I don't think you can give one reason, because everything feeds everything else and then there's a network effect of sorts of popularity. But one factor I thin

I don't think you can give one reason, because everything feeds everything else and then there's a network effect of sorts of popularity. But one factor I think not mentioned yet is the film industry: I think (aside from feed-in popularity) the 80s gets outsized attention in TV & film because it's before modern technology was quite so prolific - plot lines that don't work with mobile phones, the web, etc. And then that feeds people's interest too. Like, you can be born after WarGames or Ferris Bueller's Day Off for example, watch them, and then it's appealing because it's different and interesting, and you want more.