If you were a child of the 80’s like me, there were a lot of TV shows you have fond memories of. Shows like Knight Rider, Diff’rent Strokes and Family Ties are familiar to most people, but there were quite a few shows that I remember from the 80’s that aren’t as memorable because they never made it past the first season. Here’s my top 5 list of shows from the 80’s I loved that never made it past one season. If you know me at all you’ll see how these shows made me pretty much into who I am today. Do you remember any of these?
5. Whiz Kids (1983-1984)
Inspired by the 1983 film WarGames, Whiz Kids focused on a group of teenage computer geeks who solved mysteries that seemed to baffle the police. The head geek, Richie, is pretty much me, except I was writing programs that would flash words on the screen with my TI-99/4A rather than solving police crimes with the millions of dollars of computer equipment given to me by my dad. Richie also had friends, so come to think of it I was nothing like him.
4. Mr. Merlin (1981-1982)
What if the medieval wizard Merlin were still alive in 1981 San Francisco working as an auto mechanic? And what if a teenage kid comes along and pulls Merlin’s crowbar out of a bucket of cement becoming his apprentice? Comedy gold! Well Mr. Merlin was comedy gold if you were 10 years old anyway.
3. It’s Your Move (1984-1985)
Jason Bateman starred in another witty sitcom before Arrested Development. At the age of 15 he played Matthew Burton in It’s Your Move. He was a teenage scam artist with a sarcastic wit and ability to lie through his teeth. He met his match when someone equally as clever moves into the apartment next door and starts to take an interest in his mom. Like Arrested Development, I think this show was ahead of its time. The intro and theme to the show however was pure 1984.
2. Voyagers! (1982-1983)
I love time travel! Throw a hidden educational spin on it and how could Voyagers! not be a hit with kids and adults in 1982? In Voyagers!, a kid named Jeffrey runs into Phineas Bogg, who travels through time to correct things that have gone wrong in the past through the use of his very cool looking device called the Omni. If the light flashes red, then something is wrong in history and they have to find out how to correct it so they can get a green light. Jeffrey is important because his best subject in school is history and Bogg seems to have zero knowledge of it except how to be a womanizer in any time period. If I couldn’t have a time traveling Delorean in the 80’s, my second choice was an Omni. Of the shows I’ve listed here, Voyagers! is the only one available on DVD.
1. Automan (1983-1984)
This show was almost as cool as Knight Rider for me. If you were a police officer named Walter who was also a computer programmer, wouldn’t you create a holographic super hero and name him Automan since he was an Automatic Man? 26 years later and I still haven’t been able to pull that trick off. Automan was a total rip off of TRON and should have actually gotten his name from the cool car he could make with the help of his sidekick “Cursor.” In reality it was a Lamborghini, but looked cooler all TRON’d out. My brother and I would literally ROFL every time Automan would take a turn in his car at a 90 degree angle, slamming Walter into the inside walls of the car. (No seat belt laws in 1983) Two videos for you on this one. The first is the opening which features a famous poster of Heather Locklear that I had hanging in my bedroom. The second shows Automan taking Walter for his first ride in his tricked out car and has some amusing dialogue about other characters Automan knows that turn at 90 degree angles.
This is all kinds of awesome! Got this press release today from Fox 23:
It’s an “Homarge” to The Simpsons!
In anticipation of the famous family’s 20th Anniversary, FOX is launching
The SimpsonsScavenger Hunt.
Alert your listeners: this November, they’ll see an unprecedented campaign in FOX prime. Never before have so many shows participated in this kind of cross-promotion.
From November 9th-15th, look for clues and character references from The Simpsons to appear in everything from Bones to House (and a ton of shows in between). Guest stars, names, faces, places… all that you love about Springfield will be scattered throughout each night.
Viewers will then get the chance to say what they saw on www.thesimpsons.com. Instant winners will be chosen daily and at the end of the week, one lucky viewer will win the grand prize. Now that’s something fans can really get into.
In his continuing 434 part series “Better Know A District”, Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report interviewed Maine’s 1st District Representative Chellie Pingree. By now, any representative that agrees to be interviewed in this series knows that Colbert is going to go right up one side of them and down the other.
Pingree handled this well, but it was very clear Colbert was the one driving the bus. I wouldn’t have it any other way though! I just wish I had a fraction of the comedic skills Stephen Colbert has.
The gem of this interview is when Colbert brings up the first district’s 0.1% black population.
I can’t wait until he comes back to tackle Mike Michaud.
And is it just me, or is there some lighting trick going on here to make Pingree more attractive than she really is?
Hollywood lost a legend today. Ricardo Montalban, famous for his roles as Mr. Rourke in Fantasy Island and Khan Noonien Singh in the Star Trek episode Space Seed and movie “The Wrath of Khan” died today at the age of 88. He had been ill and confined to a wheelchair for quite some time.
When I posted the news on Facebook and Twitter, I had a few responses from people who had no idea who he was. Wrong. Maybe you don’t recognize the name, but you certainly have seen or heard him before. Take a look at this collection of some of his most famous work.
Star Trek : The Original Series – Space Seed (1967)
A year ago today I wrote about how I’m a huge fan of Dick Clark and admire his perseverance, but it’s time for him to retire from New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. Since suffering from a stroke in 2004 he’s not up to the task of hosting anything, even in the diminished capacity that he has relegated himself to on Rockin’ Eve.
I watched again as 2009 was ushered in hoping to see an improvement, but sadly he seemed worse this year. Many times I just could not understand what the man was saying.
Why is he still doing it? Dick loves doing this show. Of all the shows he has hosted, from American Bandstand to Pyramid, this is the one you can tell he has always enjoyed the most. The excitement is still there, it’s just heartbreaking to watch.
He’s also still hosting because it’s tradition. It seems hard to remember a time when we rang in the new year without Dick Clark there in Times Square. Even if you weren’t paying close attention to the show, Dick was still there in the background at almost every party.
Ryan Seacrest can try, but he’ll never be Dick Clark to my generation. Your legacy is safe Dick. There’s something to be said for making a graceful exit. I’m just afraid it’s too late.
You’ve probably heard by now that Time Warner Cable is butting heads with Viacom, owner of television networks like MTV, VH1, Nickleodeon and Comedy Central. Viacom has said it wants to increase the rate that Time Warner has to pay in order to carry their channels. Time Warner refuses because it’s just too much of an increase, one that they will have to pass on to their subscribers. Viacom then says, fine. If you don’t pay the higher fees, you can’t carry these networks anymore.
It’s like watching two children fight. Viacom wants to charge more for Time Warner to play with its toys, and when Time Warner says no, Viacom threatens to just take their toys and go home. Now both of them are going to mom (the cable customers) and pointing at the other saying “It’s his fault!” It’s all pretty silly.
MTV Networks wants our customers to pay millions more. They are currently demanding price increases that are nearly triple the rate of increase under our current agreement. These increases would be excessive even in a strong economy, but given the current conditions, it’s simply not fair to our customers.
Customers will pay millions more if you count all 13 million of them. In reality it’s not nearly that extreme.
It’s all just pretty childish finger pointing if you ask me.
Here’s what I think is happening. Ad revenue is down along with the economy, so Viacom found a new way to make up the difference. Increase their rates excessively so Time Warner is forced to charge their consumers making up for Viacom’s deficit.
Time Warner takes the stand of protecting their customers from a rate increase. Forget the fact that they increase their rates every single year at this time and offer you 20 channels you have no interest in just to get the one channel you can’t live without.
I’ll be surprised if at midnight tonight all of a sudden these channels turn to static. Neither side can afford to live without the other. Viacom can’t afford to pull their channels and lose 13 million households. Neither can Time Warner afford to lose customers to satellite TV where these channels will still be carried. Someone will blink first.
So don’t panic. The Daily Show, Yo Gabba Gabba!, and crappy reality shows will still be there tomorrow. If I’m wrong and they’re not, you can always get your fix online. The majority of the popular shows on these networks are available on iTunes, the Xbox Marketplace, or for free on the network’s websites.
Fight all you want you two. I’ll still be watching either way.
UPDATE:
(AP) – At 12:01 AM, on New Years Day, Time Warner customers found themselves able to watch their regular Viacom owned channels such as Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central. According the the Associated Press the two companies extended the deadline by an hour which helped them make the deal. Details of the agreement have not been released at this time.
Can’t anyone learn their lesson from The Writer’s Guild strike from a year ago?
If you remember, the strike last November lasted until May and crippled television and to a lesser extent movies. The strike shortened television seasons, or canceled some altogether. Thanks to the writer’s strike one of my favorite shows, 24, hasn’t had any new episodes for a year and half.
What’s the issue? Actors want more money for work they do that is distributed on the Internet. It’s the same issue that the writer’s had, but they struck a deal. Now the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers want the actors to take the same deal the writers took. The actors don’t want it.
There’s a few problems I see with this. First and foremost, how will Joe Sixpack who just lost his job due to the tough economy have any sympathy for the actor who makes 500K per episode and now wants more just because his work is going to another distribution source?
I understand that not every actor in Hollywood makes that kind of money, but you won’t see those people in front of the news cameras pleading their case for SAG. You’ll see the Tom Cruise’s and the Steve Carell’s, and Joe Sixpack knows they make ridiculous amounts of cash.
The other problem I see is who really gives two squats how your work is seen? It’s 2008 and it’s a new media world. The lines between television and the Internet are slowly starting to fade. Just ask Tina Fey who was probably seen more at hulu.com playing Sarah Palin on SNL than she was on the live show.
Actors seriously want to get paid more because they’re on television AND Hulu? Hey SAG! Why don’t you zip it and go to work so that those of us who make less in a year than you make in a day can go home after 12 hour days and be entertained.
David Letterman sure has matured since his days of throwing things off a five story tower. He’s still brilliant, but I’ve always liked "Late Night" better than "The Late Show." However, when he puts the screws to John McCain like he did this week, I can’t decide which is more entertaining. Dropping a six pack of regular beer and light beer off a five story tower to see which lands first, or pointing out to John McCain the hypocrisy of calling Barack Obama on his "association" with William Ayers. Here’s both clips, and you can decide for yourself.
It’s always the videos made by people with too much time on their hands that make me laugh the most. Goes to show you, that the characters of Lost seem to know just as little as we do about that damn island.
Been browsing Hulu.com for the past hour and came across another gem. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century! A friend of mine is really good friends with Gil Gerard’s (Buck Rogers) son. This is the ultimate in sci-fi cheesiness.
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This is all kinds of awesome! Got this press release today from 
In his continuing 434 part series “Better Know A District”, Stephen Colbert of 
