Who can forget the 80s with its high hair, power suits with shoulder pads for women, mullet hair cuts, the frenzy over Cabbage Patch Kids toys, and when everyone wanted MTV. The decade also produced quotable lines from TV sit-coms, dramas, and even commercials.
In order to find the most memorable lines or quotes from television in the 1980s that made their way into the American mainstream, 24/7 Tempo consulted various culture-themed sites such as ClickAmericana, the Best Classic Bands, and media sites such as Reader’s Digest and Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to compile our list.
People have been quoting memorable lines from TV shows since television became a staple in the American home after World War II. And while vintage shows eventually started reappearing on vintage TV channels such as MeTV and Retro TV, the advent of domestic video tape recorders in the late 1970s enabled sit-com and drama fans to replay episodes and repeat famous quotes from much-loved shows, many of them from the 1980s.
Many of the decade’s enduring quotes came from sit-coms. “Norm” was the greeting to bar fly Norm Peterson from the cast of “Cheers.” Gary Coleman’s sassy Arnold Jackson made the phrase “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” famous on the show “Diff’rent Strokes.” Pint-sized Michelle Tanner used the line “No way, Jose” as an act of defiance on “Full House.” (Also See The Funniest Comedies of the 1980s.)
Some quotes that have entered the culture came from commercials and public service announcements. When Clara Peller famously asked “Where’s the beef?” in a Wendy’s commercial, it became a line in the Democratic presidential debate in 1984. A public service announcement warning of the dangers of drugs pulled no punches when the man in the TV spot dropped an egg onto a sizzling skillet and grimly said “This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?”
Scroll below to see tv lines kids from the 80s still remember.
“Norm”
- Who Said It: Cast of Cheers
- Show/Commercial: Cheers
- When It Ran: 1982-1993
“I Want My MTV”
- Who Said It: Slogan said by 80s rock performers
- Show/Commercial: MTV channel
- When It Ran: 1980s
“I pity the fool”
- Who Said It: Mr. T
- Show/Commercial: The A-Team
- When It Ran: 1983-1987
“No problem”
- Who Said It: ALF
- Show/Commercial: ALF
- When It Ran: 1986-1990
“Who shot J.R.?”
- Who Said It: Promotion for show
- Show: Dallas
- When It Ran: 1978-1991
“What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”
- Who Said It: Arnold Jackson
- Show/Commercial: Diff’rent Strokes
- When It Ran: 1978-1986
“Let’s be careful out there”
- Who Said It: Sgt. Phil Esterhaus
- Show/Commercial: Hill Street Blues
- When It Ran: 1981-1987
“The balcony is closed”
N/A
- Who Said It: Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel
- Show/Commercial: At the Movies
- When It Ran: 1982-1999
“Just do it”
- Who Said It: Slogan
- Show/Commercial: Nike commercial
- When It Ran: 1988
“Make it so”
- Who Said It: Jean Luc Picard
- Show/Commercial: Star Trek: The Next Generation
- When It Ran: 1987-1994
“Where’s the beef?”
- Who Said It: Clara Peller
- Show/Commercial: Wendy’s commercial
- When It Ran: 1984
“Mary!”
- Who Said It: Sandra Clark
- Show/Commercial: 227
- When It Ran: 1985-1990
“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”
- Who Said It: Mrs. Fletcher
- Show/Commercial: Life Alert commercial
- When It Ran: 1980s
“This is your brain on drugs”
- Who Said It: Narrator
- Show/Commercial: PSA for Partnership for a Drug-Free America
- When It Ran: 1980s
“There’s gonna be trouuuuble!”
- Who Said It: Tootie Ramsey
- Show/Commercial: The Facts of Life
- When It Ran: 1979-1988
“You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry”
- Who Said It: David Banner
- Show/Commercial: The Incredible Hulk
- When It Ran: 1977-1982
“Pump you up!”
- Who Said It: Hans and Franz
- Show/Commercial: Saturday Night Live
- When It Ran: 1980s
“Holy Macanoli!”
- Who Said It: Punky Brewster
- Show/Commercial: Punky Brewster
- When It Ran: 1984-1988
“We will sell no wine before its time”
- Who Said It: Orson Welles
- Show/Commercial: Commercial for Paul Masson wine
- When It Ran: 1978-1981
“So, you want fame? Well, fame costs … and right here is where you start paying”
- Who Said It: Debbie Allen
- Show/Commercial: Fame
- When It Ran: 1982-1987
“Benson, Benson, Benson!”
- Who Said It: Governor Gatling
- Show/Commercial: Benson
- When It Ran: 1979-1986
“Cowabunga!”
- Who Said It: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Show/Commercial: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- When It Ran: 1987-1996
“Eat my shorts”
- Who Said It: Bart Simpson
- Show/Commercial: The Simpsons
- When It Ran: 1989-
“Take off, eh!”
- Who Said It: Bob and Doug McKenzie
- Show/Commercial: SCTV
- When It Ran: 1976-1981
“No way, Jose”
- Who Said It: Michelle Tanner
- Show/Commercial: Full House
- When It Ran: 1997-1995
“Party on!”
- Who Said It: Wayne and Garth
- Show/Commercial: Saturday Night Live
- When It Ran: 1989