’80s Rewatch: You Make The Call
Submitted by Sarah D. Bunting on August 9, 2009 – 11:07 PM132 Comments
In the spirit of recent rewatches elsewhere around the interwebs — Wing’s 90210 coverage at Sling; Sepinwall’s of Band of Brothers, Sports Night, and others — I’ve decided to do my own. The TN twist: I’d like to pick a far more hilariously unbearable show than any of those. Heh.
I’ve narrowed it down to Miami Vice, original Knight Rider, original Degrassi, and 21 Jump Street, but I need you guys to make the call…or to suggest a show I’ve overlooked. (Let me say pre-emptively that ST: TNG is not going to happen.)
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Tags: Alan Sepinwall David Hasselhoff friends sites TV
@MM: Oooh! The first season of Real World would be so totally awesome.
Believe it or not, I’m walking on aiiirr….I never thought I could feel so free-hee-hee …Flying away on a wing and a prayer….Whooo could it beeee? Believe it or not, it’s just meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…..
You HAVE to do Greatest American Hero!!
(No, I did NOT google those lyrics…)
21 Jump Street! Second choice, Miami Vice.
Some good suggestions here, but I can’t believe no one has mentioned ALF…
Or Dynasty… (come on, a wedding in Europe where every one gets gunned down… who will survive?)
I vote for 21 Jumpstreet. However, I would also have to put in a word for Dukes of Hazard. I remember thinking they were soooo cool, but on a re-watch they sure did turn into some cardboard cutouts of hillbillies.
I agree that “Leap” is not nearly bad enough, and I’m stunned that people think Bakula himself makes it bad! I don’t think MacGuyver is bad enough, either.
Totally going for Knight Rider, simply for The Hoff.
I love ST:TNG, but man, am I not going to suggest a non-Trek person sit through 7 seasons it, especially snice “season” meant like 24-26 episodes back then. That’s a whole lot of Trek.
@FloridaErin, I agree with you that Leap is actually pretty watchable, but MacGyver is definitely bad enough. Have you rewatched it recently? Ridiculous.
Ahem…
21JUMPSTREET21JUMPSTREET21JUMPSTREET! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!
I can’t tell you the joy I would feel as you snarked all over this show, and that’s from someone who loved it so much she couldn’t choose between all the guys, and democratically rotated them in her nightly fantasies.
Plus, Agony Booth and The Dairi Burger are both regularly slamming Degrassi–21 is all yours, baby, all yours.
Degrassi Degrassi Degrassi!
I wish Agony Booth’s coverage were a little more “regular”; their shit is hilare, but it’s taking them like two years to get through a season. I could also do D:TNG because I have seen THEM ALL (shut UP!), but I feel like there’s enough Emma’s-lip-gloss hateration at large on the interwebs without my piling on.
21JS is out to a fairly healthy lead at this point; might be time to call it for my boy Tom Hanson.
I also vote for 21 Jump Street. Man, I’ve got to find those DVDs.
I always vote late, but 21 Jump Street! Now I’m going off to find the previously mentioned hilarious essay….
When I saw the title I was sure this was going to be a John Hughes appreciation thread.
If Jump Street isn’t already the winner, I’m going to agree with Kristina on the A-Team because: come on. Mister T! What more could you ask for? Otherwise I vote for Miami Vice. I never saw Jump Street and I have fond, nostalgic memories of Degrassi, as awful as it was.
Twin Peaks?? Please?
Defintely 21 Jump Street. Poor Johnny Depp, stuck with that on his resume…
Awww … I wanted Knight Rider …
Truly unbearable? How’s about Highway to Heaven? Hee…
Oh, how I LOVED the original Degrassi, but I think for hilariously-unbearable purposes, Miami Vice fits the bill.
21 Jump Street. I have every season on DVD, and I’m not ashamed!
Well, maybe a little ashamed. It was well and truly awful. Far more shameful? The fact that my little crush on Peter DeLuise has never, entirely faded.
Knight Rider!!!! Any snark on the Hoff would be balm on a work day.
21 Jump Street. Please, please, please with sugar on top.
Original “Degrassi!!!”
“All the way with Stephanie Kaye!”
“But Kathleen, you got an honorable mention!”
Voula’s overbearing parents! Overcompensating for Stephanie and Arthur’s non-resemblance with the redheaded braided girl!
Sociopathic Alexa and the mystery of why everyone was hot for Simon!
So many facets in such a low-budget world. GOLD!
All that said, I will definitely be reading whatever you recap :)
I think I’m too late, but I’d love to see recaps of Knight Rider! Although the suggestion of “Greatest American Hero” rocked my world! I could totally sing along without cheating!
I third Greatest American Hero, but since it’s so far behind, my original choice was 21 Jump Street until I saw someone mention GAH. (oh wow, those initials are fitting!)
I vote for degrassi!!! (Yes, I’m canadian.)
All! All of them! I NEED your Miami Snark! Same with KnightRider. PLease please please!!!!
Vice. Must do Vice. It is WONDERFULLY DELICIOUS.
This is even a question? 21 Jump Street!
21 Jump Street! I started to rewatch them a while ago and got distracted with other things. Some TN recaps would definitely get those discs back to the top of my Netflix queue.
(Not sure which I’m more nostalgic about – 21 Jump Street or reading recaps by Sars. Having both would be heaven.)
Jump! Down on Jump Street! (My vote is for Jump Street by the way)
Totally, totally Greatest American Hero.
look at what’s happened to mee-hee . . .hmmm mmm.
Yes. I had the theme on 45. I think it’s still in a box somewhere.
Sars, you are in the right demographic for Sweet Valley High – did you know of the existence of http://thedairiburger.wordpress.com/ ? She savages SVH and other YA series and just recently did a whole post on original-flavor Degrassi. HIGHLY entertaining.
My vote is for 21 Jump Street, which I did not watch the first time around because my parents were hippies who wouldn’t let us watch TV other than PBS. The hilarious upside to this is that I was exposed to Monty Python at a VERY early age, and have a deep and abiding love for all things British sitcom. :-)
Alas, it appears to be 21 Jump Street in a landslide (I say “alas” because that’s a show I just never saw).
I really liked the suggestion somewhere above of doing a succession of first-seasons of various 80s icons, though — Miami Vice, Magnum, MacGyver, etc. I think it’s true that that would avoid the worst of the dross (and I say that even though I *love* MacGyver for its total cheesiness, and yes, I’ve watched it recently), and the variety would actually be kind of cool.
A project for another day, perhaps.
@jive turkey–Lemme recap EVERY episode EVER of “Highway to Heaven” right here and now: “Don’t you SEE what you’re DOING? WAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
And there you go.
Why not something totally different like Charles in Charge! Loved it back in the day, but now it is just dorky!
Please do Degrassi. I just bought the original run on DVD, and it will make my viewing so much more awesome if I have your recaps to read along with.
ANOTHER VOTE FOR JUMP STREET!
Damn I loved that show when it first aired, then I loved it in reruns, and I recently re-watched the first two seasons and was shocked by both the horrible-ness and the fabulous-ness that is 21 Jump Street.
The clothes, the music, the hair, the storylines, the complete lack of any concept of reality, the attempt at being both preachy and gritty. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
My vote is totally for 21 Jump Street….it’s my 80’s guilty pleasure…
Degrassi!
How about Saved By the Bell? It fits the era and it’s cringe-worthy.
Either original or TNG Degrassi would be awesome. Because original Degrassi has the awesome seen when BLT (or whatever his name was) gets the milkshake in his cheating face, but new Degrassi has the episode where Emma gets her period for the first time… while wearing a white skirt. Also, let us not forget that Degrassi 1.0 had The Zit Remedies… at the very least, I hope you will one day “rewatch” the movie School’s Out, which focused on the original gang.
Also, does anyone else remember watching “Degrassi Talks” in health class, where the various actors would go about interviewing Canadian teens about various core issues like sex and drugs?
Knight Rider. It was, in retrospect, just really, really bad. I mean, the highlight of the episode, EVERY episode, was when KITT did one of his trademark “leaps” over something, the car saved the day, hooray.
And also, Jason Bateman had a one-episode role in which KITT lost his memory and followed little Jason home and saved him from … I don’t know, bad guys.
Degrassi Degrassi Degrassi!!
I vote Degrassi. I don’t need a rewatch of 21 Jump Street because I remember every golden moment, even the Grieco episodes. But Highway to Heaven would be unbearably delicious. That show was Seventh Heaven before there was a Seventh Heaven.
21! 21! 21! God how I loved Johnny Depp on that show. And I wasn’t one for crushes. Carol was my favorite kid on Growing Pains, not crazy zealot Kirk Cameron. That’s just weird.
What about Dallas?!! I LOVED that show and it was soooo cheesy.
I also loved Magnum PI, but it would make me cry if you dissed it too hard. I LOVE Tom Selleck.
21 Jump Street all the way! So good! And so corny. When I was unemployed, I would watch reruns every day.
Silk Stalkings. LOVE.
21 Jump Street!!!!
21 Jumpstreet, all the way. Just watched some S1 with friends and realized that although the Depp was lovely, it’s always been Peter DeLuise for me. Love me some Doug Penhall.
ANY of these would be great reading, I’m sure! I can’t wait.
I had no idea there was a trend of rewatching shows. Speaking of Star Trek TNG, I just started my own project to watch/rewatch all of the Star Trek shows and movies, in their in-universe chronology (and blog about it). (And also I am going to attempt to watch all of Lost before the final season starts in January). I estimate this whole thing, hundreds of hours of TV, to take me the next … several years. Or until I get bored.