April 29: SpongeBob, House of Pain, Sixteen Candles
Plus Monica Seles, Hypnotize, Paula Abdul, and more
The Retro
by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
April 29th, 2022 • Issue 97
This week in ‘80s & ‘90s history
April 29th
30 years ago, on April 29th, 1992 - Paula Abdul and Emilio Estevez got married.
This may be a surprise for those who weren’t (1) alive and (2) paying attention to vapid pop culture in the early ‘90s, but Paula Abdul and Emilio Estevez were actually a legit Hollywood power couple.
At the time, both were at the height of their career powers — and with it, their romantic powers.
Emilio Estevez was coming off movies like The Breakfast Club and Young Guns and was previously engaged to Demi Moore.
Paula Abdul was cranking out number one hits at a break neck pace and broke up with John Stamos to get with Emilio.
Their marriage lasted only two years, with a divorce coming in 1994 when they couldn’t agree on whether or not to have children.
The divorce also seemed to zap all of their respective powers. Paula’s singing career would quickly fade and she would essentially fall off the pop culture map until a decade later when she surfaced as an American Idol judge — and that show took off.
Emilio squeezed out only one movie, a Mighty Ducks sequel, during the marriage and would never hit the career heights he scored before the marriage.
Also on April 29th: Alfred Hitchcock passed away (1980)… Black Sabbath began their first tour with Ronnie James Dio (1980)… Billy Martin became manager of the New York Yankees for the fourth time (1985)… Roger Clemens struck out 20 batters in a game (1986)… Bo Jackson was the number one pick in the NFL Draft but refused to play for the team that drafted him (1986)… Eric Clapton filed for divorce from Patti “Layla” Boyd (1988)… the L.A. riots began after the Rodney King verdict was announced (1992)… TLC’s single Baby Baby Baby was released (1992)… With Honors and PCU both hit theaters (1994)… Tupac got married while in jail (1995)… the series finale of Empty Nest aired on NBC (1995)… TV Land network debuted (1996)… Rent made its Broadway debut (1996)… Tommy Lee quit Motley Crue (1999)
April 30th
29 years ago, on April 30th, 1993 - Monica Seles was stabbed by a crazed fan during a tennis tournament in Germany.
One of the most incomprehensible sports stories ever happened on this day in 1993, when a deranged Steffi Graf fan stabbed Monica Seles during a tennis tournament in Germany.
Seles survived the attack but was out of tennis for two years (notably, two years of her prime). She would make a comeback and win a few more tournaments; however, there’s popular speculation she could’ve become the most successful women’s tennis player ever had the stabbing not derailed her career.
Her attacker got off on an insanity claim and only wound up with probation; after that controversial verdict, Seles said she’d never play tennis in Germany again.
She also spoke out heavily about player security in sports… with most of it seeming to fall on deaf ears.
In the three decades since, it’s remarkable just how little has been done about fan-player security across all sports. While most venues at least have metal detectors these days, fans still have arm’s reach access to players. And while there hasn’t been another stabbing, fan-player violence does still happen (e.g., two Chicago White Sox fans attacking an umpire; a fan assaulting a marathon runner in the Olympics; and the Malice at the Palace.)
Also on April 30th: Friday the 13th Part 2 hit theaters (1981)… Michael Jackson’s single Beat It hit number one (1983)… Madonna’s song La Isla Bonita became her 11th-straight top five single (1987)… Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side of the Moon dropped out of the Billboard 200 for the first time in 725 weeks (1988)… Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest (1988)… CNBC launched as the first financial-focused cable network (1989)… the long lost pilot to I Love Lucy aired (1990)… the series finale aired of the Cosby Show (1992)… a time capsule was buried in front of the Nickelodeon Studios, to be opened in 2042 (1992)… Beck’s only top 40 hit, Loser, peaked at number 10 (1994)… Ellen on Ellen became the first openly gay TV character (1997)… during a brawl between the Knicks and Heat, Jeff Van Gundy wrapped around Alonzo Mourning’s leg (1998)… Entrapment and Idle Hands both hit theaters (1999)… the series finale aired of Spin City (2002)… fine, I know it’s really out of the time frame, but I gotta include that Mean Girls hit theaters (2004)
May 1st
23 years ago, on May 1st, 1999 - SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on Nickelodeon.
SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon’s longest running and most successful series of all time, happened thanks to one guy with a one-in-a-billion Venn diagram of skills.
Stephen Hillenburg was a marine scientist major in college and oceanography instructor by trade… who also happened to be a talented enough cartoon artist to follow the latter to a job at Nickelodeon. And it turned out he also had the ability to write compelling stories that appealed to both children and adults; he was a savvy businessperson; and had the mental makeup to serve as the showrunner of a major television series.
So all of that added up to an under-the-sea animated series on Nickelodeon that excelled out of the gate and never looked back.
Sometimes TV is just that easy.
Also on May 1st: Billie Jean King announced her relationship with a woman and was now the first prominent openly gay female athlete (1981)… Castlevania was released for the NES (1987)… the series finale aired for Magnum P.I. (1988)… police reported to a call about a suspicious person in a jewelry store, who turned out to be Michael Jackson in disguise (1989)… Disney-MGM Studios theme park opened in Florida (1989)… Nolan Ryan threw his record seventh no-hitter and Rickey Henderson broke the career record for stolen bases (1991)… Rodney King asked, “Can we all get along?” (1992)… Silk’s single Freak Me hit number one (1993)… the series finale aired for the original American Gladiators (1996)… the series finale aired for Martin (1997)… He Got Game hit theaters (1998)… ABC aired the first celebrity edition of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” (2000)… Chandra Levy was seen for the last time in Washington, D.C. (2001)
May 2nd
40 years ago, on May 2nd, 1982 - The Weather Channel debuted.
As we mark 40 years of The Weather Channel, the network is, strangely enough, both less viewed and more beloved than ever before.
Cable numbers continue to decline rapidly, meaning fewer people than ever have The Weather Channel in their homes; plus the market need for The Weather Channel is at a low point considering a detailed, hyper-local weather report is just a widget away on our phones.
But yet… in this era of deep polarization and heavy media distrust, The Weather Channel stands as the last universal bastion of integrity. A shelter from the storm, to stay on theme.
In an Economist/YouGov poll just a few weeks ago, The Weather Channel scored the highest marks for trust of any TV news outlet.
In fact, it was the only news outlet in the country the majority of Americans viewed as trustworthy.
While that may speak more to what all the other news networks are doing (not to mention the slippery definition of “news”) and less to what The Weather Channel is doing, here at 40 years, it’s a nice achievement for them to hang their rain-soaked yellow hat on.
Also on May 2nd: Sheena Easton’s single Morning Train (Nine to Five) hit number one (1981)… Cutting Crew’s single (I Just) Died in Your Arms hit number one (1987)… Paula Abdul’s single Rush Rush was released (1991)… Nelson Mandela won South Africa’s first democratic election (1994)… the Michigan bottle deposit episodes of Seinfeld aired (1996)… police arrested a prostitute with Eddie Murphy (1997)… Breakdown hit theaters (1997)… Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery hit theaters (1997)… the fictional Battle of Hogwarts took place (1998)… John Elway retired from the NFL (1999)
May 3rd
25 years ago, on May 3rd, 1997 - The Notorious B.I.G.’s single Hypnotize hit number one.
When Hypnotize hit number one on this day in 1997, the Notorious BIG became just the fifth artist to achieve that Billboard spot posthumously.
The others were Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Jim Croce, and John Lennon.
Hypnotize is still widely regarded as one of the great hip-hop songs of all time (although it lost the Best Rap Solo Performance award at the 1998 Grammys to Will Smith’s Men in Black, in case you were wondering how much to trust the opinion of Grammy voters).
And it wasn’t the end of Biggie’s run of posthumous mega hits either. Mo Money Mo Problems would also hit number one later in 1997; Been Around the World and It’s All About the Benjamins both hit number two.
Also on May 3rd: The first spam email was sent by the Digital Equipment Corporation (1978)… Dell Computers was founded (1984)… Robert Palmer’s single Addicted to Love hit number one (1986)… Poison’s album Open Up and Say… Ahh! was released (1988)… Nancy Reagan admitted to using psychic advisors (1988)… 2 Live Crew’s single Banned in the U.S.A. was released (1990)… the series finale aired of Dallas (1991)… the L.A. riots ended after five days (1992)… The Craft hit theaters (1996)… White Town’s only hit, Your Woman, peaked at number 23 (1997)… Katrina and the Waves won the Eurovision Song Contest (1997)… the series finale aired of Party of Five (2000)… the first geochaching event took place (2000)… Spider-Man hit theaters (2002)
May 4th
38 years ago, on May 4th, 1984 - Sixteen Candles hit theaters.
Sixteen Candles is a frustrating movie to watch (or even reminisce about) today.
It shouldn’t shock anyone when I say Sixteen Candles is one of those movies that you just can’t watch the same way today as you did in the past. But not because of changing societal standards — even in its era, you had to look past all the things Sixteen Candles should’ve known better than to do.
And that’s frustrating, because it didn’t need the two major subplots that drag the movie down into “wow, the ‘80s were messed up” territory.
For all that’s good and timeless about Sixteen Candles — the signature John Hughes authenticity of its high school characters, the quality of its story, the appeal of Molly Ringwald, its high school romantic wish fulfillment done right — there are two brutal elements that get too much screen time to look past.
The first is the Long Duk Dong character, one of the hardest-to-watch stereotypical characters in modern cinematic history (which critics called out in the time, too).
The second is a subplot that brushes off date rape because it involves a goofy nerd and a popular girl who’s the main character’s rival. It’s hard to imagine everyone involved in the movie, even in the early ‘80s, was fine with all of that.
Again, it didn’t need any of that. Neither of those elements is paramount at all to the main plot nor any of the timeless parts of the movie. There were other ways to bring in comic relief than a stereotype out of a 1940s propaganda movie. There were other ways to have the nerd’s character arc pay off. There were other ways (there had to be other ways) to have the popular girl’s story go.
It’s all so disappointing; instead of me being able to spend this time talking about all the wonderful parts of an iconic teen movie, there’s no way to get around the parts that will forever keep it from that status.
Also on May 4th: Breakin’ hit theaters (1984)… Voices That Care peaked at number 11 on the Billboard charts (1991)… the BoDeans’ one hit, Closer to Free, peaked at number 16 (1996)… Mariah Carey’s single Always Be My Baby hit number one (1996)… one of the “darkest comedy” Simpsons episodes, Homer’s Enemy, aired (1997)… the Unabomber received four life sentences (1998)… Smash Mouth’s single All Star was released, as were Jennifer Lopez’s debut single, If You Had My Love, and Will Smith’s single Wild Wild West (1999)… the series finale aired for NewsRadio (1999)
May 5th
30 years ago, on May 5th, 1992 - House of Pain’s single Jump Around was released.
Jump Around was — and still is — an instantly catchy hip-hop track. And it stood out — way out — in 1992 for sounding so different than the other mainstream hip-hop at the time.
In a coincidental contrast, the number one song on this day in 1992 was another hip-hop song about jumping, Kris Kross’s Jump. That sounded more like the radio hip-hop at the time.
Jump Around was more like rap-rock, a genre that would take off later in the decade (with the diminishing-est of returns) but worked for House of Pain here. (Following in the footsteps of Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys.)
Jump Around was an international hit, and would be House of Pain’s only hit — really, their only blip on the radar. The group released two more albums and split up just four years later when Everlast decided to go solo.
Also on May 5th: Cleveland was chosen as the site of the future Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1986)… Billy Idol’s single Cradle of Love was released (1990)… TaleSpin premiered (1990)… Calloway’s one hit, I Wanna Be Rich, peaked at number two (1990)… Wolfenstein 3D was released (1992)… Quantum Leap’s series finale aired (1993)… American teenager Michael Fay was caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism (1994)… the final basketball game was played at the Boston Garden (1995)… the series finale aired of Boy Meets World (2000)… Gladiator hit theaters (2000)… Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thorton got married (2000)… the WWF officially became the WWE (2002)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
The Super Mario Bros. animated movie has been pushed back to April of next year from December of this year.
Michael Stipe says the original lyric in Losing My Religion was: “That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the kitchen.” He changed “kitchen” to “spotlight” before recording, which really changed the intention.
The Circle K from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure — “strange things are afoot at the Circle K” — which is located in the Phoenix area, is shutting down.
Stephen Root, who played Milton in Office Space, says now every time he’s in a movie someone shows up with “a box of staplers for me to sign.”
The B-52s have announced their farewell tour.
A guy in Pennsylvania just became one of only 11 people in the world to get a perfect score in Pac-Man.
Sega will stop selling versions of old Sonic games on platforms like Steam as of May 20th, to prepare for their new compilation game called Sonic Origins.
Throwbacks and recommendations
Here’s a video with Disney’s official recipe for the “gray stuff” mentioned in the Be Our Guest lyrics in Beauty and the Beast.
The trailer for the new Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers is out and it looks… really good? Or at least really self-aware.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam