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Jumping from the ‘90s back to the ‘80s feels like a big change when writing these articles. The ‘80s had some cable networks, but not really. Most people were just watching network television. Even FOX wasn’t a thing yet. The network actually launched late in 1986, but The Simpsons didn’t debut until December 1989. In 1986, the television landscape was entirely different than not just now, but 20 years in the past as well. That means when I write these retrospectives I have less quantity to work with. What about the quality, though? Let’s flash back to 1986 and find out.
This was a time when Boy George appeared on The A-Team and Frank Zappa played a villain on Miami Vice. Also, they did a very special episode of Punky Brewster about Punky reacting to the Challenger disaster, which feels like an insane and very ‘80s idea. Geraldo opened Al Capone’s vault. Bobby Ewing turned out to be alive on Dallas because they decided to bring the actor back, making the prior season entirely a dream. Perhaps best of all, there was a crossover between Murder, She Wrote and Magnum P.I. and now I want to see it so badly.
Matlock debuted in 1986, making Grampa Simpson and his friends quite happy. It’s Garry Shandling’s Show debuted on Showtime, which was an innovative sitcom. The show was quite meta. While I prefer The Larry Sanders Show, we probably don’t get that without Shandling’s first sitcom.
Ultimately, though, this year comes down to three shows from my childhood: ALF, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and Double Dare. ALF is a completely ridiculous show. I’ve revisited it as an adult, and it’s just so absurd. Also, it was apparently a nightmare for the human actors to shoot because the floor was full of holes for the puppeteer to reach through. While I know a lot of people love Pee-wee Herman, and I think Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is a great movie, his TV show never really grabbed me as much as a kid. Of these three shows, Double Dare is the one I watched the most and enjoyed the most, but when I was a kid it was in its Family Double Dare days.
A few notable, cheesy shows ended their runs in 1986. T.J. Hooker and Knight Rider both came to a conclusion, which was not good for legends like William Shatner and David Hasselhoff. Then, The Love Boat came to an end as well. I never really got into any of these shows, but the handful of moments I’ve seen from that show are awful. It was so popular though! Inspector Gadget also ended, but I would see it in reruns in the ‘90s. You can thank the growth of cable for that. Although, it seems like watching TV in 1986 wouldn’t have been so bad.
