80's Television Event: Dallas: "Who Shot J.R.?"...is REVEALED!!

On March 21, 1980, J.R. Ewing, the biggest villian in prime-time television history is gunned down in the offices of the Ewing Oil Building.  Viewers had to wait all summer long to see if Sue Ellen (his beautiful suffering wife), Bobby (his heroic younger brother), Vaughn Leeland (his cheated business partner), Alan Beam (his former protege), Cliff Barnes (his long time enemy) or even Jock and Miss Ellie (his own parents!) pulled the trigger!


On November 21, 1980 - The greatest mystery on television was finally solved!!



A record 83,000,000 viewers watched the revelation of "Who Shot J.R.?" making it THE highest rated television episode of all time!

....And just how did J.R. "handle Kristen in his own way"?? On the season finale, let's just say Kristen ends up taking a jump off a balcony at Southfork and ends up face down in the Ewing swimming pool... dead. 

Nobody crosses good ol' J.R. Ewing!!...Nobody.

1980: Kick-Ass Year for Movies!!!!

Some of the greatest movies from the coolest decade in history came out right from the start. Here are some of the those rad movies..."like for sure" (sorry!)
            
May 21, 1980 - George Lucas hits box office gold again for the follow-up to his space saga "Star Wars" It went on to become the highest grossing film of 1980. Trivia: Having Solo frozen in carbonite was (at least in part) due to the fact that they were not sure that Harrison Ford would return for a third film.

          
February 8, 1980 - Richard Gere's sexual crime drama is a modern, cautionary look at how sex does indeed sell and the price one has to pay for it or those who sell it is way too steep. Supermodel Lauren Hutton (cute gapetoothed babe) co-stars. Theme song "Call Me" performed by Blondie.

                  May 9, 1980 - Yes, this is where the slasher-film got it's mainstream start. Yeah, Michael Myers started killing two years prior, but Jason has whacked more sexually active teens than Mike, Freddy and Pinhead combined!

               
May 23, 1980 - "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."   Jack Nicholson showed us he was dead serious at trying to kill his wife and son in this Stanley Kubrick shocker. Who can forget Jack's Ed McMahon impression? Fact: Author Stephen King hated this film and stated that he would not see it!


                       June 20, 1980 - "We're on a mission from God." Yes, they are! Saturday Night Live's John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd deliver not only laughs but great music in this comedy farce directed by John Landis. Favorite fast food order: "4 fried chickens and a coke!"

             June13, 1980 - Mel Gibson's American debut! Since Gibson was not well known in American the trailer focuses more on the movie's intense action. Gibson went on to star in two sequels. A classic tale of revenge set in a grim, apocalyptic future.

 

            

July 2, 1980 -  David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker's comedic masterpiece spoofing the Airport disaster movies. The movie has so many gags, one loses count. The all-star comedy cast includes Robert Hayes and Leslie Nielsen. 


         
          July 4, 1980 - What can you say about a movie that has
          Brooke Shields running around almost naked?
          I'm watching this movie! No Calvin Kleins!!
          Beautiful tropical island backdrop serves this movie well.

          

July 25, 1980 - Directed by Harold Ramis, this is a comedy tour-de-force with an A-list cast: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight and Bill Murray. They actually make golf interesting. The top comedy film of the year!

                                         1980'S OTHER NOTABLE MOVIES

           
        Brian DePalma's "Dressed to Kill"                                John Carpenter's "The Fog"
  Starring Angie Dickinson and Michael Caine        Starring Jaime Lee Curtis and John Houseman

            
                        "Fame"                                                              "9 to 5"
        Starring Debbie Allen, Irene Cara                         Starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, 
                  and Anne Meara                                                  and Dolly Parton

                                             
                                                         "Any Which Way You Can"
                                              Starring Clint Eastwood and William Smith
                                         

80's History Lesson: Ronald Reagan beats Jimmy Carter to become 40th President!!

Washington, DC.- On November 4th, 1980, the main event was set for the battle for the ultimate championship of this nation as reigning President, Jimmy Carter, faced the challenge of the original 'Governator of California" Ronald Reagan!!! Needless to say, "The Great Communicator" beat the good-natured, incumbent Carter. President-Elect Reagan went on to become one of the most popular Presidents in modern history.

                                                                                     

  

What's Playing On The Radio Right Now!: "Rise" (1980)

A whole new level of genius for Herb Alpert – a record that's light years away from his earlier work with the Tijuana Brass, and which has the trumpeter stepping strongly into the world of smooth jazzy fusion! The title track here went platinum the minute it was released – and became an end-of-the 70s / hello-to-the 80's instrumental anthem that seemed to drift out of speakers around the country.

But, what REALLY helped this song climb up the charts was it's use as the backgroung music being played during the infamous rape scene on the ABC-TV daytime soap "General Hospital". The scene involved two of it's greatest characters: "Luke Spencer" (Anthony Geary) and "Laura Webber-Baldwin" (Genie Francis). The pair would go on to become daytime television's most beloved and famous "supercouple" Luke & Laura.

   Herb Alpert's "Rise" Official Music Video


"Luke" rapes "Laura" on General Hospital to "Rise"

Sad Reminder of the 80's: Dec 8th, 1980

John Lennon was an English musician who gained worldwide fame as one of the founders of The Beatles, for his subsequent solo career, and for his political activism. He was shot by Mark David Chapman at the entrance of the building where he lived, The Dakota, in New York City, on Monday, 8 December 1980; Lennon had just returned from Record Plant Studio with his wife, Yoko Ono

Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where it was stated that nobody could have lived for more than a few minutes after sustaining such injuries. Shortly after local news stations reported Lennon's death, crowds gathered at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of The Dakota.The first report of his death to a national audience was announced by Howard Cosell, on ABC's Monday Night Football. This was just one of three shootings that would have impact on this nation in the early '80's.

What Was Playing on TV: 1980

ABC-TV's Family




A wonderful groundbreaking series about a modern American Family. Great Intro and Closing theme by John Rubinstein!

MTV Music Video: The First Music Video Ever Shown on MTV!! (Aug, 1981)