Whatcha talking about Willis??

‘Whatcha talking about Willis?’ And ‘oh please’ are some of my favorite phrases made in the 80’s sitcoms Diff’rent Strokes and Full House. I was thinking about how during my younger years I used to watch shows such as CHiPs, Simon & Simon, Knight Rider, the Cosby Show, Dallas and MacGyver just to name a few. 

They were all different but much the same because they were good, clean shows. Granted for a person of my age in the 80’s Dallas may have been a little much, but that wasn’t that bad. It was before they started rating TV shows.  All of these shows must be G in today’s standards.

Most were violent free even though the included a cop show.  I don’t remember exactly but I think JR was shot twice and for some reason I can’t remember who shot him.  Imagine that, I’m sure I waited an entire summer to find out as the season finales always ended in suspense.  

I really enjoyed MacGyver mostly because I wanted to learn what he could do with duct tape and chewing gum. Something about his thought process and the fact that he never used a gun even if the individuals he was going against had a full arsenal. The fact that this show went on for multiple seasons and we didn’t even know his first name until the end, and even then it was revealed as part of a dream! 

Then there was CHiPs, honestly I don’t know why I liked CHiPs.  I can’t think of anything exciting about it, but I enjoyed it.  Poncherello, or however his name was spelled way my favorite character.   

They what can I say about the Cosby show?  I have very fond memories of my family gathering around the TV to watch it very religiously on Thursday nights. It was difficult as all three of us kids were in sports, but we would use a VCR to record it. Sometimes we were lucky enough to order out a hamburger and fries (I’d order onion blossoms and the burger without onion) from the bowling alley. It truly was a great family experience.  I truly regret that it has been pulled from TV due to allegations presented to Bill Cosby. Like him or not, I feel the show was a good family show. 

While the comeback of Fuller House has left a lot to be desired, Full House was a favorite. Something about the germaphobe Danny and the singing Uncle Jesse got me to watch the show. I know one person who had a crush on DJ but I won’t mention any names. 

I try to think of shows currently on TV that are good quality family TV shows and I can’t really think of any. Today’s TV is filled with sex, violence (I loved Dexter by the way)  and reality TV.  For some reason ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ is important. You can run ‘Naked and Afraid’ or be a ‘Survivor’. Though these are classified as reality, I think they are far from reality; at least my reality. 

There are very few good prime time TV shows. It’s a good thing because it keeps me from watching too much TV but at the same time, what happened?  We are paying more for goods and services, commercials galore when you do watch a program yet few productions provide an actual TV show. 

I have a feeling that when fall returns one of my long time favorite shows will be cancelled. One of the main characters left this last season and my husband will be happy if it is cancelled. For some reason it was disturbing to him. Criminal Minds is the show and I hope it comes back if nothing else to make my husband watch it. If it’s gone, I’ll replace it with ‘How to get away with Murder’.  Seems like a good replacement. 

I keep thinking that one day, good quality TV will return. Until then, some of the good shows can be accessed via Netflix and Hulu so I will check the listings from time to time. 

What are some of your favorite shows from the 70/80’s?  Post here as I’m sure there were others that were just as good as the few I posted.