Nineteen eighty-four was a great year for guy-friendly movies and an even better year for guy-friendly television broadcasts. Twenty-five years ago, much changed on television, with networks offering more sports programming, more sitcoms centering around guys, and more shows appealing to a guy's visual and auditory senses. The shows that began 25 years ago paved the way for the shows of today and left a lasting impact on bro pop culture.

1. The Re-Invention of College Football/Flutie's Hail Mary



1984 was the year that invigorated and changed the broadcast of college football games. For all the legal bros and scholars out there, the change in college football broadcasting came about after a June 1984 Supreme Court ruling in NCAA v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, which stated that the NCAA's television plan violated anti-trust rules and allowed for individual schools to negotiate their own broadcast contracts. Although the results were not immediate, in 1984, ESPN started broadcasting its "College Football Saturday Primetime." To make it an even better year for college football, on November 23, 1984, in one of its bigger and initial college football broadcasts, CBS aired the B.C.-Miami game that ended with Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass.

How it changed Bro-gramming: The Supreme Court ruling had a strong impact on college sports. The decision, along with the growth of cable networks like ESPN and TBS resulted in an explosion of college sports broadcast options. Although most schools continued to negotiate broadcast contracts through the now defunct CFA, after Notre Dame broke with the CFA and signed an exclusive contract with NBC, more and more schools started negotiating individual broadcast deals, which led to more sports programming options on more channels in more local markets. As a result of the 1984 Supreme Court ruling, there has been a decrease in the number of independent schools and a repositioning of athletic conferences, as schools attempted to increase their bargaining power. Of course, aside from the ruling, ESPN's "College Football Saturday Primetime" has brought us many great football moments and many great sports commentators. And lastly, the win that Flutie clinched for B.C. against the U was not only some great football, but also led to a 16% rise in applications to B.C. and the birth of the "Flutie Effect," where schools experience an increase in applications after their sports teams are victorious.  Keep Reading »

In 1984, the first Apple Macintosh computer was introduced, the Space Ship Discovery embarked on its maiden voyage, and Ronald Reagan won re-election over Walter Mondale. In the movie theaters, it was the year of the Bro: most of the top grossing and Oscar-nominated films were guy movies, some of which go down today as some of the greatest of all time. Twenty-five years later, the current crop of testosterone-filled flicks may be winning big at the box office, but with the exception of "The Hangover," "The Hurt Locker," and a couple others, the drek that are "Transformers 2," "Terminator Salvation," and "X-Men: Wolverine" have been unequivocally disappointing. So we decided to take a look back at what went so right in 1984: Here are the 10 best guy movies of 1984, complete with all the classic lines (thanks to IMDB) that you're still quoting today.

"Ghost Busters" (June 8, 1984)
"When there's something strange in the neighborhood, who you gonna call? Ghost Busters!" It's impossible to forget the catchy theme song that pervaded the second-highest grossing film of 1984 and the youth of an entire generation. "Ghost Busters" spawned a sequel (a third is now in the works), two animated series, some killer Ecto Cooler juice boxes, and a video game. Not to mention it was also the forerunner to the science fiction-comedy summer blockbuster. Before there was "Independence Day" and "Men in Black," there was "Ghost Busters."

Guy Staying Power:
For anyone living under a rock, "Ghost Busters" tells the story of four guys who decide to start their own paranormal exterminator service. The main plot revolves around a case that the Ghost Busters take for Dana Barett, who believes her apartment is possessed. The team later finds out that it is Dana herself who is possessed, as is Dana's neighbor, Louis Tully. If Dana and Louis embrace, they will unlock the spirit of Gozer, an ancient Sumerian ghost who will bring about the end to the world. The Ghost Busters briefly subdue Gozer until he morphs into the famous StayPuft Marshmallow Man and begins to lay havoc to the city. Eventually, the Ghost Busters combine energy streams on their proton packs and Marshmallow Man turns into a pile of melted goo. Dana and Louis return to normal and the guys save the world again. This movie has something for every guy: a little science fiction, but not too much; a little romance, but not too much; comedy, of course; and plenty of team work. Before the good guys dressed in black, they wore khaki jumpsuits and proton packs.

The Lines You Still Quote:
Dr. Peter Venkman: We've been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft's okay! He's a sailor, he's in New York; we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble!

Dr. Egon Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you.
Dr. Peter Venkman: What?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Don't cross the streams.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Why?
Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad.
Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

Dr. Peter Venkman: We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!  Keep Reading »