The '80s: The Decade That Made Us [View all]

[unrepentant progress]

This looks interesting, but based on the show synopsis it sounds like NatGeo will be making a dive into bad history territory. This was the thing that irked me so much about David Sirota's book "Back to Our Future" too -- trying to pin everything in the contemporary world on the 1980s is irresponsible. Much of what we saw in the '80s from Reaganism to personal computing was brewing long before then.

"It's, like, totally tubular. The '80s: The Decade That Made Us isn't about nostalgia; it's about the history of our modern world that spawned political, technological, cultural, and social revolutions that began in the United States and went on to dominate the world. This cultural programming event is the defining biography of a generation. It's about a decade of people, decisions, and inventions that changed our future, told from the perspective of the unknowing history makers who lived these iconic moments. We worked out, worked harder, played harder and consumed more—because the 1980s was the decade when we went forward to the future. The first launch of the Space Shuttle triggered a technological explosion in global communications that gave birth to our modern love affair with smartphones; Madonna rolled around on stage in a wedding dress, sending shock waves through a celebrity-hungry world that can’t get enough of Lady Gaga and Katy Perry today. These and other incredible stories reveal surprising, unexpected details and twists and turns from a decade you only thought you knew. Narrated by an original member of the "Brat Pack," Rob Lowe, The '80s will put us back in touch with our inner Valley Girl by reliving the music, inspirational sports moments, and scenes from iconic movies and TV shows, as well as the very best (and worst) of hair and fashion."