My wife was dangerously close to roping me into a Flip or Flop marathon on HGTV last weekend. Once again, I looked to my trusty steed Netflix Instant for liberation.
I lacked the ambition necessary to start one of the series I have parked in my queue, I don’t have a binge in me right now. I watched Ghostbusters. One thing I noticed this time: though it represents a huge part of what made the 80s great, it doesn’t come off as a movie stuck in that time period. If the biggest update necessary to bring the movie current is changing the tagline to “Who ya gonna call or click (and leave a glowing review of on Yelp)?”, then Ghostbusters holds up pretty well.
That didn’t stop me from noticing some delightfully 80s things (mostly in the background) of Ghostbusters:
Janine’s desk (specifically the PC and phone)
Dana’s hair and the computers behind her
That microwave
Janine’s glasses
This television set
Dana’s livingroom
This Coke can
The fact that people had Perrier in their fridge
This (unregistered) New York license plate (I miss the old design- simple & refined)
Smoking inside a place of business
Larry King’s workspace
This baby boombox
“You do your job pencilneck, dont tell me how to do mine!” (The term ‘pencilneck’ will always remind me of Classy Freddie Blassie. Quintessential 80s.)
“I gotta split, the mayor wants to rap with me about some things.” (not necessarily 80s, but it’s my favorite line)
These police cars
This Big Wheel every kid on my street had (besides me)
Pencil neck geek. Grit eatin’ freak.. love that song.
I don’t believe I’m aware of the song, but anything with a pencil neck geek lyric must be OK
Also the Columbo yogurt, Smuckers jelly, and is that an style bottle of Bud Light next to the Perrier?
with a name like Smuckers, it has to be good.
It better be good because the name makes it sound like old foreskins in a jar.
Sorry dude but that Big Wheel predates the 80’s. I know cuz I was the kid with the “Green Machine” (a very similar yet dual stick controlled model) and my little brother had the Big Wheel and this was all in the mid to late 70’s. I started high school in 1980 and my Green Machine had been handed down twice by then and my brother’s Big Wheel was already long gone as well.
The rest are pretty strong 80’s references though.
You also missed the whole notion of a public library (?????). When was the last time a library was contextual except for in a school environment.
Also there are more than a few people walking through scenes wearing walkmen and those spongey cover headphones. THOSE are pure 80’s gear.
Wood panelled microwave – awesome.
Wood panelled anything is awesome