MovieChat Forums > Roseanne (1988) Discussion > Anyone from the 80's remember?

Anyone from the 80's remember?

posted 8 years ago by Ditto-head
36 replies | jump to latest

Some of the 80's iconic stuff that happened in the show, also happened in your own house:

- The Mall on Saturdays.

- Pizza (especially the 2 for 1 deals) on Friday (I know this isn't specific to the 80's, but it was definitely realistic.)

- The awesomeness of getting that first VCR. And going to the video store.

- Cooking a whole supper in the microwave for the first time.

- Teenage girls wearing Mom jeans.

- Mom in hair rollers to make sure the perm stayed poofy.

- Wrapping the phone cord around things when you're talking to a friend for a long time.

- Answering the phone without having a clue who is on the other end.

- Chip's parents having a "red meat night."

[–] ilovejnames 8 years ago

I was too little to really remember much from the 80's. But I definitely remember going to the video store every Friday to rent VHS tapes, the thing about stretching the telephone cord, and the days before caller ID.

Haha, and I was just watching the episode where Becky gets her tight Mom jeans and wanted them to be as tight as possible. It made me laugh because when I was that age (in the 90's), baggy jeans were popular. The baggier, the better.. Not that they were anymore attractive than the tight Mom jean look, looking back on it now...

[–] Albert_Ingalls 8 years ago

I remember going to the video store and getting about 10 or so movies for a weekend. First VCR had a remote that had a cord.

[–] jname967 8 years ago

-The microwave was a huge deal, I remember. We didn't get one until 1991... my siblings all claimed microwave food was terrible, but I loved it for its strange "not quite real" qualities, haha...

-My family was strangely up to date with the VCR, in spite of being poor. My dad bought a camcorder and VCR in the late '80s because he caught the bug, I suppose—he wanted to record things at family and church events. But I do recall how renting videos was all the rage, yes. It's obviously obsolete now with Netflix and streaming... I miss those video stores!!!

-Landline phones were so old school in retrospect, yes. What I marvel at most is that you couldn't TURN OFF THE RING (at least in my parents' house, I don't recall our phones could do that), like you can on cell phones now! Every night now, I turn the ring off cuz I'm like: "I just KNOW the one night I don't—someone will be compelled to (TEXT) me multiple times BEFORE the butt crack of dawn, lol, waking me up!

Something you forgot:

-Newspapers... they're not obsolete today, but I think most people I know prefer to just go online now for the news.

[–] blaque108 8 years ago

I was born in 82 and I don't remember getting a VCR for the first time, and etc.

[–] isbabo 8 years ago

I was also born in 82 and I totally remember phone cords and first VCR.

[–] crlnrgbrght5 8 years ago

I still have a landline phone, and the ringing annoys me, so I want to put it on mute, and there is no mute button on it.

[–] Firebolt102890 8 years ago

It's interesting because only the first season and a half were produced in the '80s. Did season 3 (the first season to air entirely in the '90s) still have any '80s clichés?

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[–] Katiedidd 8 years ago

I can think of the microwave because they didn't get it until early season three, so 1990. I think the same for the Connors and their first VHS. Ed got it for them in season three. (Although in 1989, they get to borrow Jackie's when she goes to the police academy.

The early 1990s definitely still felt like the 1980s with styles, music, etc, although when I think back, 1992 seemed to definitely be the first year that was in full-90s' swing.

[–] Honeybefine 8 years ago

I don't know if anyone here has seen the Buffy The Vampire slayer movie. That movie seemed so 80s, but it was like 93.

[–] AlisonAU 8 years ago

This is a great post. I started fondly remembering so much.

I remember our first VCR and it was Betamax which meant we had a very limited selection at the video shop. Our remote had a cord and it was pretty amazing technology. My family was not rich but we were one of the first to get a VCR. The trips to the video shop were an outing in themselves seeing all of the new movies and trying to decide which movies to get, then dropping by the 7-11 to get snacks because the supermarkets were already shut.

I remember shopping centres closed at midday on Saturdays so you had to make sure you got everything you needed early. Years later, they stayed open all day Saturday which was fantastic. Sunday trading came much later. In my area, Sunday trading happened in the early 2000s.

The phone cord and not knowing who was calling are so strange now. It was very exciting when the phone rang. Now, if it rings, I don't want to answer and I have caller ID. The phone cords in the early days were pretty short. As technology advanced, the cords got longer and were almost enough for you to take the phone into the next room. I would spend hours on the phone talking to my friends that I had just spent all day with. I don't know what we talked about.

The fashions, particularly with Becky, have been interesting. There are a few trends that I remember. The outfits are pretty dated now but they were very trendy at the time.

Thanks for taking us down memory lane.

[–] Katiedidd 8 years ago

Yeah! We had Beta too, and the video store would have the movies lined up where you could choose a Befa version or a VHS. I remember the selection for Beta being pretty much the same around here, but there came a point when it started to die down. You knew it was time to get a VHS, haha.

I'm the same with phones now! It was exciting not knowing who was calling back in the day, but l ignore my cell now even with caller ID! (I did like caller ID for landlines years ago because if a boy tried calling me, I'd want to rush to answer first! Kids now can just text and will never know the excitement or nervousness talking to someone on the phone, lol.)

[–] Honeybefine 8 years ago

None of our landlines came with long cords, we had to buy the extra long cords at Radio Shack.

[–] novastar_6 8 years ago

- Chip's parents having a "red meat night.

What's that?

[–] ilovejnames 8 years ago

When you limit eating red meat (like hamburgers or steak) to once a week.

[–] novastar_6 8 years ago

When you limit eating red meat (like hamburgers or steak) to once a week.

Why did they do that?

[–] ilovejnames 8 years ago

For health reasons, I suppose. I guess it was around that time that the connection between red meat and high cholesterol and heart disease or whatever started to come out. I don't really know for sure. It was a little before my time. But I'm pretty sure it was something along those lines.

[–] Ditto-head 8 years ago

Ilovejames had it right. It was commonly believed at the time that eating red meat, eggs, and pretty much anything that had much fat (especially animal fat) would raise your cholesterol. My dad had high cholesterol, so we ate very few eggs, no bacon (occasional Sizzlean, a supposedly healthier alternative. I don't now about the health benefits, but it tasted like crap.)

We also ate very little red meat. No meatloaf, pot roast, only the rare roast beef or very lean steaks or burgers- made from the 93 or 96% lean ground beef. Now that I think about it, maybe that's what led to my earlier career working in and managing a meat market.

It was also thinking like this that led to horrible products like turkey bologna, turkey ham, turkey bacon, etc, since pork was often as demonized as beef. I believe it's also what caused McDonald's to stop frying their French Fries in animal fat. (And they have never been the same since.)

[–] lpt0127 8 years ago

born in '77.. so I remember the phone cord getting all tangled up and gnarled.. back when there was no caller ID so crank-calling was a great way to pass the time.. and I don't actually remember getting that first VCR but mom told me it was $700 new.. good times.

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[–] cancerian74 8 years ago

I was born in '74 - so I remember this all too well also... and we knew ALL of our friends phone numbers by heart.... ask a kid these days to do that... heck... ask a kid to sign a cursive signature! Schools stopped teaching 'handwriting' and most of the kids these days have no idea what that even is anymore. kind of sad.

[–] crlnrgbrght5 8 years ago

Our first VCR in 1985 was very expensive, about $500.00 and not user friendly either, very hard to program, when we had to buy another one years later, it was only around $100.00's, and very easy to program.

[–] Katiedidd 8 years ago

I definitely remember all of that! Some of the spilled into the 90s since I was born in 83. (We had cordless phones, but most only had one, so I remember using a green landline with a cord.)

I watched Roseanne from day one, and references of first mcrowaves and VHS were definitely relatable, although I remember thinking they seemed slower to get those things from most people I knew, particularly my parents. They got a microwave as a wedding gift so I knew nothing else (although I never liked "microwave food"),, and we even had Beta before our VHS! Hardly anybody owned camcorders so we'd even rent one for a special occasion until buying one in 1990!

I liked Teenage mutant ninja turtles like DJ, lol, and Tonka Trucks. The 80s were pretty great!

[–] 8 years ago

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