Sale into the 90s--a 1980s/1990s history Tumblr @saleintothe90s - Tumblr Blog

244. Big List of Favorite Commercials Volume 22

All the Big Lists of Favorite Commercials

Previously.

CBS Everyone Loves Raymond promo from 1996

I love how Brad Garrett essentially just makes fun of Cosby the whole time in this promo about Raymond moving to Mondays. Didn't Brad have a fallout with Cosby early in his standup career? I might be getting that confused with his Carson story from his autobiographical audiobook. *researches*

It was kinda both?! :

When Garrett was still getting started, he got a last-minute call from Cosby, who was guest-hosting Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show. He agreed to do a spot on the show, and the two took a jet together from Las Vegas. En route, Cosby asked the younger comedian about his act.

“I hear you do an impression of me.”

… “Yes, I do …”

“Yeah, don’t do that tonight on the show,” he said. “Just be yourself.”

But they were just hours away from taping, and Garrett had no other material that he hadn’t used on Tonight Show spots before. So he did his Cosby impression anyway, knowing it would kill (it did).

When I looked over to the Coz behind Johnny’s desk, I could see he had his head down, reading the blue cards that would intro the next commercial. He had stopped watching…

Backstage after the show, he said nothing to me. Silence on the car ride back to the airport. Zero conversation on the jet.

Consider that door closed. 1

1986 The Bear Family "The Bear Family reunion" TV Commercial

I bet these bears were crazy expensive, but man were they cute in this commercial. Also I love how papa bear is holding an autographed photo of Teddy Roosevelt. Oh, and send your check to BEAR, Delaware?! Come on.

Druther's Restaurant - Salad Bar & Fish Theme - TV Commercial - Greg Arnold

and all day Sunday!

1988 Mead Five Star Line "Built strong to last long" TV Commercial

Yeah, I know this is the third time I've highlighted a notebook commercial.

Delisle Fruit Cocktail Yogourt Commercial 1988

This guy eats like a toddler!

Perfect Strangers Commercial on ABC from 1986

Woah! This was the premiere commercial for Perfect Strangers!

1999 AT&T Worldnet Service "Keep in touch" TV Commercial

I remember this commercial as a teenager, before we had internet at my house, and thinking THIS was the internet. Sending cute lil emails to boys. I thought she was using early digital camera technology at first, but no, she took a Polaroid and then had to scan it, and email it to the boy.

1983 Sea Galley Restaurant Ad

I was wondering why I had favorited a boring commercial for a seafood restaurant, but then I remembered THE END.

1987 Minute Maid Light 'n Juicy "No kidding" TV Commercial

I love that mummy. This drink sounds gross though, fruit juice sweetened with nutrasweet? :

Light `n` Juicy, which will bear the Minute Maid name, is Coca-Cola Foods` first entry in the beverage business with NutraSweet as a sweetener. The new Minute Maid entry comes in orange, punch, grape and lemonade flavors, with the amount of juice varying from 10 to 15 percent. 2

1988 Nabisco Shredded Wheat "Nome Texas - in California they tan it" TV Commercial

Can you imagine working with the "NOME?! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE FROM ALAKSA!" lady on a cramped airplane? Also giant shredded wheat > mini wheats.

Begley, Sarah. “How Brad Garrett Ticked Off Cosby, Sinatra and Gotti.” TIME, May 1, 2015. https://time.com/3840352/brad-garrett-memoir/.

“MINUTE MAID SEES LIGHT IN NEW LINE.” Chicago Tribune, January 20, 1987. https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/01/20/minute-maid-sees-light-in-new-line/.

#old commercials #1980s #1990s #commercials #everybody loves raymond #brad garrett #perfect strangers

520. Discontinued Items I Never Tried, But I Want Back

Cough Whip - just look at it, it looks like whipped cotton candy in a yogurt container. You just want to eat one spoonful after another. Oh, that's probably why it's discontinued. I feel like if they made it today they would sneak nasty ol Stevia in it and make it too sweet to take for relief.

Chun King & La Choy Little Egg Rolls - Pizza rolls are greasy, messy things. I want these. We have air fryers now, we need these back.

Daytona Beach Morning Journal May 14, 1981

Corn and Bran Muffins at Dunkin' Donuts - While not exclusively a 1980s or 1990s food, I would love a lil corn muffin to break up with the monotony of coffee cake muffins or blueberry muffins. These might be at Dunkin's up North still, but in Virginia, they're gone.

I also adore a bran muffin, the texture! Especially if there are RAISINS. I was around at the wrong time, I missed the whole bran craze of the late 80s because I was a toddler.

Snapple Soda - All the flavors that I've seen in the commercials look so good.

Dristan Juice Mix-In - Another cold medicine that probably tasted too good for its own good. I can drink my orange juice and take my medicine? Put it in my Stanley Tumbler, let's go.

Chiquita Fruit and Cream Pops - I think if I watched enough old commercials I could find way more frozen novelties that were here today gone tomorrow, but for now, I want a banana and cream pop.

Revlon Clean & Clear Products-I know we associate Clean & Clear with acne face wash by Johnson & Johnson now, but in the late 1980s, Revlon had Clean & Clear products, and there was a clear shampoo, clear conditioner, and a clear gel face cream. If you go on eBay today, they've all yellowed.

Acutrim - I've mentioned numerous times here that I grew up as a fat kid. I would see diet pill commercials, and wish I could take them. When I was in my early 20s still fat as ever, I received a box of Simpons season 1 and 2 tapes from a friend. Right there, in the first commercial break ever for a regular episode of Simpsons was a commercial for Acutrim, and the lady in the commercial bemoans, "I'm hungry from morning to night!", and I thought "man, I wish I had those pills right now".

You've probably noticed that all those over the counter diet pills from back in the 90s are gone from shelves. Most were pulled in the year 2000:

Major drug store chains are pulling dozens of over-the-counter cold remedies and diet pills from their shelves after the government warned Americans one of the ingredients could cause hemorrhagic strokes, especially in young women.

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to ban phenylpropanolamine, or PPA, which is found in products from Dexatrim to Triaminic.

[...]

PPA Common UsesSome commonly used brand names in the United States are: Acutrim 16 Hour Acutrim Late Day Acutrim II Maximum Strength

Oh, so that's happened to Dexatrim too.

Another one I remember seeing on TV as a teen and wanting was Meridia. I remember the commercial with that plate with the half eaten food! Merida was also pulled off the market, in 2010. 2

Tropicana Twister Orange Cranberry Juice

One of these days I need to get further in depth about Tropicana Twister. The commercials were a moment in advertising history, with the uptight small town beings offended by the mix of two different fruits in a juice. The only flavor I ever had was the orange, pineapple, strawberry one in second grade and I adored it. I would drink it out of my Popples thermos. I used to get the little glass bottles of it at the Kmart eatery in the mid 90s too.

I didn't realize until I watched those old Simpsons tapes that there were so many flavors! I want to go back in a Time Machine and try the orange cranberry! It looks so refreshing in that big glass bottle.

Or as a frozen concentrate!

There was even a cranberry orange lemonade around 1994!

Underalls, Coloralls, Winteralls, Slenderalls, all of the alls

I'm a big fan of shape wear and tights. I'm surprised with the advent of Spanx and is many copycats that Underalls never made a comeback. Maybe I just like the packaging with the little butt on it. It made me laugh as a small child when I'd see it at Roses.

Sources: eBay sellers Jelka 717, BB Vtg&Trends, kac77kac77

St. Ives Shampoo. I don't care if it might make my scalp greasy. I just want to smell it. Especially you Sunflower one in the middle. I remember the Sunflower spray on lotion St. Ives used to make. Smelled like coming home from high school and watching Comedy Central til bedtime.

The Original Seagrams Wine Coolers, the Bruce Willis ones.

By the time I turned 21 in 2004, Wine Coolers were not made of wine, but of malt. Never got the Bruce Willis experience. He's the reason why I knew what a wine cooler was as a four year old. I loved seeing him on Moonlighting when I was a toddler.

Mademoiselle June 1987

L'Oréal Visuelle Foundation

I just really miss anything L'Oréal in those square bottles. I also want a drugstore foundation that's not going to look chalky on my skin or turn orange on me at 10am. Drugstore makeup is so gimmicky these days. Or they copycat the big boys. At least now there is a little bit of diversity in the color ranges.

(eBay seller Mousecaptain)

Looks like they tried to replace Visuelle with the Visible Lift line.

(eBay seller Cali-Treasures_805)

Dove Dishsoap

I knew I didn't make this one up! I have a dishwasher now, but to go back in time and bathe my dishes in Dove?! Also remember in the late 90s when all the dish soap was in those concentrated squat bottles?

The 1987 stock market crash Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

I want to taste the worst day of the stock market in the 1980s, even if it sounds like a pretty tame flavor for Ben & Jerry's: Vanilla with Chocolate Covered Almond, Pecans and Walnuts.

The Edy's Godzilla ice cream from the godawful 1998 film.

Shout out to @dinosaurdracula for this one. Baby chocolate Godzillas?!

Hershey's Great American Cafe Non Dairy Creamers

I miss flavored powder coffee creamer. I would risk stomach distress to have hot coffee with powder Chocolate Amaretto creamer in it.

(I swear Hershey's used this same containers they used for the cocoa powder back then for these.)

The Wonderbra when it first arrived at Leggett in Newport News in September of 1994.

This was another thing I can't wear as a big back, big back, but if I had a smaller ribcage I would want the Wonderbra -- but the 90s ones when they first arrived to the United States. My local newspaper even ran a story about the bras when they first arrived at Leggett at Patrick Henry Mall (isn't that store where Dillards is today?).

I want my boobs pushed up to the moon 1994 style.

“Stores Pull Diet Pills, Cold Drugs - CBS News.” November 6, 2000. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stores-pull-diet-pills-cold-drugs/.

Freeman, David W. “Bye-Bye, Meridia: Risky Diet Pill Yanked from Market - CBS News.” October 8, 2010. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bye-bye-meridia-risky-diet-pill-yanked-from-market/.

#discontinued #discontinued products #1990s #1980s

519. Seventeen Magazine, April 1995, part 3

(part 2)

These Built by Wendy guitar straps were in all my magazines. I'd love to see one reimagined as a purse strap.

I was always so jealous of the schools featured in School Zone. I recently dressed like Sarah, 17 all winter because this was one of the coldest winters that I can remember in Hampton Roads. As a kid I thought those ... what are those? pantaloons? Laura, 18 is wearing was pretty embarrassing, and you know I still feel that way. Sorry, Laura.

This ad always weirded me out! I think it's her pose, the color of her clothing, the straight out the shower slicked back hair. Why that pose?

Brandy was the first CD I ever bought for my CD player a few months afrer this was published. It's a decent album, I like "Give me You" that's still on my iPod in my car, but there was also too much filler like those "I dedicattteeee" interludes.

This is still a depressing read. Time to feel old: their kids are in their early 30s now!

I had no clue how many weight loss camps there were even in 1995. I always like to look and see how many of these schools and camps are still open in 2026.

Camp Pennbrook: still open. Berkeley College: still open, unfortunately a for profit school. Oak Hill Academy is still open. FIDM merged with Arizona State and then closed last year. Everything else is gone!

Here's a page all about the newest rage: coffee. Don't say "with wings", you'll look like a dork. Madonna the early adopter of iced lattes!

519. Seventeen Magazine, April 1995, part 2

(part 1)

This was another thing I managed to convince my mom to buy me! I had white versions of the red Mary Janes in this ad from Bakers. I miss those shoes. Looks like Bakers is dead too.

11 year old me thought this comic was so risqué. Also this comic led me to believe that tampon applicators were big enough to sub for foozball guys.

Oh this scanned so poorly I can't tell what Yakko Warner is saying on this Happy Meal box. This box is from 1993! Guess they were using stock footage.

I found it on Etsy!

Oh man. I tried making paper beads a few months after reading this page. I was unsuccessful. It was a very stick process and they didn't look like these great beads. That vest is still ugly 31 years later.

The 90s: where we thought nothing of a 16 year old age difference.

Microtears? We didn't know her back then.

Remember when Jenna Marbles gave herself a hair wrap?

Weird seeing Jeremy and Daughter by Pearl Jam own a road trip playlist, right? RIGHT?!

I thought these were twins. Graphic design wasn't my passion back then.

~diet culture in the 90s~

DON'T PUNCH TLC! Also weird that Lionel Ritchie had an album named "Back to Front". 🧻

Married: "NO!"

#brandy #1995 #seventeen magazie #1990s #1990s magazines #old magazines

519. Seventeen Magazine, April 1995, Part 1

I was reminded that I repurchased this issue off eBay years ago because of the new Brandy biography that's coming out in a few days. This was the second issue of Seventeen I ever owned back when I was 11. Of course little fat 11 year old me living in Hampton Virginia wanted every single thing out of this issue, and of course none of it fit little fat me. Or wasn't available.

We love a Wonderbra reference. I wish Lash by Lash mascara was still being made!

With the exception of the midriffs showing, this is exactly how most of my classmates dressed around this time.

Oh these were always so beautiful to look at. I didn't get to use this until I was in my early 20s when I got a travel set with Sephora points. I don't think it would work with my skin today though. I still love the soap!

I would STARE at this photo when I was 11, just dreaming of using this makeup. We were not department store shoppers back then so I wouldn't even know if Hecht's at Coliseum Mall had Origins. Those liner pencils look like what I pictured Ikea furniture looking like back then.

My So Called Life wasn't officially canceled until May 15, 1995, but come on, the writing was on the wall. Now that I'm an adult, I think the show stands perfectly as a mini series.

Oh, I wanted a skinny belt so bad. I thought style #11151 was ugly bag. The previous owner of this magazine used a yellow highlighter to circle shoes she liked.

This unfortunately scanned black and white, but she wanted those black Mary Jane looking Keds too. You want to know the last time I had a pair of Keds? Baton class 35 years ago.

Ok, I need to find an in-depth photo of this DKNY dress made out of FedEx envelopes. *searching* all I could find was one from HistoricImages, and it was just as poor quality.

I can't find anything about that specific ARTec shampoo. Looks like Garden Botanika has a dead website, and Body Shop came back to the US online only last year. Il Makage just makes foundation that's was sold on TV during repeats of LivePD a few years back. Looks like they've improved a little though. Also remember promotional 3.5 disks?

This was a two page spread about a girl who was a model. Because you know we all thought we were going to grow up to become models by the time we were 17 back then.

Fat kid me wanted all these outfits, the baby t's, the short overalls. Couldn't wear any of it. The juniors section at JCPenney taunted me. No adorable peach shirt for me.

Oh. this P!antyh~ose (censored to keep creeps away) ad was not made for teen magazines. These are our moms and older sisters in their mid 20s.

I didn't remember the text of this Diet Coke ad, but I remembered the pink overall girl and her matching lipstick! I don't think a Diet Coke ad would fly today in a teen magazine. Wait. Does Seventeen magazine even print anymore?! No! It's just the website with occasional special issues, such as Prom. I looked on the Magzter service my library offers, and the last issue they had was prom 2019. Eep. So I guess they're not running that physical prom issue anymore.

Look at those sizes. Only goes up to a large or a size 11!

I actually did find a white tennis skirt in my size at Stuarts Plus a few months after this...and mom only let me wear it once.

This is just asking for a defective condom.

#1990s #1995 #seventeen magazine #brandy #1990s magazines

518. Super Bowl 1982 Commercials (January 24, 1982)

This person had the entire game on YouTube. Check it out before the YouTube police deletes it. (part 1) (part 2) (part 3). Since the entire game is the only way I can see the commercials, gifs in this entry might be limited, because all the YouTube to gif sites block footage from the NFL. This was in the time before Super Bowl commercials were big productions. It's interesting to see such normal commercials for such a huge event.

(Oh, it was the Bengals vs the 49ers in this game)

"You don't have to put up with hotel excuses like 'the maid, the tv man or the plumber is GONE for the day..' because Holiday Inn gives you this No Excuses Guarantee". -- what hotel had a TV man?! I'm picturing some guy in a basement in a room full of old zenith color tvs with the wood paneling and the dials.

I'm writing this on February 1st, after we had the second snowy weekend in a row here in the area slightly outside of Hampton Roads. That never happens. We need this guy to come over. My driveway is still icy a week later. The long windy road I take to work finally completely thawed out Friday, and then the next day bam snow and freezing temps.

60 Minutes and Archie Bunker's Place (with Reggie Jackson!) were the lead out programs for 1982. Sometimes I forget that Archie existed in the 1980s. The game started around 4pm, so I guess it would be wrapped up by 7? That's so early.

This commercial immediately stressed me out because as I write this, my mom is packing to go on emergency trip to Alaska to see family.

Classic. A work of art. I wanted this car for years, until I saw some videos online on how these are getting harder and harder to find parts for? Y/N?

Joe Theismann only had three years of football left.

Nope, not for Denny's, but for Bendix. I had to Google what Bendix was. Looks like they mostly manufacture automotive parts now.

Oo that sexy Toyota Celica breaking all the laws. With the pop up (erm, pop forward?) lights!

The video quality was so dark that I only recognized George H.W. Bush by his glasses, then I heard the voice and knew it was him. Darryl Stingley is in the red coat behind him.

Oh wow. The Subaru Brat. Picture it. Hampton Virginia, 1998. Our bus has to go out of the way to pick up this girl whose mom would park one of these at the end of their long junk strewn driveway. It was a house and driveway that would look normal where I live now, out in the middle of country nowhere, but in Hampton it stood out. The girl had one of those backpacks you would win by smoking a lot of Marlboros. She got a dress code violation for displaying the logo on her backpack. The kids didn't know what to make of the Brat or the girl. The bus only stopped at her house a couple of times that school year. Guess mom drove her in the Brat for the rest of the year. I didn't appreciate the Brat back then, it was just an odd looking old car.

What kind of puppy mill are they running in this Anacin-3 commercial. That's too many dogs yelping back there. I'm uncomfortable. It always amuses me in these Anacin commercials how the person with the headache is absolutely offended that anybody suggest they take three Tylenols. THREE?! Since I spent so long of my life on the bigger side, it was okay for me to take three Tylenol, would taking three completely make a smaller person sick? A normal sized person? I got down to 209 and my Chiropractor told me it was still ok for me to take three Tylenol.

My favorite commercial so far is one of the final ones in part 1. This snippy lil ad for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance.

"Does this mean we can't play golf tomorrow?" *manager throws knife across the table* "I didn't think so ... I--" (fade to black)

Oh you guys. Phyllis George introduced the Halftime Show. We remember Phyllis. This was before halftime shows had big names and even bigger productions. That wouldn't begin until 1992 when Michael Jackson performed.

His name is F.X. Matt. The "X" stands for Xavier. When I see "F.X." I just think of the short lived electronics store in my hometown. I just got in trouble with a bunch of New Yorkers didn't I?

Ethan Allan is still around.

Yup, we're watching a commercial about Lasso Herbicide during the Super Bowl. No flashy Pepsi commercials here!

1982 Honda Accord. Classic.

Ruth Gordon is Agnes Skinner-ing it UP in this Subaru Brat commercial. "JUST TELL EM IT SAVES YOU MONEY, BUSTER!"

I love Telly Savalas' commercial work. "cash."

Sarge the dog is the star of this Toyota Corolla Tercel commercial. "Bow wowowow" "We'll make it through the snow!"

This photo of Dan Rather is so awkward. It's like, "welp. stuff happened today. what are you gonna do about it? *shrugs*"

"when you're tired of flippin' channels on your TV clicker, or sitting in the dark watching the screen flickr, get up, get OUT, join the pickers and grinners havin' the time of their life at SSSSS Kickers!"

#1980s #old commercials #1982 #superbowl #superbowlcommercials

517. What was on ABC during the aftermath of the San Francisco Earthquake (October 17, 1989)

I know it's been 36 years, but I still can't believe that the day the World Series was in San Francisco, minutes before the game starts, there was a giant earthquake. I mean, a place that is known for one of the worst earthquakes on record in 1906 has another one while the general public has their eyes on them, and the cameras were rolling.

kinda.

We've all seen the clip where Al Michaels from ABC is giving a recap of the previous game between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's, and as we see the clip of Jose Canseco running, the picture breaks up, suddenly and that that green ABC WORLD SERIES title card pops up. The audio still remains, and you can hear Al Michaels say "I'll tell you what, we're having an earth- [...]well, folks ... that was the greatest opening in the history of television, bar none!" with the crowd cheering in the background, not knowing how serious the earthquake was yet.

But what was ABC showing while they struggled to get a network feed back to San Francisco? Well, someone was smart enough to record the satellite airing of it that evening. (mirror) (second mirror)

They throw to commercial, which I think they were getting ready to do before the quake, because Al asks if "they're in commercial?". The first commercial we see after that confusing turn of events?

Acura. Acura was three years old at this point. Still a baby in the car world.

Oh, I know Darnell the man with the headache from the Tylenol commercial from my Simpsons season one tapes. He has pain. He hurts.

Then there's a Michelin commercials with those babies that sit in the tire. Pass.

Nobody needed Charlie Gibson screaming "GOOD MORNING AMERICA" at us Robin Williams style at that moment. If there was an r/commercialsihate in 1989 this would be discussed.

Oh no, Larry and Balki are being held hostage on this week's Perfect Strangers. This was season 5 episode 5 "Dog Day Mid Afternoon".

Back to that foreboding World Series green card, and then into the season one episode three episode of Roseanne "Divorce". Aw, I miss young Becky. Mark ruined her life. There's an announcer who says "We now join Roseanne, already in progress!". Okay, so this is a dumb question, I don't know much about broadcasting. Is there, or was there a person on hand at the major network whose job it was to announce special bulletins such as this? Or was it a requirement for someone at the control board to have a smooth buttery voice along with knowing how to work the control board?

This man in the Coke commercial looks SO familiar, but I can't pinpoint who he is.

I think this makes anybody who was in high school back in 1999 immediately uncomfortable. Michael Bolton sings the jingle in this ad though! This was right before he hit it big.

Halle Berry: Never before have I gotten a C in my life! Redheaded girl: Neither have I! No matter how hard I try! (Ok, is she me in high school? )

"Due to an earthquake in the San Francisco area, we have lost the feed from our World Series truck. We will keep you informed of the situation."

How fancy is this place Dan and Roseanne are at?! Dancing, lobster! Reminds me of how I romanize old newspaper ads for the giant Holiday Inn we had in my hometown. This is how I picture it when I see an ad from 1980-something for the Valentines Day or New Years Eve special. Dan and Roseanne were so cute in the early days of the show.

Roseanne is still talking when we see a silent Special Report graphic. We get Ted Koppel for a few minutes, but due to the ABC national feed being down, he doesn't have much information other than some overhead shots from the Goodyear Blimp, and a live feed from the local ABC station, KGO. Since Ted can't get any information, we go back to Roseanne. He says "I'm ted Koppel for now, Good Evening" ... what? Who ends a sentence with "Good Evening" like that?

ABC still thought there was going to be a ball game at this point. They even had that buttery voiced man say that "preparations are proceeding now in San Francisco for the game number three of the World Series, we will get back to it as soon as we possibly can. Meantime we will keep you informed of the situation." That scene of the whole Conner family sans mom and dad asleep on the couch while a movie plays in the background is so dreamy. Perfect sleep conditions.

Wow, it is taking a real long time for ABC to get a feed running in San Francisco. We've sat through the majority of an episode of Roseanne and now it's time for The Wonder Years. That show made me so sad as a kid. I would be upstairs trying to fall asleep and it would be on tv downstairs, and some of the music that would play and the situations I would overhear made me tear up a little. This episode is season 2, episode 14, "Birthday Boy" where Kevin's birthday and Paul's Bar Mitzvah are on the same day.

Ted Koppel broke in again during the beginning of the episode to show footage of the broken Bay Bridge and the collapsed Cypress Street Viaduct. Years ago, I brought up the little red car that drove off that opening of the Bay bridge and crashed into the lower level. The driver passed away and her brother lived but with serious injuries. 42 people died at the Viaduct. (It was originally thought that nearly 200 people were killed) Since so many people either were at the game, or at bars watching the game, or left home early to watch the game there were less people on the roads that day. 1 That game saved people's lives! It appeared at least on TV that it took a few minutes for people to mentally leave that party atmosphere and realize something serious had happened.

In 2000, when I was 17 my family moved, and I found my dad's old disaster newspapers that he saved. He saved several newspapers from the Earthquake and that's how I learned about the Earthquake and what happened at the Viaduct. I read about the boy and girl who was rescued from a crushed car and the first responders had to cut through a dead passenger in the car to free the boy. 2 That stayed with me for a long time.

https://i.imgur.com/ZS5J9BM.gif

Ted Koppel talked for about ten minutes, and they went back to the Wonder Years! Ted even said he didn't see the point of "babbling on". Our unbothered queen, Ted Koppel.

It was about 5:41 P.M. / 8:41 P.M.

Wait, hold up. That Coca-Cola commercial I brought up earlier airs again, and does it take place in San Francisco? This looks like SF?

"I'm a pushover for a perfect panty!" The little immature kid in me is wants to cracking up that a panty commercial ran while everybody at home was trying to figure out what was going on in San Francisco.

The Tina Turner Plymouth Voyager commercial! I brought up her Plymouth commercials shortly after she died a couple of years ago.

Right in the middle of some sort of PSA where a teenage girl says "my mom threw me out, she said I was too much to handle. It's pretty terrible out here--", we finally get continuous breaking news coverage from Ted Koppel. It was pretty terrible out there, indeed.

The New York Times criticized the early coverage of the Earthquake the following day:

But the familiar presences came across in unaccustomed disarray. On their usual programs, they are in full control, delivering the day's events in trimmed and polished fashion. They seem like the masters of our fates. But now they were casting about for ragtags of elusive information. Mr. Koppel was particularly frank about television's helplessness without on-the-scene reports. The communications wonders that we all take for granted were out of service. There were pictures without sound and sound without pictures, jumpy pictures and ill-identified ones. The vulnerability of these men and the medium on which the nation depends was unsettling: matters must really be out of control when the controllers of the news are unable to deliver it. [...]

It was not until around midnight, after Dan Rather had given way to Pat Sajak, as abrupt a transition as television is likely to bring us, and shortly before Mr. Koppel bade goodnight, that the magnitude of the highway collapse in Oakland started becoming clear. 3

There was even an article a few days later questioning NBC's poor coverage of the event:

Here's a small bit of Chuck. Here's what little I could find from Brokaw.

Haberman, Clyde . “Promises of Preparedness Followed Devastating Earthquakes. And Yet.” New York Times , April 13, 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/14/us/promises-of-preparedness-followed-devastating-earthquakes-and-yet.html.

UPI. “Body Cut to Free Quake-Trapped Boy Wasn’t His Mother - UPI Archives.”, October 28, 1989. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/10/28/Body-cut-to-free-quake-trapped-boy-wasnt-his-mother/7968625550400/.

Goodman, Walter. “Review/Television; How the Networks Coped With Scant Information.” New York Times , October 19, 1989. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/19/us/review-television-how-the-networks-coped-with-scant-information.html.

#1980s #1989 San Francisco earthquake #1989 #world series #ted koppel #Roseanne #wonder years

244. The Big List of Favorite Commercials Volume 21

Previously All the Big Lists of Favorite Commercials

80's Ads Crisco Corn Oil 1987 remastered

(I discovered this watching the Jaboody Show, check out their reaction)

This commercial is so sexual for coin oil...and it has Rondell Sheridan in it! Additionally, there a lady who tears a bell pepper across her spouses face.

"That was the hottest corn oil ad I've ever seen!"

Pats Chili Dogs - Cinderella 1983

omg I miss hot dogs. Ever since I had stomach surgery a few years back they're too greasy for me. I want a chili dog made by that happy cook.

Stove Top Stuffing Commercial with Yogi Berra

I love his delivery. He knows it's ridiculous that he's up there doing a commercial for microwave Stove Top.

Hiland Chip Commercial, 1992 (starts @ 3:18)

I can see why this giant resealable bag didn't work out. So unwieldy. One false move in the la-z-boy and chips everywhere.

Dove Soap Commercial

Bev's daughter's boyfriend is hitting on her! According to this comment, Bev was a commercial star!

Can you find anymore commercials of Bev Thornton? She’s my grandma and we can only find this one. We know she did one for Ralph’s with Shirley Jones where they sat on a couch and talked about Ralph’s. She also did another one for Dove where she was standing with horses talking about the “7 day test”.

Dristan Nasal Spray - "Breathing Bag Test" (Commercial, 1980)

What...what is that thing she breathes out of. I would never be able to fill up that bag. I'd be her before the Dristan 24/7. Even with the Vicks nose spray I use sometimes I wouldn't be able to fill up that bag!

Mead Neatbook commercial

These were terrible for keeping notes in, but great for conveniently carrying around loose leaf paper without a binder.

Crazy Calls - answering machine tape TV ad

Can you imagine trying to leave someone an important message about a family member dying and you hear "hey HOW ARE YA SORRY I'M NOT AT HOME!" or the Can Can or the rap?! The RAP.

There was also a Holiday one.

Zayre (1984)

(starts @ :58)

I want to meet the person who had to work at Zayre at 4am leading up to Christmas. That had to be the pits.

iBook Commercial featuring Jeff Goldblum - Think Different Campaign

Ok, I cheated on this choice. I usually just hit shuffle on my favorites playlist on YouTube to get these selections. Not this one. I saw Wicked For Good again yesterday and man I love Jeff Goldblum in that movie so much. I'm so mad he didn't get a Golden Globe nomination. I know the Wizard is supposed to be a bad guy, but I love him too much. He so cute. He sounds like the Wizard 26 years before he was the Wizard at the end of this commercial when he's like "oh yes, oh yes *giggles*" Have you seen people convert their old iBooks to hold their iPads? That's so creative. Great reuse of old technology.

#1990s #1980s #old commercials

516. Daily Press, December 10, 1995

Batman looks a little shocked.

Okay, why does this toilet paper have baking soda. I'm looking it up:

Baking soda is already a common feature in the toothpaste market. Leading brands such as Colgate-Palmolive use it to improve taste and freshness.

Now Scott Paper, which makes the Andrex and Wet Wipes brands, is hoping to find the same success in the toilet paper market.

The company is carrying out a test launch in the US. Scott Paper will introduce the baking soda range through its best-selling US brand Cottonelle.

This summer’s launch will be backed by a television campaign created by Bozell Worldwide.

Although creative work is still under discussion, a Scott Paper spokesman says the ads will concentrate on the baking soda’s odour-eliminating and hygienic properties.

“There has been a little kickback here with jokes about going from one end to the other, but this is really advanced,” he adds. 1

So the toilet paper was, to be blunt, supposed to make your butt smell better?

I remember Bloxom's, it was just a couple of minutes from my house. The store was the size of most people's bathrooms.

Well, we have every bridal present in 1995 wrapped up in two photos. Breadmakers. I think their kids embraced them during the early days of Covid.

Mrs. Tea! I feel like I remember my mom briefly wanting one of these. I didn't realize until I was an adult that this it's just a coffee maker. You know, without your tea tasting like ten years of coffee.

There's our annual drafting desk. Remember Prang? I remember Prang not being good quality. Imagine paying 60 for Prangs.

I always call these "Lisa Simpson chairs" because she had a non rolling version in her room in the early seasons of Simpsons.

Is that two baby doll DIY POGs? These were alway such garbage toys, I mean what do you do with the toy once those 48 blank POGs were used up.

"Alligator included"

Pocahontas was still a thing? Maybe because I was 12 and jaded, but I thought the general public forgot about this movie by the end of the Summer. Update on what these Toys R Us stores are in 2025: Hampton's store, which was my childhood store, closed in 2006 and soon became an Ollie's. Chesapeake was torn down after the store closed in 2018. Norfolk became an East Coast Appliance. Virginia Beach was briefly a Dick's Sporting Goods Warehouse sale store, and now is an Academy Sports. Hey, it's all better than sitting around abandoned.

Christmas, 1995 was finally the year I got the Talkboy. I had wanted it the previous two Christmases but one year it was sold out and the following year I received a defective one and had to return it. I played with that toy to death, literally I wore it out. I still have him on my shelf though!

Woah, check out Kristy's step dad Watson on the cover of that Baby-Sitters Club box set.

Another awkward Batman! Also, I had no clue that Sailor Moon was popular enough in the States yet in 1995 to warrant its own "slumber bag" at Treasury Drug. It was just soap, a lil cup, a brush, and a tiny box of tissues.

Excuse me what is this Dannon Frozen Yogurt Pop Kit? What kit? Was it just a box of popsicle sticks? I gotta look again:

It's just a standard popsicle making kit! With a big spoon!

This was from an ad for a store I've never heard of, Toy Works. Was this the Toy Works that KB owned? Here's a list of locations:

From just some quick research, looks like it came to town in 1990. I don't see anything past 1998.

Well, I suddenly want a Garfield watch.

(Hills) You will not love U.

I'm probably allergic to that Wakko Warner bubble bath, but I want it anyway.

(Hills)

I didn't know that the Sweater Machine was still being made in 1995, I always thought it was the Harriet Carter catalog special from the very early 1990s, like I'm taking 1990. Redic. that you had to pay extra for the row counter. I love watching knitting machine videos on TikTok, but I know that would never be me because my undiagnosed learning disability brain would be on fire.

(Kmart)

I always thought the Coca-Cola polar bears looked derpy and I will not change my stance on it.

Looks like Eco Pop socks are long gone.

It's Looney Tunes, so it must be 1995.

(Farm Fresh) oh! These were the worst pie shells growing up! They tasted like the smell of a wet dog.

(Farm Fresh)

That is an illustration of 7Up Gold, straight out of the late 1980s. The soda flopped back around 1988. 2

I've run across a few commercials for this Presario model and I totally believe that it was $2,000 in 1995.

“Scott to Roll out Toilet Paper with Baking Soda.” Marketing Week. April 28, 1995. https://www.marketingweek.com/scott-to-roll-out-toilet-paper-with-baking-soda/.

McGill , Douglas C. 1989. “7-up GOLD: THE FAILURE of a CAN’T-LOSE PLAN.” The New York Times, February 11, 1989. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/11/business/7-up-gold-the-failure-of-a-can-t-lose-plan.html.

#1990s #1990s christmas #1990s childhood #old newspapers #1995

516. Daily Press, December 10, 1995

Did you know that my local-ish library's newspaper microfilms on ProQuest do not have the Sunday ads on their reels for the early 90s? So it's back to 1995.

I had no clue that Leggett (Belk) was hip enough to sell Airwalks.

This might be the most decent Glamour Shot I've ever seen. Remember how most of these would age the model dramatically? You're 12, getting Glamour Shots done? They're going to make you look 1990s 40 years old.

Let's all go down to Newmarket Fair Mall in its dying days to get our feet exam at the info desk.

Why I don't work from home.

Last time this Holiday Inn shows up on Google Maps is in 2007:

It's still an empty lot.

I was amazed at how expensive these one time use cameras were in 1995! I totally blocked out how expensive these were! This is the only camera my mom would use. Before that we had a Polaroid, and before that we used Kodak Disc, which my family never got developed!

woop woop we have a popcorn tin alert. I need to know when the popcorn tin became the ubiquitous present of the 1990s. Also, the multicolored pasta in the jar is a cousin to the inedible peppers in oil inside a bottle fad of the mid to late 90s.

I still sleep with a contour shaped pillow. I think my parents bought a knockoff of Silver Lightning that Christmas! I just have this brief memory of my dad using it Christmas Eve while we were getting the house ready for company? I can't remember what we put in the basin though! What did we have that needed Silver Lightning back then?? I don't think it worked well.

(part 2 in a minute)

#1990s #1995 #christmas #1990s christmas #old newspapers #Hampton virginia

515. The 1982 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade (November 25, 1982)

(link to parade)

(previously 1980, 1981, a highlight post I made years ago)

Man we're starting out with a banger from KNBC Los Angeles. CHRISTMAS TREE ON FIRE. Keep safe everybody, water those trees. My father the firefighter does not want to see you this Christmas.

I've been meaning to say this one for years. Hot take. I do not like that Mickey Mouse. Doesn't he look like a knockoff? Ricky Rouse. Maybe it's just the old TV footage that makes him not look real. Maybe it's the outfit.

My brat Bryant Gumbel is back for another parade! I was so upset a few months ago when an article came out that he was hospitalized. I saw on Al Roker's instagram that he seems to be on the mend now. Sarah Purcell from Real People was his cohost. She accidentally kept calling the Bullwinkle Balloon "Bullmoose". She clearly didn't have a script either, there's just one point where she's just narrating whats going on and how everybody is going t0 have good memories of today.

"Bullmoose"

Sammy Davis Jr. was interviewed by Sarah and he mentions that he's as old as the parade! Aw, he would've been 99 years old this year, which means the parade is almost 100! NBC better make a 3 hour best of program and air it the night before the parade next year.

This lil wind up guy was in one of the Toy Story movies, right? I don't know the franchise by heart, far from it, but man he looks familiar.

We have a Kermit is aloft alert. Kermit is in the air. His head is not deflated.

"You test me every (Thanksgiving) Day, boy" He didn't test us this Thanksgiving day.

What is Rick Schroder wearing. He looks like he's wearing the backroom of a dance studio. I wore that exact hat that time when I was five and my dance recital costume didn't come in time for program photo day so I had to wear something they had in the back. It was a blue sequin leotard and a red hat like Rick's. He was excited to see the girls at the parade.

There's this bit with the Shirt Tales and Bryant. "Just a minute!!" Why does Bulky the orangutan have a Jimmy Durante/Crispy Critters cereal mascot accent?

So it looks like Bryant is at Macys waiting of the parade to pass by, so that's where there's so many skits and lots of cuts to Sarah just ... narrating what's going on further up the street. One skit is two Betty Thomas (Velda from Troop Beverly Hills!!) and Joe Spano from Hill Street Blues singing. I need Homage to sell those Hill Street Blues logo sweatshirts they're wearing.

Guys, we are only 22 minutes in. The Big Apple Circus comes in and saves the day though.

It's crazy how the Broadway performers such as Dreamgirls just performed with the production crew behind them, not like today where they perform with Macys and the audience behind them.

Uh oh I think the Happy Dragon had a mishap because Bryant is showing clips of his prior outings at the parade.

That Olive Oyl balloon is way too tall. She was struggling. I mean just look at her shoes.

Shout out to my Instagram friend Dawn who works at this Ronald McDonald house, it's now known as The Boston House. I haven't brought up the commercials too much because it's mostly for Ideal toys, McDonalds, arcade games, and Bell phones. I do love the American Greetings "Can I have the envelope?" commercial.

The Fame dancers were amazing. Sarah was still having problems with her mike so we didn't get to hear her introduce them. Can we move her somewhere else on the route, would that help?

Keith Carradine got to sit on the turkey this year. I love seeing her head bob and her eyes flutter. I mean look at those lashes, that's definitely a girl turkey.

/edit/

I mean this year, in 2025, she came out to that "where the hell is my husband?!" song. That confirms it, she's a girl. She's looking for her husband at the parade. Maybe he's the inflatable turkey that's at the Macys entrance.

Ahh! The Count is there...and Barkley bites him?!

The Oak Ridge Boys with the fur and the sunglasses!

I love Bryant's delivery when he sees the Flintstones celebrating the 25h anniversary of Hanna Barbera.

I haven't seen Sarah in a while.

Not my favorite Esnupi baloon, but I love seeing him. The modern day Snoopy balloon makes a cameo in the 2025 Macys Thanksgiving commercial. I just randomly saw that commercial on mom's tv while writing this entry.

The very small (hey, Bryant says it, I didn't say it) Paul Williams sings "You And Me Against the World" to the Olive Oyl balloon. Oh, and he's holding a plastic lobster.

aw, I think Felix is lost.

Andy Gibb was on a ship float to perform "Any dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat. Just weeks later he would be asked to leave the production:

Here's some footage of him performing taken from the news program Live at Five.

Sarah finally shows back up at 2 hours in. Just in time to introduce us to some puppets from Nickelodeon and ... is that Moose from You Can't Do That On Television?

Right after Underdog, there was a McDonalds commercial fully in Spanish. That was pretty advanced for 1982.

The Rockettes wore gold this year.

Boomers these days complain about pop acts being at the parade, but in 1982 Laura Branigan sang "Gloria" on a rocking horse.

I think Woody was having problems. He was so low to the ground, he was high fiving bystanders. He was the last ballon!

Goodbye from Bryant and his family.

#1980s #1982 #thanksgiving #bryant gumbel #kermit #Betty thomas #macysparade #Macys thanksgiving day parade #macys

newest entry:

Hi all I didn’t want anybody to miss anything on Thanksgiving. Tonight after I cook n eat dinner, I’ll properly paste the html for this entry here

(link to parade) (previously 1980, 1981, a highlight post I made years ago) Man we’re starting out with a banger from KNBC Los Angeles. CHRI

514. The Paula Poundstone Show, 10/30/1993, 11/6/1993

(source)

I associate this show with Halloween when I was 10. No, I didn't watch it the night it aired, because it aired on a Saturday at 10pm, but for some reason I remember the show from the constant promotion. I distinctly remember her giving those trick or treaters the show's logo.

(source)

Thing is, why would I know who Paula was when I was 10? I feel like I remember seeing her on TV before this, but I didn't watch her classic Cats, Cops, and Stuff until I was in middle school when Comedy Central showed it all the time. I think I was just interested in her from those commercials, I guess? We watched a lot of ABC back then, so the promos were inescapable. This fellow kid on Reddit remembers the commercials being shown relentlessly as well.

Also lil me wouldn't forget someone who dressed as quirky as she did. I loved quirky clothes back then as much as I do now.

She hosted the ABC Saturday Night movie two weeks before as a way to promote the show. The movie was When Harry Met Sally.

The graphics department was ITC Curlz'ing it UP. There's this cute bit where Paula and Pepe the dog reenact the infamous scene from the movie.

(source, TV Guide Fall Preview 1993 issue)

Early press on the show wasn't that great?

Take “The Paula Poundstone Show,” which has a star in stand-up comic Poundstone and a network in ABC, but apparently not much else at this writing. Ask ABC for details regarding this Saturday-night hour, and the response is hemming, hawing and shuffling feet. What is “The Paula Poundstone Show” about? The answer you finally get could apply to much of television itself. 1

Not long after ABC announced a 13-episode order for this series, rumblings began that the show was in trouble because it didn't have a concept. And up until a few weeks ago, it still didn't have a concept. That attitude will probably be its strength as well as its weakness: Series may seem too loose and goofy to attract masses of Saturday night viewers, but cult status seems assured. 2

The comedian is fighting a series of minor skirmishes with the network to create a program that's a comfortable fit for her, if not cut from typical TV cloth.

"I suppose it's a cross between a variety show and a talk show, I guess. But I don't really have a good one-word description," Poundstone says. "I realize this has somehow bothered people."

There are fresh cautionary tales out there about folks who said they wanted to be different, but had a hard time describing exactly what that meant.

Remember The Chevy Chase Show? Talk show by a tall guy, movie star type, lasted shy of two months? Going in, Chase and Fox Broadcasting Co. said the show would be different. Uh huh.

Now comes Poundstone, echoing those comments. Uh oh. 3

(source)

Ok ok ok, I'll begin watching the first episode. There's one copy on the Internet Archive , and there's another copy on YouTube. The YouTube copy is missing the first few seconds.

Highlights:

There's a brief house tour. She has a water pistol in case her cats are bad, and she keeps take out menus in her dishwasher. Check out the fax machine.

Shelley the recycling lady. Telephone books used to take up a lot of room in landfills! I think the phonebook my parents and I got at the house this year was 50 pages. It was less pages than a monthly magazine.

Paula's "oh you're 90s rich rich" tv set.

Ned Flanders was in the audience! Ned's father in law liked Paula's recent coverage at the Emmy awards, which sadly I cannot find on YouTube. I vaguely remember this! Until ten minutes ago, my entire life I thought that was Ellen doing commentary. I remember a joke about Paula showing things backstage. One of the things was a high ladder that went into crawlspace? She joked that a very pregnant Laurie Metcalf had to climb that ladder to get to the press room. See, I'm not explaining the joke correctly.

The timeline of other Saturday night at 10pm shows on ABC. Love Boat was the last show to succeed at that time slot. I think that season of China Beach was the season before it was put on hiatus during the middle of its final season.

"The two hundred people here may be the only viewers!"

She then measures audience shares with cookies with a guy from ABC as her guest. She gives a cookie to someone in the audience who remembered Pink Lady and Jeff. Paula's show needed 12 cookies to stay on the air.

Sam Donaldson reading Where the Wild Things Are. How did they get the rights to read that book? Is Sam still with us? *googles* Yes, he's 91!

Did the audience get beer?

Lowlights: People in the audience kinda didn't get her standup at the beginning, I don't think? The response was a little tepid? David.

Talking to economists on a teacup ride. This subject was just too serious for a comedy show. Don't bum us out about the economy while we're trying to have a good time.

Since Paula couldn't talk to a Neilsen family, she talked to people who lived next to Leslie Neilsen? According to one of the kids, nobody gives out Halloween candy in that neighborhood.

The set. It's so junky!

JOEL FROM MST3K?! What are you doing here?! Oh, now I KNOW there has to be some posts about this show in the MST3K newsgroup archives. I didn't really see any!

(source) The second episode aired on November 6, an hour earlier at 9pm. Why did ABC do that? Way to confuse your viewers, ABC. I only found one promo for the second episode.

Highlights:

Carl Lewis. She channels him to a race for December 4th. Oh.

According to Paula, Jackie Joyner-Kersee was going to help train her in an episode in her race against Carl! She told Paula that Carl starts races slow and then speeds up, so Paula should start the race fast to give her an edge. 4

Paul and Senator Paul Simon ride on some amusement park rides while he gives her a lesson in Civics. I wondered why we hadn't heard from him lately. He died in 2003.

Paula gave a little shout out to Nurses on NBC: "the home viewer right now could switch to watch Nurses." My mom and I would watch that show on Saturday nights.

The nurses lounge bit with Lily Tomlin when Paula splats ketchup on her with a syringe.

Al Green singing "Love is a Beautiful Thing." I remember hearing the Michael Bolton cover of this song on the radio constantly around this time. This version is better. No offense to Michael, I love Michael.

She talks to a 17 year old boy named Curtis who works at a movie theater in Idaho. They were decked!out! for Addams Family Values. The hardest part of his job was telling customers the price of popcorn. It was ... $3.50 for a large popcorn in 1993. I checked the amc app, and it's $10.79 right now at the amc in my hometown of Hampton, Virginia. The audience was grossed out to find out that the theater kept the leftover popcorn til the next morning in case the popcorn maker is broken. (Oh, turns out the audience is drinking soda!)

Lowlights: The opening segment was so dry. It was Paula getting out of a hot tub in a full scuba suit with flippers, picking up the shows logo, and walking into the studio. Mr. Blackwell had criticized her fashion the week before in TV Guide apparently.

The conversation with the CPA who recognized the movie The Trouble with Angels. Thankfully, Al Green's baby crying in the dressing room interrupted them.

The budget bit? Where Paula brought up a guy who tried to explain the 1993 budget? That bit took too long! More people in Iowa on a Saturday night!

Paula talking to the practices lady, Susan from ABC again at the end of the show. It was the same.exact.bit.

And that's a wrap for Paula. That was it. The show did not get those 12 cookies it needed. It got NO COOKIES:

ABC, not amused by rock-bottom ratings, has canceled "The Paula Poundstone Show" after only two airings. "Matlock" reruns are filling in while the network tries to decide what to do with the tough 8 p.m. Saturday time slot. Poundstone's self-consciously quirky mix of music, comedy and audience interaction finished 96th in the Nielsens in its second and final outing, coming in just above Fox's last-place "Townsend Television." 5

This show would've slapped on Comedy Central back in 1993, however I don't know if Comedy Central had money for something of this level back then.

(source)

The end of year TV reviews were harsh:

The Paula Poundstone Show" (ABC)/ Canceled after two episodes, Poundstone's new-wave variety show was about as enthralling as an old-fashioned high-school assembly. 8

The Paula Poundstone Show got a double exposure before ABC yanked it into oblivion.

The ratings for both shows were disastrous, and not just compared with those of other new network programs this season. They made history. South of Sunset had what are believed to be the lowest numbers of any big-three-network prime-time fall premiere since ratings began. In its second week, Poundstone's numbers were even worse than Sunset's.

[...]

"The Paula Poundstone Show wasn't just weak," said Alan Sternfeld, ABC senior vice president for program planning and scheduling. "It was extremely weak. Live From Studio 8-H With Zubin Mehta could have gotten the same numbers." 9

We all remember South of Sunset.

There were some nice things critics said about the show:

Worst use of talent: ABC's jilting of ``The Paula Poundstone Show'' after a two-episode engagement.

Poundstone was an erratic rambler. But if ABC hadn't forced her to cut out the heart of her stand-up act, she would have rocked boats and won viewers with a humorous but hard-edged package of opinions and common sense. 6

The Paula Poundstone Show, ABC: Standup comic Paula Poundstone can be hilarious, but this hour-long variety series, while showing flashes of real brilliance, spread her too thin. 7

In closing, here is a giant poster for her show that I found on eBay from seller Lost Vintage, who has several posters of other short lived ABC programs from the early 90s. I tried to make a $30 offer for that poster, but they were charging $20 for shipping. Nah, I can barely afford food right now. I need my lil treats.

Rosenberg, Howard. “THE NEW TV SEASON : You Can Laugh All You Want . . . : Of the 38 New Series, Five Are Stellar Comedies. That’s Nice. But Where Are the Dramas with Something to Say about Life?” Los Angeles Times, September 13, 1993. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-13-ca-35403-story.html.

Gray, Tim. “The Paula Poundstone Show.” Variety, October 29, 1993. https://variety.com/1993/tv/reviews/the-paula-poundstone-show-1200433536/.

LYNN ELBER. 1993, Oct 30 "LETTING LOOSE THAT'S WHAT COMEDIAN PAULA POUNDSTONE IS DOING ON ABC. CELEBRITIES AND EVERYDAY FOLK WILL GET THEIR SHOT ON HER NEW NOT- QUITE-TALK, NOT- QUITE-VARIETY TV SHOW.: [ALL EDITION]." Sun Sentinel, 3.

Poundstone, Paula. There’s Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say. Three Rivers Press, 2007. 55.

Pennington, Gail. 1993, Nov 16 "POUNDSTONE'S QUIRKINESS DRAWS TOO FEW VIEWERS: [FIVE STAR EDITION]." St.Louis Post - Dispatch, 6D.

Engstrom, John. "CHECKING THE TUBE CONTRAST AT MIDSEASON." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 31, 1993: 26.

Smith, Steven Cole. "Facing the nation - The television networks produced a mixed bag of tricks this year, not all of which were magical." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 29, 1993: 1

Holston, Noel. "One year's story - It's the best of TV, it's the worst of TV - choice viewing." Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities, December 27, 1993: 01E.

Storm, Jonathan. "NOW YOU SEE THEM, NOW YOU DON'T." Philadelphia Inquirer, The , November 21, 1993: H01.

#1990s #90stv #1993 #abc #the Paula Poundstone show #flops

514. Yogurt

When I was growing up in the late 80s and early 90s, the only yogurt memories I have is of Dannon fruit on the bottom and Yoplait, and to a much lesser extent, LaYogurt and the Marva Maid local dairy yogurt. I only remember the pineapple one and primarily eating it because my boy Ernest did the commercials for Marva Maid when I was lil.

(source)

(1989)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, yogurt became more mainstream. 1 Dannon Yogurt was becoming more popular in the United States due to an expansion into the West Coast, thus becoming the largest selling yogurt in the country by 1980. The leading seller out West? Coffee. 2

(1988)

I don't know anything about this Fresh Flavors line made with real fruit juice, but it has the coffee yogurt in the ad.

(1987)

This yogurt tote is cracking me up. Ok, it probably kept your yogurt cold for an hour.

I knew I didn't make up that Dannon had two tops when I was a kid, a foil one and that clear plastic one. I feel like I remember trying to take the clear plastic off and making a bracelet out that top lid once.

Nuts and Raisins looks good, but I bet it wasn't, because looks like it didn't last long.

Dannon caved in and began making blended yogurts, in the "French style" 3. They were named Y.E.S. and ... Melange? Oh! I mentioned Y.E.S. in the Harry Anderson commercial entry from a few years back.

Of course, since it was the 80s, someone called a Stop & Shop Supermarket in Brookline, Massachusetts and claimed they put cyanide the Dannon yogurt. 5

Yoplait arrived to the United States in the late 1970s/early 1980s. In Orlando, Yoplait arrived with a celebration involving a hot air balloon in 1980:

(source)

(source -- ok, I know the video quality is bad, but it looks like she's running in a pair of pink underwear and the little immature kid in my brain is cracking up.)

Look at that Breakfast Yogurt. I wonder if Dannon copied that.

I just realized right NOW that Yoplait no longer makes plain yogurt in the tub. I would blurt out and say "all they care about now is their sugary yogurt", but turns out, a few years ago, they took the high fructose corn syrup out of the yogurt, and now (for me) it tastes too tart. I never thought in the lords year 2025 that I would be putting a sugar packet in Yoplait yogurt. I mostly eat the Yoplait Oui in the glass containers now because its the only one that tastes like fruit of the bottom yogurt of my childhood.

Since Dannon was so prevalent in New York City, Yoplait decided to use a local icon in their commercials: the guy from the Crazy Eddie commercials:

The Yoplait U.S.A. team, in order to remain consistent with its national effort, racked its collective brain for an immediately recognizable New Yorker whose appearance in behalf of Yoplait will be a cause of surprise.

Well, the name Jerry Carroll may not ring a bell, but when you see Jerry on the tube beginning tonight frantically gesticulating in behalf of Yoplait and ending up babbling in French, all against a background of audio and video equipment, you will know him immediately - Crazy Eddie's TV salesman. You've known his scream for a decade. And now you'll hear it for Yoplait, and partly in French, for three months. Commented Miss McCarren, ''He is sort of the Howard Cosell of retail.'' 4

In 1998, activists began to complain that skunks were getting their heads stuck in empty Yoplait containers. Yoplait put a label on the containers that started "protect wildlife: crush before disposal", and put a rim at the bottom of the containers so the animals could use their legs to push the container off of their heads. 7 Yes, like that episode of Pepper Ann with the pyramid shaped peanut butter containers.

Finally in closing here is a New York Times review of the many yogurts of the time, note how most of them are described as "chalky":

Back then, they hated LaYogurt. Cut to 2025, and the New York Times Wirecutter staff loves the nonfat plain version:

If you live on the East Coast: La Yogurt Nonfat Yogurt’s glossy, pudding-like texture impressed us in a category that skewed watery and thin. We also liked its sweet-tart strawberry-like tang and its comparatively low price. At the time of testing, we were under the impression that La Yogurt was a nationally distributed brand. We were wrong — it turns out that it’s only sold in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast. If it was more widely distributed, La Yogurt Nonfat would have been a top pick. (We liked the La Yogurt Whole Milk and Lowfat yogurts too, though not quite as much as our picks.) 6

Note: before anybody goes WhAt aBoUt dAnNoN SpRiNkLiNs aNd tRiX YoGuRt?! I didn't include those because those were gross. I'm sorry. They're gross!

Bender, Dean. “Yogurt Becomes Staple in Many American Diets.” The Pensacola News, July 18, 1981.

Vilkin, Richard. “From New York to L.A., Its Dannon Land!” The Greenville News, May 15, 1980.

Sheraton, Mimi. “New Yogurt Products Evaluated.” Tampa Tribune, July 23, 1981.

Dougherty, Phillip H. 1985. “ADVERTISING; Yoplait Yogurt on The Move.” New York Times, July 31, 1985. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/31/business/advertising-yoplait-yogurt-on-the-move.html. https://archive.is/wip/S1R3Z.

Alters, Diane. 1986. “BROOKLINE STOP &SHOP REMOVES; DANNON YOGURT AFTER CALLER SAYS IT WAS POISONED WITH CYANIDE:” Boston Globe, July 15, 1986.

The New York Times. “11 Yogurts Worth Their Weight in Granola.” August 19, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-yogurt/. https://archive.is/p0wUV

Rogers, Paul. “It’s Nature vs. Marketing When Skunks and Yoplait Containers Meet.” Tallahassee Democrat, July 23, 1998.

#1980s #1990s #1980s food #1990s food #yogurt #yoplait #dannon

512. Daily Press, July 30, 1995, part 4

(part 3)

(Hills?)

I want to go back to the Buy One Get One Free Neutrogena days. Gimmie all that Rainbath that oddly smells like what I imagine the late 70s smelling like.

(Hills)

Come on, we were buying school supplies. Ain't no time to buy Pocahontas dolls!

(Roses) I'm dying to know what the girl on the far right end of this photo said to get that reaction. She said something, I know it.

(Roses)

🎵 🎶 DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO🎵 🎶

(Roses)

Oh the holographic Yikes! pencils with the ridges were the best ones.

(CVS)

I will always post an old Evian bottle and a giant bag of licorice.

Beakman and Jax is teaching us how to annoy our parents with a nail file and a cottage cheese tub.

Mixed Media was one of my favorite strips as a kid. I wasn't aware that Waterworld that had just come out was already a big joke. It had only come out the Friday prior. We got another Connie Chung vs. Dan Rather mention!

Luann went into a Time Machine and came back wearing a full 2016 makeup beat.

Southern Poverty Law Center. “Austin v. James.” Accessed August 9, 2025. https://www.splcenter.org/resources/civil-rights-case-docket/austin-v-james/.

Vincent, Mal. “PORKING OUT WITH PINKY.” Virginian Pilot , July 30, 1995. https://web.archive.org/web/20250810023509/https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950730/07300046.htm

#1995 #1990s fashion #back to school #back to school 2025

512. Daily Press, July 30, 1995 part 3

(part 2)

Uh oh, we have super scary airline alert. Just a month earlier, they had an incident where there was an engine failure and a fire that destroyed the plane.

( I can't remember which store the first two screenshots came from, [and ProQuest is down right now] but the third one is from Hills) Vests. Vests everywhere. I did not own a vest then, I had them a few years prior in third grade because mom thought they hid my stomach, but they didn't. I still hate vests 30 years later.

Oh no the dad from That 70s show is mad as hell that he paid too much for cheap poorly made furniture.

(Super Fresh)

Oh!! These were so good! These were sold at my high school, and at the Target snack bar that used to be called Skedaddles. Wait, is Veryfine juice still a thing?

(Walmart)

I had this Nike binder! I loved it, but it was way too big! I only used it maybe the first two months of school? A few years ago, I bought one off eBay and put neon loose leaf paper inside and used it as a journal.

(WalMart)

I feel like I had this set of Kodak colored pencils at one point in my life, and they were probably very poor quality. What was Kodak doing making colored pencils?

(WalMart)

It was always so sad to see companies try to copy JanSpot and EastPak back then.

Ohhhh this was when LA Gear gave up and went to Walmart and sold the shoe everybody's mom had in the mid 90s.

(WalMart)

I was about to say "see what I mean, sponges!" but I see that the leaves are rub on transfers.

(Revco) I forgot this was Summer of the Pogs.

Revco

I knew I didn't make up the fact that Campbell's once made ramen, and of course since it's 1995, there's a low fat version too.

So this is something. The Revco paper was celebrating a grand opening, and honestly they were doing way too much for a small hole in the wall store. I actually used to work next door to this store when it was a Rite Aid in the Summer of 2008. It was a very small, outdated store. As you can see, it's been closed for a while.

They had the best snacks though.

(Montgomery Ward?)

This is what you had if you couldn't afford a computer.

Grammer.

(Hills)

Looney Tunes shirts were still a thing. Girls only wore those shoes the first couple of weeks of 7th grade it seems.

I adore this kid from the Hills sales paper. Little Martin Prince over here.

(Hills)

I vaguely remember these denim pencils. I think my niece showed them to me when she bought her school supplies that year. I feel like I also remember the pencils not sharpening that well?

(Hills)

Back then, as a kid who watched a lot of TV that summer, it felt like Michael's HIStory album was dunzo, out of the zeitgeist by July of 1995. Was it the weirdly uncomfortable "You Are Not Alone" music video that did it? That Paula Abdul album was dead on arrival. Also what in the World was Born to be Wild? It had only come out in theaters back in March. Yikes.

Southern Poverty Law Center. “Austin v. James.” Accessed August 9, 2025. https://www.splcenter.org/resources/civil-rights-case-docket/austin-v-james/.

Vincent, Mal. “PORKING OUT WITH PINKY.” Virginian Pilot , July 30, 1995. https://web.archive.org/web/20250810023509/https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950730/07300046.htm

512. Daily Press, July 30, 1995, part 2

(part 1)

Alabama chain gangs were discontinued a year later. 1

Pinky showed up to the opening of Babe at a local theater that Summer! 2

Remember that TikTok doctor who got in trouble for dancing and twerking during surgeries? This Ann Landers column is giving that.

OH. Remember when Whale Watching was a huge thing? Days after I made this screen capture, I cataloged on a yearbook at work from 1994, and there was a page devoted to a whale watching trip:

(Smithfield High School, Smithfield, VA)

Never forget all of Joan Lunden's commercials for Vaseline Intensive Care.

Ok, news over.

Duck Head pants were not sexy. They never looked flattering on a guys butt, and I mean a duck on the back of your pants? What are we, four?

If you had money to burn, you went to Paul's.

#the 1990s #1990s #1990s fashion #old newspapers #back to school #back to school 2025 #1995

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