August 13: Sega Genesis, the turning point of TGIF, Fisher-Price
Plus The Mirage casino once took bets on Who Shot Mr. Burns?!
The Retro
by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
August 13, 2021 • Issue 60
This week in nostalgic history
August 13th
30 years ago, on August 13th, 1991 - Full House moved from TGIF to Tuesdays.
It’s hard to say exactly which of the TGIF lineups was the “best” (or most iconic, most memorable, most emblematic, choose your designation) but I have two contenders. One is the 1993 to 1996 (give or take) lineup of Family Matters / Boy Meets World / Step by Step / Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper. And the other is the 1989 to 1991 configuration of Full House / Family Matters / Perfect Strangers / assorted others. Yes, even with “assorted others” in the 9:30 P.M. slot, the big three was enough of a murderer’s row to compete for the top title.
If the latter is, in fact, the (back to the thesaurus…) crown jewel of the TGIF era, this is the anniversary of the day the Jesse and the Rippers music died. By this point in 1991, with TGIF wrapping up its most successful ratings season ever, ABC was confident enough in Full House to believe it could not just survive outside of the TGIF block — they were confident it could thrive. So ABC moved Full House to the crucial timeslot of Tuesdays at 8:00 P.M. to be the lead-in to a new sitcom, Home Improvement. (The move worked, and no doubt contributed in some part to Home Improvement’s successful launch.)
But the move meant big changes to come for TGIF. Family Matters was promoted to the 8:00 P.M. slot — where it would never touch Full House’s ratings. New show Step by Step in the 8:30 P.M. timeslot would not match what Family Matters had been doing there the season before. In fact, the ratings for TGIF would never again touch the levels of the 1990-91 TV season.
So even though many reading this most likely agreed with my earlier assessment about the magic of the ‘93-’96 years, in some ways, this day marked the tipping point in TGIF history. After reaching to its highest heights after a climb from 1985 to the end of the 1991 TV season, though no one knew it at the time, it was now walking down the other side of the mountain. TGIF would ultimately end with the 2000 season.
ABC has tried to bring the concept back twice, once for two seasons from 2003-2005 and once for a season from 2018-2019. The magic is still yet to be recaptured.
Also on August 13th: The series finale aired of The Waltons on CBS (1981)… Fast Times at Ridgemont High hit theaters (1982)… Street Fighter II was released for Super Nintendo (1993)… Searching for Bobby Fisher hit theaters (1993)… South Park premiered on Comedy Central (1997)… Bowfinger and Detroit Rock City both hit theaters (1999)
August 14th
32 years ago, on August 14th, 1989 - Sega Genesis was released in North America.
I was surprised to see the Genesis came to the U.S. on this day in 1989, because I would’ve guessed a few years later. The Sega Genesis feels very much like a ‘90s video game tentpole, not an ‘80s one; in 1989, Nintendo had just recently become a ubiquitous household name and had just launched the Game Boy.
But the primary reason I thought 1989 was too early for Genesis is… the Genesis was too early in 1989. The console was too expensive, its game library too small, its uphill challenge against the Nintendo juggernaut too significant.
It wasn’t until 1991 when Sega figured out to compete. As Nintendo released the Super Nintendo, Sega aptly positioned itself as the “cool” alternative console. By that point, the console had a larger library (and, obviously, a much larger one than the brand new SNES) — not to mention a new signature game/character in Sonic the Hedgehog. And in the 1991 holiday season, Genesis outsold Super Nintendo two-to-one.
Ultimately, Super Nintendo would win the war by doing what Nintendo always does: turning its first-party titles into console-selling gold. Even with that card to play, it took until 1995 before SNES outsold Genesis. And when both companies moved on and focused on their next generation consoles, Super Nintendo wound up with total sales around two million higher than Genesis.
Also on August 14th: Can’t Buy Me Love hit theaters (1987)… three one-hit wonders hit their peaks on the Billboard charts with 95 South’s Whoot, There It Is at #11, 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up at #14, and Fu-Schnickens’ What’s Up Doc at #39 (1993)… Inside the Actors’ Studio premiered on Bravo (1994)… Nintendo’s Virtual Boy went on sale in North America (1995)… the first female cadet enrolled at The Citadel (1995)… How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Air Bud: Golden Receiver both hit theaters (1998)… The Weakest Link premiered on NBC and Dora the Explorer premiered on Nick Jr. (2000)
August 15th
40 years ago, on August 15th, 1981 - Joey Scarbury’s one hit, the theme song to The Greatest American Hero, peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts.
I’ve definitely never seen an episode of The Greatest American Hero, a comedy-drama-superhero show on ABC which ran for just 45 total episodes over the course of two years. But I sure do know its extremely catchy theme song. I’m not sure if I learned it through George Costanza’s answering machine parody or just general TV theme osmosis, but I can sing the theme song word-for-word.
Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not) isn’t just addictive in a theme song way, however — it managed to make the rare transition from theme song to just a song. (Something other addictive theme songs like, say, Charles in Charge or Facts of Life never did.) And on this day, this TV theme song hit number two on the Billboard chart, only denied the top spot by the juggernaut of Endless Love.
That would make Joey Scarbury a one-hit wonder; in fact, the song would be the big draw of the only album he’d ever release. He’d go on to work as a songwriter after that. And TV theme songs would become a far rarer breed in the decades to come, with shows either opting for an already-mainstream song or eschewing a real theme altogether.
Also on August 15th: The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in movie theaters for the first time (1975)… Apocalypse Now was released (1979)… Diana Ross and Lionel Richie’s duet Endless Love hit number one (1981)… Metroid was released (1987)… Aaron Neville’s Everybody Plays the Fool was released (1991)… The Larry Sanders Show and Are You Afraid of the Dark both premiered, the latter as part of Nickelodeon’s new SNICK Saturday night programming (1992)… Los Del Rio’s Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix) was released (1995)… Big Pun’s Still Not a Player peaked at #24 on the Billboard charts (1998)… the Bondi Blue iMac went on sale (1998)
August 16th
22 years ago, on August 16th, 1999 - Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? debuted in the U.S.
As we continue our (inadvertent) march through the history of ABC TV, now we get to the late ‘90s. The network was struggling big time and needed a hit. And that hit came in perhaps the unlikeliest form of a primetime game show event. Game shows weren’t hot at the time — not at all. We were on the verge of the reality TV explosion but it hadn’t arrived in full force. So this was a desperate gamble by ABC which really worked. Until it, quickly, stopped working.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, imported from the U.K., managed to encapsulate a perfect storm of factors to become a rare late August TV sensation. From the slow, deliberate, dramatic pattern of questions to the every-single-night format to the heretofore unseen million dollar jackpot to, yeah, Regis, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was captivating for audiences. By the end of its two-week run, not only was it a bona fide hit — it received full credit for revitalizing an entire TV network.
From then on, though, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? just couldn’t stop jumping the shark. During its next two-week run in November 1999, clearly the producers heard the rumblings of disappointment over no million dollar winners, so they lobbed 15 softball questions at a contestant as he easily coasted to victory. (By the end, you could even see he knew they were just handing him the trophy; his reaction to victory was decidedly understated.) Then ABC began airing Millionaire far too often, turning it from a special event into a common occurrence. A celebrity edition destroyed quite a bit of the show’s mystique as it exposed how the game show wasn’t all that riveting without contestants agonizing over potential personal loss of large sums of money. A daytime syndicated version began in 2002, taking whatever shards of scarcity remained in Millionaire and wiping them out for good.
The final primetime episode of Millionaire aired in June of 2002. To repeat almost exactly what I said about TGIF, ABC has brought the show back a few times in primetime since — but the magic has never been recaptured.
Also on August 16th: John Z. DeLorean was acquitted on cocaine charges (1984)… Madonna and Sean Penn got married (1985)… Madonna’s single Papa Don’t Preach hit number one, as did her album True Blue (1986)… Bon Jovi’s album Slippery When Wet was released (1986)… The Usual Suspects hit theaters (1995)… Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was released (1995)… Tin Cup and The Fan hit theaters (1996)… Lifehouse’s single Hanging by a Moment was released (2000)
August 17th
35 years ago, on August 17th, 1986 - Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen played his first concert since losing an arm.
I don’t really understand Def Leppard.
Their glory years were either before my musical awareness or when I was into top 40, not any type of metal, even pop metal. Some things make me think they were an absurd, over-the-top stadium rock band, cranking out made-for-strip-club songs like Pour Some Sugar On Me or songs with ridiculous titles like Armageddon It. They were never nominated for a Grammy and never seem to get a mention when people rattle off the iconic rock bands of the late ‘80s. But then I see they’ve sold 100 million albums and they’re in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So… were they a force for real or not?
Above all else, I have no idea how having a drummer who lost an arm but still kept drumming fits into the calculation. On one hand, it’s insanely impressive and quite a triumph of the human spirit. On the other hand, does that treacly sentiment make it “not” rock-and-roll… or is the self-confident and norm-bucking eff you of having a one-armed drummer too rock-and-roll?
Here’s what I do know: Rick Allen, Def Leppard’s drummer, got into a car accident in England in 1984 and lost his arm. The band took about a year-and-a-half off, then came back at a music festival on this day… with Allen drumming on a modified drum kit. And, apparently, killing it, because this would begin Def Leppard’s most commercially and critically successful period.
Def Leppard’s place in history is still not as clear.
Also on August 17th: Life of Brian was released in theaters (1979)… Prince’s song Delirious was released (1983)… James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow got married (1989)… Woody Allen admitted to his affair with Soon-Yi (1992)… David Caruso quit NYPD Blue to begin his movie career with Jade (1994)… Yo! MTV Raps aired its series finale (1995)… Ross Perot was announced as the Reform Party’s first-ever presidential candidate (1996)… Dishwalla’s one hit, Counting Blue Cars, peaked at #15 (1996)… VH1’s Behind the Music premiered (1997)… President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Monica Lewinsky before a grand jury, and then in an address from the White House (1998)… Brian McKnight’s single Back at One was released (1999)
August 18th
26 years ago, on August 18th, 1995 - Mortal Kombat the movie hit theaters… with a PG-13 rating.
If I had to pinpoint the moment the Mortal Kombat movie sealed its fate, it would be when the forces behind the film decided to go for a PG-13 movie. As a video game, Mortal Kombat’s appeal (or, at least, its headline differentiator) was there was nothing PG-13 about it. Winning a fight in the game involved using your character’s “fatality”; one of which involved ripping off your opponent’s head in a sea of blood and holding it up in victory, their spine swaying in the hemoglobic breeze.
But it was still a video game, and with that, in the ‘90s, that meant its fan base (or, at least, perceived fan base) skewed younger. And while anyone of any age could buy video games at that time, R-rated movies still were a little trickier to get in to. So the Mortal Kombat movie aimed to get as close to the R line as possible without going over. They even worked closely with the ratings officials at the MPAA to figure out exactly where that line was. (For instance, they learned a PG-13 movie couldn’t feature a human dying onscreen but could feature the death of a non-human character, so they killed non-humans wherever they could.)
Maybe the “almost R” formula could’ve worked (although probably not), but Mortal Kombat the movie didn’t have the bones to overcome the demerit. Mediocre acting and a bad script just exacerbated the absence of the game’s over-the-top violence and gore. The movie did OK at the box office, but failed to really captivate or inspire. The talk to this day is still primarily “why has Hollywood never been able to make a great movie based on a video game?” not “why has Hollywood never been able to make a great movie based on a video game but Mortal Kombat had its moments I guess?”
A reboot finally came out earlier this year. And this time, the producers didn’t try to toe the line between PG-13 and R… they toed the line between R and NC-17. (It’s hard to gauge the success of that move due to COVID-affected box office numbers.)
Also on August 18th: Herschel Walker took out an insurance policy on himself while at the University of Georgia (1981)… Uncle Buck hit theaters (1989)… Larry Bird announced his retirement (1992)… Ini Kamoze’s single Here Comes the Hotstepper was released (1994)… The Baby-Sitters Club movie hit theaters (1995) Aerosmith’s single I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing was released (1998)… Alicia Keys’ single Fallin’ hit number one (2001)
August 19th
28 years ago, on August 19th, 1993 - Mattel acquired Fisher-Price to become the largest toy company in the U.S.
Mattel and Hasbro have been locked in a battle for at least 60 years over who’s going to be the top U.S. toy company and, in the process, they’ve vacuumed up virtually every other toy company that’s made a go of things in this country. And not vacuumed them up with a fake vacuum cleaner with colorful balls popping around on the inside of the plastic dome.
But it’s possible that no acquisition was larger than the one on this day in 1993, when Mattel acquired Fisher-Price.
At the time, Mattel was lagging behind Hasbro (which had recently acquired companies like Coleco, Tonka, Parker Brothers, and Kenner) and needed to round out its offerings, especially for babies and toddlers. There was no one stronger in that space than Fisher-Price. The 10-figure acquisition, though massive for the time in the industry, made sense.
And Mattel’s move worked; they soon overtook Hasbro to become the leading U.S. toy brand.
The battle wasn’t over, of course. The toy market is capricious, to say the least, and much of the success of both companies since has centered on having the right hit toy at the right time.
In 2020, Hasbro did $5.5b in worldwide revenue; Mattel did $4.6b. But that only landed them in third and fourth place, respectively, behind Lego and Bandai Namco.
But of course, we’re always just one Cabbage Patch Kid or Furby away from all of that changing.
Also on August 19th: Mr. Mom hit theaters (1983)… Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger got married (1993)… Yokozuna had his final match on WWF television (1996)… Sarah McLachlan’s single Building a Mystery was released, as was Boyz II Men’s final number one hit, 4 Seasons of Loneliness, and Fleetwood Mac’s reunion album The Dance (1997)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
MLB’s first Field of Dreams game was played in Iowa last night. And the commissioner says there will be another game there next season.
The newest mini retro gaming console in the works is a mini Amiga 500. It will include 25 games and come out in early 2022.
A car featuring a tribute to Dustin Diamond will race in NASCAR’s Verizon 200 on Sunday.
With The Suicide Squad hitting number one at the box office, Sylvester Stallone has now had a number one movie in six different decades.
Idris Elba has been cast as the voice of Knuckles in the movie Sonic the Hedgehog 2. And comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, who I once saw perform at the luncheon at a morning radio show convention (hoo boy it’s a tough room), has been cast as the voice of Spike in the new Super Mario Bros. movie.
Super Mario Bros. just retook the lead as the most expensive video game ever; a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. from 1985 sold at auction for $2 million.
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff YA novel series is in the works. The main character will be Willow’s daughter.
Michael Keaton says putting the Batman suit back on for his role in The Flash movie was “shockingly normal.”
Markie Post of Night Court passed away at age 70 from cancer.
Throwbacks and recommendations
I’ve definitely never seen this before. Apparently The Mirage casino took bets on who shot Mr. Burns back in the summer of 1995. The A.V. Club just wrote all about it. And looking at the odds on the ultimate culprit… damn, could’ve made bank.
I was never personally a Crash Bandicoot fellow but perhaps you were; in honor of the franchise’s 25th anniversary, here are 11 random facts about Crash Bandicoot.
Sinbad’s kids have spoken up about the strange Mandela Effect scenario where people believe their dad starred in Shazaam.
Here’s a mini documentary on why the name “Tiffany” became so popular in the ‘80s.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam
August 13: Sega Genesis, the turning point of TGIF, Fisher-Price
The Mirage did not take bets - it was just a promotional thing. I read more detail around this tweet from Bill Oakley, but can't find now: https://twitter.com/thatbilloakley/status/1423541624097837057?s=20