6 Awesome ’80s TV Shows

There are three ingredients that make the perfect TV show. It’s got to have heart — it moves you, makes you feel something or otherwise leaves you on your couch and surrounded by a puddle of your own tears. There’s got to be some level of shock value — it’s not that the plot has to be overly gory, but there does need to be some sort of twist or unexpected turn that you don’t see coming. And lastly, there’s the binge-worthy factor — the show MUST be highly addicting and binge-watchable. If you’re able to watch multiple episodes in one sitting, then you know you’ve got a stellar show on your hands!!

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most pivotal and influential shows of my upbringing. First up: Here are five awesome TV shows from the ’80s…

Moonlighting (1985): The ultimate “Will they/Won’t They” of the ’80s about a former model who finds herself working with a hot-headed detective. There’s romance, there’s mystery and Bruce Willis is at peak hotness!

Family Ties (1982): I can’t help but think of the ’80s as the heyday of the family sitcom, and Family Ties was in a league all its own. The tension between liberal parents Steven and Elyse and their son, Young Republicans member Alex, made for some truly memorable moments. Plus, neighbor Skippy was hilariously adorable!

ALF (1986): Save for the WORST series finale in TV history (seriously, don’t watch it…), the furry alien from Melmac found a way into all our hearts. With his crazy antics and funny one-liners, earth will never be the same!

Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989): This one may have come out at the tail-end of the decade, but it still deserves its rightful place on the list. I’m also pretty certain it’s where my love of medical residents come from…and, oh, Doogie’s brain!

Who’s The Boss (1984): Tony Micelli was the hot housekeeper just trying to create a nice life for his daughter. Along the way, he falls in love with his employer, and throughout the series, he manages to remain the guy you’re rooting for!

Mr. Belvedere (1985): Who’s The Boss may have had the hot housekeeper, but Mr. Belvedere was the guy you wanted in your corner. There wasn’t a single problem he couldn’t solve or inspirational speech he couldn’t give — in his trademark British accent, of course! Plus, his relationship with his youngest charge, wisecrack tween Wesley, was the heart and soul of the show!

Do you remember ’80s TV, friends?? What were your favorite shows?? Do you ever watch them these days? xoxo

[Top photo via We Heart It]

My Essay on the Berry: Who Would You Date In The Battle Of The ’90s TV Boyfriends?

My second article for the Berry couldn’t have come out at a better time — isn’t it great when things work out like that?

To coincide with TV Week, my article “Who Would You Date In The Battle Of The ’90s TV Boyfriends?” went live this morning!! Oh, those awesome characters! Sure, they can sometimes be two dimensional, but we most certainly can’t rule out the dreamy factor, can we?? After all, they help form some of our greatest binge-watching memories and, especially, made our formative years full of pure joy.

Here’s an excerpt of the essay, which literally had me smiling as I was writing it; I can’t be the only writer who does that, right??

I’m a fierce TV watcher. I take it VERY seriously and was a hard-core binger wayyy before the phrase even became a hot trending topic. I’m also a lover of the ’90s. I fall in love with characters — OK, lots of times as if they were real people! — and my teen years were spent in a haze of TV’s best boyfriends. Thanks to the teen drama boom spearheaded by the WB, there seemed to be a guy for everyone.

So let’s take a little trip down memory lane, shall we? Who would win in a Battle of the ’90s TV Boyfriends? Here are 10 top contenders, known for everything from their keen sense of style to their brooding nature…

You can read the full essay here and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email me anytime at mellow1422@aol.com and let’s chat! And of course, feel free to share my essay on Facebook, Twitter or even your local refrigerator. If you share on Twitter, be sure to tag me @melissablake so we can connect! I can’t wait to hear from you! Love you all… xoxo

Tuesday Tunes: The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand”

Editor’s Note: Song lyrics denoted in bold italics.

Had I come of age in the early ’60s, I’m sure I would have been swept up in Beatlemania. I’m sure it was pretty similar to Bieber Fever and all the pictorial evidence seems to support my theory — lots of fans legit screaming their heads off and getting themselves worked up into downright hysterics. It was quite the time, I’m sure!

Although I didn’t grow up during that time, my parents saw to it that I had a healthy diet of Beatles tunes throughout my childhood. They filled car rides with everything from A Hard Day’s Night to Magical Mystery Tour and everything in between. We all seemed to have our favorite Fab Four member too — I loved Paul while my father’s favorite was always Ringo — and our favorite song, of course. Mine have changed over the years. I went through a huge “Something” phase and another phase where “Please, Please Me” stood out above the rest as my main jam, but through it all, one song kept looping in my brain. It’s the song I’d always come back to over and over. It was my constant. And now that I’m older, I’m starting to see why…

The Beatles’ “I Want To Hold Your Hand”
From Meet The Beatles

I don’t remember the first time I heard the Beatles, but something obviously clicked during that first listen because they’ve been a part of my musical library forever. Remember how my sister and I saved up to buy almost all of their albums? In high school, I must have listened to Rubber Soul on repeat for days. I remember sitting in our living room, putting the CD in my disc-man and falling into the mesmerizing lull of “Nowhere Man.” As I got older, though, I realized that “I Want To Hold Your Hand” is really where it’s at.

Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something
I think you’ll understand
When I’ll say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand


Oh please, say to me
You’ll let me be your man
And please, say to me
You’ll let me hold your hand
I’ll let me hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand

There is such a sense of innocence to this song, isn’t there? It practically screams of the power of young love. You know, those jitters and butterflies — and, yes, sweaty palms too! — of something as simple as just being around the other person. Maybe you can’t quite put your finger on it or find the right words to describe it, but you know that you’ve found something pretty special.

Plus, it’s such a simple request. You want to hold their hand. You aren’t asking for anything more than that. If you ask me, that’s a beautiful thing to ask of another person.

And when I touch you I feel happy
Inside
It’s such a feeling that my love
I can’t hide
I can’t hide
I can’t hide

I’ve often wondered what it must be like to have that kind of affect on someone. To have such power over someone and have them completely enraptured by you; it’s no small feat, that’s for sure. And something tells me that this sort of pull is strongest at the emotional level — beyond all that superficial surface-y stuff.

Because when you get down to it, that’s really the only connection worth having in the long-run, don’t you think? Sure, you could try to build some kind of life out of pure physical attraction, but I doubt that would ever be truly satisfying. I just envision getting really bored really quickly. You can’t build an entire life on something as fleeting as looks. I thank John, Paul, George and Ringo for teaching me this lesson so early in life. They probably saved me from A LOT of heartache and disappointment! xoxo

These Vintage Beach Photos Are Everything

I’m getting to that point in the summer where I ask myself at least once a week: “Where did the summer go?“

Sadly, I haven’t been able to come up with an answer yet, but these vintage beach photos are making me smile, at the very least. How cool are they? The sun and sand is calling my name, friends! xoxo

[Via Travel + Leisure]

Tuesday Tunes: Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”

Editor’s Note: Song lyrics denoted in bold italics.

As long as we’re talking about the ’80s today, I thought it only appropriate to carry that same theme over to Tuesday Tunes!

The Decade of Excess may have suffered from many missteps — shoulder pads! Milli Vanilli! Big hair! — but it got one thing exactly right.

The music.

There’s really no other decade that compares, except maybe the ’90s. Music in the ’80s was big (much like that hair trend!) and beautiful and sweeping. It sucked you in and mesmerized you into some sort of trance. If you weren’t careful, there was a chance you’d get lost in its melodies forever.

But, really, that possibility wasn’t that threatening or scary.

At least not to me. I grew up on this music. It shaped me and influenced me in ways I’m still discovering today — and probably will be for years to come. And when I think back over all the music produced in those 10 years, my mind naturally drifts to one favorite…

Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”
From So

Like so many, I fell in love with this song at the same time I fell in love with a certain Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything. Here was a guy who was geeky and perfect, yet he didn’t even know it. He was so self-deprecating about it and that was so refreshing to see. You don’t see that too often these days.

Love I get so lost, sometimes
Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are

Love sure makes us do some crazy things, doesn’t it? It can at once astound us and terrify us, build us up only to break us down. It’s not logical and sometimes it’s not even what we need or want at the time. But something about love keeps us coming back. Something about it keeps that sheer hunger stirring in our souls. So we hold on, not really knowing where we’re headed, but still desperately wanting to get there quickly.

I sometimes feel so out of control when it comes to love. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but I don’t think I’d ever have it any other way. You know I hate that feeling of utter powerlessness — it can just feel like one giant void sometimes, you know?

All my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside

Whether we admit it or not, some degree of life is about playing a part. We have roles to play — mother, daughter, friend, employee. We get so good at playing the part that we start to wear that mask all the time. It becomes a part of us, even when we don’t know we’re doing it. It’s easy to become disconnected from ourselves, and that’s the last thing we want to do. What we want is for someone to see us — for who we are and all that we could be.

In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes

And yet, when we meet the right person? It’s like pure magic. An orchestra of fireworks erupts right before our very eyes and it’s like we’re finally seeing for the first time in our lives. I mean, this light is powerful. It overwhelms and consumes us.

When you think about being that source of light for someone else? I can’t even imagine that. What must it be like to have someone look at you like that? To look at you with such awe and wonder and love? It must be amazing — to finally find your true home and feel so safe.

In the end, I think we’re all just looking for our own Lloyd Dobler. I’m sure he’s out there somewhere, boombox in hand and ready to serenade us.