'80s Television Favorites

My favorite television show of the 80's, hmmm- you're kidding-right? I only get to pick one? As if. All kidding aside, I have decided to take on the arduous task of narrowing down to and deciding upon just one show in the 80's as my favorite. Let the games begin.

One would think with the plethora of choices, choosing my favorite show of the 80's would be fairly simple. Well, one would be wrong. As a decade, the 80's gave birth to some of the first and most enduring forms of entertainment of our time. MTV laid the foundation that today as come full circle and changed the ways in which we hear, see and think about music. Fashion, hair and makeup took aggressive turns, and made radical leaps as men donned eyeliner, black fingernail polish and more hairspray than a 1950's sorority house. Women rediscovered lace, and when partnered with short spiky locks, colorful leggings and way too many bangles, revolutionized femininity.

Love was in the air and Joanie loved Chachi. No crime was unstoppable or went unsolved with the likes of T.J. Hooker, Magnum PI, Remington Steele and Simon and Simon on the case. The question of whether or not we were alone was answered with a big fat NO, and there was a fat furry, devaluing, sarcastic, repugnant, yet lovable and gluttonous alien named Alf to prove it.

Then there were the family shows such as Full House, Punky Brewster and Webster that spoke to our values, morality and both the traditional and not-so-traditional ideals on family life. On a slight more serious note, who would have believed that being in your 30's in the 80's was cool? Well at least that's what thirty-something told us - fears about marriage, kids, careers, affairs, divorce -all in one decade - again, who knew?

Let's not forget one of the most important shows ever brought to television, America's Most Wanted - talk about reality. Every week, host John Walsh would emotionally thrust us into situations, and give us real information about real victims and the criminals who made them victims. We could empathize and in some cases actually relate to the victims. This made us want to react, and we did. Often with the help of viewers calling in leads, since its debut on February 7, 1988, America's Most Wanted has been responsible for the successful capture of over 1000 fugitives. (http://www.amw.com/captures/), and is still going strong today.

For me, being 20-something "back in the day", my tastes and what I considered entertaining varied almost daily. I was a mood watcher-my mood determined what I watched. I guess if I had to choose a favorite show, the Sci Fi me was really diggin' Max Headroom. Artificial intelligence delivering snippy and snappy comebacks in a "narly" electro-stutter was beyond cool. Now the horror freak in me would pick Tales of the Crypt-you got to love the Crypt Keeper. That dude had a great sense of humor for a dead guy. But hey, wait a tic-how could I forget 21 Jump Street-young, hot (can you say Johnny Depp) undercover cops with great hair and fun fashion sense! It was like Hill Street Blues, meets Saved by the Bell. Wow, an unnerving pattern has been revealed here-plastic head guys, dead guys, drop dead gorgeous guys - apparently, I have, correction, "had" issues.

I digress - you're waiting for the drum roll please, and the opening of the envelope, and the winner of the My Favorite TV Show of the 80's is...not going to be decided anytime soon by this writer! There's just way too many choices people. After all, 80's television as compared to today's reality rage left us appreciating family values, facing life's real and often complicated issues, and finding comfort in the joy of simple laughter. The wise lessons learned from the Huxtables found their way into the rearing of our own children. On the other side of that spectrum, Al and Peg Bundy taught us what NOT to do in the raising of children, and we loved and laughed at them too.

While there are many things that I prefer to leave back in the 80's like Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy (urgh) song, rainbow leg warmers, and Rubik's cube (boy do I hate that thing), I do miss the choices that 80's television gave us. Let's face it, today we have choices when it comes to the number of channels we can watch, but it stops there. Reality TV dominates the airwaves and gives us little more than a pinch of actual reality. Ironically, the produced brain children of the 80's sitcom hubs gave us bigger heaps of "reality" and with a lot more finesse. I don't know about you but after a long day at work, perusing the bills, dealing with kids, homework, clogged toilets and the neighbors yappy Yorkie-I'm up to my ears in "reality." No thanks, give me some good old fashioned "made for TV" drama or comic relief, and mesmerize me with suspense, please! Make me use my brain and feel good about it-if MacGyver can escape from a jail cell with nothing but a gum wrapper and a paper clip, heck, surely I can figure out how to pay the bills with a negative checking account balance, right?

Sharp dialogues, earthy humor, relevant and heart felt story lines, and mindful creativity was at the heart of many of these shows and as a result, we continue to embrace them, and they continue to entertain us. That's what the 80's and 80's television gave us, and thanks to the art of reruns, will continue to give for years to come.