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My wife recently found a VHS tape filled with holiday specials, all recorded during the 1987 and 1988 Christmas seasons. For her, the unequivocal highlight was A Muppet Family Christmas. And I’ll admit, the uber-ensemble cast of Muppets, Sesame Street residents and inhabitants of Fraggle Rock was fantastic. But for me, even this historic Jim Henson masterpiece was eclipsed by all the terrific commercials laser targeted at my eight-year-old self.
This episode of ‘The Projectionist’ represents my first foray into YouTube uploading, and is absolutely nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. But if you’re the kind of person who enjoys Lego ads, Mr. Belvedere promos and a toned-down Dick Vitale, read on.
1. Panasonic VCRs
The self-important tagline “just slightly ahead of our time” is even funnier when the product being advertised is a VCR you can program via pay phone.
2.TV 101 on CBS
This show only lasted 13 episodes and was not on my third-grade radar. But look closely and you’ll notice a young Matt LeBlanc (00:03) and Teri Polo (00:06).
3. Cröonchy Stars
Another thing I don’t remember: Cröonchy Stars. But I learned two fun facts from Wikipedia, one of which is almost certainly false. 1) “In addition to the gratuitous umlaut in Cröonchy, most of the cereal’s labeling and promotional material used the idiosyncratic spelling Swedish Chef, with an umlaut over the letter d. As with ‘Spinal Tap,’ this marks one of the rare instances of an umlaut being used over a consonant.” 2) “Originally, Jim Henson created the name of the cereal as “Stoopid Flakes.” However, this did not sit well with Post. They renamed the breakfast cereal into Cröonchy Stars [citation needed].”
4. A less animated Dick Vitale
By today’s standards, he seems sedated.
5. Pat Petersen Anti-Alcohol PSA
I did not know who Pat Petersen was when we watched this clip the other day, and I’m sure my 1987 self did not accept substance abuse advice from any member of the Knots Landing cast. (For this PSA, the Swedish Chef would have been a better choice.)
6. McDonald’s
I probably made the same joke twenty years ago, but I’ll ask again: does anybody find it strange that Grimace is wearing earmuffs but doesn’t have ears?
7. The Lego Maniac
Of all the jingles, this is the one I’m most upset is stuck in my head. On repeat.
8. ABC Promos, Part I
A plug for the power hour that was Mr. Belvedere/Just The Ten Of Us.
9. The Halls of Medicine
How come The Halls of Medicine never became a theme-park attraction?
10. ABC Promos, Part II
Here’s one for all you Bruce Willis and Timothy Busfield fans: Moonlighting and thirtysomething.
11. Definitely Dinosaurs
I did not own any Definitely Dinosaurs, but I clearly remember the last two seconds of this commercial.
12. ABC Promos, Part III
One more network promo: Who’s the Boss? and Roseanne.
13. Toys ‘R’ Us
I can’t decide whether to call the star ‘a Mark Harmon lookalike’ or ‘a young John Edwards.’ Either way, the ad is far more touching than I’d expected from a Toys ‘R’ Us commercial, and probably convinced my parents to load me up with WWF figures and Thundercats merchandise that Christmas.
Previously on ‘The Projectionist’:
• 6 Supergroups Who Saved The World
• 6 Memorable Moments From Presidential (and VP) Debates
Comments (31)
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Great post! I especially love seeing how toned down Dickie V is. It’s insane.
posted by Mangesh on 12-11-2007 at 6:05 pm
Wow. That McDonalds commercial was really bad. Sometimes I’m pretty glad I don’t remember much of the 80s. (Too young, not substance induced).
posted by cb on 12-11-2007 at 6:23 pm
Wow…I had forgotten all about Croonchy Stars up until now. :)
This makes me think of another short-lived kids cereal…Crispy Critters which I remember really hurt my teeth as I tried to eat them. Oh and Circus Time cereal which I don’t even remember if I liked it as a kid or not. My adult brain is thinking it may have been a bit too bright to be all that tasty.
posted by Kate on 12-11-2007 at 6:38 pm
That looks like one weird episode of Mr. Belvedere.
posted by jill on 12-11-2007 at 7:14 pm
Wow, croonchy stars… that didn’t even last as long as Dunkin’ Donuts Cereal.
And I remember that McDonald’s commercial, but the ones with the piano-playing moon-head guy “Mac Tonight” were better.
posted by Gabriel on 12-11-2007 at 7:20 pm
Croonchy Stars! It’s all coming back to me now.
Which reminds me of those Nabsico Giggles cookies, the ones with the weirdo smiley faces, and the chocolate/vanilla creme — the stuff delicious nightmares were made of.
posted by Lauren on 12-11-2007 at 7:34 pm
My favorite was definitely the Lego commercial. I loved those things; I never had enough. The Toys’r'Us one I don’t remember, but if you live in the southeast, it will remind you of the commercials that Publix always runs that make my mother-in-law cry.
posted by bo on 12-11-2007 at 7:42 pm
I have a VHS tape that has Emmitt Otter’s Jug Band Christmas and the Muppet Family Christmas on it from the same year. I wonder what treasure trove of commercials are on there. Of course, I was 23 years old and watching those shows.
posted by Kate on 12-11-2007 at 9:33 pm
Ahhh, 1987.
Yes, I remember Croonchy Stars, and VCRs. And Ronald’s peeps have always been creeps, but not quite as creepy as Ronald.
Last season for Moonlighting, right there. That was a tough year for women’s fashion, too. The Halls of Medicine called; they want short perky hairstyles back.
posted by Johnny Cat on 12-11-2007 at 10:08 pm
“Videos are no longer available”…
posted by Aliceson on 12-11-2007 at 11:29 pm
Nevermind. Might have been my computer. haha
posted by Aliceson on 12-11-2007 at 11:34 pm
I’d be willing to bet that Dickie V. appeared more or less sedated because Duke wasn’t in the Final Four that year.
posted by Jerry on 12-12-2007 at 7:46 am
you want a REAL Muppets Christmas…
Check out Emit Otters Jug Band Christmas…
narrated by Kermit the Frog.
I got it on DVD last year….such a throw back to my childhood.
posted by Kyle on 12-12-2007 at 10:28 am
I was a kid in the 70’s and found a YouTube vid of Charles Nelson Reilly selling Bic Banana Ink Crayons…that brought back memories…I enjoy revisiting the sounds of my childhood television-watching self..Carol Burnett show, Partridge Family, even the Beatles cartoon from way way back when…the commercials are some of the best parts…1970, 71, 72, now we’re talking!
posted by donner on 12-12-2007 at 11:48 am
Nice call on the Matt LeBlanc. I also think that the camper’s friend on the Panasonic VCR commercial is Joey Lawrence.
posted by bzzyb on 12-12-2007 at 12:07 pm
Did that McDonald’s star “get high because of his good friend, Blow”????
…on second run, I’m sure he said ‘below,’ but with that preceding anti-drug ad, it’s the first thing I heard. Nice post!
posted by TomH on 12-12-2007 at 12:28 pm
Oh my gosh! We have a VHS recording of that very same airing of Muppet Family Christmas, with all of those ads on it! We watch it every Christmas, and we (that is, my siblings and myself) are still in love with those ads, all these years later. High-fives for randomness!
posted by Lannie on 12-12-2007 at 10:20 pm
Ha! I used to have a bit of a crush on Zack the Lego Maniac. I remember him as being such a big kid, too! When I clicked on the link, I expected him to be at least, I dunno, pubescent.
posted by Nora on 12-15-2007 at 2:52 am
I was born in 1987, but I stil remember some of thos commerials or commericals that were similar (like the old Toys’R'Us ones). THANKS!
posted by Katie on 12-21-2007 at 4:38 am
To comment #10 … click “menu” on the video you want. You’ll see the url that goes to youtube; I just copy/pasted it manually into a new window.
And randomly, (over to #17), as kids we used to watch a VHS of Back To The Future 2 (the 2015 part) sometimes before going to school. Couldn’t forget the TGIF lineup or the 2 for $2 Mcdonald’s double cheeseburger sale! Cool post.
posted by JMH on 1-3-2008 at 8:49 pm
I wonder where the maniac zach from the lego’s commercial is now…probably some big shot construction director or something…lol…gotta love legos
posted by West Virginia Lasik Surgery on 1-14-2008 at 5:19 pm
Redundantly useless trivia: Remember there were these construction toys that came out at around the same time called Zacks? Don’t know who did what, but soon “Zack the Lego Maniac” became “Jack the Lego Maniac.”
posted by mikejonas on 1-14-2008 at 7:05 pm
We used to have a tape of the same thing, with adds for toys’r'us, ritz crackers and something else on it. I used to watch it every christmas growing up. One year mum taped over it, we eventually found the special on dvd… but its not as good without the adds. Great to see some of them again.
I can’t think of another add for a childrens toy other than those Dinosaurs that actually shows how kids (or at least boys) play with stuff.
thanks,
-ANkh
posted by Ankhwatcher on 1-14-2008 at 7:18 pm
So in 20 years, will today’s kids fondly remember all the Viagra and cholesterol commercials we’re forced to watch?
posted by greg on 1-14-2008 at 10:09 pm
Omg, I can’t believe I’m old enough to remember all of these!
posted by george on 2-12-2008 at 12:41 pm
I remember them! I think they were actually spelled Zaks.
posted by mentalsavant on 3-27-2009 at 4:37 pm
That is definitely not Joey Lawrence in the Panasonic VCR commercial.
posted by Amy on 6-15-2009 at 2:30 am
I honestly think that Jim Carrey is the Rondald Mcdonald in that commercial. Take a listen…I swear it sounds just like him.
posted by Chris on 6-26-2009 at 12:30 am
No way is that Mark Harmon
posted by General on 9-30-2009 at 3:14 pm
Any chance that you would be willing to sell a DVD copy of this tape to me? I collect exactly this sort of thing and I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.
posted by Will Schweitzer on 10-15-2009 at 11:28 pm
I remember all of the toy commercials, plus the McDonald’s commercial. I’m thinking that some of these ran past 1987, since that’s the year I was born, so there’s no way that I could remember them from that year.
Also, I used to think that the Lego Maniac kid really had Legos for fingers.
Oh, and no way does that guy look like Mark Harmon! He has the same haircut and his smile is kind of similar, but that’s where the similarities stop, in my opinion.
posted by Christine on 11-19-2009 at 12:56 am