Swing Out Sister: Breakout

Swing Out Sister: Breakout
VH1
Song released 1986
Music Video
VHS
C+

This looks like a badly dated local commercial for a fabric supply warehouse.  The song isn't bad though.  And this is the 100th music video I've reviewed.

Dexys Midnight Runners: Come On Eileen

Dexys Midnight Runners: Come On Eileen
VH1
Song released 25 June 1982
Music Video
VHS
B

It may seem odd that I'm giving the video itself a lower grade than the live performance on SNL.  But it is kind of odd, all those overalls and possible stalking.  Still a lovely song though.

The Young Ones: Dexys Midnight Runners, Jackie Wilson Said

The Young Ones: Dexys Midnight Runners, Jackie Wilson Said

BBC2

30 November 1982

Variety

VHS

C+

This clip has DMR playing in a small room, with lots of close-ups, giving a claustrophobic feel that doesn't suit the band.  (It might've worked for Madness or Squeeze.)  Still a nice song though.  And, yes, the ex was taping a lot of DMR for me, bless him.

Saturday Night Live: Dexys Midnight Runners, "Come On, Eileen"

Saturday Night Live: Dexys Midnight Runners, "Come On, Eileen"

NBC

May 14, 1983

Variety

VHS
B+

This is also on a WLIIA tape the ex made for me the late summer going into early fall of '94.  Anyway, again there's nothing visually dazzling here, but I love this song and I still got chills.  The host, Mayor Ed Koch, introduces this segment.

Saturday Night Live: Dexys Midnight Runners, "Celtic Soul Brothers"

Saturday Night Live: Dexys Midnight Runners, "Celtic Soul Brothers"
NBC
May 14, 1983
Variety
VHS
B

Wow, I'm not even sure I knew this was tucked away on a tape my by-then ex-husband made for me of 1994 Whose Line Is It Anyway? episodes, the summer after our divorce.  In any case, there's nothing visually dazzling here, just a plain, hard-rocking bunch of "Celtic Soul Brothers" doing one of their best songs.  ("Come On Eileen" being the main fave, and we'll get to that later.)  It looks like the ex taped it during an Eddie Murphy marathon on Comedy Central and it was a delight to watch it again, probably for the first time in over twenty years.

Thomas Dolby: She Blinded Me with Science

Thomas Dolby: She Blinded Me with Science
Song released October 1982
Music Video
VHS
B

Early video with a dream-like feel and a refrain that will stay with you, especially with that overacting scientist: "She blinded me with science!"  Includes title cards, although not at all a silent movie of course.

Kevin Meyers: The Dating Game, Utah, Mormons, and Coffee

Kevin Meyers: The Dating Game, Utah, Mormons, and Coffee
Comedy Central
1989
Stand-Up Comedy
VHS
C

Meyers has some potentially funny material here, talking about his experience on The Dating Game.  But he doesn't seem to know how to tell a joke or a series of jokes, repeating himself so much that we're left with diminishing returns.

Taylor Negron: The Dating Game

Taylor Negron: The Dating Game
Comedy Central
1985
Stand-Up Comedy
VHS
C+

Negron tells of his experiences on The Dating Game, including something that CC bleeped out.

Robert Wuhl: Dating Game, Sally Struthers, and "a guy goes into a bar"

Robert Wuhl: Dating Game, Sally Struthers, and "a guy goes into a bar"
Comedy Central
1986
Stand-Up Comedy
VHS
C+

Wuhl tells of his experience on The Dating Game, makes fun of Sally's weight, and tells a meh joke about a drunk.  This is belatedly the 700th "show" from the '80s I've reviewed.

INXS: Need You Tonight/Mediate

INXS: Need You Tonight/Mediate
MTV
Song released September 23, 1987
Music Video
VHS
B

Another funny and sexy music video from INXS, although at least time the humor seems to be deliberate.  The song remains catchy and who else* would end a video with a bunch of words, some of them misspelled, on cue cards?

*Maybe Bob Roberts.  OK, and Bob Dylan.

Jeff Marder: Milkshakes

Jeff Marder: Milkshakes
Comedy Central
1986
Stand-Up Comedy
VHS
C+

What qualifies as a milkshake and how hard they are to drink when they're thick.

SCTV: The Ramblers

SCTV: The Ramblers
March 27, 1984
Comedy Central (for this clip)
Variety
VHS
B

Before A Mighty Wind, on-target folk parody.  And, yes, "Cliff the Magic Squirrel" is their answer to "Puff the Magic Dragon."

The Golden Girls: Isn't It Romantic? [fragment]

The Golden Girls: Isn't It Romantic? [fragment]
NBC
November 8, 1986
Sitcom
VHS
B-

There is only one reason I taped a scene from this episode, and it has nothing to do with the ground-breaking character of Dorothy's lesbian friend Jean.  No, it's because of those adorable clown-face sundaes Rose makes.  No wonder Jean falls for her!  (The photo is courtesy of https://thegoldengirlsreviewed.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/episode-5-isnt-it-romantic/)

B-52s: Roam

Not that this wasn't WTF at the time.

B-52s: Roam
Song released December 1989
Music Video
VHS
B-

I don't think this has aged as well as "Sowing the Seeds of Love," or for that matter "Love Shack."  It's still a catchy song but what some would now call "cultural appropriation" makes the shenanigans look more embarrassing even than intended.

Cartoon Lost and Found

Cartoon Lost and Found
Nickelodeon
1989
Cartoon
VHS
C+

Adam West hosts this set of random clips of mostly 1960s cartoons, interspersed with not particularly funny live-action scenes, although I did smile at his claiming to have been the Professor on Gilligan's Island. Some of the cartoons are indeed obscure (I didn't know then and don't know now what they are), while others are part of pop culture, like Speed Racer.  And, yes, the Jay Ward shows George of the Jungle, Super Chicken, and Tom Slick are well represented.

Squeeze: Hourglass

Squeeze: Hourglass
Song released July 1987
Music Video
VHS
A-

Probably my favorite video ever, this has surrealism, optical illusions, philosophy (as in the Shakespearean "ages of man" sequence), playfulness, and a tune that is sometimes frantic and sometimes soothing but always danceable, with some super sax work, and the whole thing is just majestic.  (Not perfect, nothing is.)

Out of This World: I've Got a Secret

Out of This World: I've Got a Secret
Syndicated
May 28, 1988
Sitcom
VHS
B-

This is another episode I thought came later in the run, not realizing till I watched the whole thing again that Evie revealing the truth is all a dream.  Her father does a nice rendition of "Dream a Little Dream" at the end.  As with IGSS, I don't have every episode by a long shot, but what I taped earned 3 C+s and 2 B-s.  It's a cute little show but not an undiscovered gem by any means.

Kirk Findley played an unknown character here and in the "Mosquito Man" movie episode.  Jay Ingram, who plays Lt. Col. South (think Oliver North) would be Sidney Caldwell on Who's the Boss? the next year.  Buzz Belmondo, Steve Burton, and Christina Nigra return as Buzz, Chris Fuller, and Lindsay Selkirk respectively.

It's Garry Shandling's Show: Force Boxman

Marty Feldman on the right.

It's Garry Shandling's Show: Force Boxman
Showtime
April 10, 1987
Sitcom
VHS
B-

I mistakenly thought this was the 1990 episode called "The Last Show," which itself is the third to last.  In any case, this means that there's a videocassette with '80s stuff I need to watch before I can get back to May 1990.  This episode, co-written by Ed Solomon and Jeff Franklin, closed out Season One and has Garry leaving his show for an action program to be filmed in New York.  He's replaced by Red Buttons, who charms Garry's friends and raises the ratings.

I realize I don't have all the IGSS episodes, especially from later seasons, but what I taped received 3 B-s and 6 Bs.

KABC News: "Gilligan's Island" cast reunites

KABC News: "Gilligan's Island" cast reunites

Yes, Tina, too.

ABC

October 1988

News

VHS

C+

Local LA reporter Kelly Lange tells of the GI cast and Sherwood Schwartz, minus a very ill Jim Backus, getting together to dedicate a children's room in a hospital.  It's nice to see everyone but the clip is very short.

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns

This episode

Word of Mouth with Eric Burns
Movietime
Late December 1989
Talk Show
VHS
B-

This "best of" covers the nine months of the show, not every episode, but quite a few.  Ellerbee is tagged for the discussion of her Maxwell House commercial.  Burns concludes with a hope that WoM can find another home, but as far as I know it didn't.  Pity, since it would've been interesting to hear the panel react to the '90s.

As for the '80s, this probably isn't the last of my shows from that decade, since the '70s keep popping up.  But this is as good a place as any to get ready for another decade summary....