In March of 1999, during the Teletubbies craze, WalMart, perhaps worried that they would run out of the real deal, began selling knockoffs of the dolls in their stores. 1
”Bubbly Chubbies,” four cuddly dolls that arrived in Wal-Mart’s 2,435 stores this month, have remarkably similar features: pastel colors, large cute eyes and button noses, protruding earlike headphones, and squat, chubby bodies — rather human but with an extraplanetary appearance. 2
By May of 1999, it was settled that WalMart would destroy and remaining inventory of the dolls. 1
This was one of my favorite parts of the newspaper when I was growing up: the little blurbs about celebrities:
I didn’t know that Michael Crawford was in the Los Angeles production of The Phantom of the Opera.
The fangirls went nuts: Hours before Sunday’s matinee, unlucky-but-hopeful fans walked around with crude hand-drawn signs saying “Desperately Need 1 Ticket” and “Please, 2 tickets.” More than 100 people sat sullen-eyed in the cancellation line as the fashionably-dressed ticket-holders walked confidently into the theater. One group of fans set up a radio scanner and an antenna at a table outside the theater, saying they could pick up the performance inside. 1
Robert Guillaume was a Phantom! Right after I graduated from high school in 2001, I would watch Sports Night on Comedy Central after the 10am Daily Show repeat. That show tanked after he left.
The Phantom movie would not come out until 2004. Michael did not star in it.
Sammy Davis Jr. would die just a few days after this article. So would Jim Henson, more on that in a second. I was six and I learned about Sammy Davis Jr. because he died the same day as Jim, or in my mom’s words “Kermit’s daddy”.
These “Brain Builders” by the “world’s smartest woman” Marylin vos Savant seem so stuck up, you know what I mean? Like, number 45. 122 is the exception.
There was even a shirt from Starkist:
This is something I vividly remember growing up– but since I was a kid I thought, pre dolphin safe tuna, I may of accidentally ate a bit of dolphin when we had tuna sandwiches . I found a New York Times article from around this time about how the young people felt really strongly about this cause. Is … is this why people my age were so obsessed with dolphins when we were kids? I mean, just search for Lisa Frank dolphins.
This is a big oof to the gut, considering Jim died just 15 days later. Jim’s last TV appearance was on Arsenio Hall promoting this special on May 4th.
I love how Channel 33 , which was the Fox affiliate at the time, bought an ad to let us know that the movie Tank would be on that night!
Unfortunately, Oprah’s Brewster Place show would only last 9 episodes. It was filmed at Oprah’s Harpo studios in Chicago. Harpo studios was torn down in 2016 and is now the McDonald’s headquarters. So you can’t go see where Oprah’s talk show was filmed. That’s a part of tv history that is gone.
Guess what chickenbutts? All these theaters are gone.
Coliseum 4 – Across the street from Coliseum Mall, which had recently lost their movie theater to a food court around this time. I saw Lion King and Cool Runnings at Coliseum 4, and I think it closed in 1997.
Newmarket Mall 4 – Closed in the early to mid 90s when everything else was closing at Newmarket Fair Mall. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Offices at Netcenter which took over the mall uses it for some sort of auditorium. y/n?
Patrick Henry 7 – Closed in 2000, became an Old Navy, and now is a Tilt Arcade.
This is just a reminder on how behind I am on posting this entry.
I forgot Nancy looked like this!
I mean, I know Ann Landers is BIG, but why would people write in to her agreeing with Secretary Sullivan? I also want to go on a deep google dive to see if any of the tennis stars Ann mentions did in fact, smoke.
Was this in the Ken Burns Baseball documentary miniseries.
1. Los Angeles Times. “‘Phantom’ Departs Amid Cheers, Tears : Theater: Michael Crawford Ends His 3 1/2-Year Stint as Star of the Hit Musical. He Will Soon Go to London to Star in the Movie Version.,” April 30, 1990. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-30-me-82-story.html.
saleintothe90s 