Today in 80s History: August 9th in the 80s

No 80s Music news today in the 80s!

Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Release Date: August 9, 1985
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton and Diane Salinger
Budget: $7 Million
Box Office: $40.9 Million
Note: Tim Burton's first feature, made when he was 26, with a Danny Elfman score that announced both of them at once. Large Marge, the Alamo basement, the bike. Warner Bros. had no idea what they had.

Summer Rental (1985)

Release Date: August 9, 1985
Director: Carl Reiner
Starring: John Candy, Richard Crenna, Karen Austin and Joey Lawrence
Box Office: $24.6 Million
Note: John Candy's first leading role, as an air traffic controller sent on forced vacation to Florida. Carl Reiner directing Candy at full charm is a better combination than the reviews suggested.

The Abyss (1989)

Release Date: August 9, 1989 (Wide release August 11)
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn
Budget: $43 Million
Box Office: $90 Million Worldwide
Note: Shot in a flooded, unfinished nuclear reactor containment vessel in South Carolina. Ed Harris has called it the hardest thing he's ever done and says he nearly drowned twice. It also produced the water tentacle, the effect that convinced Cameron he could eventually build the T-1000.

1986 - The Final Episode of The Paper Chase Aired

Event: Series Finale

Network: CBS (Season 1), Showtime (Seasons 2-4)
Seasons: 4
Episodes: 59
Note: Cancelled by CBS in 1979, then revived by Showtime four years later — one of the first series ever resurrected by a cable network, which is now how half of television works.

1980 - That's My Line Premiered

Event: Series Premiere

Network: CBS
Host: Bob Barker
Note: Barker moonlighting from The Price Is Right to host a show about people with unusual jobs. It lasted two seasons.

1988 - Wayne Gretzky Was Traded to the Los Angeles Kings

Event: NHL

Details: The Oilers sent the 27-year-old holder of 43 NHL records, along with Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, to Los Angeles for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three first-round picks and $15 million. Canada treated it as a national bereavement; a member of Parliament asked the government to block it. It also put hockey on the map in the sun belt.

1988 - The First Official Night Game at Wrigley Field

Event: MLB

Details: A day after the rainout, the Cubs beat the Mets 6-4 in front of 36,399. Lenny Dykstra hit the first home run under the Wrigley lights. The last ballpark in the majors to install lights had held out since 1941, when the steel it bought for them was donated to the war effort.

No other news today in the 80s!