It’s been an urban legend that Atari, having gone nuts mass producing catridges in the expectation they’d sell way more than they did, dumped a ton of them in a landfill and covered them over, with the hopes people wouldn’t realize what they’d done. A documentary crew went back, and sure enough, they were able to unearth proof that the cartridges were in a New Mexico landfill for decades. Continue reading
For people of my age and younger (and really a bit older as well), Wheel of Fortune is Pat Sajak and Vanna White. It’s an institution, on nightly for more than 30 years now, and shows no signs of stopping (and its companion program, Jeopardy!, has held up equally well). But many don’t realize the history of the program, and that a different host and hostess could be the ones we’re still watching today, had things gone differently. Continue reading
When I was first getting into music, I was a fan of WKTU out of New York, and it led me to explore a number of dance compilations. A big name at the time was the “Dance Mix USA” series from Quality and Radikal Records. At their peak in the mid-90s, they were the go-to collection of dance hits, well mixed and put together, with a lot of great tracks that I recognized from the radio. Continue reading
Children’s television in the 80s was experimental in some ways. While more established shows like “Sesame Street” had by a certain point long since found their purpose, the proliferation of channels offered the opportunity for a broader array of programming of all types to appear. As such, a TV Ontario-produced show, “Today’s Special,” made its way onto U.S. airwaves by way of Nickelodeon and PBS. Continue reading
Long before there was the University of Phoenix, there was International Correspondence School, or ICS. Those who watched enough TV in the early 90s could probably from memory recite the list about “High School, TV/VCR Repair, Computer Programming,” and so on… “or get your degree! You can major in Business Management or Accounting.” Continue reading
Anyone who flies on any sort of a regular basis has seen the safety presentation enough times to be able to likely recite the majority of it by memory. Airlines know this, and have attempted to liven them up, particularly now that most planes are equipped with video screens to show pre-recorded versions. Continue reading
Music with a 60s retro theme has had an enduring presence in music, particularly artists from the UK. Swing Out Sister certainly pops up on that list, although they were ahead of the game; the Austin Powers movies (particularly the first two) certainly put an emphasis on the era. The late Amy Winehouse, Adele, and most recently John Newman (who will be featured here soon) have utilized the sound and feel of the era in some of their work. But one artist who did it particularly well never really had her solo material noticed here in the U.S. Continue reading
The Onion has been an online staple for some time, having been an early success in translating a hard copy product to the web. That said, I was always a bit excited when I went into New York and was able to buy (later find for free) a copy of the print edition, which was pretty cool in its own right. Continue reading
In yesterday’s post I waxed nostalgic about “You Don’t Know Jack,” an awesome trivia game that has made a resurgence in recent years. But many may not remember the short-lived TV version that aired on ABC for just six episodes in the summer of 2001. Continue reading
I had become aware of it when it first happened, but over the break I was finally able to act: most of You Don’t Know Jack’s classic editions had been re-released! In high school and college I spent countless hours playing the game “where high culture and pop culture collide,” so I was excited to get my hands on the classic editions again. Continue reading