Mental Floss

POP CULTURE

A still from Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

With his newfound success following the back-to-back smash hits of 'Jaws' in 1975 and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' in 1977, director Steven Spielberg wanted to tell a smaller, more personal story for his next film: 'E.T.'

Sean Hutchinson


Cedorris, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0

At just $2687, Asimov found the TRS-80 "surprisingly affordable!" His face becoming a familiar sight to more than 30 million Americans browsing the latest and greatest products in Radio Shack's catalogs.

Jake Rossen




ABC Television/Courtesy of Getty Images

Based on the British sitcom 'Man About the House,' 'Three's Company' starred physical comedy champion John Ritter in his breakout role as Jack Tripper, a culinary student who crashes a party and wakes up in Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy Snow’s (Su

Roger Cormier


YouTube

No scene in late 1980s cinema is more iconic than Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) holding a boombox over his head with the song “In Your Eyes” blasting in an attempt to win his girlfriend back.

Garin Pirnia








Warner Bros. Television

'Family Matters' began as a family show about Chicago cop Carl Winslow and his family, but fairly quickly morphed into 'The Steve Urkel Show.'

Jennifer M Wood
Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Jane Fonda star in 9 to 5 (1980).

Whether you think of it as a statement on female empowerment or simply a fun workplace comedy, the 1980 hit '9 to 5'—which featured Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton as a trio of secretaries who turn the tables on their "sexist, egotistical, lying

Jennifer M Wood