This show ran for over 900 episodes between 1989 and 1998. Wow — I remember it being it on all the time, but I don’t remember it being quite such an institution.
Tag Archives: Throwback Thursday
Throwback Thursday: U2’s “Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World” (1991)
I love this song. This was the ninth track from U2’s landmark 1991 album, “Achtung Baby.” I remember listening to this song while munching on Butterfingers candy bars, cramming nervously for psych exams in my dorm room during the 1993/94 school year at Mary Washington College.
By psych exams, I mean tests in my psychology classes — not tests administered to me by a psychiatric professional. But, hey, maybe they should have given me the latter. It might have saved everyone a lot of time.
Throwback Thursday: “Ca-Ca-Catch the Wave!”
Here they are — all the Max Headroom ads for Coca-Cola. (I am linking here to the awesome Zona C Youtube channel.) When I mentioned the iconic corporate spokesman here on Monday, I had no idea he’d appeared in so many Coke commercials.
Matt Frewer’s stuttering alter-ego really was everywhere in the 1980’s. (There’s a terrific rundown of his digital reign right here over at Pop History Dig.) And, for my money, the infamous pirate broadcast incident in Chicago is actually a little creepy when viewed in its entirety, in an accidental, V/H/S kind of way. (I actually remember seeing coverage of it on the nightly news back in the day — someone hacking into a television broadcast was a big deal.)
Frewer himself remains a sublimely talented guy. He’s now 65, and his filmography is truly gigantic. He’s an always enjoyable “that-guy” actor who pops up in all sorts of horror and sci-fi properties. (You can probably tell a lot about your personality and viewing habits by where you’ve seen him last.) My favorite role of his might his turn as a doomed nice-guy in the 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” simply because I love that movie so much.
Throwback Thursday: “The Changeling” (1980)!
I saw “The Changeling” at some point after 1980, when it made the rounds on television — I can recall it being quite good. It might have been the first George C. Scott film I ever saw. (I am linking below to HD Retro Trailers for the trailer.)
I watched it with my Mom. My Dad would have been the go-to guy for action or adventure movies; my mother was a bit too serious for those. Every once in a long while, though, she’d surprise me by really enjoying a fright flick when it came on.
Throwback Thursday: “Prisoners of the Lost Universe” (1983)!
I remember being thrilled with “Prisoners of the Lost Universe” (1983) when I found it flipping channels in the mid-1980’s. Out of curiosity, I hunted down a online copy during one of my recent episodes of insomnia. (You can find the full movie just under the trailer below, courtesy of the good people at Flick Vault.)
The film … didn’t hold up well over time. (I could only endure about the first half hour.) Oh, well. Not everything can be the goofy rediscovered gem that my beloved, rediscovered “Spacehunter” is.
But I’ll always remember being delighted by this ham-handed parallel universe tale when I was a kid.
By the way, the hero here is none other than Richard Hatch of “Battlestar Galactica” (1978) fame.
Throwback Thursday: this 1970’s-era Fisher Price Garage!
Throwback Thursday: Bazooka gum!!
It was always the cheapest candy at the store — it cost a nickel in the 1980’s, if memory serves. And you got a free comic strip too, along with a fortune!! We had an unwritten rule on the street I grew up on — you had to pass the comic around to whatever kids you were with so that they could read it too.
It tasted pretty damned good too.
They actually stopped including the comic strips in 2012, and now there are puzzles in the wrapper. (Rome burns.) But now, confusingly, you can buy a “wallet pack” of the gum in which they do include the comics?
I got a bunch of it in my Christmas candy. That was awesome.
Photo credit: Parka Lewis at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Throwback Thursday: “The Six Million Dollar Man” (1973-1978)!
I was joking around on Facebook just yesterday about “The Six Million Dollar Man” (1973-1978). I would have been a baby when this originally aired, but, like a lot of Gen X’ers, I can remember it pretty well from reruns. (I am linking here to the Potentium Youtube channel.)
I still remember being a little kid and trying to make the show’s (indescribable) signature sound effect when lifting something heavy.
Throwback Thursday: “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone” (1983)!
“Spacehunter!” Hot damn, this movie captivated me as a kid. And I didn’t even get to see the 3-D version in theaters in 1983; I caught it through the magic of VHS a couple of years later. (By the way, I am linking here to The Duke Mitchell Film Club on Youtube.)
“Spacehunter” is often derided as a ripoff of the “Star Wars” films, but I don’t think that’s fair. It really is its own thing.
It is by no means “a great movie.” As you can probably tell from the trailer, it’s a pretty cornball B-movie. But a hell of a lot of work went into the sets, makeup effects, special effects and creature effects. “Spacehunter” is fun as hell if you are a kid at heart where monsters are concerned. There is one scene that got under my skin in the 80’s, and it’s still creepy today — it involves deformed, singing mutant children throwing bombs at our heroes from the cliffs above.
This movie was also only the second feature film for a young Molly Ringwald. She’s actually really good in the role, no matter how bad her dialogue gets.
If you can stomach the 80’s cheese and you can find a copy of this, I actually recommend it as late-night viewing.
Throwback Thursday: “Hitchhikers!”
This popped up on Twitter the other day. Behold one of the biggest pains-in-the-ass of my childhood.
As you can see from my response, we called these “hitchhikers” on my native Long Island. A lot of people from the northeast chimed in that they likewise remember the appellation.
People elsewhere know them as “travelers,” “stickers,” “bindies” and (drum roll please) “Satan’s Spurs.” That last one is truly inspired.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 