Spot the Michael Jackson references in 80s sitcoms...

[88survivor]

The first two pilots parts from Punky Brewster, featuring the infamous jacket and jean poster of MJ(the aviator gear wear during the Thriller years).

In Charles In Charge, MJ is referenced during an election in the Pembroke years.

[andress_jade]

On an episode of the Golden Girls, the girls had a winning lottery ticket. Blanche put the ticket in the pocket of a leather jacket that she had just bought. A man with the thrift store came by to pick up some things that the girls were getting rid of and Sophia thought that the jacket was one of the things that went so she gave it to the man.
They all went out to dinner and then came home and realized the jacket was gone, Sophia confessed and they went to go get the jacket at the thrift store, but when they got there Michael Jackson's bodyguard had it. The girls tried to get it from him but with no success. Michael Jackson ended up wearing it at his concert that night.

Another episode Sophia had a comeback from one of the comments one of the girls made to her; "Yeah, and Michael Jackson was born with that cleft in his chin." LOL. :lol:

On an episode of The Cosby Show some of them went to a Michael Jackson concert.

[catlover79]

On Facts of Life, Tootie mentioned being a Michael Jackson fan several times throughout the series' run. Then she had a near meltdown trying to see Jermaine Jackson (:confused:). :lol:

On Family Ties, Elyse Keaton was singing and playing guitar in some club. She began to sing and play a few lines from "Beat It". :lol:

[neon000]

On the Cosby Show, Theo wanted to buy a really expensive shirt, and his dad told him something to the effect of, "Anybody who wants to wear a $95 shirt should be onstage with his four brothers."

[GARFIELDKOOL]

On Gimmie a Break, Joey was singing "Thriller" He started out saying, "It's closed to midnight, something's evil lurking in the dark"

[andress_jade]

I was watching an episode of the Fresh Prince and Will and Ashley were looking at a magazine and Will was talking about what they were going to do and Ashley came back with; "I don't care what you say,we are not breaking in to Michael Jackson's house." LOL. :D

[tvje]

I was watching an episode of the Fresh Prince and Will and Ashley were looking at a magazine and Will was talking about what they were going to do and Ashley came back with; "I don't care what you say,we are not breaking in to Michael Jackson's house." LOL. :D

That is a 90's sitcom, so it doesn't apply to this convo.

[andress_jade]

That is a 90's sitcom, so it doesn't apply to this convo.

Sorry, I wasn't thinking about the year, I just happened to catch the Michael Jackson reference. My bad....:confused:

[Furienna]

Yikes! Do we really have to exclude all other sitcoms except the 80s ones? I know the topic says "80s sitcoms", but puh-lease!

As for 80s shows, I remember the Huxtables going to a concert. Hey, that episode was even on TODAY!

And I believe Alf was singing "Billie Jean" once, right before he first met Jake. He also made a joke once, but I love Michael, so I won't say what it was.

[dav4463]

Was Saved by the Bell late 80's when it started? Screech dressed like Michael in an episode.

[88survivor]

Yep, that's the 1st Season of the show. Was Lark Voorhies somehow related to the Jacksons in a way, too?

[Furienna]

She was somehow related to Michael's brother Jermaine through his first wife Hazel Gordy. I've forgotten the details though.

[88survivor]

Woah.....

[catlover79]

In one Benson episode, Benson imitated Michael Jackson dancing (this was around the time Thriller came out).

[ThomasE]

The 1989 ep of The Cosby Show when Russell had gotten eight tickets to the Michael Jackson Concert.

[kanisky7896]

On Gimmie a Break, Joey was singing "Thriller" He started out saying, "It's closed to midnight, something's evil lurking in the dark"

Which episode was that? I know that in the episode, "Samantha's Protest", Michael Jackson was mentioned by Nell, because she read about him in a tabloid newspaper.

[GARFIELDKOOL]

Which episode was that? I know that in the episode, "Samantha's Protest", Michael Jackson was mentioned by Nell, because she read about him in a tabloid newspaper.

I can't remember off bat what episode, but I do remember Joey singing that.

[ekkostar]

That is a 90's sitcom, so it doesn't apply to this convo.
GB2/ToonZone/.
Since when have Sitcoms Online rules become THAT strict?

[James]

Two references:

Perfect Strangers: In the "Couch Potato" episode in which the cousins got cable television, Balki was watching a music video. He thought it was Michael Jackson, but Larry corrected him by saying it was Diana Ross. :eek:

The Wonder Years: In the episode "Math Class" where Kevin started studying algebra the song "ABC" by the Jackson 5 (of whom "Jacko" was a member) played in the background at the beginning.

[Furienna]

Just remember... He's not "Jacko", he's Jackson.

[James]

Just remember... He's not "Jacko", he's Jackson.

Well, here in the States people on the radio and on TV refer to him as such like it's a slang term for the so-called King of Pop. I believe David Letterman is one of them.

[Furienna]

Oh, so you can't be better? "Jacko" is a bad name. Don't use it.

[andress_jade]

How appropriate that I found this thread. Maaybe we can continue it and keep it going for awhile. It just seems like the right thing to do.

[Schmoopie]

I can't think of any MJ references from any TV shows at the moment, but I'm thinking that maybe Full House had one. They had a lot of references to music and so forth back then. I love when shows do that, because it makes them seem more real.

Andrea

[Furienna]

But it can also make them more dated.

[andress_jade]

There are a few more I would like to add.

On an episode of the Golden Girls, Rose is reading a tabloid magazine. I don't remember what episode it is, but it's memorable.
Rose-"It says here, that since Michael Jackson couldn't buy the remains of the elephant man, he put in a bid for the remains of the Big Bopper."
Blanche-"Don't believe everything you read in that rag. It caters to people of the lowest intelligence."
Rose-"Then why do you buy it?"
Blanche-"It's the only thing that Elvis can speak through from beyond the grave." :lol:

In another episode called "Brotherly Love", Rose can't sleep so Blanche asks her to count sheep.
Rose-"I can't count sheep, I'm allergic to wool. I got to 23 and broke out in hives. That's when I started counting the members of the Jackson family. Michael, Janet, LaToya, Tito and then there is Stonewall Jackson, but I don't remember him on the Victory tour!" :D
Here is a link to the clip from the episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXjH1rvOJLg

Now that I think about it, there are a lot of references to Michael or the Jacksons on the Golden Girls. I mentioned two other times in this thread already.

On Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Carlton dances like Michael Jackson quite a bit on the show. It's not that surprising since Alfonso did a Pepsi commercial with Michael when he was a kid.
Here is that commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eixxjOKFEoo&feature=related

One particular moment comes to mind.
Will and Carlton pawn Vivian's bracelet and in order to get in back Will decides to strip to get the money. Instead of Will stripping, it's Carlton instead. Carlton accidentally gets pushed on the stage. Billie Jean starts playing as he starts dancing like Michael and stripping. The woman are yelling at him to "take it off", so he does. He even does the yell that Michael was famous for. He raises his arm and yells. It is really funny. :lol:
Here is the link to that clip from the episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHmheJ849zQ&feature=related

I mentioned one other episode on here already about where Will wants to break into Michael Jackson's house. It's earlier in this thread.
I'm sure more will come to mind.

[andress_jade]

On an episode of One on One, there was an episode on recently. It had everyone dressed up in costumes, I assume it was a Halloween party. The guy that played the father on the show was dressed up as Michael Jackson. He had the sequined jacket, the Jheri curl, and the glitter glove. He looked almost exactly like Michael. At the end of the episode, he scared the daughter by pretending like he was crying. He was lying on the couch with his face buried, the girl came up and asked him if he was alright and touched him on the arm. He turned around and growled with the Thriller eyes and that's how the episode ended.
There was even a dance contest between him and another character dressed as a "different era" Michael.

There was even an episode of the Wayans Brothers where they had a dance contest and one of them ended up dressing like Michael and dancing to "Beat It". It was really cool and funny.

[browneyes106]

I loved when ALF danced to Billie Jean.

[Furienna]

Kel on "Kenan & Kel" danced exactly like Michael once. And so did Carlton on "Fresh Prince".

[andress_jade]

Carlton danced like Michael a lot and a big part of that is because Alfonso Ribeiro did a Pepsi commercial with Michael when he was younger. He was a big Michael Jackson fan.

Last night on Bernie Mac, the song "Never Can Say Goodbye" by the Jackson 5 played. It was between a girl and a boy on the show. I don't really watch the show so I don't know what was going on but it was cute. It was kind of nice hearing a Jackson 5 song.

[megamanj2004]

I got one:

Webster - At the end of a mid-S4 (1986-87) Christmas episode, Webster thought that George and Katherine got him a new Michael Jackson CD for his Christmas present, but they tricked him and got him a pair of new underwear for his present!

It's also ironic how Emmanuel Lewis and Michael Jackson were once best friends back in the '80s.

[andress_jade]

I thought of a few more.

I was watching Roseanne a couple of weeks ago and Becky and Darlene had been fighting. Darlene came home from college and she and Becky were still angry at each other. Dan brought them to the diner to see Roseanne and they were fighting with each other in front of her. Roseanne said this line to them: "Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie love each other more than you to do right now."

On Fresh Prince last week Will was close to graduating but in order to be able to do so he had to get a music credit. He was flunking music, so he had to take a class with a bunch of little kids. They were playing a music quiz and the teacher asked what a "clef" was. Will's response was "It's the thing that Michael Jackson had put in his chin".

I watched an episode of Full House from Season 1 and Jesse was trying to help Joey with his wardrobe. Later Joey came out wearing a leather jacket, leather pants and boots. Danny commented with: "Wearing those clothes, even you make Michael Jackson look sexy".

On an episode of Everybody Hates Chris, Chris's uncle Michael came to stay with them. He had to share a bed with Chris and he didn't like it. In the narration by Chris Rock it said something like: "Welcome to Neverland". A reference of how Michael "shared" his bed with children.

I was wrong about seeing the Beat It dance off on the Wayans Brothers, it was on the Jamie Foxx show, here's a clip of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sZA3j1GI2Q

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure I'll think of more later. :)

[Furienna]

Those were all bad references. :(

[andress_jade]

I know, unfortunately they were the only ones I could think of. It seems a lot of them are bad ones. The dance of on the Jamie Foxx show wasn't bad though, it was kind of cool.
I really hated the one on Everybody Hates Chris, that was just horrible. I wish there were some good ones out there, but I have already posted those. I hope I come across some good ones.

[Furienna]

Ah, okay. As long as you agree with me. But I don't like how Michael was the butt of so many jokes. Whatever his sex life with Lisa Marie was like, that was between him and her. That was nothing to joke about. Neither was his plastic surgeries, or him sharing his bedroom with boys. And back in the 80s, Michael WAS sexy, so what was that all about?

If I made a sitcom, I wouldn't have celebrity jokes in them. If you can't be funny without insulting a real human being, maybe you shouldn't do comedy? Someone doing MJ-ish dance moves, like Alfonso Ribeiro and Kel Mitchell did on their shows, is okay though. That's actually a tribute to Michael really.