May 5: New Kids on the Block, Quantum Leap
Plus best movie songs, Rock Hall, and a lost SNL movie becomes a podcast
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
May 5th, 2023 • Issue 150
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
May 5th
30 years ago, on May 5th, 1993, Quantum Leap’s series finale aired.
Quantum Leap was always pretty out there for a network TV show, but its fifth and final season was especially out there. Over the course of the season, Scott Bakula’s Sam leaped into the bodies of:
Lee Harvey Oswald
The body of a guy stranded on a desert island with a woman stunt casted as Brooke Shields, thus recreating The Blue Lagoon.
One of Sam’s childhood friend
Dr. Ruth (with the non-Sam version played by the actual Dr. Ruth)
A vampire
A female prisoner who’s locked up with evil, rival quantum leapers
Marilyn Monroe’s chauffeur
A Civil War captain
Elvis Presley
So when the series finale rolled around 30 years ago today, the only place to go was even stranger.
In the finale, Sam leaped to a Pennsylvania mining town at the exact moment he was born. Only he was fully grown. And he leaped as himself (as an adult). And everyone in the town were people he seemed to know from past leaps, just they had different names. And one of them told Sam he could now control his own leaps.
But in spite of that, the end of the episode featured a title card (which misspelled Sam’s last name as “Becket”) that said he never leaped back home.
The finale was roundly considered unsatisfying and too weird; but really, it was a fitting end to the show’s final, shark jumping season.
The lesson was one that some shows since have heeded: If you’re going to go with a super high-concept premise, there’s got to be an end date before the premise becomes unsustainable and unwieldy.
Quantum Leap ran for 97 episodes, which was way too many. The show became too reliant on stunts to try to grow and/or satisfy the audience; Sam leaping into ordinary people to solve their ordinary problems was unsustainably stale over nearly 100 shows.
1986 - Cleveland was chosen as the site of the future Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
1990 - 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.
1992 - Wolfenstein 3D was released.
1994 - American teenager Michael Fay was caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism.
1995 - The final basketball game was played at the Boston Garden.
2000 - The series finale aired of Boy Meets World.
2000 - Gladiator hit theaters.
2000 - Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thorton got married.
2002 - The WWF officially became the WWE.
May 6th
1981 - The design was chosen for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
1990 - The series finale aired of 227.
1991 - Sierra Network was released.
1994 - Clean Slate hit theaters.
1994 - Paula Jones sued Bill Clinton.
1994 - Bobcat Goldthwait lit the couch on fire on The Tonight Show.
1994 - The Channel tunnel between England and France opened.
1997 - The Hartford Whalers relocated to Raleigh.
1997 - David Duchovny and Tea Leoni got married.
1999 - Amy Fisher received parole after seven years.
2002 - Elon Musk founded SpaceX.
May 7th
1987 - Shelly Long made her final appearance as a regular on Cheers.
1988 - The series finale aired of the Facts of Life.
1988 - Terence Trent D’Arby’s single Wishing Well hit number one.
1989 - Michael Jordan hit “The Shot” against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
1990 - The series finale aired of Alien Nation.
1991 - EMF’s album Schubert Dip was released.
1992 - Sir Mix-a-Lot’s single Baby Got Back was released.
1992 - The 27th amendment was ratified, banning Congress from giving itself a raise.
1993 - Dave hit theaters.
1993 - Tag Team’s single Whoomp! (There It Is) was released.
1994 - The Denver Nuggets upset the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA Playoffs.
1994 - Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream was recovered three months after it was stolen in Norway.
1997 - Apple’s eMate 300 went on sale.
1997 - The Fifth Element hit theaters.
1998 - The infamous “Puerto Rican Day” episode of Seinfeld aired.
1998 - Steve Perry left Journey.
1998 - Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler.
1999 - The Jenny Jones Show was found liable after one guest killed another after the show.
1999 - The Mummy hit theaters.
May 8th
1980 - The WHO announced smallpox had been eradicated.
1984 - The Soviet Union announced they were boycotting the ‘84 Olympics in Los Angeles.
1984 - Joanie and Chachi were married on Happy Days.
1990 - Wilson Philips’ debut album was released.
1992 - Will Smith married his first wife.
1993 - Haddaway’s single What Is Love was released.
1993 - Chris Farley’s character Matt Foley debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1998 - Deep Impact hit theaters.
1999 - Ricky Martin’s single Livin’ La Vida Loca hit number one.
2002 - Allen Iverson gave his “Practice?!” interview.
2002 - About a Boy hit theaters.
2002 - The TNA wrestling federation was announced.
May 9th
1980 - Friday the 13th hit theaters.
1984 - The Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers played the longest game ever, lasting 25 innings.
1985 - Phil Collins’ single Sussudio was released.
1986 - Short Circuit hit theaters.
1987 - Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers were married.
1989 - Dan Quayle messed up the “A mind is a terrible thing to waste” slogan.
1990 - Sinead O’Connor refused to perform on Saturday Night Live when Andrew Dice Clay was named host.
1992 - The series finale aired of the Golden Girls.
1994 - The famous “dad” episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air aired.
1997 - Bob Saget hosted his final episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
2003 - A Mighty Wind hit theaters.
May 10th
33 years ago, on May 10th, 1990, New Kids on the Block’s single Step by Step was released.
New Kids on the Block were red hot as the ‘80s ended but all parties involved knew one thing for sure: Boy bands had a limited shelf life. Which meant they had to rush out another album as fast as possible.
Maurice Starr, NKOTB’s manager/producer/credit taker, was on it. He put together the best material he could gather for the group’s follow up to Hangin’ Tough. That album would be called Step by Step, named after the best (and, really, only viable) track on the album.
Step by Step was actually a cover. Starr wrote it three years earlier for another group he’d managed previously, called The Superiors. They recorded it — and it doesn’t sound all that different from the NKOTB version. (Although they do a much less entertaining job with the best part of the song, the countdown of “step one, we can have lots of fun” et. al.) But their version never went much of anywhere.
The single Step by Step came out on this day in 1990, a month before the album. New Kids on the Block would get a number one hit out of the song, as expected.
What wasn’t expected? It would be their final number one, ever.
The Step by Step album, again, was a rush job that contained little else for fans to latch on to. Tonight would be the only other charting single off the album, which made it to number nine in almost a perfunctory way.
In retrospect, though, it’s hard to second guess the strategy. Had the NKOTB team taken longer on producing the album in search of better tracks, it’s entirely possible they would’ve missed the window for success entirely.
With the approach they took, at least they got one more number one hit before the inevitable end of the fad.
1983 - The series finale aired of Laverne & Shirley.
1985 - The Go-Go’s broke up.
1985 - The first episode of WWF’s Saturday Night’s Main Event was taped.
1986 - Pet Shop Boys’ single West End Girls hit number one.
1986 - Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear were married.
1991 - Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys lost his right eye when he was shot by his girlfriend.
1993 - UB40’s single I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You was released.
1994 - Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president of South Africa.
1994 - Aaliyah’s debut single Back & Forth was released.
1994 - Crystal Waters’ single 100% Pure Love was released.
1994 - Weezer’s debut blue album was released.
1996 - Twister hit theaters.
1997 - Duncan Sheik’s one hit, Barely Breathing, peaked at number 16.
2001 - The XFL folded after one season.
2002 - Dr Pepper announced its first new flavor in 117 years, Red Fusion.
2002 - The Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans.
May 11th
1980 - Dr. J had his signature NBA highlight, a flying baseline layup.
1981 - Cats first premiered on stage, in London.
1981 - Bob Marley passed away.
1984 - The Natural hit theaters.
1985 - Madonna’s single Crazy for You hit number one.
1989 - The series finale aired of Dynasty.
1991 - Monie Love’s one hit, It’s a Shame, peaked at number 26.
1991 - Roxette’s single Joyride hit number one.
1993 - Onyx’s single Slam was released.
1997 - Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in chess, the first time a computer defeated a world champion.
2000 - Road Trip hit theaters.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2023 inductees this week, most of whom started or peaked in the decades this newsletter covers. That includes: Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Rage Against the Machine, Chaka Khan, and DJ Kool Herc.
But here’s an updated list of 135 eligible artists who are still not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Sylvester Stallone has signed on for a Cliffhanger reboot.
Here’s a teaser for the Tiny Toon Adventures reboot, which comes out on Cartoon Network and the Max streaming service this fall.
Molly Ringwald says she turned down the role in Pretty Woman that ultimately went to Julia Roberts.
The 1988 Pixies song Where Is My Mind? was causing a glitch in Google Pixel phone alarms — the song says the word “stop” clearly enough that it was turning off people’s alarms.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
Billboard ranked the top 65 movie songs of all time. I wanted to read the whole list but I couldn’t stop singing #65 to myself as soon as I saw it and, well, that was that. So I can’t tell you anything else on it.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
Here’s a look at the fascinating back story of Voltron and its inexplicable rise and fall in the ‘80s.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
There was once supposed to be a movie musical based on Hans and Franz, the Austrian bodybuilders from Saturday Night Live played by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon in the late ‘80s. The script was written and everything, but the project was killed after a bunch of consecutive SNL movie bombs. Well… Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco got the rights to the script, and now Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon will be reading scenes and talking about the movie as a podcast. The Lost Hans & Franz Movie podcast comes out on May 17th.
Have a great week!
-Sam