2/28 - What '90s Sitcoms Had Every Cast Member in Every Episode?
Plus trivia on Jewel, Pro Wrestling for NES, the USFL, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
February 28th, 2025 • Issue 245
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
February 28th
1983 - The record-breaking series finale of M*A*S*H aired on CBS.
1983 - U2’s album War was released.
1986 - Wham! broke up.
1986 - Pretty in Pink hit theaters.
1989 - The series premiere of Coach aired on ABC.
1995 - Jewel’s album Pieces of You was released.
It took two years before Pieces of You reached its peak on the Billboard 200.
Jewel’s debut album went mostly unnoticed when it was released. It stayed under the radar until Bob Dylan brought Jewel on as an opening act for his tour.
Pieces of You peaked on the Billboard charts almost two years to the day after its release: It reached number four on March 1st, 1997.
The album wound up staying on the chart for 114 weeks and has sold more than 12 million copies.
1995 - Blues Traveler’s single Run Around was released.
1996 - Kiss reunited at the Grammys.
1997 - Donnie Brasco hit theaters.
1998 - Celine Dion’s single My Heart Will Go On hit number one.
1998 - Ben Folds Five’s only top 40 hit, Brick, peaked at number 19.
2000 - WWF’s Mae Young “give birth” to a hand on Monday Night Raw.
March 1st
1983 - Swatch watches hit the market.
1986 - Baltimora’s one hit, Tarzan Boy, peaked at number 13.
1986 - Mr. Mister’s single Kyrie hit number one.
1987 - Pro Wrestling for the Nintendo Entertainment System was released.
Pro Wrestling is the only professional wrestling game ever produced by Nintendo.
While there have been endless pro wrestling games for Nintendo’s systems over the past four decades, Pro Wrestling is the only one Nintendo themselves created.
The characters from the game have also never appeared in any other Nintendo titles (for instance, any of the Smash Bros. games), suggesting this was a real one-and-done affair for Nintendo.
1988 - Ice Hockey was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
1991 - The Doors movie hit theaters.
1993 - The Cranberries’ album Everybody Else Is Doing It was released.
1995 - Yahoo was incorporated.
1996 - The 888 toll free area code debuted.
1997 - Notorious BIG’s single Hypnotize was released.
1997 - The Cardigans’ one hit, Lovefool, peaked at number two.
1998 - Titanic became the first movie to gross $1 billion worldwide.
2000 - Rick Pitino said in press conference Larry Bird is not walking through that door.
2001 - Monster’s Ball hit theaters.
2002 - 40 Days and 40 Nights hit theaters.
March 2nd
1983 - The first CD players and CDs were released in the U.S.
1984 - This Is Spinal Tap hit theaters.
1984 - Repo Man hit theaters.
1987 - The Apple Macintosh II was released.
1989 - Pepsi’s controversial ad featuring Madonna premiered.
1989 - The New York Mets’ Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry almost got into a fistfight in front of reporters at spring training.
1990 - The Hunt for Red October hit theaters.
The Hunt for Red October was the first Tom Clancy book adapted into a film or TV show.
The Hunt for Red October marked the first Tom Clancy film adaptation — and, with that, the first time the character Jack Ryan appeared in a movie or TV series.
(It was Alec Baldwin here, though the poster only shows Sean Connery.)
There have since been four more Jack Ryan movies and a TV series.
1991 - Color Me Badd’s single I Wanna Sex You Up was released.
1994 - Miami began its Latin Walk of Fame.
1996 - Seven Mary Three’s one hit, Cumbersome, peaked at number 39.
March 3rd
1984 - Nena’s one hit, 99 Luftballons, peaked at number two.
1985 - Moonlighting premiered on ABC.
1986 - Metallica’s album Master of Puppets was released.
Master of Puppets was the first metal album to be selected by the Library of Congress for preservation.
In 2015, the Library of Congress selected Master of Puppets for the National Recording Registry, which is based on being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
There have been a few other metal, or metal-adjacent, entries since, including Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven and Green Day’s Dookie.
1989 - Lean on Me hit theaters.
1990 - Janet Jackson’s single Escapade hit number one.
1991 - Rodney King was attacked by the LAPD.
1995 - La Bouche’s single Be My Lover was released.
1997 - Daria premiered on MTV.
1997 - Savage Garden’s single Truly Madly Deeply was released.
1998 - Faith Hill’s single This Kiss was released.
1998 - Madonna’s album Ray of Light was released.
March 4th
1982 - Police Squad! premiered on ABC and didn’t work as a TV show — but eventually evolved into the Naked Gun films.
1987 - The series finale aired of Silver Spoons.
1989 - Debbie Gibson’s single Lost in Your Eyes hit number one.
1989 - Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers premiered on The Disney Channel.
1993 - The first ESPY Awards were held.
1994 - John Candy passed away.
1994 - NBA Jam was released for Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo.
1994 - Michael Jordan grounded out in his first at-bat in spring training.
1996 - Dish Network went live.
1997 - Just Shoot Me premiered.
Just Shoot Me is the rare sitcom where every main cast member appeared in every episode.
All five of the Just Shoot Me cast members appeared in all 145 episodes.
Only a handful of other long-running sitcoms have had every main cast member in every episode (The Golden Girls and Friends are two others).
2000 - The PlayStation 2 went on sale for the first time, in Japan.
2000 - Lonestar’s single Amazed hit number one.
March 5th
1981 - The Sinclair ZX81 hit the market.
1982 - John Belushi passed away at age 33.
1983 - Michael Jackson’s single Billie Jean hit number one.
1993 - Swing Kids hit theaters.
1993 - Ben Johnson was banned for racing for life.
1994 - The Weird Science TV show premiered.
1994 - US3’s one hit Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) peaked at number nine.
1995 - Yahoo.com went live.
1997 - The Jenny McCarthy Show premiered.
Jenny McCarthy has had two TV shows 16 years apart named The Jenny McCarthy Show.
The first Jenny McCarthy Show was this MTV sketch comedy show in 1997, which came after she was a breakout star on the game show Singled Out. The show got poor reviews and only lasted for one 19-episode season.
Sixteen years later, the second Jenny McCarthy Show came out — a talk show talking about pop culture on VH1. This one lasted 15 episodes — though it was because McCarthy left to join The View, not because of poor performance.
1999 - Cruel Intentions hit theaters.
1999 - Analyze This and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels hit theaters.
2002 - The Osbournes premiered on MTV.
March 6th
1981 - Walter Cronkite had his final broadcast as the anchor of CBS Evening News.
1983 - The Sponge was approved as a contraceptive device.
1983 - The CMT cable network debuted.
1983 - The USFL debuted.
The USFL was the first-ever pro football game broadcast on ESPN — and the first broadcast on cable.
ESPN, which was four years old at the time, signed a deal to be the cable home of the new USFL.
When they aired the Michigan Panthers versus the Birmingham Stallions, that marked the first time ESPN aired a pro football game — or that any cable TV network aired a pro football game.
1985 - Mike Tyson won by knockout in his first professional fight.
1987 - Lethal Weapon hit theaters.
1992 - The movie Gladiator — the boxing one — premiered.
1992 - The Michelangelo virus hit computers.
1993 - Digable Planet’s one hit, Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat), peaked at number 15.
1993 - A Whole New World hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
1994 - MTV’s Liquid Television came to an end.
1998 - The Big Lebowski hit theaters.
2000 - Eric Clapton became the first three-time inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
A Starship Troopers reboot is rumored to be in the works at Sony.
It turns out John Hughes originally wrote The Breakfast Club as a play, not a movie.
Wu-Tang Clan has announced their final tour. It runs this June and July.
Warner Bros. reached out to the town of Chickasha, Okla., saying their giant leg lamp statue is violating A Christmas Story’s copyright.
Gene Hackman, who starred in films from the ‘80s and ‘90s and well beyond, passed away this week at age 95.
Michelle Trachtenberg, the ‘90s child star from Harriet the Spy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and many others, passed away this week at age 39. She’d recently undergone a liver transplant.
Get Your Book-It Stickers Here
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Have a great week!
-Sam