The Nineties

[oakville]

1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Which just smacks of laziness to me. In The Sixties we got all politics, which included both Kennedy and Johnson terms; in The Seventies, same, plus Nixon, Ford and Carter.

What? Did the producers think that Clinton was the only game in town during the Nineties?? It's not giving those that are interested in this series, the whole picture. It's as if they only want to focus on the scandals and highlights instead of everything that was happening. I'm finding it difficult to believe that these are the same folks who put so much thought and research in the first two seasons, and just said "Fuck it," for last season, and also this season so far.?

I agree. I found the Sixties & Seventies to be much more in depth politically. I wonder if the Producers couldn't afford to buy footage of the Bush SR Presidency ? What will they do if they do a series on the 2000's? Ignore W & focus on Obama ?

[Eureka]

I hope they do The Oughts. My son was born in Dec. 2000 and the day he was born we still did not know who was going to be president. And then of course Obama was elected during the first decade. 

[Annber03]

6 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Anyone that serves their terminally ill wife divorce papers on her deathbed forfeits the right to morality. Go to hell, Newt.

Amen. Why anyone still listens to him or takes him seriously is beyond me.

When Newt started going on about how reprehensible it is for a party to get healthcare votes by scaring old people I actually glared at the TV and went, "Oh, really?" Funny, I don't remember hearing a peep from him years later when Obamacare was being discussed and the GOP kept harping on about "death panels" and how Obamacare would kill your grandparents. It was kind of depressing to see that two decades later, we're still dealing with a lot of the same problems with healthcare and government gridlock and whatnot that Clinton had to deal with. 

[andromeda331]

6 hours ago, oakville said:

The clip at the end of the show mentioning Trump running in 2000 as an independent was fascinating.

The episode provided a good summary of all the Clinton scandals & how Clinton was able to maneuver around the GOP when Newt Gingrich took over as Speaker.

They completely forgot about Bush Sr's handling of the First Gulf War & Ross Perot for the 1992 election. I suppose the theme was Clinton & not politics in the 1990s.

Yes, they did. They managed to find time to mention Trump but not Bush Sr's handling of the First Gulf War? That's was kind of something still relevant now. It also was kind of big then. 

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Which just smacks of laziness to me. In The Sixties we got all politics, which included both Kennedy and Johnson terms; in The Seventies, same, plus Nixon, Ford and Carter.

What? Did the producers think that Clinton was the only game in town during the Nineties?? It's not giving those that are interested in this series, the whole picture. It's as if they only want to focus on the scandals and highlights instead of everything that was happening. I'm finding it difficult to believe that these are the same folks who put so much thought and research in the first two seasons, and just said "Fuck it," for last season, and also this season so far.?

So am I. Why would they cover politics of the 60s and 70s so well but then not bother to do the same thing in the 80s and 90s? Not only that but they have so much more material to use then they had for the 60s and 70s and their not taking advantage of it. Videos, clips, news articles, and many more people who are alive to talk about events from the moments from the 80s and 90s. But instead their giving us less. Did we really need a never ending story on the awesomeness of Reagan? Or to spend so much time on the Simpsons? Why didn't they cover the First Gulf War? Perot?  

[GHScorpiosRule]

If I had Twitter, I'd ask Tom Hanks just what the heck is up with this slap dash laziness, seeing as he's one of the producers.

I did enjoy hearing from the journalists and other authors/political historians and not today's "pundits" about Clinton. But man, my eyes ??? so hard they nearly fell out of my head at Stahl saying the Starr Report that detailed the  blow jobs Lewinsky gave Clinton was "the hottest thing she'd read" comparing it to a lurid and racy romance book. Or how difficult it was for Schieffer to say the words. I bet that report is tepid and tame compared to the words and actions of 45 today.

But when I saw that infamous clip of Clinton saying: "I did NOT have sexual relations with that woman...Miss Lewinsky," it took me back and I remembered that I believed him. And then when he later admitted he lied, I was reminded again how disappointed I was in my President.

I'm just going to lower my expectations for the rest-that way I won't feel gypped or disappointed.

Because hey! These idiots neglected to mention the appearance of Jane Seymour, who was still popular and relevant-to the small screen with Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and how Hollywood FINALLY hired actual Native Americans to portray Native Americans!!

Edited July 17, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[Spartan Girl]

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

If I had Twitter, I'd ask Tom Hanks just what the heck is up with this slap dash laziness, seeing as he's one of the producers.

I did enjoy hearing from the journalists and other authors/political historians and not today's "pundits" about Clinton. But man, my eyes ??? so hard they nearly fell out of my head at Stahl saying the Starr Report that detailed the  blow jobs Lewinsky gave Clinton was "the hottest thing she'd read" comparing it to a lurid and racy romance book. Or how difficult it was for Schieffer to say the words. I bet that report is tepid and tame compared to the words and actions of 45 today.

But when I saw that infamous clip of Clinton saying: "I did NOT have sexual relations with that woman...Miss Lewinsky," it took me back and I remembered that I believed him. And then when he later admitted he lied, I was reminded again how disappointed I was in my President.

You aren't the only one that believed him, only to feel disappointed and disgust later. Honestly, I wish he would have just come clean to begin with. It's not like the GOP could stand on any ground of marital fidelity.

But let's not forget: it wasn't the worst thing a President has ever lied about.

[Sarah 103]

19 hours ago, GaT said:

I wasn't expecting the entire episode to be about Clinton, but I guess since he was President for 8 of the years, that's almost the entire decade.

Exactly. They did the same thing with Reagan in The Eighties, which makes sense to me. 

10 hours ago, oakville said:

They completely forgot about Bush Sr's handling of the First Gulf War & Ross Perot for the 1992 election. I suppose the theme was Clinton & not politics in the 1990s.

I don't know what the other segments are going to be, so it's possible The First Gulf War may be covered in a different episode. You are exactly right. The theme of the episode was Clinton, not politics in the 1990s. It's possible other political topics will be in a later episode.

9 hours ago, oakville said:

I agree. I found the Sixties & Seventies to be much more in depth politically. I wonder if the Producers couldn't afford to buy footage of the Bush SR Presidency ? What will they do if they do a series on the 2000's? Ignore W & focus on Obama ?

2000-2010 will do an episode mostly on W Bush, because he was president for most of the decade (2000-2009). In this hypothetical 2000-2010 decade miniseries, they will probably do an episode on Race/African Americans, and may decide to cover Obama in that segment. 

[Peace 47]

22 hours ago, oakville said:

They completely forgot about Bush Sr's handling of the First Gulf War & Ross Perot for the 1992 election. I suppose the theme was Clinton & not politics in the 1990s.

I googled the show, and this description below came up for a future episode.  So it sounds as though they will touch on the Persian Gulf War and the '92 election in a couple of weeks.  I missed the last episode and still need to catch up, but if the below is true, I guess that they are just taking the politics of the decade out of order for some reason. 

Quote

 

S01 E04 · Clinton: New World Order

Jul 30, 2017

The world has seen a lot of change due to major political events, including the Warsaw Pact, Nelson Mandela's release from prison, the Persian Gulf War, and Bill Clinton becoming the president of the United States.

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

As much as I enjoyed the nostalgia of watching the tv episode and remembering so many shows that I loved, I agree that it felt very slapdash and unorganized. They were able to put together a segment about shows portraying black characters and how those shows helped build some of the smaller networks and show some diversity on television but they somehow couldn't come up with other themes/segments about other types of shows? I totally agree that My So-Called Life and Freaks & Geeks should have been discussed together because those two shows were the first with any amount of realism about high school since The Wonder Years. I also agree that comparing the 90210 type teen shows against the more realistic teen shows would have been so easy and logical to do.

I know there were a lot of shows that were aimed at teens in the 90s so it would have been nice to see them just mention some of them. Felicity, Dawson's Creek, Roswell, and Party of Five were hugely popular as well as the other shows mentioned above and I think of those we got maybe a five second snippet of Joey on Dawson's Creek. It would have also been great to mention that the 90s and the early internet were the first time that fans organized when shows were canceled. Remember the bottles of hot sauce sent to the WB offices? And Ally McBeal! That stupid dancing baby was all over the internet because of that show!

16 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I did enjoy hearing from the journalists and other authors/political historians and not today's "pundits" about Clinton. But man, my eyes ??? so hard they nearly fell out of my head at Stahl saying the Starr Report that detailed the  blow jobs Lewinsky gave Clinton was "the hottest thing she'd read" comparing it to a lurid and racy romance book. Or how difficult it was for Schieffer to say the words. I bet that report is tepid and tame compared to the words and actions of 45 today.

Heh, imagine what her reaction to 50 Shades of Grey must have been!

[Peace 47]

I thought that it was a solid episode tonight, but man, so depressing in a "the more things change, the more they stay the same" kind of way.  The racial riot news stories with the chants of "no justice, no peace" could have taken place last year, and the skepticism over a woman's sexual harassment claims against a powerful man could have taken place last week.

At least they did try to inject some hopefulness in a few places.  Tough to watch, though.  I was kind of young during the LA riots and did not really appreciate the extend to which Korean businesses were specifically targeted.  Chilling to watch citizens shooting guns to try to defend their property.  And that footage of poor Latasha Harlins and Reginald Denny was so heartbreaking.  I know they had to show it, but ... man.

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, Peace 47 said:

I thought that it was a solid episode tonight, but man, so depressing in a "the more things change, the more they stay the same" kind of way.  The racial riot news stories with the chants of "no justice, no peace" could have taken place last year, and the skepticism over a woman's sexual harassment claims against a powerful man could have taken place last week.

Seriously! I was sitting here thinking, "Am I watching a show about the 1990s or the 2010s?" Even freaking OJ Simpson is relevant again. 

A lot of this was new to me, too. I've heard about the Rodney King incident, of course, but I was a little kid when that actually happened, so I never really saw anything other than brief snippets of the footage. But yeah, seeing all the stuff you mentioned...what a nightmare. 

The people coming together to help clean up afterward was nice, though. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Man, this was like a fist in the gut and took me back. I was in college when the Rodney King beating, that farce of a trial and verdict, Reginald Denny's beating and riots happened, and still it felt like things still happening today. And OMG, the case of the Hasidic Jew hitting those two young black kids and killing one? NOW I know that this is the case that was ripped from the headlines used in Season Four's Law & Order episode. And a much...bigger with the flowing mane Rev. Al Sharpton! Man looks positively sickly today in comparison.

I wanted much more time spent on Thurgood Marshall's retirement-like maybe play some of his press conference? He was still sharp and amusing and made me chortle at his quick wit and making the reporters look stupid.

A much better episode. 

ETA: And a very young Barak Obama!!! Instead of showing him in the end credits, they should have shown where and when he was speaking, dammit!

Edited July 24, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 minutes ago, Betty said:

Reginald Denny actually survived his horrific beating. And it was pretty f'ing awful by any standards.

You're right! Jeebus. All fixed.

[andromeda331]

Yeah, this was depressing episode to watch and so much easily could have been taken from last year. I was so naïve about thinking their murderers of Latasha Harlins and Reginald King would go to jail. They had it on tape! The riots and Reginald Denny that came later it was all so horrible and insane. Korean shopkeepers shooting to protect their property. 

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Peace 47 said:

I thought that it was a solid episode tonight, but man, so depressing in a "the more things change, the more they stay the same" kind of way.  The racial riot news stories with the chants of "no justice, no peace" could have taken place last year, and the skepticism over a woman's sexual harassment claims against a powerful man could have taken place last week.

 

 

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

Seriously! I was sitting here thinking, "Am I watching a show about the 1990s or the 2010s?" Even freaking OJ Simpson is relevant again. 

 

I was so surprised by this, I felt like I was hearing about things today. Are we going to have to keep repeating the same things every 10 years?

[Eureka]

6 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

I thought that it was a solid episode tonight, but man, so depressing in a "the more things change, the more they stay the same" kind of way.  The racial riot news stories with the chants of "no justice, no peace" could have taken place last year, and the skepticism over a woman's sexual harassment claims against a powerful man could have taken place last week.

At least they did try to inject some hopefulness in a few places.  Tough to watch, though.  I was kind of young during the LA riots and did not really appreciate the extend to which Korean businesses were specifically targeted.  Chilling to watch citizens shooting guns to try to defend their property.  And that footage of poor Latasha Harlins and Reginald Denny was so heartbreaking.  I know they had to show it, but ... man.

 

6 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Seriously! I was sitting here thinking, "Am I watching a show about the 1990s or the 2010s?" Even freaking OJ Simpson is relevant again. 

A lot of this was new to me, too. I've heard about the Rodney King incident, of course, but I was a little kid when that actually happened, so I never really saw anything other than brief snippets of the footage. But yeah, seeing all the stuff you mentioned...what a nightmare. 

The people coming together to help clean up afterward was nice, though. 

I was in college when all this happened but even so, when you're 20 and on the other side of the country, it seems surreal. I definitely felt like not much has changed in all these years.

[Spartan Girl]

That was a brutal episode. All the footage of the celebrating over OJ going free made me just as sick as watching all the riots and the police beatings. The verdict didn't avenge any of that, nor did it get justice for any of those victims. All it did was get a rich guy off for murder.

[Eureka]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

That was a brutal episode. All the footage of the celebrating over OJ going free made me just as sick as watching all the riots and the police beatings. The verdict didn't avenge any of that, nor did it get justice for any of those victims. All it did was get a rich guy off for murder.

The fact that he is in the news right now for getting paroled for a *different* crime really points to the fact that he is not, and was not, a "good apple," you know? Justice was definitely not served back in '94.

[woodstock]

20 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

ETA: And a very young Barak Obama!!! Instead of showing him in the end credits, they should have shown where and when he was speaking, dammit!

I was yelling at the TV 'when and where were those remarks made!'

What a difficult episode to watch. Brought back so many memories and yes based on current events it's hard to tell if the events featured in the show happened during the 90s or today. I know things have changed but sometimes I wonder how much.

I thought it was interesting that they tied in President Clinton's welfare reform and crime bills and the unintended consequences of each.

My jaw hit the floor when they showed old clips of Rev. Al Sharpton; I'd forgotten what he used to look like.

[cpcathy]

If you want to relive the full brutality and devastation that were the LA riots, there is a documentary called LA 92, it might still be On Demand. Absolutely gut wrenching.

[Peace 47]

They were extremely generous to Bush Sr. In tonight's episode.  However, what I've read recently does seem to support the proposition that he did not get enough credit for his presidency's accomplishments, and so I guess that this show didn't seem to be out of line with the current thinking on him.

They overall definitely seemed kinder to Bush than Clinton, though:  in other episodes, they didn't shy away from the warts-and-all look at Clinton, including the unintended consequences of his welfare and prison reform.  With Bush, they didn't slam him for failing to address the recession so much as they just pointed out that his personality kept him from being as personable and relatable during the campaign as Clinton and Perot.  There was a lot missing from the overall story of the 1992 campaign, too, but the focus here was obviously just on Bush's perspective, for whatever reason.

[Eureka]

I'm tired of the depressing episodes. I'm ready for the music one, even though I was never a grunge fan.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, Eureka said:

I'm tired of the depressing episodes. I'm ready for the music one, even though I was never a grunge fan.

The Nineties weren't all grunge-we had the battle of the boy bands- Backstreet Boys, N'sync, 98 Degrees...Hanson...and who could forget MC Hammer? There was also the Latin Explosion in the late 90's. I remember Ricky Martin making a huge splash with the song he sang at the World Cup, I think, and then "Living La Vida Loca!" Baby!!!!??

[Sarah 103]

19 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

There was a lot missing from the overall story of the 1992 campaign, too, but the focus here was obviously just on Bush's perspective, for whatever reason.

I'm curious, what did you think was missing? What should have been included that wasn't part of the Clinton episode? I think the episode did the best it could in the time allotted. They had to cover the Middle East, the break up of the Soviet Union, and the 1992 election all in around 42 minutes. 

5 hours ago, Eureka said:

I'm tired of the depressing episodes. I'm ready for the music one, even though I was never a grunge fan.

Unfortunately you're going to have to wait another week or two. Next week is terrorism, which for some reason includes Columbine, but maybe it will make more sense in the context of the episode. I think of terrorism as having some sort of political motivation or goal, which wasn't the case with Columbine. Maybe the episode is really focused on crime and terrorism.

As for music, they have to include grunge, rap/hip-hop, Latin/Hispanic singers who achieved mainstream popularity, and the teeny boppers. 

[Eureka]

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

The Nineties weren't all grunge-we had the battle of the boy bands- Backstreet Boys, N'sync, 98 Degrees...Hanson...and who could forget MC Hammer? There was also the Latin Explosion in the late 90's. I remember Ricky Martin making a huge splash with the song he sang at the World Cup, I think, and then "Living La Vida Loca!" Baby!!!!??

I know...but I was too old for the boy bands then, and many of my college suite mates listened to grunge so that's what I remember. I did like Ricky Martin though. And En Vogue.

[woodstock]

I had serious flashbacks watching the CNN footage of the beginning of the Gulf War. I remember watching and listening to Bernard Shaw and thinking 'please don't get blown up on live TV!'

[andromeda331]

So was I. It was so weird watching the war unfolding live on TV. I was hoping we would see Saddam denying our troops where in Baghdad and being able to see the Sherman tank behind him or insisting it was all fake and Hollywood. I thought it was pretty good episode. I really liked that we got more on the breakup of the Soviet Union and all of those countries overthrowing Communist governments. I admit I laughed when Bush Sr. vomited in the guy's lap. That would be so embarrassing.  Next week is going to be really hard. 

[Peace 47]

10 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I'm curious, what did you think was missing? What should have been included that wasn't part of the Clinton episode? I think the episode did the best it could in the time allotted.

Quayle and the "Murphy Brown" speech came to mind.  Or how Bush was pilloried, especially by Buchanan, for breaking his "no new taxes" pledge, even though his reason for breaking it was actually a fair one--to reach a necessary budget deal.  I don't remember the Clinton episode very well, so maybe I forgot, but did they mention how Bush hit Clinton hard as a draft-dodger or how his campaign accused Clinton of meeting with communists as a student?  Or Jim Carville's "it's the economy, stupid" or "the war room"?  Some of these things were Bush-related (maybe even cast Bush in a less favorable light), and so I might have anticipated a mention, but this episode was so wide-ranging that they wouldn't have had time for all of this.  I still enjoyed it.

[oakville]

On 2017-07-31 at 1:12 AM, Peace 47 said:

They were extremely generous to Bush Sr. In tonight's episode.  However, what I've read recently does seem to support the proposition that he did not get enough credit for his presidency's accomplishments, and so I guess that this show didn't seem to be out of line with the current thinking on him.

They overall definitely seemed kinder to Bush than Clinton, though:  in other episodes, they didn't shy away from the warts-and-all look at Clinton, including the unintended consequences of his welfare and prison reform.  With Bush, they didn't slam him for failing to address the recession so much as they just pointed out that his personality kept him from being as personable and relatable during the campaign as Clinton and Perot.  There was a lot missing from the overall story of the 1992 campaign, too, but the focus here was obviously just on Bush's perspective, for whatever reason.

I enjoyed this episode. It is remarkable how Bush Sr handled Iraq & Russia. The domestic recession was milder than 2008. It was eerie to see Perot & Buchanan campaigning on the same issues as Trump. I also laughed at Bush Jr smirking at the end of the show when he was on the podium

[GHScorpiosRule]

Was I the only one who watched this last night?

It's so odd, I remember mostly pop-culture stuff from the 70's, BUT I do remember the Iran Hostage crisis.

Everything that was covered last night, I remembered ALL of it. I didn't have to try and recall it. For the most part, they did a good job, but they left out two things that happened and that I think should have been mentioned. The first was the episode made it seem like the Feds knew that McVeigh was behind The Oklahoma City bombing from the beginning and that was not how it happened. I remember that the government, the public even, thought it was Muslim terrorists who were responsible. And that after it was revealed that it wasn't, but "one of our own" as one of the pundits said, how Casey Kasem came out and criticized the government for their rush to blame. Up until that day, I didn't know what his background was.

And when they talked about Bin Laden, the relationship the U.S. had with him, the interviews, and then the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and the other attempts, I was surprised that there was no mention of the attack on the USS Cole. Or will they use it for next season? They're so all over the place, covering events from 1989, but not 2000. Or glossing over other events. I remember Clinton getting criticized over that.

And I continue to get all misty-eyed at seeing Shaw, Jennings, who are no longer with us. And wonder what happened to the journalists that are still here and where are they now? Were Dan Rather, Leslie Stahl, Judy Woodruff the only ones willing to talk about this decade? I would have liked to have heard from Ross, Koppel, Brokaw, Gibson.

Oh well.

[Spartan Girl]

I watched it. And yes, I remember all of those events. Hard to watch some of the footage sometimes. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[woodstock]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Everything that was covered last night, I remembered ALL of it.

Same here. The craziness surrounding David Koresh and the Branch Davidians was unreal. I remember feeling bad for the children who really had no choice in the matter.

[Eureka]

11 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Was I the only one who watched this last night?

It's so odd, I remember mostly pop-culture stuff from the 70's, BUT I do remember the Iran Hostage crisis.

Everything that was covered last night, I remembered ALL of it. I didn't have to try and recall it. For the most part, they did a good job, but they left out two things that happened and that I think should have been mentioned. The first was the episode made it seem like the Feds knew that McVeigh was behind The Oklahoma City bombing from the beginning and that was not how it happened. I remember that the government, the public even, thought it was Muslim terrorists who were responsible. And that after it was revealed that it wasn't, but "one of our own" as one of the pundits said, how Casey Kasem came out and criticized the government for their rush to blame. Up until that day, I didn't know what his background was.

And when they talked about Bin Laden, the relationship the U.S. had with him, the interviews, and then the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and the other attempts, I was surprised that there was no mention of the attack on the USS Cole. Or will they use it for next season? They're so all over the place, covering events from 1989, but not 2000. Or glossing over other events. I remember Clinton getting criticized over that.

And I continue to get all misty-eyed at seeing Shaw, Jennings, who are no longer with us. And wonder what happened to the journalists that are still here and where are they now? Were Dan Rather, Leslie Stahl, Judy Woodruff the only ones willing to talk about this decade? I would have liked to have heard from Ross, Koppel, Brokaw, Gibson.

Oh well.

We watched. Oddly even though it was about terrorism, it did not depress me as much as last week's. Not sure what that was about. I am with you about all the journalists who are no more...and I love Dan Rather as the elder statesman so to speak. I have always loved him.

Edited August 8, 2017 by Eureka

[andromeda331]

I remembered all of them too. Each one just took me right back to those moments. I was really surprised they didn't mention the USS Cole either. I thought it would come after US Embassy bombings. But maybe GHScorpiosRule is right and their saving that for the 2000s?

[GHScorpiosRule]

Okay, I have to correct myself-the only thing I didn't remember was ATF and Ruby Ridge.

[andromeda331]

On ‎8‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 10:56 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Okay, I have to correct myself-the only thing I didn't remember was ATF and Ruby Ridge.

I remember it mostly how the the Weavers out to be innocent victims. Later it came out Randy and Vicky Weaver were insane gun nuts who taught their kids to shoot and I think Vicki had "visions". They didn't mention it in the episode, Does anyone else remember that? 

[GHScorpiosRule]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I remember it mostly how the the Weavers out to be innocent victims. Later it came out Randy and Vicky Weaver were insane gun nuts who taught their kids to shoot and I think Vicki had "visions". They didn't mention it in the episode, Does anyone else remember that? 

No. They just talked about how the Feds shot and killed their son, and at Vicky while she was holding a baby. And how the Feds screwed up. The show said that. I'll go back and rewatch. All I remember about Ruby Ridge was the television movie starring Randy Quaid.

[andromeda331]

7 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

No. They just talked about how the Feds shot and killed their son, and at Vicky while she was holding a baby. And how the Feds screwed up. The show said that. I'll go back and rewatch. All I remember about Ruby Ridge was the television movie starring Randy Quaid.

That's what I thought. I didn't hear any of it. Why do they always leave out that part? I remembered being surprised at hearing how crazy the parents were because it had never been mentioned before. In the endless reporting it was always this poor innocent family. 

[Annber03]

On 8/7/2017 at 5:47 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

And when they talked about Bin Laden, the relationship the U.S. had with him, the interviews, and then the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and the other attempts, I was surprised that there was no mention of the attack on the USS Cole. Or will they use it for next season? They're so all over the place, covering events from 1989, but not 2000. Or glossing over other events. I remember Clinton getting criticized over that.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind some further in depth exploration of certain other events, 'cause some of these events you mention, I either was too young to really remember them (Ruby Ridge and Waco), or stuff like the USS Cole attack, I have no memory of hearing about, despite the fact that, looking up more on it, I would've been in my mid-teens at that time. It'd be interesting to learn about some of this stuff in more detail.

The Oklahoma City bombing is the earliest thing discussed in this episode that I have any sort of memory of-I was 10 when it happened-and even then, my main memories of it include us having a moment of silence in school for the victims at the precise time the bombing had happened, and seeing a music video on CMT that Garth Brooks did to honor the victims. 

And Columbine I very clearly remember. I was in eighth grade then, and I came home from school and saw the news broadcast about it and was like, "Oh, geez, another school shooting?" ('cause there'd been a few prior to that). Then I saw just how big and particularly dramatic this one was, and...yeah. Felt pretty nervous going to school after that. And sadly, things have only continued to be more and more horrific on that front since then. Talk about not learning from the past. 

I'd started reading books on both the Oklahoma City bombing and the Columbine shooting when I worked at our bookstore here in town, but never got a chance to finish them. I should fix that, 'cause they were both quite interesting, albeit terrifying and frustrating. 

And the mention of Bin Laden...that quote about how we would "see and hear" about his plans in the media, and the discussion of the rise of what would soon become Al Qaeda. Chilling. Absolutely chilling. 

Edited August 14, 2017 by Annber03

[GHScorpiosRule]

So happy the show wasn't preempted!?

NETSCAPE!!! I LOVED Netscape and hated and continue to hate Internet Explorer with a passion. I remember when Netscape was the only browser that would work with PACER-the online platform to file motions/briefs/answers, etc. for the court system. IE had too many glitches. Frankly, I can't stand Microsoft, except for Power Point and Excel.

But seriously? The show fades to commercial after ominously saying how the Government got Bill Gates but GOOD for being a monopoly and doesn't follow through? I vaguely remember the Congressional hearings, but I was and still am a techno turd, so that's not surprising. I will never miss that annoying nails on a chalkboard sound of dial up!???

And here I thought Gates was a nice guy. Those excerpts of his deposition didn't make him look...good.

And again, with a minute on this topic and let's jump to another! They spent like two minutes on online porn-and how the internet was the best thing to happen for that industry.

I wonder if it's not too late to invest in Yahoo!, Amazon, or Google???

And as they covered the DUM-DA-DUM-DUM-DUUUUM catastrophe that would occur over the world as 2000 approached, and all the ominous predictions about Y2K, I remember hand waving it away and saying NOTHING was going to happen, and I was right! And I ?????????????? when nothing happened. I can't believe people thought the world was going to come to an end. 

I remember when I was in college in the early 90's, that all the computers we had and used were Macs. Guess pcs were too expensive?

And now I'm more miffed that they didn't talk about the USS Cole, when they went to talk about 2000 tonight.?

And I'm wishing I'd gotten an iMac when I had the chance, dammit. They were soooo purty and kewl!!!!

I was thoroughly entertained tonight.

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And as they covered the DUM-DA-DUM-DUM-DUUUUM catastrophe that would occur over the world as 2000 approached, and all the ominous predictions about Y2K, I remember hand waving it away and saying NOTHING was going to happen, and I was right! And I ?????????????? when nothing happened. I can't believe people thought the world was going to come to an end. 

I remember being at a friend's house on New Year's Eve 1999, and the moment it hit midnight, we all sat there laughing and having a similar reaction :p. Maybe if I'd been old enough to work in the tech industry and whatnot, though, I might've had a different view. I dunno. 

I couldn't help laughing at the reactions of the interviewers saying things like, "Wait, you can get e-mail addresses on the internet?" "Wait, men can use pickup lines on women on the internet?" It just sounds so quaint to see people that surprised at what the internet was capable of back then. 

My family didn't have a computer in our home until 2000, but I remember going to friends' homes and seeing them using their computers, and my dad used to take my sister and me to a store in town that had a section where people could poke around on the internet for a certain amount of time, so that was some of my earliest introduction to the internet, and I just used it to look up stuff on TV shows I liked :p. And then of course, we took computer classes in school. It's so weird to see how big and clunky-looking computers looked back then. Nowadays you can search for stuff online on your smartphone that you can stick in your pocket. 

[Peace 47]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And as they covered the DUM-DA-DUM-DUM-DUUUUM catastrophe that would occur over the world as 2000 approached, and all the ominous predictions about Y2K, I remember hand waving it away and saying NOTHING was going to happen, and I was right! And I ?????????????? when nothing happened. I can't believe people thought the world was going to come to an end. 

 

Edit after I watched the rerun:  my prior understanding of the situation from sources other than this show is that the only reason that "nothing happened" was because programmers in private industry and government were very diligent in the years leading up to the millennium about updating the programming of the older systems still in use (the ones created prior to the acknowledgment of a 4-digit year system).  The one talking head mentioned this (as did the historical report from Tom Brokaw about the cost of it), but some of the others did say that Y2K was much ado about nothing.  We do kind of owe the programmers who addressed our power plants, hospitals, defense systems, etc., a debt of gratitude for patching the system so well (and I guess that this was mostly an issue for the oldest networks, which they didn't mention on the show).

I did enjoy the trip down memory lane.  The Today show clip at the very end of the show never gets old.  "What is Internet?"  Oh, Katie, you've got a big storm coming!  So interesting to be reminded that some of the giants (and faltering giants) of today like Amazon and Yahoo had their roots in the early days.  I remember the feeling possibility when we were introduced to the Internet in my rural high school in 1996:  even then, we sensed the revolution upon us, and it seemed very exciting.  I thought the show did a pretty good job of referencing that aesthetic.

Edited August 14, 2017 by Peace 47

[GaT]

I loved watching the Today show people trying to figure out what the internet was & what @ meant. That was less than 30 years ago, it seems like decades.

[Eureka]

8 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

So happy the show wasn't preempted!?

NETSCAPE!!! I LOVED Netscape and hated and continue to hate Internet Explorer with a passion. I remember when Netscape was the only browser that would work with PACER-the online platform to file motions/briefs/answers, etc. for the court system. IE had too many glitches. Frankly, I can't stand Microsoft, except for Power Point and Excel.

But seriously? The show fades to commercial after ominously saying how the Government got Bill Gates but GOOD for being a monopoly and doesn't follow through? I vaguely remember the Congressional hearings, but I was and still am a techno turd, so that's not surprising. I will never miss that annoying nails on a chalkboard sound of dial up!???

And here I thought Gates was a nice guy. Those excerpts of his deposition didn't make him look...good.

And again, with a minute on this topic and let's jump to another! They spent like two minutes on online porn-and how the internet was the best thing to happen for that industry.

I wonder if it's not too late to invest in Yahoo!, Amazon, or Google???

And as they covered the DUM-DA-DUM-DUM-DUUUUM catastrophe that would occur over the world as 2000 approached, and all the ominous predictions about Y2K, I remember hand waving it away and saying NOTHING was going to happen, and I was right! And I ?????????????? when nothing happened. I can't believe people thought the world was going to come to an end. 

I remember when I was in college in the early 90's, that all the computers we had and used were Macs. Guess pcs were too expensive?

And now I'm more miffed that they didn't talk about the USS Cole, when they went to talk about 2000 tonight.?

And I'm wishing I'd gotten an iMac when I had the chance, dammit. They were soooo purty and kewl!!!!

I was thoroughly entertained tonight.

We enjoyed this episode. Ds16 said it made him like Bill Gates a little less though. Yes, when I was in college all the computer labs had macs. I rented a pretty-new-for-the-time mac plus to write my thesis. And Dh and I had one of those turquoise iMacs back in the day. Now they look so huge!

Edited August 14, 2017 by Eureka

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

Edit after I watched the rerun:  my prior understanding of the situation from sources other than this show is that the only reason that "nothing happened" was because programmers in private industry and government were very diligent in the years leading up to the millennium about updating the programming of the older systems still in use (the ones created prior to the acknowledgment of a 4-digit year system).  The one talking head mentioned this (as did the historical report from Tom Brokaw about the cost of it), but some of the others did say that Y2K was much ado about nothing.  We do kind of owe the programmers who addressed our power plants, hospitals, defense systems, etc., a debt of gratitude for patching the system so well (and I guess that this was mostly an issue for the oldest networks, which they didn't mention on the show).

 

If you watched the reairing, then you know the show did credit all those people behind the scenes who worked hard to make sure nothing would happen. I'm just mocking how everyone was going around like Chicken Little, and remember watching all the glorious celebrations of the new year across the globe that night.

It's not the same, but the regular people interviewed for what they were doing to prepare just reminded me of the idiots who act like the world is ending when a snow storm is coming-they tear up the grocery stores and pile up with milk, water, toilet paper and paper towels. The only difference is that for the Y2K, people decided to bone up on buying guns and learning how to shoot (based on the video they showed), to protect them from...rioters, I think one person said.

[Sarah 103]

I was so thrilled this episode actually aired. I remember in the late 1990s how cool it was to go to websites for my favorite shows, especially the message boards. I needed to check with my parents before going online because using the internet would tie up the phone line. I loved the Today Show clip at the end. It was funny and reminds us how far we've come in such a short time. 

[woodstock]

I'm an 18 year IT veteran and I loved this episode! Brought back so many memories. I worked at IBM in the late 90s early 00s and I remember our IBM work PCs stripped Internet Explorer from the Windows 95 operating system and added Netscape. I loved Netscape! The IBM PCs also stripped MS Office Suite and came with the Lotus suite instead. IBM and Microsoft hated each other...lol.

CompuService and Prodigy...I had forgotten all about those two companies. Floppy disks! Ahh...AOL I used to love hearing the sound of the modem dialing. It meant I was connecting to the world.

I wanted an iMac so bad back in the day. They were too cute. Its incredible to thnk that at one time Apple was on the verge of extinction.

And of course Y2K. I was a subcontractor at IBM's global helpdesk and volunteered to work on 12/31/99. It was cool; I got double time play plus the managers ordered food and had snacks and drinks for us. A couple of TVs were set up so we could watch the ball drop on Times Square. Of course nothing happened at midnight. Only one person called in and he was drunk out of his mind!

[Sarah 103]

7 hours ago, woodstock said:

CompuService and Prodigy...I had forgotten all about those two companies. Floppy disks! Ahh...AOL I used to love hearing the sound of the modem dialing. It meant I was connecting to the world.

I wanted an iMac so bad back in the day. They were too cute. Its incredible to thnk that at one time Apple was on the verge of extinction.

I had forgotten about CompuService and Prodigy too. There was a certain amount of anticipation when the modem dialed. It meant an online adventure was about to start (even if the online adventure was as tame as checking out the imdb.com hit-list, daily poll, and assorted message boards).

I loved the ads for the iMac. I clipped this one (or something similar to it) and hung it up in my bedroom.

[GHScorpiosRule]

What?! What?! What utter BULLSHIT!!!???

Fucking grunge and alternative rock gets 20 FUCKING minutes, plus the "geeeenius" that was Kurt Cobain, and barely five minutes to the Boy Bands. What's worse, NO MENTION OF HANSON!!!!!!!!?????? No mention of the Latin Explosion-just a three second clip of Ricky Martin-but we didn't hear him sing-just used as an example of the different artists. And NO MC HAMMER!!!!!???? And that clip I posted a month or so ago, of a one minute interview with members of the Back Street Boys? About what it was like to be so popular? Nada. Zilch. They should have dedicated two hours to this. And this better not be the finale because they didn't even touch on Hollywood movie in the 90's!

??????

[Annber03]

Not surprised they'd spend a lot of time on the grunge scene and Nirvana in particular, but yeah, it would've been nice to delve more into the teen pop and Latin music, too (and the swing music scene that popped up for a short time as well!). Especially considering those were some of the last types of music that were a huge boon to the record industry around 1998/1999, before Napster came along in the early 2000s and threw everything into chaos for them. 

Did like that they spent a little time on the rap/hip-hop genres, though, and touched on the the West Coast/East Coast beef a little. Though there was something hilarious and strange about seeing an old white guy trying to explain why 2Pac and Biggie were murdered. And I liked the discussion of the female artists that came out in the '90s, too, though anyone who was shocked at the idea of women being a big voice in music and saying shocking things in their songs clearly needed to brush up on their music history.

But man, so many memories just hearing some of those songs. I loved songs like "Gangsta's Paradise" and "No Diggity" when I was a teenager, and I also listened to Alanis and Sheryl and Sarah and Jewel, and I liked Beck, and even went through a brief country phase when I was, like, 11, 12 years old (I remember really liking Leann Rimes for a time), and I also liked Britney and the Backstreet Boys and Christina and the Spice Girls... Yeah. My music tastes were all over the place in the '90s :p. I still like a lot of those artists and songs even now. 

I do like a lot of songs by the big Seattle bands, but I was, like, 6, 7 years old when they were first coming out, so I didn't really discover them until much later as a result. I heard their songs on the radio as a kid, but that was about all the farther it went for me at the time. 

I also very clearly remember the first time I saw the "My Name Is" video, and always liked the weirdness of Missy Elliott's videos. And the video for "Doo Wop (That Thing)" just adds to that song's greatness. 

Sadly, I think this is the last of the "Nineties" series, which is a shame, because I like your suggestion about discussing the big movies that came out then, and I'm sure there's other stuff from that decade they didn't touch on that would be worth discussing, too.