5/26: What 90s movie had *35* writers? What 80s group is a secret pun?
Plus Stallone, Toto's Africa, Apple Newton, '80s hit remakes, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
May 26th, 2023 • Issue 153
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
May 26th
1978 - The first casino in Atlantic City opened.
1984 - Deniece Williams’s single Let’s Hear It for the Boy hit number one.
1987 - Larry Bird had a famous steal in the NBA playoffs.
1990 - The series finale aired of The Tracey Ullman Show.
1992 - Mariah Carey’s single I’ll Be There was released.
1993 - Menace II Society hit theaters.
1993 - A home run bounced off Jose Canseco’s head and his career was never the same.
1994 - Bob Barker admitted to groping Price Is Right model Diane Parkinson.
1995 - Casper hit theaters.
1996 - Ghost Town DJs’ single My Boo was released.
1998 - The Supreme Court ruled Ellis Island is mostly in New Jersey.
The Supreme Court ruled 83% of Ellis Island is in New Jersey, rather than New York state.
New Jersey and New York finally had a 300-plus-year argument over Ellis Island settled in 1998 in the case of New Jersey v. New York.
In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an 1834 compact (that was ratified by Congress) gave New Jersey jurisdiction over 83% of Ellis Island.
The main impact: Which state could collect sales tax.
2002 - Robert Horry hit a game-winning buzzer beater for the Lakers.
2002 - Eminem’s album The Eminem Show was released.
May 27th
1986 - Dragon Quest, the first notable RPG, was released in Japan.
1988 - The series finale aired of Punky Brewster.
1991 - The Chicago Bulls defeated the Detroit Pistons as Michael Jordan went to his first NBA Finals.
1994 - The Flintstones movie hit theaters.
There were 35 writers who worked on the script for The Flintstones over the course of almost a decade.
The Flintstones movie had been in the works since 1985 with team after team of writers involved trying to put together a script that would satisfy the various producers and studios passing around the project.
Ultimately 35 — yes, THIRTY-FIVE — different writers took a shot at the movie.
Three wound up receiving official credit from the Writers Guild of America — one of whom was the very first writer who ever took on the script, all the way back in 1985.
1994 - The series finale aired of the Arsenio Hall Show.
1995 - Christopher Reeve was paralyzed after falling off a horse.
1996 - Savage Garden’s single I Want You was released.
1996 - Scott Hall made a surprise appearance on WCW Monday Nitro to kick off the Monday Night Wars.
1997 - Puff Daddy’s single I’ll Be Missing You, LeAnn Rimes’s single How Do I Live, and Matchbox 20’s single Push were released.
1998 - Charlie Sheen was hospitalized after a drug overdose.
May 28th
1982 - Rocky III hit theaters.
1983 - Irene Cara’s single Flashdance... What a Feeling hit number one.
1987 - Whitney Houston’s album Whitney was released.
1988 - George Michael’s single One More Try hit number one.
1991 - Jodeci’s album Forever My Lady and NWA’s album N* 4 Life were both released.
1993 - Cliffhanger hit theaters.
Sylvester Stallone used climbing doubles for as much of Cliffhanger as possible — because he’s afraid of heights.
Maybe Cliffhanger wasn’t the best movie for him to take on, considering his acrophobia.
Stallone also injured his hand during the movie, but not on a cliff — it was on a fake cliff on a soundstage. Again, the heights thing.
1993 - The live-action Super Mario Bros. Movie hit theaters.
1995 - The series finale aired of Tiny Toon Adventures.
1998 - Phil Hartman was murdered.
1999 - Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper went on display in Italy after 22 years of restoration.
1999 - Notting Hill hit theaters.
May 29th
1980 - Larry Bird was named NBA Rookie of the Year, beating Magic Johnson.
1987 - George Michael’s single I Want Your Sex was released.
1989 - Soul II Soul’s single Back to Life was released.
1990 - Rickey Henderson set MLB’s all-time career stolen base record.
1992 - Sister Act hit theaters.
1992 - The Apple Newton was announced.
Apple created the term “personal digital assistant” or PDA to describe the Newton.
Apple’s Newton is a famous flop, but the product category Apple created as it introduced the Newton was not.
When Apple announced the Newton at the Consumer Electronics Show in January of 1992, they described it as a “personal digital assistant” and used the acronym “PDA.”
That term became ubiquitous across the industry for Palm Pilots and other products that had far longer and more successful tenures than the Newton. And the PDA category would stick around until smartphones made the products obsolete in the late ‘00s.
1993 - Jose Canseco was injured after convincing his manager on the Texas Rangers to let him pitch.
1995 - TLC’s single Waterfalls was released.
1998 - Jeff Buckley drowned while swimming.
1998 - Hope Floats and Almost Heroes hit theaters.
May 30th
1982 - Cal Ripken’s record-breaking consecutive games streak began.
1986 - Barry Bonds made his MLB debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1987 - The Rockers made their WWF debut.
1989 - Bobby Brown’s single On Our Own was released.
1992 - Paul Simon and Edie Brickell were married.
Paul Simon and Edie Brickell met when she was performing on Saturday Night Live and he was there just kinda hanging out by the camera.
Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians were making their Saturday Night Live debut on November 5th, 1988 (the episode was hosted by Matthew Modine). Paul Simon was just kinda hanging out in the studio, as I guess he sometimes did, and Edie Brickell says she saw him by the camera as she was performing. They’ve now been married for more than 30 years.
1994 - Kim Jong-Il shot a 38 under par with 11 holes-in-one in a round of golf.
1995 - Vanessa Williams’s single Colors of the Wind was released.
1997 - INOJ’s single Love You Down was released.
2003 - Finding Nemo hit theaters.
2003 - The Italian Job hit theaters.
May 31st
1980 - Lipps Inc.’s single Funkytown hit number one.
Lipps Inc. got its name as a pun based on “lip sync.”
A wedding DJ named Steven Greenberg started the group when he decided to try writing disco songs. He wanted to call his group Lip Sync, but another group already was using that name — so Greenberg went with Lipps Inc. instead.
1983 - The Philadelphia 76ers swept the L.A. Lakers to win the NBA Championship.
1985 - Fletch hit theaters.
1991 - Sega’s Zero Wing, the game featuring the future meme All Your Base, was released in Europe for the debut of its poorly-translated cut scene.
1992 - Night Court aired its series finale.
1994 - The Beastie Boys album Ill Communication was released.
1995 - Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson’s single Scream was released.
1996 - Eddie hit theaters.
1998 - The series finale aired of The Larry Sanders Show.
1999 - VH1’s Behind the Music became a nightly show.
2000 - Survivor premiered on CBS.
June 1st
1980 - CNN launched as the first all-news network.
1984 - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock hit theaters.
1988 - The first edition of the video game (then called) John Madden Football was released.
1990 - Total Recall hit theaters.
1991 - Comedy Central launched, replacing the Comedy Network.
Comedy Central was the merger between two comedy channels: Time-Life/HBO’s The Comedy Channel and Viacom’s Ha!
In April of 1991, the two struggling cable comedy networks merged to become the CTV: The Comedy Network.
And on June 1st, 1991, they rebranded as Comedy Central.
One reason for changing? CTV was the name of a Canadian broadcast TV network, and they didn’t want any issues.
1993 - Sting’s single Fields of Gold was released.
1994 - The Reggie Miller flashed a choke sign in a playoff win against the New York Knicks.
1994 - The FX network launched as Fox’s first foray into cable TV.
1996 - MLB debuted on Fox.
1998 - The first episode of MTV’s Challenge aired.
1999 - Napster launched.
1999 - Jennifer Lopez’s album On the 6 was released.
1999 - Fastball’s single Out of My Head was released.
1999 - Dido’s debut album, No Angel, was released in the U.S.
2001 - Moulin Rouge hit theaters.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
A landlord in Duluth, Minn., was arrested earlier this month after setting fire to his apartment while blasting Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.
According to Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris, she clashed with Mike Myers after he wanted several scenes cut from the movie — including the Bohemian Rhapsody scene. She says she was fired from directing the sequel because she refused to cut the scenes.
The trailer is out for the musical reboot of The Color Purple. The movie comes out in theaters on Christmas.
Michael J. Fox says he had the chance to be in Ghost but passed — and still regrets it.
As mentioned in this newsletter a few weeks back, there’s a new podcast about the lost SNL Hans and Franz movie. The first episode just came out. Here’s a YouTube video of the first episode featuring Dana Carvey, Kevin Nealon, Robert Smigel, and Conan O’Brien performing selected scenes from the screenplay.
Gerald Castillo, a character actor who played (among others), A.C. Slater’s dad Major Slater on Saved by the Bell, passed away earlier this month at age 90.
Tina Turner passed away this week at age 83.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
Remember when Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ had its renaissance in the ‘00s? Well at some point a few years ago, Toto’s Africa became the new Don’t Stop Believin’.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
From Billboard, here are ‘80s top 10 hits that were remade… and became top 10 hits again. Some of which were even remade in the ‘80s… one of which was remade and became a hit, apparently, tomorrow. (The date listed is May 27th, 2023. Spoooooky.)
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
In 1999, TBS created a show called The Chimp Channel — it starred chimps and orangutans in costumes, with dubbed voices, spoofing pop culture. It was TBS’s first original sitcom and received scathing critical reactions. (Though some popularity with fans.) It lasted one 13-episode season. Here’s the first episode in full.
Have a great week!
-Sam
Thank you for reminding me The Chimp Channel was a thing!