Sunday, July 09, 2017

I'm back on CNN (but don't blink)

THE NINETIES begins tonight on CNN. Like with THE SEVENTIES and THE EIGHTIES, I participate in the chapter devoted to television. I believe that’s the episode that kicks off the series tonight.

I have no idea how much I’ll be included, but even if it’s ten seconds – considering how often CNN replays these decade documentaries I’ll still get sufficient airtime to warrant my own show on MSNBC.

But unlike those other decades, the ‘90s don’t seem that far away. Especially when elements are returning today. Can’t wait for ROSEANNE. We still have rap music. We still have Power Rangers. We still have Trump (which is why look back at other decades nostalgically).

And if shows and movies aren’t rebooting like THE X-FILES, WILL & GRACE, and FULLER HOUSE they’re being prepared for Broadway musicals.

For sitcoms, the ‘90s was very much a golden time. FRASIER, SEINFELD, FRIENDS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, and even in its earlier years ROSEANNE. Oh, and CHEERS was still around for the early part. Say what you will, but those shows all drew massive audiences. Different era and marketplace of course, but I don’t think any comedy today could attract the ratings these shows enjoyed on a weekly basis. I really miss the '90s.

It was the decade of the internet, the Clinton who won the popular vote and did become president, the Gulf War (the first of many), O.J., and a World Series cancelled due to a strike (sorry Montreal Expos fans, you would have won a World’s Championship).

THE NINETIES starts tonight at 9:00 EDT/PDT. If I’m on I hope I say smart things.

11 comments :

VP81955 said...

And had there been no strike in 1994 and the Expos had actually won a pennant and World Series, would baseball be in Washington in 2017? Or would the despicable Cuban Pete (Baltimore's Mr. Angelos) still have been able to block its return?

(My apologies to the folks of Montreal, with hopes you don't have to wait until 2038 to see MLB again.)

Arthur Mee said...

Yes, VP81955, you summed it up perfectly. Montreal would have had a world championship, and it would still have baseball. Sigh.

I'm also convinced that somehow, because baseball doesn't return to Washington in this scenario, some congressman rather than attending a Nationals game, spends three hours doing something else instead during which time a campaign idea pops into his head fully formed, and long story short -- bam! -- Trump doesn't become president.



MikeN said...

What did Trump do in the 90s of note?

Clinton beat his opponents handily, but he did not win a majority either time.
What 538 posted but didn't note is that the largest late collapses all belong to the Clintons. 538 put up the chart as evidence of Trump can't win without noticing Bill's equal sized polling losses while winning.

DwWashburn said...

Born in '53. Loved the 60s series. Found some episodes of the 70s interesting. Stopped the 80s after the second episode. Have no interest in the 90s.

James Van Hise said...

Ken, you got more air time than I think you expected to. I found it interesting that there was no interview with Arsenio Hall even though they gave his talk show a lot of attention and then later chronicled its demise (but did not show the famous magazine cover where Arsenio said: "I'll kick Jay Leno's ass!").

Matt, Westwood CA said...

Friday question....
The Emmys. For series actors when they are nominated or win in a given year, how do you find out the episode it is for? You've mentioned in a post Bebe Neuwirth won for the RAT GIRL episode. What about her other win? I think the assumption out there is it's for the whole year when in fact they ultimately win based on a single episode submitted, right? Would love to know if there is a reference guide for this, a book on the Emmy's many years ago had several examples of shocking wins/upsets that really came down to the episodes that were submitted that provided insight to the win. Classic example? Lindsay Wagner won for THE BIONIC WOMAN to the shock of many, but the actresses more likely to win submitted sub par episodes while Wagners was a knockout.

Andrew said...

Fun fact: Donald Trump is mentioned in not one, but two series finales.

Cheers - Rebecca says that she shot for Donald Trump, but got Ed Norton.

The Sopranos - AJ plans on becoming a helicopter pilot for Trump. (Tony to AJ: "You're gonna ask the Donald for some time off from your pilot job to go on CIA missions?")

The Bumble Bee Pendant said...

All of the sitcoms you noted from the 1990s are still with us.
They were all filmed (mostly/partly) in front of a studio audience as a Multi-camera.

Other popular sitcoms of the 90s:
Home Improvement, Fresh Prince, The Nanny, Spin-City, Drew Carey, Mad About You, Murphy Brown, Boy Meets World, Wings, Martin were also mostly Multi.

In fact, I can't think of any that were primarily single camera.


Bob said...

I didn't blink! (Photographic evidence below.)

https://imgur.com/gallery/AR9tN

Jahn Ghalt said...

Clinton was considerably helped by Ross Perot, for whom I considered working (locally on his campaign). This would have been for the same reason so many young men became rock musicians after seeing their women "fall for" Elvis.

Fortunately for me (and especially our kids) my wife 'intercepted' me.

ADmin said...

Don't worry - I saw ya :)

And I didn't even watch the whole show!