How 1980s Culture Shaped Modern TV

How 1980s Culture Shaped Modern TV

How 1980s Culture Shaped Modern TV

Wherever you look - out on the street, on the big screen or by switching on the TV - it's clear that a 1980s nostalgia revolution is sweeping the world. What is it about 'the decade that taste forgot' that still influences so much of today's culture and entertainment?

For all its faults, there's no denying that the 80s was a significant decade in the lives of most people alive today. Whether they were enjoying affluence as part of the yuppie generation, or growing up in homes with the first video game consoles and MTV, the 80s are largely associated with extravagance and innovation in the western world. Perhaps nowhere is this pop culture nostalgia more readily felt than in 80s TV.

You only have to look at the wave of 80s staples hitting the big screen this summer to see the enduring influence of the decade's iconic creations. From classic horrors such as A Nightmare on Elm Street to retro favourites like Tron being re-made for modern cinemagoers, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd travelled back in time with the help of a DeLorean or a Hot Tub Time Machine when visiting the box office this summer.

80s TV refuses to be consigned to the history books, with a big-budget adaptation of Saturday evening hit The A-Team also being updated for the big screen this year. With all the famous catch-phrases and ludicrous action sequences intact, the film looks set to capture the essence of what made the original series so popular, a show that even refused to take itself too seriously the first time around.

That's not to say that the 80s only produced light-hearted entertainment however, and the past year has also seen the successful reimagining of more serious 80s shows for TV audiences, such as the thinly-veiled political allusions of alien visitation drama V, which has been given a contemporary satirical spin and state-of-the-art special effects for modern audiences.

Many of today's advanced technologies, such as mp3 players and home video recorders, owe a great debt to the 1980s. With a digital supertelly service, today's viewers can now record and schedule their favourite modern shows and 80s re-runs with ease in glorious HD, giving them more free time to dust off their ghetto blasters, slip into some stonewashed jeans and drive a retro car into town to catch the latest 1980s blockbusters revised for the 2010s.

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