10/4 - What Forgotten SNL Movie Was a Box Office Success?
Plus trivia on George Michael, Jump Around, Charmed, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
October 4th, 2024 • Issue 224
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
October 4th
1980 - Queen’s single Another One Bites the Dust hit number one.
1980 - Heathcliff premiered on ABC’s Saturday morning cartoon lineup.
The Heathcliff character debuted five years before that other cartoon orange cat.
The Heathcliff comic strip came out in 1973. Garfield arrived five years later — and eventually became the far better known orange cartoon cat.
1985 - Commando hit theaters.
1986 - Dan Rather was attacked by someone yelling, “Kenneth, what is the frequency?”
1987 - The NFL featured replacement players during a strike.
1988 - Televangelist Jim Bakker was indicted for fraud.
1990 - Beverly Hills 90210 premiered.
1990 - Londonbeat’s single I’ve Been Thinking About You was released.
1991 - Suburban Commando hit theaters.
1996 - D3: The Mighty Ducks hit theaters.
1996 - That Thing You Do hit theaters.
1997 - “The Ladies Man” debuted on SNL.
1999 - Faith Hill’s single Breathe was released.
October 5th
1988 - Lloyd Benson defeated Dan Quayle in a vice presidential debate.
1990 - Henry and June, the first NC-17 movie, was released.
1991 - PM Dawn’s single Set Adrift on Memory Bliss was released.
PM Dawn’s Set Adrift on Memory Bliss was the first number one hit under Billboard’s new more accurate (but more volatile) sales tracking system.
In 1991, Billboard started using Nielsen SoundScan for sales data. That replaced the method they’d used for all the decades prior: Literally calling record stores to ask about sales.
SoundScan tracked actual sales, so it was way less prone to fraud and human error.
But… it also led to more volatility on the charts, so record companies pushed back against it for quite a while.
The first-ever Billboard Hot 100 using Nielsen SoundScan was in November 1991, and its number one song was Set Adrift on Memory Bliss.
1991 - Marky Mary & the Funky Bunch’s single Good Vibrations hit number one.
1991 - The first version of Linux was released.
1994 - The NBA shortened the three-point line.
1998 - The notorious sitcom The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer premiered on UPN.
1999 - Angel premiered.
2001 - Training Day hit theaters.
2001 - Barry Bonds set a record with his 71st and 72nd home runs in one season.
2002 - Kelly Clarkson’s single A Moment Like This hit number one.
October 6th
1985 - Jem (aka Jem and the Holograms) premiered in syndication.
1986 - Double Dare premiered on Nickelodeon.
1987 - George Michael’s single Faith was released.
Even though a leather jacket-wearing George Michael plays the guitar in the famous Faith music video, he actually doesn’t know guitar.
George Michael didn’t record the guitar parts of Faith — they were done by a session musician named Hugh Burns — and doesn’t even know how to play guitar.
But in the music video, he plays the guitar. His reasoning? “Americans, if you stick a guitar on, you’ve got a bigger penis, simple as that.”
1990 - Maxi Priest’s single Close to You hit number one.
1991 - Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.
1992 - Soul Asylum’s album Grave Dancers Union was released.
1993 - Michael Jordan announced he was leaving the NBA to play baseball.
1998 - Matchbox 20’s album Back 2 Good was released.
2000 - Meet the Parents hit theaters.
2000 - CSI premiered on CBS.
October 7th
1982 - Cats premiered on Broadway.
1988 - Punchline hit theaters.
1989 - American Bandstand’s series finale aired, ending its 37-year run.
1989 - Janet Jackson’s single Miss You Much hit number one.
1992 - The bubble boy episode of Seinfeld aired.
1993 - Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1994 - The Saved by the Bell special with Zack and Kelly’s wedding in Las Vegas aired.
1996 - The FOX News channel debuted.
1997 - Eagle Eye Cherry’s single Save Tonight was released.
1998 - Charmed premiered.
The theme song for Charmed was originally created for a different ‘90s teen witch property.
The theme song for Charmed is a cover of How Soon Is Now? (originally by The Smiths) performed by Love Spit Love.
That cover was originally recorded for The Craft — the 1996 teen witch movie — and appeared on its soundtrack.
Warner Bros., which produced The Craft, decided they really liked it for the teen witch genre. So when they were producing Charmed, they repurposed the song.
2000 - Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon became anchors of SNL’s Weekend Update.
2001 - Barry Bonds continued to extend his new record with his 73rd homer. That record would not be broken until this year, when Aaron Judge hit 11 fewer home runs to claim it.
October 8th
1986 - The Color of Money hit theaters.
1988 - Empty Nest premiered.
1992 - The video game Mortal Kombat was released.
1993 - Demolition Man and Mr. Nanny hit theaters.
1993 - Ted Danson appeared in blackface at a Friars Club roast of Whoopi Goldberg.
1993 - Howard Stern’s book Private Parts was released.
1996 - Matchbox 20’s single Long Day was released.
1997 - Seven Years in Tibet hit theaters.
1999 - Superstar hit theaters.
Superstar is the fourth highest grossing Saturday Night Live movie.
Despite a shaky reputation and poor reviews (and the questionable popularity of the Mary Katherine Gallagher character), Superstar had the fourth best showing of any SNL movie at the box office.
It made $30.6 million, behind Wayne’s World ($121.7m), The Blues Brothers ($57m), and Wayne’s World 2 ($48.2m).
1999 - Boys Don’t Cry hit theaters.
2001 - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was established.
October 9th
1981 - An unknown Prince opened for the Rolling Stones in Los Angeles.
1986 - The FOX network debuted with The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers.
Johnny Carson and NBC felt so betrayed by Joan Rivers hosting a competing show that she wouldn’t appear on The Tonight Show until 2014.
Joan Rivers was a regular guest host for Johnny Carson but felt mistreated by NBC, so she took the FOX gig.
She didn’t tell Carson first and he felt betrayed. Normally, when someone started a competing talk show, he would have them on to wish them luck — and then have them on again after their show inevitably failed.
But he didn’t have Rivers on before or after (she says he never spoke to her again, period). She also was not invited to The Tonight Show during Jay Leno or Conan O’Brien’s hosting runs.
She finally made a cameo in 2014 — nine years after Carson died — on Jimmy Fallon’s first episode of The Tonight Show.
1986 - Phantom of the Opera premiered for the first time in London’s West End
1992 - Under Siege hit theaters.
1999 - Mariah Carey’s single Heartbreaker hit number one.
October 10th
1980 - Pac-Man hit arcades.
1983 - Adam, the TV movie about the kidnapping of Adam Walsh, premiered on NBC.
1987 - Bruce Springsteen’s album Tunnel of Love was released.
1992 - House of Pain’s one hit Jump Around peaked at number three.
Jump Around was written by a member of Cypress Hill — but the other members didn’t want to do the song.
Jump Around’s beat has Cypress Hill vibes for a reason. It was written by one of their members, DJ Muggs.
When the rest of the group didn’t want to do the song, he shopped it around. He offered it to Ice Cube, who also rejected it.
The new group House of Pain — one of whom was a back-up singer for Ice Cube — took it on.
1997 - Boogie Nights premiered.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
A live-action Rugrats movie is in the works. It’s going to use real adults and CGI babies, so that should be awful.
Wild card pro golfer John Daly filmed a cameo for Happy Gilmore 2.
Lea Thompson says she was “snooty” to Michael J. Fox when he started on Back to the Future.
Haley Joel Osment says Bruce Willis called him regularly for the years after The Sixth Sense to check in.
Lots of people who made a mark on the ‘80s and ‘90s passed away this week including Pete Rose, Maggie Smith, and Dikembe Mutombo.
Get Your Book-It Stickers Here
Recommended articles about ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, and never knew existed
This newsletter is a weekly source of trivia, but if you need more RIGHT NOW: Here’s Buzzfeed with a classic Buzzfeedian list of 17 “absolutely fascinating” ‘90s pop culture facts.
An ode by the New York Times Magazine to retro jerseys, and why they are more than a passing fashion trend.
What are the 25 best rock songs of the ‘80s? Seems impossible to compile; here’s one website’s attempt.
Have a great week!
-Sam