June 25: Nintendo Power, Big Daddy, Vacation
Plus the time Microsoft decided it didn't want an '80s hair metal logo
The Retro
by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
June 25, 2021 • Issue 53
This week in nostalgic history
June 25th
22 years ago, on June 25th, 1999 - Big Daddy hit theaters.
Big Daddy was an interesting pivot for Adam Sandler, as it marked a clear decision to move away from his Manchild Trilogy and into his “loveable shlub with potential” era (The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, Mr. Deeds). And Big Daddy marked the symbolic career shift in theme alone — the movie quite literally pairs a standard Adam Sandler character with a young child, contrasts them, and spits out a more mature Adam Sandler character at the end of the film.
I’ve always liked Big Daddy, even if it’s a bit all over the place in tone (for instance, during what’s an actually emotional scene, the film unnecessarily undercuts its resonance by having the kid yell about how he can “wipe [his] own ass”). Critics were not as kind, with Big Daddy clocking in at 39% on Rotten Tomatoes — interestingly lower than Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore.
Of course, Adam Sandler no longer sweats critics, tonal shifts, or anything at all, really. He’s making roughly 45 movies a year and getting paid a fortune by Netflix to do so, allowing him to play whatever kind of character he pleases. He can even moonlight in gritty independent films like Uncut Gems because, quite possibly, Adam Sandler has more carte blanche at this point than any other actor in Hollywood.
Also on June 25th: The rainbow flag was flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade (1978)… Blade Runner hit theaters (1982)… the Purple Rain soundtrack was released (1984)… Debbie Gibson’s single Foolish Beat hit number one (1988)… Head of the Class aired its series finale (1991)… Sleepless in Seattle hit theaters (1993)… Julia Roberts married Lyle Lovett (1993)… Kim Campbell became Canada’s first female prime minister (1993)… the final episode of David Letterman’s Late Night on NBC aired (1993)… Pearl Jam canceled its tour over its feud with Ticketmaster (1995)… Jay Z’s debut studio album, Reasonable Doubt, was released (1996)… Tim Duncan was the first pick of the NBA Draft (1997)… Windows 98 was released (1998)… the San Antonio Spurs defeated the New York Knicks to win the NBA Championship (1999)… the series finale aired of Xena: Warrior Princess (2001)
June 26th
25 years ago, on June 26th, 1996 - Allen Iverson was the 1st pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, Kobe Bryant was 13th.
The 1996 NBA Draft was a turning point for the NBA, as the league was transitioning out of its golden age (Jordan et. al. from the mid ‘80s draft classes were in their final act) and needed new superstars. With all due respect to Grant Hill.
The ‘96 NBA Draft provided those superstars.
Allen Iverson was a consensus number one pick and became the face of the changing league. (As much as the stodgy league hated the prickly and authentic Iverson claiming that mantle. Like… he’s not even in that picture I posted above of the lottery picks from the draft.) Kobe Bryant was the 13th pick straight out of high school. The ‘96 class also produced three other Hall of Famers in Ray Allen, Steve Nash, and (the undrafted) Ben Wallace.
It’s been called one of the best drafts in NBA history, up there with the Jordan/Olajuwon/Barkley/Stockton draft of 1984 and the LeBron/Wade/Carmelo/Bosh draft of 2003.
Today, NBA drafts are far more unpredictable; the changing nature of the game coupled with the youth and inexperience of pretty much every single player drafted means the time between the draft and a consensus about said draft is much, much longer.
Also on June 26th: Elvis gave his final performance (1977)… Full Metal Jacket hit theaters (1987)… Nelson’s album After the Rain was released (1990)… Larry Johnson was the top pick in the 1991 NBA Draft, by the Charlotte Hornets (1991)… Red Shoe Diaries premiered (1992)… the Real World, season 2 (Los Angeles) premiered on MTV (1993)… Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in the U.K. (1997)… Step by Step aired its series finale (1998)… Doug aired its series finale (1999)
June 27th
27 years ago, on June 27th, 1994 - Aerosmith’s Head First became the first major label song available for digital download.
The first digital download came way before the world was at all ready for digital downloads. Aerosmith’s unreleased track Head First was released exclusively on Compuserve on this day in 1994. The .wav track was 4.3 megabytes, which would take at least two hours to download (and probably longer) on the prevailing modems of the era. Plus, if someone picked up the phone, you’d be denied your Aerosmith. And then, you’d probably also need to download something that could actually play a wav file on your 1994 generic PC.
Still, around 10,000 people downloaded the track, making the first digital music foray a nice success. For the next decade, however, while the music industry and individual artists would occasionally flirt with the digital world, it was largely considered a dangerous existential threat; it was only when the music industry finally had no choice that digital downloads became the primary form of distribution.
Also on June 27th: The company Atari was incorporated (1972)… Labyrinth hit theaters (1986)… Whitney Houston’s single I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) hit number one (1987)… Mike Tyson quickly KO’d Michael Spinks (1988)… the B-52s album Cosmic Thing was released (1989)… Derrick Coleman was the number one pick in the NBA Draft, by the New Jersey Nets (1990)… Dan O’Brien failed to make the U.S. Olympic team, famously destroying a $30 million, eight-month marketing campaign by Reebok (1992)… Anna Nicole Smith married an 89-year-old billionaire (1994)… 112’s single Only You was released (1996)… a movie that was even ridiculous by ‘90s standards, Face Off, hit theaters (1997)
June 28th
39 years ago, on June 28th, 1982 - Microsoft released its new logo.
Microsoft has had five logos in its history. The shortest lived was the logo from 1980 until this day in 1982. And that’s a shame, because that 1980-82 logo makes Microsoft look like either a video game or a hair metal band. The replacement logo in 1982 is far more corporate and stodgy, aiming to put the company on the same plane as IBM and, lamentably, not Zaxxon or Motorhead.
Also on June 28th: St. Elmo’s Fire hit theaters (1985)… Go West’s single King of Wishful Thinking was released (1990)… Naked Gun 2½ hit theaters (1991)… the original Dream Team played its first game, an exhibition against Cuba (1992)… Real World’s London season premiered on MTV (1995)… Joe Smith was the number one pick in the NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors (1995)… The Nutty Professor and Demi Moore’s Striptease both hit theaters (1996)… Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear (1997)
June 29th
38 years ago, on June 29th, 1983 - National Lampoon’s Vacation hit theaters.
Vacation certainly didn’t create the road trip comedy — Bing Crosby and Bob Hope made seven films, mainly in the ‘40s, which probably earned them that distinction. But Vacation may have set the template for the modern road trip comedy, finding just the right balance of screwball road adventures, Murphy’s Law disasters, celebrity cameos, good characters, and a good plot. That’s why you can see hints of, if not direct homages to, Vacation in essentially every movie in the genre since, from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.
Also on June 29th: Bachelor Party hit theaters (1984)… Tiffany’s self-titled debut album was released (1987)… Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America hit theaters (1988)… Days of Thunder hit theaters (1990)… Dave Stewart of the A’s and Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers both threw no hitters on the same day (1990)… Aerosmith’s single Cryin’ was released (1993)… Glenn Robinson was the first pick in the NBA Draft, by the Milwaukee Bucks (1994)… Real McCoy’s single Come and Get Your Love was released (1995)… the Canadian Football League came to America as the Memphis Mad Dogs played their first game (1995)… every baseball team had an off day for the first time since 1973 (1998)… Santana’s Smooth and LFO’s Summer Girls were both released (1999)
June 30th
32 years ago, on June 30th, 1989 - Karate Kid III hit theaters.
Let’s say there are four main ways a movie trilogy can go. All three movies good (e.g., Indiana Jones, Star Wars)… all three movies bad (e.g., Problem Child)… two good, last one bad (e.g., Pitch Perfect, The Godfather and, although your mileage may vary, Back to the Future)… and one good, two bad (e.g., The Hangover, and probably The Matrix). I couldn’t think of an example for the other permutations of bad-good-good, bad-good-bad, good-bad-good, or bad-bad-good.
The Karate Kid trilogy is either good-bad-bad or good-good-bad. The consensus stands that the first movie is a classic. The second one is polarizing. The third one was a franchise killer. The big problem: The franchise told a complete story between the first two films, so the third one just became a rehashing of many of the same beats — with diminishing returns.
However, not all was lost. The Cobra Kai TV series is now mining new stories from the franchise, including Karate Kid III. In fact, Terry Silver from Karate Kid III is set to be a major part of the upcoming season.
Also on June 30th: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory hit theaters (1971)… Di the Right Thing hit theaters (1989)… Steve Winwood’s single Back in the High Life was released (1986)… Madonna’s album True Blue was released (1986)… Canada unveiled the loonie (1987)… Do the Right Thing hit theaters (1989)… New Kids on the Block’s single Step by Step hit number one (1990)… Boyz II Men’s single End of the Road was released (1992)… Chris Webber was the #1 pick in the NBA Draft by Orlando (then traded to Golden State) (1993)… The Firm hit theaters (1993)… Apollo 13 hit theaters (1995)… the series finale aired of Love Connection (1995)… there was a leap second added to the calendar (1997)… Lil Kim’s single Not Tonight was released (1997)… NSYNC’s single Tearin’ Up My Heart was released (1998)… the Sega Channel, the first attempt at an on-demand video game service, shut down (1998)… Wild Wild West hit theaters as did South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999)… Elton Brand was the top pick in the NBA Draft, by the Chicago Bulls (1999)
July 1st
33 years ago, on July 1st, 1988 - The first issue of Nintendo Power magazine was released.
As Nintendo was rapidly taking over the world in the late ‘80s, it wasn’t a specific video game that accelerated its ascent — it was a magazine.
By 1988, Nintendo had a pretty significant chunk of mind share amongst kids everywhere (and a decent number of adults, too). The release of Nintendo Power took that mind share to the next level. Pre-internet, this magazine was the definitive place to get information, and tons of it. This wasn’t just a magazine; each issue was like a glossy encyclopedia. It was the first place to see sneak peaks of games. It was one of the few places to get secret tips and tricks. It was the publication of record to show off high scores and accomplishments. Nintendo Power dictated every kid’s wishlist and its engrossing content solidified Nintendo’s dominance in every kid’s household.
Nintendo Power was the media branch out Nintendo needed to go from bubbling upstart to ubiquitous world smasher.
The magazine was so significant that it managed to survive until 2012, which is way longer than I would’ve guessed and way longer than relevance dictated. Nintendo Power now exists as an official Nintendo podcast, which isn’t the same at all, but kind of perfectly sums up the difference between popular media in 1988 and 2021.
Also on July 1st: The Susan B. Anthony dollar was released (1979)… the Sony Walkman debuted (1979)… O Canada became the Canadian national anthem (1980)… Cal Ripken began his record-breaking consecutive games streak (1982)… the PG-13 movie rating was officially introduced (1984)… A&E separated from Nickelodeon as Nick-at-Night began (1985)… Kid Icarus was released for the NES (1987)… Baseball Stars was released for the NES (1989)… Milli Vanilli’s single Baby Don’t Forget My Number hit number one (1989)… Heavy D’s single Now That We Found Love was released (1991)… Clarence Thomas was nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court (1991)… Court TV (now TruTV) premiered on cable (1991)… Michael Landon passed away (1991)… A League of Their Own and Boomerang hit theaters (1992)… Little Big League hit theaters (1994)… Martin Page’s single In the House of Stone and Light was released (1994)… The State aired its series finale (1995)… Radiohead’s album OK Computer was released in the U.S. (1997)… Armageddon hit theaters (1998)… Puff Daddy’s single Come with Me was released (1998)… the NBA lockout began (1998)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
In honor of the movie’s 25th anniversary, the team behind Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame revealed they had to make a bunch of edits to get down to a G rating.
The Video Game History Foundation has launched a new subscription service where you’ll get vintage video game magazines delivered every month.
Funko just released a new party game that’s all Seinfeld trivia.
Metallica is re-issuing its Black Album for the 30th anniversary in August. It’s going to feature covers from tons of artist including Elton John, Weezer, Miley Cyrus, Yo Yo Ma, and many artists who would probably be in a medium-sized font on the Coachella poster but whom I have never heard of.
Courteney Cox says she had a “crush for sure” on Jim Carrey during the filming of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
Universal asked Steven Spielberg to reboot Jaws and he gave them a hard no.
Liam Neeson says Seth MacFarlane’s Naked Gun reboot — in which he’d star — is now in the script writing phase.
Throwbacks and recommendations
Here’s a list of 23 bad (and/or ill-advised) TV reboots, including that weird adult version of The Muppets.
There’s a new trailer for the reboot of Behind the Music on Paramount+. It features Duran Duran, Ricky Martin, J-Lo, Busta Rhymes, New Kids on the Block, and many more.
The first trailer is also out for Disney+’s TV show reboot of Turner and Hooch.
Here’s a list of cartoon characters who surprisingly have the same voice actor. Well, “surprisingly” in the modern, Buzzfeed-ized definition. Like, one of the ones on the list is James Earl Jones as Darth Vader and Mufasa. Some of the other ones are pretty good though.
Mental Floss picked the 35 best songs from ‘90s movie soundtracks and some of the choices are actually pretty inspired.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam