| The Eighties | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Television documentary |
| Theme music composer | Blake Neely |
| Composer | Nathaniel Blume |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Tom Hanks Gary Goetzman Mark Herzog |
| Producers | Simon Brown Katie A. King P.G. Morgan |
| Cinematography | Jack Kney |
| Editor | Inbal B. Lessner |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | CNN Playtone Herzog & Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | CNN |
| Release | March 31 – June 30, 2016 |
| Related | |
| The Sixties The Seventies The Nineties The 2000s The Movies The 2010s | |
The Eighties is a documentary miniseries which premiered on CNN on March 31, 2016.[1] Produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman's studio Playtone, it serves as a follow-up to the predecessors The Sixties and The Seventies[1] with a 7-part series chronicling events and popular culture of the United States during the 1980s. In May 2016, CNN greenlit an 8-part follow-up titled The Nineties, which premiered in 2017.[2]
The series encountered numerous interruptions during subsequent broadcasts due to CNN's coverage of news events including the death of Prince and the political campaign of Donald Trump,[3] which caused some episodes to be shown out of order from the original plan.
| Episode | Title | Scheduled Air Date | Actual Air Date | US viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Raised on Television" | March 31, 2016 | March 31, 2016 | 1.415[4] | |
| Television advancements in the '80s, including the increasing diversity, the rise of celebrity- and tabloid-oriented series, and the launches of CNN, Fox, and MTV. | |||||
| 2 | "The Reagan Revolution" | April 7, 2016 | April 7, 2016 | TBD | |
| The presidency of Ronald Reagan. | |||||
| 3 | "The Fight Against AIDS" | April 14, 2016 | June 9, 2016 | TBD | |
| A mysterious virus that led to a pandemic with enormous political and cultural consequences in the '80s. | |||||
| 4 | "Tear Down This Wall" | April 21, 2016 | April 28, 2016 | TBD | |
| The events that led to the end of the Cold War. | |||||
| 5 | "Technology Gets Personal" | April 28, 2016 | June 30, 2016 | TBD | |
| Technological developments and advancements during the '80s, including PCs, VCRs, and video games, as well as technology that didn't take off. | |||||
| 6 | "Greed Is Good" | May 5, 2016 | May 12, 2016 | TBD | |
| Wall Street corruption, Reaganomics, junk bonds, and bailouts that led to greed and wild excess in the '80s. | |||||
| 7 | "Video Killed the Radio Star" | May 12, 2016 | May 26, 2016 | TBD | |
| The evolution of music and notable musicians in the '80s, including the advent of music videos, CDs, and the Second British Invasion. | |||||
CNN announced the production of The Eighties on May 13, 2015, before the premiere of their preceding miniseries The Seventies on June 11.[5]
