6 Comments

The M*A*S*H* finally was certainly huge; we had just gotten a VCR, and I think that might've been one of the first things my dad recorded with it. I was one of the 77%, of course, but was too young to really understand the gravity of a communal event like that.

For me, the 1st one that comes to mind is Seinfeld's finale. A distant second might be the live footage of Columbine. obviously 2 VERY different events, but as a nation, we watched both together.

P.S. Our desks look similar! Mine is littered with notes I scribble on old teletype messages from work, but it's nice to see another analog native at work. :)

Expand full comment

lol, it's hard to rewire this old analog grey matter!

Expand full comment

The VCR. It was like a religious artifact, the VCR. At first, only my dad could touch it! I believe the reason MASH was that pivotal was that lack of other channels. By the time Seinfeld came along, there were so many other choices. I wonder what would happen to American society if we went back to 3 networks. Hmmm, maybe that is a story premise...

Expand full comment

Might be! And yeah, for quite some time my dad-and ONLY my dad- was allowed to touch the VCR. If I was lucky, he might let me use the (corded!) remote, but that was it.

Expand full comment

If you mean TV, then maybe "Who Shot J.R." was big--not as intense as M.A.S.H. of course. I think the Harry Potter books, then movies were huge. A lot of books and movies in a short period. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books#List_of_best-selling_book_series

Expand full comment

I was never a Dallas fan. I was a Dynasty fan. I remember there was a rivalry that the shows promoted, which was a way of uniting us as well. I like your platform

Expand full comment