Question: What movie by the Coen Brothers employed babies to portray one set of quints?
Last Question: On Too Close for Comfort, what was the name of the cartoon character drawn by Henry Rush?
Answer: “Cosmic Cow”
Tag Archives: Too Close for Comfort
Episode 23: 1981 Year in Review
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
Top 10 Movies of 1981
10. Time Bandits
5. Stripes
4. Arthur
3. Superman II
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
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
Daily Trivia: 7/12/12
Question: What popular game show originally featured Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford as host and hostess?
Last Question: On Too Close for Comfort, what was the name of JM J. Bullock’s character?
Answer: Monroe
After playing our favorite snobby, golf-playing judge in Caddyshack, Ted Knight starred in the television show Too Close for Comfort, which ran from November 11, 1980 to September 27, 1986. Knight and Nancy Dussault played Henry and Muriel Rush, owners of a two-family house in San Francisco. They had two grown daughters, Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and Sara (Lydia Cornell), who lived downstairs from them. At the end of the second season, Muriel gave birth to a son named Andrew.
James J. Bullock (who was credited as Jm J. Bullock in the show) played Sara’s dim-witted friend Monroe Ficus. He was Henry’s main (if unintended) foil.
There were changes made in the show’s last season. The name of the show became The Ted Knight Show.
Neither Jackie nor Sara appeared in this season. Henry, Muriel and Andrew move to a house in Marin County, north of San Francisco. The revamped show continued to be successful and was scheduled to resume production for another season. However Ted Knight, who had been battling colon cancer since 1985, died on August 26, 1986 at age 62, and the series was not continued.
Bullock would go on to be a regular on the updated Hollywood Squares, which was hosted by John Davidson. Bullock would even substitute as host at times.
Here is part of an episode of The Hollywood Squares:
And here is the Too Close for Comfort theme song:
Is it just me, or do these theme songs make you long for the ’80s sitcoms?
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