Tag Archives: The Jeffersons

Artists, Beats & Eats, Boston Celtics, Boxing, Football, Movies, Music, NBA, Podcast, Ronald Reagan, Sports, Super Bowl, Television, Toys

Episode 23: 1981 Year in Review

Leave a comment

On this episode of Return to the ’80s, Robert and Paul welcome Ty Ray, from the Beats and Eats podcast, to the show. The guys Return to 1981, and count down the year’s top songs, movies, and television shows. Also, find out what the biggest selling toys were in 1981, and reminisce on the big news stories of the year.

As this current decade comes to a close, come join us to Return to the greatest decade ever, and check out the awesome year of 1981!

10. “Keep On Loving You” by REO Speedwagon

9. “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton

Top 10 Movies of 1981

10. Time Bandits

9. The Four Seasons

8. For Your Eyes Only

7. Chariots of Fire

6. The Cannonball Run

5. Stripes

4. Arthur

3. Superman II

2. On Golden Pond

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark

8. “I Love a Rainy Night” by Eddie Rabbit

7. “Kiss On My List” by Hall & Oates

Hall & Oates March Madness

Top 10 Television Shows of 1981

10. One Day At a Time
9. M*A*S*H
8. ABC Monday Night Movie
7/6 tie Too Close for Comfort and The Dukes of Hazzard
5. Alice
4. Three’s Company
3. The Jeffersons
2. 60 Minutes
1. Dallas

6. “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang

5. “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield

Toys

Barbie Perfume Maker
Star Wars figures
Rubik’s Cube

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. “(Just Like) Starting Over” by John Lennon

 

3. “Lady” by Kenny Rogers

Sports

NFL
Oakland Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 – January 25, 1981 at the Louisiana Superdome

NBA
Boston Celtics beat the Houston Rockets 4-2

NHL
New York Islanders defeat the Minnesota North Stars 4-1

MLB
LA Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 4-1

News Events

January 20 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days freed

March 6 Walter Cronkite signs off of CBS Evening News

March 30 Reagan Assassination attempt

April 18 The Longest Game – Pawtucket Red Sox tie Rochester Red Wings 2-2 in 32 innings (game resumed 23rd June)

May 11 Cats premieres in London

May 13 Assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II

Jun 2 Barbara Walters asks Katharine Hepburn what kind of tree she would be

Jun 5 AIDS Epidemic officially begins when US Centers for Disease Control reports on pneumonia affecting five homosexual men in Los Angeles

Jun 12 Baseball players begin a 50 day strike, their 3rd strike

July 29 Royal Wedding

Aug 1 MTV premieres at 12:01 AM

Aug 3 13,000 Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) begin their strike; US President Ronald Reagan offers an ultimatum to workers: ‘if they do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated’

Sep 12 “The Smurfs” animated cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera first broadcasts in North America

Sep 25 Sandra Day O’Connor sworn in as 1st female supreme court justice

Dec 11 Muhammad Ali’s 61st & last fight, losing to Trevor Berbick

Dec 28 1st American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr is born in Norfolk, Virginia

Dec 31 CNN Headline News debuts

2. “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie

1. “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes

Contact

Ty Ray
Twitter – @BeatnEats

Check out Ty Ray and Nick Gelso’s awesome Beats and Eats podcast on:

iTunes (aka Apple Podcasts)
Stitcher
TuneIn
PlayerFM

 

Return to the ’80s

rtt80s.com
Find Return to the ’80s on Facebook
Twitter: @returntothe80s and Robert can be contacted at @mishouenglish
Email: returntothe80s@gmail.com

Also, you can subscribe to the Return to the ’80s podcast on

Apple Podcasts
Stitcher
Podbean
PlayerFM

Quote of the Day, Television

Quote of the Day: The Jeffersons

Leave a comment

George Jefferson: If I paid you to think, you could cash your check at the penny arcade.

Florence Johnston: Where do you think I cash it now?

Happy 87th birthday to Marla Gibbs!!!

If you’d like to watch/rent/buy this show from Amazon, click on the movie poster below:

Daily Trivia (Formerly Trivia Tuesday)

Daily Trivia – 1/10/11

Leave a comment

Question: What Mel Brooks film featured characters named Princess Vespa, Pizza the Hutt and Barf?

Last Question: What sitcom’s theme song exulted: “We’ve finally got a piece of the pie”?

Answer: The Jeffersons

The Jeffersons aired on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The Jeffersons was a spin-off of All in the Family. During the January 11, 1975 episode of All in the Family, Edith Bunker gave a tearful good-bye to her neighbor Louise Jefferson, as she and her husband George, and their son Lionel, moved from a working class section of Queens into a luxury apartment in Manhattan. The Jeffersons premiered the following week, January 18, 1975.
The show starred the great Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford as George and Louise Jefferson.

The show featured some really good characters, such as Tom and Helen Willis, an interracial couple with two adult children of their own (whom George insultingly called “zebras”), Florence, the Jeffersons’ wisecracking housekeeper who always made fun of George, who was played by Five-time Emmy-nominee Marla Gibbs, and Harry Bentley, the British next door neighbor played by Paul Benedict. George was always slamming the door in his face, mid-sentence. Bentley also had a bad back, and constantly had George walk on his back, since he was the same weight as a Japanese woman who had treated his back that way.

The show ended in controversy after CBS abruptly canceled the series without allowing for a proper series finale. The cast were not informed until after the June 25, 1985, episode “Red Robins,” and actor Sherman Hemsley said he found out that the show was canceled by reading it in the newspaper.

In the series finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1996 the Jeffersons made a guest appearance and bought the house from the Banks’ family.