And you can start feeling old...now.

Having my annual Alumni Weekend coming up this Saturday - the one where all former students of the very small private school I went to for eight years are invited to return - has me thinking back to those years. I spent the eighties going to that school. And during that time, since I spent very little of it studying, I watched a LOT of network television (since we didn't have cable in Sacramento at that time). Some of it was good. Some of it...well, was really horrible. But when you have a total of six channels to choose from as your entire entertainment lineup, you learn not to get too picky.

Case in point - the memorable (and you can attach whatever meaning to that word you'd like) "Silver Spoons", the sitcom that followed the trials and tribulations of a ridiculously wealthy white kid. It's the show that gave us the "Ricker", Ricky Schroder...a young actor that won our hearts before we quickly shunned and abandoned him, leaving him to wallow in obscurity until he re-appeared with a gun and a potty mouth on NYPD Blue over a decade later. Please note that if you just stood up from your chair and yelled at me through your monitor for leaving out his "Lonesome Dove" work? You ARE from the 80s. Take a bow.

So in case you've forgotten about the magic the Ricker brought into our homes - or if it's just been a long time since you've seen a pre-teen Caucasian breakdance - take a journey back to the Stratton mansion with me, will you? Be sure to ride it out, because it's about 30 seconds into the clip where this baby REALLY catches fire: