The Battle for Tetris: How a Soviet Game Took Over the 1980s
Release Date: 06/18/2025
Rewind: 10 Classic 1980s TV Christmas Specials
Everything 80s
It's Christmas Eve, so we're rewinding the VHS tape to revisit 10 iconic 1980s TV Christmas specials. In this remastered edition of one of my previous shows, we dive back into the golden age of holiday programming, when we were all watching the same things at the same time. Highlights of this episode include a few comic strips that came to the small screen, a few Christmas offerings from Jim Henson (including the one that appears to have influenced a future Pixar film), and a certain Saturday morning performer making his prime-time debut. This list includes a few classics, some you may...
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Christmas in the 1980s
Everything 80s
Welcome to the annual Everything 80s Christmas special! There really was nothing like the holiday season during the 1980s, and today, we'll take a look back at: The knock-off versions of some of the big toys of the 80s that began to appear on toy shelves A unique new holiday catalog that combined several iconic 1980s brands and TV shows The holiday versions of some of our favorite breakfast cereals A lesser-known, but unique TV Christmas special that combined two of the biggest network stars of the decade So, sit back, relax, and let's journey back to the holiday season during the 1980s ...
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The 1983 Cabbage Patch Kid Riots
Everything 80s
What began as a simple doll sold at craft fairs in the 1970s soon became one of the biggest toy fads in history. After beggning their life as "doll babies," the soft and playable dolls went through some more changes before becoming the Cabbage Patch Kids. And their release in 1983 couldn't have been timed out better, as, coming out of the Great Video Game Crash, there was a return to simple, more traditional toys. But then something happened... The growing popularity, combined with a very short supply, led to one of the biggest toy crazes of all time. Heading into the holiday season of 1983,...
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How She-Ra Rocked the 1980s Toy Industry
Everything 80s
She-Ra: Princess of Power wasn't just a He-Man spinoff, but a standalone character with her own persona, legacy, and mythology. She was a bold experiment by Mattel and Filmation to crack into multiple toy markets at the same time, while also growing the He-Man brand. From breaking the "Smurfette principle" to its unique introduction, She-Ra quickly became a defining 1980s brand. Today, we look back at the creation, launch, and success of what ended up being a relatively short-lived toy and 1980s cartoon that still managed to make a huge dent in 1980s pop culture. 50% off...
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Projecting the 80s: The Story of Film Before Digital
Everything 80s
Over the years, there's been a steady return to traditional media. From vinyl albums to 4K Blu-ray, people want to hold--and own--the content they love. There's also been a return to traditional film. Our digital, streaming age is incredible, but sometimes it can feel like something is missing. And if you're a fan of 1980s movies, that means seeing these films we love, the way they were meant to be seen. Traditional film, such as 35mm and 70mm, is making a comeback as real film provides a richer, more organic movie-watching experience compared to digital projection. To look...
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The Legacy of Stranger Things
Everything 80s
When it was released in the summer of 2016, not only did Stranger Things become a pop culture phenomenon, but it was also a true love letter to the 1980s. Today, we look back at the creation, success, and impact of an era-defining show that introduced 1980s culture to a whole new generation. In this episode, we'll look at: The struggles the Duffer brothers went through to get the show made The specific premise they used that combined two 1980s icons The real-life CIA experiments that led to the creation of Eleven The 1980s movies that influenced the show How Stranger Things became one of the...
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Saved by the Bell: From Indiana to Bayside
Everything 80s
It's time to head back to Bayside as we look at the creation, launch, and success of an era-defining show: Saved by the Bell. But the true origins of Saved by the Bell not only go back to 1986; it started as a completely different show. From there, the show went through many changes, including a new cast, bouncing from NBC to the Disney Channel, and then from prime time to its eventual home on Saturday mornings. However, back at this point in the 80s, the launch of a live-action show to air during Saturday morning cartoons was seen as a gigantic risk. Fortunately, a generation of...
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The 20 Greatest TV Shows of the 1980s
Everything 80s
Where do you even start when compiling a list of the greatest TV shows of the 1980s? Well, today, this won't come from my opinion but a combination of rankings by Variety, Rolling Stone, and the Writers Guild of America. By combining the expertise of staff, television actors, creators, showrunners, writers, directors, producers, and critics, these outlets have compiled their own lists of the 100 best TV shows of all time. I've gone through them and found 20 shows with connections to the 1980s, and in this episode, we'll look at those shows to see which ones are considered the very...
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Halloween in the 1980s
Everything 80s
The big day has finally arrived; it's Halloween in the 1980s. Your costume is set, your pillowcase is ready, and you've strategically planned your trick-or-treating route. But before you get to the big night, you still have to get through the day. Welcome to The Everything 80s Halloween Special. Today, we walk through a typical Halloween day during the 1980s. We start the day at school before catching a quick dinner at the fast food place that did Halloween as well as anyone in the 80s. With time to kill before heading out to trick-or-treat, you have time to watch some cartoons, but we'll look...
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The 75-Cent Mystery: How a Tiny Error Exposed a Cold War Spy
Everything 80s
In 1986, Clifford Stoll -- originally a Berkley Lab astronomer -- had become the manager of their computer department. One day, he noticed something, a small accounting glitch that seemed insignificant, but would become the first great Cold War hacking story. One tiny clue led Clifford Stoll on a real-life digital spy chase that included West Germany, the KGB, and the most top-secret, classified information on earth. In an era of dial-up phone lines and dot matrix printers, computer security wasn't given much priority, but this event would lead to the dawn of modern cybersecurity. Rambo movie...
info_outlineIn the mid-1980s, a Soviet engineer created a simple puzzle game he called Tetris. What was made for fun quickly spread throughout the USSR, and little did he know, but he had created something that would ignite a global frenzy that would include major companies like Nintendo and Atari.
But that was just part of the story, as the battle for the rights to Tetris would spread beyond the Iron Curtain. It's a story that includes an international licensing war, Cold War espionage, lawsuits, shady business deals, and the highest levels of the Soviet government.
This all resulted in a final showdown right as the Soviet Union was about to collapse...
Was all of this worth it for a simple game of falling blocks? It turns out, it would be, as Tetris was about to become one of the most popular and successful video games of all time...
- Predator movie review: Patreon.com/80s