Fashion is cyclical but I don’t think that one is coming back. In the olden times before zippers were all pants button fly or did they just cinch their pants up with a piece of rope? Before zippers did pants even have flys? And why are they called that? What’s a good documentary about the history of pants?
Remember Must See TV? I do. It started in 1993 and ran to 2006. Before and after that there was nothing you were required to see on TV. But for those 14 years watching these shows was mandatory by law. And everyone went alone with it. Now people won’t even wear masks to prevent the spread of a killer virus.
In 93 the lineup was Mad About You, Wings, Seinfeld, and Frasier. Seinfeld and Frasier were both top 10 shows that year. Which surprised me because I feel like the TV lore was that Seinfeld struggled in the first year. I loved Wings so much. I’m pretty sure that show is weak ass.
94 was Mad About You, Friends, Seinfeld, and swapping around with Hope & Gloria and a show called Madman of the People. I have a vague recollection of Hope and Gloria, two broads getting into very mildly comedic situations. I have no memory of Madman of the People. According to wikipedia it’s one of the highest-rated shows ever to get cancelled.
95, Friends, Seinfeld, Caroline in the City, and swapping around with Boston Common and The Single Guy. I also loved Caroline in the City, which is probably also horrible. I think I just thought Lea Thompson was a dish. I loved Boston Common as well. I thought it was HIGH-larious. Also Traylor Howard was on it, dish alert! Anthony Higgins Clark was the lead. I saw him on Conan a few times and the interviews were always super awkward and weird, and not in a funny way. I don’t know if that’s a bit or what. I never watched the Single Guy, that guy from Weekend At Bernie’s is only good when he’s weekending at Bernie’s.
96, Friends, Seinfeld (I didn’t know they were on at the same time for so long) and then oh boy shuffle city – rotating through The Single Guy, Suddenly Susan, The Naked Truth, and Fired Up. Suddenly Susan was an awful show with Brooke Shields, The Naked Truth was an awful show with Tea Leoni where she played a big old slut, and Fired Up was an okay show with Sharon Lawrence and Leah Remini. Everyone one of these shows was in the top 10 – Must See TV was at full power. Put anything in with Seinfeld and Friend and you had a hit buddy.
97, Friends, Seinfeld, Veronica’s Closet and then swapsy-do with Union Square and Just Shoot Me. Veronica’s Closet was a terrible show about Kirsty Alley selling lingerie. I have no memory of Union Square. I loved Just Shoot Me. And I think that it might actually be an okay show.
98, Friends, Frasier, Veronica’s Closet and then flip-flop with Will & Grace and Jesse. Seinfeld was done, could Frasier anchor the night as well? No, but still pretty good. Jesse was a horrible show with Christina Applegate. She was a single mom maybe? Will & Grace is now retroactively a hate crime because a straight dude played a gay dude. One time Megan Mullaly said that she was annoyed because she was garnering a lot of attention for being a “plus-sized” actress on that show. To be fair the other lady looked like a skeleton with a red wig on it.
99, Friends, Frasier, and then carousel – Jesse, Daddio, Stark Raving Mad, Battery Park. I never heard of those three new ones. Looks like they bombed hard. The power of Must See TV is over. Daddio was a sitcom starting Michael Chiklis? Yeah, that’s going to suck. Stark Raving Mad starred Tony Shalhoub and Neil Patrick Harris, which sounds solid but I guess not. Battery Park was a police comedy based on a failed ABC police comedy.
2000, Friends, Cursed, Will & Grace, and Just Shoot Me. Cursed was a show starring the dude from Wings. At first it was called the Stephen Webber show and it was a normal generic sitcom. Then it was doing poorly so they changed it to a show about a guy who’s cursed by a witch. It didn’t work but I wish shows would do that more. We’re failing anyway so let’s try something wacky. How about a vampire shows up and kills everyone?
2001, Friends, Will & Grace, Just Shoot Me, and then rotating between Friends re-runs, Leap of Faith and Inside Schwartz. They were airing Friends twice in prime-time people. More Friends was better than anything else they had. I have no memory of Leap of Faith, was it a Jesus sitcom? Inside Schwartz (terrible name) was a show in which they would do bits where sports people would show up and analyze the guy’s date like it was on ESPN. It was awful. 18 million people watched it and it was cancelled after 6 episodes. Today if half a million people watch your show they give you a dump-truck full of hundred dollar bills.
2002, Friends, Scrubs, Will & Grace, Good Morning Miami. I have no recollection of Good Morning Miami. When Scrubs was on originally I thought it looked stupid and unfunny. Then one time I was playing Magic at a dude’s house and Scrubs was on the TV and it was hilarious. I started watching re-runs on Comedy Central and it was often hilarious. Now when I see it I wonder how I ever liked it – it’s stupid and unfunny. That Second Becky has an ass on her though.
2003, Friends, and then hold your horses because it’s chaos. Rotation of Will & Grace, Scrubs, Good Morning Miami, re-runs of Friends, Coupling, and the Apprentice. No idea about Coupling, I think it was one of the first rip offs of a British show and it was garbage. Even before everyone hated Trump I hated the Apprentice. I had NO idea why people liked it. It was nothing.
2004, Joey, Will & Grace, and the Apprentice. Friends was over and so was Must See TV. Joey was a pile of puke.
2005, at the end there was no show in a regular time slot, it was all mix mash mix ‘em ups. Seems appropriate. In that mix were Joey, which was cancelled, Will & Grace which ended, Four Kings, The Office, My Name is Earl, and the Apprentice. No clue what Four Kings was. The first season of the Office was weak. I enjoyed My Name is Earl but it fell off a cliff after a couple seasons. Also everyone on it is a scientologist.
Rocket Cat 