The Babysitter (November 28, 1980): Shatner being Shatner about sums this one up: “You know nothing about her. It’s kerAAAzy! Bringing a total stranger. Into your house.” Enter gorgeous, creepy Stephanie Zimbalist (Remington Steele) giving him the googly eyes. Enter the tawdry I-do-believe-I’ve-just-been-instantly-seduced music. Shatner’s face at the end of the clip is must-see bad TV.
Blinded by the Light (December 16, 1980): Girl (Kristy McNichol) tries to rescue brother (Jimmy McNichol) from religious cult, but in the process begins to swallow the Kool-Aid herself. The terrible art makes Kristy look 40, but she was only 18 at the time. I can’t find a clip, and you don’t want to see it anyway, so check her out with Matt Dillon in my favorite scene from Little Darlings (also from 1980).
Honeyboy (October 17, 1982): One of the more important steps to becoming a responsible adult is accepting the fact that CHiPs made everyone dumber on a weekly basis, largely because Eric Estrada had no business being in front of a camera. As for Morgan Fairchild, I can’t even say the name without disintegrating into a puddle of adolescent sexual desire. Watch the trailer for Honeyboy, if you must.
Hotline (October 16, 1982): That dark, shiny, curvy hair. Those eyes. Those lips. That voice. God, I had such a crush on Steve Forrest from S.W.A.T. (Sorry, I can’t find anything on Hotline. I talk about the psycho-stalking-young-women genre here.)
(Images via Nostalgic Collections/eBay)
2 Warps to Neptune 
lol, I hear ya on Fairchild. Dang.
Man. Does network TV even do these “movie night” things anymore? Do you remember the “million dollar movie” intros from the ’80s? Couldn’t find them on a quick YouTube search, but I remember how cool and epic the animations and graphics were. Here’s one from Cleveland (1985) that kinda reflects that.
Somehow I remember L.A. network stations doing some kinda sideways scrolling title treatment, with the words made up of hundreds of those tiny marquee “bulbs” …am I thinking right?
Hmm. Maybe the ABC intro?
Maybe I’ll post all the major network intros…
DOOD! I think that’s it!! Hahaaa there’s all of those tiny bulbs. LoL