Was "Newhart" the last huge television hit before the tech boom - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 07-27-2024, 01:35 AM

In that during the time frame that it was originally on the air (1982-1990), the show had no internet, cable TV, cellphones, laptops, etc. But just about as soon as the show ended society changed, don't you agree?

dee2364 · 07-27-2024, 10:54 AM

No.

The tech boom started in the 1970s, not 80s. Cable TV was from the 70s, and there was a lot of "tech" before internet, cell phones and laptops, like PCs and Macs, ATM Machines, CDs and VHS, beepers, Walkmans, video game consoles, arcade machines and a ton of other stuff that I'm probably forgetting. Society started changing in the 1980s from this stuff, enough to where TV shows either called attention to it or complained about it. Two shows off the top of my head were Mama's Family and Small Wonder, which each had an episode pushing back against ATM Machines.

So, I don't think you mean that it was the last show before the tech boom but the last show that showed life before the internet changed everything. If that's the case, I still don't think that would be the case, because you didn't really start seeing shows catching up with 2000s tech until years after the fact.

Alan Brady's Hair · 07-27-2024, 11:49 AM

The Golden Girls was a bigger hit and later. Michael of Newhart was a parody of media types that were part of the tech transition.

07-27-2024, 01:35 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,391	Was "Newhart" the last huge television hit before the tech boom In that during the time frame that it was originally on the air (1982-1990), the show had no internet, cable TV, cellphones, laptops, etc. But just about as soon as the show ended society changed, don't you agree?
	Last edited by TMC; 10-22-2024 at 04:45 AM.

07-27-2024, 10:54 AM	#2
dee2364 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 20, 2019 Posts: 643	No. The tech boom started in the 1970s, not 80s. Cable TV was from the 70s, and there was a lot of "tech" before internet, cell phones and laptops, like PCs and Macs, ATM Machines, CDs and VHS, beepers, Walkmans, video game consoles, arcade machines and a ton of other stuff that I'm probably forgetting. Society started changing in the 1980s from this stuff, enough to where TV shows either called attention to it or complained about it. Two shows off the top of my head were Mama's Family and Small Wonder, which each had an episode pushing back against ATM Machines. So, I don't think you mean that it was the last show before the tech boom but the last show that showed life before the internet changed everything. If that's the case, I still don't think that would be the case, because you didn't really start seeing shows catching up with 2000s tech until years after the fact.

07-27-2024, 11:49 AM	#3
Alan Brady's Hair Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 30, 2014 Posts: 1,822	The Golden Girls was a bigger hit and later. Michael of Newhart was a parody of media types that were part of the tech transition.