What was TV like for kids in the late 70s/early 80s? I don't think any description I could give would quite do it justice. Let's just say that on any given night you might find The Six Million Dollar Man trapped on a nuclear sub with a smoking hot woman who can control sharks! Or (holy shit!) Shaun Cassidy and Pamela Sue Martin go to a Transylvania rock concert and meet up with friggin Dracula, the Wolfman and Frankenstein!You're thinking: So what? It's only TV, so who cares?
Well, back then, it was a big deal because you basically had nothing else to do during prime time.
(1) It was too dark to keep playing outside.
(2) No one did homework back then. None. Zero.
(3) Boomer parents were way too wrapped up in themselves to orchestrate any activities, thank goodness.
(4) There was no internet or video games or cell phones (if you wanted to talk to your friends, it was on a harvest yellow non-cordless phone in the kitchen).
Maybe I don't speak for everyone, but even if everything I said is false, you can't deny the incredible line up that was on TV night after night. I listed the 1980 lineup on a previous post, and it is striking.
And on an unrelated note...
I came across this ad for Fridays, a SNL rip off that was actually pretty good in its own right. It had a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards and Larry David with fro!
Also featuring Mark Blankfield, who starred in possibly the most brazen endorsement or cocaine in the history of cinema - the disco flick Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde... Together Again. I first saw it on Night Flight (remember Night Flight?) and have never been quite able to shake the memory.
Note: The ads were swiped from the wonderful Branded in the 80s, which hasn't had a new post since Christmas and I'm going through withdrawals.
