Miles Rook articles

Some comedies once seemed to live everywhere. Their catchphrases escaped the theater, bounced around offices and schoolyards, then gradually became passwords mostly recognized by people who were there the first time.

Test your 1980s TV knowledge with this challenging theme song quiz featuring classic lyrics, opening sequences, famous performers, and unforgettable shows from the decade’s biggest television hits.

These performers once commanded enormous attention, and revisiting them reveals just how crowded the decade really was.

Television has a powerful way of convincing viewers they know an actor. Then the right role arrives, the smile disappears, and someone once associated with comforting family television suddenly becomes almost unrecognizable.

Combat, loss, years away from the studios, and changing priorities reshaped both the men themselves and the kinds of characters audiences saw when they returned.

He traveled a hard dusty road, singing songs of protest against the injustice he saw around him. Overcoming early adversity, Woody Guthrie inspired future generations of folk musicians with his memorable songs and love of the common people. But just as Guthrie started to leave his early struggles behind, he would face the most terrible struggle of all.

When Glenn Miller gave up a successful music career to serve his country, he had no idea it would cost him his life.

His real friendships were messier. Jimmy Stewart remained beside him for half a century, while other once-close Hollywood relationships ended with doors firmly shut.