I Love the '80s Strikes Back is a miniseries and the third installment of the I Love the... series on VH1 in which various music and television personalities reminisce about 1980s popular culture in a mostly humorous manner. The series premiered on October 20, 2003, and is a sequel to I Love the '80s. The sequel designation is in the reference to The Empire Strikes Back.

Commentators

(*) = archival footage

Recurring segments

Topics covered by year

1980

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on Superman Break Up Songs of 1980: "Boys Don't Cry" by The Cure, "Please Don't Go" by KC and the Sunshine Band and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" by Hall & Oates Hip-Hop Jam of 1980: "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang PSA of 1980: The Bod Squad's "Don't Drown Your Food" PSA (healthy eating) Nerds of 1980: Steve Jobs, Elvis Costello and C-3PO The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1980: Alvin and the Chipmunks's Chipmunk Punk album becomes their very first record to go gold

1981

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on Journey Break Up Songs of 1981: "Since You're Gone" by The Cars, "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League and "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)" by The Greg Kihn Band Hip-Hop Jam of 1981: "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow PSA of 1981: Think Before You Drink (Anti-Drinking Ad starring Brooke Shields) Nerds of 1981: Prince Charles, Ric Ocasek and Bill Gates The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1981: The USDA proposes to cut school lunch programs by classifying ketchup as a school lunch vegetable

1982

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on The Beastmaster Break Up Songs of 1982: "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" by Culture Club, "Only Time Will Tell" by Asia and "Harden My Heart" by Quarterflash Hip-Hop Jam of 1982: "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force PSA of 1982: Alternate Escape Routes in case of a fire ("Learn not to burn") Starring Dick Van Dyke Nerds of 1982: Thomas Dolby, Irwin "Skippy" Handelman and Sarah Jessica Parker The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1982: Yale University offers a 14-week special course on how to solve the Rubik's Cube

1983

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on The Day After and Snausages Break Up Songs of 1983: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey and "Always Something There to Remind Me" by Naked Eyes Hip-Hop Jam of 1983: "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) by Grandmaster Melle Mel PSA of 1983: "We're not candy!" (about kids finding pills out of the bottle and accidentally eating them) by The Poison Control Center Nerds of 1983: Nerds Candy, LeVar Burton and Simon Seville The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1983: Interior Secretary James Watt bans The Beach Boys from playing on the National Mall

1984

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on Scratch and Sniff Break Up Songs of 1984: "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger, "Hard Habit to Break" by Chicago and "Oh Sherrie" by Steve Perry Hip-Hop Jam of 1984: "Roxanne, Roxanne" by UTFO PSA of 1984: McGruff the Crime Dog's "Take A Bite Out of Crime" (subject: getting into cars with strangers) Nerds of 1984: Ed Grimley, Alex Trebek and Long Duk Dong The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1984: Ronald Reagan makes an off-the-record joke about outlawing and bombing Russia

1985

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on crack cocaine Break Up Songs of 1985: "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister, "I Miss You" by Klymaxx and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds Hip-Hop Jam of 1985: "The Show" by Doug E. Fresh PSA of 1985: Bob Barker about AIDS (debunking the misconception of getting AIDS from cats) Nerds of 1985: Crispin Glover, Lukas Haas and Larry King The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1985: The "mythical unicorns" from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus are actually goats with surgically-fused horns

1986

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on Bon Jovi Break Up Songs of 1986: "No One Is to Blame" by Howard Jones, "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House and "If You Leave" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Hip-Hop Jam of 1986: "Walk This Way" by Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith PSA of 1986: Rock Against Drugs (Aimee Mann of 'Til Tuesday) Nerds of 1986: Willie Tanner, Rick Moranis and Cliff Clavin The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1986: Fred Grandy runs for Congress from the state of Iowa and wins

1987

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on Scruples Break Up Songs of 1987: "With or Without You" by U2, "Didn't We Almost Have It All" by Whitney Houston and "I Won't Forget You" by Poison Hip-Hop Jam of 1987: "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa & Spinderella PSA of 1987: Rock Against Drugs (Anti-Drug) Nerds of 1987: Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, Bud Bundy and Gilbert Gottfried The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1987: Vanna White's autobiography, Vanna Speaks, recalls that she once smoked some pot, then she ate an entire meatloaf

1988

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on Garfield Break Up Songs of 1988: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison, "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" by Cinderella and "Look Away" by Chicago Hip-Hop Jam of 1988: "Mary, Mary" by Run-D.M.C. PSA of 1988: Sylvester Stallone for Give The Gift Of Literacy Nerds of 1988: Mike Mills, Paul Pfeiffer and Miles Silverberg The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1988: The final episode of St. Elsewhere reveals that the entire series has taken place inside the mind of an autistic child

1989

Donal Logue's Unfinished Thoughts on Pete Rose Break Up Songs of 1989: "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" by Michael Bolton, "Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson and "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty Hip-Hop Jam of 1989: "Don't Believe the Hype" by Public Enemy PSA of 1989: Magic Johnson on Designated Drivers Nerds of 1989: Samuel "Screech" Powers, Woody Allen and Steve Urkel The What The F#?%!!! Moment of 1989: 87-year-old Carrie Stringfellow nearly gets embalmed after being mistaken for dead at a Springfield, Ohio funeral home