Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search

Pre Internet Viral TV Moments: It's 1984 And Oh My God! You Broke The Internet!


  • Reply
  • Start Topic

Recommended Posts

Before 1947 the number of US homes with television sets could be measured in the thousands.  By the late 1990s 98% of US homes had at least one TV set.   

Commercial Internet ermerged in the late 1980 and early 1990s.  The ARPANETwas decommissioned in 1990.  By 1995 the Internet was fully commercialized.

What are the best tv show moments from 1947 to 1995 that would have "broken the internet"  if it existed back then?  

Have fun!

Edited by Chaos Theory
  • Love 1
Link to comment
23 minutes ago, Anela said:

Bobby waking up, and it was all a dream. I think that one did enough damage without the internet. People still mention it. 

It wasn't Bobby who woke up, but Pam.  It was her dream and I didn't give any fucks because I got Bobby back!

For all I read about how terrible and stupid it was for Dallas to do this, other shows did it too: Roseanne, Newhart, St. Elsewhere.  But Dallas is the only show to get the ???

Other than Victoria Principal's great hair, that entire season sucked and I'm glad it was a dream.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

I'm not sure these would be counted as "Best" tv moments, but I can imagine the following going viral on the internet:

 

The "WhoShot JR?" cliffhanger.

Prince's performace in an assless jumpsuit from the 1991 Video Music Awards; of course, Madonna's "Like a Virgin" 1984 VMA performance

 The Cosby show episode that featured Theo Huxtable's Gordon Gatrell shirt

Steve Urkel's "Do the Urkel" dance from Family Matters

Kelly Taylor's "I choose me" moment from Beverly Hills 90210

Also from BH 90210: Dylan's father getting killed in the boat explosion, the whole Brenda/Kelly/Dylan triangle complete with "Teams"

Melrose Place: When Kimberly rips off her wig

Edited by AgentRXS
  • Love 7
Link to comment

My mother used to watch a show called Dynasty. I mainly remember the monster shoulder pads and Joan Collins, but I have a vague memory about the family scion, Stephen Carrington. I think he came out at a time when there were few, if any, gay characters on the nighttime shows (I don't recalll a gay character on Dallas or the one in California (Falcon Crest?)  If I'm remembering that correctly, it would have broken the Internet, both in support and otherwise, back then.

  • Love 4
Link to comment

The Wonder Years finale. "Fred Savage dishes on the finale...and the scene that BROKE YOUR HEART!"

33 minutes ago, AgentRXS said:

the whole Brenda/Kelly/Dylan triangle complete with "Teams"

Oh God...I don't even want to think about the shipper names involved. 

  • Love 7
Link to comment

As noted already - Who Shot J.R would've been a huge disruptor.

Happy Days - Fonzie, not jumping the shark, but jumping the 14 garbage cans on his motorcycle. The "prequel" to the shark moment. Huge moment for our 4th grade class.

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. 
The Beatles "reunion" rumor connected to Saturday Night Live in 1976.

Because I was a teenage boy, and every teenage girl at the time was SO INTO IT... and I can't even begin to tell you, I thought I had forced this moment out of my brain... General Hospital, and I think the phrase was  "Sally was a left handed boy" -??  If only you knew the shrieks that ravaged the high school halls that day, my friends.

MASH- Henry Blake, RIP.

Battle of the Network Stars, original recipe. Would have been great to have the internet for that!  And HD.

Even though the internet existed, I don't recall chat boards, etc. (mostly ungodly long email threads) but  South Park Season 2 "Terence and Philip" opener instead of the conclusion of the "Cartman's Mom" ep ... where was twitter then? THE OUTRAGE!!!

 

Real world stuff- the crazy period from Dec 1980-summer 1981 when John Lennon was killed, then President Reagan and Pope John Paul II were targets of assassinations. Talk about running home from school and then living next to the TV. 

Also- Neil Armstrong walking on the moon and the Challenger explosion

Princess Diana's wedding.

sports-related: 
1976-  anything and everything to do with Nadia Comaneci
1980-  USA beats Soviet Union in Winter Olympics
1985-  Don Denkinger blows call
1986-  Buckner error, Mookie Wilson and all of that ugliness

My bad on inclusion of non-fictional events.

  • Love 6
Link to comment
25 minutes ago, King of Birds said:

Because I was a teenage boy, and every teenage girl at the time was SO INTO IT... and I can't even begin to tell you, I thought I had forced this moment out of my brain... General Hospital, and I think the phrase was  "Sally was a left handed boy" -??  If only you knew the shrieks that ravaged the high school halls that day, my friends.

 

I have absolutely no idea what this is, but I'm fascinated. I tried Googling but didn't come up with anything, could you elaborate?

Link to comment
9 minutes ago, King of Birds said:

sports-related: 
1976-  anything and everything to do with Nadia Comaneci
1980-  USA beats Soviet Union in Winter Olympics
1985-  Don Denkinger blows call
1986-  Buckner error, Mookie Wilson and all of that ugliness

Secretariat being the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. (1973)

Bobby Riggs vs Billie Jean King (The Battle of the Sexes match) (1973)

When the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series (1955) (Who's A Bum??!!)

Non sports:

The Monkees series finale ("Mijacogeo", aka "The Frodis Caper" - 1968) - which was the trippiest of all the episodes and did not try to hide the fact that Frodis was really

Spoiler

marijuana

The Monkees having Frank Zappa and Tim Buckley on the show (1968)  - particularly when Zappa and Mike Nesmith switched roles and played each other for laughs!  

Hurricane Camille - live non stop coverage (1969) 

Lucy Ricardo's pregnancy announcement ("Lucy is Enciente" - 1953)

  • Love 2
Link to comment
2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It wasn't Bobby who woke up, but Pam.  It was her dream and I didn't give any fucks because I got Bobby back!

For all I read about how terrible and stupid it was for Dallas to do this, other shows did it too: Roseanne, Newhart, St. Elsewhere.  But Dallas is the only show to get the ???

Other than Victoria Principal's great hair, that entire season sucked and I'm glad it was a dream.

Oh, yes! Bobby was in the shower, LOL. 

I've heard a lot of complaints about St. Elsewhere, but only watched a few episodes when I was up late because I was sick. 

  • Love 1
Link to comment
2 minutes ago, Anela said:

Oh, yes! Bobby was in the shower, LOL. 

I've heard a lot of complaints about St. Elsewhere, but only watched a few episodes when I was up late because I was sick. 

 

And he looked uberly HAWT and SEXAY in that shower! They wanted to keep it a sekrit and even Victoria didn't know. She thought Sleazeballwifestealin'ratbastard Mark was in the shower, and Patrick was doing a commercial for Irish Spring, and there was a Biography special where you see the surprised and happy laughter on her face when it's revealed that it was Patrick/Bobby in the shower.

Regarding St. Elsewhere, it was revealed the ENTIRE show had been in his kid's head, via him staring at some snow globe. I think he was supposed to be autistic or something. Played by Chad Allen.

So that awesome story of Mark Harmon's character diagnosed with AIDS never happened, along with all the other awesome stuff.

  • Love 4
Link to comment
1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

 

And he looked uberly HAWT and SEXAY in that shower! They wanted to keep it a sekrit and even Victoria didn't know. She thought Sleazeballwifestealin'ratbastard Mark was in the shower, and Patrick was doing a commercial for Irish Spring, and there was a Biography special where you see the surprised and happy laughter on her face when it's revealed that it was Patrick/Bobby in the shower.

Regarding St. Elsewhere, it was revealed the ENTIRE show had been in his kid's head, via him staring at some snow globe. I think he was supposed to be autistic or something. Played by Chad Allen.

So that awesome story of Mark Harmon's character diagnosed with AIDS never happened, along with all the other awesome stuff.

Could you imagine the uproar heard all around the internet with that ending??!!!

  • Love 2
Link to comment

You want internet-breaking? Ernie Kovacs' Silent Show special in 1957. By all reports it nearly broke the post office and phone system, so the internet wouldn't have had a chance. Not only did he do something that prime-time audiences had not seen before, he did it immediately following a Jerry Lewis special (JL was one of the biggest names in the universe at the time), and he blew Jerry Lewis out of the water. It launched Ernie's movie career as a result.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

I’ll skip the big ones since they pretty much broke whatever was the equivalent of the Internet at the time.   I’ll also skip SHOCKERS!! for shows such as “Perry Mason”, “Mission Impossible”, "Columbo", "The Twilight Zone", etc.  I’m sure in the great beyond these executive producers/creators are happy they missed the Internet.   They would have had to explain “THAT" twist on a weekly basis!

“The Avengers” Steed and Mrs. Peel would have been shipped and the Internet broken with vows of “I’ll never watch again!” when Diana Rigg left the series.  Which, in a more things change, the more they stay the same reminder, it's said pretty much happened at the time. 

TV Line would have been salivating to discuss Dominique Deveraux’s cliffhanger declaration of being a Carrington on “Dynasty”.  THAT'S a tailored made header for them right there.

A couple of forgotten ones that probably would have broken the Internet.

Lauren Tewes being replaced on “The Love Boat” due to her drug addiction.

Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally killing himself on the set of “Cover-Up”.            

Redd Foxx having a heart attack that ended his life on the set of "The Royal Family" during a rehearsal break.

Edited by MissAlmond
  • Love 5
Link to comment

Back to Dynasty, because we all know how rabid fandoms are...

The recasting of Pamela Sue Martin's Fallon, with...Emma Samms, along with the British Accent.

Recasting of Catherine Oxenberg's Amanda, with the forgettable blonde who didn't have a British Accent.

The fucking, ridonkulous series finale of Dallas--that the Devil (played by Joel Grey), "made" JR shoot himself, with Bobby's "Oh God*." or whatever he said.

*Thank be to the tv gods that the first reunion movie corrected that, because it was the lamest, most stupidest way to end a series, not to mention what they did to that Magnificent Bastard, who was the ORIGINAL MAGNIFICENT BASTARD.

Don't believe me? Here's a taste (starts at the :49 mark):

Edited by GHScorpiosRule
  • Love 3
Link to comment
1 hour ago, King of Birds said:

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. 

Elvis Presley on Ed Sullivan. The Rolling Stones on Ed Sullivan. The Doors refusing to change the lyrics of Light My Fire on Ed Sullivan. 

12 minutes ago, MissAlmond said:

Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally killing himself on the set of “Cover-Up”.  

Freddie Prinz committing suicide. Peter Duel committing suicide. 

  • Love 5
Link to comment

The space shuttle Challenger exploding during take off. - 1986

John Hinkley attempting to assassinate President Reagan - 1981

The Tate/Labianca murders - 1969

And at the very beginning of 1947, the Black Dahlia murder

  • Love 6
Link to comment
11 minutes ago, GaT said:

The Tate/Labianca murders - 1969

The Night Stalker murders in Los Angeles. Although, if they had the internet, they might have caught Ramirez sooner.

Edited by ennui
  • Love 3
Link to comment
15 minutes ago, GaT said:

The space shuttle Challenger exploding during take off. - 1986

John Hinkley attempting to assassinate President Reagan - 1981

The Tate/Labianca murders - 1969

And at the very beginning of 1947, the Black Dahlia murder

 

4 minutes ago, ennui said:

The Night Stalker murders in Los Angeles. Although, if they had the internet, they might have caught Ramirez sooner.

The Atlanta Child Murders

  • Love 2
Link to comment
(edited)

Maude's Abortion is another one that I think would have had the intetenets on overdrive,

 

Yeah anything realted to 90210 OG would have had fandoms and every other kind  ship pairing.

Edited by Chaos Theory
  • Love 8
Link to comment
6 minutes ago, GaT said:

The space shuttle Challenger exploding during take off. - 1986

John Hinkley attempting to assassinate President Reagan - 1981

The Tate/Labianca murders - 1969

And at the very beginning of 1947, the Black Dahlia murder

Wow. Yours are serious. My are a tad bit more frivolous:

 

What was the name of the movie/mini-series where Phoebe Cates said, "All right. Which one of you bitches is my mother?" I think it was the first time someone said "bitch" on network TV.

When Michael Jackson's hair caught fire while he filmed the Pepsi commercial. It's all we talked about at school for weeks. 

Another Cosby moment: When Denise's boyfriend (?) was at the Huxtable house singing reggae: "I say, Ed-mon. BRRRRRR Ed-mon." Another water cooler moment at school.

When Meggie and Father de Bricassart hooked up on "The Thorn Birds." It's kinda creepy and gross when I think about it now, but at the time, their affair seemed very romantic.

Whitney Houston singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. 

 

4 hours ago, ChromaKelly said:

Michael Jackson's Moonwalk. Would have gone viral, tons of parody videos.

Yes! This was a great TV moment. 

  • Love 5
Link to comment
1 minute ago, topanga said:

What was the name of the movie/mini-series where Phoebe Cates said, "All right. Which one of you bitches is my mother?" I think it was the first time someone said "bitch" on network TV.

Lace.  And oh hell yeah; the Internet would have broken for sure. 

  • Love 5
Link to comment
11 minutes ago, topanga said:

What was the name of the movie/mini-series where Phoebe Cates said, "All right. Which one of you bitches is my mother?" I think it was the first time someone said "bitch" on network TV.

Lace.

  • Love 2
Link to comment
9 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

On Gimme a Break, out of jealousy, Sam(?) tells Joey to put on Black Face when he does his musical number.

Why can't I remember this episode? Man, I wish we did have the Internet back then. 

 

Quote

Lace.  And oh hell yeah; the Internet would have broken for sure. 

I remember the collective gasp in my house when she said it. Not that we'd never heard the word--just not on ABC. 

Edited by topanga
  • Love 1
Link to comment
23 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Maude's Abortion is another one that I think would have had the intetenets on overdrive,

You'll never guess was Bea Arthur had to say about THAT episode. 

  • Love 3
Link to comment
1 minute ago, topanga said:

Why can't I remember this episode? Man, I wish we did have the Internet back then. 

It was near the end of the series. 

 

Episode 11 of the fourth season.  And I totally forgot that the N-word was used! Here's a clip I found where Nell tells her what she did was racist:

 

  • Love 1
Link to comment
17 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It was near the end of the series. 

 

Episode 11 of the fourth season.  And I totally forgot that the N-word was used! Here's a clip I found where Nell tells her what she did was racist:

Am I wrong for enjoying the way Nell said the N-word? (I'm black, BTW). The way she spit out the word made it sound like the dirty, offensive insult it often is.  I'd forgotten that Nell spend many years on Broadway, but this scene reminded me. 

  • Love 2
Link to comment
1 hour ago, funandfitpt said:

Heidi Fleiss, Hollywood Madam and all the famous people who used her services. Joey Buttafucco and Amy Fisher, lady who cut off her husband's penis. So many scandals!!

Lorena Bobbitt? 

  • Love 3
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...