Kudos to VH1 for "I love the 80's". The new direction of the network seems to be the "Behind the Music Channel" with the majority of their shows being similar pop culture-type Documentaries. Which is fine by me as long as they keep the standards up to par with Behind the Music, such as they have with "I love the 80's". This show covers nearly all the bases and leaves very few items out. It's a must-see for everyone who lived through the 80's.
The one and only drawback (and perhaps the thing that keeps this show from achieving near-flawlessness) are the interviewees, who are certainly funny and interesting, but not exactly experts on the subject matter. All too often it is blatantly obvious that the "celebrity" has completely forgot and/or is totally unknowledgeable of the pop culture topic they're covering (and had to be reminded). It REALLY would have been nice if they had interviewed FANS of the shows/movies they were discussing, and not just people who can only say "oh, yeah, that was a good movie" or some such drivel that anyone can spout. Especially to counter the constant jokes at the expense of the many of the quality flicks they were trying to praise. And the new "200 Pop culture Icons" took this problem and ran with it- they brought in Reality TV NOBODIES to comment! People whose 15 minutes are up, and have nothing relevant to say. ["I love the 80's" has a DISTINCT subject of discussion, unlike "Pop culture Icons" which can't decide if it's an "100 greatest actors" list or "100 greatest characters" list.] Don't waste your time - stick with "I love the 80's" reruns and hope VH1 does better next time around with "I love the 70's".
Despite that oversight, I think just about anyone will thoroughly enjoy this nostalgia trip, as this show overcomes those relatively minor flaws (your average viewer probably won't care anyway. Its probably just rabid fans like myself who doesn't like to see his favorite films bashed by non-fans just making fun of it.) I highly recommend this mini-series.
The one and only drawback (and perhaps the thing that keeps this show from achieving near-flawlessness) are the interviewees, who are certainly funny and interesting, but not exactly experts on the subject matter. All too often it is blatantly obvious that the "celebrity" has completely forgot and/or is totally unknowledgeable of the pop culture topic they're covering (and had to be reminded). It REALLY would have been nice if they had interviewed FANS of the shows/movies they were discussing, and not just people who can only say "oh, yeah, that was a good movie" or some such drivel that anyone can spout. Especially to counter the constant jokes at the expense of the many of the quality flicks they were trying to praise. And the new "200 Pop culture Icons" took this problem and ran with it- they brought in Reality TV NOBODIES to comment! People whose 15 minutes are up, and have nothing relevant to say. ["I love the 80's" has a DISTINCT subject of discussion, unlike "Pop culture Icons" which can't decide if it's an "100 greatest actors" list or "100 greatest characters" list.] Don't waste your time - stick with "I love the 80's" reruns and hope VH1 does better next time around with "I love the 70's".
Despite that oversight, I think just about anyone will thoroughly enjoy this nostalgia trip, as this show overcomes those relatively minor flaws (your average viewer probably won't care anyway. Its probably just rabid fans like myself who doesn't like to see his favorite films bashed by non-fans just making fun of it.) I highly recommend this mini-series.