The National Geographic Channel has a six-part miniseries on the 1980s, which will premiere this Sunday. It's called "The '80s: The Decade That Made Us".To go along with it, they commissioned a comprehensive survey on the '80s. It was conducted online, and included responses from more than 1,000 people, ages 18 and over. So yeah, some of them didn't actually experience the '80s firsthand. Here are some highlights:
'80s pop culture is notorious for being pretty over-the-top, if not outright ridiculous... but 71% believe that the music was BETTER in the '80s than it is now. And 52% prefer '80s TV shows to the current ones. But "just" 42% think the movies were better.
When asked "Which '80s TV family would you most want to be adopted by?", the Huxtables from "The Cosby Show" finished at #1, with 38% of the vote. The Keatons from "Family Ties" and the Ewings from "Dallas" tied for second . . . both with 17%. The Seavers from "Growing Pains" were next with 16%, and the Drummonds from "Diff'rent Strokes" followed, with 7%.
The top '80s "make-out song" is "Every Breath You Take" by The Police at 36%.
Next is Lionel Richie's song "Hello" with 26%. . . followed by LL Cool J's "I Need Love" (16%), Wham!'s "Careless Whisper" (13%), and Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" (9%).
21% say "Back to the Future" is "the movie that defines the decade" . . . followed by "The Breakfast Club" (18%), "E.T." (16%), "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (15%), "Top Gun" and "Ghostbusters" (tied with 8%), "Wall Street" (7%), "Do the Right Thing" (4%), and "Say Anything" (2%).
Johnny and Baby from "Dirty Dancing" took the honors as "the best '80s movie couple" at 44%. They were played by Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
When asked which '80s musician had the biggest influence on today's artists, Michael Jackson won in a landslide with 61%. The next four were: Madonna (17%), U2 (12%) and Run-DMC (7%).
Demi Moore is America's favorite member of the "Brat Pack" with 28% of the vote, followed by Molly Ringwald (19%), Emilio Estevez (16%), Rob Lowe (15%), Andrew McCarthy and Judd Nelson (tied at 6%), and Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy (with 5% apiece).
Speaking of Rob Lowe, he's hosting "The '80s: The Decade That Made Us". The first two installments air this Sunday. Two more air Monday...and it wraps with the final two on Tuesday.
Here are the results from another 80's survey.
37% of people say the fall of the Berlin Wall was the most important news event of the '80s. 24% went with the identification of AIDS...17% picked the Challenger explosion...12% said the start of MTV...and 7% picked the 1980 Miracle on Ice.
56% of people believe the personal computer was the most important tech invention of the '80s. Only 27% picked the cell phone. 5% went with the microwave, 4% picked the Walkman, and for some reason, 4% picked the VCR.
Shoulder pads were the top '80s fashion fad that people never want to see again. Parachute pants were ranked second-worst, fanny packs were third, and neon clothing was fourth-worst.
And leg warmers were named the BEST '80s fashion.
