Nostalgia in This Is Us

[methodwriter85]

This show seems very determined to not over-do the periods that the flashbacks are set in, but there are still nice little period touches throughout. I loved that Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster that Kate had in her room- I totally watched the movie a lot as a little kid.

I kind of wish they'd change up the music at least a little bit instead of all this folksy stuff they're always playing (they did play some 80's pop in the pool episode)...I kind of would have loved for Teen Kate to be listening to the Smashing Pumpkins or something. The other thing I loved was the big kitchen remodel and the general hints throughout the 90's episode that they had a lot more money than they used to.  That was a really nice way to show off the 90's economic boom and the consumerism of that time without going overboard.

They also found a way to get Rebecca's hair to somehow work for every decade we've seen. Her 90's hair just seemed so right without being too obvious.

I was born in '85 so I'm about five years younger than the Big 3 (I was 7 weeks old when the Challenger Explosion happened), so our childhoods don't quite sync up and I can't relate quite as well to the 1988 scenes. I don't think I remember Pac-Man cereal or Care Bear child bikinis.  I am hoping we get more 90's scenes.

What were some period touches you loved in the flashbacks?

[Scarlett45]

13 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

This show seems very determined to not over-do the periods that the flashbacks are set in, but there are still nice little period touches throughout. I loved that Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster that Kate had in her room- I totally watched the movie a lot as a little kid.

I kind of wish they'd change up the music at least a little bit instead of all this folksy stuff they're always playing (they did play some 80's pop in the pool episode)...I kind of would have loved for Teen Kate to be listening to the Smashing Pumpkins or something. The other thing I loved was the big kitchen remodel and the general hints throughout the 90's episode that they had a lot more money than they used to.  That was a really nice way to show off the 90's economic boom and the consumerism of that time without going overboard.

They also found a way to get Rebecca's hair to somehow work for every decade we've seen. Her 90's hair just seemed so right without being too obvious.

I was born in '85 so I'm about five years younger than the Big 3 (I was 7 weeks old when the Challenger Explosion happened), so our childhoods don't quite sync up and I can't relate quite as well to the 1988 scenes. I don't think I remember Pac-Man cereal or Care Bear child bikinis.  I am hoping we get more 90's scenes.

What were some period touches you loved in the flashbacks?

I was born in 1985 too! While I remember the CareBears being awesome I was 3-4, I thought they were for little kids. I'm looking forward to more scenes before cellphones when people lose each other. Lol. 

[Tiger]

This last episode flashback's would have taken place in 1995, but it felt paradoxically much earlier and later in time.  Specifically, the scenes of Jack at work and his appearance and the car felt very 1990, while the house, and Rebecca and the kids' appearances looked 2000.

[methodwriter85]

I did think the overall look of the 90's episode felt very American Beauty to me. All that they were missing were khaki pants and fleece vests.

[memememe76]

The house and car should look a few years older than 1995. Most people don't always buy the latest gadgets. I am just waiting for Young Kate to be a big fan of Jessica Simpson, which will piss off Rebecca.

I thought the poster was of Buffy the show? 

[PRgal]

Is it just me or was Kate trying to look like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction in the 11/15 episode?  And that probably would explain the reason why Rebecca could be upset with her make-up (since the movie was R rated)

Edited November 20, 2016 by PRgal

[Indy]

Even though I'm roughly the age of the kids, I'm finding a lot more amusement in playing "where's waldo" with my current stuff in the 80s flashbacks than I am with finding my childhood things.

So far I've found my pink floral crock pot and my washer and dryer. My husband doesn't watch this show with me and I'm pretty sure he thought I was a little too far into my wine when I hollered "come up here, our washer in on TV!!" and rewound the DVR so he could see them too. They came with our house and have never known for certain how old they are, but now we know (assuming the props department is accurate....and by my husbands guess at the age of the crock pot, they are pretty spot on with their appliances). 

[methodwriter85]

I'm going to expand this thread to include anachronisms. It was interesting learning from this board that Diet Coke wasn't invented until 1982! I'm really shocked by that- I thought Diet Coke had been around since at least the 1970's. I guess it shows just how fast and furious the marketing machine was, because it was really ubiquitous on t.v. and in movies just a few years later. "Swatch dogs and diet cokeheads..."

[Cowgirl]

TAB cola was the huge diet drink throughout the 70's. 

Edited January 12, 2017 by Cowgirl

[NutMeg]

There was Diet Pepsi, though, I still remember the jingle: "Diet Pepsi!, one small calorie!" 

[methodwriter85]

Something about seeing the list of potential names included the name "Jessica" made me smile. No one getting named Riley or Madison here!

Ordinary People is one of my favorite movies. It made me smile to hear them reference it.

[PRgal]

7 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Something about seeing the list of potential names included the name "Jessica" made me smile. No one getting named Riley or Madison here!

Ordinary People is one of my favorite movies. It made me smile to hear them reference it.

Back when parents gave their kids "normal" names.  I began hearing Madison/Kennedy/Riley some time in the mid-90s, so the first big pack of "funny" names are in their late teens/early 20s now (are HR departments prepared??)  I think there were five Jennifers, five Katherines and three Sarahs in my grade. 

[againstthewind]

35 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Back when parents gave their kids "normal" names.  I began hearing Madison/Kennedy/Riley some time in the mid-90s, so the first big pack of "funny" names are in their late teens/early 20s now (are HR departments prepared??)  I think there were five Jennifers, five Katherines and three Sarahs in my grade. 

We had SO many Jennifers (my brother married one), Ashleys and Jessicas. My name is Michelle, and my sister is Stephanie so we got so many Full House jokes in the early 90s.

[PRgal]

Continuing on the whole Oregon Trail/GenX/Millennial/"Cusper" thing:

Am I the only person my age who didn't play Oregon Trail?  I played games like Number Munchers, Word Wizard, Paratrooper (which is available (NOT FREE) in the App Store under DOS Paratrooper) and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?  Also Rogue and Math Castle (answer the math questions right to find your way out or get eaten by a dragon). I later had SimCity (early 90s when I got a Mac for the first time). 

[againstthewind]

4 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Continuing on the whole Oregon Trail/GenX/Millennial/"Cusper" thing:

Am I the only person my age who didn't play Oregon Trail?  I played games like Number Munchers, Word Wizard, Paratrooper (which is available (NOT FREE) in the App Store under DOS Paratrooper) and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?  Also Rogue and Math Castle (answer the math questions right to find your way out or get eaten by a dragon). I later had SimCity (early 90s when I got a Mac for the first time). 

Possibly. We definitely played it in school circa 1994. I also LOVED Carmen Sandiego. I would love to find the version I had (probably circa 1998) - I also had a where in the US version - but I haven't been able to find one anywhere.

[methodwriter85]

I wonder if Chrissy Metz is kind of "consulting" them on childhood stuff to add to the show- she's the only one of the 3 playing the triplets that are REALLY the right age- according to good ol' IMDB, she was born about a month after her on-screen counterpart. The brown-toned make-up that Teen Kate was putting on was dead on for 1995, then there was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie reference, and of course, the Girl Talk game.

On the other hand, I kind of wonder if they fucked it up a little bit on the triplets being in 2nd grade during the Challenger explosion because Justin Hartley himself was a little older when it happened. He was born January 29, 1977- that would put him as having had his 9th birthday the day after the explosion. So that's about 3rd grade territory, and they only took off a year. I do figure that would have to have been a very vivid memory for a 9-year old to have, which might be why they included it. They just forgot that the triplets would have been 5 instead of 7 or 8. (Well, pilot wise, the birth seems to have taken place in 1979, but they retconned it to 1980 once the show went to series.)

One of my pet peeves is when writers mistake their own childhoods for the childhoods of their characters. It was really annoying in the O.C.- the characters were born in the late 80's, but the show had them make references like they were in elementary school in 1988, not getting born right about then. This show more or less seems to be getting the childhoods of people born circa 1977-1981 pretty much right, although they're avoiding the bad fashion of the time. They seem to be sticking to a generalized preppy aesthetic instead of letting them dress up as crazy as it really got back in the late 80's/early 90's.

Edited January 20, 2017 by methodwriter85

[OtterMommy]

1 hour ago, methodwriter85 said:

I wonder if Chrissy Metz is kind of "consulting" them on childhood stuff to add to the show- she's the only one of the 3 playing the triplets that are REALLY the right age- according to good ol' IMDB, she was born about a month after her on-screen counterpart. The brown-toned make-up that Teen Kate was putting on was dead on for 1995, then there was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie reference, and of course, the Girl Talk game.

 

Well, I would hope that someone on the writing staff is somewhere around that age as well.  

I'm old enough (older than the big three, but by less than a decade) to remember what things were like in the years they were flashing back and, well, it doesn't seem especially accurate to me.  I kind of feel that like someone from the prop looked through some magazines from the year in question, picked out a few things to put on the shelves, and called it good.

[Guest]

I thought Dr. K's house looked pretty realistic for the period.  I usually am impressed with the set decorators and costumers in tv.  It's the writers I want to shake.    

[OtterMommy]

2 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I thought Dr. K's house looked pretty realistic for the period.  I usually am impressed with the set decorators and costumers in tv.  It's the writers I want to shake.    

I didn't notice anything wrong in Dr. K's house.  I was thinking more of the scenes with the kids where the camera zooms in on Pac Man Cereal, or Kate wears a Care Bear swimsuit.  First of all, it is strange that we get something like that highlighted, but then it seems that we are supposed to use these things to "anchor" us in a time, when only a small section of the viewing audience (those about the age of the big 3 and maybe 5-10 years older) would be able to make the connection.

[methodwriter85]

I really think that's a function of the fact that we're skipping time periods without flashcard titles telling us the year, and they want us to "guess" where we are. Those things are supposed to be clues.

Although in general this show wants us to have a "timeless" feel. Just look at how they dress Rebecca. She's never in anything that feels too "of the time". And the triplets TALK about wearing acid-washed denim as kids, but we never actually see them in that. The kids almost always seem to be in time-neutral preppie polo shirts and sweaters and the like.

[ChromaKelly]

I always feel this 70's vibe more than the 80's when they flash back to the kids. I don't know if it's the folksy music, the color palette, and Jack's hair and mustache. The late 80's - when the kids would be 8 like they are in most of the "kid" scenes, were not so earth-toned. Rebecca would probably have a perm and big bangs.

[methodwriter85]

1 hour ago, ChromaKelly said:

I always feel this 70's vibe more than the 80's when they flash back to the kids. I don't know if it's the folksy music, the color palette, and Jack's hair and mustache. The late 80's - when the kids would be 8 like they are in most of the "kid" scenes, were not so earth-toned. Rebecca would probably have a perm and big bangs.

Agreed. Rebecca's Farrah hairdo is really wrong for 1988-1990. She should have updated it by then. And I wish this show would actually ditch the folk music once in awhile- the only time we got to listen to actually 80's pop was in the pool episode.

The 1995 scenes feel closer to "right", especially with the updated kitchen and the way they had Kate dressed. But Rebecca, Randall, and Kevin had more of a 1999 vibe to them.

[methodwriter85]

Aww, a Punky Brewster reference. I was too young to watch the show originally, but I used to watch the reruns on USA. The one where Cherie gets trapped in a fridge and the Challenger explosion episode always stuck with me. I was 7 weeks old when Challenger happened, so I don't have actual memories of it, just the Punky Brewster episode about it.

I guess the closest childhood equivalent I had was the Oklahoma City bombing. That was a big deal because I was in elementary school in Texas. I remember we were encouraged to get donations for it. (By the time 9/11 rolled around, I was 15 and not really a little kid anymore.)

I keep waiting for a Dirty Dancing reference. If there's a Gen X childhood reference to make, it'd be that one.

[PRgal]

Punky Brewster wasn't really a "thing" by the time Kevin was in fourth grade, so Sophie's bag would likely have been something she's had since kindergarten or a hand-me-down.

[Indy]

2 hours ago, PRgal said:

Punky Brewster wasn't really a "thing" by the time Kevin was in fourth grade, so Sophie's bag would likely have been something she's had since kindergarten or a hand-me-down.

Yeah, Punky Brewster ran from '84-88 so it would have ended when they were in 4th grade, provided the triplets were on the same school schedule I was and started school in September of '85 (I'm a day older than they are). Punky Brewster was the best. I used to dress like her in Kindergarten.  If Sophie was part of the group that ragged on Kate for her Care Bears swimsuit, I'm very surprised she carried a Punky Brewster backpack in 4th grade.  

9 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

The one where Cherie gets trapped in a fridge and the Challenger explosion episode always stuck with me. I was 7 weeks old when Challenger happened, so I don't have actual memories of it, just the Punky Brewster episode about it.

The one with the refrigerator thoroughly traumatized me as a kid.  Even as an adult, I'm concerned about the dangers of getting trapped in a fridge. And now I want to go watch Punky Brewster episodes online somewhere! 

[3 is enough]

One small detail that has been bugging me from day one is the stainless steel fridge in the kitchen.  It looks old and a bit beaten up but stainless appliances didn't come in till the early 2000's and they were very expensive for the first little while.  Almond was the color for appliances in the 80's, and the 70's harvest gold, avocado, and copper were still very much in use.

[biakbiak]

We moved in 1995 so I looked at a lot of houses and several including the one my parents bought had stainless steel appliances. 

[methodwriter85]

When I think of the early 1990's, I always picture a lot of white countertops and beige cabinets, but then again, I thought the stainless steel upgrade was supposed to have shown they "made it", so to speak, and that they couldn't afford an update during the first 10-13 years they lived in the house.

White and forest green was another popular 90's thing.

Edited February 9, 2017 by methodwriter85

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, methodwriter85 said:

When I think of the early 1990's, I always picture a lot of white countertops and beige cabinets, but then again, I thought the stainless steel upgrade was supposed to have shown they "made it", so to speak, and that they couldn't afford an update during the first 10-13 years they lived in the house.

Yes, but their house was supposedly brand new (unfinished, actually) when they bought it in 1980. Would a family of five living on a single income (and paying private school tuition for one child) really remodel their kitchen so soon? Most families I know get 20+ years of use out of their kitchen appliances.

[biakbiak]

Their house wasn't new, it was refurbished older home and doing it on the cheap given their finances so 10 to 15 years doesn't seem an unreasonable time frame for someone to remodel their kitchen given that he still works in construction. It doesn't seem like Jack is working crazy hours because they need the money it seems like a mirror of Randall where he is working crazy hours because they are both successful at their jobs and that is what their work ethic requires.

We don't know if Rebecca wasn't working before the kids were born, we barely know what Beth does and Kate's work history has only been briefly referenced. It's actually one of my biggest complaints with the show that they have not really talked about the jobs of the female cast (and Toby). We know more about various jobs and things William has done over the years than Rebecca.

[chocolatine]

2 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

It doesn't seem like Jack is working crazy hours because they need the money

They are a family of five living on a single income. They are paying for Randall's private school, and I assume also saving to send all three kids to college. Of course they need the money.

[biakbiak]

20 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

They are a family of five living on a single income. They are paying for Randall's private school, and I assume also saving to send all three kids to college. Of course they need the money.

We have no idea what the state of their finances are in 1995. We saw Jack give up his dream of starting his own business which would be a risky move for a family of five even if all their kids were in public school and Rebecca had a job but other than taking the safe bet of a steadier job they have not mentioned their finances once since he made that decision. A year or so later they were fine enough to hire a magician for Randall's party and at some point buy a vacation cabin that on a bit of land and given their memories of the place was also probably done shortly after he took the promotion. Is it unrealistic? Perhaps. My dad made a similar decision he decided to shut down his consulting firm to take a corporate job when my older sister wanted to go to a private arts school but we never worried about money. The show has not shown them strapped for cash since the triplets were about to be born. 

[chocolatine]

11 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

The show has not shown them strapped for cash since the triplets were about to be born. 

In the flashback to 1989 Christmas, Rebecca was concerned about the number of presents under the tree. Jack told her "we have three kids and I work hard". They may not be as strapped as they were in 1980, but they're still not in the position to spend frivolously.

18 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

my dad made a similar decision he decided to shut down his start up to take a corporate job when my older sister wanted to go to a private arts school but we never worried about money again.

But surely he must have also worked long hours to make that kind of money, no? High-paying jobs don't usually come with a cushy 9-5 schedule.

[biakbiak]

21 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

In the flashback to 1989 Christmas, Rebecca was concerned about the number of presents under the tree. Jack told her "we have three kids and I work hard". They may not be as strapped as they were in 1980, but they're still not in the position to spend frivolously.

But surely he must have also worked long hours to make that kind of money, no? High-paying jobs don't usually come with a cushy 9-5 schedule.

Actually he worked a lot less in his high paying corporate job than he did running his own consulting firm, though when I was sick I had to go to our neighbors house and not sleep on the couch in his office because bring your sick child to work day only happens when you work for yourself. My dad also would say he worked hard when what he actually meant was he made a lot of money, not that he wasn't working hard but he worked harder at a ton of shit jobs when he was starting out.

I see a lot of parallels to their lives and my own and so I don't think that it's unrealistic for them to upgrade their kitchen and also hire someone to come in and help out when she was going on tour. He rented an apartment as a surprise sex pad, it probably cost him the equivalent of a hiring a temp housekeeper for her short tour. 

[chocolatine]

30 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Actually he worked a lot less in his high paying corporate job than he did running his own consulting firm, though when I was sick I had to go to our neighbors house and not sleep on the couch in his office because bring your sick child to work day only happens when you work for yourself. My dad also would say he worked when what he actually meant was he made a lot of money, not that he wasn't working hard bit he worked harder at a ton of shit tier jobs when he was starting out.

Sounds like a great setup, but everyone I know who's had a higher-paid corporate job (hundreds of people, including myself) has had the opposite experience. The few people I knew that tried to stick to a more reasonable schedule were "managed out" within a year (similarly to what's currently happening to Randall). Many became burned out after a few years and took lower paying jobs so that they could have their evenings and weekends to themselves again.

Edited February 9, 2017 by chocolatine

[Guest]

My experience is more like biakbiak's dad.... The hardest I ever worked was my lowest paying jobs like restaurant jobs in high school and college.  Once I got out of college and climbed a corporate ladder, it got cushier each higher step.  Now I sit at a home office in my pajamas and chat online about tv half of my time, but get paid well because of what I know and can do.  The times I was self-employed I worked 'round the clock.  

It still bugs me they made Randall a sales guy.    

[ChromaKelly]

9 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Yes, but their house was supposedly brand new (unfinished, actually) when they bought it in 1980. Would a family of five living on a single income (and paying private school tuition for one child) really remodel their kitchen so soon? Most families I know get 20+ years of use out of their kitchen appliances.

Eh, I'll allow it. If Jack's a contractor of some sort, he can probably get his hands on discounted appliances. Builder overstock, client changes their mind, that kind of thing.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

My experience is more like biakbiak's dad.... The hardest I ever worked was my lowest paying jobs like restaurant jobs in high school and college.  Once I got out of college and climbed a corporate ladder, it got cushier each higher step.  Now I sit at a home office in my pajamas and chat online about tv half of my time, but get paid well because of what I know and can do.  The times I was self-employed I worked 'round the clock.  

It still bugs me they made Randall a sales guy.    

 

7 hours ago, chocolatine said:

The few people I knew that tried to stick to a more reasonable schedule were "managed out" within a year (similarly to what's currently happening to Randall). Many became burned out after a few years and took lower paying jobs so that they could have their evenings and weekends to themselves again.

Reasonable schedule isn't a thing. No one works 9 to 5 except for an on the clock hourly employee not sure if you had to pay the lu0s. What I said was my father had more reasonable hours when he went to a corporate job versus his computing consulting firm (what they called it in 1983) he 

[methodwriter85]

I did a little googling and found an article from Architectural Digest where they contrast the 1980's blue-collar Pittsburgh home of Jack and Rebecca vs. Randall and Beth's upper-middle class contemporary home. (They don't say anything about the revamped 1990's home.)

According to the set designers, a lot of the stuff they have in the 1980's are hand-me-downs from their parents, like some home stuff going back to the 40's. The kitchen definitely doesn't look trendy, just functional. I can definitely see why they'd do the remodel by 1995.

[methodwriter85]

I liked Teen Kevin's orange/yellow flannel shirt. It made him look more 1996 than he did in the first Teen Big 3 episode, where he had more of a 2000 vibe to him.

[methodwriter85]

I'm hoping they kind of stick with 1996 for awhile. That is pretty much the era of my late childhood/tween years and therefore it's the first one that's vivid for me. I got a kick out of hearing "Possum Kingdom" by the Toadies, as I was transported instantly into being 10-years old riding along in the car and having my sister tell me that it's basically about a vampire who is convincing his love to join him. And Jack not quite getting Weezer was pretty cute. I hope they play a Weezer song.

It was also funny to see Sophie's floral black dress. People seemed to be really into floral both in fashion and decorating from about the mid-80's to the mid-90's. I was in this dentist office in a building that was constructed in 1991 and I thought about the faux-Colonial look, the pale pink/beige walls, and the portraits of flowers on the walls. None of that is really a thing anymore.

Edited March 20, 2017 by methodwriter85

[PRgal]

15 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I'm hoping they kind of stick with 1996 for awhile. That is pretty much the era of my late childhood/tween years and therefore it's the first one that's vivid for me. I got a kick out of hearing "Possum Kingdom" by the Toadies, as I was transported instantly into being 10-years old riding along in the cr and having my sister tell me that it's basically about a vampire who is convincing his love to join him. And Jack not quite getting Weezer was pretty cute. I hope they play a Weezer song.

It was also funny to see Sophie's floral black dress. People seemed to be really into floral both in fashion and decorating from about the mid-80's to the mid-90's. I was in this dentist office in a building that was constructed in 1991 and I thought about the faux-Colonial look, the pale pink/beige walls, and the portraits of flowers on the walls. None of that is really a thing anymore.

 LOL.  I remember owning a pink (with yellow flower print) maxi skirt when I was around 14/15 years old.  There's a picture of me singing karaoke at my mom's high school alumnae event from around that time.  I looked horrible - I'm a tiny person and was wearing the skirt with a pretty oversized sweater.  However, I thought I was the coolest thing back then.  Ha!

[BizBuzz]

Just finished binge watching this show ... I wont embarrass myself by telling you how long it took me, suffice it to say, I had some time on my hands due to unforeseen circumstances and I took advantage of it.

I lived in Pittsburgh from 79-84, got married in Bethel Park (yeah, I concur, it's the 'whitest place on earth') in 81 at 18 years of age.  Was there for the Superbowl of 80 in which Pgh won ... incidentally, right after the Pirates won the World Series in 79, it was a huge deal for PGH, the city went nuts, no wonder triplets were conceived then, ha! 

One scene in particular had me congratulating the writers ... it was when Jack went up against his Dad about his Mom, and his Dad said "two of yous deserve one another" ... yous is very popular in PGH ... that told me the writers had a handle on life in PGH.

The bar scene, the roads, the homes, yeah, they all had a definite PGH feel, they pretty much captured it.  Bravo show.  

[RedDelicious]

I wonder if Jack's childhood home had a Pittsburgh toilet :)  I live in a town that was formerly working (now it's tourist) and some of the old homes have stand alone toilets in the basements from when the man of the house would return home from the yard and clean up in the basement before sitting down to dinner with his family.  It's so rando but that's what they were for!

[methodwriter85]

On 4/10/2017 at 8:58 AM, BizBuzz said:

Just finished binge watching this show ... I wont embarrass myself by telling you how long it took me, suffice it to say, I had some time on my hands due to unforeseen circumstances and I took advantage of it.

I lived in Pittsburgh from 79-84, got married in Bethel Park (yeah, I concur, it's the 'whitest place on earth') in 81 at 18 years of age.  Was there for the Superbowl of 80 in which Pgh won ... incidentally, right after the Pirates won the World Series in 79, it was a huge deal for PGH, the city went nuts, no wonder triplets were conceived then, ha! 

One scene in particular had me congratulating the writers ... it was when Jack went up against his Dad about his Mom, and his Dad said "two of yous deserve one another" ... yous is very popular in PGH ... that told me the writers had a handle on life in PGH.

The bar scene, the roads, the homes, yeah, they all had a definite PGH feel, they pretty much captured it.  Bravo show.  

I mean, it's not something they can help, but the flatness of the land does take away from the Pittsburgh feel. The only outside shot I thought actually looked like Pittsburgh was the golf course that Jack and Migel were at in 1996. Although the houses ARE very spot-on. The houses there tend to be older- you don't see like a lot of 1980's or 1990's houses there. (Which makes sense- the bottom fell out of the Pittsburgh economy then.)

[SnarkySheep]

I just finished watching the show over the summer...I'm the same age as the Big Three, so I can say that most of what they are showing are right on with my own recollections. I literally LOL'ed at Toby's random mention of Jared Leto as a heartthrob to Kate.

But yeah, I agree with those who say the Challenger explosion wouldn't be accurate for kids this age to remember...I know I didn't.

[methodwriter85]

On 9/11/2017 at 2:06 PM, SnarkySheep said:

I just finished watching the show over the summer...I'm the same age as the Big Three, so I can say that most of what they are showing are right on with my own recollections. I literally LOL'ed at Toby's random mention of Jared Leto as a heartthrob to Kate.

But yeah, I agree with those who say the Challenger explosion wouldn't be accurate for kids this age to remember...I know I didn't.

My sisters are  close to their age (born in '77, '81, and '82) and pretty much the only really glaring omissions are Dirty Dancing, Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block, and 90210. Although to be fair to this show, most nostalgia films/t.v. shows set in that 1988-1992 era tend to pretend that the New Kids on the Block didn't exist. I was shocked It referenced them.

It probably does help that Chrissy Metz is the actual age of the triplets. I'm still tickled by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and Weezer references.

I did think the Challenger thing was an actual Justin Hartley memory, but of course, Justin's three years older than Kevin. Probably also explains the Punky Brewster thing, although to be fair to this show, Punky Brewster lasted in reruns for up to the mid-90's.

[OtterMommy]

8 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

My sisters are  close to their age (born in '77, '81, and '82) and pretty much the only really glaring omissions are Dirty Dancing, Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block, and 90210. Although to be fair to this show, most nostalgia films/t.v. shows set in that 1988-1992 era tend to pretend that the New Kids on the Block didn't exist. I was shocked It referenced them.

I am actually surprised that what you mentioned haven't shown up (yet), but I'd give a pass to Dirty Dancing.  The big three would have been seven (I think) when that was released in 1987 and it was considered to be "a teens and up" movie when it was released.  I was 13 and I remember my mother got some heat for letting me see it seven times in the theater.  At least in my part of the world, it was definitely one of those films that "pushed the limits" and a lot of theaters actually enforced the 13 part of the PG-13 rating.

As for the rest, maybe they are just biding their time.  We have at least 2 more seasons to go, so they need to save some of the 90's gold for later episodes.

[SnarkySheep]

On 9/14/2017 at 10:43 AM, OtterMommy said:

The big three would have been seven (I think) when that was released in 1987

Don't forget they were born in August - and the very end of August, at that. I too was born in August 1980, so lots of time even today, someone will mention a movie that came out in, for instance, 1987 and say, "But you were SEVEN then! You should remember!!" Well, odds are, I may well have been still six (and even if I were seven, that's still young, but I digress). 

My point being, when you're a kid, even six months can make a difference sometimes. I know I often felt that way, with my winter-birthday friends.

[PRgal]

The Big Three would NOT have been allowed to see Dirty Dancing in theatres.  They're (almost EXACTLY!) a year younger than me (we are talking about a year less a DAY!!) and I certainly wasn't!  I still had a Dirty Dancing poster on my wall though.  NKOTB was a "thing" in 1989-1990, and we didn't reach that era in season 1.  I have a feeling they may mention either Romeo and Juliet (Leo/Claire version, of course) or Titanic this coming season - or next - however.