Everything 80s

Welcome to the Everything 80s Halloween Special! In this annual tradition, we travel back to revisit Spooky Season during the 80s, and in this episode, we look back at the defining name in Halloween costumes and why the 80s were such a notable period for them.

Then, we look back at the origins of one of the most famous pop-up shops in retail history, and also at the time Elvira teamed up with Coors for the Halloween season.

But that also leads into one of the most bizarre stories of the decade, as one of the most unexpected companies got caught up in all the Satanic Panic of the 1980s...

• Young Guns movie review: https://www.patreon.com/80s

The 1980s in Britain were one of the most turbulent but creative decades any country has produced. It started with a new Prime Minister and ended with a cultural revolution.

In this episode, we look at how Margaret Thatcher's economic revolution shaped the nation, and how an underground music scene soon dominated North America -- which included a brand-new music video channel. Between Duran Duran, Culture Club, Wham, Flock of Seagulls, and the Human League, the look and sound of music were about to change more than ever before.

But there was so much more; a superstar Royal was making headlines around the world, British movies and actors were having a major impact on Hollywood, and some beloved 1980s North American TV shows would not have happened if it wasn't for the Brits...

• Bonus 1980s content: https://www.patreon.com/80s

They were two legendary toy car companies that were a part of growing up for millions of kids. But behind the scenes, it was a cutthroat battle for our brand allegiance.

Matchbox and Hot Wheels had been fighting it out since the late 1960s, and even though both brands went through tumultuous times in the 70s and into the 80s, the toys stayed strong and even grew in popularity.

The die-cast toy car industry of the 1980s was so big that several other companies entered the picture. From Sears to generic knock-offs, everyone wanted a piece of the action. Including one company that decided they were going to make things much smaller...

• The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/80s

Unsolved Mysteries was one of the scariest TV shows in the 80s, especially if you were a younger viewer... But it was also one of the most-watched shows of the decade.

Its roots go back to the early 80s, and the show went through several iterations and hosts, including Perry Mason himself. But eventually came the host with one of the most distinctive voices in television history: Robert Stack.

You'll hear why its intense theme music was deliberately created to scare you, how viewers became part of the story, and how it helped launch the true crime boom from America's Most Wanted to today's podcasts.

And despite debuting nearly 40 years ago, Unsolved Mysteries is still with us to this day...

• Support the show and get bonus 1980s content: https://www.patreon.com/80s

It felt like a true golden age. An era that gave us multiple sports dynasties and individual athletes that seemed larger than life.

The 1980s weren't just a historic era for the Big Four North American sports, but it led to some generational rivalries. Rivalries that included a changing of the guard in the NHL and NFL, and an on-court rivalry between the bad boys of the NBA and the future of the league.

In the 1980s, we also saw two women battle it out for tennis supremacy, one of the greatest boxing matches of all time, and an original 6 battle from the 1940s, still going on in the 80s.

And then, there was what may be the true defining rivalry of the 1980s: Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, and a decade-long battle between the Lakers and the Celtics.

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It's been called the "Spotify of the 80s," and if you grew up back then, you know The Columbia House Record and Tape Club was not only your access to a vast world of music, but it also seemed too good to be true...

Twelve albums for a penny? Who could resist? It turns out, not a lot, but little did we know that by sending that penny in, we were committing to a years-long fulfillment obligation.

Today we look back on the seven-decade history of Columbia House, a program that started as a simple record club in the 1950s, but grew into a massive powerhouse in the 1980s.

Columbia House was a huge part of growing up in the 80s, and, amazingly, still existed right up to the time of this recording in 2026...

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Peter Cullen was not just the iconic voice of Optimus Prime on the Transformers, but was also a part of more 1980s cartoon shows than you may realize.

Today we look back at the remarkable career of the man who became one of the defining voices for an entire generation. His work spanned an incredible six decades, including hundreds of animated characters.

He also created sound effects for two of the biggest blockbuster movies of the 1980s. And besides being the voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen was also the voice of another one of the most famous cartoon characters in history.

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie review: https://www.patreon.com/80s

The early 1980s were a golden age for video games. From iconic arcade games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man to the growth of home consoles like the Atari 2600, it felt like a magical time for kids and video game lovers.

But all of that almost came to an abrupt end...

In the early 80s, video games — specifically arcade games—had caught on so quickly and spread so far that many wondered whether it was healthy for kids to play them for hours on end. It wasn't just physical concerns, but psychological ones, too.

From the UK to North America, arcade games were soon under attack, and many cities were taking measures to restrict kids from playing them.

It was an issue that went all the way to the Supreme Court, and a generation had no idea how close we came to losing them...

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie review: Patreon.com

A lot of us grew up in the 1980s with Flinstone vitamins. Or you may have had one of the many other kids' chewable vitamins endorsed by cartoon characters and other famous figures.

This was a time when kids' health products, vitamin supplements, and some medicines had become indistinguishable from candy -- and that had created a lot of issues...

Children overconsuming these great-tasting products had been an issue for decades, but in the 1980s, it grew out of control as candy-flavored health products exploded onto the market. Products like children's candy-flavored vitamins were being heavily promoted--with no restrictions--and kids were consuming them more than ever...

This was also having a spillover effect into the world of breakfast cereals, as the line between health and candy had really started to blur...

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie review: https://www.patreon.com/80s

Welcome to a free preview of the Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast that you can find at Patreon.com. This is a previous episode devoted to one of the defining movies of the entire 1980s: The Karate Kid.

In this episode, we do a full plot recap, then look at what went into making this era-defining movie. That includes taking the direction of the original Rocky, but honing the themes to younger viewers.

We then look at the release and phenomenal success of the Karate Kid, a film that came out during one of the most competitive summers of the 1980s. And we finish by looking at the lasting legacy of the movie that many describe as their all-time favorite.

• The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/80s

Unbeknownst to us at the time, the three-year stretch from 1983 to 1986 may have been among the most dangerous years in human history.

Cold War tension looked to be at its peak, but how close did the world actually come to nuclear war? It may have been a lot closer than we realized...

With the Cold War reaching a fever pitch, along came a TV movie that terrified millions -- including President Ronald Reagan.

All of this was going to set up a famous showdown in October 1986: a face-to-face summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.

• Get the first look at new episodes early, and ad-free: https://www.patreon.com/80s

If you grew up watching TV in the 80s, you only knew the 'Big Three' networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS. But in 1986 came something we hadn't seen in thirty years: a legitimate fourth network.

Welcome to the final episode of a three-part mini-series that looks back on the rapidly changing world of television in the 1980s.

In part three, we look at the creation and launch of Fox, a network that started from scratch, but, in just a few short years, gave the big networks a run for their money.

We'll look back at Fox's similarities with another fourth network from the 1950s -- The Dumont -- and how, thanks to shows like Married...With Children and The Simpsons, Fox managed to break through in a big way.

People in the industry said it wouldn't even last six months... but somehow, CNN, a station devoted to the unorthodox concept of 24-hour news, not only survived, but changed the face of cable TV in the 80s.

This is part 2 of a three-part mini-series looking back at the rapidly changing world of television in the 1980s. In this episode, we look at another huge risk by Ted Turner, and the technical mountain that needed to be climbed to make CNN happen.

The improbable rise of CNN in the 80s not only changed the way we consumed media and news, but it also laid the groundwork for many of the other speciality cable channels that dominated TV viewing in the 80s.

Welcome to Part 1 of a three-part miniseries that looks back on the rapidly changing world of television in the 1980s.

In part one, we look back on the groundbreaking moment when Ted Turner -- via satellite -- took his local Atlanta TV station to a nationwide audience.

The rise and success of WTBS in the 80s would forever change the way we consumed television. By combining Atlanta Braves baseball games, MGM movies, and classic reruns, Turner created a scheduling template that became the identity of a specialty cable station.

And the success of TBS in the 1980s paved the way for ESPN, MTV, The Disney Channel, and all the other cable stations that helped transform our viewing habits in the 80s and beyond...

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In 1986, Halley's Comet made its famous once-in-a-lifetime return -- and revealed just how much progress had come since its last appearance in 1910.

In this episode, we look back at Halley's Comet over the previous centuries, our new world of 1986, and how its return was bookended by two of the worst disasters of the 20th Century.

But, depending on your age back in 1986, Halley's Comet could actually be a twice-in-a-lifetime event...

• The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/80s

To many, the summer of 1986 may have been peak 1980s. Because of the music, neon fashion, and a rapidly changing culture, this is when the 80s may have felt the most '80s.'

Today, we look back on the era-defining movies, decade-defining music, fashion, and the peak of mall culture -- all of which were a huge part of the summer of '86.

But this was also the time of some huge technological innovations that were about to change our lives forever. And, summers would also never be the same, as the rise of the VCR and video rental stores would forever change the way we consumed media...

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Take more than a hundred lions, tigers, and other unpredictable jungle cats, mix them in with an inexperienced movie crew, and you've got the makings for a disaster.

Today, we look back on the movie Roar from 1981, a film that began with good intentions but, because of all these dangerous animals, became one of the most infamous movie productions of all time.

It's the movie where no animals were hurt during filming -- only people...

• Aliens movie review: https://www.patreon.com/80s

Was 1986 one of the biggest years for music ever? If it wasn't, it sure was close, as it's the year that gave us a defining heavy metal album, two defining hip-hop albums, a pop standout, and one of the last albums from a jazz legend.

But there was so much more: two breakaway solo artists, two huge soundtracks, and the era-defining album that gave us two of the biggest songs of all time. 1986 had a bit of everything, and all of these albums are now officially 40 years old...

Spotify Playlist: 1986 Albums

• Aliens Movie Review: https://www.patreon.com/80s

Before "Zelda" became a household name, it began as "Adventure Mario," a game that started out as giant sketches on long pieces of draft paper. But things quickly changed...

This new video game would be nothing like Super Mario Bros. It would be a vast and seemingly limitless world. A world based around a legend, and a world filled with fantasy and adventure -- a world based on the childhood of its creator.

Today, we go back to 1986 to witness the origins of The Legend of Zelda, a game originally developed for the Nintendo Famicom in Japan. But the Famicom eventually became the NES, and the Legend of Zelda became the creation that changed the history of video games forever...

• Get the first look at new episodes early, and ad-free: https://www.patreon.com/80s

VHS and Beta weren't the only ones trying to capture our loyalty in the 1980s; the same thing was happening in the world of... bubblegum.

Heading into the 80s, bubblegum -- an industry that didn't even really exist five years earlier -- turned into a full-on battleground. The target? Kids everywhere...

But now, led by the Big Three bubblegum brands, variety stores everywhere were about to get filled with many competitors -- all looking for their piece of the market.

From companies that went back more than a hundred years, to new players with origins in baseball dugouts, the 1980s Bubblegum Wars came about at the perfect time, as bold flavors, ads, and Saturday morning cartoons made simple bubblegum a billion-dollar industry.

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