30 Pop Culture Hits That Turned 30 This Year

We owe so much to John Hughes, whose directorial debut remains one of the sweetest and most relatable teen films of all time. Samantha Baker and Jake Ryan forever.

Thirty years ago, the world met Dr. Cliff Huxtable and his charming family. Not only did the show become a hit, spanning eight seasons, but it also revolutionized the way African-Americans were portrayed on primetime.

The comedy world was hit hard with the death of Harold Ramis, but it's comforting to know we'll always have Ghostbusters. Because when you think your bathtub is haunted, who you gonna call?

This Pepsi commercial became an instant classic, but what most people remember is that Michael Jackson's hair famously caught on fire while filming it. Here's some trivia: that little kid in the red jacket is Alfonso Ribeiro, aka Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Is there any better mentor than Mr. Miyagi? No, and there never will be.

It's been three whole decades since Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano moved into the Bower household. Who's the Boss? still maintains its pop culture status after all these years.

Ah, the nightmare that started it all. A Nightmare on Elm Street introduced us to Freddy Krueger, the horribly burned, knife-fingered boogeyman that haunts the teens of Springwood, OH. There have been many sequels, but the original (with Johnny Depp!) remains the best.

Source: New Line Cinema

The middle film in the original trilogy, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is undoubtably the scariest of the movies. Who else still has nightmares about the sacrificial pit?

It's funny to think that The Terminator ranked lower on 1984's box office than a movie called Greystroke: The Legend of Tarzan, because the film spawned multiple iterations in the 30 years since its release, not to mention that it became a veritable pop culture phenomenon with an upcoming reboot, Terminator: Genisys.

While kids of today may think of Michael Bay's action-packed films when someone mentions Transformers, kids of 1984 probably remember the classic toys that debuted that year.

Geeks everywhere rejoiced at the release of Revenge of the Nerds, about a group of college outcasts who fight back against the jocks who bully them.

Happy 30th anniversary, Tetris! A Russian computer engineer came up with the puzzle that has since gone on to be one of the most popular games of all time.

Madonna shocked prudish audience members by writhing in her now-famous wedding-dress-bustier combo to her hit "Like a Virgin" at the very first MTV Video Music Awards.

Eddie Murphy first appeared as Detroit cop Axel Foley in 1984's Beverly Hills Cop. The comedy became the year's highest-grossing film, earning $235 million and inspiring three sequels.

Scott Baio earned a name for himself as Charles, the fun-loving nanny/housekeeper to the Powell family. The sitcom ran on NBC for five seasons and in syndication for many more.

There was no fantasy stranger or more wonderful than The NeverEnding Story. The adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story made us all want our own luck dragons.

Just Crockett, Tubbs, and some white pantsuits. That's really all you ever need.

Tina Turner's most successful single also turns the big three-oh this year, along with that insane hair.

Rob Reiner's music mockumentary solidified its place in comedy history by turning the dial all the way to 11. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer had us (and still have us) in stitches.

Think mermaids are just a myth? So does Tom Hanks until he meets and falls in love with Daryl Hannah as the beautiful mermaid Madison.

Yes, it's been 30 years since Kevin Bacon wowed us with his moves in an abandoned barn and got an entire town to start dancing again . . . But it's only been a few months since he reenacted the scene on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.