Maybe it's just me, but I think it'd be nice if this thread had a little structure, that way everybody can have a chance to share their thoughts about particular events that happened in the 80s, rather than all of us just babble on and on about this and that and whatnot.
Speaking of which, 1983 was a big year for two foundations of my life...
1. After eleven years on the air, thus making it one of the longest running series on American television, M*A*S*H's two-and-a-half hour series finale is aired in February, and garners and estimated 106 million viewers, making it the most watched television event in history, and a record that still holds today; though because of M*A*S*H's popularity, CBS wasn't quite ready to let it disappear from the airwaves just yet, as two spin-offs were planned.
One spin-off was entitled AfterMASH, in which Colonel Potter, Klinger, and Father Mulcahy end up meeting up again in the same veteran's hospital back in the states, of which they're all staff members of. Although he initially left after Season Four of the original series, creator Larry Gelbart, along with producer Gene Reynolds (who left the original show after Season Five) came back to write the pilot episode for this spin-off, and served on the writing staff for the next two years. Although the original series was a hit, this spin-off TANKED, and the plug was pulled before the Season Two finale ever had a chance to air (which supposedly was part two of a two-part episode).
That same year, another spin-off was planned called W*A*L*T*E*R; Radar was a big part of the M*A*S*H family, with his Grape Nehis, his teddy bear, his wool cap, etc, Radar was a naive farm boy from Ottumwa, Iowa, who brought a level of innocence to the show. As played by versital performer Gary Burghoff, Radar was a member of the M*A*S*H family regularly for the first seven seasons; by Season Four, the series was beginning to put a strain on Gary's family life, hence why Radar began appearing in fewer episodes with each passing season, but the time his seven year contract was up, he chose not to renew it, due to his ever increasing burnout of playing Radar and working on the show. Gary DID, however, agree to return in Season Eight for a few guest appearances as Radar before leading up two the two-part "Good-bye Radar" episode of Season Eight. In the end, Radar leaves his teddy bear behind, like Divisional Psychiatrist Sidney Freedman predicted, indicated that Radar came to Korea a boy, but left a man. CBS wanted to try to give Radar his own show, and show his post Korean War life, so the hour-long pilot W*A*L*T*E*R was purchased, in the pilot, Radar drops his nickname and decides he now wants to be called by his given name, Walter; his mother dies, so he sells the family farm, and moves to St. Louis with his cousin to join the Police Acadamy. The pilot tested poorly, and a series was never purchased; another interesting tidbit, although M*A*S*H was filmed with a laugh track, W*A*L*T*E*R was actually taped in front of a live audience.
2. Alvin and The Chipmunks return to television with a new Saturday morning cartoon series; the first animated incarnation of The Chipmunks began in 1961 with The Alvin Show, a prime-time, animatedm, musical variety show, but unforunately, the series did rather poorly, due to the fact that an immitation act, The Nutty Squirrels, beat them to animated television a year before, and because Ross Bagdasarian Sr. refused to have a laugh track on his show (which was a television comedy staple back in the 60s). Ross Sr. died suddenly in the 1970s, and his son, Ross Jr., wanted to try to keep his father's legacy alive, which inspired him to bring The Chipmunks out of retirement; along with his wife, Janice Karman, The Chipmunks returned in 1980 with a new album called Chipmunk Punk, and an a new animated Christmas special produced by Chuck Jones, that would later end up serving as a test pilot for a new series.
Alvin and The Chipmunks first premiered in September of 1983, with updated versions of Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and their father figure, David Seville (Alvin, Simon, and Dave are now voiced by Ross Jr., while Janice Karman voices Theodore); but the series, AND franchise saw the addition of three new faces: Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor, otherwise known as The Chipettes. The series was a hit, and became a long-running Saturday morning cartoon series, lasting for eight seasons, two name changes (renamed The Chipmunks in 1988, and later The Chipmunks Go to the Movies in 1990 for their final season where each episode was a spoof of a blockbuster film), and three different animation companies (Seasons One through Five animated by the Ruby-Spears company, half of Season Six animated by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, while the rest of the series was animated by DiC). The popularity of the series spawned the first Chipmunk theatrical film, The Chipmunk Adventure in 1987.
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