Memorable TV Line-Up’s:NBC Thursday Night (Fall 1984)

It’s time to go back to NBC Thursday's and a look at 20 years of Must See TV. Today let’s discuss the greatest line up in history. How is this the greatest line-up in history? A couple reasons we will discuss as we go. But first, we have already talked about when Must See TV really took off in 1994. But how did it get started ten years earlier?

 

 

 

Technically in started in 1982 when NBC started pairing shows like Fame, Taxi (acquired from ABC) and Gimme a Break! on to Thursday’s. This included a new show I will discuss below. It’s easy to forget how awful NBC was doing all around as the 80’s began. Then in 1984, it all changed.

 

8:00
The Cosby Show

Say what you want about the bad things Cosby did in his personal life, but it shouldn’t cancel out the amazing work he did in his professional life. Well ok his movie career was hardly “amazing”. But what he did with this series, was. It was a game changer, in many ways. It showed you could have a family sitcom where the parents are normal parents and the kids aren’t wisecracking wiseguys. It revived the sitcom format that had been going stale as the 70’s turned into the 80’s. It saved NBC which was a floundering network. And of course, it portrayed an upscale African American family which believe it or not was rare. It seemed to a rule that African American’s has to be butlers or maid’s, or dirt poor. This was one of the first time’s America saw that yeah African American families can be successful too. And finally, the best thing was how relatable this show was. Yeah the show was about an African American family, but it was relatable to every family in the country. That’s why it was a massive hit and why it still holds up to this day.

My Favorite Moments from “Sesame Street”

A huge 50th anniversary this year is from the kids show “Sesame Street”. I’ve talked about this show several times, and why not? I loved it as a kid and the fact it is still going strong is amazing. With their combination of education information and character segments how could anyone not like this show? The characters that came from this show are iconic, from Big Bird to Elmo. Everyone has a special place in their heart for this show. I sure did, not only did watch all the time as a kid, I had several Sesame Street books, got the magazine, saw the stage show “Sesame Street Live” a few times, and even visited Sesame Place in Langhorne Pennsylvania. I saw “Follow That Bird” in theaters, and even had an Oscar the Grouch talking alarm clock once upon a time.

So today I decided it would be fun to go through my favorite Sesame Street segments. These are bits that I either always remembered, or just love for one reason or another. There is no order or theme, just a look at one of the best kids TV shows ever made.



The Opening
I know it’s different now, but the classic will always be my favorite.

The Cake Guy
This was a counting segment and at the end of it, a chef would always fall down with the appropriate number of cakes. And yes that Jim Henson’s voice you hear.

Memorable TV Line-Up’s:NBC Saturday Night (Fall 1986-1990)

So when I talked about CBS Saturday in 1973, I noted that it was rare to have a solid line up on a Saturday. This is because most people go out on Saturday’s, except maybe older people. In the early 80’s NBC tried to shake their line up by putting comedies on Saturday. And it was OK, but in 1987-1988 this seriously took off with a solid line up anchored by one of the best TV show’s ever to air on TV. Let’s take a closer look:

This started in the early 80’s with show’s like Diff’rent Strokes, Gimmee a Break and Mama’s Family. It was 1985 the big hit came around, and in 1987 the line up caught fire.

8:00
The Facts of Life


This show had several time slots I think but it was the Saturday night one that most remember. I’ve talked about this show elsewhere so there really isn’t much else to say. It was one of those shows which was cast perfectly, and everyone loved Natalie, Tootie, Blair and JO. And Mrs.Garrett of course. This show was one of the last from the early 80’s era of sitcoms, where sitcoms were good but also flat and lifeless. I did a whole article on this for more information on that.

My 15 Favorite Episodes of “The Big Bang Theory”

 

So you knew this one was coming. Now that the series has been put to bed, it’s time to go through my favorite episodes. I’ve talked about this show many times including stuff I didn’t like, reviewing the pilot which is solid, a recent face-off, and a (now dated) article where I admitted I was ready for the show to end. But I had never gone through the episodes I love to watch over and over.

So these are my favorites, and there are two things to remember here. I am discussing episodes I think are solid from start to finish. A lot of episodes have great and/or funny moments in them but the episode is only OK. A great example is “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis”. Everyone remembers the end where Sheldon gives Penny a hug, but the episode on the whole is meh. Another is the one where Leonard has an itchy shirt and Sheldon proves a point with it, but the rest of the episode is so forgettable I forgot it while reviewing the episodes. The other things is that these are in braodcast order, I will discuss my #1 favorite episode when we reach it.

“The Bat Jar Conjecture”

Yeah the tag where Leonad and Sheldon don’t understand trivia outside of Star Trek was lame, but the rest of the episode is great. We get Sheldon at his most obnoxious as he refuses to accept that others are smart too. When you look back to this one, you really see how much the character has grown.

Memorable TV Line-Up’s:Fox Sunday Night (Spring 1986)

I’ve done a few of these now and you may have noticed a little something missing. FOX! Yeah the fourth network which came along in 1986, and didn’t get much attention. At the time the idea of having a successful network compete with the big three was simply laughable (DuMont anyone??). And FOX didn’t disappoint, starting with the horrible Late Show with Joan Rivers. But over time it did finally gain and audience, and respect. The respect was cemented in 1994 when they aquired the NFL (people today will never know how stunning that was). They did a fantastic job and still have the rights today (check out and old SNL sketch about what what people thought FOX would turn NFL broadcasts into).

 

So Fox originally aired two nights a week of original programming. What did they start off with? Let’s take a look, and I should mention that I never watched these shows, or the network frankly, so I wont have much to say here but even so this is still worth a review.

 

7:00
21 Jump Street

So who remember that Johnny Depp started his career on a popular TV show? Yep. This was a cop show but given a Stephen J Cannell dramatic slant. The fact that the cops were youthful officer undercover at schools and other places kids hung out pretty much explains its popularity to the teen demographic. The show had a nice run and even spawned a movie.

Ten Notable Mother’s Day Sitcom Episodes

Well tomorrow, or today depending when you read this, is Mother’s Day. I went over sitcom episodes for New Year’s and Valentines so it’s only fair to give this a shot. The difference here is that while sitcoms will do Mother’s Day episode, they aren’t as commons as the others. So I had to stretch the criteria tad for a couple of these. But no SNL, yes I know they do Mother’s Day every year but that’s not a sitcom people!!

 

Course Mother’s day is not as easy to do an episode as it for the other big holiday’s. But I’m still surprised there aren’t more out there. Here are ten examples I did find, and not in any specific order. If I missed one let me know.






The Golden Girls, “Mothers Day”

Is it possible that this was the first Mothers Day episode anyone did? Because I can’t find one that’s older. This is another episode of vignettes as the ladies each tell different Mother’s Day stories. But unlike the Valentine’s day episode, where every segment was setting up a lame joke, here we get some real sweet scenes. Dorothy asking Stan’s mother for money, Rose helping out a sweet old lady.
Blanche finding out her mother isn’t all gone just yet, and my favorite is the last one where Sophia recounts when her mother moved in with them. Her mother played by Bea Arthur, giving her the chance to be the cranky old lady for once.

Memorable TV Line-Up’s:ABC Tuesday Night (Fall 1978)

Back when I talked about TGIF I noted that as great a line up as that was, ABC had even better line up’s in its history. Let’s go back about ten years earlier to look at one of them.

 

While sitcoms were starting to wane in the late 70’s, there was definitely something special about the Tuesday night line up on ABC. They had spent the 70’s trying to make Tuesday a solid night, but never quite got it right. The Harvey Korman Show?? Then in 1978 they finally nailed it. The awesome lineup featured some monster shows starting with this one known as :

8:00
Happy Days

Is there really anything else I can say about this show that hasn’t been said? This show was one of the best lead in’s for any night because EVERYONE watched this show. Even when it wasn’t worth watching. Ayyyyy!

Sitcom FaceOff-The Office vs The Big Bang Theory

One of my favorite regular articles was my sitcom face-off’s where I paired two sitcoms together to see which was better. I haven’t done one of these in ages. Why? Because I ran out of shows. I had a rule of doing one show one time, and I simply ran out of shows and/or matches. However, one show I love that I never did was The Big Bang Theory. I was waiting for it to end, and am still kinda waiting. Until May 16th anyway. But i think the time has come to finally give this show some attention. But what to match it to? I have argued it could be a “Friends” rip off but haven’t I talked enough about that show? I needed another good show which matched up enough to compare them. It took awhile, seriously, but I finally remembered a great ensemble show which does kind of match. So let’s have a face off with :

VS 

It’s no secret which one I liked more than the other here, but I promise to be fair with this analysis. As always, this is just opinion and for fun. The office premiered in 2005 and was on until 2013. The Big Bang Theory premiered in 2007 and is wrapping up this year. These shows have pro’s, and some major con’s, but which is better?












 

CATEGORY 1:Michael Scott vs Sheldon Cooper

Sheldon and Michael are surprisingly similar characters. They both refuse to accept the effects that their actions have on others. With Michael, it’s his sense of humor which is nonexistent. But don’t tell him that. With Sheldon, it’s his total lack of social graces and his insistence that people do and act how he thinks they should. They both had lonely childhoods with no friends. But where Sheldon decided he didn’t need friends, Michael craves them. So much so that he does everything he can to be the most popular person in the room, even if it hurts others. So who is the better character? Well as I’ve said before. Michael Scott pissed me off. I just couldn’t like him in a “love to hate” way because it never felt like he learned anything. And when he did realize people didn’t react the way he wanted, he would pout about it. Sheldon was a little more open minded to the fact that there were rules about “social conventions” he may not be aware of. He would accept it when he was explained why things he said were wrong, and if he wronged a friend he would apologize. Plus as the series went on he tried to do better, even getting married eventually. I know Michael would marry and move away but did his character ever really evolve? The reason both these characters work is because you know there is a real person underneath the obnoxious stuff who does care for his friends. I just think it comes across a little better with Sheldon then with Michael. I know people might think I should have compared Dwight to Sheldon, and there are similarities but honestly think Dwight is all on his own. He craves authority and that’s all he knows, Sheldon craves knowledge. More on him below.
WINNER-THE BIG BANG THEORY