S04.E22: The Day After the Day After

[dcalley]

Quote

A TV movie inspires Barry to try to convince Murray to build an underground bunker; Erica and Adam go all out with Mother's Day gifts before making requests of Beverly.

A Sony Watchman!

I thought they should have had Barry say "nuke-q-lar," but he didn't. I think Coach Mellor did pronounce it that way, though.

[mojoween]

"The Day After" AND Garbage Pail Kids?  That's like my childhood summarized.

Although our elementary school encouraged us to watch it.  Nuclear war was a very real possibility in 1983 and they wanted us to know, not keep it from us.

But seriously, how stupid was it to have bomb drills by either getting under our desks or sitting on our knees with our foreheads on the floor and our arms over our heads?  Was it so we could kiss our asses goodbye?

[Nalan]

Did The Day After really cause that much of a panic back then?

Well, the show is clearly set sometime between 1981 and 1989, because Reagan was President during those years, and Barry dropped a mention that he was the President at their "current" time.

RLS!  RLS!  Two of them this time!  The first one with Erica in Adam's video, and the next one with Murray!

The JTP saying their usual chant, and then Lainey's name, followed by a unison apology when Lainey said not to do that, was probably one of my favorite parts.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Nalan

[biakbiak]

38 minutes ago, Nalan said:

Did The Day After really cause that much of a panic back then?

See the reaction section. 

The TV show The Americans also did an episode focused on its impact.

[mojoween]

I forgot to mention my favorite part.  When Beverly was running from the mailman and she said fuck, the blur was of the back of her head.

[SoothingDave]

3 hours ago, Nalan said:

Did The Day After really cause that much of a panic back then?

No.  Not in my world anyway.  

When did JTP get another member?

[biakbiak]

44 minutes ago, SoothingDave said:

 

When did JTP get another member?

Episode 17 Deadheads was when Matt officially became a member but he was also in earlier episodes. 

[SoothingDave]

Thanks.  I didn't have my ABC affiliate on my Dish for the last two months.  So I have some summer reruns to look forward to!

[Traveller519]

"JTP"

"JTP!"

"Lainey"

"LAINEY!"

"Don't..... don't do that."

Hahahahahah, way to punch that bit up a bit.

 

As soon as I saw Adam's first "Wind Beneath My Wings" video, I knew we were going to be seeing the real life version. He probably had to pry that our of Beverly's personal vault

[dcalley]

3 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

"JTP"

"JTP!"

"Lainey"

"LAINEY!"

"Don't..... don't do that."

"SORRY!"

[Traveller519]

I knew there was another tag on there, but I couldn't remember. Thanks for putting away the alley oop, @dcalley !

[shoregirl]

Not gonna gonna lie I'm a little disappointed Adam didn't go "down the shore". I would have got a kick out of 80 something version of the Jersey shore. Wonder what town they would have gone to? Are we talking Cape May county (Ocean City, Wildwood etc) or Atlantic County (Margate , Brigantine) or maybe even Long Beach Island . There are so many places Down the Shore to choose from.

[Cupcake04]

12 hours ago, Nalan said:

Did The Day After really cause that much of a panic back then?

Well, the show is clearly set sometime between 1981 and 1989, because Reagan was President during those years, and Barry dropped a mention that he was the President at their "current" time.

RLS!  RLS!  Two of them this time!  The first one with Erica in Adam's video, and the next one with Murray!

The JTP saying their usual chant, and then Lainey's name, followed by a unison apology when Lainey said not to do that, was probably one of my favorite parts.

Yes, it did cause that much of panic. I was a junior in Catholic HS and teachers talked about ot with us in every class IIRC. I think it was on a Sunday night, and I think was even broadcast on all 3 networks. It was "must see tv" and I didn't know of anyone who didnt watch it that night. We all watched with our families. I have never seen it other than that night. 

I gotta say that I loved that it was Barry who was the one freaked out and when Dad admitted he was scared too and hugged him I got a liitle choked up!. This show brings back so many wonderful memories for me I just love it so damn much!

[Mrs OldManBalls]

On 2017-05-04 at 6:57 AM, Nalan said:

The JTP saying their usual chant, and then Lainey's name, followed by a unison apology when Lainey said not to do that, was probably one of my favorite parts.

It was the highlight of the episode! 

[PradaKitty]

Just as I was getting ready to watch this episode, there was a power outage.  A large power outage in my area. Our power came back on shortly after the show ended.  Weirdly coincidental....

[reggiejax]

Quote

 

Yes, it did cause that much of panic. I was a junior in Catholic HS and teachers talked about ot with us in every class IIRC.

Whether or not The Day After caused a "panic" depends on what one considers a panic.

Did it become a topic of discussion across the nation? Yes.

Did it cause an increase in people worrying about the potential of a nuclear attack? Sure.

Were there people who took the Barry route, and planned for what they thought was inevitable? No doubt, but they were very much a small minority, and almost certainly already had those beliefs before the movie aired.

But I for one wouldn't call it a panic. I consider the Cuban Missile Crisis to be closer to a panic, and though I wasn't around in October 1962 to get the firsthand experience, I am 100% certain the response to The Day After (which aired when I was 13) was nowhere near that.

Edited May 11, 2017 by reggiejax

[Utpe]

Holy cow!  The Day After (1983).  If you really wanted to scare the pants off of everybody, then that was your go-to movie.  It was really graphic for something that was broadcasted on national television.  People spoke about it for years.

That was such a cute montage of Adam.  I laughed out loud when he misspelled "beneath" as "benieth".

"Why are people always carrying around a chalkboard?" - LMAO!  Love Pops.

Damn, Wind Beneath My Wings still gets me every time.

[TDT]

On 5/4/2017 at 4:34 AM, biakbiak said:

See the reaction section. 

The TV show The Americans also did an episode focused on its impact.

John Cullum,who i think plays a minor character on the show,also appeared in The Day After

1 hour ago, Utpe said:

Holy cow!  The Day After (1983).  If you really wanted to scare the pants off of everybody, then that was your go-to movie.  It was really graphic for something that was broadcasted on national television.  People spoke about it for years.

 

If you really wanted to scare them,have them watch Threads(a movie from the UK that came out around the same year,which also dealt with nuclear war)..that movie was on a whole other level

Both those movies still give me the chills to this very day,along with Testament and On The Beach(original and the 2000s remake)and i think they all can be viewed on Youtube

[Dawn16]

13 hours ago, Utpe said:

Holy cow!  The Day After (1983).  If you really wanted to scare the pants off of everybody, then that was your go-to movie.  It was really graphic for something that was broadcasted on national television.  People spoke about it for years.

That was such a cute montage of Adam.  I laughed out loud when he misspelled "beneath" as "benieth"

"Why are people always carrying around a chalkboard?" - LMAO!  Love Pops.

Damn, Wind Beneath My Wings still gets me every time.

The chalkboards are the best.  Always worth hitting pause and reading.   Barry's doomsday "skills." --  Digging really big holes.  Finding his way out of a corn maze with only a little help from the corn maze owner. 

[Subrookie]

On 5/4/2017 at 5:00 PM, Cupcake04 said:

Yes, it did cause that much of panic. I was a junior in Catholic HS and teachers talked about ot with us in every class IIRC. I think it was on a Sunday night, and I think was even broadcast on all 3 networks. It was "must see tv" and I didn't know of anyone who didnt watch it that night. We all watched with our families. I have never seen it other than that night.

I was in 4th grade and distinctly remember the night it was on. My parents sent me to bed after a half hour. I listened to the rest from the hallway where my parents couldn't see me. I was terrified through most of the 80's we were going to have a nuclear war. 

I got a laugh out of Barry's fallout shelter having a hot tub. 

Edited May 9, 2017 by Subrookie

[bybrandy]

I don't remember this movie.  Don't think I saw it.  But I know this movie had a huge impact on my brother who was older than me and did see it.  I'm pretty sure this movie was his justification for smoking since he really didn't think that he would live to see adulthood.   I'm a few years younger and I don't remember ever having a big doomsday fear, maybe that's generational.. or maybe my brother is just a bigger pessimist than me.

[Whimsy]

That movie scared the bejeezuz out of me.  I was 11 years old and it greatly affected me.  I still remember the feeling to this day.  I'm sure if I watched it now I would find it all sorts of cheesy, but back then it was terrifying.  After this movie, I remember listening to the song by Sting "Russians" that was released 2 years later and feeling the same way all over again. 

[Bobbin]

"The Day After" was an eye-opener for very many, revealing the nitty-gritty aftermath of nuclear war that had never crossed the public's mind before. A good parody of the tension that the Cuban missile crisis and continuing Cold War generated, along with the fear of atomic fallout that spawned so many monster movies during that era, is the 1993 movie "Matinee." It's also a tribute to the master of special effects, Ray Harryhausen, who should be Adam's idol.

[scowl]

A little context for The Day After. In September, the Soviets shot down Korean Airlines KAL007 killing 269 passengers and it looked like Andropov would do just about anything. In November, we saw The Day After. Then in December two articles published in Science described a "Nuclear Winter" in which even a small nuclear exchange would envelop the Earth in so much smoke and dust that the sun would be blocked out, crops would die, and people would freeze to death.

It was not a fun time.