Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Joe Pantoliano, and Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix (1999)

Welcome to Rewinding the '80s, a series of lists in which I indulge in a massive nostalgia trip by embarking on a retrospective of my favorite era of pop culture.  I will be watching and/or re-watching numerous titles from that golden, glorious decade and listing them all here for posterity. This includes feature films, made-for-TV movies and miniseries, individual TV episodes, and short films, all listed in chronological order by their original release/air dates. Many of these titles were seen during their original releases.  Some were watched in later years.  Others still, I will be viewing for the first time.

When the '80s began, I was 7 years old and in second grade, and  this  (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078607/) was my favorite show.  Other shows I watched on a regular or semi-regular basis were this (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077031/), this (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078579/), this (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074028/), and this (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078644/), and, of course, my Saturday morning cartoons. The year 1980 also saw the release of the first of the two movies that would define my childhood and have a significant impact on me.  You'll know it when you see it.  (Hint:  it's on page 5.) In June, second grade came to an end, and the first summer vacation of the '80s began.   It was a great time to be a kid.

Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, and Kenny Baker in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

I've seen a lot of movies—seriously, so many. This is just one list of twenty-seven.

Patrick Stewart in A Christmas Carol (1999)

Every year, a number of television pilots are filmed -- "test episodes" for potential new shows. Some of them get ordered to series, and those pilot episodes often become episode #1 of the new show. Others, however, are unable to hurdle that barrier and remain unsold -- not picked up as a full television series.

Note that "unsold" does not necessarily equate to "unaired" -- many of the pilots listed here have aired on tv, either as a backdoor pilot (shown as a tv movie, or as an episode of an already-running tv show from which it was intended to spin off) or "burned off" (aired as a tv movie or a one-off episode among the summer reruns, or incorporated into one of several anthology tv series that consisted entirely of rejected pilots). Others have seen the light of day as extra features on DVDs, or straight-to-video releases, or in a few cases were even bumped up to theatrical releases.

I've started moving ones I've seen and/or have (i.e., I know they're at least marginally available) to the top of the list -- so far that's #s 1-976.

Sources: Unsold Television Pilots, Lee Goldberg. Movies Made for Television, 1964-2004 and 2005-2009, Alvin H. Marill. Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925-2007 and Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, 1937-2019 and Encyclopedia of Unaired Television Pilots, 1945-2018, Vincent Terrace. Various selective-subject (science fiction, animation, etc.) TV books. Various internet resources - IMDb, TCMDb, TheFutonCritic, etc. etc. etc.

(A work in progress.)

Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, and ABBA in ABBA: The Movie (1977)

Pink Floyd in Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)

All 77 minutes or longer. Ongoing List. Includes non-English movies.

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