You probably think of the hills of Hollywood or the incandescent glow of Broadway’s neon lights if you imagine someone who delves into the realms of pop culture icons. And when you think of the 80s and 90s pop culture icons from North Carolina, you think about the greatest basketball player of all time: Michael Jordan. Maybe you think about short story writer O. Henry or American Astronaut Charles Duke. Possibly you think about NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt or funnyman actor Zach Galifianakis. What about jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk or bluegrass legend Doc Watson? What about a homosexual half Native American half African American North Carolina born actor who went from the theatrical stages of Broadway to two of the 80s biggest Pop Culture TV juggernauts? Still not ringing a bell?
The Cosby Show was an American TV show that featured and was co-created by one of the greatest comedians/comedic minds of all time. Though controversial now, Bill Cosby was EVERYWHERE in the 80s! He was the focus of The Cosby Show (which pulled influence from the immensely popular comedian’s stand-up routines) which catapulted Cosby to becoming one of America’s favorite actors. TV magazine voted Cosby TV’s greatest dad. The TV Guide listed The Cosby Show as the biggest TV show of the 1980s, and went on to say that The Cosby Show “single-handedly revived the sitcom genre.” The show spent a record-breaking five consecutive seasons as TV’s number one show. In the history of TV, there has been only one other sitcom to have ever had a Nielsen rating to be number one for five weeks.
From He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (my personal favorite), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe or even The Care Bears; the 80s had plenty of quality cartoons from which to choose. As a child of the 80s, I bet you know of The Thundercats (Even if you were not, I’m sure that you’ve heard of the Pop Culture phenomenon.). If you still have no idea what I’m talking about, The original ThunderCats cartoon series ran from 1985 to 1989; and centered around a group of humanoid cat-like aliens that crash-landed on an earthlike planet (cheaply called Third Earth). With their people, all destroyed as they fled their homeworld, The ThunderCats narrowly escaped. Attacked by Mutants, they all crash-landed on Third Earth. On Third Earth, a mummified sorcerer named Mumm-Ra Recruits the Mutants to help him steal the Eye of Thundera (which just so happens to be housed in the sword wielded by the leader of the ThunderCats: Lion-O. Among the ThunderCats crew was the ship’s pilot. The cunning warrior’s strength, martial arts ability, genius building knowledge, and killer nunchuck skills caused him to be a fan favorite.
Panthro’s deep growling voice was another thing that stood out. That voice came from the same man that played the on-screen father of Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby’s character on The Cosby Show). Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Earle Hyman (born George Earle Plummer) studied acting at the HB Studio in New York City after finding a love for acting at an early age. The award-winning actor who worked on countless movies, TV shows, and starred in a levy of theatrical productions can go down in history as working on two of the biggest shows of the 80s.
Images:
North Carolina map attributed to Source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12394
Cosby Show Cast image by [1], https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=921410
ThunderCats Logo attributed to Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59001439
Panthro images attributed to Source, Fair use, https://thundercats.fandom.com/wiki/Panthro
Earle Hyman by Unknown photographer – Digitalt Museum, the digital museum/Museum of Norwegian water craft and industry places., CC BY-SA 3.0,
The Pop Culture Kings present The Archives of Wisdom 
[…] found on ocean bottoms around the world, is also a favorite oceanic fish caught (or gigged) off the North Carolina coast. If you wrote up an advertisement that you were selling said fish, you would say that you are […]
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[…] A lot of people from my generation and older grew up watching The Andy Griffith Show. The show, packed with wholesome goodness, aired on CBS from 1960 to 1968, maintained a high Nielsen rating its entire run. The reason for most of its success was the small-town of Mayberry’s memorable characters. Characters like the goofy yet lovable deputy Barney Fife played by Don Knotts. Even the show’s namesake Andy Griffith thought he would be the comedic character on the show due to years of being a stand-up comedian; Griffith decided to play the straight man to Don Knott due to his immense popularity early on. Don’t feel too bad for Griffith because his created character, Andy Taylor, was ranked number 8 in TV Guide’s list of the “50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time“. […]
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[…] a name for himself as a member of a select group of high-risk photojournalists. This group included North Carolina native Perry Young, infamous and controversial war-photographer Chas Gerretsen, legendary writer […]
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[…] Michael Jordan has been a household name for almost 40 years, and this is due to more than just his shoes and a starring role in the Space Jam movie. Jordan was and is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. His competitiveness, ability to dominate the court in all aspects of the game, and his shooting prowess were matched with his ability to get in the head of his opponents. Jordan was a trash talker who could back up his words. One of my favorite Jordan moments happened during the 1997 NBA All-Star game in which Dikembe Mutombo decided that he wanted to get into the head of Jordan by saying that Jordan had never and could never dunk on him. Later that season, Jordan found his opportunity to make Mutombo regret his words. He dunked over him when the Bulls hosted the Hawks in Chicago. During a drive, Jordan drove to the baseline and slammed a basket over Mutombo. As Jordan walked away and smiled, he mockingly used Mutombo’s famous “not in my house” finger wag. Jam movie . […]
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[…] Anita Van Buren (appearing for a staggering 390 episodes) among many other notable castings (like The Cosby Show and the trilogy of current Chicago based shows. Along with an amazing host of artists and writers, […]
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[…] North Carolina native James K. Polk was nicknamed Young Hickory as he was a protege of Andrew Jackson. It is rumored that he followed in the footsteps of his protege in many ways. He followed his example of continuing Jacksonian democracy and it is rumored that he followed him into the tattoo chair. Though in my opinion, it is unlikely, Polk is rumored to have had the Chinese character for the word ‘eager’ tattooed on him. […]
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[…] the Chipmunks, The Smurfs, The Gummi Bears, and favorites like X-Men, the Muppet Babies, MASK, and Thundercats. But my absolute favorite cartoon growing up was (and still is) He-Man and the Masters of the […]
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[…] never earning the same badges the other kids had, but I remember going to Camp Tuscarora in Four Oaks with the rest of the Boy Scouts. I remember not wanting to be left alone. I remember being good at […]
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