April 1: The Time Alex Trebek and Pat Sajak Switched Shows
Plus Chasing Amy, Chris Webber's time out, Post-It Notes, and more
The Retro
by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
April 1st, 2022 • Issue 93
This week in ‘80s & ‘90s history
April 1st
25 years ago, on April 1st, 1997 - Alex Trebek and Pat Sajak switched hosting jobs as an April Fools joke.
As far as corporate-approved April Fools jokes go, this is a good one. On this day 25 years ago, Alex Trebek hosted Wheel of Fortune and Pat Sajak hosted Jeopardy.
The shows took very different paths.
Wheel featured Pat Sajak and Vanna White actually playing the game as contestants, for charity. There were lots of laughs and it was a random, harmless, pure stunt show.
Jeopardy, on the other hand, featured three real contestants and was not an exhibition match. The video of the show is amazing — all three contestants have an unmistakable deer-in-headlights look when Sajak comes out to host and clearly don’t know what’s happening.
Then Pat Sajak reveals the categories for the first round, most of which are Wheel references (e.g., Buy a Vowel or Say “Jack”) and only one is traditional (Books & Authors).
The contestants immediately pick Books & Authors and go through all five questions before, I guess, realizing this stunt host deal is legit and they’d better just play the game.
Of note, this would be the final time someone else hosted Jeopardy until Alex Trebek stepped down with his health issues a few years ago.
Also on April 1st: Marvin Gaye was murdered by his father (1984)… David Lee Roth left Van Halen (1985)… The Bangles’ single Eternal Flame hit number one (1989)… the Ha! network, which would become Comedy Central, premiered (1990)… the Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI (1990)… Duke won its first NCAA men’s basketball title (1991)… the Sega Game Gear was released to take on the Nintendo Game Boy (1991)… Major League 2 hit theaters (1994)… Sister, Sister premiered (1994)… South Park angered fans with a bait and switch episode instead of paying off a cliffhanger (1998)… Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock at the highly-regarded WrestleMania XVII (2001)
April 2nd
36 years ago, on April 2nd, 1986 - The NCAA finally adopted the three-point line.
The NCAA was the last horse across the finish line when it came to three-point adoption. The NBA instituted the three-pointer in 1979 and international basketball in 1984. The NCAA finally gave in.
Perhaps their hesitancy was out of a lack of faith in the college players’ long-distance shooting abilities; because when the NCAA’s three-point line debuted, it was just 19 feet, nine inches from the basket.
In spite of that short distance, teams only averaged nine attempts per game and 3.5 makes. In other words: the three-point line was there, but wasn’t changing the game.
Three pointers increased in popularity over the years — then ratcheted up significantly once analytics proved just how important three pointers are for “expected points per possession” and other stats loathed by the cigar chomping types.
Today the NCAA three-point line is 22 feet, 1.75 inches from the basket — and teams average around 21 to 22 three point attempts per game (making about seven or eight); that means teams shoot a three on roughly one-third of their possessions in a game.
Also on April 2nd: Georgetown defeated Houston to win the NCAA Tournament (1984)… the NCAA adopted a 45-second shot clock (1985)… some U.S. interstates began testing a 65 mph speed limit (1987)… Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage at WrestleMania V (1989)… the New York Times declared the Cold War was over (1989)… UNLV defeated Duke to win the NCAA Tournament (1990)… John Gotti was found guilty of murder along with several other charges (1992)… The Crush and Cop and a Half both hit theaters (1993)… WrestleMania XI featured NFL player Lawrence Taylor in the main event (1995)… the 232-day MLB strike ended (1995)… MLB star Cecil Fielder stole his first base after 11 years (1996)… Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli died in Germany (1998)… a four-way match headlined WrestleMania 2000 (2000)… Ichiro made his MLB debut (2001)
April 3rd
31 years ago, on April 3rd, 1991 - Crystal Waters’s single Gypsy Woman was released.
Gypsy Woman, the debut single from Crystal Waters, posed (maybe accidentally) an interesting question about the dance music genre: Are people only in it for the beat or do they care about the lyrical content as well?
The song, about a homeless woman on the streets begging for money, featured the hypnotic hook “la da dee la da da.”
So when the record label released the single, the song was called Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee La Da Da).
Crystal Waters didn’t like that, and successfully lobbied her label to change the name of the track to Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless).
There aren’t any metrics available to figure out if that switch affected commercial performance. Nor is there any documentation on the sentiment of, perhaps, using an addictive dance song as a Trojan horse for a socially-conscious message.
However, the whole affair did give the song (and Crystal Waters) a surprisingly high stature — maybe one disproportionate to the song’s contemporaneous success.
The single peaked at number eight on the Billboard charts and was certified gold with 500,000 sales — good numbers, but nothing head-turning for the era.
However, in the decades since, the song has showed up on dozens of highly-regarded lists and critical roundups for its efforts, early in the electronic music era, to make a song that was both good for dancing and carried a message.
Also on April 3rd: The first portable computer, the Osborne 1, was unveiled (1981)… Police Academy 4 hit theaters (1987)… the Traveling Wilburys formed in Los Angeles (1988)… Michigan defeated Seton Hall to win the NCAA Tournament (1989)… Pepsi dropped Madonna as a spokesperson after the Vatican called her video for Like a Prayer “blasphemous” (1989)… En Vogue’s album Born to Sing was released (1990)… Beethoven hit theaters (1992)… Mortal Kombat II was released (1993)… Jon B’s single Someone to Love was released (1995)… UCLA defeated Arkansas to win the NCAA Tournament (1995)… the Unabomber was arrested (1996)… Primal Fear hit theaters (1996)… MC Hammer filed for bankruptcy (1996)
April 4th
25 years ago, on April 4th, 1997 - Chasing Amy hit theaters.
I was nervous at how Chasing Amy would hold up before watching it this week, the first time I’d rewatched (I believe) since my original viewing more than 20 years ago.
After all, Kevin Smith (especially a young Kevin Smith) seems like unequivocally not the right guy to take on the subject matter of Chasing Amy — sexual fluidity, sexual orientation, complex dynamics in all types of relationships.
But after watching… Chasing Amy is surprisingly nuanced and, perhaps, even ahead of its time.
Yes, there are way more casual slurs than you’d get in a movie today and those are jarring. But the rest of the movie still mostly works.
Though the movie was made before concepts like toxic masculinity were coined, Ben Affleck’s character embodies all of the entitlement, self-centeredness, and privilege you’d see with a similar character in a modern movie. I’m not sure if I realized 25 years ago just how much Ben Affleck is the main character but not the hero of the story.
It makes sense he winds up alone at the end of the film, with both characters he drove away (his best friend and his ex-girlfriend) in better places in life.
Also on April 4th: North Carolina State won the NCAA Tournament as coach Jim Valvano famously ran around the court looking for someone to hug (1983)… Starship’s single Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now hit number one (1987)… Kansas defeated Oklahoma to win the NCAA Tournament (1988)… Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in his final NBA game (1989)… Hulk Hogan surprisingly left WrestleMania IX as champion (1993)… Arkansas beat Duke to win the NCAA Tournament (1994)… Sheryl Crow’s single All I Wanna Do was released (1994)… Netscape was founded (1994)… K-Ci & JoJo’s single All My Life hit number one and The Verve’s one hit single, Bittersweet Symphony, peaked at number 12 (1998)… the NFL Europe kicked off (1998)… Alibaba was founded (1999)… Pink’s debut album, Can’t Take Me Home, was released (2000)
April 5th
29 years ago, on April 5th, 1993 - The University of North Carolina defeated Michigan to win the NCAA Tournament when Michigan’s Chris Webber called an infamous time out.
On this day in 1993, Webber, the leader of Michigan’s famous Fab Five, tried to call a time out in the waning moments of the NCAA championship game versus North Carolina. But Michigan was out of time outs, so Webber was assessed a technical foul, UNC shot the technical free throws, and then won the game and the title.
Webber left Michigan for the NBA a few months later, ending the Fab Five’s run at two seasons and two losses in the championship game.
There are some athletes who make one high-profile mistake which then becomes the lead sentence in any future work about their career. (Bill Buckner, Leon Lett, the Merkle boner guy, et. al.)
Chris Webber wasn’t that. He’d have a long NBA career (ultimately getting into the Hall of Fame with right-on-the-border credentials; not being selected for the NBA’s recent top 75 players of all time).
However, the time out dogged him and, throughout his career and then post-retirement broadcasting work, he still hasn’t fully escaped that moment. And anytime a player calls a time out they don’t have, a Chris Webber mention is still basically guaranteed.
Also on April 5th: Jerry Lawler wrestled Andy Kaufman in Memphis (1982)… Kareem Abdul-Jabbar set the NBA career scoring record (1984)… the FOX network debuted and premiered Married… with Children and The Tracey Ullman Show (1987)… Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice at WrestleMania VIII (1992)… assault charges were dropped against Mark Wahlberg after he reached an out-of-court settlement with the man he attacked (1993)… Kurt Cobain committed suicide (1994)… The Crocodile Hunter premiered (1997)… a woman in France caused a fatal accident while distracted by a Tamagotchi (1998)… Van Wilder hit theaters (2002)
April 6th
42 years ago, on April 6th, 1980 - Post-It Notes went on sale nationwide.
The Post-It Notes origin story isn’t just famous — it’s a metaphor. And you know a story will spread forever when it hits that metaphor level.
Of course, the truth is probably a lot less tidy.
The origin story of Post-Its: An engineer at 3M accidentally invented the lightly sticky adhesive — while he was aiming to invent a super sticky adhesive.
The story then becomes allegorical, an ode to making lemons out of lemonade, a testament to the unplanned nature of success.
Over time, the story has lost some luster — especially since we now know 3M settled a lawsuit with another inventor who claimed he brought them the idea.
That’s not as flowery of a metaphor, but it feels more realistic.
Also on April 6th: The Gods Must Be Crazy hit theaters (1984)… Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Marvelous Marvin Hagler (1987)… baseball executive Al Campanis made racist remarks on Nightline (1987)… Cry-Baby and Ernest Goes to Jail hit theaters (1990)… Windows 3.1 launched (1992)… Barney the Dinosaur premiered (1992)… Duke defeated Michigan to win the NCAA Tournament (1992)… Marlon Brando made anti-Semitic comments on Larry King Live (1996)… WCW wrestler Booker T (a Black man) accidentally called Hulk Hogan (an orange man) the n-word during an impassioned promo (1997)… Teletubbies premiered (1998)… Citicorp and Travelers Group merged to form Citigroup (1998)… Carmen Electra divorced Dennis Rodman (1999)… Blow and Along Came a Spider hit theaters (2001)
April 7th
29 years ago, on April 7th, 1993 - Indecent Proposal was released.
Indecent Proposal is a benchmark, if nothing else, for just how out-of-control the wealth gap has grown in the past three decades.
Just $1 million? I mean, today, a character like Robert Redford’s rich guy in this movie makes $1 million every 3.2 seconds.
A modern Indecent Proposal would bump that up to at least $100 million.
So that’s something.
Also on April 7th: Rick James’s album Street Songs was released (1981)… WrestleMania II took place at three locations (1986)… NBA players got the green light to compete in the Olympics (1989)… Major League hit theaters as did The Dream Team (1989)… a Robert Maplethorpe photo exhibit at Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center led to multiple obscenity arrests (1990)… Taylor Dayne’s single Love Will Lead You Back hit number one (1990)… Toad the Wet Sprocket’s single All I Want was released (1992)… civil war erupted in Rwanda (1994)… Bad Boys, Rob Roy, and A Goofy Movie hit theaters (1995)… the Goo Goo Dolls song Iris was released (1998)… George Michael was arrested for solo sex acts in a Beverly Hills bathroom (1998)… Mary Bono won a special election to serve out her late husband’s congressional term (1998)… Ready to Rumble, Rules of Engagement, and Return to Me hit theaters (2000)… the Mars Odyssey launched (2001)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Slower news week this week…
Hulu is rebooting The Full Monty as a TV series, featuring its original cast.
A&E is making a documentary about the life of Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
HBO Max is making an It prequel series.
Seann William Scott says he was paid $8,000 for his role in American Pie.
Throwbacks and recommendations
The official trailer is out for Top Gun: Maverick. The movie comes out Memorial Day weekend.
Here’s a quick look at the story behind George Clinton’s Atomic Dog.
Check out the story behind the creation of the GIF.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam