# TV shows and movies set approximately 30 years in the past **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540 "2019-10-09T17:58:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/21 "2019-10-10T15:18:57Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > The Goldbergs premiered in 2013 and is still on. The show takes place in “1980something”, so it fits the 20 -30 year time span well. I always refer to “The Goldbergs” as “That 80s Show.” ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/22 "2019-10-10T16:30:15Z")
_Hogan’s Heroes_ was set roughly 25 years after the war. The show was on the air longer than U.S. involvement in the war lasted. The first season of _The Waltons_ aired roughly 40 years after the events depicted, but by the last season it was only 35 years after. One of the reunion movies \* A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion\* (1993) took place exactly 30 years after the events depicted, which included their reaction to the JFK assassination. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/23 "2019-10-10T21:40:17Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I always refer to “The Goldbergs” as “That 80s Show.” What a horrible [slur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_'80s_Show). I refer to [_The Goldbergs_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goldbergs_(broadcast_series)) as that 20s/30s/40s/50s radio/TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/24 "2019-10-10T21:56:18Z")
A new Australian comedy, Frayed, which has not been aired yet but is now being promoted is set in 1988. It is about an Australian emigrant to Britain who returns to Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/25 "2019-10-11T15:15:07Z")
It seems to me that genres such as this appear when the people who would be interested are old enough to have disposable income to throw at advertisers. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/26 "2019-10-11T15:21:28Z")
Mindhunters on Netflix is a little on the high side of 30 years, but close enough for me. Good series. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/27 "2019-10-11T20:17:35Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/28 "2019-10-13T17:58:51Z")
The movie _Frequency_ is largely about a time-skipping ham-radio conversation between a father and son, the former in 1969 and the later in 1999. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/29 "2019-10-13T20:12:05Z")
[American Dreams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dreams) aired from 2002-05, and covered 1963-66. **WildaBeast** , there’s a movie called **Remember Me** that has 9/11 as a plot point. Sort of. (I was going to mention **China Beach** , but someone already did.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/30 "2019-10-13T21:12:03Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > A new Australian comedy, Frayed, which has not been aired yet but is now being promoted is set in 1988. It is about an Australian emigrant to Britain who returns to Australia. This intrigues me. What, if anything, is so special about 1988, and what would he/she bring back to Australia from the experience? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/31 "2019-10-14T11:36:49Z")
We’re almost as far removed from _Summer of Sam_ (1999) as it was from 1977, when it was set. ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/32 "2019-10-14T13:37:29Z")
Young Sheldon takes place in the '80s. Fresh Off the Boat started in 1989. Maybe they could have some crossover shows with the Goldbergs. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540/33 "2019-10-14T15:34:06Z")
Deutschland '83 was first broadcast in 2015 (great series by the way, slightly under the radar but worth watching) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-approximately-30-years-in-the-past/841540.md?page=1)