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May 25, 2013

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Greatest '80s TV Catchphrases, From 'Cheers' to 'Ninja Turtles'

by Maggie Furlong, posted Mar 25th 2011 9:00AM

'Perfect Strangers'We're sure all kinds of awesome things happened on March 25, 1986, but could anything rival the series premiere of 'Perfect Strangers'? Don't be ridiculous!

It's been 25 years since 'Perfect Strangers' introduced us to Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot) from Mypos and his Chicago cousin Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker), who charmed audiences with dances of joy and classic Balki-isms for eight seasons.

With Balki's "Don't be ridiculous" (only to be said with a heavy accent, please) ringing in our heads, we got to thinking about other awesome '80s TV catchphrases that TV fans adopted in their real lives.

Sadly, after the '80s, TV catchphrases started to die out a little. Sure there's Joey's 'Friends' favorite "How you doin'?", Barney's 'How I Met Your Mother' "Legendary" go-to, and the 'Seinfeld' classic "Yadda, yadda, yadda," but new taglines are few and far between, while these old standards still bring back great memories.

Without further ado, let's take a walk down TV memory lane with some of our favorite '80s TV catchphrases. D'oh! Did we forget yours? Chime in with a comment.

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Six "Bad" Sitcoms That Are Actually Good

by Bob Sassone, posted Apr 27th 2010 1:29PM

Boy Meets WorldYesterday I did a post where I listed the six sitcoms that even a sitcom lover would hate. So today, how about we look at six sitcoms that are actually good?

The six shows that follow are considered "bad" by whatever television common wisdom a lot of fans use. At best, if you like one of these shows you're supposed to consider them "guilty pleasures," but I like them without categorizing them that way. These are good sitcoms. Not "so bad they're good" good or "oh well I guess they're not the worst sitcoms in history" good, I mean they're just good, and you don't have to feel guilty about liking them.

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'The Big Bang Theory' - 'The Precious Fragmentation' Recap

by Kona Gallagher, posted Mar 9th 2010 9:15AM

big bang theory
(S03E17) This was one of the best episodes of 'The Big Bang Theory' in a while, not because of all of the 'Lord of the Rings' references (I never got into those movies), but because the writers finally figured out a way to get all of the characters together in one plot. Even though Wolowitz and Raj furthered their weird relationship by snuggling during a nap (which was actually only in Sheldon's dream, which raises even more questions), they weren't shoved off to the side in a b-plot.

We got back to the season one dynamic of the four guys having a story, while Penny interacts with them on the periphery. Since Penny has become such a big part of the show, this won't work for every episode, but it's nice to see what made us love the show in the first place. Especially since we needed all the happy thoughts in the world to replace the image of Sheldon as Smeagol. Congrats to the makeup crew, but dear God, I never want to see that again.

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Even ALF is on Twitter

by Bob Sassone, posted Jan 21st 2010 4:02PM

ALFA lot of people might think of ALF as "that stupid 80s sitcom with the puppet," but I think it was genuinely funny. The talk show that he had a few years ago? Not so much. But I'd love to see more ALF on television.

Until then, there's this: ALF is on Twitter! It looks like it's really him (and by "him" I mean someone who is officially authorized to tweet as ALF, aka "Gordon Shumway"). It's not verified by Twitter yet, but the name of the account is "Verified_ALF."

He hasn't said much yet, but what he does say seems to revolve around eating cats.

[via Comedy Central]

[You can watch episodes of ALF over at SlashControl.]

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Fatal Farm twists the opening credits [NSFW]

by Eliot Glazer, posted Jun 9th 2009 2:04PM

fatal farm alf nostalgia 80s tvZachary Johnson and Jeffrey Max are two effed up dudes.

Before they hit the "viralsphere" with Lasagna Cat, the production team and creative geniuses behind Fatal Farm created an incredibly twisted, brilliantly subversive, and unarguably hilarious series of "alternative intros" parodying the openings to classic sitcoms. No two intros follow the same theme or formula, except to say that they're all unequivocally... Messed. Up.

From blood and guts to go-carts and the hinting of pedophilia, each parody brings with it an innate ability to eviscerate any leftover nostalgia from the sight of, say, the Happy Days jukebox or the beginning chords of the theme to Cheers. (Believe us, you'll never think of Rhea Perlman the same way again.)

Strap in, sit back, and take an incredibly disturbing trip down Memory Lane, courtesy of your friendly tour guides at Fatal Farm:

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A handy guide to sitcom homes

by Bob Sassone, posted Mar 19th 2009 1:02PM

sitcom housesDamn, I wish I had thought of this.

Artist and writer Dan Meth has created a series of cool pop culture charts at his web site, and the one on the right is a handy guide to sitcom homes. Sense a pattern? The shows in the top half all have kitchens on the left and living rooms on the right (how we see them via the camera angle), and the ones on the bottom have the living room on the left and the kitchen on the right.

I guess there are only so many things you can do on a sitcom, especially if it's filmed in front of an audience as many of these were.

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TV Catchphrases Quiz

by AOL TV Staff, posted Dec 5th 2007 11:26AM

On which show did the phrase "Yada, yada, yada" first appear?

'The Office''s Michael Scott (Steve Carell) single-handedly brought back "That's what she said" jokes and the world is forever in his debt.

Some shows are so jam-packed with quotable lines that it's hard to keep track of who said what.

It's time to prove your knowledge of the origins of television's greatest catchphrases by taking our quiz.



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Out of the Blogosphere

by Bob Sassone, posted Dec 2nd 2007 10:18AM

William ShatnerWhat's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

  • Who would win in a fight between Captain Kirk and The Fonz?
  • A quiz: Is it from Shakespeare or The Hills?
  • Everything's better on the set of Grey's Anatomy this season.
  • In the Huffington Post's video round-up, Meredith Vieira tries extreme sports, Gordon Ramsay gets into an argument with a restaurant patron in New Jersey, and Tila Tequila gives a grandmother a lapdance.
  • Which Wisteria Lane character is going to die tonight?
  • The writers from The Late Show with David Letterman are keeping a funny blog during the strike.
  • That interview that Bill O'Reilly did with ALF the other night was incredibly lame.

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Tonight's must-see TV: Bill O'Reilly debates ALF! - VIDEO

by Bob Sassone, posted Nov 30th 2007 2:41PM

ALFAt first I thought this was just a funny little mashup (is that what the kids call it?) someone did, a "wouldn't it be funny if ALF appeared on The O'Reilly Factor" thing, but it's true! Tonight at 8PM on Fox News, ALF will debate Bill O'Reilly! The No-Spin King is even plugging the appearance on his web site.

I have no idea what the two are going to talk about. Iraq? Immigration? The Presidential election? Cats? I guess the only question is whether ALF is a Democrat or a Republican. I'm guessing Libertarian. You would think that O'Reilly wouldn't leave himself open to ridicule with stuff like this, since he likes to position his show as serious investigative journalism. But this should be fun. I laugh everytime I just hear ALF's voice, and hearing him say to O'Reilly "get a grip on reality!" is priceless.

Something tells me Keith Olbermann is not going to let this pass. A video teaser after the jump!

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More spinoffs I would like to see

by Paul Goebel, posted Nov 13th 2007 9:42AM

Michael McKean & Annette O'TooleWhen one of our favorite TV shows goes off the air, it can be devastating. However, many times, the cancellation is the birth of a spinoff. Sometimes it can be a great thing (Rhoda) and sometimes not so much (Tabitha). Here are some this month's spinoff ideas that I would love to see.

The Young Jason Gideon Chronicles
What is it that made Jason Gideon the enigmatic person he became? Watch and find out. See the events that turned a carefree young teenager into the sullen, contemplative FBI agent we came to know on Criminal Minds. See the part his parents (Michael McKean & Annette O'Toole) played in his transformation.

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In Defense of: Obsessive internet fanboys

by Jay Black, posted Dec 15th 2006 10:05AM

So this is what that guy who left 81 comments looks like!I spent about 15 minutes last night reading a ridiculously detailed summary of the 8(!?) separate timelines that spring into and out of existence throughout the course of the three Back To The Future movies. It just so happened that during my study of "timeline 1985(a)" that my wife happened into my office to ask me what I was up to. When I told her, she sorta sadly shook her head and left muttering something about me "having no life."

Okay, I admit, trolling Wikipedia for the latest breakdown of a 19-year-old movie franchise ain't exactly what Henry David Thoreau meant when he spoke about "sucking the marrow out of life", but there's at least one person in the world who has even less of a life than I do: the guy who wrote the friggin' article in the first place.

And you know what? Thank God for that guy...

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New TV on DVD releases today

by Bob Sassone, posted Sep 5th 2006 8:33AM

  • LostThe Abbott and Costello Show - 100th Anniversary Collection
  • ALF - Season 4
  • The Bob Newhart Show - Season 4
  • Broken Trail
  • Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Curse of the Hellmouth
  • Charlie and Lola - Volumes 1 and 2
  • Combat! Best of Espionage and Best of the Color Episodes
  • Commander-In-Chief - Season 1, Volume 2
  • Doctor Who - The Web Planet and Inferno
  • Family - Seasons 1 and 2
  • The Flintstones - Season 6
  • Fraggle Rock - Season 2
  • Hustle - Season 1
  • Lost - Season 2
  • Oz - Season 6
  • Red Dwarf - The Complete Collection
  • Silk Stalkings - Season 5
  • Supernatural - Season 1

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New TV on DVD releases today

by Keith McDuffee, posted May 30th 2006 9:20AM

Every Tuesday here on TV Squad , we will highlight the week's TV-on-DVD releases. Some noteworthy releases today, May 30, 2006:
  • numb3rsALF - Season 3
  • ALF: The Animated Series - 20,000 Years In Driving School
  • AlfTales - Alf & The Beanstalk
  • American Muscle Car - Season 2
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 1: Water, Volume 3
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 1 (new package); Season 2 (new package); Season 3 (new package); Season 4 (new package) buy Season 5 (new package); Season 6 (new package); Season 7 (new package)
  • Dark Shadows - DVD Collection 24
  • The Doris Day Show - The Doris Day Special; Season 3
  • The Dukes of Hazzard - The Complete 6th Season
  • Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - Vol 3
  • Gimme a Break! - Season 1 (Canada)
  • Joey - The Complete 1st Season
  • The Kids in the Hall - Season 4
  • Night Stalker - The Complete Series
  • Numb3rs - Season 1
  • Queer as Folk - Season 5 (Final Season)
  • Rollergirls - The Complete Season 1
  • The Tomorrow People - Set 3
  • The Venture Bros. - Season 1
  • Will & Grace - Series Finale

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