In the 1980s, sitcoms were everywhere. A lot were not that good, but some distinguished themselves as classics. This week, we see how good Chris is at guessing the highest rated sitcoms of the 80s, as determined by Rotten Tomatoes.
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5. Credits
In the 1980s, sitcoms were everywhere. A lot were not that good, but some distinguished themselves as classics. This week, we see how good Chris is at guessing the highest rated sitcoms of the 80s, as determined by Rotten Tomatoes.
1. Topics
2. Additional Resources
3. Merchandise/Support the Show
4. Contact Us/Follow Us/Rate/Subscribe
New episodes every week!
Listen, rate, follow, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts!
Follow us:
5. Credits
This week put on your Members Only jacket and tight roll your pants, because we're going back to the 1980s. Welcome to Subpar Talks. Hey everybody. Welcome to Subpar Talks where we have conversations about everything. I'm Jeff.
Chris:And I'm Chris.
Jeff:Thank you so much for joining us again. And as always, of course, our standard disclaimer, listener discretion is advised. We like to curse from time to time and depending on the episode, we will touch on some mature subject matter, and the thing is, we can laugh at a lot of stuff. We inject our humor into all of this stuff. And if that doesn't set well with you, then maybe this is not your type of podcast. But for everybody else, get ready. Because here we go with this week's topics. We're going back to the 1980s for this episode. You like the eighties? I love the eighties, yeah. But it seems like it's a lot closer to now than it is, and I don't care for that. I don't. You're talking like 40 years. Yeah. For the early eighties. That's troubling. That's very upsetting. What do you like about the eighties fashion music? What
Chris:you know? Well, music, absolutely. I think there were some good mo, there were some really good movies. There was great music. I probably liked the music more than anything. Some of the fashion, some of the fashion's a little. Wacky to look back at. Yeah. Obviously any fashion at the time usually seems okay, but, but there's, right, there's fashion you can look back at in other times and go, that still looked good, nice, whatever. And then there's parts you look back at and go, who the fuck thought of that?
Jeff:I know I was talking to my daughter recently, I don't know how we got on it. I said in the 1980s, we used to tight roll our jeans. Mm-hmm. And she was like, what is that? And I showed her and she just laughed. I said, well, yeah, I can understand that. It does look pretty stupid. But we thought it was cool at the time. It looked
Chris:pretty, it looked good at the time. I don't know where that came from. You know, in the fifties they used to roll their jeans up, just not tight. Right. They'd make a cuff. But it was more just straight, I guess. I don't know where we got the idea of doing the tight
Jeff:roll. You know what? Speaking of music and the eighties, do you remember the first time you heard a cd?
Chris:Yeah, well, I remember them talking about it on the radio. I remember when they talked about it and I didn't know what it was.
Jeff:Do you know when that would've?
Chris:I'm gonna say around 84, 3 4, something like that, I think. Okay. I was around the same time that I was hearing about a fax machine and didn't know what that was either because it was a radio station saying, call our fax machine. I'm like,
Jeff:for what? Yeah, for the deluxe food service. Right. So the reason I ask that is the other day in the New York Times, they had an article, uh, reprinted from, well reprinted, I was looking at it online, but they had it available from 1985 and it was about the CD craze and they were covering this record store in Manhattan where people were, you know, going crazy over CDs. And they talked about the clarity of the sound. What the future might look like. Is it gonna go, is vinyl gonna go away? And, and what does this mean for tapes and all of that? And I'm sitting there thinking, this is 1985. There's no way I heard of a CD in 1985. I don't know when I first heard of one. I know when I first heard music from a cd, but I couldn't, I I definitely know it wasn't as early as 1985. Let's
Chris:hear about it. We got a CD player in 87 and I know they had been around for some time.
Jeff:Yeah. So that
Chris:was not, it was not a brand new thing to, Ooh, we got a CD player. Like that's, you know, cutting edge. It was, Hey, there's plenty of CDs out and available, and this has been a thing for a little while. So, yeah, I've gotta think that it was 84, 85 when I was hearing about CDs being played on the radio because that was a big deal. You know, they were making a big deal about, yeah, hey, this is a cd, so this is digital music, not playing the record over the radio. Right.
Jeff:But
Chris:I don't remember when I saw one. Or actually played one myself for the first time. What I know for sure would've been
Jeff:87. I do remember hearing when I first heard one, uh, it was either 88 or 89. So yeah, I was late to the game as far as that goes. But I do remember this and I don't, I guess we're not, our generation's not unique, but we grew up with records and tapes and CDs. And I remember being amazed at how clear CDs were. Mm-hmm. Like how good the sound was. And I specifically remember this putting in the CD for the first time, and I think I had headphones on and it's totally quiet before the music starts. Yes. Which blew my mind because you put on a record and you just hear stuff, whatever it is. And the same thing with the static tape. Just static. And with the seed, either it was nothing. It's like, is this working? Like right. Is this thing on? I know, right? Yeah, exactly. So that was cool. The, what's
Chris:really weird is how we're coming full circle. So like you just said, we
went
Jeff:from, oh, I know, vinyl
Chris:to tapes, to CDs to pure Digital. Mm-hmm. And now we've got vinyl coming out again. And do you know, I don't get this. This is one thing I really don't understand, I don't get it, is some people are releasing podcasts on
Jeff:vinyl. Yeah, I've heard of that. How does that work? Or why? Yeah, I don't know. No idea. So many questions. Yeah.
Chris:I makes no
Jeff:sense. To me, the sound objectively is not as high quality as digital. Right? Right. So I don't understand why people want.
Chris:Well, from the standpoint of music and people wanting to get to go to vinyl, those are the, well, it's not pure like cd, but purist as in going back to the old style and, and liking exactly what you said is absent. They like the sound of that vinyl. The music. Mm-hmm. And I get that from a nostalgic perspective. I
Jeff:it's, that's what I was gonna
Chris:say. Yeah. That's, that's all that is. But when you start talking about releasing a podcast on vinyl, what are you getting from that? Where do you
Jeff:go buy it? Music land?
Chris:Yeah. I mean, you just tower record, like people would have to order it off your website or something. Why can't you just click it and listen to it right then? And why do you want it on vinyl?
Jeff:I don't know. Something's missing. Okay. Continuing with the 1980s, what I figured we'd do today is, um, I went to rotten tomatoes.com and I decided to look at the top rated sitcoms and I figured I would focus on the 1980s. So I sifted through the list and I looked at the highest rated 80 sitcoms according to Rotten Tomatoes. Okay. And what I figured we'd have you do is see if you can guess what the 10. Whoa. So all the work's on me. All the work is on you. Yeah. I've already done my work. I'm just gonna sit back and
Chris:laugh. And laugh.
Jeff:Yeah. Okay. Now, for it to be on this list, it had to be exclusively or mostly in the 1980s. So for instance, if something ran from. 76 to 81. That's not an eighties sitcom, but if it ran from 79 to 83, then it's more in the eighties than it is in the seventies. So, okay. It's classified as eighties now.
Chris:Does it have to have like a, a live studio audience or laugh track or something like that to qualify as a sitcom?
Jeff:Um, that's a good question. I know at least some of these were filmed. They used to say that all the time, whatever was filmed in front of a live studio audience. Yeah. Uh, I think probably most of these were filmed in front of a live studio audience, but Okay. As far as we're track. Yeah. I'm not sure. Definitive sitcoms then. Okay. And by the way, these are all American sitcoms. Because there were like British sitcoms, French, like, we're not gonna know that. And who really cares anyway. Right. It doesn't matter. It reminds me on, uh, there's a King of the Hill episode where Peggy is making Bobby watch British sitcoms. Mm-hmm. And he, they're sitting there on the couch. He says, why do we have to watch British sitcoms? And she said, British comedy is more sophisticated than American comedy. And he says he's looking at the tv. He says, why is that man wearing a dress? Yeah. Real sophisticated. Yeah. Okay. So only American sitcoms and they have to have run more than one season. And the only reason I'm saying that is there is a sitcom that had all of six episodes. Called Police Squad. Have you ever heard of Police Squad? I'm not sure I have. It was the sitcom that inspired, I guess, the Naked Gun movies, so Okay. Police Squad has Leslie Nielsen in it, and I didn't even know about those till after I saw a naked gun. And then I don't really know how I found out about it. Anyway, that's not on the list cuz it didn't run for more than one season. But all these others ran multiple seasons mostly or exclusively in the eighties and they're all American, so. Okay. That means you're up. I'm up and there's one, there's one on here that I am. I would bet a lot of money you're not even gonna get, but we'll get to that later cuz I'd never heard of it. So
Chris:I'll just start with this one. The reason that I was asking what you know, qualifies as a sitcom is because one I'm thinking of was definitely a comedy, but there was no audience, and I could see it kind of crossing into that. And that's the Dukes of Hazard.
Jeff:Okay. That is not on the list. So I guess it's not classified as a sitcom for. At least according to Rotten Tomatoes. And I think now that you've mentioned that, so that was an hour show. Mm-hmm. All of these are 30 minutes. 30 minutes, yeah. Okay.
Chris:So I wonder where the Dukes of Hazard would fall. It's certainly not a drama, it's not a soap opera. I don't know what you would call
Jeff:that. I don't either. Yeah. It doesn't have much drama stuff in it. It's, it's just no funny, like a lot of it's.
Chris:You know, when that show started, they in were intending it to be for an a, a more adult audience. Mm-hmm. Because it showed Boss Hog coming out of, uh, uh, what'd they call it? I don't know, brothel, whorehouse, whatever. A
Jeff:whorehouse. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris:And, Uh, there was something I not, not real, not profanity, but more, I'll say more questionable language than what they would put on there for kids. Mm-hmm. But I, I heard somebody talking about it one time. I think it was the guy. Um, Ben Jones, was that his name?
Jeff:That played Cooter? Oh, he played Cooter? Yeah,
Chris:yeah, yeah. I think it was him talking about it that they found out, uh, in, in doing surveys and stuff after like eight or 10 episodes that the majority of their viewers were kids, so Oh, wow. They kind of changed the format and that's what became what, you know, you obviously know as the. If you watch some of the very earliest episodes, it was not quite the same. It was a little darker. Roscoe wasn't as goofy.
Jeff:Yeah. Yeah. I lived for that Friday nights.
Chris:Absolutely.
Jeff:That was so exciting and, and the incredible halt. Yep.
Chris:Okay, so let's try this again. Um, growing pains has gotta
Jeff:be on there. Growing pains is number 10. Okay, well that's a good place to start. So, growing Pains ran from 1985 to 1992. Uh, seven Seasons. The series follows the Misadventures of the Sever Family, which included psychiatrists and Father Jason journalist and mother Maggie. Can you remember all the kids' names? It was Mike,
Chris:Carol and Ben. Do you remember
Jeff:the name of the Chrissy? Oh, very good. Yeah, I don't think I could have gotten that. Yeah,
Chris:whenever a show introduces a new kid, it's done.
Jeff:They've, yeah, they're done. They've run out things to do. Jump in the shark right there. Jump in the shark. Absolutely. So, Kurt Cameron, uh, according to Wikipedia, was an atheist in his early teens, but when he was 17, during the height of his career on growing pains, he became a born again Christian. Did you know that? I mean, I knew he was a Christian. I knew that. I
Chris:didn't know he was an atheist. And I know, um, one of the, one of the characters that played a girlfriend of his, he got taken off the show because she had posed in
Jeff:Playboy. Yes. Yeah. And I may or may not have looked up her pictures when I was getting ready for this episode, but yeah, they just ousted her, I guess he did. Yeah. So get this. After converting to Protestant Christianity, he began to insist that plot lines be edited to remove anything he thought two adult or inappropriate in growing pains. Cameron's Conversion is said to have alienated him from his fellow cast members as he did not invite any of them to his 1991 wedding. Oh, really? So evidently he hated all of them. Probably vice. Yeah. But
Chris:given that the show was still going on, that's gotta be really
Jeff:tense. Yeah, I know
Chris:because the person he married was also his then girlfriend on the show.
Jeff:Right. And she was all right. Oh, she was way, all right. So in high school they brought us into the auditorium to watch a video of Kirk Cameron, and I guess they were married by that. Yeah, they were married by that. Uh, and his wife, and it was on abstinence, you know? Mm-hmm. Saving sex for marriage, and she's sitting there in short shorts, and that's the last, abstinence was the last thing on my mind. I'm sitting there watching that video at 15 or 16 or whatever. I was No kidding. Nobody's
Chris:listening to anything.
Jeff:Did you ever find it weird? That Mike Kirk, Cameron's character, Mike's friend, was nicknamed Boner. Boner.
Chris:Yes. And you never like, okay. Nobody ever says anything about where it came from, I
Jeff:don't think. I think there's some episode where they flashback and and give an explanation for it, but it was always so weird to me. Okay, so you got that number 10. We're off to a good start. All right.
Chris:I'm gonna say Perfect
Jeff:Strangers. Perfect Strangers is not on the list. Whoa, really? Yeah. Yep. Um, surprising to me cuz I thought that was a good show. Yeah.
Chris:Okay. Now this one, I may be off a decade, probably am Family Matters.
Jeff:Um, yeah, that was in the nineties. Okay.
Chris:I couldn't remember if it started in the eighties or how much could have been there, so. All right. Well, we could be running into a problem here. All right. I know, absolutely this one, because it was number one a lot as the
Jeff:Cosby Show. The Cosby Show is number four on the list. Okay.
Chris:I'm
Jeff:surprised it's not higher. I was too. So that ran from 1984 to 1992. I actually thought it went longer than that. So 84 to 92 focuses on the, uh, upper middle class African American family living in Brooklyn, New York. The series was based on comedy routines and Cosby's Standup Comedy Act, which in turn were based on his family life. The series was followed by a spinoff. Do you remember what spinoff was called? A Different World. Very good. Which ran from 1987 to 1993 for 144 episodes in six seasons. I didn't know it was on that long. Wow. I didn't either. Yeah. So, yeah, I, I watched The Cosby Show at some point, though, and I was with the, this Way with growing Pains too. I just stopped watching. So maybe a couple of seasons before the Cosby Show ended, I, I bailed on.
Chris:I pretty much watched growing pains. I may have seen some of the later EPIs, the later as in the last year and a half, two years in syndication. I don't remember if I was watching it every week at that point. And that definitely would've been true for the Cosby Show
Jeff:too. Can you name all the Cosby kids? Wow. Um, I don't think I can. The oldest one
Chris:that was not on there a lot was San Sandra. Sandra.
Jeff:Sandra. Sandra, yeah. I don't know how you say it. Um, yeah.
Chris:Then, let's see. I remember this one's real name was Lisa Bonnet.
Jeff:That's all I can think of, but I can't remember her character. I can't think
Chris:there was Theo. Yeah.
Jeff:Rudy Uhhuh. And there's one more girl.
Chris:Yes, there was, uh,
Jeff:Vanessa. Is it Vanessa? Why was I thinking Denise? But I think you're right. I think it Oh, Denise was Lisa Bonnet. Lisa Bonnet, yes. So Vanessa was the younger one. Vanessa was the like middle girl. Middle, yeah. Yeah. Older than Rudy, but younger than, yes. Lisa Bonnet. And then there was, okay. Cliff and Claire, right? Very good. Yeah. We thought we knew Bill Cosby when we were watching that, didn't we? Well, not the truth. He had
Chris:been into it for quite
Jeff:some time already. Yeah. No kidding. You know Felicia Rashad, that's uh, Claire, right? You know, she continues to defend him. Yeah, I heard that. I don't get that. I don't either.
Chris:That's quite interesting. Well, because he's actually admitted to. That's not even in dispute. Yeah, I know it. So I don't know what she's defending. She's saying that what he said didn't happen. Like what is that?
Jeff:Maybe? Yeah. I don't know. All right. You're on a roll.
Chris:Okay, I got one.
Jeff:Cheers. Cheers. Is number one on the list. All right, there you go. Yeah. Very good. So, uh, that ran, that was a long run. That ran from 1982 to 93 93. Really? Yeah. Did you watch it when it was on? Uh,
Chris:not normally. I would catch episodes sometimes, but no, it wasn't one that I just sat down and
Jeff:watched me neither Un until like the last couple of seasons I got into it. And of course, by that time it was in syndication, the other, the, you know, the older episodes. So I, I started watching it. Mm-hmm. And, uh, I never, I remember in like, I don't know, mid eighties, I would see that come on like the beginning or whatever. And I found it kind of depressing. Yes. Like the bar was kind of dark and I don't know, it just didn't seem like something that would interest me. But it's a great show. I love that show. Yeah.
Chris:I kinda like the song now, but
Jeff:I didn't like, I like the song as a kid. No, but it's a great theme song. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris:Um, alright. I'm thinking of a couple and I, I wouldn't think that they're gonna make the list cuz I think there were more in the seventies. Um, happy Days.
Jeff:Happy Days is not on the list, but I will tell you it was really close because it ran from like 74 Ford 85 or something like that. So it was barely more in the seventies than the eighties.
Chris:And I'm thinking the same as true of, uh, three's company.
Jeff:That's right. Yeah. It was more in the seventies. Yeah. Or it didn't make the top 10 for this. I don't know. I didn't see it on the list though.
Chris:Okay. How about the Jeffersons?
Jeff:Okay. I was gonna tell you, there's one that ran from basically the mid seventies to the mid, to the mid eighties, but more in the eighties. And I don't think of the Jeffersons as an eighties sitcom, but it ran all the way through 85 and it's number seven on the list.
Chris:I watched a decent amount of it sometimes, uh, well, some in the eighties, but then I, I'm thinking of wa having watched reruns too, so
Jeff:I never watched it when it was on. So all I've seen of it is, is from rerun. So was it ranked? Yeah, it's number seven on the list. Yeah, number seven.
Chris:Okay. Yeah. All
Jeff:right. Well now we're getting somewhere. We are getting somewhere. The show of course, focuses on George and Louise Jefferson, a prosperous African-American couple who have been able to move from Queens to Manhattan, owing to the success of George's dry cleaning chain, Jefferson Cleaners. The show was launched as the second and longest running spinoff of All in the Family. You know what the other one was? Mod. Yeah. Mod, uh, the Jeffersons had been neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker. The show is the creation of Norman Lear. Yeah, he did a bunch of them. The Jeffersons eventually evolved into a more traditional sitcom, but episodes occasionally focused on serious issues such as alcoholism, racism, suicide, gun control, being transgender, the KK and adult illiteracy. Transgender. Really? Yeah. Isn't that something? Yeah. Yeah. But that's kinda like all in the family, how they had these weighty social issues while being funny about it. Yeah. I like the Jefferson. Yeah. Okay.
Chris:So talking about Norman Lear. I'll see what this does, if that does anything for me. How about one day at a time?
Jeff:One day at a time is not on the list. That
Chris:might have been more of a seventies. I'm not sure of the
Jeff:years of that. Trying to think. It was very late seventies when it started, but yeah, I don't know how long it ran. How many have I gotten? You've gotten 1, 2, 3, 4.
Chris:I would've said mash, but that was more in
Jeff:the seventies. Yeah. Boy, you talk about a depressing show. Yeah. Holy shit.
Chris:I couldn't that And that's just coming on too, when it was coming on. Yeah. Just makes you wanna blow your brains
Jeff:out. You know the theme song, you know what it's called? Suicide is painless. That's the name of the goddamn theme song. Yeah. Yep. Oh, shit. I know. Well,
Chris:I guess after a second,
Jeff:right? Oh, it just seemed horrible. So depressing. It had nothing to do with the fact that they were in a war. Just look at it, right? Yeah,
Chris:look at it. That's like, uh, when, when. George and Kramer went rock climbing with Tony the Mebo, and he said, well, did you have fun? Kramer's? Like, well, yeah, for a little while.
Jeff:A little while. Yep. All right. You one of these, I'm gonna, or, or you're gonna guess that like you're immediately gonna know that it's on the list when you guess it, and you're gonna think to yourself, how the hell did I not guess that? Mm-hmm. All right, so you want me to give you a hint on the one I'm talking about? Okay. It ran from 1982 to 1989. Okay. I'm pretty sure it was on NBC and I'm pretty sure that it was on Thursday nights. Well, I just thought of
Chris:one. I can't believe I haven't said, but it's not that. Okay. All right. Another one is Family
Jeff:Ties. Family Ties is the one I was talking about. Wasn't that on nbc? Uh,
Chris:yeah, but I thought it went into the early nineties.
Jeff:Nope, it ended 80. It went off in 89. Okay. Yeah. All right. Family ties number nine. I actually thought it would be higher. It's just ahead of growing pains and I, I, I think family ties is quite a bit better than growing pains. But this, according to Rotten Tomatoes, uh, the series reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and seventies to the conservatism of the 1980s. This culture was particularly expressed through the relationship between young Republican Alex p Keaton and his ex hippie parents, Steven and Elise. Such a great show. Yeah, it
Chris:really was. I
Jeff:love that show, and I think we've talked about this before, how it's, it's basically the opposite of all in the family. All in the family. The parents are all conservative and the kids are really liberal. And this is, well, as it's said, it's a reflection of the time and it was very true. Right on point.
Chris:Yeah. Well, it's like it would be the equivalent of Mike and Gloria growing up and having.
Jeff:It's their kids. Yeah, you're right. So obviously Michael J. Fox is hilarious in that role, but man, I'll tell you the dad, what is the dad's name? I just read it, but I forgot. Uh, Michael Grove Stevens. Oh, well, yeah. Yeah. Michael Grove. Steven Ke uh, uh, Keaton. He's hilarious. Some of the way, just the way he can deliver lines kind of under, yeah. Understated. And you remember Mallory's boyfriend, Nick? Yeah. Nick and his interaction with the dad. Oh man, that's, that was awesome. That's good stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So great. I remember one time when,
Chris:uh, dad asked Nick like, what are your, what are your plans after? Was he in high school? I don't know, something about what are your, what do you plan to do? Whatever. He said, I don't know. And he goes, well, can you expand on that? And he said, I don't know. I remember that. And
Jeff:his, that's awesome, man. That makes me want to just start watching that show again. I know. That was so great stuff. I never liked. What was the other girl's name? Jennifer. Was that her name? Jennifer sister. No, I didn't like her. I didn't like her either. Kind of annoying. And speaking of kids, they brought a kid on Andrew. Yes. And that was, they had run outta stuff to do.
Chris:Yep. Because they, they had him on as a baby for, I don't know if it was one season, maybe
Jeff:two. And then, and then all of a sudden he
Chris:was like four, immediately grew him up. Same thing they did on growing pain. You know, they grew, grew
Jeff:that girl up. Yeah. And then Skippy, the neighbor. He was funny. Yes,
Chris:he was.
Jeff:All right.
Chris:Well, I, I gotta be shocked at what I'm missing here.
Jeff:Well, I can tell you, I know at least two of these shows you find, you find depressing, cuz we've talked about it before. Really? That I
Chris:found the sitcom
Jeff:Depressing. Yeah.
Chris:Well, okay. Sanford and Son? Nope, because I was gonna say, I think that was the seventies.
Jeff:Seventies, yeah. I didn't know you found that one depressing though.
Chris:Oh yeah. That one would make me wanna off
Jeff:myself too. By the way. I finished watching the Richard Pryor stand up and Okay. That was. You like it? Yeah, it was good.
Chris:Yeah, it was good. I don't remember much of it, but I remember thinking, I was glad I watched it.
Jeff:Remember. He talked about his dad died having a heart attack while he was having sex. He said his dad. His dad went at the same time he came.
Chris:Yes. And then he went,
Jeff:man. And I didn't realize how, uh, like physical Richard Pryor was. Like he does a lot of physical, like, you know, reenacting stuff. Yeah, that was good. It's probably putting him through his paces doing that. Yeah, no kidding. Okay, so one of these that makes you depressed ran from the very late seventies to 19, uh, 1978 to 1983, so barely an eighties sitcom, but it qualifies five years early eighties. Another one. That you said also depresses, you ran from 85 to 92. I don't know if that helps you or not. I think it was, well, it tells me something about
Chris:my
Jeff:life. I think it was also on N B C. Hmm. Well, you're gonna have to gimme something else. What'd you say? It ran from what? 85 to 92. 85. Chris? 85, okay. It's Southern Florida in Miami, I think. Okay. And you can't stand one of these main characters. In fact, we've already referred to her in this episode. Stars four main characters. Oh,
Chris:okay. Those Golden
Jeff:Girls. You got it? Yes. Golden Girls. So you can't stand Be Arthur.
Chris:I can't stand, be Arthur. And yes, that show always seemed depressing to me. There you go. I just, I don't know why. I mean, well, I don't know why. That's the thing. I never got into it enough. Yeah. It's just the whole, the
Jeff:whole presence of it. So I watched it occasionally. I didn't, I didn't watch it a lot. And then I would watch it summon reruns, I guess start B Arthur Betty White, Ru McClanahan and Estelle Getty. Estelle Getty was the mom. But did you know that she was actually younger than B Arthur? They just made her look. I remember
Chris:hearing that. Isn't
Jeff:that crazy? Yeah. Uh, the show's about four older women who share a home in, okay, there you go. In Miami. The show dealt with many controversial issues such as coming out, same-sex marriage, elder care, homelessness, poverty, hiv, Jesus Christ, discrimination against people with hiv v immigrant. I'm not gonna continue reading this. They dealt with a lot of shit, so there
Chris:you go. No wonder it was depressing.
Jeff:Yeah. So do, do you like when sitcoms get all serious like
Chris:that? I don't like when they make too big of a deal out of it. If it can be, I don't know if it's just part of the whole thing, that's one thing, but when they are really making these huge statements about it, no, I don't like
Jeff:that. Yeah. Like I remember seeing promos and it would say, you know, And all new Golden Girls and then it was the serious music and like that. Mm-hmm. I, I wanna laugh in a sitcom and at least from what they were promoing, like, that looks really depressing. I don't wanna watch that. Yeah. At least when all in the family or the Jeffersons or whatever would have a serious topic, at least there's gonna be comedy involved in it. Right.
Chris:I remember one of the Growing Pains episodes that really stood out to me for a long time. That's because. At the time that I saw it, I was, uh, 15, 16, something like that, maybe driving. And it actually had Matthew Perry on it as Carol's her, you know the
Jeff:daughter? Oh, I think I remember that.
Chris:Yeah. Her boyfriend. And they had been out drinking Uhhuh and he got in a car wreck on his way home. Got hospitalized. She goes to the hospital to see him. Things seem okay. She's like, oh, you got a second chance. And then they leave the hospital and he died after they left the hospital. So, yeah, that's right. That was a seriously deep episode.
Jeff:He was probably just playing himself. Matthew Perry. Yeah, right. Yeah, I forgot about that. And he's had a rough one. I tell you what, boy, you're not lying.
Chris:Okay, so you said the other one was what? 78 83?
Jeff:Yeah. So, okay. I'm gonna go ahead and give you the one that I know you're not gonna guess because I've never heard it. Three's a. No, I've heard of that. I couldn't tell you anything about it. But number three on this list is called, it's Gary Shandling Show.
Chris:It's Gary Shandling show. I remember the Gary Shandling show, but I think that was on a cable channel.
Jeff:Well, this was on Showtime. I had to look this up. It was on Showtime. It's not. When I saw that, I thought, oh, I know that show. Because the Larry Sanders show is what Gary Shandling starred in. That's the one that was on for a long time. He played a talk show host. Oh, maybe that's what I'm thinking of probably is because I've never heard of this. But yeah, it ran from 1986 to 1990, I think Showtime was the network. It says, Gary Chaning plays a standup comedian who is aware that he is a television character. The show features Chaning interacting with the studio audience and manipulating storylines for better outcomes. The series was critically acclaimed and ran for 72 episodes initially aired on Showtime. There you go. It was later picked up by Fox for reruns. The show received multiple awards and nominations, including five cable ACE awards and four primetime Emmy award nominations. And I've never heard of it ever.
Chris:No, I've not heard of that. Then I'm thinking Larry
Jeff:Sanders. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, that's number three on the list. Pretty high. So you have number two, five and eight left. That's it. So
Chris:yeah, I was wondering about three's a crowd cuz three's company was more in the seventies. Was private. Benjamin. That was just a movie,
Jeff:wasn't it? That was a movie, yeah. Okay. Number two on the list. It's one of the ones that makes you depressed.
Chris:I got, I bet
Jeff:I know one. Okay. Bo and Buddies. Nope. Not on the list. Well, damn it, damn it. So this, the, the second ranked, uh, sitcom here. It makes you depressed. It's set in New York City. I can give you the the stars, but that'll give it away. But if you're drawing a blank, then taxi. Taxi is number two on the list. Very good. Okay. Makes you depressed, right? Yeah,
Chris:a little bit. And there again, I've not really watched the show. There was, I think it seemed.
Jeff:You talk about it is very dark. Yeah. Yeah. Cause the whole thing almost is, it's kind of like cheers. It's just that one, you know, room where mm-hmm. They hardly ever venture outside of it. I barely remember when that was on the air. My parents would watch it, but I've seen it in reruns and, and I like it. I think whenever
Chris:I've been aware of it, I'll put it that way because I, I can't remember how aware of it I was when it was on. Mm-hmm. I'm sure a little bit at least, but even later or anytime I've ever had any contact with it at all. Yeah. It seemed dark and. I would say at the time that I would see anything about it, I don't think I felt like I could identify with the characters. That doesn't mean that I couldn't, like now maybe I would identify with them greatly. I just haven't given it that kind of chance.
Jeff:So it had Danny DeVito, of course, he was the angry dispatcher, uh, Tony Danza. It had, um, Christopher Lloyd. Oh, Christopher Lloyd. Yeah. Yeah. And his character in Taxi always reminds me of Kramer. Kind of the same style I could of physical comedy, but kind of aloof and out there. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Uh, Mary Lou, he was in it, and then Andy Kaufman. Oh yeah. So anyway, taxi number two. I'm surprised. Taxi's so high on the, It's funny, but I didn't think it'd be number two.
Chris:And I'm surprised Cosby Show was as low as it was.
Jeff:Yeah, me too. All right, so you're missing number eight and number five. And I don't know if you watched either one of these. You're gonna be aware of'em. It's not like you've never heard of'em before. I'm drawing
Chris:a blank now. I thought I really had something coming up with boys and buddies.
Jeff:Yeah, that was kinda reaching way into the vault, buzz and buddies. Yeah. I think number eight on this list. I think there has been a reboot lately. I don't know if that would help you and I don't know what network it's on. I don't, I don't know if it's on a streaming service or over the air. I think there's been a reboot. We did not watch this show because there was a lot of sex. Stuff in it, like dialogue. Mm-hmm. I don't know if that helps you or not. It is also set in New York City, specifically a Manhattan criminal court. Oh, night court? Yes. Yeah, night court. Okay. Did you ever watch night court? I saw
Chris:a few episodes, but it was not, and that was in syndication. When I was staying up late at night and would see you rerun for whatever
Jeff:reason. Yeah, that's kind of me too. Yeah. But I know we didn't watch it when it was on the air. No. So I really couldn't tell you much about it. There's the judge, I don't remember his name. I mean the, the real guy's name. I don't remember. John Lara was a prosecutor and there was a woman who was a defense attorney, I think. And. I couldn't tell you a lot about it.
Chris:Okay. So I just thought, I just thought of a couple of sitcoms.
Jeff:Okay.
Chris:Um, actually, okay, here's three. One of them has gotta be it. I'm thinking
Jeff:different strokes. Different strokes is not on the list, surprisingly. Okay. Facts of life. Facts of life. Not on the list. All right.
Chris:And hold on. Now I gotta think cuz I was just thinking of
Jeff:another. I like to Blair on Facts of Life. Ooh. Yeah, I
Chris:did too. I haven't seen her in a while, but last time I saw her she was probably around 50, 55 and she was still
Jeff:alright. Yeah, that's about right. Really? Yeah. Yeah.
Chris:Well now she's gotta be at least 60,
Jeff:probably early sixties. Yeah, I guess. Wow.
Chris:So the, I was thinking of another one and it was kind of in that, that same vein, different strokes,
Jeff:facts of life. I bet. I know what you were thinking of and it's not on the list. Were you thinking of silver spoons? Oh, that was it. Yep. Yep. Yeah, not on the list. I'm
Chris:a, I'm about tapped out.
Jeff:Let me give you some hints here. Um, this main character was a standup comedian, okay. He had a series in the 1970s, and then not too long after that one ended, this one started 1982 and ran all the way to 1990. And it has probably one of the, not probably one of the most famous series finale endings of all time. Whoa.
Chris:And ended in 82 to 90? Yeah. Okay. 82 to 90, A standup comedian,
Jeff:a show in the seventies, a sitcom in the seventies, and then this. And a very famous ending to the series. Okay.
Chris:I'm gonna be really upset with myself
Jeff:if I don't get it done. Yeah, yeah. It's gonna be one of those where you're gonna be like, oh, of course. Did
Chris:I watch it? Do you know if I watched it?
Jeff:I don't think you watched it. You've definitely seen it in syndication. I don't know how many times, but you're definitely aware of it, and you know about the ending for sure. Oh, I've seen it only in syndication. We never watched it when it was on New Heart. New Heart. Yeah. Did you watch it? No.
Chris:And yeah, I've, I've only seen, I've only seen some episodes, well, I may have seen a few episodes when it was on, but not a lot. And I did see the last episode. Trying to remember if I saw it when it, I think I saw it when it aired, but that's the thing I, I think something came out about it
Jeff:where, yeah, that's what I'm thinking too, because I remember everybody talking about it. Yeah. And at that time, I don't know that I knew about the Bob Newhart show from the seventies. I don't, I mean, I was too young to remember when that was on, but I've seen it in syndication.
Chris:So this is in, in the little bit of difference between your age and mine? Mm-hmm. That's a difference. I actually remember watching some of the Bob Newhart show when it was on.
Jeff:Wow,
Chris:okay. And I think it went off in 78, so. Mm-hmm. I have memories in 77 and 78, and I know, I remember seeing it on Mary Tyler Moore also.
Jeff:Those were at the same time. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Chris:But I, I remember seeing Bob Newhart show, but I watched, I watched a lot of it on like Nick at night, but I did see a little bit of it when it was
Jeff:on, you know, you would think, uh, a person who had a show, the Bob Newhart show, and that was really successful. It was a good show. And then four years later he has a show called Newheart. Mm-hmm. Like I wouldn't give. A chance in hell of succeeding. Right. Like, come on again. But I, it ran longer, I'm pretty sure. Than the Bob Newhart show.
Chris:Yeah. I'm, I'm surprised that it's on that list, honestly. But yeah, I do know that it, it, it did well, whatever that means. But I didn't think it would be in the top
Jeff:10. Yeah. Yeah. Same here. All right, so top 10. 80 sitcoms. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 10 was growing Pains. Nine Family Ties, eight night courts. Seven The Jeffersons. Six was the Golden Girls. New Heart was number five. The Cosby Show is number four. It's Gary Shandling Show. Whatever the hell that is, is number. Can't believe that Taxi. Number two and cheers. Number one. We don't really talk much about cheers. I don't think. I don't really know what there is to say. It's a great show. Somebody doesn't know about
Chris:Cheers. Then they just
Jeff:seem to find. Exactly. Yeah. Start watching it. All right, there you go. If you like this kind of stuff, then you are our kind of people and we are your kind of podcast, so you should follow us on whatever platform you listen to podcasts on. That way you will get new episodes delivered to you automatically every single Tuesday when they drop. And while you are. Go ahead and rate us. We would be really, really happy if you'd give us five stars. And while you're there, go ahead and write something. It doesn't matter what you write. Tell us your favorite eighties sitcoms. The way these apps work is if you write something there, it makes it easier for people to discover the show. We have a website that is Subpar Talks dot com. There you can email us, leave us a voicemail. You can find out more about me, Chris. Stuff related to the show. If you wanna leave a suggestion for topics we should cover on future episodes, go ahead and do that. We always take those into consideration. You can follow us on social media on Twitter. We are at Subpar Talks on Facebook. We are Subpar Talks. If you wanna follow our personal Twitter accounts, we would welcome that as well On there. I am at@independentjeff
Chris:and I am at Chris Bradford tx.
Jeff:And we have other social media links on our website. And last but never least share Subpar Talks on social media with your friends, family, colleagues. Talk to them about it. Tell us about, or tell them about this phenomenal new show you have discovered. Because the more people we have listening to this show, that makes it easier on us to get this content to you every single week. Does this make you want to go back and watch some eighties s?
Chris:Yeah, I do. I'd really like to see some family ties.
I
Jeff:would see growing pains
Chris:too. Yeah. Cosby show. There are some really good Cosby Show episodes.
Jeff:Yeah, there are. You know, I was gonna say, uh, one thing that sticks out to me about the Cosby Show is when Theo and his friend, I don't remember who, but they had like a test on Shakespeare or whatever, do you remember that? And then they bought a recording of it, but it was people speaking in middle English or whatever the hell Shakespeare's in. And they couldn't understand it at all. And I. Cliff Bill Cosby enters that whole scene and that was great. It's good stuff. That's funny. His
Chris:friend was Cockroach. Oh,
Jeff:that's right. That's worse than boner. I think it is.
Chris:And I remember the one where, uh, Theo got his ear pierced and he is trying Yes. He's trying to hide it from his
Jeff:dad. Yes. That's good stuff. Yeah. Yeah. If you can get. Bill Cosby that, and if you
Chris:can find it, that's another thing I think about. Everybody
Jeff:ripped it off the air. Yeah, it's been blacklisted. Yeah. All right. That's another episode of Subpar Talks, and until next week, so long.