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Is there a more definitive 1980s TV show than Miami Vice? The drama starring Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas is not only one of the most notable shows of the entire 1980s--but one of the most influential. Today we look back on the show that not only had a massive influence on pop culture but forever changed the way that TV was made. The music, the fashion, the car, the guest stars--Miami Vi...

During a decade that gave us some of the most defining toy franchises of all time--franchises that continue to be made to this day--it was really tough to stand out. Toy shelves and TV channels were a battleground for our attention. And there were only so many TV time slots and shelf space to go around. The fact that a toy like M.A.S.K was able to make a dent in the market is pretty remarkable. Ma...

Despite a legendary career, Muhammad Ali's professional journey finally had to come to an end. Going into the 80s, Ali was a shell of his former self. His ability and drive were still there, but his age had caught up with him. He was also starting to show some worrying physical signs. But he continued to fight...in 1980, this led to a rather unfortunate bout against Larry Holmes that was so tough...

I'm pretty sure I don't have to go out on a limb and can assume that some of the movies of Steven Spielberg probably shaped your childhood. He's one of the most important filmmakers in movie history, but I think it's the 1980s when he really shines best. Between directing, writing, and producing, Steven Spielberg was involved with an amazing 24 different movies over the course of the decade. Many...

I'm sure like me, the first time you saw, or played, Super Mario Bros. 2, you couldn't get over how different it seemed. Mario and Lugigi were there, and the music seemed familar, but it seemed like such a departure from the original Mario Brothers. And when Super Mario Brothers 3 came out--everything seemed back to normal. So why such a change for Mario Bros. 2? Why was it so different? Well, the...

One of my favorite episodes I've done is my show about the golden age of video rental stores. Well, today, it's something a bit different, and we're taking a field trip to visit one of the very last, fully-functioning video rental stores. I took a trip to Jumbo Video in Southwestern Ontario, and it was amazing. It was like stepping into a time machine--but still had a lot of modern features. Just...

It's spooky season, and for this year's Halloween special, I look back at not just one of the biggest horror movies of the 80s--but the definitive 1980s horror movie franchise. This is the story of Friday the 13th...Freddy and Michael Myers were big-time players, but when it came to scaring us consistently during the 80s, Jason Voorhees takes the cake. Or, the machete if you will...Except for two...

Welcome to the Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast. This is just for members of the Boba Fett level and above, and today, it's a Halloween-related movie that is a combination of things...It's a B-movie cult classic, it's got a unique cast, it's connected with some of the worst movies ever made, and it may have influenced one of the biggest book series in history. There's a lot to unpack with Troll...

This is another one of those topics that I can't believe I haven't got to yet. And it was a great trip down memory lane. This is a look back at the history of The California Raisins. What started out as a simple marketing campaign by the California Raisin Advisory Board, inadvertently turned into one of the biggest pop culture phenomenons of the decade. Today, we look back on the commercials, the...

Incredible highs, and devastating lows...That perfectly sums up some of the top sporting moments of the decade. Between basketball, hockey, soccer, baseball, football,  and several Olympic games--the 1980s gave us enough sporting memories for a lifetime. It's almost impossible, but today, I'm counting down what I think are ten of the biggest moments of the 80s. Some are epic, some are controversia...

So this was a new one for me. I'm not sure how, but I was looking through some old ads and found some from the early 80s for the Columbia Record & Tape Club--and they were still promoting 8-track tapes...Not only that, they still offered them longer into the 80s than I realized. I remember our first cars from the early 1980s that still had 8-track, but I never realized how long the format hung...

What do you get when you combine a phone hotline, customer feedback cards, and a free newsletter? You get Nintendo Power Magazine: the official handbook that felt like it gave us the secrets of the universe. It was now possible to get the inside tip straight from the pros--and game programmers--delivered right to our doors. But this was more than just a magazine to help us beat Zelda 2; it was the...

I thought I knew what a massive event Live Aid 1985 was, but I really never understood the true scope of this remarkable event. Not only was this a collection of some of the greatest musical artists in history, but it was an incredible technological achievement. Based on the limitations of broadcast and satellite technology in 1985--Live Aid should have been technically impossible. But instead, we...

It was supposed to turn everything around...and it did the complete opposite. The 1980s wasn't exactly a golden age for Disney animated feature films. The studio was changing and a switch was being made towards more live-action. Maybe a film based on a series of books could introduce a new era for Disney animation. The result was The Black Cauldron; a movie that took way too long to make and cost...

As the 1980s began, so too did a new era of health and fitness. It's not that aerobics, bodybuilding, and exercise weren't popular activities--they just weren't very mainstream. The 1980s changed all that. This is a look back on the giant fitness boom of the 80s and the notable celebrities who helped make it happen. It's also a look back on some equipment we'd never seen before and how technology...

Welcome to the Patreon-only, Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast! This is just for members of the Boba Fett level and above, and today, we go back to 1989 and a movie that should have been too absurd to work--but still became a hit. This is Weekend at Bernie's, a movie that shouldn't work--but does. The premise was ridiculous, and it was also released during one of the biggest summers in movie his...

Just in case you don't know the name, Frank Welker, you've definitely heard his voice before--especially if you grew up in the 80s. During a time with more cartoon shows than ever before, a lot of voice talent was needed. But it was even better if you could bring in someone who could do multiple voices. This is a look back on the incredible career of Frank Welker, a  man who was the voice of our c...

Last year, I looked back on 15 albums from 1982 that just turned 40. Today, we dive back into 1983 and look at some classics that are now also 40 years old. And this is a year in music that was so much better than I ever realized. The releases in 1983 are astonishing and just narrowing it down to 12 (plus a bonus one at the start) was almost impossible. This list contains some rock, pop, new wave,...

Last week was fraught with techincal nightmares--this week, I'm back on track. What started out as a bedtime story went on to become one of the best-selling books of the 1980s and well into the 90s. This is a look back on the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Books that hopefully meant as much to you as they did to me. We'll look back on their origins, the battle to get them published (everyone tur...

I had some brutal technical problems getting this show up, but here it is. better late than never, and ad-free. This is a look back on the shocking trade that took Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the LA Kings. For a Canadian kid of my age, this was a "where were you when moment." But it also rocked the entire sporting world and forever changed the landscape of professional hockey in the...

If you know your aviation history, you are probably very aware of Air Canada Flight 143.If not, this is a look back on the remarkable event that took place on July 23rd, 1983. Air Canada had recently received a bunch of state-of-the-art Boeing 767s. Canada was also in the midst of a change from imperial units over to metric--but not everyone was up to speed yet...What happened next is one of the u...

The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast presents the 1986 classic: Stand By Me. This is just for members of the Boba Fett level and above and today, we dive back into the ulitmate coming-of-age film. When it was released in the summer of 1986, Stand By Me was the movie that caught everyone off guard. It was not only a huge critical success, but a commercial one, too. Today, we look back on the plo...

I covered the year 1980 quite awhile ago, but this is an all-new episode created to look back at the beggining of the 1980s. There's a ton of new info, sound design, and production and I look back at all the movies, music, TV shows, technology, and sports of the very first year of a brand new decade. We also look deeper at the election of Ronald Reagan, and the influence that has carried over from...

This is not only a look back at Return of the Jedi, but a look back on the end of Star Wars as we knew it in the 80s--or so we thought...In 1983,  ROTJ marked the end of the original trilogy, and, unbeknownst to us, there were decades of Star Wars content still to come-- a lot of which was built off the back of Jedi. And for today's episode, I have a guest to talk all about it: Fred Kennedy, an ar...

It seems like computer viruses have been around as long as computers themselves, but the public awareness of a computer viruses really didn't home until 1986.This is when "Brain" was unleashed on the world. But the thing is, it was never created with malicious intent. What did happen, however, is alert us to how quickly a computer virus could spread, and how vulnerable our computers really were. T...