The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
March 24th, 2023 • Issue 144
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
March 24th
30 years ago, on March 24th, 1993, the series finale aired of Doogie Howser, M.D.
There was a special cultural acceptance of precocious kids in the ‘80s and early ‘90s — for a little while, we were willing to view them on the same level as their adult counterparts.
Sure, there had been kids on TV, in movies, and making music before. But this time it was different. Tiffany, Kris Kross, and Another Bad Creation got radio airplay not as novelty acts, but as real acts right alongside adult pop singers and rappers.
Nickelodeon made real game shows and sketch comedy shows starring kids — again, not as a “look at how cute this is” gimmick but as a legitimate alternative to comparable adult programming.
Even movies like Rookie of the Year or Little Big League made the case for children being viable in the world of professional baseball — fiction, sure, but demonstrating there was an appetite for those stories.
And then there was Doogie Howser, M.D.
Here we had a teenager portraying a genius-turned-doctor — and pulling it off. Sure, you’d hear real life stories from time to time about some child genius somewhere who graduated from college by age 12. But Doogie Howser actually helped you visualize what that looked like in the flesh.
It was inevitable the show couldn’t last forever. Neil Patrick Harris aged out of the role; he was 20 in real life by this day in 1993.
More than that, the increasingly cynical U.S. zeitgeist was also aging out of its love of child prodigies; it turned out they mostly were novelty acts, even if they weren’t initially treated as such.
Plus, once the dark side fallout for many ‘70s and ‘80s child stars became clear, the die was cast. We were over it.
Doogie Howser, M.D., did, however, still make a lasting change in the TV landscape. And that is: Smart kids could have personalities beyond “wearing pocket protectors, snorting when laughing, and probably lactose intolerant.” In the years that followed, shows like Malcolm in the Middle and The Big Bang Theory would portray young geniuses in a way the ‘80s teen fare never did.
And when the reboot machine came for Doogie Howser, M.D. with last year’s Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. on Disney+, the show was able to skip all the episodes focusing on the antiquated expectations of an awkward child prodigy and just get to the story.
1979 - Larry Bird and Magic Johnson led their respective teams to the NCAA tournament final.
1980 - Nightline premiered.
1989 - Troop Beverly Hills hit theaters.
1989 - The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred.
1990 - Alannah Myles’s single Black Velvet hit number one.
1990 - The series finale of ALF aired... and ended on a cliffhanger.
1991 - Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleMania VII.
1992 - En Vogue’s album Funky Divas and Arrested Development’s album 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days were released.
1995 - Major Payne hit theaters.
1996 - The great Simpsons episode “A Fish Called Selma” premiered.
1997 - The English Patient won Best Picture at the 69th Oscars.
1998 - NSYNC’s self-titled album was released.
2000 - Whatever It Takes hit theaters.
2000 - Making the Band season one, featuring the creation of O-Town, premiered on ABC.
2001 - Crazy Town’s only hit, Butterfly, hit number one.
2001 - Pitcher Randy Johnson accidentally killed a bird with a spring training fastball.
2001 - The first version of Mac OS X went on sale.
2002 - A Beautiful Mind won Best Picture at the Oscars.
March 25th
1982 - Cagney & Lacey premiered on CBS.
1983 - The Outsiders hit theaters.
1985 - Sally Field won and was liked at the 57th Oscars.
1986 - Perfect Strangers premiered.
1989 - Mike + The Mechanics’ single The Living Years hit number one.
1991 - Dances with Wolves won Best Picture at the 63rd Oscars.
1993 - D2: Mighty Ducks 2 and Above the Rim hit theaters.
1995 - The first wiki was published online.
1996 - Gina G’s single Ooh Ahh Just a Little Bit was released.
1996 - Braveheart won Best Picture at the 68th Oscars.
1996 - The new $100 bill design was released.
1997 - Notorious BIG’s album Life After Death and Paula Cole’s equally impactful single Where Have All the Cowboys Gone were released.
2001 - Bjork wore a swan dress to the Oscars and Gladiator won Best Picture.
2002 - The Bachelor premiered on ABC.
March 26th
33 years ago, on March 26th, 1990, Digital Underground’s album Sex Packets was released.
Digital Underground’s album Sex Packets is known mainly — only? — for The Humpty Dance.
But the album is a lot more than that. It’s equal parts manufactured and experimental, ambitious and generic, comedy and… well, not tragedy or seriousness, but straightforwardness.
It’s also, in many ways, an album that hinted at where hip-hop could go as an art form.
The title track, Sex Packets, exists because Digital Underground’s label told them data showed an album with “sex” in the title would sell better. So Digital Underground created an entire world around the idea of an underground, government-created drug that would give someone an instant climax. That’s the premise of Sex Packets AND another track about a guy who deals the drug, called Packet Man.
But there’s no discernible metaphor in there for the actual drug climate of the era. Instead, that commentary comes on the more straightforward Danger Zone, a song about the dark side of crack addiction.
Danger Zone is the seventh track on the album. The sixth? Gutfest ‘89, a long track about a fictional orgy/music festival.
All of these songs come with funky bass lines and (in most cases) joyous musicality. The funk sounds like it comes from the ‘70s. The beats are straight out of the ‘80s. The result is something different… something for the ‘90s.
It all works, at least to an extent. The album is a fun listen, even now 30 years later, but it wasn’t transformative at the time. As I said before, odds are you know it only from The Humpty Dance. The cultural consensus around the album could’ve been “fun, experimental hip-hop of the future” or “comedy rap of the moment.” The Humpty Dance essentially sealed the album’s fate — and Digital Underground’s fate — as the latter.
Other rap acts would come along soon that used a lot of the elements of Digital Underground — the blending of musical eras, the use of comedy especially around sex — but with far more success.
1979 - Magic Johnson’s Michigan State defeated Larry Bird’s Indiana State in the NCAA Tournament final.
1988 - Michael Jackson’s single Man in the Mirror hit number one.
1989 - Quantum Leap premiered.
1990 - Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture at the 62nd Oscars.
1991 - In a controversial WWF angle, large wrestler Earthquake crushed Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ snake (not really, but still).
1992 - Mike Tyson was convicted of rape.
1993 - The final episode of Family Feud with Ray Combs as host aired.
1995 - Eazy E died from AIDS at age 31.
1997 - The bodies of the Heaven’s Gate cult members were found.
1999 - EdTV hit theaters.
1999 - The “Melissa worm” infected PCs.
1999 - Dr. Kevorkian was convicted of murder.
2000 - Seattle’s Kingdome was demolished.
2000 - Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia, although at the time it wasn’t clear he was planning to never leave.
2000 - American Beauty won Best Picture at the 72nd Academy Awards.
2001 - Vince McMahon appeared on the final episode of WCW Nitro, announcing he’d purchased WCW.
March 27th
1980 - Mount St. Helens became active after 123 years.
1981 - Buckner & Garcia’s novelty song Pac-Man Fever peaked at number nine.
1987 - The Price Is Right became the longest-running daytime game show ever.
1988 - Macho Man Randy Savage won the WWF title tournament at WrestleMania IV.
1989 - Generations, the first Black soap opera, premiered on NBC.
1990 - Madonna’s single Vogue was released.
1991 - Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block was arrested for arson after setting a hotel carpet on fire.
1992 - Bruce Springsteen released two albums at the same time, Human Touch and Lucky Town.
1992 - White Men Can’t Jump, Ladybugs, and The Cutting Edge all hit theaters.
1994 - Magic Johnson became the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
1995 - Skee Lo’s single I Wish and Take That’s single Back For Good were released.
1995 - Forrest Gump won Best Picture at the 67th Oscars.
1998 - The FDA approved Viagra.
March 28th
1981 - Blondie’s single Rapture hit number one.
1984 - The Baltimore Colts bolted in the middle of the night for Indianapolis.
1992 - Christian Laettner hit a turnaround buzzer beater to defeat Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.
1994 - Des’ree’s single You Gotta Be was released.
1995 - Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett separated.
1996 - Phil Collins left Genesis to focus on his solo career.
1998 - Lord Tariq’s one hit, Deja Vu, peaked at number nine.
1999 - Futurama premiered on FOX.
1999 - Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock at WrestleMania XV.
2001 - Puff Daddy announced he would now go by P. Diddy.
March 29th
1979 - The WWWF rebranded as the WWF.
1982 - Michael Jordan led North Carolina to the NCAA title.
1982 - Chariots of Fire won Best Picture at the 54th Oscars.
1985 - Police Academy 2 hit theaters.
1986 - Falco’s single Rock Me Amadeus hit number one.
1987 - Hulk Hogan bodyslammed and pinned Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III.
1989 - Rain Man won Best Picture at the 61st Oscars.
1989 - The pyramid at the Louvre opened.
1991 - Career Opportunities hit theaters.
1993 - Unforgiven won Best Picture at the 65th Oscars.
1994 - Ellen premiered (under the title These Friends of Mine).
1996 - The Baltimore Ravens chose their team name.
1996 - DJ Kool’s one hit, Let Me Clear My Throat, peaked at number 30.
1997 - Luscious Jackson’s one hit, Naked Eye, peaked at number 36.
1998 - Stone Cold Steve Austin won his first WWF title by defeating Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV.
1998 - BBC America debuted on cable.
March 30th
1981 - President Reagan was shot just a few hours after my wife was born.
1984 - Romancing the Stone hit theaters.
1985 - Phil Collins’s single One More Night hit number one.
1987 - Fraggle Rock aired its series finale.
1987 - Platoon won Best Picture at the 59th Oscars.
1988 - Beetlejuice hit theaters.
1990 - The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie hit theaters.
1991 - Gloria Estefan’s single Coming Out of the Dark hit number one.
1992 - Snap’s single Rhythm Is a Dancer was released.
1992 - The Silence of the Lambs dominated the 64th Oscars.
1993 - Charlie Brown hit his first home run in Peanuts.
1998 - Rolls-Royce was purchased by BMW.
1999 - Craig Kilborn took over as host of the Late Late Show on CBS.
1999 - Fabio was hit in the face by a goose while on a roller coaster.
2001 - Someone Like You, SPY Kids, and Tomcats hit theaters.
2001 - The Fairly Odd Parents and Invader Zim premiered on Nickelodeon.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Good Burger 2 is happening. Kenan and Kel announced they’re reuniting for a sequel to the movie (which came out in 1997). The movie goes into production in May and is expected to come out on Paramount+ by the end of the year.
Dana Carvey says Wayne’s World 3 is “on the horizon” — though the rest of the quotes make it sound like that’s wishful thinking on his part.
On a similar note, Stacey Dash and Elisa Donovan say they want to do a Clueless sequel.
Here’s the trailer for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers reunion movie, which comes out on Netflix on April 19th.
Marc Summers says he was told there will “never, ever” be another reboot of Double Dare.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
Here’s a list from Movieweb of 15 movies that define Gen X. While a lot of the movies are what you’d expect, the top pick is actually pretty inspired.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
It’s the 25th anniversary of Wild Things. Here’s a whole behind-the-scenes retrospective including: How Robert Downey Jr. was almost in the movie… why Bill Murray was in it… nudity negotiations… and why a sex scene between Kevin Bacon and Matt Dillon was nixed at the last minute.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
Here’s the story of how the screenwriter of Die Hard with a Vengeance was questioned by the FBI… because the Federal Reserve heist he concocted was too viable and detailed.
Have a great week!
-Sam