I Love The '80s Strikes Back!

[johnnya2k3]

If you think this year's World Series seem too boring, then there's "I Love The '80s Strikes Back" all this week on VH1! Last time they went through the decade, WOF was the only game show featured; the '70s miniseries had Feud, TPIR, Newlywed Game, Battle of the Network Stars, and Gong Show.

Let's hope the second time around they'll cover Press Your Luck and/or Tic Tac Dough (Thom McKee and Michael Larson MIGHT be brought up) on the game shows side. Let's also pray they might get to Inspector Gadget, SCTV, Today's Special, the early years of Entertainment Tonight, the televangelist scandals of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, and of course, SQUARE ONE TV!!!!!

Jonathan Allen

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'johnnya2k3\' date=\'Oct 20 2003, 10:34 PM\']Let's hope the second time around they'll cover Press Your Luck and/or Tic Tac Dough (Thom McKee and Michael Larson MIGHT be brought up) on the game shows side. [/quote]
Probably not, but good try.

Let's also pray they might get to Inspector Gadget

Uh, why?  HE-MAN was waaay better.

SCTV

SCTV's beginnings go back to the 1970s (although, technically so did WoF's).  I guess you could call the early 1980s the glory years for SCTV, what with "Great White North" really catching on as a bit (and I must admit I love the McKenzie Bros.' take on "Twelve Days of Xmas" on the CD).  So that's plausible.

Today's Special

Sure, a Canadian kids show seen in some U.S. markets via PBS that made a lasting impact.  I'm sure those stars, whatshisname and whosheis, look back with fond memories of those early years (yes, that was a trifle sarcastic).

the early years of Entertainment Tonight

Could very well be covered, given that VH-1 and ET now have a relationship.

the televangelist scandals of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart

Fer shurr.  You mean they weren't covered the first time around?

, and of course, SQUARE ONE TV!!!!!

Three strikes and you're out.  But the game show bits were good and I'd swear that Dirk Niblick's voice bore a striking resemblance to Gary Owens'.  But you never know.

Doug

[johnnya2k3]

But the game show bits were good and I'd swear that Dirk Niblick's voice bore a striking resemblance to Gary Owens'

Um, Gary Owens WAS the voice of Dirk Niblick.

BTW, I forgot to mention they might feature The Great Space Coaster, Donahue, and if it's alright with the religious folks, Superbook, PTL Club (to go along with the Bakker scandal), and Circle Square (the latter and fellow show 100 Huntley Street (a 700 Club-ish show which began airing Stateside in the mid-'80s) were also Canadian imports along with Today's Special and SCTV).

Jonathan Allen

[dheine1971]

What about Match Game and Joker's Wild and Marc Summers' Double Dare (Nickelodeon)?

As for Today's Special - That was a Nickelodeon preschool show like Pinwheel was. Too bad it could have reinstated today on the Nickelodeon owned cable channel named Noggin/The N. I liked that mouse who spoke in poetry - Take that, Nipsey Russell!

[mctoyboy]

Pinwheel.....that was such a long show! =)
j

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'johnnya2k3\' date=\'Oct 20 2003, 11:48 PM\']

But the game show bits were good and I'd swear that Dirk Niblick's voice bore a striking resemblance to Gary Owens'

Um, Gary Owens WAS the voice of Dirk Niblick. [/quote]
 I also loved Sq1.  The Great Space Coaster was mentioned above, but I also watched Voltron, You Can't Do That on Television, and Muppet Babies--often imitated, only once or twice duplicated--regularly.  And as mentioned on ezBoard, the Hit Man theme seemed to borrow its rolling keyboard riff from Duran Duran's "Rio".  And back then, USA was the game show network.

ObGameShows: You Can't alumnus Stephanie Chow was a contestant on Win Ben Stein's Money.

Ob80s: Happy Days, a show about the '50s, succeeded in the '70s.  That '70s Show! succeeded in the '90s.  Why does every recent show set in the 1980s (Freaks & Geeks, Do Over, et al) flop?  The decade wasn't that bad, was it?

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'johnnya2k3\' date=\'Oct 20 2003, 11:48 PM\']

But the game show bits were good and I'd swear that Dirk Niblick's voice bore a striking resemblance to Gary Owens'

Um, Gary Owens WAS the voice of Dirk Niblick.

BTW, I forgot to mention they might feature The Great Space Coaster, Donahue, and if it's alright with the religious folks, Superbook, PTL Club (to go along with the Bakker scandal), and Circle Square (the latter and fellow show 100 Huntley Street (a 700 Club-ish show which began airing Stateside in the mid-'80s) were also Canadian imports along with Today's Special and SCTV). [/quote]
 No wonder he sounded like him!  (And yes, I actually did know that.)  

Not that there's anything wrong with religion, but you seem to be hung up on VH-1 devoting a lot of segments to these religious shows.  PTL was certainly newsworthy because of the scandal, but the other ones you mentioned I wouldn't think they'd have caused enough of a stir to merit a mention, let alone a segment.  I could be wrong, though.

GREAT SPACE COASTER?  Probably the same deal.  Of course, everybody has his or her own favorites from the decade (I was quite partial to HE-MAN and SHE-RA myself).  But there's an old saying in life--you can't please everybody.

Granted, I didn't watch all 20 hours of I LOVE THE 70S and I LOVE THE 80S (the original), so I don't know whether DONAHUE was or wasn't mentioned, but I'm a little surprised if he wasn't.  Oprah started her regin by toppling DONAHUE from the ratings perch, so he certainly deserves a mention for his accomplishments prior to the Oprah juggernaut.

And to get this back to being on-topic, if any game show besides WoF really deserves a mention/segment, J!'s 1984 revival certainly does probably before any others (and the best part is it's still airing).

Doug

[tommycharles]

Was Dave Letterman ever mentioned in the original 80's shows? Just curious, because that would be a rather serious ommission if he wasn't.

Oh, and what about Trebeck J!?

[ilb4ever2000]

No one mentioned that Chuck Woolery was on the 1981 episode talking about Hart to Hart. Judging by his chyron, we'll probably see a segment on Love Connection later.

[joelvanderveen]

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Oct 20 2003, 11:15 PM\'] Today's Special -- Sure, a Canadian kids show seen in some U.S. markets via PBS that made a lasting impact.  I'm sure those stars, whatshisname and whosheis, look back with fond memories of those early years (yes, that was a trifle sarcastic). [/quote]
 Wow! I figured I was the only one who remembered "Today's Special". Good old TVO.... sadly, one of the more memorable shows they featured back then. Though you couldn't beat the nature films made lovingly by the NFB.

[inturnaround]

The only other game show host so far has been Bil Dwyer.

Not that he was a host for long, but he's still part of the family.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'inturnaround\' date=\'Oct 21 2003, 09:46 PM\']The only other game show host so far has been Bil Dwyer.

Not that he was a host for long, but he's still part of the family.[/quote]
Hasn't Proops shown up yet?  He's been on every other "I Love..." so far (and he was on ESPN2's new morning show "Cold Pizza" yesterday morning doing a smarmy version of what Jim the Announcer used to do on "Breakfast Time" with the weather maps--although he didn't talk about Hugo and Luigi).

[Ian Wallis]

Ob80s: Happy Days, a show about the '50s, succeeded in the '70s. That '70s Show! succeeded in the '90s. Why does every recent show set in the 1980s (Freaks & Geeks, Do Over, et al) flop? The decade wasn't that bad, was it?

Personally, I thought there were a lot of good things about the '80s, from music to certain movies to game shows.  Let's not forget that the mid-80s saw another boom time in game shows.  After a couple of down years in the early 80s, they were really hot there for several years, before the decline in the '90s.

Eventually I'm sure we'll have a hit sitcom or drama series set in the '80s!

[inturnaround]

No, Proops hasn't been on this version yet. We're halfway in, so I doubt he'll pop up.

Bob Barker appeared in the 1985 episode via a PSA made that let the public know that you can't get AIDS from cats. Bob was grey for the spot.

[davemackey]

The 1985 show did cover "Inspector Gadget." Whoo-whoo!