Is 1983 The Greatest Year In Pop Culture History?

We are currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of the most re-watchable and toyetic Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi. In and of itself, that would make 1983 a landmark pop culture year, but what if I tell you that is just barely scratching the surface? 1983 is such a wellspring of indelible pop cultural content that it almost deserves one of those insane internet conspiracy theories to explain it. I'll start: a race of aliens visited Earth and taught humans the secrets of entertainment.

I need to stress that what makes this somewhat incredible is not that these things were merely good. It's that they still have pop cultural relevance 40 years after the fact. I would argue a good year need only have one thing that has such permanency in the public consciousness. 1983 has dozens.




Television isn't the strongest category (that goes to movies), but it's nothing to sneeze at. The leader in this pack for television shows that debuted in '83 is The A-Team, which has instant recognition today, thanks in part to the 2010 movie reboot starring Liam Neeson. But next up is equally as recognizable today, The Joy of Painting. Bob Ross passed away in 1995, but hundreds of college kids have a Bob Ross Funko Pop! in their dorm room right now. You're only two degrees of separation from someone who got a Bob Ross Chia Pet this year for Christmas.

From the realm of kids cartoons, 1983 launched a trio of shows that are still significant today with the debuts of the Masters of the Universe cartoon, Inspector Gadget, and Dungeons & Dragons. Hasbro just launched a toy line for the latter, and there are 18 years olds who know the phrase "go go Gadget [thing].”




Okay, I can't completely geek out about this category because we were still knee deep in New Wave in 1983. I'm not a huge fan of New Wave (The English Beat's Save it for Later notwithstanding). Despite this there were a trio of landmark albums. I'm not the biggest fan of The Police, but I can't deny how huge Synchronicity was, songs from which are still fodder for romcom soundtracks today. ZZ Top's Eliminator pushed them to universal recognition, and the songs still play a role in our culture. If the slovenly lead in a teen comedy cleans up for the prom, chances are Sharp Dressed Man will accompany the reveal.

The album that carries the most pop culture significance today is Metallica's Kill 'Em All. It was the band's first studio album. I'm not going to front that I've always been a Metallica fan. I was a radio and MTV nerd. The first Metallica song I ever heard is One, but like legions of others, once I became a fan, I dove into the back catalog. Seek and Destroy is one of my favorite songs, and it's an anthem in many sports arenas to this day.




1983 saw the launch of Cabbage Patch Kids, which launched toy scalping. And that's all I'm going to say about that.




Not only did 1983 bring us one of the best Star Wars movies, it also brought us one of the best Christmas movies of all time with A Christmas Story. You know, that little movie that TBS shows for 24 hours straight every year. The fact that both Jedi and A Christmas Story came out in '83 is justification enough for this article, but the list of movies that are still relevant today is so long that I can't even write about them in depth unless this article becomes longer than The Odyssey. All I can do is list them bullet style:

• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Correction: E.T. actually came out in 1982, but was still in the top 100 box office for 1983.


• National Lampoon's Vacation


• Tootsie


• Trading Places


• WarGames


• Mr. Mom


• Easy Money


• Christine


• Strange Brew

There are even more that are deserving of continued reverence like The Toy, To Be Or Not To Be, Cujo, The Dead Zone and Blue Thunder. For my money, 1983 is the greatest movie year ever.




The 1983 Topps baseball card is the most beautiful sports card ever created. Many have tried to duplicate it. All have failed.



Do you see that list? That's some list, yeah? I know men my age adore the 80's and have a massive bias towards it, which explains its contemporary relevance as we constantly reference it to the youth of today. The decade is also the favorite fodder of pop culturalists like Seth MacFarlane and Dan Harmon, which has extended its longevity. I heard a kid born this century cite the WOPR as an example of the ultimate processing power. I cried. But men my age carrying the water for the 80's aside, you have to admit that 1983 is an uniquely prominent pop culture year.

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