The Eighties

2016

The Eighties

8.2 | TV-14 | en | Documentary

The third installment from executive producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog, following in the footsteps of critically-acclaimed series THE SIXTIES and THE SEVENTIES, tackles 10 years shaped by exceptionalism and excess. Like its predecessors, THE EIGHTIES intersperses rare archival newsreel footage, interviews, and comments by historians, journalists, politicians, celebrities and others, painting a perspective-rich picture of a vibrant decade. Episodes examine the age of Reagan, the AIDS crisis, the end of the Cold War, Wall Street corruption, the evolving TV and music scene, and everything in between.

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Seasons & Episodes

EP7 The Fight Against AIDS

Jun. 09,2016

The rise of a mysterious and deadly illness developed into a pandemic, affecting primarily the gay community and killing millions of people to date called acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

EP6 The Tech Boom

Jun. 30,2016

A look at the innovations and inventions of the Digital Revolution, including the personal computer and the Internet, which have defined life as we know it today.

EP5 Video Killed the Radio Star

May. 26,2016

Music videos and the digital revolution dominated the music industry, as CDs replaced records; the charts were dominated by artists like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Prince.

EP4 Greed Is Good

May. 12,2016

Junk bonds, bailouts and Wall Street corruption set the tone for a decade of greed and excess.

EP3 Tear Down This Wall

Apr. 28,2016

The ever-present Cold War between the United States and Russia finally comes to an end thanks to a chain of events that had once been unthinkable.

EP2 The Reagan Revolution

Apr. 07,2016

Exploring the two-term presidency of Ronald Reagan; highlighting his triumphs and controversies.

EP1 Raised on Television

Mar. 31,2016

VCRs, remote controls, family sitcoms, adult dramas, and prime-time soaps all changed TV enjoyment.

8.2 | TV-14 | en | Documentary | More Info

Released: 2016-03-31 | Released Producted By: , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://cnn.com/shows/the-eighties

Synopsis

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Cast

H.W. Brands

Director

Tom Hanks

Producted By

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Trailers

Cast

H.W. Brands

as Self

Reagan: From Movie Star to President

Reviews

Mr-Fusion "The Eighties" maintains the level of quality and interesting topics that "The Seventies" boasted, and even a few surprises. For one, President Reagan. I didn't expect the man to come out gleaming after the AIDS crisis , but the series surprised me with the coverage of his 1980 campaign. That was indeed a glowing assessment. I dunno, maybe I was expecting a more leftist outlook.Some of the topics were distinctly cynical, and it can be hard to shake off. On the other hand, it was always interesting.And just as it was with "The Seventies", my real complaint is no coverage of '80s cinema. There's plenty of material from the domination of sci-fi/fantasy to the staggering inflation of budgets to fill an episode. They've apparently green-lit a '90s miniseries, so there's time to rectify this. Although I don't think I want to relive that decade.Pessimist streak aside, this is worthwhile stuff.8/10

zkonedog After watching pieces of both the "60s" and "70s" documentaries, and enjoying them both, it made sense to give "The Eighties" a try as well. Though I'm not sure I liked the formula of this documentary quite as much, it still ends up being very informative and entertaining.Unlike previous iterations, "The Eighties" doesn't just run the decade in chronological order. Instead, each episode focuses on a specific topic, such as...-Television/Media -Reagan -AIDS -Berlin Wall -Technology -Music -Wall StreetWith the exception of the Music & AIDS episodes, which I thought were a bit underwhelming and perhaps not deserving of a whole hour, all the other episodes are quite well done. Like I mentioned previously, it is a bit jarring to have the "story of the 80s" told in little snippets rather than "in order", but I can appreciate what the filmmakers were going for in this case.One pet peeve about the experience? Perhaps this would have been far too difficult to accomplish, but I wish that the actual 80s footage could have been rendered a bit better (closer to, if not, HD quality). It was very noticeable for the doc to keep switching from the grainy footage to the crystal-clear commentary.On the whole, though, I enjoyed "The Eighties" and could recommend it to fans of U.S. history in video format. It takes the specific approach instead of the mashup, but in some ways that allows for better focus too.

mccrearyj It gets a 6 simply for its presentation. If you wonder how people are swayed by the left and you know someone who doesn't follow politics, that person will walk away from this viewing thinking that Reagan was a dunce and America meddled where it shouldn't. It definitely focuses on the negative aspects of the 80's. While documenting history, notice the negative spin on everything. You might just think nothing was good about the 80's. The first time I was clued in that something was amiss is when they discussed late-night talk shows coming into the 80s and the arrival of David Letterman. It struck me as odd that Jay Leno was never mentioned. This is laughable considering the controversy between David Letterman and Jay Leno. Also, since Jay Leno was definitely bigger than David Letterman as far as ratings and viewers are concerned. It is well put together and is very interesting to watch, but take it with a grain of salt.

Danny Blankenship The 1980's was the years that I was growing up so I remember those times so well from the news, TV shows, I watched to the toys I collected to the Ronald Reagan years those times were the best. And with this new CNN series called the "Eighties" it's informative and educational and historical as it highlights the times of the excess and VCR years so well. So far episodes have shown how TV exploded with cable and many shows and so many choices as 24 hour news started and talk shows were at a dozen, plus the world and medical community was shocked with the dawn of the AIDS disease and "The Reagan Years" were filled with high times of the rich and the well to do and it ended with drama and scandal. And the cold war ended and technology took off with computers and wall street rose the markets took off remember "Greed is Good"! Overall another excellent series from CNN that takes you back in time the memories are nonstop you will want to relive life all over again!