The 1980s was a weird decade full of neon, hairspray, Rubik’s Cubes, Cabbage Patch Kids, parachute pants, and more. That peculiarity seeped into the media produced during that decade as well. Can you imagine any other point in history where movies like Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo or Gymkata would even be made, let alone released? That doesn’t mean television gets a pass: 1980s TV has more than its share of oddities, too, like Turbo Teen or Rubik, the Amazing Cube. Truthfully, picking the weirdest TV shows of the 1980s is like staring at a tank full of goldfish and selecting your favorite, but let’s give it a go.
Manimal (1983)
Series creator Glen A. Larson had his hand all over 1980s television, with successful shows like Magnum P.I. and Knight Rider padding his resume. At a measly eight-episode run, Manimal is decidedly not one of those. It centers on Jonathan Chase (Simon MacCorkindale), a man who aids the police in solving crimes. He does this thanks to his shape-shifting abilities which allow Chase to transform into any animal he chooses. He would have made a small fortune as a one-man zoo, but fighting crime is noble. So the next time you see Fido, be aware that he may not be a dog at all.
Misfits of Science (1985-1986)
Perhaps best known as one of Courteney Cox‘s first television acting gigs, Misfits of Science did manage to net 16 episodes (15 that made it to air) before being pulled. The premise is pretty straight-forward: Dr. Billy Hayes (Dean Paul Martin) assembles a team of people with “human anomalies,” and together they do stuff (plots include one episode where the team helps seniors who develop super-powers from eating irradiated hamburgers, so yeah … “stuff”). The team consists of Dr. Elvin “El” Lincoln (Kevin Peter Hall), who has the ability to shrink; Johnny “Johnny B” Bukowski (Mark Thomas Miller), a rock and roll musician who develops electrical powers; and telekinetic teenager Gloria Dinallo (Cox, seemingly the only one in the cast with only two names), who can only use her powers on things she can see.
Automan (1983-1984)
Another miss from creator Larson that went a grand total of 13 episodes (but like Misfits, one never made it to air), Automan stars Desi Arnaz Jr. as Walter Nebicher, a cop/computer programmer who has created a crime-fighting artificial intelligence that can escape the computer into real life as “Otto J. Mann” (Chuck Wagner), a hologram that works with Nebicher at night. Usually two separate beings, the two could merge into one. They were aided by Cursor, a floating “thing” that had the ability to “draw” physical objects into reality, most often the Autocar. The concept isn’t even the weirdest thing about it. That honor goes to Otto, who looks like someone put a Ken doll’s head on a character from Tron.
Max Headroom (1987-1988)
The first series on the list to last two seasons. (Don’t get too worked up about it. It’s still only 14 episodes, with one that … take a wild guess… didn’t make it to air!) Max Headroom, which may soon be getting a reboot, exists in a derelict future where television networks rule the world. Only a handful of non-television technology even exists anymore, with television having advanced to a state where it can monitor people’s movements and thoughts. But one man fights the system: Edison Carter (Matt Frewer), a journalist who uncovers unethical truths about the oligarchy and relies on a team to air those truths outside the system. Max Headroom is actually a computer reconstruction of Carter, who shows up primarily as comic relief. If the name is familiar, congratulations — you too are the “New Coke” generation! Come to think of it, Max Headroom (who isn’t actually a computer, just Frewer in makeup, prosthetics and a plastic suit to give the illusion) actually appeared in commercials for New Coke, with the catchphrase “Catch the Wave!”
Street Hawk (1985)
Why give a synopsis when the narrative delivered at the beginning of each of Street Hawk‘s 14 episodes explains it all so much better? This is Jesse Mach (Rex Smith), an ex-motorcycle cop, injured in the line of duty. Now a police troubleshooter, he’s been recruited for a top secret government mission to ride Street Hawk — an all-terrain attack motorcycle designed to fight urban crime, capable of incredible speeds up to three hundred miles an hour, and immense firepower. Only one man, federal agent Norman Tuttle, knows Jesse Mach’s true identity. The man … the machine … Street Hawk. You can’t make this stuff up.
Small Wonder (1985-1989)
Ted Lawson (Dick Christie), robotics engineer, has developed an android that looks like a 10-year-old girl. Lawson brings the android, called V.I.C.I. (an acronym for Voice Input Child Identicant, aka “Vicki” (Tiffany Brissette)), home so that it can learn to live within a family. To avoid suspicion, Vicki is given a backstory as an orphaned family member — albeit one with super strength, super speed, an AC outlet, and a data port — that the Lawson’s adopt as their own. Hilarity and high jinks ensue as Vicki learns human behavior, takes things too literally, and perfectly mimics other people’s voices! Somehow, this epitome of cheesy TV lasted four seasons and 96 episodes, long enough that an explanation had to be created for Vicki as Brissette aged.
The Powers of Matthew Star (1982-1983)
The Powers of Matthew Star is, overall, about one Matthew “E’Hawke” Star (Peter Barton), an alien prince from Qaudris who uses his powers to fight crime and avoid assassins. Oddly, Matthew Star is basically two different series in one. The first half of its 22 episodes detail Star’s life as a teenager in high-school, doing all the high-school things while avoiding alien agents and developing his telekinetic abilities. The back half became an adventure series, where Star was given government assignments, with all references to high-school and high-school friends dropped altogether and a new set of powers suddenly developed. It’s not pretty.
Jennifer Slept Here (1983-1984)
A one-time famous actress, Jennifer Farrell (Ann Jillian), is killed when an ice-cream truck runs her over. (That must have been quite the news scoop.) Six years later, the Elliot family move into her home, only she hasn’t left. The ghostly Jennifer haunts the house, but only makes herself visible to Joey (John P. Navin, Jr.), the teenage boy of the family, who she befriends. Naturally, no one believes Joey’s claims of Jennifer’s existence and conclude that Joey needs psychiatric help. Sure, Jan Brady (Eve Plumb) can make up fictional boyfriend “George Glass,” and no one suggests she needs a psychiatrist. Not cool, 1980s, not cool.
Sledge Hammer! (1986-1988)
A hybrid of Police Squad! and Dirty Harry, with a protagonist that’s thick as a post but armed like Rambo, is probably the best way to describe Sledge Hammer! The satirical cop sitcom stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, whose best friend is the Magnum .44 that never leaves his side. Never. He’s a cop that lives by the motto “shoot first.” And “shoot second.” Also, “shoot third, fourth, and fifth.” Probably “shoot sixth” too. Not seventh though. Unless he reloads, but then it just becomes ridiculous.
Slim Goodbody The Inside Story (1980)
From 1976-1980, Jim Burstein appeared as his alter-ego Slim Goodbody, the “Superhero of Health,” twice a week on Captain Kangaroo. Reaction to the character was positive, so PBS gave Burstein the chance to do a show on the station. That show, Slim Goodbody: The Inside Story, may have only lasted 10 episodes, but Slim Goodbody continued to teach children about health and anatomy for years afterward. Sure, that doesn’t sound weird at all, right? It’s not, but you know what is? A freakish flesh-colored unitard displaying all the internal organs in their rightful places. That is weird.
Perfect Strangers (1986-1993)
It’s not entirely fair to call the popular sitcom Perfect Strangers weird, but Bronson Pinchot‘s Balki Bartokomous, a shepherd from the fictional eastern Mediterranean island of Mypos, certainly is. The series chronicles the relationship between Balki and his American cousin Larry (Mark Linn-Baker), who allows Balki to move into his new Chicago apartment and intends to help Balki learn all about American life. And Balki needs it, as the only knowledge he has of America is what he’s picked up from pop-culture. Balki teaches Larry about his culture as well, especially the wild “Dance of Joy” to celebrate good fortune.
Pee-wee’s Playhouse (1986-1990)
If you know Pee-wee Herman, the child-like creation of Paul Reubens, then you know how odd this show is. If you don’t, there’s no way to describe the show. It has to be seen to be believed, but, damn, it’s worth it! It’s a live-action kid’s comedy with Pee-wee playing in his Playhouse, which is located in Puppetland. There’s a talking chair named Chairry (Alison Mork), a baby pteranodon named Pteri (John Paragon), Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne — yes, that Laurence Fishburne), Reba the Mail Lady (S. Epatha Merkerson), recurring gags, animated sequences … honestly, it’s so delightfully weird that it is virtually impossible to describe. Weekly high point: the “secret word of the day” which when said throws an already chaotic playhouse into even more chaos.
