80-84, A Great Time To Watch TV (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

I was born during this period, and it seems like the 1980s really was the last decade when network TV managed to have the edge over cable in providing quality programs. It was also the last decade the amount of commercials per hour in prime time were at anywhere near a reasonable amount, and the last decade before those awful screen-destroying bugs took over every bottom right corner of every channel.

During this period, some shows that had been on since the early days of TV came to an end: The Lawrence Welk Show, Captain Kangaroo and The Wonderful World of Disney for example, except that the latter has been revived from time to time.

NBC under Fred Silverman managed three sitcom hits (Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, and Gimme A Break!) and a bunch of flops, but then Tinker and Tartikoff came in and promised to make their shows as good as their ads. When they were hot, they were hot. And when they were not, well, at least they tried. But overall they managed to strike a pretty good balance between critical acclaim and mass popularity with all age groups. And imagine where Tartikoff would be in today's 1500-channels-and-streaming universe if he hadn't died so young.

CBS seemed to have the best luck with dramas (Dallas, Knots Landing, Magnum PI, Cagney and Lacey), but while their 1970s holdover sitcoms (M*A*S*H, Jeffersons, Alice, Archie Bunker, One Day at a Time) lived out their natural lifespan, they didn't really launch many successful new ones except for Newhart and Kate and Allie. They even managed to persuade Disney to get back into series television for the first time since Zorro went off the air, but everything that came from that deal flopped.

ABC seemed all over the place without many strong successors to its aging 1970s powerhouses. Not many of their new sitcoms lasted long besides Too Close for Comfort and Webster, and their biggest hits were also dramas, mainly Dynasty, Hotel and The Fall Guy.

 

[jcroy]

I was born during this period, and it seems like the 1980s really was the last decade when network TV managed to have the edge over cable in providing quality programs.

What original first-run scripted shows were popular on cable back in the 1980s?

IIRC, I only really remember the premium cable channels playing lots of movies without any commercials.

 

[TravisR]

What original first-run scripted shows were popular on cable back in the 1980s?

Not to speak for anyone but he's saying that the 1980's was the last time that network TV was king since the 1990's is when cable programming started to really get going.

 

[MatthewA]

Not to speak for anyone but he's saying that the 1980's was the last time that network TV was king since the 1990's is when cable programming started to really get going.

That's true, but the seeds for the Golden Age of Cable Television had been planted. In the 1980s, there were original cable shows, even dramas (THE Disney Channel's Danger Bay and Five Mile Creek, the latter of which a young woman named Nicole Kidman had something to do with once upon a time) and sitcoms (HBO's 1st & 10 with Delta Burke and OJ Simpson among others), but none of them got anywhere near the kind of ratings or budget something on HBO would get today and were more comparable in production value to first-run syndicated shows. But since some of the FCC's rules only applied to over-the-air broadcasts, they were able to do things network TV just wasn't ready for yet. Showtime's Brothers was the first show where a gay male character was the lead. And for everyone complaining about HBO getting first dibs on new Sesame Street episodes, remember this was where Fraggle Rock ran. THE Disney Channel also made original children's shows, too, namely Welcome to Pooh Corner, which brought the Sherman Brothers back to the studio for a brief period, and Mousercise*; it wasn't until the late 1990s/early 2000s that their laugh track-laden odes to teenage narcissism went into full throttle.**

And remember the Cable ACE Awards?

*Starring Kellyn Plaesschert, who sadly died at 51, not even living outliving her father who danced with Barbra Streisand in Hello, Dolly! among other movie musicals of the era. The 1980s had some very BAAAAAAD advice on how to get fit and healthy, but like sheep, we followed it.
**That was also around the time they dropped the word "the" from its name, much like how The Guiding Light became just plain old Guiding Light in the mid-1970s.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

ABC seemed all over the place without many strong successors to its aging 1970s powerhouses. Not many of their new sitcoms lasted long besides Too Close for Comfort and Webster, and their biggest hits were also dramas, mainly Dynasty, Hotel and The Fall Guy.

Good post, Matthew. I would just add to your ABC comments that even though it began in 1979, I'd classify the sitcom Benson as an 80s show. It proved to be a quiet hit for the network, running for 7 seasons.

 

[bmasters9]

Good post, Matthew. I would just add to your ABC comments that even though it began in 1979, I'd classify the sitcom Benson as an 80s show. It proved to be a quiet hit for the network, running for 7 seasons.

I would also classify Hart to Hart as more of an 80s series than a 70s one; it only lasted 5 seasons on ABC (1979-84), but still was a hit then on that network, IIRC.