comedy - Retroland

ALF

For all of the 80s shows mentioned on Retroland, perhaps one of the most fondly-remembered is ALF. Debuting in 1986 and airing for four seasons, ALF was an instant hit, as viewers couldn't help but fall in love with the furry orange alien, always funny and always armed with a wisecrack at the ready. Today, we take a look back at this beloved sitcom.

Blazing Saddles

Dukes of Hazzard

The Breakfast Club

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"How come Andrew gets to get up? If he gets up, we'll all get up, it'll be anarchy!" And as soon as hooligan John Bender took that screw out of the library door in 1985's The Breakfast Club, that's exactly what erupted. It was anarchy because members of five different high school social cliques got together, and even better than that, they actually got along. It was anarchy because by the end of the movie, the five high-schoolers were volumes more enlightened and mature than when they were dropped off just a few hours earlier. If Saturday detentions really taught so much about life, love, growing up and the regrettable fact that they just don't make overhead roof ducts as sturdy as they used to…well then, lock us all up.

F Troop

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Considering the adoration that fans retain for the fine soldiers that made up F-Troop, it seems impossible that the show only ran for a mere two seasons. And yet, in that short amount of time, the show was filled with so many memorable moments of silliness that it was destined to pick up numerous fans in later syndication. Perhaps the first parody ever produced of the Old West, F-Troop was a groundbreaking sitcom, fondly remembered for its wacky characters and “Anything goes” attitude.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

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Cat abuse, snooty French guards, perilous virgins, animated monsters, killer rabbits, holy hand grenades, clacking coconuts, and Knights Who Say "Nee" were just a few of the zany contributions from the madcap Monty Python group to the Arthurian legend, in the 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

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When audiences last left the Griswold family in 1985, they had embarked upon an ambitious and well-intentioned vacation to Europe, which of course went horribly and hilariously awry. Four years later, they welcomed the entire extended family into their home for a traditional family holiday in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Home Alone

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When it came right down to it, Kevin McCallister had a few more sadistic leanings than your average eleven-year-old. And it turns out, that we rather like that in a young hero, especially during the season of giving. And make no mistake, Kevin had plenty to give, in the way of bowling balls, staple guns, BB guns, and that old archaic standby, a good old blast of fire – all in the name of protecting his beloved family home. His violent antics and precocious demeanor won the hearts of millions of moviegoers who made 1990’s Home Alone one of the most successful movies of all time.

Northern Exposure

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A classic fish-out-of-water story if there ever was one, Northern Exposure was one of the cleverest, quirkiest and most under-appreciated television series in the 90s. Following the lives of a collection of colorful characters in a small Alaskan town, the show received an avalanche of critical accolades and developed a faithful and smitten fan following that persists to this day.