deaconjguy Reviews

Saved by the Bell (1989–1992)

Ugghhhhh....so corny

[9 June 2004]

The only people that are fans of Saved by the Bell are those that are the products of inbreeding. This unapologetically campy TV series comes from that bizarre time of 1988-1993 that was sort of in between the 80s and 90s, and it is easily hands down one of the worst shows I have ever seen. SBTB is a Saturday morning (gee, who would have guessed?) sitcom aimed at little children. It features crappy acting, horrible dialogue and there are never plots of any kind on this show. Everything is just sort of "there" as an excuse for a neverending series of retarded events for the kids to bungle their way through.

Every character is a stereotype, from the ball buster principal Belding, to the kids that do everything but go to class and study. The cool popular boy is Zack. The jock is Slater. The pretty girl is Kelly, the fashion princess is Lisa and the brainiac is Jessie. Then there's Screech, the ugly loser boy that gets to hang around all the cool kids. Real kids don't act the way they do on SBTB. What kind of normal 16 or 17 year old kid "ooohhhs" and "ahhhs" like an idiot every single freaking time they see a boy and girl kiss or hug? I'm pretty certain the studio audience was made up of children in the 6 to 11 age range. I thought SBTB was stupid back in the day when it first aired, now I think it's even worse with the gaudy fashions and dated lingo. It is SO CORNY!! It is one of the great mysteries of the universe as to why SBTB has such a massive Star Trek like cult following. Now I actually do like the predecessor to SBTB, "Good Morning Miss Bliss". I believe it's because it is far easier to accept middle school children acting so stupid then it is high school aged kids.

The Greatest American Hero (1981–1983)

Warmth and 80's magic...

[25 May 2004]

The Greatest American Hero was one of the best concepts for a TV show that I have ever seen, and certainly the most unique take on the superhero genre. The show had charm, lighthearted fun, and was full of 80's magic. I can still remember watching this show back in the early 80's and when Ralph first tried to fly that red suit. He couldn't get it, and some little kid that saw him struggling gave him some advice. Now see, that's the kind of magic that TV shows in the 80's had. TV wasn't afraid of putting out a hero that got advice on how to fly from a goofy little kid. Ralph Hinkley (played by William Katt) was just a regular guy, a young high school teacher that wanted to make a difference. Then one night he is approached by aliens out in the desert, teamed up with a gung-ho FBI agent, and given a spectacular red suit styled in the classic superhero design of cape and longjohns.

Unfortunately poor Ralph promptly loses the instruction book to the suit, and must learn the suit powers through trial and error. Connie Sellecca played Hinkley's girlfriend Pam, I seem to recall later in the show they were married. I also remember that Ralph got another instruction book, only to lose it again. And if I remember correctly, this show was only on for a brief 2 years and had 3 seasons. I don't know why the network prematurely cancelled this series, the show sadly never got to live up to it's full potential. I think it only clocked in around 44 or 45 episodes because the network pulled the plug on it so soon. The low episode number is probably why we don't get the luxury of seeing TGAH on Sci-Fi channel, WGN, TBS, or TV Land. Even with only 2 years of episodes, this series is still fondly remembered by many as a part of 80's magic.

Knight Rider (1982–1986)

Who cares what people think, it was still Entertaining...

[4 March 2004]

A lot of people laugh at David Hasselhoff and write Knight Rider off as a corny piece of 80s television. I still think this is one of the coolest shows ever, and I freely admit that Knight Rider can be pretty idiotic at the same time. The series was basically a cartoon and that can make it hard for some people to revisit when they grow up. I think that Knight Rider is one of the best unintentionally hilarious shows ever created. The silly aspects of the series make it just that much more entertaining in adult life. Knight Rider is an endearing and nostalgic series that finds a way to entertain you despite how ridiculous it can all be. "Michael & KITT", how can you not feel the tug of the old days back in the 80s when you hear that? We all grew up with this show back in the 1980's as kids, the appeal of a cool looking black sports car that could TALK was irresistible back then. Today I guess we look back at Knight Rider and wonder "wtf". It might make us recoil, and get pretty damn embarrassed with some of the out there stuff we used to think was so cool.

The immense flaws of logic and continuity that plagued Knight Rider were easily hidden to a casual child viewing the show back in 1982 (I was 5 years old), but they really stick out like a sore thumb when viewed through adult eyes. The same damn stock footage was used ad nauseum, the frames were sped up to make a car going 20 mph look like it was zipping along at 400 mph, blue filters were always used to make it look like it was night time; and as others have mentioned, the fight scenes were never, ever believable. I don't think they even had any kind of trained fight specialist on Knight Rider, it always seemed like the director just told Hasselhoff or the stunt doubles to simply go out there and just make up some crap that could pass for jujitsu or tae-kwon-do. But again, this is what makes Knight Rider so fun.

This series is loaded with all kinds of unintentional hilarity. Some of my favorites are when David Hasselhoff's stunt double wears a mustache in a take, or the episode when the stunt double's Michael Knight afro wig accidentally flew off while he was doing one of those patented "Hasselhoff-Fu" roundhouse karate kicks. It seemed like Michael Knight could take down any bad guy with one well placed karate kick to the head. Let's all be honest with ourselves, a big reason this show was popular was because it featured a really cool looking black car with that cool looking red scanner mounted in the front. Everyone loved that car, and there is no doubt that is the reason Knight Rider is a part of American pop cultural lore. I'm 26 1/2 years old today and I still like this show because it's my childhood, and because it's from the 80's that we all love and grew up in. Things would get so stupid, you often wondered if there would be a button on KITT's dashboard that would say "Drive Very Fast" instead of "Super Pursuit Mode". The show didn't magically become any more nerdier in the 2000's then it was in the 1980s. Even back in the early-mid 80s most people over the age of 15 had a tendency to laugh at Knight Rider. It was always cool to children that didn't pick apart the series, but not so to anyone above the 9th grade. The prime target audience was boys that were roughly 9 years of age. So if you were already over the age of 13 back in 1982 when Knight Rider first aired, then you were likely going to always be too cool for a show like this that leaned on being a live action cartoon. Yes it is amazing that this series lasted on NBC's prime time for 4 years. But aren't we glad it did?