The Eighties

Long dominated by the three broadcast networks, television expands as cable TV (CNN and MTV) and a forth network (Fox) join the line-up. It was a decade of prime time soaps (Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing) and outstanding adult drama (Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, LA Law). Family sitcoms proved so popular (The Cosby Show, Family Ties) that they spawned a popular parody (Married With Children). The doctors and nurses of M.A.S.H. said goodbye but David Letterman, Pee Wee Herman and Oprah Winfrey said hello. Cheers introduced a bar full of off-beat characters including a pair of star-crossed lovers who became America's dysfunctional sweethearts. The explosion of new networks and channels changed what we watched while the VCR and the remote control changed how we watched it.

Raised on Television, Pt. 2 - Long dominated by the three broadcast networks, television expands as cable TV (CNN and MTV) and a forth network (Fox) join the line-up. It was a decade of prime time soaps (Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing) and outstanding adult drama (Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, LA Law). Family sitcoms proved so popular (The Cosby Show, Family Ties) that they spawned a popular parody (Married With Children). The doctors and nurses of M.A.S.H. said goodbye but David Letterman, Pee Wee Herman and Oprah Winfrey said hello. Cheers introduced a bar full of off-beat characters including a pair of star-crossed lovers who became America's dysfunctional sweethearts. The explosion of new networks and channels changed what we watched while the VCR and the remote control changed how we watched it.

Michael Jackson released the greatest selling album of all time, Madonna created a persona just as important as her music and Public Enemy exhorted their fans to "Fight the Power." And there was a new visual component to it all courtesy of MTV. The digital revolution hit the music world as CDs replaced LPs. Whitney Houston, Guns N' Roses, U2, David Bowie and Run-DMC were some of the other major artists of the decade.

The impact of the Digital Revolution of the 1980s is almost incalculable. The way we live today is largely defined by the innovations and inventions developed throughout that decade. The personal computer, the Internet and video games all became part of daily life. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs took their place among the greatest innovators in American history. The exploration of space continued to evolve with the launching of the Space Shuttle, but not without a heart breaking cost. (c) 2016 Cable News Network, Inc.

Rarely has one person dominated and defined an era the way Ronald Reagan did the 1980s. This episode examines the personalities and events of Reagan's two terms in the White House: both landmark legislative achievements and political set backs, the assassination attempt early in his first term and his heroic return. We'll trace how turmoil in the Middle East and President Reagan's determination to aid a group of rebel fighters in Central America almost cost him the presidency in the Iran/Contra scandal. Ronald Reagan was a transformational president who enjoyed extraordinary popularity with the American people. This hour attempts to show why. (c) 2016 Cable News Network, Inc.

In the 1980s a mysterious and lethal illness developed into a pandemic with enormous political and cultural consequences. What started as a medical detective story grew into a societal nightmare as first dozens then hundreds and eventually thousands of people all over the world contracted the lethal virus that came to be known as AIDS. It's a story of ignorance and heartbreak, but also one of compassion, courage and dedication. (c) null 2016 Cable News Network, Inc.

After the economic hardship of the 1970s perhaps a period of excess was inevitable. Mammon was king as wealth and materialism assumed a dominant place in American culture and politics. It's a decade of junk bonds, S&L bailouts and pervasive Wall Street corruption. Tom Wolfe wrote about the "Masters of the Universe," and Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky and Charles Keating went from the business page to the front page as their criminal activities were exposed. And in a classic case of art imitating life, a line from a motion picture seemed to set the tone for the entire decade. (c) 2016 Cable News Network, Inc.

The 1980s began with renewed confrontation between the two nuclear-armed superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. President Reagan faced-off against a succession of aging Soviet leaders with Contras in Central America, mujahedeen in Afghanistan, cruise missiles in Europe, a "Star Wars" defense system in space and his own soaring rhetoric; ". tear down this wall." But the ascension of Mikhail Gorbachev to power in Moscow ignites an astounding chain of events that culminates in the dramatic conclusion of the decades long Cold War. (c) null 2016 Cable News Network, Inc.