A great many things were present in the 1980s. Transformers toys, elementary school and having fun with my mom at the beach were among the any things I experienced in my childhood. When I couldn�t go outside and play, I was stuck inside with my Nintendo. When I got tired of that, there was always TV. |
![]() |
TWO DIFFERENT WRESTLING SHOWS
Chief among these wrestling shows was WWF (the World Wrestling Federation, now WWE [World Wrestling Entertainment]). You had the Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Savage, Jesse Ventura (pre-governorship) and �Mean� Gene Okerlund. While the legends of this age were great then, the real kick for me was the female counterpart to WWF�GLOW. |
PROGRAMMING FROM THE FAR EAST
While Japan was someplace that usually made our toys, it was also a place that made one of my greatest heroes: Godzilla. The Green Meanie himself could always be seen on a Saturday, laying waste to Tokyo again. If it wasn�t Godzilla, then I�d watch the old episodes of Ultraman and Sectorman. Ultimately the real stuff didn�t come until Sunday�the day of the Samurai. |
EVEN-HANDED MOVIE SCREENINGS
Most people thought that the stuff on Channel 33 was crap; such an assumption is not wholly true. Yes, Channel 33 had its share of action flicks, but they balanced it out with touching family fare. One set, they�ll show Conan the Destroyer; the next set would probably be the touching Cher film Mask. Another example would be a showing of Friday the 13th part III after the movie Guess Who�s Coming to Dinner?, showing a true gift for broadening the horizons of the budding movie watcher. |
![]() On a lighter note, UPN has started up a news segment that shows several times a day, most prominently at 11pm EST. The show seems to pull from the AP wire and journalism schools to fill their newscast. Such is the quality of the program that it�s now referred to as �the Nigga News�, a designation given by rap star Jay-Z. |
![]() |
SITCOMS AND DRAMAS
Just like Channel 33, Channel 39 was a great investor in the new and syndicated television shows of yesterday. Comedy shows like "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Wild, Wild West" were available to me, and still timely despite their being 20 years old at the time I watched them. Luckily, the newer programming of channel could eliminate the static fashions of those days. |
BLOOD, SEX AND VIOLENCE
Channel 39 appealed to the primal side in all of us. Blood, bullets and babes were part of its programming motives. You couldn�t tell the programming guys to change the movies; they�d just laugh at you and show a Chuck Norris movie marathon for spite. That�s the kind of people they were. |
SCI-FI AND FANTASY OVERLOAD
While channel 39 made an effort to place as much action and violence on TV as it could without being shut down, they decided to further expand on the definition of action and included science fiction. Many great programs and movies were shown on channel 39 thanks to this decision. Shows like "Super Force" (a cop in an exoskeleton battle suit), "My Secret Identity" (starring a young Jerry O�Connell) and "Superboy" (with Stacy Haiduk) were shown next to 80�s heavyweights like "The A-Team" and "Knight Rider." |
![]() Under such requirements, the cult status of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was born. Not only did folks tune in every night to watch the exploits of the teenage vampire hunter and her crew, but they also watched the spinoff show about said vampire hunter�s vampire boyfriend "Angel." Not all viewers related to shows involving the occult, so that was balanced out by shows like the family-oriented "7th Heaven," "Everwood" and "Smallville," a look back at the early days of Clark Kent aka Superman (note: WDZL-39 already covered this ground with "Superboy"). One must keep in mind as viewers continue to watch the WB, none of it would be possible if not for the network�s first great show, "Dawson�s Creek." The Dawson (played by James Van Der Beek) and his crew of promiscuous teens had many a viewer glued to the TV, remembering their days of repressed teenage sexuality. I have never watched a single episode without my brother narrating the program, so I can�t tell you how bad it was. With a theme song by Paula Cole, it had to be! The WB still runs strong with supplemental shows like "ElimiDate," "Blind Date", my favorite show "Cheaters" (when your Blind Date gets better�and then gets worse!) along with the old standby of "The Jerry Springer Show" (when there�s no help for you at all). Rest assured, the WB-39 will be around to showcase the need for sex and violence while maintaining the fine line of decency set forth so many years ago. |