Post by dbutler69 on Jun 21, 2021 15:11:01 GMT -5
Since I created a thread in the Classic Comics Dicussion for the best year for comics, I decided to do one for other forms of entertainment.
Comic strips: While I think that 1985-1995 (and especially 1985-1989) are all strong years, I will go with either 1985 or 1989.
With 1985 you get B.C., Beetle Bailey, Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes, Dick Tracy, Doonesbury, The Far Side, Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, Heathcliff, Herman, Life in Hell, Mother Goose and Grimm, Peanuts, Prince Valiant, Shoe, Spider-Man, and the Wizard of Id.
With 1989 you get B.C., Beetle Bailey, Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes, Dick Tracy, Dilbert, Doonesbury, The Far Side, Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, Heathcliff, Herman, Life in Hell, Mother Goose and Grimm, Peanuts, Prince Valiant, Shoe, Shoe, Spider-Man, and the Wizard of Id.
I’m especially thinking of Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes, The Far Side, and Dilbert. Those are four of my all-time favorites, and they’re all relatively short lived, as some of the other comic strips named have/had been around for several decades. With 1985 you get Bloom County, the Far Side, and Dilbert. With 1989 you get all four, acrually, so maybe that’s the answer, though you don’t get a full year of Bloom County (though Outland did make its debut later that year) nor of Dilbert.
Cartoons: 1981-1984 are all almost equally great. Again, perhaps a tie here, between 1981 and 1982, and probably also 1983.
With 1981 you get Space Ghost (new episodes on the Space Stars show); Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (absolutely an all-time favorite!); Super Friends; Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (another all-time favorite); Star Blazers (another all-time favorite, a Japanese import and not a Saturday morning cartoon); Thundarr the Barbarian (yet another all-time favorite, with input from Jack Kirby and I believe Alex Toth as well); Schoolhouse Rock; Scooby Doo (not exactly peak Scooby Doo, but hey, it’s still Scooby Doo); Battle of the Planets; and the Smurfs (not my cup of tea, but it was immensely popular).
With 1982 you get the exact same list of cartoons.
With 1983 you get the same list, except that you lose Thundarr and Space Ghost, but gain Dungeons & Dragons, He-Man, G.I. Joe, and Inspector Gadget.
With 1984 you get the same list as 1983 except you lose Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and gain The Transformers and Muppet Babies.
Music: I think 1979-1988 are all really strong, but I’d go with either 1984 or 1982. I’m a big fan of 80s New Wave and Synthpop, and those were strong years for that.
Toys: Well, I pretty much stopped collecting toys by the mid-80’s so my opinion here is influenced by that. Anyway, I think 1977-1980 were the best year for toys, and 1984 was really good too, even though I had pretty much stopped collecting by then. Action figures were my thing when it came to toys, and those were good years for action figures.
1977-1980 gives you the Mego superheroes, Micronauts, Shogun Warriors, Stretch Armstrong, and my all-time favorites – the Star Wars action figures.
1984 gives you He-Man, DC’s Super Powers collection, Marvel Secret Wars, G.I. Joe, and the Transformers.
Television:
I’m going with the 1986-1987 season, but I think that 1985-1995 is all really good, and the 2009-2011 and 1973-1978 periods are also excellent.
1986-1987 has that awesome Thursday night NBC lineup of The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court. Plus MacGyver, the A-Team, Moonlighting, L.A. Law, Miami Vice, Alf, Newhart, Hunter (and yes, I’ll admit to watching old person shows Matlock and the Golden Girls), Fraggle Rock, plus Dallas and Dynasty if you’re into that sort of thing plus a bunch of other prime time comedies I enjoyed which I won’t bother to mention plus stuff like 60 Minutes and Monday Night Football.
Movies:
I’m surprising myself here and going with 2003, with the 2002-2004 time period being particularly strong. I’ve probably forgotten to take into account a bunch of movies which might influence my decision (same with the TV category) but with 2003 you get The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King; Elf, X2, Underworld; Daredevil (unlike most people, I really liked this movie! Especially the director’s cut); Finding Nemo, Kill Bill vol. 1; Love, Actually (at least I am man enough to admit I liked this); Old School; Ong-Bak, the Thai Warrior (one of my favorite martial arts movies); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; The Last Samurai; and Seabiscuit.
All in all, this was a very tough one for me to decide on.
I'm not really into video games, so I don't have a favorite year for that, and most of the novels I read are really old (like Victorian Age) so I don't really have a favorite year for books to choose.
Comic strips: While I think that 1985-1995 (and especially 1985-1989) are all strong years, I will go with either 1985 or 1989.
With 1985 you get B.C., Beetle Bailey, Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes, Dick Tracy, Doonesbury, The Far Side, Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, Heathcliff, Herman, Life in Hell, Mother Goose and Grimm, Peanuts, Prince Valiant, Shoe, Spider-Man, and the Wizard of Id.
With 1989 you get B.C., Beetle Bailey, Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes, Dick Tracy, Dilbert, Doonesbury, The Far Side, Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, Heathcliff, Herman, Life in Hell, Mother Goose and Grimm, Peanuts, Prince Valiant, Shoe, Shoe, Spider-Man, and the Wizard of Id.
I’m especially thinking of Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes, The Far Side, and Dilbert. Those are four of my all-time favorites, and they’re all relatively short lived, as some of the other comic strips named have/had been around for several decades. With 1985 you get Bloom County, the Far Side, and Dilbert. With 1989 you get all four, acrually, so maybe that’s the answer, though you don’t get a full year of Bloom County (though Outland did make its debut later that year) nor of Dilbert.
Cartoons: 1981-1984 are all almost equally great. Again, perhaps a tie here, between 1981 and 1982, and probably also 1983.
With 1981 you get Space Ghost (new episodes on the Space Stars show); Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (absolutely an all-time favorite!); Super Friends; Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (another all-time favorite); Star Blazers (another all-time favorite, a Japanese import and not a Saturday morning cartoon); Thundarr the Barbarian (yet another all-time favorite, with input from Jack Kirby and I believe Alex Toth as well); Schoolhouse Rock; Scooby Doo (not exactly peak Scooby Doo, but hey, it’s still Scooby Doo); Battle of the Planets; and the Smurfs (not my cup of tea, but it was immensely popular).
With 1982 you get the exact same list of cartoons.
With 1983 you get the same list, except that you lose Thundarr and Space Ghost, but gain Dungeons & Dragons, He-Man, G.I. Joe, and Inspector Gadget.
With 1984 you get the same list as 1983 except you lose Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and gain The Transformers and Muppet Babies.
Music: I think 1979-1988 are all really strong, but I’d go with either 1984 or 1982. I’m a big fan of 80s New Wave and Synthpop, and those were strong years for that.
Toys: Well, I pretty much stopped collecting toys by the mid-80’s so my opinion here is influenced by that. Anyway, I think 1977-1980 were the best year for toys, and 1984 was really good too, even though I had pretty much stopped collecting by then. Action figures were my thing when it came to toys, and those were good years for action figures.
1977-1980 gives you the Mego superheroes, Micronauts, Shogun Warriors, Stretch Armstrong, and my all-time favorites – the Star Wars action figures.
1984 gives you He-Man, DC’s Super Powers collection, Marvel Secret Wars, G.I. Joe, and the Transformers.
Television:
I’m going with the 1986-1987 season, but I think that 1985-1995 is all really good, and the 2009-2011 and 1973-1978 periods are also excellent.
1986-1987 has that awesome Thursday night NBC lineup of The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court. Plus MacGyver, the A-Team, Moonlighting, L.A. Law, Miami Vice, Alf, Newhart, Hunter (and yes, I’ll admit to watching old person shows Matlock and the Golden Girls), Fraggle Rock, plus Dallas and Dynasty if you’re into that sort of thing plus a bunch of other prime time comedies I enjoyed which I won’t bother to mention plus stuff like 60 Minutes and Monday Night Football.
Movies:
I’m surprising myself here and going with 2003, with the 2002-2004 time period being particularly strong. I’ve probably forgotten to take into account a bunch of movies which might influence my decision (same with the TV category) but with 2003 you get The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King; Elf, X2, Underworld; Daredevil (unlike most people, I really liked this movie! Especially the director’s cut); Finding Nemo, Kill Bill vol. 1; Love, Actually (at least I am man enough to admit I liked this); Old School; Ong-Bak, the Thai Warrior (one of my favorite martial arts movies); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; The Last Samurai; and Seabiscuit.
All in all, this was a very tough one for me to decide on.
I'm not really into video games, so I don't have a favorite year for that, and most of the novels I read are really old (like Victorian Age) so I don't really have a favorite year for books to choose.
