Monday, November 10, 2008

Best Show of the Eighties: Official Nominees

We are down to the five official nominees for "Best Show of the Eighties!"

Hulu Review readers and the general public can still cast their votes in the comments section of this post. The total audience vote is equal to the vote of one panel member.

Let's see what rang like a boom box in the hearts of our panelists and voting audience members:




Oh, Alf. How I love you! You, who made a catchphrase out of a common monosyllabic term for laughter (Ha!). You, who dines on cats not gruesomely, but adorably, and always off screen. You, who provided the same comedic-yet-helpful role to the Tanners that Mr. Belvidere provided to his sitcom family. As the world came to terms with harsh realism in the 80s, you were the only truly fantastic element to be found among our nominees-- and perhaps that was because you made an alien in the living room seem so completely normal. Good luck, Alf!


The A Team
This is the only show on our list that breaks the sitcom mode, and brings a little ass-kicking to the proceedings. In our hearts, Murdoch will always be doing something crazy, Face will always be sweet-talking the ladies, Hannibal will always be loving it when a plan comes together, and BA will never, ever, be getting on that plane. He will have that one last drink of milk, though. When I think of current Hollywood stars taking on these roles in the upcoming A-Team movie, I get night sweats, because I know nothing will ever live up to the fantastically brash cheesiness of the original.




Benson is representing the socially responsible sitcoms that were dying out by the 80s. Set in the mansion of the Governor, Benson came into contact with the issues of the day, every day. Was there ever any doubt that Benson would move from worker to adviser to gubernatorial candidate over the course of the show's run? I give enormous credit to Benson's producers, who stuck with do-good programming even as the world was trending towards, well, Alf.




You take the good, you take the bad, you put them together and then you have an amazingly popular sitcom. The ingredients were simple-- four girls from dramatically different backgrounds are thrown together to deal with the issues surrounding life at their boarding school. All under the tutelage of the sometimes-wacky, sometimes-wise Mrs. Garrett. When the girls grew up and lost their girlishness, the show definitely lost something, but the prime years are full of nostalgia. Even though there's no blood-based family unit to be found, this show is a standard bearer among the nominees as the quintessential family sitcom.




Rounding out the nominee list is the anti-sitcom, Married With Children. While other shows were all about pulling together to face familial problems, the Bundy's were a family at war. Sitcom families were forever changed after shoe salesman Al showed off the seamy underbelly of American life, an underbelly that had been heretofore hidden from the airwaves. Al, Peg, Kelly and Bud have earned a place in our bodies. Not our hearts, but our bodies.


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48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Married with Children.

Anonymous said...

The A-Team brought the action genre to a new level of prodution on television.

Anonymous said...

The A-Team is the best television show ever created.

Anonymous said...

Married With Children

Unknown said...

alf

Anonymous said...

benson

Niel Jacoby said...

Alf

Anonymous said...

The A Team

Anonymous said...

A-Team

The Monkey King said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Monkey King said...

Married with Children. :D

Anonymous said...

The Facts of Life...George Clooney as the handyman was hot and who can forget Tootie.

Anonymous said...

A-Team

Anonymous said...

A-team

Anonymous said...

The a-team definitely! For Templeton "Face-man" peck, Howlin' mad Murdock, B.A. "Bad attitude" Baracus, and John "Hannibal" Smith, I Vote the A-team!

Bernie said...

Married with Children - so funny

Anonymous said...

Married with Children, Because its is better to have love and lost then to have never seen lost in space - Kelly Bundy

Anonymous said...

The A-Team edges out Married With Children in my book. The later seasons of Married with Children were almost unwatchable. MwC 3-6 were pure gold.

neonwaterfall said...

Your Married with Children and youl never be free! LOL

One of the best sitcoms ever made.

Joseph Abraham said...

Married with Children!

Anonymous said...

the a-team

Anonymous said...

the a-team
i like it because there is no killing, just justice and makin' sure the bad guys lose.

mimi said...

The a team

Anonymous said...

Married with Children

Anonymous said...

Simon and Simon the best imaginative show of the eighties!
Simon and Simon has my vote!

Thanks Hulu and NBC for releasing Season 2 on Hulu!
Thanks to all responsible for making this happen!
A fan

Roger Brown said...

yo, A-Team!

Anonymous said...

A-Team for sure

Anonymous said...

A-Team

Anonymous said...

Married with Children

Anonymous said...

Benson. They get better with age, the viewers.

Anonymous said...

Married with Children

Anonymous said...

Married with Children... Here's to you, Grandmaster B!

Anonymous said...

"Married With Children" for ever and ever

Anonymous said...

Married With Children

Unknown said...

Married with Children

Anonymous said...

PLEASE MAKE THE A-TEAM BEST EIGHTIES SHOW EVER!! THE A_TEAM!

Anonymous said...

Moonlighting!

Anonymous said...

ALF all the way!

P.S. The A in A-Team stands for Alf. But vote Alf to be more specific.

Anonymous said...

Benson

Anonymous said...

a-team

Anonymous said...

the a-team

Anonymous said...

the a-team

Anonymous said...

the a-team

Anonymous said...

What are the results HULU people? i am nervous. can we have them?

Anonymous said...

A-Team all the way! It's all about the good guys sticking together and getting the bad guys. I love the ingenuity and the dialogue; Face is such a cutie and all the other guys are funny as all get out. I love B.A.-he always appears to be a tough and gruff guy, but he's got the soft and lovable inside! Best show, hands down.

Anonymous said...

Married With Children

Jason Jeremiah said...

MARRIED WITH CHILDREN

Anonymous said...

I too am a fan of Simon and Simon, but an even bigger fan of MAGNUM P.I.
Huge fan of Tom Selleck.