9/13 - Tom Cruise was the original voice of what '90s animated character?
Plus trivia on Mama Said Knock You Out, Duck Tails, Who Shot Mr. Burns, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
September 13th, 2024 • Issue 221
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
September 13th
1985 - Super Mario Bros. was released for the very first time.
1986 - Pee-Wee’s Playhouse premiered.
1986 - Double’s one hit, The Captain of Her Heart, peaked at number 16.
1986 - Berlin’s single Take My Breath Away hit number one.
1990 - Law & Order premiered.
1993 - Animaniacs premiered.
1993 - The Ricki Lake Show premiered.
1993 - Conan O’Brien’s Late Night show all premiered.
1994 - Notorious BIG’s Ready to Die was released.
1994 - Blues Traveler’s album four was released.
1995 - The Drew Carey Show premiered.
Drew Carey lost an endorsement deal with A&W because his sitcom character went to McDonald’s.
Drew Carey (the person) had an endorsement deal with A&W restaurants.
But Drew Carey (the sitcom character) was a McDonald’s fan. And in an episode of The Drew Carey Show, Drew gets lost in China and wanders into a McDonald’s.
A&W pulled Carey’s deal after the episode aired.
1996 - Tupac died less than one week after being shot.
1996 - Everybody Loves Raymond premiered.
1997 - Elton John’s Candle in the Wind tribute to Princess Diana was released.
1997 - The Weird Al Show premiered.
1997 - Mariah Carey’s single Honey was released.
1999 - Blind Date premiered.
September 14th
1981 - Entertainment Tonight premiered.
1984 - MTV held the first VMAs.
1985 - The Golden Girls premiered.
1985 - Care Bears premiered in syndication.
1989 - The Duck Tails NES game was released.
1990 - LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out was released.
Mama Said Knock You Out really was written while LL Cool J was drinking Olde English — like he says in the lyrics.
In Mama Said Knock You Out, there’s the line: “Olde English filled my mind / and I came up with a funky rhyme.”
That wasn’t poetic license; it’s how it happened. LL Cool J was working with producer DJ Bobcat, listening to the beat over and over, writing lyrics — and drinking Olde English 40s.
1990 - Tiny Toon Adventures premiered.
1990 - Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. hit back-to-back home runs for the Seattle Mariners.
1991 - Paula Abdul’s single The Promise of a New Day hit number one.
1993 - The song Yakko’s World debuted on the second-ever episode of Animaniacs.
1994 - MLB commissioner Bud Selig cancelled the World Series in the strike-shortened baseball season.
1996 - Primitive Radio Gods’ one hit, Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth, peaked at number 10.
1998 - TRL premiered.
1999 - US magazine changed its name to USWeekly.
2000 - Windows ME was released.
2001 - The Nintendo GameCube was released in Japan.
September 15th
1982 - The first issue of USA Today was published.
1984 - Muppet Babies premiered on CBS.
1986 - The final Apple II computer, the IIGS, was released.
1986 - L.A. Law premiered on NBC.
1990 - Captain Planet and the Planeteers premiered.
Tom Cruise was the original voice of Captain Planet — but left after six episodes due to creative differences.
Tom Cruise believed in Captain Planet’s message so he agreed to do the voice, even though he was the biggest movie star in the world at the time.
But after recording six episodes, he left the project. There are differing stories about why (most articles sum it up as “creative differences”).
The show recast the role with David Coburn and he re-recorded the six episodes Cruise had originally done.
1990 - Wilson Phillips’ single Release Me hit number one.
1993 - Meat Loaf’s single I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) was released.
1998 - TQ’s single Westside was released.
1999 - American Beauty hit theaters.
2000 - Almost Famous and Duets hit theaters.
2000 - The summer Olympics began in Sydney, Australia.
September 16th
1979 - Rapper’s Delight by Sugarhill Gang went on sale, becoming the first rap song on vinyl.
Rapper’s Delight has never received a sales certification (like gold or platinum — because the group’s record label wouldn’t pay the membership fees.
Rapper’s Delight would’ve been the first rap single to go gold (and likely platinum).
But the record label, Sugar Hill Records, refused to pay the fee to the RIAA — the organization that tracks and issues sales certifications.
So Rapper’s Delight was not eligible in its time, and remains ineligible now.
1983 - Webster premiered.
1984 - Punky Brewster premiered.
1984 - Miami Vice premiered on NBC.
1989 - Gloria Estefan’s single Don’t Wanna Lose You hit number one.
1993 - Frasier premiered.
1994 - Timecop and Quiz Show both hit theaters.
1996 - The Jackpot wedge debuted on Wheel of Fortune.
1996 - Judge Judy premiered in syndication.
1997 - Twelve years to the day he resigned from Apple, Steve Jobs was rehired and named CEO.
1999 - Big Brother aired for the first time, in the Netherlands.
2000 - Madonna’s single Music hit number one.
September 17th
1982 - George Thorogood and the Destroyers’ single Bad to the Bone was released.
1983 - Vanessa Williams became the first Black woman crowned Miss America.
1984 - Transformers premiered.
1986 - Head of the Class premiered.
1990 - The children’s game show Video Power premiered.
1991 - Home Improvement premiered on ABC.
1991 - Guns N’ Roses’ albums Use Your Illusion I & II were released.
1993 - The Age of Innocence hit theaters.
1995 - The Simpsons revealed Who Shot Mr. Burns? in their season premiere.
The Simpsons tried running a contest to give a prize to a fan who guessed who shot Mr. Burns — but no one did.
The Simpsons did a tie-in with 1-800-COLLECT where people who used that service over the summer of ‘95 could make a guess of who shot Mr. Burns.
The prize: You’d be animated into an episode and get featured as a character on The Simpsons.
But none of the callers guessed right. (Someone on the new Simpsons website’s message board did, but left no identifying info so the show couldn’t track them down.)
The producers ended up giving the prize to one of the other, random 1-800-COLLECT callers.
And she decided she’d rather take the cash equivalent of the prize than be animated into the show.
1996 - Spin City premiered.
1996 - The OJ Simpson civil trial began.
1998 - The Goo Goo Dolls single Slide was released.
1998 - Ol’ Dirty Bastard was arrested for making terrorist threats after getting kicked out of the House of Blues in Los Angeles.
1999 - Blue Streak and For Love of the Game both hit theaters.
1999 - Eminem’s mother sued him for $10 million for defamation.
2002 - Kelly Clarkson’s single A Moment Like This was released.
September 18th
1983 - KISS appeared with no makeup for the first time, on MTV.
1983 - Hardcastle and McCormick premiered on ABC.
1985 - David Letterman debuted his top 10 list bit with the Top 10 Words That Almost Rhyme with Pea.
1987 - Fatal Attraction hit theaters.
1987 - Duck Tails premiered.
The songwriter behind the famous Duck Tails theme song also wrote top 10 hits for Heart, Amy Grant, and Jennifer Paige.
Mark Mueller wrote the Duck Tails theme song (as well as the Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Ranger theme).
He’s also the writer behind three top 10 hit songs: Amy Grant’s That’s What Love Is For… Heart’s Nothin’ At All… and Jennifer Paige’s Crush.
1987 - Full House premiered.
1989 - Alien Nation premiered on FOX.
1990 - Atlanta was chosen as the host city for the 1996 centennial Olympics.
1992 - School Ties hit theaters as did Captain Ron.
1994 - Ken Burns’s Baseball premiered.
1996 - WebTV launched.
1998 - Rush Hour hit theaters.
1999 - TLC’s single Unpretty hit number one.
2001 - The first letters containing anthrax were found.
September 19th
1980 - Ordinary People hit theaters.
1982 - A programmer named Scott Fahlman created the first emoticons.
1983 - The (nighttime) version of Wheel of Fortune premiered.
1984 - Highway to Heaven premiered on NBC.
1988 - Greg Louganis hit his head during a dive at the Olympics.
1988 - Bon Jovi’s album New Jersey and Erasure’s single A Little Respect were released.
1989 - Doogie Howser M.D. premiered.
1989 - Janet Jackson’s album Rhythm Nation 1814 was released.
1990 - Goodfellas hit theaters.
1994 - ER premiered.
There was an ‘80s sitcom called E/R which also featured George Clooney.
CBS had a sitcom (leaning toward a dramedy) that ran one season in 1984-85 called E/R. It was set in an emergency room in Chicago. And George Clooney had a supporting role in the back half of the season.
(Mary McDonnell, who guest starred on five episodes of ER, was also one of the lead stars of E/R.)
Despite all the above similarities, the more famous ER was unconnected to the CBS sitcom.
1995 - The Washington Post and New York Times published the Unabomber’s manifesto.
1997 - In & Out and L.A. Confidential hit theaters.
1997 - Family Matters and Step by Step switched networks and premiered on CBS.
1998 - John Stamos and Rebecca Romijn were married.
2000 - Best in Show hit theaters.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Jon Bon Jovi talked a woman out of jumping off a bridge in Nashville on Tuesday (where he was filming a video nearby).
Macaulay Culkin is taking Home Alone on tour. Starting on November 30th in Buffalo there will be screenings of the movie followed by a Q&A with Culkin.
Happy Gilmore 2 has begun production. It will be on Netflix whenever it’s finished.
Despite rumors about a Goonies sequel this week, some members of the original cast say it’s not happening.
Kathy Bates’s new Matlook reboot premieres next week on CBS; she now says she’s going to retire when it’s done.
Winona Ryder says her agent at the time begged her not to take her role in Heathers.
James Earl Jones passed away this week at age 93.
Get Your Book-It Stickers Here
Recommended articles about ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, and never knew existed
Here’s a fascinating oral history of the Russian remake of Married… with Children.
The story of a ‘90s Nintendo 64 game that “was so horrible, even nostalgia can’t save it now.”
How did the Brat Pack get their name? Here’s the writer who coined it and all the drama around the name since.
Have a great week!
-Sam