How VH1's I Love the ... series changed the way we talk about pop-culture

The Ringer

VH1’s I Love the ’80s premiered in December 2002, becoming a full-blown franchise that expanded to I Love the '70s, I Love the '90s, I Love the 2000s and I Love the New Millennium. "The show, which broke down each year of the ’80s into a one-hour segment, served as a look back at the pop culture of the decade, with topics ranging from music to TV to movies to newsworthy events, celebrities, video games, fashion, and more," says Jessica MacLeish. "Comedians and celebrities would offer up their—often lightly mocking, emphatically enthusiastic, or fully sarcastic—commentary on a host of given topics, juxtaposed with original clips of the topic in question. One night you’d see Melissa Etheridge reminiscing about her personal experience with the mullet hairstyle; the next, Aisha Tyler would be talking about how 'everybody hated Blair' and her hair dryer on The Facts of Life. It was nostalgic entertainment, and a new form of pop culture education, years before Full House became Fuller; before YouTube, the internet as a whole, and streaming services made original older entertainment infinitely more accessible. In many ways, VH1’s I Love the … series taught a microgeneration how to consume and discuss popular culture."