Keeping Tab(s) on the ’80s: Tab on screen

June 26, 2020

My mom used to drink Tab in the ’80s. She was not alone.

Modern Problems
(Shapiro, 1981)
The Cannonball Run
(Needham, 1981)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
(Heckerling, 1982)
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
(Spielberg, 1982)
Partners
(Burrows, 1982)
Author! Author!
(Hiller, 1982)
The Toy
(Donner, 1982)
Deal of the Century
(Friedkin, 1983)
The Survivors
(Ritchie, 1983)
Trading Places
(Landis, 1983)
Risky Business
(Brickman, 1983)
Going Berserk
(Steinberg, 1983)
WarGames
(Badham, 1983)
Silkwood
(Nichols, 1983)
Sixteen Candles
(Hughes, 1984)
Romancing the Stone
(Zemeckis, 1984)
Footloose
(Ross, 1984)
The Lonely Guy
(Hiller, 1984)
The Woman in Red
(Wilder, 1984)
Revenge of the Nerds
(Kanew, 1984)
The Terminator
(Cameron, 1984)
Ghostbusters
(Reitman, 1984)
The Mean Season
(Borsos, 1985)
Just One of the Guys
(Gottlieb, 1985)
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
“Velcro. Next to the Walkman and Tab,
it is the coolest invention in the 20th century.”
(Metter, 1985)
Real Genius
(Coolidge, 1985)
Desperately Seeking Susan
(Seidelman, 1985)
Better Off Dead
(Holland, 1985)
Back to the Future
“Gimme a Tab.”
“Tab? I can't give you a tab unless you order something.”
(Zemeckis, 1985)
The Legend of Billie Jean
(Robbins, 1985)
Witness
(Weir, 1985)
Rambo: First Blood Part II
(Cosmatos, 1985)
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
“Tabs all around.”
(Mazursky, 1986)
Lucas
(Seltzer, 1986)
The Best of Times
(Spottiswoode, 1986)
The Color of Money
(Scorsese, 1986)
One Crazy Summer
(Holland, 1986)
Something Wild
(Demme, 1986)
Howard the Duck
(Huyck, 1986)
Gung Ho
(Howard, 1986)
Ishtar
(May, 1987)
Maid to Order
(Jones, 1987)
Hiding Out
(Giraldi, 1987)
The Allnighter
(Hoffs, 1987)
Who’s That Girl
(Foley, 1987)
Scrooged
(Donner, 1988)
Cold Feet
(Dornhelm, 1989)