1/5 - Mariah secretly released a '90s alt-rock album?
Plus trivia on Spice Girls, Sinbad, Tetris, Jennifer Aniston, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
January 5th, 2024 • Issue 185
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
January 5th
1971 - The Washington Generals accidentally beat the Harlem Globetrotters for the last time.
1980 - KC and the Sunshine Band’s single Please Don’t Go hit number one.
1993 - Price Is Right model Janice Pennington sued over an on-set accident.
1994 - Sister Act won best picture at the 26th annual NAACP Image Awards.
1996 - Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula announced his retirement.
Don Shula was once the youngest head coach in NFL history.
When the Baltimore Colts hired Don Shula to be their head coach in 1963, Shula was 33 years old — which made him the youngest coach in the history of the league.
Many, many younger head coaches have come along since, with Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams currently holding the record. (He was hired at age 30.)
Don Shula retired at age 66, which places him just outside the top 10 oldest coaches in NFL history.
January 6th
1973 - Schoolhouse Rock premiered.
1975 - Wheel of Fortune premiered on NBC’s daytime schedule with Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford as the hosts.
1983 - The Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed.
1992 - The FDA called for a moratorium on the use of silicone breast implant.
1995 - Houseguest hit theaters.
Sinbad and Phil Hartman appeared in three movies together — but Houseguest is the only one where they share the screen.
Sinbad and Phil Hartman were both in Coneheads in 1993 and Jingle All the Way in 1996, but never appeared on-screen together in either.
2000 - Mac OS X was released.
2003 - Joe Millionaire premiered on FOX.
January 7th
1980 - The U.S. government gave Chrysler a bailout.
1993 - AT&T introduced the first video telephone.
1994 - Cabin Boy hit theaters.
1994 - Tonya Harding won the U.S. figure skating championships one day after her goons took out Nancy Kerrigan.
1995 - One-hit dick day on the Billboard charts: 20 Fingers’ Short Dick Man peaked at #14 and Deadeye Dick’s New Age Girl peaked at #27.
1997 - Puff Daddy’s single Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down was released.
1997 - The Spice Girls’ debut single Wannabe was released in the U.S.
Wannabe was the Spice Girls’ only number one single in the U.S.
Though it feels like there were other huge Spice Girls hits, Wannabe is their only U.S. number one.
They had nine number one hits on the U.K. charts.
1999 - President Clinton went on trial before the Senate.
2002 - The Apple iBook was released.
2004 - The Apprentice premiered on NBC, starting a nuclear launch sequence that may still take down the entire country and/or planet.
January 8th
1984 - The NCAA announced its postseason tournament would feature 64 teams.
1988 - Super Contra and Metal Gear were both released for NES.
1990 - Sinead O’Connor’s single Nothing Compares 2 U was released.
1992 - Eric Clapton’s single Tears in Heaven was released.
1992 - President H.W. Bush threw up on the prime minister of Japan during a dinner in Tokyo.
1993 - The first Leprechaun movie hit theaters, despite it being neither anytime near St. Patrick’s Day nor Halloween.
Leprechaun was the first major film role for Jennifer Aniston.
Just a few years before Friends, Aniston played the role of Tory Redding, the female lead who helps defeat the evil leprechaun using a four-leaf clover. (Apparently the shotgun pictured above didn’t work.)
1998 - WCW Thunder premiered.
2000 - The Music City Miracle occurred in the NFL as the Tennessee Titans defeated the Buffalo Bills.
January 9th
1984 - TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes premiered.
1984 - Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” commercial aired for the first time.
1984 - Van Halen’s album 1984 was released.
1988 - Whitney Houston’s single So Emotional hit number one.
1989 - The Pat Sajak Show premiered.
The Pat Sajak Show was CBS’s second failed attempt to compete with NBC’s The Tonight Show.
The first attempt was The Merv Griffin Show from 1969 to 1972.
The Pat Sajak Show lasted until April 1990, running 298 total episodes.
CBS’s third attempt came a few years later, with The Late Show with David Letterman — and that one stuck.
1989 - Inside Edition premiered.
1991 - Pete Rose was officially banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame for gambling… and remains so to this day, even as baseball stadiums have now begun adding sportsbooks.
1994 - Richard Marx’s single Now and Forever was released.
1996 - 3rd Rock from the Sun premiered.
1997 - Antiques Roadshow premiered.
1999 - Ghetto Cowboy, the one hit by Mo Thugs, peaked at number 15.
2000 - Malcolm in the Middle premiered.
2001 - Apple introduced iTunes as a music player and audio file organizer.
January 10th
1983 - Fraggle Rock premiered on HBO.
Fraggle Rock was HBO’s first-ever original series.
So without Fraggle Rock, maybe there never would’ve been The Sopranos. Or Arli$$.
1990 - Time Warner was formed.
1991 - Gloria Estefan’s single Coming Out of the Dark was released.
1992 - The Hand That Rocks the Cradle his theaters.
1995 - The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder premiered.
1999 - The Sopranos premiered on HBO.
January 11th
1980 - The Pretenders’ self-titled debut album was released.
1987 - John Elway orchestrated “The Drive” in the NFL playoffs against a team I can’t recall right now.
1995 - The WB Network premiered.
The first show that ever aired on The WB Network was The Wayans Bros.
The Wayans Bros. was the first of four sitcoms that were part of the network’s original programming slate, along with Unhappily Ever After, The Parent ‘Hood, and Muscle.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
A 13-year-old kid just became the first person ever to beat Tetris on the Nintendo Entertainment System. That is: this kid survived the insanely fast levels for so long that the game crashed and couldn’t keep up.
Here’s a very ‘90s couple: Matthew Lawrence and Chilli from TLC are dating (and apparently have been since November of 2022).
The Ren & Stimpy reboot is apparently closer to reality than people realized. According to some tweets from the voice actors, they’re already recording the dialogue for the reboot.
It looks like there’s going to be a reboot of the surprisingly entertaining 1999 teen body snatchers horror movie The Faculty. Robert Rodriguez, who directed the original, is producing.
People are trying to buy old calendars from 1996 — because they match up exactly with 2024.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
A former Naval nuclear engineer has launched a Kickstarter to create a retro gaming watch. It’s basically like a clamshell Game Boy you wear on your wrist that can store and play video games from all the ‘80s and ‘90s video game consoles. It’ll set you back $179 to preorder, with an estimated delivery date of November.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
Should The Greatest American Hero — a superhero TV show that’s best known today for its theme song — get a reboot? Here’s a compelling case for why a reboot would fill a void in today’s crowded superhero market.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
Mariah Carey released a secret alt-rock album in the ‘90s? Here’s the story behind it. Fantastic read.
Have a great week!
-Sam