Yo…
This Saturday on The CW you can check out Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982 a 4 part docuseries on how awesome 1982 was/is at the movies.
You’ll wanna #SetTheVCR for this: Saturday, July 8 on The CW at 8pm. (Or stream it on The CW app.)
I’ve seen the entire docuseries and I cannot fully convey just how fun it is.
We’re talking 1982 so...E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Blade Runner, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khaaaaaan(!), Poltergeist, Tron, Night Shift, Conan the Barbarian, The Dark Crystal, Tootsie, Diner, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Thing, Creepshow, Rocky III...so much more. All blessed the cinemas in 1982.
(Actually First Blood followed Rocky III about 5 months later launching another freshtastic Sylvester Stallone character/franchise.)
Soak up that list. It’s not even exhaustive. You’ve probably seen most if not all of these movies. And for a spectrum of legitimate reasons they’re all beloved movies.
More? Eddie Murphy’s film debut in the hit 48 Hrs. This is still Saturday Night Live Eddie Murphy. Raw was 1987. (Nobody in 87 was prepared for Raw. Yo.)
(48 Hrs. placed in the Top 10 highest-grossing movies of 1982. It was 7th pulling in $78,868,508. The surprise is 5th place goes to Porky’s a Canadian movie that generated 105,492,483 American 1982 dollars. Yes. In 1982 Porky’s made more than Annie, Poltergeist and even Star Trek II. Lots of lowbrow lovers in 82. E.T. was of course the top grossing movie that year.)
To address all that awesome in Greatest Geek Year Ever is Cameron Crowe, Keith David, Nolan Bushnell, Bruce Campbell, Sean Young, Roger Corman, Amy Heckerling, Leonard Maltin, Ron Howard, Marc Guggenheim...William Shatner!!
(In the docuseries Shatner also talks about his other 1982 classic: Airplane II. The Airplane movies are terrible which makes them so good. Just comedy gold.
(On March 4, 1982 ABC debuted Police Squad! a police procedural spoof from the fun folks who crafted the Airplane movies. It lasted 6 episodes. Greatest Geek Year Ever only focuses on movies but there’s lots of dope pop culture happening everywhere in 1982. From Police Squad! we scored the Naked Gun movies. Just comedy gold. And honestly? Police Squad! was always doomed. On September 26, 1982 NBC began broadcasting Knight Rider. I don’t even doubt you can hear the theme song in your head right now.))
1982 was a good year.
About 10 years later when the X-Files debuted on TV on September 10, 1993 the show’s tagline was basically: “I want to believe.”
But in 1982 we did believe. This was a year of wild world building. Granted movies like E.T., Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Poltergeist were basically set in suburban homes and schools we were all familiar with yet they were dramatically off-kilter. Static buzzing TVs typically don’t suck up little girls and kids don’t use their bikes to fly.
1982 was magic.
Happily, we accepted that magic at face value. There was a comfortable ease with the supernatural. It ignited our imaginations. Anything irrational (and a lot of it was irrational) we didn’t caulk over with conspiracy theories like we do now. We laughed at irrationality. The absurd brought us closer together. The weird fashioned communities.
It’s why going to the movies felt like an experience back then. Like going to a concert. Anything can happen; be prepared. There’s the potential for danger, the hope for magic and the desire for delight. And 1982 impressively delivered all of that. (Still does.)
So to navigate all that fantastic is The CW’s Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982 which uncovers the secrets, stories and epic moments that shaped our geeky lives.
This isn’t using nostalgia as a time machine; Greatest Geek Year Ever is a recognition of how our vital geek history still impacts our present. And shaped us into the unique charmingly demented individuals we’ve all grown up to become.
One of those charming individuals is Mark A. Altman; the latest My Summer Lair guest. He’s Geek Year’s writer and producer and co-creator working with director Roger Lay, Jr. and producers like Berge Garabedian and Scott Mantz.
You may know Mark from his work on hit TV shows like Castle and The Librarians or perhaps you’ve read some of his Star Trek comic book adaptations or his oral history books on Battlestar Galactica and James Bond. He’s an accomplished writer, producer, and a deep diver of all things geeky.
As you’ll hear what’s super fun about Mark’s work is that he’s not afraid to get his hands all nerdy. He’s like a pop culture archaeologist, digging up hidden gems and bringing them back to life for a whole new generation of fans.
This attached My Summer Lair conversation is sparked by his experiences co-creating Greatest Geek Year Ever, as well as some delightful 80s related tangents…including one about Knight Rider.
Cue that astonishing theme song:
When you watch Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982 on The CW you quickly realize the spectrum is what made the year so special.
Our pop culture was so broad because we were just consuming all of this goodness…it was only later that we became selective (and perhaps sophisticated…defending our taste with phrases like “guilty pleasure.”).
I like so much that we opened this My Summer Lair conversation with Megaforce. That’s right…out of all those 1982 movies we started with Megaforce.
Initially and wonderfully 1982 gifted us this broad foundation of fantastic images stitched together from flipping through late night TV channels, taking risks at the video store where inevitably we’d discover a moment that would make us stop and ask what is happening here? Who are these characters?
There was no context for anything…that took a while to develop.
Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982 successfully demonstrates back then…pop culture was a surprise party and you…you were the guest of honour.
(1984 was also magic. I hope Greatest Geek Year Ever succeeds on The CW and prompts a 1984 follow up.)
The first episode of Greatest Geek Year Ever opens with 2 difficult theatrical choices:
On June 4 these 2 movies opened:
Poltergeist
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Now that’s a Sophie’s Choice…a phrase none of us knew on June 4, 1982 because the movie opened on December 10, 1982! (It was adapted from William Styron’s 1979 novel Sophie’s Choice. But we were all busy reading Stephen King…)
Star Trek I was/is a Crap Carnival. I woulda gone to Poltergeist.
Which of those 2 movies would you have gone to see in 1982?
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial opened on June 11. Eh, whatever.
Then on June 25...choose:
Blade Runner
The Thing
The same dude from Star Wars (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) is in Blade Runner. I dunno anything about The Thing. (Did anybody see Escape from New York in 1981??)
Both movies box office bombed. This was not a difficult choice in 1982. Which is surreal now considering the impact these movies have on our pop culture. (Present tense.)
(The Thing is jarring to watch now. It’s all practical affects. After decades of CGI “real” looks weird.)
I miss that feeling. When you went to the movies in 1982 you didn’t realize you’ve wandered into a profound experience. Is that innocence?
May 28, 1982: Rocky III came out.
As a kid this was a horror movie. That you could succeed and still grow up and be soft was a terrifying prospect. I believed success was a destination. The way you get on an airplane and fly to Rome. You arrived at Rome, you’re in Rome. It took a while to grasp success isn’t a flight…it’s a long road trip.
Mediocrity is frightening and like basement mold a corrosive evil that demands vigilance. It’s so scary. Setbacks, obstacles and frustrations with the way things are going typically trigger Jordan highlights on YouTube and a Rocky III rewatch.
Blessed are the geek, for they shall inherit the earth…
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
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