9/27 - What '80s Sitcom Title Character Had No Last Name?
Plus trivia on Necessary Roughness, Cheers, Cool Runnings, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
September 27th, 2024 • Issue 223
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
September 27th
1989 - Technotronic’s single Pump Up the Jam was released.
1989 - Two guys went over Niagara Falls in a barrel and were the first to survive.
1991 - Necessary Roughness hit theaters.
The fictional Texas State University in Necessary Roughness became a real school name 12 years later.
Necessary Roughness is set at the fictional Texas State University (and was filmed largely at the University of North Texas).
In 2003, the real-life Southwest Texas State University decided to drop the “Southwest” to feel less regional. It became Texas State University-San Marcos. And then, in 2013, it dropped the last part and became just Texas State University.
1992 - The Ben Stiller Show premiered.
1994 - Brandy’s self-titled debut album was released.
1995 - O.J. Simpson tried on the glove and it didn’t fit.
1996 - Sabrina the Teenage Witch premiered.
1998 - Mark McGwire hit his record-setting 69th and 70th home runs of the season in the final game.
1998 - Google was canonically born; this is the day Google now celebrates as its anniversary even though it launched earlier in the month.
1998 - The superimposed yellow first down line appeared on televised football games for the first time.
September 28th
1980 - Carl Sagan’s Cosmos premiered on PBS.
1981 - Olivia Newton-John’s single Physical was released.
1983 - The Big Chill hit theaters.
1984 - Miami Vice premiered on NBC.
1987 - Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in syndication.
1988 - Orel Hershiser set a record for pitching consecutive scoreless inning.
1990 - Game Boy was released in Europe.
1991 - Michael Jordan made his one and only hosting appearance on Saturday Night Live as Chris Farley, Chris Rock, and Julia Sweeney joined the cast.
1991 - Garth Brooks’s album Ropin’ the Wind became the first country album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200.
1992 - Shai’s single If I Ever Fall in Love was released.
1994 - Ed Wood hit theaters.
1997 - Apple launched its Think Different ad campaign.
1998 - Internet Explorer passed Netscape for browser market share.
Internet Explorer was the most used web browser for 12 years — a record still not broken by Google Chrome.
In the relatively short life of web browsers, only a few have ever dominated the market.
Internet Explorer took over from Netscape in 1998 and was the top browser by market share until 2012 — a span of 14 years.
It was overtaken by Google Chrome, which has been on top for the 12 years since.
2001 - Zoolander hit theaters.
September 29th
1983 - Microsoft Word launched.
1984 - Prince’s single Let’s Go Crazy hit number one, giving him a simultaneous number one single, album, and film.
1985 - The first of seven victims of Tylenol laced with cyanide died.
1985 - MacGyver premiered on ABC.
1986 - Designing Women premiered on CBS.
1987 - Thirtysomething premiered on ABC.
1988 - The space shuttle Discovery was launched, the first since the Challenger explosion.
1988 - The U.S. men’s basketball team won bronze at the Olympics.
1989 - Zsa Zsa Gabor was convicted of slapping a police officer.
1989 - The series finale of Thundercats aired.
1990 - Nelson’s single (Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection hit number one.
The Nelson family is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only family to have a number one hit in three successive generations.
Ozzie Nelson (of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet fame) had a number one hit in 1935 called And Then Some with his group, Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra.
Ozzie and Harriet’s son, Ricky Nelson, had two number one hits: Poor Little Fool in 1958 and Travelin’ Man in 1961.
And his twin sons, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, had their number one hit on this day in 1990 with (Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection.
No other family had pulled off that multi-generational trifecta.
1991 - My Own Private Idaho hit theaters.
1992 - Stone Temple Pilots’ album Core was released.
1992 - Magic Johnson announced his comeback to the NBA.
1993 - Grace Under Fire premiered on ABC.
1993 - A Bronx Tale hit theaters.
1997 - Robbie Williams’s first solo album, Life Thru a Lens, was released.
1998 - Jay Z’s album Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life was released.
1998 - Felicity premiered.
2000 - Remember the Titans hit theaters.
September 30th
1982 - Cheers premiered.
The Cheers premiere was a flop that almost got the show canceled.
When Cheers debuted on September 30th, 1982, it finished 77th out of 100 shows in the Nielsen ratings for the week.
That put it in immediate threat of cancellation. But NBC’s president, Brandon Tartikoff, decided to stick with it to give it time to grow an audience.
1984 - Murder She Wrote premiered on CBS.
1985 - The cartoon M.A.S.K. premiered.
1991 - The Jerry Springer Show premiered.
1992 - Snow’s single Informer was released.
1993 - Tevin Campbell’s single Can We Talk was released.
1995 - Silverchair’s one hit, Tomorrow, peaked at number 28.
1996 - Blackstreet’s single No Diggity was released.
1997 - Microsoft released the Internet Explorer 4 web browser.
1997 - Next’s single Too Close was released.
2001 - Alias premiered on ABC.
October 1st
1979 - The Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial aired for the first time.
1982 - The first CD player went on sale.
1982 - EPCOT Center opened on the 11th anniversary of Walt Disney World.
1982 - Marvin Gaye’s final album, Midnight Love, was released.
1983 - Bonnie Tyler’s single Total Eclipse of the Heart hit number one.
1984 - The term “cyberspace” appeared for the first time in William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer.
1988 - Mikhail Gorbachev became the head of the Soviet Union.
1989 - America Online launched.
1989 - Denmark became the first country to legalize same sex civil unions.
1990 - Bette Midler’s single From a Distance was released.
1992 - Cartoon Network premiered.
1993 - Cool Runnings hit theaters.
Cool Runnings started out as a gritty drama before it became a Disney comedy.
The first take on a movie about the unlikely Jamaican Olympic bobsled team was called Blue Maaga.
Joe Turteltaub, the director of Cool Runnings, says that script was “a heavy journey about a realistic life in the slums of Kingston and taking guys from that sort of background through their journey.”
They found many of their cast members while they were casting that movie… but then postponed filming for a year to rework the film into a comedy.
1993 - ESPN2 premiered.
1993 - Crash Test Dummies’ single Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm was released.
1994 - Clarissa Explains It All aired its series finale.
1994 - The NHL’s 103-day lockout began.
1994 - Candlebox’s one hit, Far Behind, peaked at number 18.
1996 - Matchbox 20’s album Yourself or Someone Like You was released.
1996 - Animal Planet premiered.
1999 - Three Kings and Drive Me Crazy hit theaters.
2000 - The U.S. men’s basketball team won the Olympic gold medal and the U.S. locked up the most gold and total medals.
October 2nd
1982 - John Cougar’s single Jack and Diane hit number one.
1984 - Papa John’s Pizza was founded.
1992 - Mr. Baseball, Glengarry Glen Ross, and The Mighty Ducks hit theaters.
1995 - Oasis’s album What’s the Story, Morning Glory was released.
1995 - The Chicago Bulls traded for Dennis Rodman.
1995 - The jurors in the O.J. Simpson trial reached a verdict.
1998 - Antz hit theaters.
Antz was the first-ever film from DreamWorks Animation.
The studio has released 47 more animated films since, including the Shrek movies, Kung Fu Panda movies, and Trolls movies.
1998 - A Night at the Roxbury hit theaters.
2000 - Radiohead’s album Kid A was released.
2001 - Scrubs premiered on NBC.
October 3rd
1984 - Charles in Charge premiered.
Charles’s last name is never revealed throughout the entire run of Charles in Charge.
The show never reveals Charles’s last name. They even worked around it during an episode where he was a substitute teacher.
And the final episode of the show had a fourth wall-breaking joke about him not having a last name.
1988 - The TNT network premiered.
1989 - SimCity and Prince of Persia were both released.
1989 - Art Shell of the Oakland Raiders became the first Black head coach in the NFL.
1992 - Bill Gates topped the Forbes richest persons list for the first time.
1992 - Sinead O’Connor ripped up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live.
1995 - Mariah Carey’s album Daydream was released.
1995 - The O.J. Simpson not guilty verdict was delivered.
1998 - Monica’s single The First Night hit number one.
2001 - Eternal punchline According to Jim premiered.
2003 - Roy of Siegfried & Roy was bitten by a tiger on stage.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Freddie Prinze Jr. has signed on to be part of the I Know What You Did Last Summer revival movie.
For the 30th anniversary of Friends, Max will air a Friends-themed game show called Fast Friends.
A reboot of 1992’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is in the works.
Aaron Sorkin says he’s considering a West Wing reboot.
The last Kmart store in the U.S. is closing next month.
Get Your Book-It Stickers Here
Recommended articles about ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, and never knew existed
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Have a great week!
-Sam