October 9: Highest-rated Simpsons, Mario 2, Boogie Nights
Plus Pulp Fiction, the three-point line, the crowd wave, and more
The Retro by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
October 9, 2020 • Issue 16
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This week in nostalgic history
October 9th
32 years ago, on October 9th, 1988 - Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in North America.
At this point, it’s widely known the Super Mario Bros. 2 released to the North American audience in October of 1998 was not the Super Mario Bros. 2 released in Japan. The Japanese game was a much more literal sequel to the original Super Mario Bros.: Same exact graphics, same exact gameplay, cranked up degree of difficulty. The American SMB2 was a straight reskin of a kinder, gentler Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic.
It was a curious choice (“It was a curious choice” could sum up Nintendo’s permanent corporate philosophy, really), but it didn’t matter. Whether Mario was competing in another gauntlet of brick breaking, Goomba smashing, Princess in Another Castle-ing, or whether he and his crew were dropped into an entirely different world, with entirely different gameplay, plucking vegetables to throw at an entirely different set of bad guys — again, it didn’t matter.
The sequel to Super Mario Bros. was always going to print money regardless of its content — and it did. This game was so hard to find in stores I remember it took me at least six months to finally get my hands on a copy. And when I did, I loved every second of it, even if its only similarity to the previous Mario game rested in the title.
Also on October 9th: An unknown Prince opened for the Rolling Stones in Los Angeles (1981)… the FOX network debuted (1986)… Under Siege hit theaters (1992)… a young Yankees fan reached over the fence to catch a ball that was called a home run during a playoff game (1996)
October 10th
23 years ago, on October 10th, 1997 - Boogie Nights premiered in theaters.
Boogie Nights is a classic, even if it features a surprisingly by-the-numbers rise-fall-crash-rebuild story. It’s buoyed by some really solid acting performances and some jarring prosthetics, maybe the most entertaining of which is John C. Reilly showing how funny he can be.
I don’t remember when Boogie Nights came out, but I do remember seeing it for the first time on VHS and finding myself both mesmerized and disturbed. Which is definitely what it was going for.
Also on October 10th: Pac-Man hit arcades (1980)… House of Pain’s one hit Jump Around peaked at number three (1992)… No Doubt’s album Tragic Kingdom was released (1995)
October 11th
30 years ago, on October 11th, 1990 - The highest-rated Simpsons episode in the show’s history, Bart Gets an F, aired on FOX.
The first season of The Simpsons was a bona fide phenomenon. Within just a few episodes, everyone in the country had heard of the Simpsons family — and merchandise was on the shelves of every store.
For its second season, FOX made the bold decision to move the show from Sundays to Thursdays at 8:00 P.M. — competing head-to-head with The Cosby Show, the top rated sitcom at the time. Both shows drew enormous audiences on this night 30 years ago, the night they both had their season premieres. The Cosby Show audience was slightly bigger, but the audience for The Simpsons still shattered expectations. It received an 18.4 rating, 29 share, and approximately 33.6 million viewers.
Bart Gets an F isn’t my favorite episode — storylines about Bart’s academic struggles tend to have a quality ceiling, and were largely dropped as the show figured out Homer was the real drawing card — but its place in history is unquestioned. No one in the TV industry thought The Simpsons had a chance against The Cosby Show. When the shows virtually tied, it showed The Simpsons had a much broader, and legitimate, appeal than anyone gave it credit for.
And that’s why it’s still on the air now producing new episodes 30 years later.
Also on October 11th: Saturday Night Live premiered (1975)… the Dallas Mavericks played their first game (1980)… the first woman walked in space (1984)… Surface’s single The First Time was released (1990)… Deion Sanders played for the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Braves on the same day (1992)… the U.S. had its first three-way presidential debate (1992)
October 12th
41 years ago, on October 12th, 1979 - The NBA saw the debuts of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and the three-point line.
This was a big day for the NBA, and one that would really change the league’s popularity forever. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were highly-touted rookies (to say the least), and would both storm into the NBA and create a rivalry that carried the league through the next decade. (They also primed the popularity of the NBA, setting the stage perfectly for the arrival of Michael Jordan to push it to another level.)
But a lesser-known, yet also seismic, change on this day was the NBA’s decision to try out the three-point line. The American Basketball Association (ABA) used the three-point line throughout its existence, but the NBA initially chose not to incorporate something so “gimmicky” during the merger of the leagues in 1976. Three years later, the NBA changed its mind. The first three-pointer was made by Chris Ford (pictured above, shooting in a different game because that’s the photo that was available) — a teammate of Bird’s in Bird’s debut game.
It would be about three decades before analytics really penetrated the NBA mindset and made it abundantly clear the three-point shot wasn’t just “nice to have” — it made undeniable statistical sense to jack up as many three pointers as possible. These days, it’s not uncommon to see a player pull up for a wide-open three on a fast break rather than taking the ball to the hoop for a simpler two. And for everyone under the age of, say, 60 to nod their head in approval of that decision.
Also on October 12th: George Harrison’s single Got My Mind Set on You was released (1987)… Steve Jobs’s NeXT computer debuted (1988)… Herschel Walker was traded for 11players (1989)… Bret “Hitman” Hart won the WWF Heavyweight Championship for the first time (1992)… Salt N Pepa’s album Very Necessary was released (1993)… the six billionth person on Earth was born (1999)… Wilt Chamberlain died (1999)
October 13th
37 years ago, on October 13th, 1983 - The first commercial cell phone call was made.
Cell phones as we know them today (I mean, minus the texting and swiping and location tracking of it all) were born on this day in 1983. That’s when the president of Ameritech Mobile used a brick cell phone — yes, Zack Morris style — to place a call.
From there, the cellular phone industry was off and… well, not running necessarily but moving. Phones and service were prohibitively expensive (the phones sold for $4,000, the equivalent of more than $10,000 in today’s dollars). But even then, it was clear this was the wave of the eventual future. Eventually there were car phones, then early cell phones, and then, one day in the late ‘90s or early 2000s, it seemed like everyone in the country suddenly had a cell phone. And now we have panic attacks when we’re in a different room than them. It’s quite the trajectory.
Also on October 13th: Look Who’s Talking and The Fabulous Baker Boys both his theaters (1989)… Boyz II Men’s single In the Still of the Night was released (1992)… the Spice Girls single Spice Up Your Life was released (1997)… The Ladies Man hit theaters (2000)
October 14th
26 years ago, on October 14th, 1994 - Pulp Fiction hit theaters.
I vividly remember seeing Pulp Fiction at the movie theater — initially it was only at Cleveland’s artsy theater, before winding up elsewhere as it gained momentum. My main takeaway then was it felt so different than anything I’d seen before. Everything about it seemed new, from the dialogue to the visual style to the non-linear storytelling — and I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Pulp Fiction was a cultural phenomenon, quite possibly even being the top force in pushing indie cinema more mainstream in the coming years.
I also remember writing a mediocre review of it for my high school newspaper (my writing was mediocre, the review was glowing). A review I sure hope is lost to history like my other movie reviews from that year.
Also on October 14th: Wayne Gretzky scored his first NHL goal (1979)… Baby Jessica fell down a well (1987)… Michael Bolton’s single How Am I Supposed to Live Without You? was released (1989)… MadTV premiered as a SNL competitor (1995)… Paula Cole’s single I Don’t Want to Wait, Ma$e’s single Feel So Good, and Lisa Loeb’s single I Do were released (1997)
October 15th
39 years ago, on October 15, 1981 - The first crowd wave was done inside of a sports stadium.
The Wave is one of those things everyone knows but no one ever really thinks about outside of the moment when they’re at a stadium and a wave breaks out. But it had to start somewhere, and the widely agreed upon “somewhere” is in Oakland, California on this day in 1981. The Oakland A’s were taking on the New York Yankees in the playoffs, and Oakland’s professional cheerleader (their Dancin’ Homer, if you will) named Krazy George Henderson got the crowd around the park raising their arms in succession. Thanks?
Also on October 15th: George Brett left a World Series game for hemorrhoids (1980)… Bob Barker stopped dying his hair (1987)… Kirk Gibson hit his famous World Series-winning home run (1988)… Wayne Gretzky set the NHL scoring record (1989)… Ugly Kid Joe’s album Ugly As They Wanna Be was released (1991)… Rudy and The Nightmare Before Christmas hit theaters (1993)… Fight Club hit theaters (1999)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
Macaulay Culkin continues to fully lean into his nostalgic appeal and tweeted a photo where he’s wearing a Home Alone face mask.
The latest cast reunion script reading is Dazed and Confused. They’ll be coming together on Sunday to raise money for voting initiatives in Texas. Pretty much all of the famous cast members will be involved, including Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, and, by far most important, Wiley Wiggins.
And Stone Temple Pilots will livestream a concert where they play their entire 1994 album Purple (yes, the one with Vasoline and Interstate Love Song) a week from Sunday.
Netflix is doing a “musical reimagining” of Alice in Wonderland that takes place at a music festival. Every once in a while something comes along where it’s immediately clear you’re not in its target demographic.
A re-release of Hocus Pocus almost beat Tenet amongst the people willing to risk it all to watch a movie in theaters. Tenet made $2.7 million, Hocus Pocus made $2 million.
The remake of The Witches is coming to HBO Max on the 22nd of this month. It was originally supposed to debut in theaters. Will it traumatize children like the original film? Subscribe to HBO Max to find out!
The Silence of the Lambs house is up for sale again. It’s in Layton, Pennsylvania and will set you back $298,500 for four bedrooms, 1.7 acres, and a mildly unsettled feeling every time you put on lotion.
Alan Ruck has resurrected Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for a new commercial for a garage door opener.
The first Jerky Boys album since 1999 will be released on November 27th.
Nicole Kidman says Stanley Kubrick gave her final approval on all of her nude scenes in the final cut of Eyes Wide Shut.
After Eddie Van Halen sadly passed away on Tuesday, sales of Van Halen albums jumped more than 6,000 percent.
EA is releasing NHL 94 Rewind with “today’s teams and rosters with controls and graphics from ‘94.” It’s only available by pre-ordering NHL 21.
Throwbacks and recommendations
A list of 17 great musical moments from non-musical movies includes a lot of movies from the time frame this newsletter covers. (Billy Madison, She’s All That, The Jerk, et. al.)
A survey on the most iconic Halloween movies of all time.
The trailer is out for HBO Max’s West Wing reunion, which airs next Thursday.
Some very talented masher uppers took 500 songs from the ‘80s and turned them into one chronological voyage through the decade. It’s 39 minutes long, so feels more like an album than the one single track it is, but the artistry is impressive and the song is addictively catchy.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam