You Are What You Were. Celebrate Retro Pop Culture At Retroland.
Imagine a mysterious tropical island where visitors come to have their fantasies played out. If that sounds enticing, you are not alone. For seven seasons, television viewers checked in on the inhabitants of Fantasy Island every Saturday night, watching them live out their dreams, for better or worse, under the watchful eye of their enigmatic host, Mr. Rourke and his assistant, Tattoo.
Continue reading...
"Don't make me angry... you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." If ever there was a warning to be heeded, it was this one. For once these words were uttered, clothing was going to rip, muscles were going to pop, complexion was going to turn a nice emerald green, and justice would be served – all in a day’s work for an otherwise humble superhero named The Incredible Hulk. And from the moment he made his television debut, fans faithfully tuned in to see Bill Bixby get mad enough to turn into a creature no sane man would mess with.
Continue reading...
After years of being reminded that a dog is man's best friend, we learned in the 70s that primates make pretty good pals as well, especially when one is driving a truck. First, we saw Clint Eastwood traveling the nation's highways with his sidekick orangutan in two successful movies, Every Which Way But Loose, and the follow-up, Every Which Way You Can. Then, as network executives began to see the potential of such an interspecies pairing, we were treated to a lighthearted weekly series called BJ and the Bear.
Continue reading...
Despite the curious mid-word contraction, Diff’rent Strokes certainly made its mark in sitcom history, appealing to a wide audience during its original run in the late 70s-early 80s and during syndication later on. Thanks to a cherubic young star, and aided by an incredibly catchy theme song, the series was immensely popular and still resonates in pop culture today.
Continue reading...
For seemingly any popular entertainer in the 70s who could sing and dance a little, perhaps even pull off some sketch comedy, their fate was clear – variety show! Tony Orlando, Sonny and Cher, Donny and Marie, Andy Williams: they all had them. And if they could do it, so could those lovable moppets, the [...]
Continue reading...
For nine seasons, television viewers tuned in to follow the travels, trials and tribulation of the Ingalls family as they made a life for themselves in the American frontier on Little House on the Prairie. Loosely based upon the popular series of Little House books by author Laura Ingalls Wilder, the weekly prime-time adventures of the Ingalls family proved to be a huge hit for NBC.
Continue reading...
Oh, boy. Nobody can resist a time-travel story, especially when the sci-fi aspect is toned down in favor of drama. Quantum Leap, which debuted in 1989 on NBC, put a unique twist on time-travel, having the main character, Dr. Sam Beckett, actually inhabit the bodies of various people living in the past. That included women, kids and, in one memorable episode, a chimp. Thanks to compelling plots and a wonderful chemistry between Sam and his sidekick, Al, Quantum Leap won the hearts of many a TV viewer.
Continue reading...
The idea of escaping the pressures of civilized society in favor of a solitary life in the wilderness is a captivating one. In the 70s, the poster child for such an adventurer was a bearded mountain man with a smiling face named Grizzly Adams. First introduced by way of a a novel in 1972, the cinematic version of The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams came out in theaters two years later and captured the hearts of millions, making Grizzly Adams a household name throughout the remainder of the decade.
Continue reading...
Despite the earnestness of the theme song (which went to number one on the singles charts), The Greatest American Hero never took itself too seriously. William Katt starred as mild-mannered high-school teacher Ralph Hinkley, who, while on a desert field trip with his Whitney High students, was chosen by aliens to don a costume and fight bad guys (now that's a field trip!). Witnessing this first encounter was FBI agent Bill Maxwell, who happened to be stranded in the same part of the desert.
Continue reading...
After the short-lived sitcom from the 60s, My Mother the Car, television viewers would have to wait almost two decades before a network ventured into talking car territory again as part of the prime time lineup. It was worth the wait, and NBC scored a big hit with a talking car named K.I.T.T in the weekly 80s series Knight Rider.
Continue reading...