8/2 - Which '90s TV Hit Began As a Radio Show?
Plus trivia on Smash Mouth, Parenthood, Mariah Carey, Stand by Me, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
August 2nd, 2024 • Issue 215
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
August 2nd
1985 - Weird Science hit theaters.
1987 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was re-released in theaters.
1989 - Parenthood hit theaters.
NBC decided to spin off Parenthood into a TV series even before the movie was released.
And NBC followed through with its plan, putting the Parenthood TV series on its 1990 fall TV schedule.
But… it did not touch the popularity of the movie. It was one of many movie-to-TV spinoffs that died deaths in the 1990-91 TV season. (Ferris Bueller, Uncle Buck, Baby Talk based on Look Who’s Talking, Working Girl, and Bagdad Cafe were others.)
NBC’s Parenthood series only lasted 12 episodes.
But the second reboot, in 2010, was more successful and lasted six seasons on NBC.
1990 - A revised version of Punch-Out!!, with the titular Mike Tyson replaced by Mr. Dream, was released for NES.
1996 - Matilda hit theaters.
1996 - The Dream Team III won the gold medal at the Olympics in Atlanta.
1998 - Lamb Chop’s Shari Lewis died.
August 3rd
1977 - Tandy and RadioShack announced their first personal computer.
1984 - Mary Lou Retton became the first American woman to win the all-around gymnastics gold medal.
Mary Lou Retton was also the first non-Eastern European woman to win the all-around gymnastics gold.
Since the all-around gold for women’s gymnastics was established in 1952, the winners were from: the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Romania.
But even to this date, no one from outside of Eastern Europe or the U.S. has ever won the gold.
1985 - Tears for Fears’ single Shout hit number one.
1987 - Def Leppard’s album Hysteria was released.
1990 - Young Guns II hit theaters.
1990 - Mo Better Blues hit theaters.
1990 - DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp hit theaters.
1996 - Los Del Rio’s Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix) hit number one.
1999 - Iron Giant hit theaters.
August 4th
1987 - In a move that would contribute perhaps even more than anyone realized to destabilizing American society, the FCC rescinded the Fairness Doctrine.
1987 - The Dirty Dancing soundtrack was released.
1990 - Mariah Carey’s debut single, Vision of Love, hit number one.
Mariah Carey is the only artist ever to have their first five singles all reach number one.
Vision of Love was the first, on this date in 1990. It was followed by Love Takes Time, Someday, I Don’t Wanna Cry, and Emotions.
1992 - Gin Blossoms’ album New Miserable Experience was released.
1993 - In a famous baseball fight, Nolan Ryan put Robin Ventura in a headlock.
1994 - Howard Stern dropped his bid for governor of New York.
1995 - Babe hit theaters.
1998 - INOJ’s single Time After Time was released.
2000 - Coyote Ugly hit theaters.
August 5th
1986 - Lionel Richie’s album Dancing on the Ceiling was released.
1989 - Prince’s single Batdance hit number one.
1994 - Clear and Present Danger hit theaters.
1994 - Airheads hit theaters.
1994 - The Little Rascals movie hit theaters.
1998 - Whose Line Is It Anyway? premiered.
Whose Line Is It Anyway? began as a radio show.
In 1998, Whose Line Is It Anyway? debuted on BBC Radio 4 in the U.K.
After six episodes, the creators turned it into a TV show.
Eventually, it started recruiting more and more American improvisers on the cast… and in 1998, a full American spin-off debuted.
The show has run for 20 seasons (on and off) across three U.S. networks — ABC, ABC Family, The CW — over the past 26 years.
1998 - Halloween H20 hit theaters.
August 6th
1986 - Timothy Dalton was named the new James Bond.
1988 - Yo! MTV Raps premiered.
1991 - Tim Berners-Lee released his files describing the World Wide Web.
1993 - The Fugitive hit theaters.
1994 - The Offspring’s Come Out and Play peaked at #38 on the Billboard chart.
1994 - Lisa Loeb’s single Stay (I Missed You) hit number one.
1996 - The Ramones played their final show.
1998 - The final episode of Magic Johnson’s talk show, The Magic Hour, aired.
1999 - The Sixth Sense hit theaters.
1999 - Mystery Men hit theaters.
Mystery Men launched the Smash Mouth song All-Star and the cast is in the official music video for the song… sort of.
The video for Smash Mouth’s All-Star uses movie footage from Mystery Men — and sometimes has the Smash Mouth guys interacting with the footage using camera tricks.
However, in the cases where Smash Mouth needed original footage of the Mystery Men, the characters are shot from behind using unconvincing body doubles.
August 7th
1987 - Rad Racer was released for NES.
1990 - The U.S. deployed the first troops in Operation Desert Shield.
1992 - Unforgiven hit theaters.
1992 - 3 Ninjas hit theaters.
Enrollment in karate classes in the U.S. went up around 10% after 3 Ninjas.
3 Ninjas was a surprise hit for Disney and got at least some of a generation interested in martial arts.
The enrollment in karate classes across the U.S. jumped after the movie’s release.
1997 - Garth Brooks played a free concert in Central Park.
1998 - Snake Eyes hit theaters.
August 8th
1983 - Metallica’s first single, Whiplash, was released.
1986 - Stand by Me hit theaters.
Stand by Me was originally going to keep the title The Body — the title of the Stephen King short story on which the movie was based.
Columbia Studios didn’t like the title, and ultimately changed it because it was too close to a 1984 movie called Body Double.
Director Rob Reiner came up with the new title, Stand by Me.
Kiefer Sutherland says that happened because Rob Reiner heard him singing Stand by Me on set while River Phoenix played guitar.
1987 - U2’s single I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For hit number one.
1992 - Metallica’s James Hetfield was burned in a pyro explosion.
1992 - The U.S. Dream Team won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics.
1992 - Madonna’s single This Used to Be My Playground hit number one.
1994 - Everything But the Girl’s single Missing was released.
1995 - Coolio’s single Gangsta’s Paradise was released.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Bill & Ted — Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves — are reuniting on Broadway for a revival of Waiting for Godot.
A Britney Spears biopic is under works by Universal.
Matt Damon says he’s still pushing to make a sequel to 1998’s Rounders.
Freddie Prinze Jr. says he wants to be part of the I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot. “We gotta make sure everyone’s schedules fit.” Brandy also says she wants back in — even though she had no idea the movie was getting a reboot.
Mindy Cohn says the Facts of Life reboot died because one of her costars “went behind our backs and tried to make a separate deal.” She didn’t say which actress it was, but said you can figure it out from her Instagram. (Signs point to Lisa Welchel, who played Blair.)
In honor of the 40th anniversary of Billy Idol’s album Rebel Yell, he performed the title track at the top of the Empire State Building.
Get Your Book-It Stickers Here
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Have a great week!
-Sam