RETRO-TGIF! VICE, 'MIAMI VICE'

It's Friday evening and the work week has ended, at least for most of us. Now it's time to wine, dine, and relax...TGIF! Usually we present a two-hour comedy block of the best, and not so great, sitcoms of the TGIF era. This week, however, we've decided to detour from our regularly scheduled programming and present a police drama that dominated Friday nights on NBC, Miami Vice.

Miami Vice was a crime drama that focused on the shady and seedy dealings in Miami. Episodes of the show were loosely based on actual crimes from that city, and producers didn't shy away from highlighting issues that were rampant in the 1980s such as drug wars, political violence, and police corruption. Social issues such as child, sex, and drug abuse were common fodder for the detectives of the Metro-Dade Police Department. Miami was an ideal location for the show because it was considered an international hub in the '80s for the rich and wealthy, corrupt and corruptible, victims and abusers.

Miami Vice was influenced by the 1980s sounds and fashion, and the show relished in demonstrating the excesses of the decade. The show's main protagonists, Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs, were always decked out in designer suits, drove Ferraris and Cadillacs, lived in posh dwellings (Crockett lived on a boat with his pet alligator!), and all this on a police salary! Granted, Crockett and Tubbs worked undercover and typically had to fit into the world they were trying to expose, usually that of the Miami elite and famous.

If Miami Vice didn't scream "We are the '80s" with its style and extravagance, then it sure did with the use of countless pop and rock hits of the decade. The show would spend tens of thousands of dollars per episode just to buy the rights to original recordings. Thus Miami Vice became one of those timeless shows that wasn't only defined by its storytelling but also by its incorporation of music into that storytelling. The drama also became an outlet for music artists to boast their albums. The show's popularity with viewers was prime real estate for exposure, and several artists took it a step further and made guest appearances. Phil Collins' music became a staple on Miami Vice, first in the iconic scene from the pilot episode featuring his hit In the Air Tonight, and later featuring previously unreleased song, Life is a Rat Race.

Miami Vice wasn't as gritty as its network companion Hill Street Blues but it did bring an edginess and dark tone to Friday nights. The good guys sometimes weren't that good, and they occasionally lost a battle or two in the ever persisting war. Casualties were the norm and even the ensemble cast wasn't free from the dangers of undercover work gone wrong such as Det. Zito's forced fatal overdose or Det. Calabrese's rape. Happy endings were rare and the show's episodes often ended with a final bang. Despite the glitz and glamour of the 1980s, Miami Vice focused on the dark real-world and the costs of living the superficial, extravagant good life.

The complete series of Miami Vice has been released on DVD and with all original music still intact. Full episodes on the web are hard to come by but Stay Tuned has located a Season 2 favorite featuring Phil Collins, Phil the Shill.

Enjoy!

Join us again next Friday for another Retro-TGIF, and a return to the world of comedy! Remember to keep it locked to Stay Tuned for future updates on anything and everything television!

RETRO-TGIF! 2-HOUR COMEDY BLOCK OF 'BOY MEETS WORLD'

Well another Friday has come and gone, at least work-wise, and now it is time to relax and enjoy the evening. If you have nothing else to watch this evening then you have found the right place because Stay Tuned's Retro-TGIF comedy block is about to start. Tonight's offering will be four episodes of Boy Meets World.

Boy Meets World was a coming-of-age comedy gem on ABC's TGIF lineup from 1993 to 2000. The "Boy" was Cory Matthews and the "World" was pretty much everyday lessons learned in the home, in school, and real-life situations. Cory, his best friend Shawn, and romantic interest Topanga were middle school students when the show premiered. Issues of adolescence and becoming young adults were primary stories the show touched upon, and as the kids moved through high school and then into college, the characters discovered that the world can be hard sometimes.

Cory's stability, the place he could always turn to, and basically his rock was his family and home. The stark differences of home life compared to his friend Shawn's made Cory appreciate his family a little more and he eventually understood why parents act in ways adolescent teens don't necessarily like. As he entered college and adapted to a whole new world, Cory found comfort and support from his second family, his friends. Cory's foil was his so-called nemesis, Mr. Feeny. It seems that wherever the kids went Mr. Feeny was not far behind as he became the kids' teacher, high school principal, and eventually college professor during the run of the show.

Boy Meets World dealt with relationship issues, from first crushes and dating, all the way to marriage, but it tackled tougher situations like alcoholism and drug abuse, abandonment, and even death. It isn't surprising that this sitcom has left its mark on television history and its legacy continues now that Disney Channel has given the green light on a spin-off, Girl Meets World, where Cory and Topanga will be the parents of an adolescent Matthews. The pilot episode is scheduled to premiere in 2014.

All seven seasons of Boy Meets World have been released on DVD, and even re-released after Lionsgate acquired the show's distribution rights. Now, if you don't own any sets and you're interested in purchasing them then you might want to hold out for the upcoming release of a complete series set. Rider Strong tweeted the following on August 6.

In addition to Strong's tweet regarding interviews for new DVDs, Maitland Ward (who played Rachel) has also been spotted recording an interview for what appears to be new bonus features for the new set. The release of a new complete series set is most likely tied to the Disney Channel spin-off, and a way for a new generation of kids to learn the background of Girl Meets World.

Enough chit-chat, let's get to the show!

8:00 PM - Boy Meets World

8:30 PM - Boy Meets World

9:00 PM - Boy Meets World

9:30 PM - Boy Meets World

We had to throw in an extra one because the final episode was a two-parter. That about wraps up this week's Retro-TGIF and we hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Remember to keep it locked to Stay Tuned for future updates on anything and everything television.

RETRO-TGIF! 2-HOUR COMEDY BLOCK OF WTH?

Well television peeps, we've made through another work week and we can honestly say with gut feeling T-G-I-F! Stay Tuned is back with a new Retro-TGIF post where we give readers a two-hour comedy block of past TGIF shows. Let's face facts: When you're broke or have no plans or you have no choice but to stay home with the kids, what better way to sit back, relax, and a have a chuckle.

Now let's get on to the goodies!

8:00 PM - Married People

Married People was an ABC comedy that briefly aired in the early 1990s. The show follows the lives of three married couples living in the same brownstone in New York City. Each couple represented a different stage of married life. Though the show was critically acclaimed, it couldn't maintain decent ratings. Enjoy this rare episode with original commercials.

8:30 PM - Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

Sabrina in one of her early episodes full of witchy shenanigans.

9:00 PM - Teen Angel

Remember that show where this kid's best friend dies after eating a 6-month old hamburger? Yeah, we don't either but that's what Teen Angel was about!

9:30 PM - Clueless




Clueless the TV show was a great example of bad movie adaptations. It did have its moments though.

Well we hope you enjoyed this two-hour Retro-TGIF block. We really pulled some out from obscurity. Come back next Friday for another comedy block featuring the good, the bad, and the weird from old school TGIF programming.

Keep it locked to Stay Tuned for future updates on anything and everything television.

RETRO-TGIF! 'DINOSAURS' MARATHON!

Talking dinosaurs became the hit of the town in the early '90s and ABC's Dinosaurs successfully helped usher the sitcom back to popularity. The idea was outlandish. Who would watch a show featuring talking puppet dinosaurs? Well it turned out to be a whole lot of people. The short first season generated enough buzz and ratings to merit a full-order second season.

Dinosaurs was based on an original concept by Jim Henson (Fellow UMD Terp!), and takes place in Pangaea around 60,000,003 BC. The show focused on the daily trials and tribulations of the Sinclair family, a typical, normal dinosaur family with 2.5 children. The head of the household was Earl Sinclair, a tree pusher for the WESAYSO Corporation. His wife, Fran, was the happy homemaker keeping the house in order and raising two teenagers and a baby. Does her voice sound way to familiar? Well Fran Sinclair was voiced by none other than actress Jessica Walter, recently best known for her loving maternal roles of Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development and Malory Archer in FX's Archer. Robbie and Charlene are the teenage brother and sister duo that face the normal adolescent pangs of growing up. But the real star of the show was Baby Sinclair (and yes, that was his legal name). Baby became the fan favorite of the show with his catchphrases "I'm the baby!," "Gotta love me," and "Not the mama."

Even though it was a family show on the TGIF line-up, Dinosaurs didn't avoid topical issues and dealt with sexual harassment, civil rights, drug abuse, racism, women's rights, and peer pressure, as well as environmentalism and endangered species in its four season run. In fact, the final episode of the show was probably the most dark and somber sitcom series finale ever in television history. The Sinclairs signed off in the midst of the beginning of global cooling that would last tens of thousands of years...and ultimately wipe out all dinosaurs.

But we want to provide you with a happier tone for TGIF. So Stay Tuned has provided the video of the first season of Dinosaurs. Only consisting of five half-hour episodes, the season begins with the origin story of Baby's birth and ends with Robbie's right of passage when he turns 15.

8:00 - 10:30 PM - Dinosaurs (We added a bonus half hour just because it was included in the video)

Well that does it for another Retro-TGIF and we hope you enjoyed the show! Remember to check back next Friday for another 2-hour comedy block of past TGIF shows.

Keep it locked to Stay Tuned for anything and everything television!

TGIF! CHECK OUT TODAY'S LINE-UP!

Stay Tuned presents Retro-TGIF. Now we all know that TGIF stands for Thank God It's Friday, but what about the 'Retro' part? Retro-TGIF is our way of giving you that old school line-up that you came to love and kind of wish was back on schedule. Just kind of. You give us 2 hours of your day, whenever you want, and we'll give you a fantastic 2-hour block of comedy. So grab your bean bag chair, grab that bowl of popcorn, turn the speakers up on your computer, and enjoy the shows!

8:00 PM - Mr. Belvedere

Mr. Belvedere arrives in Pittsburgh to work for the Owens family.

8:30 PM - Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

Mark substitutes at Michelle Tanner's (Full House) school.

9:00 PM - Perfect Strangers

Larry and Balki are chosen to be in a commercial for the Chronicle. Be on the lookout for Harriet Winslow (Family Matters).



9:30 - Step by Step

The Foster-Lamberts' picnic is crashed by Steve Urkel (Family Matters) and he teaches one of the children an important lesson, as well as his dance "Do the Urkel."



Well we hope that you've enjoyed this week's Retro-TGIF. Check in next Friday for another 2-hour comedy block with some of your favorites. And remember to Stay Tuned to this blog and our Facebook page (Stay Tuned: Channel Surfing through the Years)!