Feb 18 - Snoop's case, Wayne's World SNL debut, Vanna White
Plus Bobby Knight throws a chair and the Miracle on Ice team wins gold
The Retro by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
February 18th, 2022 • Issue 87
This week in nostalgic history
February 18th
33 years ago, on February 18th, 1989 - Wayne’s World debuted on Saturday Night Live.
The debut of Wayne’s World came during the final few sketches of a paint-by-numbers episode of Saturday Night Live. Watching the sketch now (for the first time), it’s something of a surprise Wayne’s World made it to a second sketch. Because it’s not very good.
Some parts of the Wayne’s World universe are well-realized even in this first sketch. Myers has the Wayne character down. (Garth’s look and voice are there but the character isn’t as clear.) The vernacular, aesthetic, and overall vibe of the Wayne’s World public access show are there too.
But the sketch drags and is seriously lacking in laughs. The big early punchline casually uses the homophobic f-slur; 1989 was a different time, but it’s still jarring to hear. The interview segments of the show are like pulling teeth. The bit that caps off the sketch is confusing. The studio audience seems to sort of like the Wayne’s World characters but this sketch didn’t come anywhere close to killing. It’s much, much closer to dying.
But… since this was a creatively disastrous time period for SNL and Myers seemed to have a strong vision for this sketch, the show tried Wayne’s World again. And again and again and again. Over time, it became far funnier, culminating in a movie that still remains the universally-recognized gold standard of SNL-borne feature films.
Also on February 18th: The Sting II hit theaters (1983)… the WWF’s special The War to Settle the Score aired on MTV (1985)… the NBA Dream Team concept was revealed (1991)… Silk’s single Freak Me was released (1993)… wrestler Kerry Von Erich passed away at age 33 (1993)… Reality Bites hit theaters (1994)… Blue Chips hit theaters (1994)… Blessid Union of Souls’ single I Believe was released (1995)… legendary Cubs announcer Harry Carey died (1998)… Andrea Bocelli made his operatic debut (1998)… The Whole Nine Yards and Boiler Room both hit theaters (2000)… Dale Earnhardt tragically died in a crash at the Daytona 500 (2001)
February 19th
22 years ago, on February 19th, 2000 - Blink 182’s only top 40 hit, All the Small Things, peaked at number 6.
When I saw this event pop up in my database, I was pretty sure I’d gotten my data entry wrong. Blink 182 only has one hit? They feel so… mainstream. Was it possible they were technically a one-hit wonder?
It’s true. My data entry reputation is safe.
Even though their sophomoric pun-titled albums were massive sellers (Enema of the State sold five million copies; Take Off Your Pants and Jacket hit number one), the songs they released as singles never charted — largely because of a lack of radio airplay. In Blink 182’s era, pre-digital and all, radio airplay played an outsized factor in the Billboard singles charts. The album sales charts were almost entirely based on sales, where Blink 182 fared far better.
So while technically they’re a one-hit wonder, that designation hardly tells the story like it does for the more textbook one-hit wonders of the era. So this was a lot of words to say: Yes, Blink 182 was mainstream, despite begins a one-hit wonder.
Also on February 19th: Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered (1968)… AC/DC’s Bon Scott died from alcohol poisoning (1980)… Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for peeing on the Alamo (1982)… Patti Austin and James Ingram’s duet Baby, Come to Me hit number one (1983)… Cherry Coke was introduced by Coca-Cola (1985)… Mick Jagger’s first solo album, She’s the Boss, was released (1985)… Adobe Photoshop was launched (1990)… REM’s single Losing My Religion was released (1991)… Public Enemy boycotted the Grammys after rap categories were left off the main telecast (1991)… Army of Darkness hit theaters (1993)… Martin Lawrence received a lifetime ban from Saturday Night Live (1994)… Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee got married (1995)… the Australia episode of The Simpsons premiered (1995)… Oasis’s single Don’t Look Back in Anger was released (1996)… Office Space and Jawbreaker both hit theaters (1999)… Mariah Carey’s single Thank God I Found You hit number one (2000)… bobsledder Vonetta Flowers became the first Black gold medalist in Winter Olympics history (2002)
February 20th
26 years ago, on February 20th, 1996 - Snoop Dogg was found not guilty of murder in the case that they gave him.
Snoop Dogg has spent 25 years as everything from a game show host to amateur pornographer (and once in a while these days like when the Super Bowl comes calling, rapper), so his rougher early years are a distant memory. But before he was a massive celebrity, and before he was an early gangsta rappers, he was legitimately a gang member. And while he was recording his breakthrough debut album, he and his bodyguard got into a confrontation with some rival gang members at a park near his apartment.
Snoop’s bodyguard shot and killed one of the guys and both Snoop and the bodyguard went to trial — with Snoop represented by fresh-off-the-OJ-case Johnnie Cochran. They claimed self-defense; the other guy pulled a gun.
On this day, both Snoop and his bodyguard got off when the jury could not reach a verdict. Throughout the trial, the outcome was rarely in doubt. One of the shooting victim’s fellow gang members from the scene admitted the guy had pulled a gun — and the other dudes hid that gun before the cops came. On top of that, the ‘90s LAPD did what the ‘90s LAPD does: they botched the evidence and destroyed a bunch of it along the way.
Snoop hasn’t exactly avoided all legal trouble since this day, but he’s avoided the big stuff — it’s mostly been marijuana possession charges in several different countries, which is pretty much just branding at this point.
Also on February 20th: This Old House premiered on PBS (1979)… the Chunnel was officially announced (1986)… Contra hit arcades (1987)… Expose’s single Seasons Change hit number one (1988)… The Simpsons episode “Homer at the Bat” premiered (1992)… Ross Perot announced he would run for president (1992)… Harold Miner won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest (1993)… VH1 Storytellers premiered (1996)… Celine Dion’s single Because You Loved Me was released (1996)… Tara Lipinski became the youngest figure skating gold medal winner at age 15 (1998)… Gene Siskel passed away (1999)
February 21st
25 years ago, on February 21st, 1997 - Wheel of Fortune switched to its all-digital letter board.
When Vanna White joined Wheel of Fortune in 1982, her job was to manually turn the letters on the game board. This was not exactly a unique skill she possessed, but someone had to do it and she had the right look and the charisma to execute that basic task for big money.
So Vanna was scared (and rightfully so) on this day in 1997, when Wheel of Fortune changed from manual letters to digital. The move drastically sped up filming time — the process of switching from board to board was now instantaneous instead of laborious. But where did it leave Vanna?
Fortunately for her, the technology behind the board still required the tiniest bit of human interaction — and she was enough of an institution to be that human. Her new job was to touch each letter; that touch would reveal the letter on the board. Certainly the board designers could’ve eliminated that step, but they didn’t — and Vanna continues touching letters to this day.
She makes a reported $10 million per year.
Also on February 21st: Charles Rocket dropped an f-bomb on Saturday Night Live and Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood debuted (1981)… The Legend of Zelda was released in Japan (1986)… pitcher Rollie Fingers made his choice between retirement and shaving his signature mustache (1986)… Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot hit theaters (1992)… Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold medal in figure skating (1992)… Star Fox was released for Super Nintendo (1993)… TLC’s single Red Light Special and Joan Osbourne’s single One of Us were released (1995)… Old School hit theaters (2003)
February 22nd
25 years ago, on February 22nd, 1997 - Scientists in Scotland announced they’d cloned a sheep, which they named Dolly.
Dolly the Sheep — named after Dolly Parton because the sheep was cloned from breast cells (yes really) — was a very accessible scientific miracle. After all, even a person who loathed, forgot, and/or never took high school biology could comprehend the idea of incredible concept of cloning — and the potential implications.
However, Dolly did not, as some feared, spark a cloning wave to usher in a real-life Jurassic Park, human resurrection, or both.
Today, a quarter-century later, cloning is more viable — while Dolly was the only surviving cloned sheep in around 300 attempts, mammal cloning rates are much better today. There are publicly-available (and expensive) services offering cloning for pets. And no one’s really trying to clone humans and dinosaurs (although there is an effort to use cloning to propagate the numbers of some endangered species).
In 2016, Scientific American looked at the decades that followed Dolly and learned the real breakthrough of the scientists in Scotland wasn’t the cloning aspect at all — it was what they found out about stem cells. Dolly proved you could reprogram adult cells; the work and research that’s followed has opened the door to much of the stem cell knowledge and advancements we have today.
Also on February 22nd: The Miracle on Ice happened at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York (1980)… Andy Warhol passed away (1987)… Milli Vanilli won the Grammy for Best New Artist (1990)… The Adventures of Gummi Bears aired its series finale (1991)… Radiohead’s debut album, Pablo Honey, was released (1993)… The Spice Girls single Wannabe hit number one (1997)
February 23rd
37 years ago, on February 23rd, 1985 - Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight threw a chair during an argument with a referee.
Bobby Knight’s reputation for volatility scored its signature moment on this day in 1985, when Knight threw a chair across the court in an explosion of frustration.
But, perhaps, this outburst signified that Knight was even more volatile than remembered. The score was only 11-6 at the time and it was just five minutes into the first half. The inciting incident was merely three quick fouls called on Indiana. This wasn’t the case of a controversial call in the critical final moments of a do-or-die game with snowballing ref frustration. Knight went from normal to “legendary volatile outburst” in record time.
In an interview with David Letterman two years later, Knight said he only threw the chair because it was his first game coaching without a sport coat — if he had the coat, that’s what he would’ve thrown. That would’ve been far less iconic, but far more apropos for the circumstances.
Knight remained at Indiana, and won another national championship there, before he was fired in 2000 after his volatility was no longer tenable (and no longer bringing in championships); the final straw was a video showed him angrily putting his hands on a player’s neck.
Also on February 23rd: Queen’s single Crazy Little Thing Called Love hit number one (1980)… Herschel Walker signed a contract with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL (1983)… the show Gimme a Break aired live, the first live sitcom since the ‘50s (1985)… a 13-year-old Lauryn Hill was booed during her performance on It’s Showtime at the Apollo (1988)… En Vogue’s single Hold On was released (1990)… Buster Douglas replaced Mike Tyson as the referee for Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage’s championship match on NBC (1990)… Whitney Houston’s single All the Man That I Need hit number one (1991)… Operation Desert Storm began (1991)… the Cranberries’ single Linger was released (1993)… Naughty By Nature’s album 19 Naughty III was released (1993)… Gary Coleman won a $1.3 million lawsuit against his parents (1993)… Rumble in the Bronx hit theaters (1996)… NBC aired Schindler’s List uncensored (1997)… Eminem’s major label debut album, The Slim Shady LP, was released, as was TLC’s FanMail (1999)… Ja Rule and Ashanti’s single Always on Time hit number one (2002)
February 24th
42 years ago, on February 24th, 1980 - The U.S. followed up the Miracle on Ice by actually winning the gold medal in the final game of the Olympics.
The Miracle on Ice is one of the great American Olympics moments — arguably the biggest of all. It struck all the right notes. A group of ragtag American amateurs defeating the undefeatable juggernaut of Soviet pro players in an upset for the ages. Add in the Cold War and the vintage Americana setting of quaint Lake Placid, New York, and, well, there’s a reason this moment resonates for even those of us who weren’t born (or old enough to remember) in 1980. And even for those of us who otherwise aren’t into hockey.
But if there was one demerit against the cinematic perfection of the Miracle on Ice… it’s that the game was not for the gold medal.
The game was part of the round robin medal round. By winning, the U.S. had a shot at gold — but due to the round robin rules, could still drop down to silver or even bronze.
In order to secure the gold, they’d need to beat Finland. Which they did on this day in 1980 — but only after trailing 2-1 entering the third period. They’d storm back to win 4-2 and claim the medals — a triumphant and impressive comeback in its own right, but ultimately dwarfed and nearly forgotten due to the magnitude of the penultimate game.
Also on February 24th: Harper Valley P.T.A. premiered on NBC (1980)… Charles and Diana announced their engagement (1981)… the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Larry Flynt (1982)… Bell Biv DeVoe’s single Poison was released (1990)… the Mission: Impossible reboot series aired its series finale (1990)… Kurt Cobain married Courtney Love (1992)… Ice Cube’s single It Was a Good Day was released (1993)… one of the top Simpsons episodes ever, Deep Space Homer, premiered (1994)… The Late Shift TV movie premiered (1996)… the FDA approved the morning after pill (1997)… Fastball’s single The Way was released (1998)… Juvenile’s single Back That Azz Up was released (1999)… Lauryn Hill won five Grammys for her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1999)… Joe’s hit Stutter, featuring Mystikal, hit number one (2001)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
The new DeLorean is coming out sometime this year.
John DiMaggio, the voice of Bender in Futurama, is the only cast member who hasn’t signed on to the Hulu revival over a pay dispute. In a new statement he says it’s all about “self-respect.”
Here’s the first look at the logo and concept art from Seth Rogen’s TMNT reboot.
Dana Carvey says he and Mike Myers are finally close friends again after decades of fighting over who created the Dr. Evil character.
First China censored the ending of Fight Club, now they’ve censored Friends to make Susan heterosexual.
Four more of the original A Christmas Story cast members have joined Peter Billingsley for the sequel.
The plot of the new Beavis and Butt-Head movie has been released. It’s called Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe and includes the guys going to space camp in 1998 then going through a real black hole to warp to the future (aka today).
A third Sonic movie is coming in 2023, as is a live-action series on Paramount+ focusing on Knuckles.
Ivan Reitman passed away on Saturday at age 75.
Throwbacks and recommendations
Timex’s newest throwback watch is Space Invaders themed.
I haven’t watched Bel-Air, the dramatic Fresh Prince reboot, yet — but here’s a Buzzfeed list in classic Buzzfeed style with “23 of the biggest changes” between this reboot and the original sitcom.
Here’s a trailer for the new Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers CGI/animated/live-action movie, with John Mulaney and Andy Samberg as the titular characters. It premieres May 20th on Disney+ and hearing John Mulaney voice a cartoon character just makes me think of Big Mouth whenever Chip (Dale?) is talking.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam
Clearly you never worked for Disney. Chip's nose looks like a chocolate chip