1985's top TV show: Cosby starts his dominant run

It's probably a good thing that this show was never a regular watch for me, or I might have had a more emotionally challenging time trying to re-visit it. Instead, it's an interesting look back as its place in history has obviously evolved.

As you can see in the screenshot, this is from season two as the show took over the number-one spot in the ratings. I was lucky to find it as a fully posted episode in a Facebook reel, because it wasn't showing up anywhere else. No library near me had it, no streaming service that I could find offered it, and no satellite TV station. Is it just ... gone?

The nuts and bolts of the whole thing is this: the episode was funny. It was sweet. It was everything I  that always knew the show was. 

It's a shame that so many people had to suffer from Cosby in so many ways, the least of which is certainly that a show doesn't get to air or find an audience when lots of good people put a lot of good work into making it (Blair Underwood was in this episode!), but that is absolutely a consequence. 

And yes, another unfortunate consequence is that many of Cosby's quips have become double-entendres. It's kind of like watching a serious movie after it has been parodied; the jokes just kind of write themselves.

Four more seasons at number one to go!
 

1984 in video games: Nintendo Golf, Pole Position II, a portable Punch-Out

The Nintendo Entertainment System has almost arrived in North America (it's on my schedule for next week in 1985), though it continues to top home gaming sales in Japan as the Famicom system. Because of Nintendo's virtual library of classic games, I was able to play the number one game of 1984, Golf, on the Switch.

And - it's exactly as I remember it. It's not quite as nostalgic a game for me as Golf for Game Boy, but all of the beats of the game came back to me instantly. It's missing a lot of the finer touches of later iterations (especially in terms of precise aiming and a target showing where your expected landing will be while scrolling through club options) but, hey, it's a great start!

 

Pole Position II, meanwhile, does exactly what a sequel should do: it improves the look (the explosion is much more detailed with tires flying and bouncing away); the car's animations are sharper in general, and it expands on the track options. 

If you loved the first one then you'll love the second one; again, neither were ever really my speed.

https://www.retrogames.cc/arcade-games/pole-position-ii.html

And while this Game & Watch Boxing game isn't actually a "Punch Out!" title, it's a Nintendo boxing game and it would have to be at least considered an ancestor. The gameplay itself is obviously relatively limited in accordance with its time, but the system itself is another fascinating piece of Nintendo history with attached controllers and multiplayer functions. 

This YouTuber is quite rightly effusive in his wonder at how Nintendo has always been pushing tech forward in weird and long-lasting ways: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd1zKb9xqZ0

1984's Oscar winner: Amadeus, Amadeus, oh oh oh Amadeus

After the experience of watching Gandhi a couple of weeks ago, in which I recognized that I must have watched parts of it as a kid but either not often enough or not attentively enough to really remember details, I was amazed by how well I knew Amadeus. Watching it was one of those types of experiences where I doubt that I could have sat down ahead of time and laid out the movie, but as each scene and sequence was unfolding I was remembering parts that were about to unfold. I knew that my parents liked this one a lot, so it must have been a favourite for repeat viewings. 

Not counting Rocky, therefore, I'll call this my first real Oscar appreciation movie; the rest so far have almost all been films that I really came to know well past their years. 

And, to be sure, I still really appreciate Amadeus. Hulce's performance was much more layered than I remember, probably because "the laugh" is so purposefully overpowering.