Dance Baby Dance

Remember this creepy thing? I was not a fan of the Dancing Baby fad, I thought it looked a bit zombieish. But it was state of the art CGI for the time. Maybe if I was an Ally McBeal fan I would have liked it more. Did not get this thing at all.

The Lions Den

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

What I consider to be the most influential tv show of the 90s wasn't Friends, it wasn't Seinfeld and it wasn't ER. No, it was a simple talk show hosted by a former city mayor that told easily digestible human interest stories. Stories that you and I, simple folk, can relate to on an everyday level. Stuff like who slept with who, who's related to whoever is being slept with, and why people are sleeping or suspected with sleeping with other people they shouldn't be sleeping with. You know, normal stuff. Followed by running attacks and clothes tearing wrasslin.

I can't remember a lot of tv from the Clinton era, I didn't watch X Files or much anything else with regularity that I can recall from that time. But Jerry Springer, that was on everywhere including work. This was what America truly wanted to see: real random fighting. No skill involved, no stuntmen, just people beating the holy hell out of each other cause they felt like it.

I wasn't a big fan of the show though I am just as guilty as anyone else of being mesmerized by the train wreck carnage of junior high style slugfests. As much as I would like to revel in the pure wrongness of the program, I get a little snooty when it comes to this low brow icon. The Jerry Springer show didn't push the envelope of taste, it took taste and buried it under a heaping pile of dung. Normally I like that sort of thing, I guess Springer just seemed too real for me to enjoy it. This wasn't making a statement about society, it was reflecting an ugly side of society I knew about and didn't care to see. The Springer Show's impact was pervasive, all of media was affected in the race to the bottom (and ironically I enjoyed some of that influence a lot, such as WWE's Attitude era of wrestling). Eventually the show had to pull back on its famous fights, just not before the damage was done.

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If at this point you might say "Hey, wait, isn't this hypocritical when you consider the taste level of most everything else on this blog?" Well...yes, yes it is. For my excuse, accept one of the following pat answers: a.) I'm a complex human being with complex human emotions that you can't understand. b.) I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam. c.) Me? What about YOU! d.) My hypocracy is nothing compared to what the government gets away with. e.) That's not what I meant to say, what I meant to say is that this is an opinion from a certain point of view that may or may not be held by a select grouping of people that might include me. f.) I ate spicy food last night that caused heartburn g.) I didn't inhale h.) my other car is a Porche i.) I know you are but what am I? j.) You can't handle the truth! Now, back to the soap box...

You could say Jerry Springer was just continuing what Geraldo Rivera started. You could say all this was inevitable, that You Tube and other forms of social media would have magnified the cruel vicious side of youth on an openly national level without Springer. Still I view The Jerry Springer Show as a breaking point in media history, where basic human decency was declared OK to do without. For me electronic media is more a reflection of where society is than an influence so I don't blame Jerry Springer for the destruction of decency. That's our choice. I just don't like to look at it in it's raw, uncut form. And that's my final thought for today. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.

The Force Of One

The cinematic event of the 90's for me wasn't Jurassic Park, or The Matrix, or even Independence Day. It was the re-release of the original Star Wars trilogy, granted with updated special effects. The chance to see the three classic films on the big screen again led me and tons of others to stand in a long line at the movie theater like it was 1977 all over again.

It was a thrill to view these movies "as they were meant to be seen" again, even though the added special effects seemed just OK to me. The only added scene with punch for me personally was a chance to watch the Jabba The Hutt scene in its entirety after decades of seeing just still pictures (even if it had the most jarring new effect with Han Solo "stepping" on Jabba's tail.) While the rest of the new effects (like the Death Star battle) were spiffy it was hard not to miss the old scenes that had been committed to memory.

I can't claim to be a total purist and hate the special editions, it's just a shame that Star Wars became like a scab that George Lucas couldn't stop picking. Particularly after the prequel trilogy, the original films got more revisions than a bill through Congress. Just the same, the 90s would have been a bit duller without the re release of these incredible films.

Cheap Shots

One trend I liked in the early 90's was Beavis and Butthead, the crudely animated teenage metalheads who passed judgement on whatever music videos played. A nostalgic throwback to when MTV played actual music videos instead of junk like I Wanna Be In A Pretend Band or My Ridiculously Expensive Birthday whatever those shows are called. Yes, there was a time when MTV would play music videos and people would sit and watch it, Beavis and Butthead captured that moment. They also captured making sarcastic or excited remarks at the tv when videos appeared on screen that got a reaction.

It was like someone had put on tv the stuff we did in real life. When I met some new friends around '83 one of the first things they included me in was miming the Def Leppard "Photograph" video with them towards their living room mirror when the clip came on (I know, dorky, just keepin' it real). Or arguing with others as to whether or not Duran Duran's "The Reflex" or Hall & Oates "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" were filmed in the Bay Area. Watching my friend get excited because Van Halen's "Dreams" came on and hurt himself attempting to tackle another guy as a result (teenage adrenalin = hard hittin' football!) was pretty funny. Even funnier, after he missed the tackle and slammed into his dresser his glasses came off and we had to listen to him complain like it was our fault he bent his glasses.

Beavis and Butthead kicked off that whole "bad animation" thing that South Park followed up on, because then like now we were in a recession and could relate to doing things cheaply. The more low budget the better in the early 90's, grunge, gangsta rap, indie movies, animation that looked like colorforms, it spoke to a generation that saw the Big 80's economy crash and burn. B&B also launched the career of Mike Judge (Office Space, King Of The Hill) who has become an enduring talent. But the real beauty of B&B was that it was fodder for cheap shot artists like me :)

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Oh, below is a clip of the Beavis and Butthead episode that includes T'Pau's "Heart And Soul" which is how this whole post got started. Huh huh, huh huh...I started my "post". Yeah, yeah...I'm showing my "post" on my "log". Huh huh, my log stinks...

...And Life Goes On

In the early 90's my favorite television show was ABC's Sunday night family drama Life Goes On. It was on Sunday nights at 7pm and in my book is one of the best shows of its type. The program had a bittersweet mood that was unusual for the genre.

The program centered on the Thatcher family, a clan persistently troubled with loss of employment and prejudice. Drew Thatcher (played with earnest conviction by Bill Smitrovich) was the understanding and hard working blue collar father to the family. His wife Libby Thatcher (stage veteran Patti Lupone) was the equally understanding ex-actress juggling work and caring after the children. Originally LGO centered on down syndrome actor Chris Burke playing the son Charles nicknamed "Corky". Corky and the family would encounter prejudice and misunderstandings as they struggled to give him a "mainstream" education in high school. Later, the program would shift its focus to teenager Becca Thatcher (Kellie Martin, who I thought was attractive in that girl next door kinda way) the outspoken smart girl going thru standard teenage issues when not fighting for a cause. Lastly there was the adult stepdaughter Paige (originally played by Monique Lanier then later by JAG actress Tracey Needham) who was often confused by what to do with her life both romantically and professionally.

Ultimately what I liked about LGO was it's ability to balance warmth, conservative family values and liberal social outlook. For a Sunday evening program in the family hour, LGO was unusual in it's willingness to tackle social issues such as down syndrome and AIDS on a regular basis and not wrap everything up in a cozy hug at the end of the show. It was willing to have downer endings instead which was and is unusual for a tv show of this type. Like the episode when Paige works with an african american man named Marquis with a criminal past, they become friends but after a misunderstanding leads Paige to believe he is stealing from her family at gunpoint she begs him not to hurt them. Marquis sees through the predjudice and in non tv family drama form does not accept Paige's apology ending their friendship. Obviously that ending stuck with me for me to remember it, it was a well played scene.

Living up to its name, life went on for these characters despite other setbacks such as Corky accidentally burning down the family restaurant business, Becca's ex-boyfriend (and recurring character in the first few seasons) Tyler Benchfield dying after driving drunk and in later seasons the struggles of her AIDS infected boyfriend Jesse (for which actor Chad Lowe won an Emmy). Even with these "big message" story arcs LGO kept its scale down to the nuclear family and its suburb keeping things more realistic.

Life Goes On ran from 1989 to 1993, and given my own recent setbacks in life this program has been on my mind lately. You Tube has some episodes posted which is nice, though some of the comments on them point to continued prejudice against people with down syndrome which is sad. Below is the ending to the episode referenced above which still has power after all these years. Because life goes on...

Don't...Wait, Do - No Don't Feed The Animal

Jane stop this crazy thing!

One Christmas in the 90's my wife and I were given the gift of digital life, life in the form of Tamagachi (probably misspelled but oh well). The novelty of that year, we carried these things around on our keychains or whatnot. Like a real animal, it demanded food and play on a constant basis. Now, I have a real dog which I love but still I gave this LCD critter some time. Just not enough time. This thing kept yapping and chirping or whatever sound it made and was never satisfied with the amount of play I gave it. In the end it kept dying, which was depressing.

The thing seriously needed an off switch. Or maybe it had one and I didn't figure it out. Anyway, instead of being a fun distraction Tamagachi was more like an unwanted litmus test for parenting skills I suppose. Which I guess you fail automatically because anything you're raising shouldn't be carried in your pocket next to your keys. It made me feel like the MCP in Tron, here I was torturing this electronic creature trapped in a malfunctioning Casio watch. So I threw it in my desk and never looked at it again except for its eventual trip to the garbage can.

Who the hell made up a toy like this? Unless you have the free time and dedication needed to keep this critter happy it guilt tripped you like no tomorrow. I tell you I have neither, for a creature that ran on lithium it sure was unhappy all the time. I don't think it even told time. I'm sure there are people who had a good time with this picachu looking creature, I'm just not one of them. Picachu, I don't choose you.

Is The 90's Worth Remembering? Hmmm...

Aw jeez turn it off! Oh wait, it's just a picture. Whew.

When I blog about pop culture, I usually cover the 80's or the modern day. In between there is a huge decade long gap we call The 90's. And the reason why I don't cover the 90's? I don't remember a lot of it in terms of pop culture. It's just a vast blank. Sure there was grunge which wasn't bad, alternative rock, Forrest Gump, new James Bond movies and the Star Wars special editions...and that was about it. So like a brutal hypnotist I'm going to force myself to try to remember the 90's, the missing link. Because the truth is out there...

My first choice for the 90's, might as well start at the top (or bottom) - The Spice Girls!

Let's see, there was Sporty Spice, Scary Spice...Cranky Spice? Skanky Spice? Smack Addict Spice? Julia Roberts Spice? I can't remember their names - Bend It Like Beckham Spice? Like many, my first exposure to the Spice rack was to hear that insipid yet undeniably catchy hit that says "I'll tell ya what I want what I really want." The light pop rap and Barbie doll characters got the tweens in a frenzy. Soon their faces were plastered all over magazines and the telly. After the billionth time I involuntarily heard this song I was ready to pull what was left of my hair out. Even as eye candy only the red headed girl looked attractive to me, in that L.A. streetwalker kinda way. Copycat groups like All Saints came out of the woodwork to hock their wares, further flooding the market with this junk.

They had a second song, I think it's called "Say You'll Be Mine" which was at least passable with that wannabe (that's the name of the first song, "Wannabe") Stevie Wonder harmonica lick. They were on top of the world but all was not well in Spice World. The red headed girl got the platform shoe sized boot (not the red head! Noooo!) leaving them a redheadless quartet.

After that there was a movie which, hey, I think it was called Spice World. Look at us guvnor, we're cheeky British girls don't you like us yeah? The incessant commericals featuring some song with I think it was a Latin beat played often, I don't know if I'm thinking of them or a Ricky Martin song to be honest. Was it "Shake Your Bon Bons"? (note: after linking this video it looks like the red head girl was still here at this point. See what I don't remember.) Either way it was never the same without Charlie Brown's red headed girl in the lineup, as Austin Powers would say they had lost their mojo. Their five minutes of fame were up. At least as a musical act.

I can't remember any other music from this group but have seen them in the supermarket checkout line a lot in those rumor rags. Scary Spice had like a thing with Eddie Murphy and bore him a Golden Child or something? Then she got ripped like Mark McGwire which was truly scary (While playing for the A's Mark McGwire walked past me once, his bicep was the size of my head!). The skinny girl (Fashion Spice? Gucci Spice? Damn, still can't remember these names) married the soccer (sorry England, football) player boosting her fame so we see amazing media coverage of her walking in and out of her house a lot. Thank you very little Access Hollywood. The redheaded one became an amabassador I think? Some outlandish thing. Like most acts they've all released solo albums that would come out with a little bit of hype and then disappear. And did they reunite about a year ago? It sounds familiar, like a surreal memory that you're not sure actually happened. I'm talking David Lynch territory here.

I found the Spice Girls era to be pretty tepid, for the most part hated the music and the media saturation of their images that followed. Sure, every eight years or so there has to be an annoying musical act that hits that tween market right on the mark unraveling millions of parents dollars into their bank accounts. It's unavoidable. When I worked at a theme park this guy said we were lucky to have Duran Duran, at least they wrote and performed their own music. How right you were sir, how right you were.