At the end of the program, when all the cast assembles and says “good-bye,” Kinison says, "I got something to say to all the girls that ever turned me down: LOOK WHO I’M WITH!!! Standing beside him was former porn queen Seka.
I saw only that scene out of the whole program, and I don’t think it ever aired again, so I don’t know whether or not Seka had actually appeared in it.
Also, in the old “Chico and the Man” series, on the nest show that aired after Freddie Prinze killed himself, Jack Albertson gave a choking voice-over on the closing credits, saying something to the effect, “We really appreciate all the sympathy, etc. . .” Also, in one of the episodes either just before or just after he killed himself, Chico’s long-lost father–played by Cesar “The Joker” Romero-- appeared after 20 years, asking Chico to come back to Mexico with him. Faced with the prospect that Chico might take him up on that offer, Louie (Scatman Crothers) says to Ed (Jack Albertson), "We could lose him forever. . .
I saw some of Charles and Diana’s wedding. I was pretty young, and I didn’t get what the big deal was, other than I knew the whole thing was pretty fancy.
I saw the Challenger explode. I was in fifth grade, and they let us watch it in school. When it exploded, I didn’t even realize what had happened. When I finally understood it, I was upset for a long time and didn’t understand why anyone would take that kind of risk.
I saw Sinead rip up the Pope’s picture.
I remember seeing the Berlin Wall coming down. I got home from wherever I was (I want to say I had been at school, but I must have gone out somewhere else, because I remember it being in the evening when I saw it), and saw it on TV. I asked what was happening. My mom told me that the Berlin Wall was coming down. All I remember saying (and thinking) was, “Now what?” I was completely dumbstruck by the whole event.
I was out having dinner with someone during the O.J. chase. They had interrupted a basketball game that other patrons had been watching. We looked up when we heard all the grumbling from the other customers. My reaction was, “What the f…?”
I remember seeing the rescue efforts from the Oklahoma City bombing. I had heard about it on the radio, but I went weak in the knees when I saw the footage. I could barely wrap my mind around what was happening.
I gotta get in a few sports ones, these are the three that I remember like they were yesterday:
Kirk Gibson’s homer in the '88 World Series. Simply the most awesome sports moment I have ever seen. I could go on all day about how PERFECT that was. And I’m not a Dodger fan. Oakland didn’t have a chance in hell after that game.
Mike Tyson getting knocked out by Buster Douglas. Tyson had such an aura of invincibility… FAR more than any other boxer has had since then. Seeing him on the mat was something my mind could hardly comprehend at the time.
Watching a riot break out at the conclusion of the Riddick Bowe/Andrew Golota fight at Madison Square Garden. That was a very unsettling thing to watch unfolding. Even the commentators (well, maybe not George Foreman) were fearing for their own safety, making it even more disturbing. Thankfully there ended up being no deaths or even any serious injuries. I remember there was some fear that Lou Duva had a heart attack, but that was false.
I had MSNBC on when the Columbine coverage began. For the next several hours I was glued to the TV, horrified and fascinated. Another Brian Williams moment here, when he had to announce that there indeed were ‘bodies’ inside the school… what an awful thing to have to announce to millions of people.
Stayed up all night for the Bush/Gore election night chaos.
Sadly I missed the O.J. verdict, stuck in a lame English 102 class. Around the time the verdict was supposed to be announced, some guy in the back quietly slipped out the door. He didn’t say a word but we all knew what he was doing. He called home to get the verdict of course. He came back in, sat down, whispered to the guy next to him ‘not guilty’, and immediately the entire class started buzzing The professor was cool about it, and we talked about O.J. for the remainder of the period.
Pete Rose hitting his 4,256 hit breaking Ty Cobb’s career record. I knew my dad was a HUGE fan of him when he was with the Phils, so seeing it with him was real special.
(and yes I think he should go to the Hall of Fame for it)
Seeing Andy Kaufman getting the shit slapped outta him by Jerry Lawler on Late Night.
Seeing Drew Barrymore flash Dave. I thought Dave was gonna have a coronary
The first time I saw the commercial for Batman nearly a year before it came out. Yes I know it ain’t history but man it was the first time I truly wish a movie was starting the next day, so much was my mania.
Seeing the news report when Mel Blanc died. I really did feel that a part of my childhood had died as well.
Heh, me too. I remember them announcing that Bush was on his way to make his acceptance speech and thinking, “well, it’s getting pretty late, but I’ll just stick around to see what he says and then hit the sack.”
That, of course, was exactly when all hell started breaking loose. It was after 4:30 AM when I finally DID go to bed, after Brian Williams said, “look, folks, the fact of the matter is, we don’t really know who won this thing, and might not for quite some time…”
My dad wouldn’t let us change the channel during the OJ Bronco chase.
I was house-sitting for a family friend, off on spring break from high school, during the Columbine shooting. A friend got online and ICQed me to turn on CNN. So I saw that.
I watched Greg Moore die on national television. And Dale Earnhardt, but I didn’t care as much about Earnhardt.
I cought most of the Bush/Gore election. I had gotten pretty pissed and changed the channel when I heard Gore won Florida, but when my mom told me that they took the statement back, I watched it the rest of the night.
Other than that, I’d say the only memorable moments came from Monday Night football last year. The Miami-NY game was wild, but nothing tops the end of the Minnesota-Green Bay game. That had to be the most incredible sports play I’ve ever seen.
O, forgot about the OJ verdict. I remember watching it with my class, and most of them got excited when they heard not guilty. I forgive them, as we were only in grammar school at the time, but there were a few of us who did know how absurd the verdict was. My class, my teacher, and I were all visibly upset.
I’ve forgotten a lot but I remember I had woken up and turned on CNN and was just sorts half watching it, and then the whole Waco compound of those people caught on fire. I remember thinking wow, people will be talking about this. And boy have they.
I remember when the first pictures of Shoemaker-Levy 9 came back of it smashing into Jupiter, awesome!
I remember being absolutely fascinating with the entire collapse of the Eastern Block and watching every minute of it I could. And thinking, wow, how perfect the Jesus Jones song “Right Now” was. That was the wall coming down, Yeltsin shelling the Moscow parliament? building.
Mostly stuff that happened on CNN. Also the whole Diana thing.
I remember George Bush the Elder calling Clinton and Gore “Those two bozos” and thinking, he’s lost it. It being the election.
I also remember when Nelson Mandela was freed.
I remember seing the first few moments of the whole White Bronco thing and flipping through the channels and it was on like 10 different channels. I think only Princess Diana’s funeral had more. At that point I said no more and would throw myself across the room towards my remote if it ever came on.
I forgot about the OJ verdict. I was in seventh grade, in Math class. We didn’t watch it, but heard it LIVE on the radio. The class was indeed buzzing when the verdict was given.
I saw the first Simpson’s Christmas special (Simpson’s Roasting Over an Open Fire) when it first came on in December 1989. Hey…I think it’s a great moment in television.
I remember the OJ verdict-I was in the library for study hall, and the tv was on, and everyone was talking while the jury was waiting to come out. An aid mentioned that they kept calling it the Trial of the Century-she said it should’ve been the Nuremburg trials. (I couldn’t help but agree).
Well, the bell rang, but we kept on watching, and I’m thinking yes, they’re going to do the right thing-then they said Not Guilty. A couple people cheered, but most were like, WHAT?
So I walk to my next class-of course the tv is on in there too. It’s American Government, we had talked about the OJ trial, and my teacher had said he had 200 bucks bet the guy was guilty. I said to him, as I walked in, “You’re out 200 hundred bucks, huh?” He just shook his head-he was really disgusted.
Then I sat down, just in time to see Kim Goldman sobbing. That’s when it hit me how AWFUL the whole thing really was.
I think I felt sick to my stomach.
It wasn’t an event of historic significance, but I remember seeing Al Campanis, then Los Angeles Dodger executive, essentially slit his own throat on “Nightline.”
It was April, 1987, and Koppel was doing a light, opening day of the baseball season interview with Campanis. Koppel asked about how few black baseball managers there were Campanis suddenly started talking about how black people weren’t good swimmers because they lacked buoyancy. Koppel kept giving Campanis the opportunity to backtrack, and Campanis just kept digging himself in deeper. Koppel didn’t intend to make news with the interview, I’m sure, and Campanis had had a very good reputation up until that point. It was a very small personal train wreck that I saw.
Princess Diana’s death-- I was with some friends at a very small sci-fi convention in Philly, at which Majel Barrett was a guest. We were heading down to that night’s big event, a dance in the ballroom, and a friend came up to us and said something about “Hey, somebody said a friend of Majel’s has been in an accident and she’s all upset.”
Evidently, that friend was Diana, though never before nor since have I heard from anyone else that they were friends. Anyway, we all hung out at the dance and had a grand old time, then most of us went back up to the room and were watching some TV and that’s when we realized what was going on. I remember the little ticker at the bottom of the screen, “Princess Diana in car accident…” Shortly thereafter, our friend Amy came in and says, “You guys know Princess Diana’s dead, right?” Um, no. Somehow she found out down in the ballroom before the news had updated the ticker. It was indeed surreal… I’m not a big royals fanatic or anything but it was so sad. And her funeral, with the bunch of flowers and the card that said “Mummy,” and the Queen bowing her head as the hearse passed by.
And I remember seeing Columbine unfold. It had already happened, but I flipped on my TV after work and saw something about a “school shooting,” and didn’t really register what was going on. Then as I settled in to have dinner and relax I started catching on-- for hours, on every channel, that footage running over and over. Few things have ever hit me like that did; I was sitting here crying. Found out later most of my friends were doing the same.
The US Hockey team winning at Lake Placid in 1980. Eric Heiden winning all his medals.
The first Shuttle launch.
Pete Rose beating Ty Cobb’s record.
Greg Lemond becoming the first American to win the Tour de France.
Bill Buckner.
The Buster Douglas/Mike Tyson fight. After Tyson’s two previous fights had lasted only 90 seconds each, nobody was willing to spend $40 to watch it on PPV, so HBO was carrying it live. My mom and I were giggling at the announcers’ attempts to build up tension by saying “Buster Douglas intends to shock the world.” “Yeah, by being the first boxer to have his brains come out his ears on live TV.” Well, we got a shock.
The Tienamen Square demonstrations.
Most of the Gulf War, along with my college roommates. I think I was at a newsstand buying a Playboy when I saw the first news report that Desert Shield had become Desert Storm.
The OJ Bronco ride.
The announcement of the arrest of The Kobe Killer. For about a month (July 1997, IIRC) all of Japan had been talking about this one: a young boy’s severed head had been placed at the entrance of an elementary school in Kobe. I was in a little ramen shop when a news report announced that the police had arrested a 15-year-old for the murder. The restaurant was dead silent for about five minutes.
I remember being about 6 or 7 years old and watching NBC News with my parents when Tom Brokaw came on and announced that President George Bush had died. It was very strange. Of course, he wasn’t really dead, he had only just vomited all over the Japanese prime minister.
I also remember the OJ Simpson verdict…we got to cut the last 5 minutes of religion class in 6th grade to watch the verdict on television. I was pretty much the only person in the class who thought he was innocent, so I was happy at least.
Mom and Dad got us inside and demanded that we watch TV for a change. I am still awed by the bravery and engineering of this event. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.
I remember watching a command performance (sort of a posh variety show performed in front of royalty) and Tommy Cooper putting on an odd gown, lying down on the stage… and an ad break coming on. A hand came out of the curtain just above his face as the adverts ran. We found out later he’d died of a heart attack, which was strange as it just seemed like part of the act.
I remember a little while ago something I’ve never seen mentioned anywhere: ITN Newsreader Trevor McDonald messing up the phrase “Kent countryside”. Play with it for a while and you’ll figure out what he said. All credit to the man, he never missed a beat.
Anyone remember an episode of British Saturday-morning kids’ show Going Live in which the resident agony uncle Philip Hodgson, answering a letter from a girl wondering how to kiss, suggested that he and Sarah Greene (another presenter) demonstrate. She took major big-time international offence.
But of course most importantly of all, I saw John Noakes announce the death of Shep live on the Fax TV show. That was the saddest of all. For those not in the know, Noakes and his border collie Shep had for many years been the anchormen of BBC TV’s Blue Peter kids’ show.
