aged poorly.

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The laugh track is indeed horrendous. Worse than most.


rah...bah...bah - The Terror

It was a product of its time, the 80s - did you expect it to fit in with modern times?
Your comment is almost like someone complaining about how old-fashioned Leave it to Beaver and Andy Griffith look!

You have to take the whole laugh track thing in context.

This was 1982. Canned laugh tracks in TV shows weren't that uncommon. Did it seem weird that they'd be getting laughs in the middle of an open football field? Sure. However, if you were watching the show when it was still new then you might not even have noticed. Kinda like soundtracks today, which mysteriously play despite there being no band around. It was probably more like white noise.

FWIW, laugh tracks are even still used in some shows today.

As far as the horrible acting goes, it was really no worse than "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" - which debuted the same year. The actors were inexperienced and raw, but that also made their depictions as teens, which they were, feel more genuine. Anybody who went to high school in the 80s could recognize at least one character/type on the show.

With regards to the silly cartoon thing... Some of that was due to the fact that it was a sitcom about teens. Some of it had to do with the fact that it was co-created by a SNL writer. Some of it just had to do with the fact that, well, this was the 80s. This WAS the same decade that spawned ALF, Manimal, & Knight Rider. Silly is what the 80s did best.

EDIT>>> Lots of teen comedies tend to be a little silly. I defy you to NOT find "Saved by the Bell" to be as absurd. The "Running Zack" episode alone is cringe worthy.

I remember loving this show when it was first broadcast. I was in the 8th grade and it was right up my alley, preparing me for my first year of high school that would commence in the fall of 1983. I thought it was hilarious and clever. I thought it was like a less edgy TV show version of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

I'm re-watching it now for the first time since then, only three episodes to go before I've watched the whole thing. It's been a bit of a chore. TV show writing has come a long, long way since this. I don't think I've laughed out loud once. The writing is just so flat. 99% of the jokes are shit. I think the only thing I've really enjoyed is the gameshow host played by Martin Mull, specifically the way he delights in telling the contestants when they get a question wrong. Oh, and the Devo episode of course. They were my favorite band back then and I still love them. That episode was like the event of the year for me.

Another show I re-watched recently that I loved in its day and think is utter shit now is Bosom Buddies. Speaking of shit writing.

It's not that all TV show writing was bad back then. Mary Tyler Moore, All In the Family, Barney Miller, I could go on and on. There were hundreds of shows that shit all over this one from a great height, shows that are older than Square Pegs that I can still enjoy 100x more today. I was just too young and dumb to know any better when I was a kid.

I tried watching it several years ago and I couldn't get past its total lack of diversity.