TV

DALLAS: The #1 TV show this week in 1981

by generationxrewind

Dallas premiered on CBS in 1978. A year later it was moved to Friday night and became part of a blockbuster lineup along with The Incredible Hulk and The Dukes of Hazzard. That same year it was a top 15 show of the entire season. The next year it was top 10, and for the following five years, it was the #1 or #2 show of the year.

The episode revealing who shot J.R. was watched by 90 million people. Night time soaps were a staple of Gen X era TV, and without a doubt, Dallas was King of all of them. After the show was canceled in 1991, three Dallas TV movies aired and in 2010, TNT revived the show for three seasons.

What are your thoughts and memories of the show and why do you think it was such a huge success?

Click image to start watching the first episode ofDallas now!

TV

Fridays premiered on ABC on April 11, 1980

by generationxrewind

At 11:30 pm on Friday, April 11, 1980, ABC premiered their own version of Saturday Night Live. It was simply called Fridays and aired for three seasons. At the time of the premiere, SNL was a little over a month away from ending their fifth season. This would also be the last season that featured members from the original Not Ready for Primetime Players.

Unlike SNL, Fridays did not have a house band. The show also embraced the New Wave music scene more so than SNL. Their musical guest ranged from Devo, The Cars, and Split Enz to The Marshall Tucker Band, Kiss, and Paul McCartney. AC/DC, The Clash, and The Stray Cats all made their American TV debuts on Fridays.

The sixth season of SNL was met with bad reviews and low ratings. The next few seasons started an upward rise again with Eddy Murphy joining the show and becoming a breakout star. Fridays rode high until ABC expanded NightLine to five nights a week and pushed the start time to midnight. The show was canceled on April 23, 1982.



TV

The #1 TV show this week in 1979.

by generationxrewind

Laverne and Shirley premiered on ABC in January of 1976. The show was a spin-off of Happy Days and aired right behind it at 8:30 pm as part of the network’s powerhouse Tuesday night lineup. By the third season, it was the number one show in the nation. In the fall of 79, the show was moved to Thursdays at 8 pm up against The Waltons and Buck Rogers in the 21st Century. The ratings went down and before the end of the season, the show was moved back to Tuesday night. Ratings went back up but they never again reached the levels that it had before the move.

In season 6, The setting of the show was moved from Milwaukee to California. Cindy Williams left the show after two episodes in season 8. ABC wanted to renew the show for a ninth season but Penny Marshall wanted to move the production base to New York City but ABC canceled the show in May of 1983.

Laverne and Shirley were without a doubt one of the signature shows of the seventies. If you have never seen an episode before or you have not watched it in a few decades, go check out, but we suggest the earlier seasons when the girls were still in Milwakee.

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