80's Dan

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

So hello, sunny skies
Goodbye, blues!

A character and show by Brad Jones as part of The Cinema Snob site. Dan got zapped from 1989 to the present when Brad opened a bottle of New Coke. Since then, Dan has settled with his roommates, Dolly and R.O.B. the Robot, and his neighbors the Crabtrees, to talk about his favorite stuff from The Eighties, no matter how stupid or schlocky it is.

Most of the show is done in a fake sitcom format, complete with canned audience reactions. Plots usually involve Dan gushing over stuff from his time, his friends getting annoyed, and R.O.B. trying to make it with Mrs. Crabtree, to her husband's increasing annoyance.

Episodes can be found on here.


Tropes used in 80's Dan include:

"I'm that pretentious guy from that internet show!"
"The stick up his ass seemed pleasant."

  • Affectionate Parody: The show is one of 80's sitcoms, including a gratuitous Laugh Track and a cute buddy who's completely out of place.
  • Ass Shove: In the Christmas Special, Mrs. Crabtree threatens to shove ROB up her own ass. Acts as Foreshadowing to The Reveal that she really does do that kind of thing when drunk, and that the Christmas star 80's Dan and Dolly were looking for throughout the whole thing was up there all along.
  • Censor Box / Sound Effect Bleep: Dolly's religious aura makes it physically impossible to swear around her. But only on Christmas. Actually, the rules aren't clear.

Snob: I can't say [bleep], but he gets to make jokes about crack and weapons?!
Dolly: It doesn't make sense to us either.

"I'm STARBUCK!, goddammit!"
""That is the worst Dirk Benedict costume I've ever seen."

Linkara: "Ah, yes. The crossover everyone demanded."

80s Dan: Y'know, if I shove some coke up my ass, at least I'd die from partying too hard.

Dolly: Why I am thinking of VHS tapes, all of the sudden?
ROB: Same reason I'm thinking of titties!

  • Laugh Track: Not quite spoofed, but it's clear the use isn't serious either.
  • Leitmotif: Dan has "Take On Me".
  • Love Triangle: Between ROB, Mrs.Crabtree and her Husband. ROB actually has more of a chance than you would think.
  • Meaningful Name: The Crabtrees are a crabby married couple. Also, Jillian as "Dolly."
  • Meet Cute: The Title Sequence shows the titular hero falling into a time warp, then slipping and falling on Dolly's driveway.
  • Mirror Universe: Brad has joked that 80's Dan is basically the "bizarro" Cinema Snob, right down to the white blazer.
  • My Eyes Are Up Here: Dolly said this to ROB.
  • Negative Continuity: How Dan got here tends to tweak from various videos.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: Mrs. Crabtree
  • Non-Human Sidekick: Spoofed, when Dan said he loved when shows would do this trope for no realistic reason, and the camera cut to R.O.B. the robot, who himself wondered why the camera cut to him.
  • Perpetual Smiler: Dan, to the point of his smile reaching shit-eating-grin levels.
    • Explained in the Hot to Trot episode. He does cocaine and is high as a kite.
  • Real Song Theme Tune: "Goodbye Blues", the theme to the short-lived show Hawaiian Heat.
  • Refuge in Audacity: With references to copious drug use, drunken sex, and neo-Nazi violence, "A Very Inappropriate 80's Dan Christmas" definitely fits this trope.
  • Robot Buddy: R.O.B.
  • Shaggy Dog Story: Dolly embarking on a journey to find the star to her Christmas Tree. Turns out it's up inside the drunk Mrs Crabtree.
    • "Because this whole holiday reeks of ass!!"

Dolly: You know, we could've just bought a new star.