71. Koosh Balls
72. USA Today tries a TV Show (9/12)
It only lasted until January of 1990. Wow did they waste a lot of money on it:
Bureaus for the daily half-hour satellite show (there will also be a one- hour weekend edition) are being set up in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., London (where British politician/fiction writer Jeffrey Archer has just been signed as correspondent), and in Roslyn, Va., where USA Today (the newspaper) is headquartered.
It`s costing plenty.
“We`re budgeting $100 million for three years,” said Steve Friedman. “You might as well do it right or not at all.” 1
Wasted 40 million for a show that aired in the middle of the night in some markets:
The magazine-format program, originally titled “USA Today: The Television Show,” debuted in September, 1988, on 156 stations, many of them running it in the coveted slot just before prime time. But now, the number of stations has dwindled to 84, with many airing the 30-minute show during hours only insomniacs could appreciate. 2
I found one episode from June 28, 1988.
73. Dale Earnhardt becomes the Intimidator with his black, red and grey #3 car
Before 1988, he drove a blue and yellow #15 Wrangler car.
[I love that apparently there is Dale glitch art gifs on Tumblr]
74. The “Geraldo Fight” (11/3)
This is the only thing I remember about Geraldo’s talk show from the late 80s and early 90s, and seeing the footage always scared me, because to five year old me it was like, “oh no, the man from the TV is hurt.”
Geraldo Rivera’s nose was broken and his face cut during a skirmish yesterday midway through the taping of a program entitled “Teen Hatemongers” on his television talk show.
The violence broke out after John Metzger, a 20-year-old guest representing the White Aryan Resistance Youth, insulted a black guest, Roy Innis, calling him an “Uncle Tom.”
“I’m sick and tired of Uncle Tom here, sucking up and trying to be a white man,” Mr. Metzger said of Mr. Innis, the national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality. Mr. Innis stood up and began choking the white youth and Mr. Rivera and audience members joined the scuffle, hurling chairs, throwing punches and shouting epithets. 3
The Beastie Boys even referenced it in the song “What Comes Around.”
75. B.D. Wong raps about Driving School in Crash Course (made for TV movie)
I only just learned about this clip from the ThirtyTwentyTen Podcast. I just know for a fact that the lyrics are laughably lame:
“…going to Michigan state to be a football player, we can hardly wait! Make us proud Dr. J.J., we will watch you on TV scoring touchdowns on Saturday, or saying ‘to be or not to be’!”
(and yes that is Mac from Night Court, Charles Robinson!)
( Newsweek, December 26, 1988)
76. Massive 6.8 Earthquake hits Armenia (12/7).
It is unknown how many people died in the quake, some estimates are around 25,000+ people.
77. Governor Bill Clinton speaks at the Democratic National Convention
Bill was just supposed to speak for 15 minutes and endorse candidate Michael Dukakis. He spoke for 33 minutes! People booed! People cheered when he said “in conclusion”!
78. Duncan Hines Tiara Cakes
A dessert you had to buy a special pan for just to make it. Once they were discontinued, what were you gonna do with that shallow fluted pan?
79. Oprah’s Lil’ Red Wagon of Fat
Oprah regrets it now, but back in 1988 she lost a sloo of weight by starving herself for four months. So on her show she wheeled out 68 pounds of animal fat in a wagon.
80. These amazing carousel stamps
81. Holidays at the World Trade Center
82. The troubled Forest Fair Mall opens in Fairfield, Ohio (7/11)
[this is what the movie theater looked like a year after opening, source]
As some know, I was the assistant editor at deadmalls.com for years. So I tried my best to find a dead mall that opened 30 years ago–and boy did I find one, one of the most amazing lookin’ ones. (Here’s my ex friends at deadmalls walkin’ though it in 2017)
But yes, this dead mall has flying pigs as decorations! They look like they were added sometime in the late 90s/early 00s? This mall was struggling just two years into operation, and was under redevelopment in 1992. The history of the mall was like, down, up, down, DOWN, nearly abandoned. The Wikipedia is actually pretty good.
83. Michael Dukakis and his tank (9/13)
Okay, so it wasn’t HIS tank, he was just there for a photo op during the presidential election. Boy looked redic!
I’m going to let Josh King, the author of Off Script:
An Advance Man’s Guide to White House Stagecraft, Campaign Spectacle, and Political Suicide handle the summary for this, because it’s great:
84. Chevy Chase hosts the Oscars (4/11)
…and it was his second time hosting! I know.
85. “Let the River Run” from Working Girl
Wow, lots to unpack here with this music video.
The Reebok Freestyle Hi-tops with the big white scrunchy socks! I’m so mad that these shoes don’t come in wide width. They’re soo narrow.
This. outfit. I want it. I tried to find a similar one to wear this holiday season but came up with zilch. Couldn’t find a white skirt on time, or a blouse like that.
Nora Dunn looks 20 years older than she was in this movie. Joan Cusack’s hair is my dream big 80s hair.
Melanie Griffith clearly does not want to be there.
The women in the office after the “bony ass” scene.
86. Santa’s Car
Who knew that Santa drove a hatch and lived in Maine.
87. Max Robinson Dies (12/20)
Robinson was the first African American to anchor network news in the United States. He shared hosting duties on the ABC Nighty News with Peter Jennings and Frank Reynolds in the early 1980s. Sadly alcoholism derailed his career, and he passed away from AIDS.
88. 35 Students from Syracuse University die on Pan Am Flight 103
To this day, Syracuse University has an extensive collection and memorial dedicated to these students. There is also a heartbreaking .pdf titled “On Eagles Wings” that profiles every passenger and Lockerbie resident who died that night.
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1. Beck, Marylin, “USA TODAY SET TO MAKE TV NEWS,” Chicago Tribune, une 25, 1988. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-06-25-8801100627-story.html
2. Kaye, Jeff, “Why There’s No Tomorrow for ‘USA Today’ : Television: The cancellation marks another setback for GTG Entertainment, which had three programs dropped last year,” Los Angeles Times, November 24, 1989. http://articles.latimes.com/1989-11-24/entertainment/ca-215_1_usa-today
4. “Geraldo Rivera’s Nose Broken In Scuffle on His Talk Show,” New York Times, November 4, 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/04/nyregion/geraldo-rivera-s-nose-broken-in-scuffle-on-his-talk-show.html
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