218. May 1, 1999 Arkansas Duckboat Accident

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(source

While briefing the passengers about the lifejackets, the operator tried to pull one
out of the storage rack to demonstrate how to don it. When she could not
pull a lifejacket free, the operator gave up trying.6
According to passengers, as the
operator retook her seat at the forward part of the vehicle, she pointed to the lifejackets
and said, “They’re up there.” The passengers said that the operator neither offered
lifejackets to anyone nor explained how to get off the vehicle in case of an emergency on
the water. 1 

11 people died in that duckboat minutes later when a leak caused water to rush into the boat, tipping the boat back and sinking it. 

1. "Sinking of the Amphibious Passenger Vehicle Miss Majestic, Lake Hamilton, Near Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 1, 1999 NTSB/MAR-02/01 PB2002-916401 National Transportation Safety Board Washington, D.C.“ March 1, 2001. Accessed September 30, 2015. http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/MAR0201.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/02/us/11-are-killed-as-a-tourist-boat-sinks-on-arkansas-lake.html

217. America’s Funniest Home Videos with Bob Saget: the first episode (11.26.1989)

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I like Saget’s afv more than Tom Burgeron’s afv. You know what irritates me about Tom? That stupid entrance he does where he acts like he’s totally surprised that people showed up to a taping of the show. Also, after he sends it off to commercial, he walks across the stage and acts like he’s about to trip, but nahh he’s not. Saget just sat around in his hallowed out living room in his hallowed out neighborhood.

According to the person who uploaded this episode, this was the original special hour long pilot episode from 1989, before the show became a 30 minute series in 1990. 

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Can I just say right off the bat that I hate that cartoony font for the word “Funniest”? 

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I forgot about the family who would “watch the show” behind the audience in the opening credits. That was a thing for a long time, right? Of course, later on in the show, Bob jokes that they live up there, their nutrition being diet sodas and popcorn. 

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Late 80s, first-two -seasons-of-Full-House-fluffy haired Bob Saget is so hot.  

I wonder if Bob was asked to host the show just because of Full House, or because for a while he had a bit on the show where he would video record every detail of his daughters lives, like the time he creepily video recorded Stephanie’s feet while she was sleeping. 

Bob mentions that ABC received almost 2,000 tapes. I found out recently that ABC paid for advertisements to be put in newspapers promoting the show and where to send your tapes at. 1 

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This was the very first ahv. The first nut shot of ahv is at 2:33. The first gross “baby boy pees on someone” vid is at 4:21. 

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the winner of the first ahv won $5,000. 

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I totally remember this lady getting her hair stuck in the dishwasher, and it made me fear dishwashers for most of the my childhood. 

Saget keeps on checking up on her through the episode:

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It always cracks me up in these videos when the dogs try to help. 

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Now he’s pulling her, and the poodle is climbing up her butt. 

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I keep my Cabbage Patch Doll in the living room too. 

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What on earth is that? derpy derp. 

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I guess its a billboard for the hallowed out suburbs Saget lives in. 

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Kellie Martin shows up to help Bob introduce some clips. Remember when her character died on ER? That was sad. I remember watching that scene on YouTube when I should’ve been studying for a test in college. 

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Why they’re in front of this apartment stoop set I have no clue. 

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It’s strange that in the pilot, they actually bring on people who were in the videos, for a brief interview, even if they don’t win. A little boy who was in a video performing, also got to perform on the show. After his performance, they play a montage clip with the most annoying theme song ever–the afv theme song you hear for the rest of the entire Saget years. The theme song that makes you want to hit the mute. 

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Kellie and Bob present the nominees, and unlike the afv of today, the nominees don’t show up to the taping. The runners up won “state of the art RCA camcorders”.  Oh, and the producers chose the winner, not the studio audience like they do today. 

The winners were:

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Third.

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Second. 

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The dishwasher lady won. Rigged! Rigged! 

1. Roeper, Richard. “The Camcorder Never Blinks.” Chicago Sun-Times, March 11, 1990. Accessed September 21, 2015. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3988564.html?

216. “President refuses to attend debate” (September 11, 1980)

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I see “Reagan angry” and all I can think of is:

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John Anderson was the candidate for the Independent Party. He was the reason why President Jimmy Carter did not want to debate on September 21st– the reason being Carter’s advisers thinking that having Anderson on the stage with the major party candidates would raise interest in the third party candidate. 2 

John Anderson went on to have over 5 million voters vote for him that November, and of course, Reagan creamed Carter. 

1. "President Refuses to Attend Debate.“ Rome News-Tribune, September 11, 1980. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G5skAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0zQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2891%2C1451154.

2. Zeitz, Josh. "Political Debates Weren’t Always This Exciting.” POLITICO Magazine. August 6, 2015. Accessed September 17, 2015. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/political-debate-history-121059_Page2.html#.VfobHmRViko.

19. Stephen Colbert in a commercial for FirsTier Bank in Nebraska (mid 1990s).

saleintothe90s:

Commercial

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Nice, ill-fitting, big suit, Stephen. What is the deal with talk show hosts’ early appearances on tv and ill fitting suits

I’m assuming this is right before Stephen got hired on The Daily Show in 1997, only because Stephen looked like this around that time:

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(screen caps from my old, decrepit, Daily Show fan site). 

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Also, the bank in the grocery store, an idea that prospered in the 90s. Although, out where I live, a lot of grocery stores/walmarts have taken the bank out of their stores in the last five, ten years. 

(2015 repost) 

215. This “Empire Strikes Back” review (The Argus-Press, 5/23/1980)

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In honor of “Force Friday” where all the Star Wars dolls come out, I decided to pull up Google Newspapers and see if I could find anything redic for this occasion. I want a Lando and Leia doll. I guess I gotta go on eBay. 

(source)

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“Hey Hey Hey”? 

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ALMOST-VIRGINAL SKYWALKER. 

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hot stuff. 

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poppycock Yoda is. 

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Didn’t Lucas write the original Star Wars alongside his dog, Indiana? I thought I read that somewhere. 

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Bonus:

VhuhngunnaATTAYYYCKeym?!