Posts Tagged with TV

Enjoy these ’80s TV mashups

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I don’t know why glomming two different things onto each other appeals to me so much, but it’s probably why I like puns so much. Or that I wonder what would happen in a crossover between Teen Wolf and The Lost Boys. Or write novels that jam, say, 1980s heavy metal and werewolves together, or others that mix Monty Python absurdity with Icelandic folklore. Occasionally, I start thinking up ’80s TV mashups. Here are the shows I came up with…

Sitcoms

Laugh-a-minute hijinks with your favourite high-concept, never-evolving characters in static three-set environments:

  • The Facts of Webster
  • Chachi in Charge*
  • Silver Moonlighting
  • My Two Ties
  • Bosom Morks
  • Joanie Loves Shirley
  • The Strokes of Life
  • Who’s Company?
  • Family Days

* admittedly this might be indistinguishable from either original series

Dramas

Emmy-award-winning, definitely-not-soap-operas because, uh, they used film, not videotape, and also, were broadcast in the evening.

  • Elsewhere Street Blues
  • airwolfsomething
  • St. Dynasty
  • Hill Street Cheers

Action/suspense shows

Diff’rent A-Team is a TV mashup I’d watch.

These would definitely make your mid-week evening “must-see TV” list:

  • Starsky and Mindy
  • Diff’rent A-Team
  • Too Close For Spenser
  • Remington & Remington
  • Sledge Hunter!
  • T.J. Hooker For Hire
  • Magnum Steele, P.I.
  • The Knights of Hazzard*

*It occurs to me this probably would have been a lot more sinister than a show with a flashy car :/

Ensemble casts

There’s always a standout subplot or gimmick for a minor character within the rigid parameters of every episode:

  • Love Island
  • Star Trek: The Day After
  • The Blue Thunder Years
  • The Happy Boat

Game shows

Try your skill, luck, or interpersonal charm at some of these doozies:

  • Wheel of Jeopardy
  • The Family is Right
  • Let’s Make a Feud
  • The $64,000 Definition*

*(I know, wrong decade)

Sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and other genres

Big ideas! Low budget! Probably a cool vehicle! To say nothing of the costumes…

  • Airwerewolf
  • Tales of the Golden A.L.F.
  • Automanimal
  • M.A.S.H. Headroom
  • Bring ‘Em Back Matthew Starr

Soap operas

Don’t worry, the interpersonal strife between the characters will never be resolved.

  • The Dallas Boat
  • WKRP in Santa Barbara
  • The Young and the Ripley’s Believe It or Not

CanCon

For non-Canucks, CanCon is “Canadian content” meaning entertainment that has been written, performed, recorded, produced, or replicated (or some complicated percentage of any or all of these things) by a Canadian, as judged by the CRTC, which has mandated a certain proportion of CanCon be broadcast by Canadian television and radio stations. This is why shows like The Beachcombers lasted forever, and why generations of teens must endure endless replays of The Guess Who on rock radio.

Here are some shows that might have livened up the ol’ CBC or CTV lineups:

  • The Danger Bay of Things
  • Beachcombers: The Next Generation
  • The Sesame Giant
  • 21 Degrassi Street
  • SCTV in Cincinnati
  • Mr. Dressup’s Neighbourhood

No idea, but it sounds fun

  • Lifestyles of the Rich and Newhart

It’s your turn

All right, I’ve had my fun. Now let’s hear your ideas for ’80s TV mashups. You can see what author J.C. Lillis came up with when we were brainstorming on Twitter:

No idea is too out-there, and I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface. Drop a title in the comments below, or tweet with the #80sTVmashups hashtag!

Vikings: A TV series worth watching, by Thor

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Stop me if you've heard this one before: a crew of vikings walks into a monastery... (History Channel)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a crew of vikings walks into a monastery… (History Channel)

Perhaps we can thank the success of lavish historical dramas such as Rome or the high-fantasy overtones of Game of Thrones for the newest kid on the swords-and-intrigue block, Vikings. The series premières March 3 at 10 p.m. (ET) on the History Channel.

An Irish/Canadian co-production, Vikings tells the story of ambitious Norseman Ragnar Longbrok (Travis Fimmel), who, in the year 729, defies Earl Haraldson (Gabriel Byrne) by secretly refusing to go raiding to the east in Russia. Ragnar tells his brother there’s no point pillaging the same settlements who are just as poor as they are. It’s based loosely on the exploits of the real Ragnar, who became a renowned chieftain.

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Hunting monsters: Criminal Minds as Beowulf

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Modern cop drama investigative teams: for when you need someone to metaphorically rip a monster’s arm off.

We never get tired of hearing about Beowulf.

No, I’m not talking about the actual Geatish hero or the eponymous poem in Anglo-Saxon, or even the attempts at movie versions in recent years (I haven’t seen the one with Angelina Jolie, though if that’s the only one you know, check out Sturla Gunnarsson‘s original take on the story in Beowulf & Grendel with Gerard Butler and Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson).  I’m mainly interested in the basic trope of Specialist Warriors From Away Swoop in to Deal With Monster.

It’s the basis for most of the hunting-the-psycho cop shows out there, in particular Criminal Minds.

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