Was I the only one who was unimpressed with the mainstream 80s revival in the 2010s? We got that garbage show The Goldbergs (what the hell is a 1980something), the confusing Stranger Things (an alien that hits puberty), Red Oaks which was “meh”, and an episode of Black Mirror set in the stereotypical 80s. I was left asking myself if there was anything original about the 1980s in the 1980s.

Xennials deserve a The Wonder Years type sitcom set in the late 80s. From the ALF shirts to the fall of the Berlin Wall, there’s plenty to remember about the end of the 1980s. It seems like everything for my generation on TV and in the movies is a spoof of a mid 80s teen movie. Living in the 80s was nothing like what you see in a mid 80s teen movie.

When I look back to the 1980s, there were leather jackets on many teens, the middle and end part to Back To The Future, musical artist Bobby Brown sporting the Gumby cut, Pogo Bals (instead of Pogo Sticks), The New Leave It To Beaver, and 50s parties. You could tell we were in the midst of a mainstream 50s nostalgia boom.

Did anyone else feel the mainstream 80s revival in the 2010s was weak?

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Stranger Things is awesome, and "San Junipero" (the Black Mirror episode you're talking about) is one of my favorite TV episodes ever.

I don't really follow the Goldbergs, but I laughed at some episodes.

The 80s revival wasn't that bad, imo.

Was I the only one who was unimpressed with the mainstream 80s revival in the 2010s? We got that garbage show The Goldbergs (what the hell is a 1980something), the confusing Stranger Things (an alien that hits puberty), Red Oaks which was “meh”, and an episode of Black Mirror set in the stereotypical 80s. I was left asking myself if there was anything original about the 1980s in the 1980s.

Xennials deserve a The Wonder Years type sitcom set in the late 80s. From the ALF shirts to the fall of the Berlin Wall, there’s plenty to remember about the end of the 1980s. It seems like everything for my generation on TV and in the movies is a spoof of a mid 80s teen movie. Living in the 80s was nothing like what you see in a mid 80s teen movie.

When I look back to the 1980s, there were leather jackets on many teens, the middle and end part to Back To The Future, musical artist Bobby Brown sporting the Gumby cut, Pogo Bals (instead of Pogo Sticks), The New Leave It To Beaver, and 50s parties. You could tell we were in the midst of a mainstream 50s nostalgia boom.

Did anyone else feel the mainstream 80s revival in the 2010s was weak?
Last paragraph is why the 80s revival has been weak. The politics of the 80s are now much less palatable these days but the aesthetic remained inspirational.
Otherwise, eh, the 80s had some interesting aesthetics but this revival didn't have the hair metal and rock music and it's honestly something I cannot really get behind.

Stranger Things is awesome, and "San Junipero" (the Black Mirror episode you're talking about) is one of my favorite TV episodes ever.

I don't really follow the Goldbergs, but I laughed at some episodes.

The 80s revival wasn't that bad, imo.


Stranger Things could be a lot better with the right direction. The problem is Stranger Things is written by two men born in the mid 1980s. The Duffler Brothers were too young to experience the 80s from 1978 to 1989.

The Goldbergs is plain stupid. First of all, what is a 1980something ( >:()? Secondly, no one did the things the family does on the show in the 1980s. Trash best describes The Goldbergs. It puzzles me how The Goldbergs has such a following. Goldnerds?! Seriously?!  >:(


Last paragraph is why the 80s revival has been weak. The politics of the 80s are now much less palatable these days but the aesthetic remained inspirational.
Otherwise, eh, the 80s had some interesting aesthetics but this revival didn't have the hair metal and rock music and it's honestly something I cannot really get behind.


Good point.

When did 30 year cultural cycles become a thing?  ???  I always thought it was 20 years:

The 1970s had the 1950s nostalgia: Grease, Happy Days, 50s influence in music.  Was there any 40s nostalgia?  The only thing I remember is The Waltons which was set in the 30s and early 40s.

The 1980s had the 1960s nostalgia: 60s influence in music, revivial of 60s/early 70s artists (Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Beatles recharted, Moody Blues, Yes, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, etc.), hippie fashions, films & TV set in the 60s or referencing the 60s, etc.

The 1990s had the 1970s nostalgia: Dazed & Confused, Jackie Brown, disco revival, 70s influence on music, etc.

I think the main 1980s revival happened in the 2000s, at least judging from all the traffic on this website that I recall.  There were also films like 13 Going on 30, Adventureland, Donnie Darko, revival of 80s fashions.

Of course, everything bleeds over into the following decade, too (70s nostalgia for the 50s lingering into the early 80s, 60s nostalgia from the 80s lasting into the 90s, 70s nostalgia starting in the 90s but lasting into the 00s).  But I would have expected the main source of nostalgia in the 2010s to be the 1990s, not the 1980s.



Was I the only one who was unimpressed with the mainstream 80s revival in the 2010s? We got that garbage show The Goldbergs (what the hell is a 1980something), the confusing Stranger Things (an alien that hits puberty), Red Oaks which was “meh”, and an episode of Black Mirror set in the stereotypical 80s. I was left asking myself if there was anything original about the 1980s in the 1980s.

Xennials deserve a The Wonder Years type sitcom set in the late 80s. From the ALF shirts to the fall of the Berlin Wall, there’s plenty to remember about the end of the 1980s. It seems like everything for my generation on TV and in the movies is a spoof of a mid 80s teen movie. Living in the 80s was nothing like what you see in a mid 80s teen movie.

When I look back to the 1980s, there were leather jackets on many teens, the middle and end part to Back To The Future, musical artist Bobby Brown sporting the Gumby cut, Pogo Bals (instead of Pogo Sticks), The New Leave It To Beaver, and 50s parties. You could tell we were in the midst of a mainstream 50s nostalgia boom.

Did anyone else feel the mainstream 80s revival in the 2010s was weak?

When did 30 year cultural cycles become a thing?  ???  I always thought it was 20 years:

The 1970s had the 1950s nostalgia: Grease, Happy Days, 50s influence in music.  Was there any 40s nostalgia?  The only thing I remember is The Waltons which was set in the 30s and early 40s.

The 1980s had the 1960s nostalgia: 60s influence in music, revivial of 60s/early 70s artists (Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Beatles recharted, Moody Blues, Yes, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, etc.), hippie fashions, films & TV set in the 60s or referencing the 60s, etc.

The 1990s had the 1970s nostalgia: Dazed & Confused, Jackie Brown, disco revival, 70s influence on music, etc.

I think the main 1980s revival happened in the 2000s, at least judging from all the traffic on this website that I recall.  There were also films like 13 Going on 30, Adventureland, Donnie Darko, revival of 80s fashions.

Of course, everything bleeds over into the following decade, too (70s nostalgia for the 50s lingering into the early 80s, 60s nostalgia from the 80s lasting into the 90s, 70s nostalgia starting in the 90s but lasting into the 00s).  But I would have expected the main source of nostalgia in the 2010s to be the 1990s, not the 1980s.


Nostalgia starts in one time period, but it becomes mainstream in the next time. Space Jam 2 comes out next year, tickets for the I Love The 90s Tour is still being sold, and FRIENDS shirts are quite popular with teens and young adults right now. Soon, Party City will be carrying costumes and accessories for 90s parties.

50s nostalgia was still relevant in the mid to late 80s and early 90s, but most of it was not on people’s radar after the early 80s.

Marty McFly: Nice shot Doc! You're not going to believe this, we have to go back to 1955.