Looking Back at the Great TV Shows of the 80's

Some of my fondest childhood memories are that of evenings sitting in the living room with my family watching television. We had one of those old floor model TV sets that you had to get up to change the channel and had only three or four channels to choose from. Most of the channels were fuzzy except for ABC, so that's usually where it stayed. Friday night was when all the fun shows seemed to air, during their TGIF (Thank God It's Funny) lineup. Among them was my personal favorite, Perfect Strangers. I was only four when Perfect Strangers first aired, but I remember running around saying, "Balki, Balki".
Balki Bartokomous, a sheepherder from the island of Mypos, shows up on the doorstep of his distant cousin, Larry Appleton's new apartment in Chicago to live with him. Needless to say it wasn't a welcome surprise. Who could forget Balki's signature "Dance of Joy"? A silly little dance in which he'd end up jumping into Larry's arms! His crazy ideas about American culture were irritating but hilariously funny. "America... Land of my Dreams, Home of the Whopper."
Perfect Strangers ran for eight crazy seasons, all of which I really believed it was called, "Balki".

My second favorite show from the 80's would have to be Full House. It was probably the favorite of millions, featuring single dad, Danny Tanner, who needs help raising his kids after his wife dies and calls upon best friend, Joey Gladstone, and brother-in-law, Jesse Katsopolis for help. Jesse is best known for his Elvis infatuation and "not the hair" attitude while Joey was a silly comedian who did a ventriloquist act with a woodchuck.
I grew up with the Tanner girls, DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle. I was about the same age as Stephanie and at times I tried to act like her. My favorite saying was, "How Rude!" Sometimes I still catch myself saying it. I guess some habits die hard.

There were so many fantastic shows during the 80's and I could go on and on. They just don't make shows like that anymore but fortunately you can find most of them on DVD, "Everywhere You Look."

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