Best 80's Year?

Here at PCPPP we have done a couple of best of 80’s posts (Best 80’s Song and Best 80’s Movie), so I did a little survey at my local DMV today to see how popular they were and the results show that no one knows who the hell I am, nor cares. But that won’t stop us from doing another one! BEST 80’s YEAR!

Which year of the 80’s was the best? I’ll start...

Christian: I’m going to suggest the grand daddy of 80’s years.  The one that started it all! The year with the gear! The 365 days with the plays! The Memphis Mauler! Nineteen “Hit Man” Eighhhhtyyyyyyy!   

It’s the year Mount St. Helens erupted - putting the Northwest on the map (and partially off of it) - Empire Strikes Back and Airplane! were both released, Magnum PI was on TV, and that dingo ate that baby. What a sweet year!

That’s one weird looking cell phone.

Oooh, and I almost forgot to mention that 1980 was the year they posed the question - Who shot J.R.? It’s now 31 years later and, still, all we have are loose theories of collusion between CIA and Cuba and rumors of second shooters from grassy knolls. We're talking about a major piece of American history here.

Pat:  Okay.

Christian:  Wait! I have a better one. 1981! MTV first aired - starting the requirement that our pop stars looked good and then maybe were talented - Diana and Charles got married, and the first space shuttle was launched!

These things are going to be around forever!

Our TVs were glued to The Greatest American Hero and Falcon Crest (I called it The Falcon!). And our radios were dialed in on Hall  & Oates and Rick Springfield (The Rick!).  

Plus? 1981 is the year a little old movie called The Cannonball Run came out. I’m sure that thing must have won four or five Best Picture Oscars.

Oh man, what a year to be a small child!

Pat:  Alright.

Christian: I’m getting the sense that you aren’t quite as into this one. Do you need some help? You could try suggesting 1985. That’s when the Compact Disc was first introduced to America, “We Are the World” was recorded, and Back to the Future came out. Wow.

Pat:  I’m going to leave 1985 as YOUR third venture into naming the best year of the ‘80s. Not to worry...it’s not that I’m not into this one, it’s just that it whelms me over a bit, and from your first blurb I know that my knowledge of the lost decade will come nowhere near yours. So, yes, I guess I’m conceding defeat before I even start.

Whew, with THAT load off my back maybe now I can play!

I’m going to go with 1986. My freshman year in high school (yours too, I believe). The year started on a Wednesday--always a good sign (and thank you, Wikipedia™!). It was designated the International Year of Peace by the United Nations (thank you Wikipedia™ and the Cold War™). Challenger exploded. The Mir space station was founded. Voyager 2 encountered Uranus (huh huh...thank you middle school mentality!). Pixar Studios was opened. Marcos and Duvalier fled the Philippines and Haiti, respectively. The U.S. officially outlawed genocide. Metallica released “Master of Puppets” (does that win me the stoner and metalhead votes?). Hands Across America. Fergie (the British one) entered the picture. Oprah premiered. Iran-Contra. We bombed Libya the FIRST time. And Geraldo opened an empty tomb while millions of viewers were annoyed and let down. And, oh yeah...Chernobyl.  

Seriously...kinda makes it feel like all the other 80s years were just sleeping!

Christian: 1986? Really? Yes, there was some good stuff in there, but didn’t you notice that you also listed off several major historical tragedies; Challenger explosion, Chernobyl, Geraldo.  

Tragic.

No, 1986 definitely wasn’t the best. You really blew that one Pat. 1986. Pshh. Try again. But this time, really try.

Pat:  You’re not even going to commend me on the “Voyager 2 encountered Uranus” bit? That alone is material enough to win this contest.

Okay, fine, I’ll try it again.

1986...we were STILL both starting high school (That was a positive thing for me. Did you not experience four years of joy like I did? Do we need to process a little bit outside of the blog?) Oprah STILL premiered? Geraldo was STILL embarrassed in front of millions of viewers. Sciency things STILL happened, and peace STILL tried to prevail (though, admittedly, Chernobyl exploding didn’t really help that one). Those are all good things in my book.

But here’s some more to quench your competitive thirst:

-The U.S. Senate finally agreed to outlaw genocide. Way to go fellas!
-Out of Africa won the best picture. RIVETING!
-Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Prize for Peace.
-Heather (you know, from T.J. Hooker!) and Tommy Lee got married.
-Top Gun, Platoon, Crocodile Dundee, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Aliens (plural!), 9 ½ Weeks (STEAMY!), and perhaps my favorite--a little gem starring a younger Laurence Fishburne, Band of the Hand. This year wins for movies alone!
-Van Hagar premiers, A-ha sweeps the charts, the Monkees reunited (thanks Wikipedia?), and Culture Club disbanded. R.E.M. came out with Life’s Rich Pageant.
-Matlock premiered.
-The nicotine patch was invented.

Need I say more?

Christian: When I said try again I meant try choosing another year. But it sounds like you are kind of set on 1986. I’m still holding firm with 1981 so to compromise we could just split the difference and go with 1983.5 which I guess is June of 1983.

Pioneer 10 became the first man-made object to leave the solar system, Sally Ride became the first American female object to leave earth, and India won the Cricket World Cup by 43 runs (I have no idea if that is a lot or not).

Not bad. I guess. Not great though. Seems like when we put our minds together we have a combined intelligence equivalent to two relatively smart geese.