One of the (many) criticisms levied against television is that it erodes attention spans. That was certainly the case in the 1980s. Growing up, all I heard was people belly-aching that the quick-cut, high-speed editing techniques of MTV and other television networks aimed at “the kids” was weakening the abilities of those who watched their pablum to focus, to concentrate on the task at hand, to…to…
…is that a squirrel wearing a Halloween mask?
Where was I?
Oh, yeah…shortening attention spans…
On the other hand, keeping the attention of MTV viewers taught a generation of writers, directors, and editors to cut the fat, to trim away the unnecessary bits and stick to lean, bite-sized chunks of information. Those unable to reduce what they had to say to a more manageable size dared the viewer to do her worst – to switch channels!
The movie trailer was one such slab of information that needed to be trimmed down to fit on the end of a fork for easy TV digestibility. There was no time to engage in high-falutin’ “artistry.” Not a second could be wasted if you wanted the viewer to look forward to what was coming this Friday to a theater near them!
If you watched TV in the 1980s, then you know that horror was king, and the undisputed champion of the genre was Stephen King. It seemed that everything that King signed his name to was fodder for the movies and TV. In some cases, the 30-second TV spot had more pace, was more exciting, and made more sense than the movie it advertised. Speaking for myself, I know my skin crawled when the TV spot for Maximum Overdrive came on the air. Yeardley Smith screaming “What is going on?!” over that pulsating, synth-driven score made me break out into gooseflesh. Quite a different experience when I actually got to see the movie.
So, let’s celebrate the condensed horrors of the TV spot by looking at how the films of Stephen King were sold to TV viewers in the 1980s. The films themselves were sometimes good and sometimes bad, but the mini movies of the 30-second TV spot were all pure gold.
The Shining (1980), dir. by Stanley Kubrick
Creepshow (1982), dir. by George A. Romero
Cujo (1983), dir. by Lewis Teague
The Dead Zone (1983), dir. by David Cronenberg
Christine (1983), dir. by John Carpenter
Children of the Corn (1984), dir. by Fritz Kiersch
Firestarter (1984), dir. by Mark L. Lester
Cat's Eye (1985), dir. by Lewis Teague
Silver Bullet (1985), dir. by Dan Attias
Maximum Overdrive (1986), dir. by Stephen King
Stand By Me (1986), dir. by Rob Reiner
Creepshow 2 (1987), dir. by Michael Gornick
The Running Man (1987), dir. by Paul Michael Glaser
Pet Sematary ( 1989), dir. by Mary Lambert
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