F-word network) do is make the same mistake with virtually their entire lineup. Granted, there are a relatively few exceptions since the '90's with certain programs which lasted several years (and should easily still be on today). However, there have been other programs I would have pulled off the air before even the first commercial break but, for whatever reason (and it couldn't have been ratings, because who in their right mind would have watched these programs week after week for years on end?), the network executives decided to keeping plodding along with them. For instance, I seem to remember that, sometime during the '90's, NBC had on its Thursday evening lineup a program about a group of twenty-somethings in New York city. To be sure, the cast had some decent talent, but the characters they played were each varying degrees of stupid (despite one of the characters ostensibly being a teacher). I wouldn't even have included that program in that particular lineup (home, as it was, to good, solid programs such as "Cheers", "Hill Street Blues", "L. A. Law" and, later, "E. R."), but NBC decided to keep it right there for something on the order of a decade. Oh well, I suppose the cast had to start somewhere! A few of them have at least been able to find better work since then. For my part, that program never appealed to me, although my younger sister, for reasons I leave to her, was a regular viewer both on NBC and in syndication. The situation on television has only become even worse, fraught as it now is with "reality" programs, falsely so-called, and other mindless dribble. Indeed, as has been observed by others, the television landscape today is a veritable wasteland.
I always thought that was hilarious. An egotist who thought he could sing... and then Walker Texas Ranger came out. Lee Majors and Chuck Norris should put an album out together. But I still know all the words to both intros so they must have done something right.
And the rest of the show followed up. They had a collection of some of the funkiest character actor roles ever on tv. The show dealt with all sorts of taboo subjects like homosexuality, cross dressing, addiction and racism and did it hilariously. One of the top 10 comedies of all time.
If nothing else, this video had the theme for the ABC SUNDAY MOVIE that I most remembered--all the previous ones that included the ABC SUNDAY MOVIE had either different (or *no*) theme music. As for the rest of it...this would have been the start of my 2nd year of college, and I think by the time I got home for summer vacation, a good portion of these shows were gone already (that's the way it goes). Still, better this than the bulk of what's on now!
‘The ABC [insert name of day here] Night Movie’ theme music + animation was so stirring and spectacular. I always got excited when it came on… even when the movie sucked. LOL! 😛 I was 11 in 1981. 😁
Man, that theme to 'Taxi' still kills [edit] : holy hell, also 'Open All Night'! I've never even heard of that show, but the lyrical depth of the theme song has me invested.
I want to see that Today’s FBI episode where teenagers are on tour for career day and that one kid named Fox stumbles into classified files in the basement
Whoever has the rights to the show...they need to make a reboot of The Greatest American Hero! They only scratched the surface when they cancelled the show!!! Btw...I loved it when they used the theme song in Free Guy when he put the glasses on the big bad guy...PRICELESS!!!
@25:09 I used to watch "Open All Night", and I remember really liking the theme song. I remember the actor Sam Whipple was hilarious in his role, and years later I was saddened to learn that he had died so young. Memories.
RIP Sean Connery. Sooo much good TV when I was just three years old and too young to appreciate it. At least I was old enough to appreciate the TGIF era of the 80s and 90s on ABC, though. And I'm guessing you didn't want to play the Mork and Mindy theme with Mearth that would have been in use in 1981? ;)
The theme song for ‘Today’s F.B.I.’ sounds suspiciously similar to the theme song from the movie-‘Stripes’ with.Bill Murray-which coincidentally was also released in 1981. 🤨🤔
Since all these clips were from ABC's 1981-82 TV season, the only unique series here, was "CODE RED", which was Irwin Allen's very last Primetime TV series, seven years after "THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON" (1975-76). created by Laurence Heath, this Irwin Allen TV production was the first one that he made for Columbia Pictures Television (now SONY today), as a result of the "Master of Disaster" moving to The Burbank Studios after 14 years at 20th Century Fox. Warner Brothers and Columbia Pictures is where they filmed their TV and movies at Burbank throughout the 70s and 80s. "CODE RED" was also Lorne Greene's last TV series before his passing in 1987, and many TV viewer complained that the 1981 TV show was a ripoff of Jack Webb's "EMERGENCY" (1972-1977)
Funny, watching these Kinross just remind me how much modern Hollyweird has basically become bankrupt of ideas...compare these shows to any number of "modern shows" and you will see many similarities, maybe even stolen story lines.
You're out of your mind. With a few exceptions most of these shows are horrible. You would have to be pretty low IQ to be able to sit through this crap today.
I only knew it as that in Late 80s Syndication* (not that I knew what that was at the time) Never knew it started back in 81 on ABC * the Local Station that would eventually become our Fox Affiliate would run a lot of syndicated Fare around the time they were getting the actual Fox programs so my then pre-teen mind had a lot of stuff jumbled about what was what... I'm learning new stuff all the time
I distinctly remember how they had to hurriedly change the name of The Greatest American Hero after Reagan got shot. But they couldn’t just do it once, they did it twice.
I remember I begged mom to extend bedtime by 30 minutes so I wouldnt miss watching Barney Miller, and she did! I was like 6yo 😅
The actresses of those shows were so beautiful and feminine!
The world is a less magical place without Wendie Jo Sperber in it.💔
So many great shows, no wonder I never did homework! I remember my mom saying of Cathy Lee Crosby every week " what the hell is that woman wearing now!?" Good times!!!!
Soooo many classic shows this season. If I was gonna get stuck in time it would be 1981.
Me too for the sports as well
me to but idve been 23 yrs old instead of 6. lol
I was uniquely innocent as far as moral compass goes then in 1981 and intently wanted to stay good in society . I knew I did right , but only falling short in not getting high grades in school until graduation . But I sought to , but I was kind of slow .
But I knew what mattered then morally . My parents did instill right things in us . My sibs got into drugs later because rural neighbors that had meth . Is when that area started going down hill and meth was picking up in the southern Mojave desert areas nearby . What happened how it was tolerated this way I can't figure ? The town went down hill slowly and felons got sent to it to live like they're dumped here and that led to serious crimes in town . But in the 80s you wouldn't have to lock any doors .
I was 9 in 1981 and I love going down memory lane. Any show where the characters exhibited super powers is what I loved so The Greatest American Hero was a treat. Three's Company was my favorite out of this whole lot. My whole family was glued to the TV to watch John Ritter being Jack.
I used to love The Fall Guy & Greatest American Hero back in the day. I was like 6-7 when these shows were on.
GAH is on that h& I channel on the weekends. Fall guy needs to B that channel or cosi. I loved the theme.
I love GAH and used to tie a towel around my neck and try to fly around the living room but kept crashing into the couch and knocking holes in the walls
Me too! Had such a crush on Lee Majors.
Local Chicago station ran a Greatest American Hero marathon a couple weekends ago...had that theme song in my head for days..”Believe it or not, I’m walkin’ on air...”
The Greatest American Hero is playing on Amazon’s prime now in Canada.
Fall 1981 on ABC seems to have had some of the greatest TV show theme songs of all time in one place! Humble nod to your tireless work on all these videos!!! For an Asperger'ey guy who grew up and thrilled to so many of these themes and shows, it's a wonderful visit back in time. Really great work, thanks.
I remember vividly Dynasty theme song especially when in high school going to bed on school nights my parents watching it doen the hall in den room . Fell asleep almost while hearing it . Sometimes I saw the shows whenever that was in the weeks . 1981 Fall was a senior in HS already ,but we by then lived 10 miles east of a rural town by then moving to it that year . Moving from LA county in CA . Had to catch school bus at rural firestation 2 miles away off county road there . Now living another location as adult of course.
Greatest American Hero song opening still sounds great....love it!
To this day, whenever I hear that song I picture George Costanza pantomiming to his answering machine message.
Cathy Lee Crosby rocking the big hair and lavender shiny jumpsuit is everything.
I love the fact that The Greatest American Hero had two full verses for the opening theme. And even more amazingly, it STILL does in syndication. I mean, it's no Quantum Leap with a 2 minute opening theme, but it is still strange to watch one of the many cable channels that started out as niche channels that all eventually just become filled with reruns of 70s and 80s shows, and they haven't shortened the intro for extra commercials.
And the song charted on Billboard. Back then, TV themes were also hit records.
They cannot shorten the intros for those older shows per the original contractual arrangements. There's no doubt they would like to shorten them but a contract is a contract.
@@greg6363 I think I'd ant to see sources on this claim. (Mainly because I HAVE seen this on some networks that have shortened it to just the one verse.) I mean, it isn't as if The Greatest American Hero's owners are holding all the cards in any syndication deal. They are just happy to get anything they can. So they are not going to risk a deal falling through completely, or the syndicator offering MUCH less for this.
@@rucksackzen I was very young when that show was airing but I remembered the song instantly and even though it's not something I would listen to I have to say it's probably one of the best theme songs I've heard written specifically for a show.
@@dickJohnsonpeter Follow closely by the Cheers theme song-which also charted I believe.
As a 15 year old in 1981, I remember most of these fondly.
As myself similar to yourself though I was 18 then still in HS in 1981 . The year we moved from Glendora CA to rural desert town 200 miles away ! Gotten tired of that town and can miss my old house I grew up in in LA county .
Same here. 1981 was a good year. Time sure goes by fast huh...
This was why doing homework in the early 80’s was hard : ))). Don’t like getting old but loved being a child of the 80’s!
Another wonderful trip down memory lane! Of the eight new programs--"Code Red," "Today's F.B.I.," "The Fall Guy," "Best of the West," "Darkroom," "Strike Force," "Maggie," and "Open All Night"--premiering on ABC in the fall of 1981, only "The Fall Guy" was renewed for a second season ("Dynasty" and "The Greatest American Hero" both premiered midway through the 1980-81 season). Sadly, this would be the final seasons for "Mork & Mindy," "Barney Miller," "Bosom Buddies," "Taxi," and "It's A Living" (NBC picked up "Taxi" in the autumn of '82 for its fifth--and final--season, and "It's A Living" [retitled "Making A Living" for its second season] was revived in the fall of '85; it lasted four years in first-run syndication). Thanks for uploading, RWdt09...keep up the good work, bro!
.....with most of those ("Fantasy Island", "Dynasty", "The Fall Guy", etc) still being rerun on a weekday or weekend basis on our local channels and their alternate digital free-to-air services as of tonight with great acclaim and praise.
Greetings.
As far as I'm concerned...The Greatest American Hero...was the best of the new shows that year!!! I really wish they would reboot that, after all, William Katt and Connie Selleca are still alive and well!
They had the greatest theme songs back then. Too bad there is no theme songs and the cast and credits are shrunk to nothing in the closing themes. So much better then than now.
straight shot of pure nostalgia! I can taste and smell 1981! (smells like car exhaust and grape popsicles)
And Sun Cream!
This is stacked with all the common local channel early evening/afternoon rerun staples! Threes Co, Too Close, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Barney Miller, Taxi, Benson.
Man, that Barney Miller theme song is permanently etched in my brain. Probably one of the best TV themes ever produced in all of its iterations.
omg!, i loved Too Close for Comfort!
What was great was that we could escape back then. No political agendas , every one did not whine about being offended, just turned on the tv relax and enjoyed the show. What has happened to us?
I couldn't agree more...back then we had sincerity, our culture had somewhat of a moral compass, we weren't entitled. I think people spout the "offended" rhetoric when they want to show how deep and cool they are...
What happened to us? We stopped putting up as much bullshit. TV shows have always had an agenda.
Yes it was that all that later crap had not been thought up yet . Some of the agendas and ways people whined of being offended subtly got going in the 90s . Then soon smoking was banned inside certain places. By 1990 shoes got more trendy with Nikes and such . Making it a kind of reference standard . Rap just barely going .When a 1993 president eventually had sexual issue withba lady by 97 or 96. In the 90s tv show the Simpsons was then raunchy like . TV shows devolved morally when it is okay they had been better clean . This got the down hill move going . TV then impacted society somewhat since people kept watching down hill ideas . The 90s was the bigger first turning point . The 2000s hardened some of it and by 2005 major social and political things came like a gradual tsumami . Then we started towards what we got now . There is more details but this is a useful outline or summary . I have a good memory is the source .
Heather Thomas made my pants feel funny.
don,t look at her now, then
11:38 believe it or not, George isn't at home. Please leave a message... at the beep.
Miami won that game 13-10, if you were wondering
thanks!.....my life can be complete now
#FlyEaglesFly!!
New England lost to Miami at the Orange Bowl the night Lennon was shot.
I love everything about that Hart to Hart intro. Perfect slice of the 1980s.
That Dynasty theme is a classic. Bill Conti did some incredible themes throughout the decade. I love how he put a new spin on the Dynasty one for the spin off, Dynasty II The Colbys. Took the beginning of the original and then gave a whole new feel for the rest of it.
That first show of the greatest American hero he is a high school teacher the students are about 27-30 years old I was thinking they were special ed students. ✌
ABC was still riding high from its ascent to number one in the late 1970’s. They were a few clunkers on Sunday and Friday but overall still a strong lineup.
Indeed! ABC's Tuesday night lineup was still going strong!
They don't make show's like this anymore
Thank God.
Trying to watch something like Three's Company now is absolute agony.
Lydia Cornell... God did I have a crush on her.
good memories of great tv.......
Wow this gives me chills...man I miss mom and brother so many memories
2:54 ABC's "star tunnel" Movie of the Week theme was my favorite as a kid. It looed SO cool.
me too...it was thrilling
That "Strike Force" theme makes you want to go bust bad guys!
It's much more fun seeing the ones that didn't make it to a second year. Actually remember these makes me feel so old!
The Greatest American Hero is the best TV show EVER.
I'd love to travel back in time to 1981 with present day clips of what tv has become. I'd show the clips on a show called THAT'S REDICULOUS.
Dear Sam Jones:
Than you for saving every one of us!
I swear the 80s were still the 70s until about 1983.
That's a good thing, millennial! That's a very good thing!
P.S.: If you're not a "millennial", I apologize. However, your comment seems to reflect that kind of an attitude. I happen to be a member of what some call the "Buster" generation (1965-83, born in the late '70's) and others call by other names. Oh, if we only knew at the time how good we had it!
@@thomash.schwed3662 I was born in 1985 so technically a millennial, but I really think the classification is stupid because I didn’t have good internet access or a cell phone until I was well into high school and had a drivers license. I grew up entirely differently than “ millenials” born in the mid 90s.
Absolutely. The early 80’s (80-82) were almost their own mini-era with their own feel. They had a lot of the style and look of the 70’s (just a bit more polished). The popular music was very much a holdover from the 70’s, just in adult contemporary form (it would later be known as yacht rock).
Despite the glitz of disco, the 70’s could be a little gritty and the country was going through a down, awkward phase. The late 70’s had an almost melancholy feel. When the 80’s began, there was a lot of new optimism and a fresh feeling as society tried to figure itself out in this new decade.
You hit it on the head. It wasn’t until 1983 that the “80’s” really began. Music, fashion, design, and popular culture transformed almost overnight. By 1984, it was like we were in a new world.
Tons of fantastic shows. Believe it or not.
Wow, Mike Connors still looked so young! I only remember him from Mannix in the late '60s!
I loved “Bosom Buddies”. Whatever happened to that Tom Hanks guy?😉
He fell off the radar, everyone said Peter Scolari was going to be the star anyway....Poor Tom....all those flops..."Forrest Gump", "Saving Private Ryan", "Philadelphia", "Big", "Punchline" all relegated to the dollar bin at Recycled Records....lol. Ok I know "Punchline" was bad but I love it for some unknown psych reason...
Yup, just another one-and-done actor. Shame, because I thought the dude really had potential...
He's running the fryer at KFC. He's next in line to be assistant manager though. Cross your fingers!
He’s leeching off his son Chet, who’s spittin’ 🔥 bars and killing in tha rap game
IIRC he moved to the Burbs, had a Bonfire on a Volcano, Tried his hand at Baseball which was Peachy, Battled insomnia in Seattle, had a Bad time in Philadelphia. He took up running, went to the Moon (almost), found a Snake in his Boot , saved some kid named Ryan, walked a Green Mile on the Road to Perdition to get Mail from a Desert Island... hw spent some time in the Vatican, and learned about Water Landings and his having a Beautiful day.
Back then, why watch anything else. Also who else realizes that Fantasy Island stared Two movie Bad guys? KHAN and Nick Nack!
Khannnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!
Also, Benson starred Neelix and Odo.
Ricardo Montalban did nothing wrong.
De plane, boss...de plane, de plane”
@@chrisw6164 Rich Corinthian leather.
That episode of Barney Miller and the hash brownies.
This would have been the beginning of my senior year in high school, an amazing and scary time...I give you a thumbs up for the Greatest American Hero thumbnail alone!
Nice to see one about my generation age as I was going into my senior year Fall 81 . I wonder what we have in common in relating to then and now ?! Since that time I been eventually feeling stuck in the town I live seeking to move away from and because it's hot desert in summer , too hot from the sun in sky with decades of walking in it to go out of my place . That is boring .
2:55 The ABC Sunday Night Movie. I hated that musical score because that meant that school was only hours away, and I was a big homework procrastinator. Give me the ABC Saturday Night Movie anytime. The good old days.
In with that one thing I ponder in memory of school in the 70s and early 80s IS that if I knew I would enjoy studying from books on oddities of ancient history and cultures liking it personally , I would of given more attention young to learn better how to study things I read about to did deep into curious things. I do best I know seek information of discovery of such matters . Example is Genesis 10 how it parallels Sumerian lines of sentence and phrase on tablets and also backs up or elaborates on Gen 10:5. Is uncanny to me . Not to disprove scripture since it's assumed is why I do that .
I loved the Tuesday night line up. Lived for it!
Wow brings back memories Fantasy Island every Saturday hearing Tattoo "The plane the plane" Tuesday night lineup would go for another 2 or 3 years then gone ABC still had great programming at that time
Man I want to watch that episode of That's Incredible, now.
It was a predecessor to today's "shock & awe" Reality TV shows.
@@luisreyes1963 Yep I watched it all the time as a kid. I just meant I really wanted to watch that specific episode.
Man.. I had the hugest crush on Lydia Cornell. The fact that it is 2020 and she still looks as hot as she does... reminds me of the good old days. LOL But then.. Stefanie Powers does as well. And My family NEVER missed an episode of _Hart to Hart_ . That was back in the days when they really knew what shows should be on TV for three or more seasons...
Although.. I will always say that ABC pulled an "NBC idiot move" with _The Greatest American Hero_ , _Mork and Mindy_ , and _Dynasty_ (one of the few nighttime soaps I tolerated because of my crush on both Heather Locklear and Emma Samms).. meaning that, like NBC does with too many shows.. they "fixed it till it was broke" with both shows. Lastly.. the BEST part of _The Fall Guy_ was that I found out that most criminals are just as "arrogantly stupid" as the show depicted...
It's not particularly surprising that ABC would occasionally make moves similar to NBC, considering the fact that what is now ABC actually started out as the NBC Blue Network on radio. What is now just NBC was the Red Network. That's right, NBC operated two radio networks until the mid-to-late '40's when they were forced to break up due to antitrust laws.
Regrettably, nowadays, for the most part, the only thing all three networks (plus Columbia Warner and the F-word network) do is make the same mistake with virtually their entire lineup. Granted, there are a relatively few exceptions since the '90's with certain programs which lasted several years (and should easily still be on today). However, there have been other programs I would have pulled off the air before even the first commercial break but, for whatever reason (and it couldn't have been ratings, because who in their right mind would have watched these programs week after week for years on end?), the network executives decided to keeping plodding along with them. For instance, I seem to remember that, sometime during the '90's, NBC had on its Thursday evening lineup a program about a group of twenty-somethings in New York city. To be sure, the cast had some decent talent, but the characters they played were each varying degrees of stupid (despite one of the characters ostensibly being a teacher). I wouldn't even have included that program in that particular lineup (home, as it was, to good, solid programs such as "Cheers", "Hill Street Blues", "L. A. Law" and, later, "E. R."), but NBC decided to keep it right there for something on the order of a decade. Oh well, I suppose the cast had to start somewhere! A few of them have at least been able to find better work since then. For my part, that program never appealed to me, although my younger sister, for reasons I leave to her, was a regular viewer both on NBC and in syndication.
The situation on television has only become even worse, fraught as it now is with "reality" programs, falsely so-called, and other mindless dribble. Indeed, as has been observed by others, the television landscape today is a veritable wasteland.
Wendy Schaal graduated from _It's a Living_ to _Fantasy Island_ I guess.
I had to look it up: Lee Majors sang the theme song "The Unknown Stuntman" from Fall Guy
Love it!
I always thought that was hilarious. An egotist who thought he could sing... and then Walker Texas Ranger came out. Lee Majors and Chuck Norris should put an album out together. But I still know all the words to both intros so they must have done something right.
Damn, that Barney Miller theme was funky! Almost as funky as Night Court.
And the rest of the show followed up. They had a collection of some of the funkiest character actor roles ever on tv. The show dealt with all sorts of taboo subjects like homosexuality, cross dressing, addiction and racism and did it hilariously. One of the top 10 comedies of all time.
If nothing else, this video had the theme for the ABC SUNDAY MOVIE that I most remembered--all the previous ones that included the ABC SUNDAY MOVIE had either different (or *no*) theme music. As for the rest of it...this would have been the start of my 2nd year of college, and I think by the time I got home for summer vacation, a good portion of these shows were gone already (that's the way it goes). Still, better this than the bulk of what's on now!
‘The ABC [insert name of day here] Night Movie’ theme music + animation was so stirring and spectacular. I always got excited when it came on… even when the movie sucked. LOL! 😛
I was 11 in 1981. 😁
I think the CBS late movie had a theme.
Man, that theme to 'Taxi' still kills
[edit] : holy hell, also 'Open All Night'! I've never even heard of that show, but the lyrical depth of the theme song has me invested.
Was a great year for television!!!
I used to watch all the 80s shows as a tot. My mum couldn't get me away from the telly lol
I wish tv was this good now!
I want to see that Today’s FBI episode where teenagers are on tour for career day and that one kid named Fox stumbles into classified files in the basement
Three's Company was one of the better US remakes of a British programme.
Thanks For Sharing!
Whoever has the rights to the show...they need to make a reboot of The Greatest American Hero! They only scratched the surface when they cancelled the show!!! Btw...I loved it when they used the theme song in Free Guy when he put the glasses on the big bad guy...PRICELESS!!!
OMG! Thats Incredible.....Loved that show😃
EVERYONE is lit so BADLY!
They had lights back then, WTF?
Also, i loved that Darkroom show.
Susan Tyrell on a sitcom. Gotta search for that one.
I wonder if Hart to Hart is as cool as I remember and the exciting theme would like me to still believe.
Just another throwaway amateur sleuth TV show.
it still gets airplay on Cozi & GetTV (Free OTA Digital Sub Channels) if you have access
@25:09 I used to watch "Open All Night", and I remember really liking the theme song. I remember the actor Sam Whipple was hilarious in his role, and years later I was saddened to learn that he had died so young. Memories.
i loved this era so much...now in2023 and things are terrible tv.movies music it all sucks bad.....81 had it all..great everything!
Do you have any idea how many years I looked for the theme of Strike Force??!?
out of these 26 shows, I watched 19 of them, either first run or summer repeats. Man, did i watch too much TV or what? lol
Absolute classics in this video!
Finally able to hear the awkward version of the Its A Living Theme "we're maaaking a living" hahaha
I used to love that show when i was 9.
Barrie Youngfellow was yummy!
The Greatest American Hero got everything right. Too bad it couldn’t last longer.
Jm J. Bullock. A total ladies man on “Too Close for Comfort”.
@ 3:51
#ForeverSeanConnery
#RestEasy007
@ 14:13
#ForeverMarkiePost
@ 16:03
#ForeverRobinWilliams
Uh, the theme song for Open All Night makes me want to hurt myself. Thank goodness that show didn't make it.
I miss the show to be honest though
Never heard of it. Sitting through the rest of the video to see if self harm is necessary.
It reminds me of an animaniacs musical number
I"m thinking the theme song was the stake in the heart of the show
Guess nobody found a sitcom about a 24-hour convenience store the least bit funny. 🏪
RIP Sean Connery. Sooo much good TV when I was just three years old and too young to appreciate it. At least I was old enough to appreciate the TGIF era of the 80s and 90s on ABC, though. And I'm guessing you didn't want to play the Mork and Mindy theme with Mearth that would have been in use in 1981? ;)
And Sean Connery starred in Outland plus Time Bandits that year.
Ann Jillian was why I went through puberty a few years early.
I didn't know Francine Smith was on Fantasy Island.
Darkroom! A great beginning, a weak ending, altogether a blip on the horror TV radar
I watched that show when i was a kid. Damn shame it didn't last long.
When you try 27 SHOWS OF NBC WINTER-SPRING TV 1967, Dragnet 1967's intro looked bland when compared to Star Trek's opening sequence.
i think Lorne Greene got typecast a little bit, he either played a cowboy or a firefighter
He was a starship commander in Battlestar Galactica.
the 'Reasonable Authority Figure' Trope could almost be named after him
Wow late 70s and most early 80s ABC dominated my life, haha.
From a time when tv was worth watching.
You must be low IQ
The theme song for ‘Today’s F.B.I.’ sounds suspiciously similar to the theme song from the movie-‘Stripes’ with.Bill Murray-which coincidentally was also released in 1981. 🤨🤔
Holy cow!!! Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones) right at the top!!!
Since all these clips were from ABC's 1981-82 TV season, the only unique series here, was "CODE RED", which was Irwin Allen's very last Primetime TV series, seven years after "THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON" (1975-76). created by Laurence Heath, this Irwin Allen TV production was the first one that he made for Columbia Pictures Television (now SONY today), as a result of the "Master of Disaster" moving to The Burbank Studios after 14 years at 20th Century Fox. Warner Brothers and Columbia Pictures is where they filmed their TV and movies at Burbank throughout the 70s and 80s. "CODE RED" was also Lorne Greene's last TV series before his passing in 1987, and many TV viewer complained that the 1981 TV show was a ripoff of Jack Webb's "EMERGENCY" (1972-1977)
Funny, watching these Kinross just remind me how much modern Hollyweird has basically become bankrupt of ideas...compare these shows to any number of "modern shows" and you will see many similarities, maybe even stolen story lines.
You're out of your mind. With a few exceptions most of these shows are horrible. You would have to be pretty low IQ to be able to sit through this crap today.
I thought that show was called "It's A Living".
I only knew it as that in Late 80s Syndication* (not that I knew what that was at the time) Never knew it started back in 81 on ABC
* the Local Station that would eventually become our Fox Affiliate would run a lot of syndicated Fare around the time they were getting the actual Fox programs so my then pre-teen mind had a lot of stuff jumbled about what was what... I'm learning new stuff all the time
The Greatest American Hero best theme song Believe It or Not.
What a Tuesday night lineup.
Taxi may have been a fair sitcom, but it was the launching pad for many careers.
Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito & Christopher Lloyd made it big afterwards.
Mr. Roarke: "Welcome to Fantasy Island."
Visitor: "Hold on, you mean we're not in Cabo San Lucsa? Son of a bitch, we got on the wrong plane."
I remember That's Incredible from Black Flag's TV Party
I distinctly remember how they had to hurriedly change the name of The Greatest American Hero after Reagan got shot. But they couldn’t just do it once, they did it twice.
Fall Guy still rules!
Why do you block NBC's 1986 SHOWS video, RwDt09?
Was this SPRING 1986 NBC SHOWS video blocked?
Fran Tarkenton was a TV host? He went to my high school and was a football player there.
The greatest “bumper” music ever created at 2:55
Some of your shows are not in 1981: Happ Days started in 1974 and Laverne and Shirley started in 1976. Both of these were no where near 1981...
Happy Days aired till July 1984 and Laverne and Shirley aired till May 1983.