Everything '80s Curiouscast

It's been exactly 40 years since one of the most important Summer Olympics in the history of the modern Games. The Summer Olympics were coming off two less-than-ideal previous editions and very few cities even wanted to host. Add to this a Soviet-led boycott, and the 84 Summer Games faced serious uncertainty.
However, the Los Angeles Summer Games changed everything about the Olympics as we knew them. The technology, the presentation, the broadcast, and the corporate sponsorships transformed the Olympic games into the ones we're familiar with today.
But let's not forget the events. The 84 Summer Games gave us some astonishing sporting moments, drama, and history-making athletes and performances. It was one of the first big sporting memories for a new generation of kids, led to one of the biggest marketing blunders ever, and even inspired one of the most beloved sitcoms of the entire 1980s...
The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast: Patreon.com/80s
Artwork: Janet Cordahi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you get when you combine Nerf with the Garbage Pail Kids? You get Madballs, one of the most memorable toys of the 1980s.
Madballs came out during a time when a big segment of the toy industry followed the motto, "If it's gross or smells, it sells." Madballs continued with that formula of gross-out humor and quickly made a dent in the toy market (and on heads...)
Today we look back on the creation, launch, and remarkable success of Madballs, along with the controversy that resulted in them getting banned in some schools.
The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast: Patreon.com/80s
Artwork: Janet Cordahi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When does performance art go too far? How long do you suspend disbelief before you start asking yourself whether what you are seeing is actually real? Or is that the whole point...
When it comes to performance art, there may be no better performer ever than Andy Kaufman. And in the 1980s, he took his unique brand of comedy to a wider audience than ever before.
Most people knew him from Taxi, but an even wider audience would know him from two shocking network television moments--one that even happened on live TV... Let's go back and witness the chaos created by Andy Kaufman in the 80s.
The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast: Patreon.com/80s
Artwork: Janet Cordahi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1987 was a good one. So was 1989. But summertime at the movies may not get much better than the magical summer of 1984.
Today, we travel back exactly 40 years to one of the defining summers of the entire 1980s. The summer of '84 gave us blockbuster after blockbuster and fully cemented the summer movie season as one of the most important of the year.
A huge sequel, a coming-of-age classic, a new horror favorite, and a supernatural comedy are just some of the era-defining films that came out. It's the summer that gave us some of the most beloved movies of not just the 80s--but ever. And there's one day in particular that may be the most significant of the decade when it comes to two all-time 1980s classics...
The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast: Patreon.com/80s
Artwork: Janet Cordahi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the phenomenal success of Sesame Street and then The Muppet Show, it seemed as if things couldn't get much better. But as the 1980s began, Jim Henson was just getting started...
Two groundbreaking films, new Muppet movies, and one of the most beloved children's series of all time--these are just some of the amazing creations by Jim Henson in the 80s. But it goes even deeper: countless TV specials, a Sesame Street movie, a cherished cartoon show, and even a few holiday favorites.
For Henson, the 1980s were a decade of prolific creation, and we were the lucky ones who got to experience his unique form of magic.
The Everything 80s Movie Review Podcast: Patreon.com/80s
Artwork: Janet Cordahi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the NES and Sega Master System were dominating the 1980s video game market, something interesting was happening in Japan. Something ahead of its time. Something revolutionary...
The dream of a 16-bit system felt like it was years and years away, but, in 1987--it happened. It took a few more years, but the system that began as the PC Engine in Japan eventually hit North America. But now, it had a new look and a new name: the TurboGrafx-16.
This is a look back on the system that ushered in the fourth generation of video gaming, changed how video games looked and sounded, and had a huge influence on the future of gaming.
Bonus 1980s audio content: Patreon.com/80s
Artwork: Janet Cordahi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices