February 2018 – saleintothe90s

342. Home Improvement “The Longest Day” (April 3, 1996)

At my house, Home Improvement was strictly an Elementary School show for me. Once I got into middle school in 1994, Home Improvement was too babyish for me, well, at least that’s what I thought.

I made three exceptions, however. One was the episode where Brad told Jill to butt out of his sex life (I bought that up a year in a half ago with my 96 things from 1996), the final episode (they put the house on a barge and moved it?!), and this episode. Where I mistakingly thought Randy had a goiter. Which automatically reminded me of Elaine Benes:

But no, we’re talking about ~~Simba~~, Randy. Randy was probably my second favorite character since he was such a smart ass. Al was my favorite. You can’t beat Al, I love Al.

I met Richard Karn (who played Al) at the dead Newmarket Fair Mall for an autograph session when I was 9 or 10.

Anyway, Here is the episode on Daily Motion.

Remember Brad’s bizarre sumo wrestler-esque haircut? That was never in. He also pees in a yogurt cup and brings it to his doctor appointment ‘cuz he can’t pee under pressure. Tim says that when he is at the doctor he needs a salad bowl to pee in, the cups are too big. wow. ok.

ooo ooo ooh called it. Brad didn’t rinse the yogurt cup before peeing. Randy said it took them forever because the doctor found boysenberry yogurt in Brad’s piss.

The doctor felt a lump on Randy’s thyroid. It could be malignant or, Randy would have to take a pill every day for the rest of his life for his thyroid to work correctly. I remember when Jill said “might have to take a pill for the rest of his life” it sounded so scary. Now 20 years later and I take a pill every day for my thyroid! OH. The third possibility could be that he could have a goiter. See! I was right!

Jill and Tim made the boneheaded decision to not tell Randy what’s going on. Randy’s like, in high school. Instead Tim tries to take him to the arcade, and its totally ok by mom that he skips school. Randy knows something is up after he says:

and nobody laughs.

Usually neighbor Wilson hides behind a fence, but today we see his shadow.

This is what he looked like irl, away from the fence:

Randy is part of the Wilson Wilson origin story! Tim met Wilson through Randy’s colic. We also learn that the Taylors moved into their house when Randy was a baby and Brad was a toddler. I forgot about that.

I always knew that Randy was the smartest Taylor. I mean, he went off to Costa Rica or whatever those last couple of seasons of the show. Turns out, he did some of his own research and called Tim out on not telling him that he could have cancer. Then he went to the arcade instead of coming home from school.

There’s those uncomfortable looking Taylor kids beds again. I mentioned them in the Junk from Tim Taylor’s house entry a long time back. What is all that av equipment embedded into the walls? Car stereos?

Where is Mark, the youngest kid? He’s only had one line the entire episode and it was like 1 minute into the episode. He asked why they were going to the doctor.

The doctor calls and turns out Randy just has to take a pill every day. Like me!

You know what came on after this? THE DIET MUG ROOT BEER DANA CARVEY SHOW.

I only know this from this clip from the documentary Too Funny To Fail about ABC putting the Dana Carvey Show in such a horrible time slot.

337. 88 things about 1988 part 3 (Olympic edition)

(part 2)

20. Debi Thomas winning the bronze medal in figure skating

While I was too young to have seen Debi at the Olympics, I learned about her though old Sports Illustrated issues my mom would buy me from the thrift store. She quickly became one of my favorite skaters ever, even if I didn’t really get to see her on TV, and only really saw her skate on YouTube when I was in college. Her short performance at the Olympics, set to Dead of Alive’s Something in My House, is my all time favorite figure skating performance ever.

Her competitor for years was Germany’s Katarina Witt. For a long time they were always 1 2 1 2 at international events. While Debi led in the short program, she stumbled in her long program, and Witt won her second gold medal (Canada’s Elizabeth Manley won silver) I understood, but that was heartbreaking. Oh, I also forgot to mention that they both skated to music from Carmen. Battling Carmens they would say.

But Debi had a bronze medal (the first black athlete ever to win a medal at the winter Olympics) and was headed to medical school (she was pre-med at Stamford prior to the Olympics). She eventually became a orthopedic surgeon!

Unfortunately, in the last six years or so, there has been some concern for Debi. She moved to a rural area in Virginia to open a medical practice, and it faltered. In 2015, it was reported that she was living in a nasty trailer and involved with a violent man. She also believes in some gold selling hoax? And her facebook is just her posting her scams. Her son (who her ex has custody of) plays football at Cal State apparently. I’m really sad about it. I think about her a lot.

–

There were several up and comers at that Olympics, Midorti Ito, Jill Trenary, Paul Wylie, Viktor Petrenko, Kurt Browning, Petr Barna, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, and Isabelle Duchesnay and Paul Duchesnay.

(Kelly Garrison Steves, my favorite member of the 88 team)

21. Ladies gymnastics team lose bronze medal due to some rule?

This one was a little hard for me to follow. So, there was this rule in gymnastics where no other athlete could be in the vicinity of the equipment while somebody was performing. For example, if a girl was on the balance beam, there couldn’t be another girl standing on the podium next to the beam. Maybe the L.A. Times can explain it better:

SEOUL — The U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team was beaten today for the bronze medal by an East German team that survived because of a penalty called by an East German official, setting off a war of words that is unlikely to end soon.

While the Soviet Union dethroned Olympic champion Romania for the gold medal, East Germany captured the bronze in a dramatic and controversy-filled battle with the American team.

“In our hearts we know we deserve the bronze,” said Phoebe Mills, 15, one of the American stars.

“We got ripped,” said Mike Jacki, executive director of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation. “We will sleep well tonight because we know we were the third-best team out there. I hope the East Germans can sleep.”

Less Than a Point

East Germany finished with 390.875 points; the United States finished with 390.575. The East German margin of victory was more than matched by a half-point penalty assessed against the Americans two nights before.

The penalty was called by Ellen Berger, an East German official who heads the gymnastics rules committee.

[…]

But the Americans simply could not overcome what may be remembered as the biggest half-point in Olympic gymnastics history.

The half-point penalty had come in Monday’s compulsory competition because team alternate Rhonda Faehn stayed on the platform when teammate Kelly Garrison-Steves performed her routine on the uneven bars.

The Americans argued that the violation was too minor and obscure to merit a deduction from the score the athletes had earned. They said the intent of the rule had not been violated, since it was obvious that Faehn was not assisting Garrison-Steves.

Different Viewpoint

Berger’s comment on the brouhaha was succinct:

“The rule says that a coach or a gymnast cannot be on the podium. It is punishable by a reduction. A rule is a rule,” Berger told the Associated Press. 1

Why was the alternate, Rhonda even there? Now, the alternates sit in the stands, right? They’re only there just in case someone is injured before the Olympics begins?

22. Caryn Kadavy misses the Olympic figure skating finals because of the flu

United States figure skater Caryn Kadavy missed the long program because she fell ill with the flu and a 104º fever. ABC had the audacity to show her, sick on the couch, watching the long program on TV. And we all thought NBC failed at the Olympics. I’m mad I can’t find the clip on YouTube, I haven’t seen it since college back in 2010. Here’s an interview with her while she was still sick.

(Sports Illustrated, January 27, 1988, I had this issue growing up and I memorized it)

23. Battle of the Brians: Brian Boitano vs Brian Orser

Like the Carmen battle with the women, the two Brians fought on the ice at Calgary. Boitano won, hands down. Orser became coach to Yuna Kim (2010 figure skating gold medalist) and Yuzuru Hanyu (2014 figure skating gold medalist).

(Sports Illustrated, July 25, 1988)

24. Florence Griffith-Joyner becomes the fastest woman in the world at the Olympic Trials

She ran the 100 meters in 10.49 seconds! She still holds the record today! Above is the amazing uniform she wore that day. She was known for her fashion as much as her running.

FloJo died in 1998 from a seizure. I wonder a lot what she would be doing today.

25. Anthony Nesty wins the first Olympic medal for Suriname, and its gold

Swimmer Anthony Nesty beat out favorite Matt Biondi in the 100-metre butterfly, becoming the second black man to win a swimming medal at the Olympics, and becoming the first from his country to win a medal at the Olympics. He came back in 1992 and won a bronze medal in the same event.

1. “U.S. Team Loses Bronze–‘We Were Cheated’: Karolyi : E. German’s Ruling Riles Americans,” Los Angeles Times, September 21, 1988. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-09-21/news/mn-2336_1_american-team

341. Reebok Pump Bungee Jumpers Commercial + 1990 Nissan 300ZX Turbo Super Bowl commercial

I feel like the early 90s were ripe for complaints about how commercials might cause people to copy the situation. Two examples:

During the first season of The Simpsons, parents complained (70 calls in the Washington, DC area alone!) about a Reebok Pump commercial being shown during primetime 1. I have the commercial break right here!

Some networks chose to air after 9 or 10 pm, after previous complaints. 2 The ad depicted two bungee jumpers jumping off a bridge, with their feet tied to the bungee cord.

The jumper who wasn’t wearing the Reebok Pumps to tighten his shoe to his foot, didn’t make it.

People took this seriously, you guys. People acted like their kids were going to go out the next day and jump off a bridge. I actually remember Mary Hart on Entertainment Tonight reporting how the ad showed during Simpsons.

Another ad that concerned worry warts was the 1990 Super Bowl commercial for the Nissan 300ZX Turbo, a beautiful car way ahead of its time.

In the ad, a narrator says that he dreams that he’s driving the Nissan and these guys are after him. They chase him with motorcycles, a race car, and finally a jet. His car outraces them all, however.

People actually thought that if the wrong person watched the ad, they too could drive fast to break away from a plane chase:

In recent weeks, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives and other groups have written letters to Nissan and CBS, asking that a 60-second commercial for the Nissan 300ZX Turbo be dropped.

“This is the worst example of an out-and-out speed ad that we have ever seen,” said Brian O’Neill, president of the Insurance Institute, a industry-supported research organization in Arlington, Va.

Nissan Defends Ad

Ronald Hannum, a director of marketing for Nissan, said the company saw no reason to drop the advertisement, which will be broadcast Jan. 28 on CBS during the Super Bowl.

“We don’t believe that the Turbo Z commercial encourages irresponsible driving practices,” Mr. Hannum said. He added that the ad was clearly fanciful and thus would not be confused by viewers as representing realistic driving. 3

Yup, the same Brian from those old Dateline NBC bits where they would crash the cars. From my “Katilsday post” a few years back.

1. Carmody, John, “The TV Column”, Washington Post, March 21, 1990. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/03/21/the-tv-column/483df08d-dc11-48c8-a2c0-2acd3eabcd30/?utm_term=.9c1e7884591e

2. Foltz, Kim, “THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Reebok Removes TV Ad After Complaints From Viewers,” New York Times, March 23, 1990. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/23/business/the-media-business-reebok-removes-tv-ad-after-complaints-from-viewers.html

3. Meier, Barry, “Groups Protest Nissan Ad, Saying It Glorifies Speeding,” New York Times, January 11, 1990. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/11/business/groups-protest-nissan-ad-saying-it-glorifies-speeding.html