The '80s: The Decade That Made Us

Lift Off (1x1)

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This landmark new six-part miniseries takes viewers back in time to see how the ’80s created our modern world. The first episode explores the revolution in personal entertainment brought on by Pac-Man, Sony Walkmans and Jane Fonda’s ground-breaking workout video. Apple’s Steve Wozniak helps explain how Bill Gates saw the future by selling IBM the rights to use MS-DOS software for a relatively small one-time fee, only to clean up when IBM competitors entered the market and all wanted the same software. The assassination of John Lennon heralded the end of one music era, while a bratty new kid on the block defined a new one — spelled “MTV.” Follow the musical reverberations of the birth of MTV and the music video’s role in taking hip-hop mainstream, and hear how the television series “Dallas” reinvigorated the notion that money and greed were good. Sharing their firsthand stories are Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Steven Tyler, Jane Fonda, Steve Wozniak and “Dallas” star Larry Hagman, in one of his last televised interviews.