Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts

My smile from the Tumble 4 Ya blogfest still looms and I just can't help it---I want to share my summary observations from the fest. Think of it as an after party. ;) The Guys:  The fellas' crushes seemed to be fairly evenly split between rocker chicks (like the girls from Heart, Stevie Nicks, and Cyndi Lauper) and the girl-next-door types.  My favorite quote from the fest is from the Armchair Squid , who said of Ally Sheedy's character in St. Elmo's Fire : "The eyes, the hair and the impish smile just made you want to gather her up in a blanket for the evening" Awww! A notable lady missing from the guys' 80s crush list was Princess Leia: Really boys, did ya not see Return of the Jedi ? The Girls :  I'd have to say the top ladies' choice is a tie between the boys of Duran Duran and, well, this isn't exactly a person, but...the Volleyball Scene in Top Gun .  Don't act like you don't know exactly what I'm talkin' about.  ...

Welcome, welcome to the Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest!  I'm so excited to see which 80s faces are going to pop up in the blogworld today.  Thank you to all of you who signed up--and so many of you who mentioned the fest on your blogs. Tim Brannan even had a contest to guess his crush! You've all made this so fun. And HUGE thanks to my cohorts, Suze and M.Pax who've made setting up this fest, like, totally radical. Right, onto my 80s crush...  I graduated high school in 1985, so I was of prime crushing age throughout the 80s.  As you can imagine, the list of my celebrity crushes from the 80s goes on and on and on.  And yet, picking just one ended up not being as difficult as I thought it would be.  Because as I scanned through pictures and videos of my top 80s men, there was only one who still made me all giggly the moment I saw him again. He's the one who had me glued to MTV just waiting and waiting and waiting for him . I speak of Joe Elliott , lead singer o...

Just when I was thinking I ought to do some sort of reminder post about the big Tumble 4 Ya blogfest this Friday, I got hit with another 80s sighting!  This morning the local news featured the No Limit Arcade in Algonquin, IL, featuring 80s arcade games: Pac Man, Frogger, Asteroids, TRON, Space Invaders, Ms. Pac Man, Robotron...and I'm sure I'll suck at them just as much now as I did then.  What's especially cool though is that the teens are digging the retro video games too.  My 14 year old can't wait to go---but he's holding out for verification on Donkey Kong. Here's a graphic from the No Limit Arcade website to get you into 80s mode while you write up your post telling us all about your 80s Celebrity Crush for the Tumble 4 Ya fest on Friday (sign-up is conveniently below if you still need to do that).  I'm totally pumped, stoked & psyched to see who y'all pick. Look at all these 80s babes we're going to get to look at! THIS FRIDAY, ...

On Chuck vs. the Goodbye: The set-up:  Under General Beckman's chair is a bomb set to go off as soon as the music stops...and the symphony's about to end. To the rescue: Jeffster (a rock band comprising Jeff and Lester, two disturbing nerds who work at the Buy More).   Of all the day-saving, climax-worthy songs they could've chosen to belt out at this most crucial moment---the final mission by NBC's Team Bartowski after 5 seasons ---Jeffster chose....  Rock on, Jeffster. If that got you jonesing for the 80s, might I suggest you take a gander at the Tumble 4 Ya blogfest ?  Much thanks to everyone who's already joined!  I can't wait to see everyone's choices.

With my children now teenagers, it appears I'm woefully uninformed on what's currently hot in Toddler Pop Culture. So how surprised was I to walk into my niece's third birthday party this weekend and find the place decked out in that sweetie from the 80s---Strawberry Shortcake! To be honest, I probably would've been oblivious to the fruit-themed confection throughout the 80s too if I hadn't had a younger sister who was way into her.  My only personal memory of the Fraulein of Fraises is a vague recollection of one of my sister's dolls smelling like blueberries.   Anyhow, she's baaaack---with a few choice updates, like trading in the Laura Ingalls look for a snappy mini-dress, poufy newsboy cap, and sassy mary-janes, and losing the stubby red yarn in favor of lucious pink waves.  Does the strawberry princess hold a special place in your memories? Have you spotted her anywhere while you've been out & about lately? What do you think of her makeo...

I don't know about you (although I have my suspicions) but I'm exhausted after AtoZ.  And I didn't even make it through a tenth of the entrants!  But I sure did have fun at those blogs I did frequent. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and made me laugh and smile with your comments about crazy 80s TV Shows. Double thanks to those of you who played along with 80s TV trivia madness.  I've got something for you: 1. The answers to the first 10 trivia questions (scroll over the black bar to reveal the answer). 2. An award!  I've listed anyone who answered the question correctly---if you see your name listed, please help yourself to the award to the left. Stay tuned, because I'll reveal the rest of the answers over two more posts---one later this week and the final one next Monday---and I just may have a special prize for the blogger with the most correct answers.   (To be fair, I'll only count answers entered during April for the prize)   ALF Q: ALF i...

The Equali Z er 1985 - 1989 Click image to watch opening...yeah, still ringing no bells Kind of a bummer that I have to end this blog challenge w/ a show I'd never even heard of before.  Other than The Young Ones, I just didn't watch too much TV between '85-'89, so if it didn't stretch into the 90s or come back in syndication, it was lost on me.  Anyone out there ever watch this detective show starring Edward Woodward as Robert McCall? Quote : "Don't do something you won't live to regret." Trivia : In the pilot episode, a regular from Seinfeld appears as the character who gave McCall his nickname, the Equalizer.  Anyone care to make a guess what actor that was?   More info. on The Equilizer and other 80s TV Shows On Monday I'll post all the answers to my 80s TV Show trivia questions along w/ links and kudos to everyone who got them right. :) It was lovely seeing you all and getting to visit your A to Z posts.  Much thanks to Arlee, Ale...

The Young Ones 1982 - 1984 Watch hilarious clip that includes Hugh Laurie! Aha, so I guess it was the reruns on MTV that I was glued to during college.  Before that it was only on BBC. I imagine if you weren't just the right age at the time Rick, Vyvyan, Neil and Mike might've passed you right by.   The Young Ones was a great show, even if it did mark the beginning of the end of strictly videos on so-called Music Television.  But hey, at least it featured a live band on every episode---and the reason for that was there was no money in the BBC budget for a sit-com, and adding live music allowed it to be classified in another category. Quote : It was horrible. I sat in the big hall and put my pocket of Polos on the desk. And my spare pencil and my support gonk. And my chewing gum and my extra pen. And my extra Polos and my lucky gonk. And my pencil sharpener shaped like a cream cracker. And more gonks with a packet of Polos in each. And lead for my retractab...

Ma X Headroom 1987 - 1988  (Come on, I can't be the only one cheating on X day) Click image to watch Max in a Coke commercial I never even knew before now that Max Headroom had his own series; I thought he just did Coke commercials (1986).  But he started with The Max Headroom Show in the UK, in which he played videos and talked in-between.  Then there was a TV movie, Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future , which provided Max's background (he's the result of an experiment in a world taken over by television).  ABC took interest and asked the producers to make episodes of an all-new Max Headroom sci-fi TV series for the U.S. market.  ...Anyone else's head hurt? Quote: "How can you tell a network executive is lying? His lips move!" Trivia: What is Max Headroom's name derived from? Next week I'll post the answers to all my 80s TV trivia questions.:)  More info on Max Headroom and other 80s TV shows

The Wonder Years 1988 - 1993 Click image to watch original show opening Possibly thee cutest series ever on TV.  This is a double look back, because we're looking back at this 80s show that looked back at growing up in the 60s/70s.  What made it even more fun for my family was that my sister was Winnie Cooper's 1980s doppelgänger---no wonder Fred Savage's character had such a crush on her throughout the series! Quote : "When you're a little kid you're a bit of everything: scientist, philosopher, artist. Sometimes it seems like growing up is giving these things up one at a time." Trivia : This coming of age TV series was inspired by a classic 1983 movie. Can you name the movie?  More info on The Wonder Years and other 80s TV Shows

Voyagers! 1982 - 1983 Click image to watch Voyager! opening This was a one-season time travel series about a pirate from the past who travels around fixing "problems" throughout time with a boy he saved in 1982.  I don't believe I ever saw this one, but in this photo, the pirate guy looks exactly like my high school boyfriend (or at least how I remember him).  It's kinda freakin' me out, actually.  Moving on... Quote: "When the omni's red, it means history's wrong, its' our job to get everything back on track." Trivia:   The guy who looks like my boyfriend, Jon-Erik Hexum, was expected to be the next big thing in Hollywood, but he tragically died in 1984 as the result of an accident with a prop revolver on set of his new TV series, Cover Up. More information on Voyager! and other 80s TV Shows

Unsolved Mysteries 1987 - It's still going! Click image to watch a 1987 promo Although it's hopped around from network to network and had gaps in production, for the majority of the last quarter century, Unsolved Mysteries has transmitted goosebumps over TV airwaves as it re-enacts real life mysteries---including unsolved crimes, missing persons, conspiracy theories, and unexplained paranormal-like phenomena. Mwahahah! Quote: "Whenever possible, the actual family members and police officials have participated in recreating the events. What you are about to see is not a news broadcast." Trivia: The concept of the show is based on a series of three specials run on NBC in 1986.  The success of these specials, which focused only on missing persons, led to an expanded focus and the creation of Unsolved Mysteries as we know it today.  Does anyone remember the name of those three 1986 specials? More info on Unsolved Mysteries and other 80s TV shows  

thirtysomething 1987 - 1991 Click image to watch thirtysomething opening theme If it was "A" day, I guess I'd call this one Angsty Adults. As barely twentysomething during the tenure of this late 80s TV show, I didn't really get what they were all whining about.  Now that I'm a fortysomething...please God, let me be past all that. Quote: "I mean, Michael's cute and all, but how much fun can it be sitting at home watching him sulk night after night?" Trivia: This series was influenced by a 1983 movie that also featured an ensemble cast of baby boomer yuppies.  What move was it?  More info on thirtysomething and other 80s TV Shows

Saved by the Bell 1989-1993 Click on image to watch opening theme Little did the youthful cast of this high school comedy know that they were destined to become the C-list celebrities of the future. Quote: "I like school... it's a good way to kill time between weekends." Trivia: Only four of Saved by the Bell's seven regular characters (pictured here) appeared in each of the TV show's eighty-six episodes. Can you name them? More info on Saved by the Bell and other 80s TV shows

Remington Steele 1982 - 1987 Click image to watch Remington Steele Intro. Hullo, Pierce Brosnan.What I remember most about this show is being freaked out that my mom had such a crush on the man masquerading as Remington Steele, the fictitious boss invented by independent P.I. Laura Holt.  Quote: "Someone ALWAYS shoots at us when we're kissing!" Trivia: One of the show's early writers and producers, Glenn Gordon Caron, quit after the first ten episodes to start his own production company.  He went on to write and produce another hit 80s TV show, also about a pair of bickering "I hate you/I love you" detectives.  Know what it was? More info on Remington Steele and other 80s TV Shows

Perfect Strangers 1986-1993 Click image to see the Dance of Joy This TV show was the odd couple of the 80s, with highly-strung "Cousin Larry" and the effervescent, naive, and hilarious Balky Bartokomous, fresh off the Mediterranean isle of Mypos. Quotes: "Don't be ridiculous." "Oh Cousin, congratulations! Your ship has finally hit the fan." Trivia:  Perfect Strangers is set in one of the greatest cities in America, nay the world , with many famous city icons featured in the opening credits.  What city is it?  More info on Perfect Strangers ---Seriously, a whole website dedicated to his and no other 80s TV shows!

Out of this World 1987 - 1991 Click image to hear the trivia voice Does anybody even remember this one from the 80s?  Apparently this Evie girl was half human and half alien and lived in California...ring any bells?  None whatsoever for me. Quote: "Do sharks like swimsuits made out of beef jerky?" Trivia: The famous actor who did the voice of Evie's alien father (who's never seen) asked for his name to not be in the credits, since he was only doing this as a favor to the producers.  Care to guess who that was?  Hint:  He was also involved in another TV show at the time---Evening Shade. More info on Out of this World and other 80s TV shows

Speaking of 80s TV Shows...tonight is the TV Land Awards show, featuring Family Ties , The Cosby Show, and Facts of Life. Welcome Back Kotter too ('75 - '79).   To top it off Hall & Oats will perform!!!  Nice timing, huh? And today my interview has posted at iZombie's  Two Thumbs, Eight Fingers review blog. Thanks iZom. ;)

We're over the half-way hump!  Can you believe it?  Thank you all for playing along w/ my triva madness.  After we get through this blog challenge, I'll post a listing of all the answers along w/ a link to blogs of those who guessed right! And tomorrow, iZombie is going to post a 20 questions interview with me at his Two Thumbs, Eight Fingers review site. :)  Night Court 1984 - 1992 Click image to watch a Night Court short This crazy cast of characters and their corny schtick were the perfect match for the nutty cases coming to night court.  Night Court was a part of NBC's legendary "Must See Thursday" line-up, which included uber successful 80s TV shows: The Cosby Show, Family Ties, and Cheers. Quote : "Your Honor, according to witnesses, Miss Congeniality led the attack with a kick to the groin." Trivia : Harry Anderson, who played unconventional judge Harry Stone on Night Court, also played the recurring role of trickster con-man Harry the...

Magnum P.I. 1980 - 1988 Click image for opening theme This tongue-in-cheek action series, featuring Tom Sellek as Thomas Magnum, private investigator, was one of the most popular TV shows on Thursday nights in the 80s.  Magnum P.I. was made more fun by quirky sidekicks---Higgins, TC & Rick---and its Hawaiian setting.    Quote: "You might try the strawberry jam too, it’s really quite good. An old comrade from the Burma campaign sent it to me -- Tanky Moran. Got his name when he single-handedly took on a Japanese tank and knocked it out...now he’s selling jam in Devonshire." Trivia:  Throughout the series, we never get to see Magnum's mysterious absentee employer, Robin Masters.  Producers had eventually planned to reveal a very famous actor/director as the mysterious Masters, but the actor died before the end of the series.  Any idea who that might've been? More info. on Magnum P.I. and other 80s TV Shows