“Amazing New TV Book About Greensboro Dick Van Dyke Show on  DVDs Bionic Woman on DVD

Eighties Promos


from the collection of Daniel Ferriera

The early-Eighties changed the face of television forever. No longer were the networks just competing with each other, they now had cable TV networks to worry about.

The turbulence of the Sixties followed by the 'decadence' of the Seventies brought about the Reagan Eighties - a time of touchy-feely, family oriented entertainment juxtaposed with the wretched excesses of the rich. Network promos reflected that emerging mood.

Daniel Ferriera bring us some excellent examples of how the big three networks promoted themselves (and their shows) in the early-Eighties.

"Going through my 'collection tapes' that I started as a teenager, I came up with these clips." Daniel Ferriera writes, "I got my first VCR in 1982, so the stuff you'll see is from actual air. I had a bit of a fascination with ABC's rigorous promotion and (formerly) predictable and rigid promotion format. It's all gone now."

TV may not be as good as it was forty years ago, some would argue, but it's sure as hell better than it was twenty years ago!

 

Promotion for NBC's classic Thursday night line-up for 1981. Must See TV back then meant: 'Fame', 'Different Strokes', 'Gimme A Break', and 'Hill Street Blues'.

A clip from the 1982 NBC affiliate convention floor featuring the recently deceased programming genius Brandon Tartikoff.

In 1984, NBC invited people to watch their Thursdays shows with "Let's All Be There" .

NBC movie opener from the 1982/3 season, Just Watch us Now. Identical to NBC's 1981/2 season theme 'Our Pride is Showing', except they changed the music track.

This Thursday Night 1982 promo contains the premiere spot for Cheers and touts returning favories, 'Fame' and 'Hill Street Blues' as well as announcing Taxi's move from ABC to NBC as 'same time, better station'. The campaign music in background is 'Just Watch Us Now.'

A clip from the CBS 82-83 season, 'Great Moments' campaign. It was updated for the February 83 sweeps as, 'February Looks Great.'

This is an actual aircheck of CBS for Monday Premiere week 1982. The music playing in the background is the instrumental version of their campaign song 'Great Moments'. This spot introduces a TVparty favorite - Square Pegs.


ABC's Special Feeling

"Here are several of five spots that ABC produced in 1983. The campaign was That Special Feeling on ABC. Most of the productions were so Reaganesque that they'd make me want to puke." - D.F.

The Cowboy version of the same campaign. Cowboys were popular in the early-Eighties because Ron and Nancy were often photographed on the ranch, and Dallas was the highest-rated show in 1983 over at CBS.

Another from ABC's 1983, That Special Feeling' campaign. Believe it or not, this version is NOT the most syrupy of the litter, but it's darn close - if there are any diabetics nearby, make sure they're at least 1000 feet from your computer before running this promo.

Of course, ABC wasn't the only network going for the heartstrings in 1983.

"Here's one of my favorites, CBS' 1983 promotion We've Got the Touch. CBS used 'We've Got the Touch' for 1983, 1984 and 1985. This is the "soft" version. They had more uptempo cuts as well." - D.F.

TVparty

One Season Wonders... That Got Renewed! 9 to 5, Duet, Stockard Channing in Just Friends, more!.

Hill Street Blues 1981
Clever commercial for the groundbreaking dramatic series.

THAT GUY IN THE ‘til tuesday VIDEO:  The Enigma of Cully Holland

The Fall Guy 1981. Big hit show for Lee Majors after 'The Six Million Dollar Man'.

The end-credits for the Love Boat, followed by a promo for Quest - a 1982 show about an assistant shoe buyer. What excitement. Flop.

DWIGHT SCHULTZ ON WORKING WITH GEORGE PEPPARD

TROUBLED 1980-81 TV SEASON

Hardcastle and McCormick starring Brian Keith ran for three years starting in 1983 on ABC.

"KISS MY GRITS" FLO HAD HER OWN SHOW?

Oh, Madeline! was one of the worst sitcoms ever, and this is one of the worst fall promotions ever! This blatant 'I Love Lucy' rip-off starred the recently deceased Madeline Kahn (Blazing Saddles and a supporting player on CBS's 'Cosby'). This spot stars John Ritter from ABC's hit show 'Three's Company'.

This is a promo for a program that never aired, per se. The name of the program promoted is Medstar but before the first episode even premiered in 1983, ABC changed the name to 'Trauma Center'. Show starred Lou Ferrigno as a hulking paramedic.

Lottery was another ABC loser from 1983. The premise- two guys, one a lottery agent giving away millions, flanked by an IRS special agent. Wow. What scenarios they could dream up each week.

CBS was "Looking Good" in 1979 with lots of hit shows, but their Wednesday night line-up sure wasn't! Would you watch these shows today - Jack Elam as the Frankenstein Monster working as a handyman to a young couple in a show called Struck By Lightning?!? Who thinks this stuff up? Wouldn't you love to have been in the room when they pitched THAT one? And then actually SOLD it?!?! I'm going to kill myself...


One of the most
successful promos ever:

NBC advertised The A-Team heavily on the 1983 Super Bowl and premiered the mid-season replacement series right after the big game. The result was a smash ratings hit that really solidified the Super Bowl as the biggest advertising event of the year. If the yearly playoff game could put a show like this over, it had the power to sell almost anything, presumably.

That strategy has been a crap shoot for the networks since then. Hits include 'The Wonder Years' (1988) for ABC and 'Homicide, Life on the Street' (1993) for NBC. But it didn't always work, remember 'Grand Slam' (1990) on CBS, or 'Davis Rules' (1991) and 'Extreme' (1995) on ABC? I didn't think so.

Melinda Cullea was seen during the A-Team's first season as a regular character, but she quit the series, accusing the principals of creating an atmosphere of aggressive sexual harrassment. Her replacement also left the series after one season, and it was decided that there would be no more female regulars on the 'A-Team'.


 

 

 

 

 


Local Kid Shows / Movie Stars on TV / Saturday Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV Goodbyes / Fabulous Fifties / Unseen Scenes / Game Shows / Requested Forgotten TV Shows / The Super Sixties / More Modern TV Shows / The New * * Shows / 1980's Wrestling / TV Blog

TVparty! Classic TV
Classic TV on the Internet!

TV's Embarrassing Moments / Action Shows of the Sixties / TVparty Mysteries and Scandals / Variety Shows of the 1970s / The Eighties / The Laugh Track / 1970's Hit Shows / Response to TVparty / Search the Site / Add Your Comments

THE EIGHTIES: EARLY EIGHTIES NETWORK PROMOS / TV 1986 / WOODY HARRELSON AS WOODY ON CHEERS / FALCON'S GOLD: CABLE TV'S FIRST MOVIE / BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES SITCOM / CREATORS & CAST OF IT'S A LIVING THAT HAVE PASSED AWAY / MOST UNEXPECTED MOMENT IN TV HISTORY / NORMAN LLOYD TRIBUTE / ORSON WELLES INTERVIEWS ANDY KAUFMAN / EARLY MTV STARS MISSING PERSONS / FALCON CREST / PEE-WEE HERMAN / THE TWO OF US / MURDER SHE WROTE / 1981 CHARLES GRODIN INTERVIEW / THERE ARE FUNNY EPISODES OF MAMA'S FAMILY - HONEST! / HANGING WITH SEAN PENN 1986 / 1985 GEORGE CLOONEY INTERVIEW! / IT'S A LIVING / EDDIE MURPHY AS JAMES BOND? IT ALMOST HAPPENED! / AUNT BEE'S DYING WORDS TO ANDY GRIFFITH / THE GOLDEN PALACE / MARRIED WITH CHILDREN'S ED O'NEILL & AMANDA BEARSE'S LONGTIME FEUD / PAUL McCARTNEY vs MICHAEL JACKSON / HOW NBC GOT ITS GROOVE BACK / 1980's WCW WRESTLING / ALAN ALDA DISCUSSES THE M*A*S*H FINALE / I WAS ALMOST CUJO IN THE STEPHEN KING MOVIE / 1986-87 TV SEASON / 1988-89 TV SEASON / 1990-91 TV SEASON / 1991-92 TV SEASON / WHY SHELLEY LONG LEFT CHEERS? / JASON ALEXANDER BEFORE SEINFELD / PEOPLE vs JEAN HARRIS / TROUBLED 1980-81 TV SEASON / "KISS MY GRITS" FLO HAD HER OWN SHOW? / CULLY HOLLAND / ONE SEASON WONDERS... THAT GOT RENEWED! / DWIGHT SCHULTZ ON WORKING WITH GEORGE PEPPARD / DEMPSEY & MAKEPEACE / THE BAXTERS / G.L.O.W. / FRIDAYS / GREATEST AMERICAN HERO / Great 1983 Carson Tonight Show / EARLY '80s TV COMMERCIALS / LOST MOVIE POSTERS /RICH HALL /FILTHY RICH/1980's TV WRESTLING STARS / TV DADS / FOX'S JOAN RIVERS / CHEVY CHASE DEBACLES

Classic TV Commercials / 1950's TV / 1960's TV / Punk Book / / 1970's TV / Groucho vs William F Buckley / / TV Games / Honey Boo Boo / Lucy Shows / Classic Cars / John Wayne / Gene Roddenberry / Rockford Files / Sea Hunt / Superman on DVD / Toy Gun Ads / Flip Wilson Show / Big Blue Marble / Monty Hall / Carrascolendas / Mr. Dressup / Major Mudd / Chief Halftown / Baby Daphne / Sheriff John / Winchell & Mahoney / Fireball X-L5 / Mr. Wizard / Captain Noah / Thanksgiving Day Specials / Disney's First Christmas Special / Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Magic Garden / Amahl & the Night Visitors / Holiday Toy Commercials / Lucy & Desi's Last Christmas Show / Joey Heatherton / Fat Albert / The Virginian / Bewitched / Death of John Wayne / 1974 Saturday Mornings / Chuck McCann / Rudolph Collectables / Shrimpenstein / Local Popeye Shows / New Treasure Hunt / 1966 ABC TV Shows / 1967 TV Shows / 1968 TV Shows / Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes & Baby Doll / Fridays / TV Moms / Red Skelton / Star Wars / KISS / Lancelot Link / Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Magic Garden / Wonder Woman / Classic Comic Books / Andy Griffith / Cher / TV Shows on DVD / Outtakes & Bloopers / 1967 TV Shows / Romper Room / ABC Movie of the Week / The Goldbergs / Daws Butler Commercials / Saturday Morning Commercials / Captain Kangaroo / Chicago Local Kiddie Shows / Boston Local TV / Philly Local TV / NYC Local Kid Shows / Amos 'n' Andy / Electric Company / Bette Davis / Judy Garland / Christmas Specials / Redd Foxx / Good Times / Sitcom Houses / The Oldest Italianate Architecture in the United States / What's Happening! / Winky Dink & You / Sonny & Cher / Smothers Brothers / Commercial Icons of the 1960s / Soupy Sales / TV Terrorists / Irwin Allen / The Untouchables / Carol Burnett Show / Batman TV Show / Green Hornet / Today Show History / Our Gang / Doris Day Show / 1970's Commercials For Women / Bill Cosby in the 1970s / The Golddiggers / Lola Falana / 1970s TV Shows / David Bowie on TV / Hudson Brothers / Jackie Gleason / Hollywood Squares / Match Game / Bob Keeshan / Gumby / The Flip Wilson Show / Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour / The Bobby Darin Show / The Richard Pryor Show / George Burns / Lucy's Lost Christmas Special / Classic Christmas Toy Commercials / Cricket On The Hearth / 1950's Holiday Shows / Amahl and the Night Visitors / A Christmas Carol on TV / The Yule Log / Celebrity Commercials / Rudolph / Movie Posters & More! 

Saturday Morning Cartoons 1970s V1 on DVD Everything
you're looking
for is right here:


Save money!
Carol Burnett Show on DVD King Family Christmas on DVD “Amazing “The Dungeons & Dragons on DVD
Looking for classic TV DVDs?/See below:
TV Commercials on DVD Wrestling DVDs Classic TV Books