Transcripts For CNNW The Nineties 20190707

Inside. There is always something on television and some of it may be better than we deserve. That was cool. Listen to it. Oh, they know when it hits the bottom, it will be 1990, goodbye to the 80s. Ten, nine, eight eight, eight, eight oh, will this horrible year never end . When the 90s began, we started to see a lot of experimentation. And the simpsons i think in some senses was inspired by not necessarily hatred of television, but a distrust of a lot of the ways in which television was talking to us. Tv respects me. It laughs with me. Not at me. Youre stupid. Doh i think the sitcoms of the 80s were such a warm, safe, humor. I love you guys. You sigh, the kids, they listen to the rap music which gives them the brain damage. And i think there was a real yearning for another type of humor. We were able to spoof fatherhood what a bad father. Which at the time and i stress at the time was bill cosby as the shining example. Did you ever know that youre my hero the stuff they got away with because its a cartoon, the father strangling the child. Why, you little we are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American Family to make American Families a lot more like the waltons and a lot less like the simpsons. Huh . We go to a completely bizarre period of time in 1992 when a sitting president is raging against a sitcom. Ahh they have dealt with politics, they have dealt with popular culture, they have dealt with all kinds of issues of racism, of sexism. Dont ask me, im just a girl. Right on, say it, sister. Its not funny, bart. Millions of girls will grow up thinking that this is the right way to act. They have found a way to talk about everything thats going on in our lives through the filter of the simpsons. Them immigrants, they want all of the benefits of living in springfield, but they aint even bothered to learn themselves the language. Yeah, those are exactly my sentimonies. I think one of the governing things thats happening with the simpsons is a distrust of anyone that tells us that we should trust them and doesnt earn that trust. Ill take that statue of justice, too. Sold. And when they make fun of how fox works you are watching fox. We are watching fox. They are actualitelling y dont trust us either. Eat my shorts. All right. The simpsons is like shakespeare in the sense that we quote the simpsons all the time, very often without even knowing it. Excellent i wish i could create something that culturally indelible. It is unlike anything else tv has ever wrought. Twin peaks showed up out of nowhere at the beginning of the decade, and the pilot episode of that was one of the strangest and most exciting things i have ever seen. Diane, im at the twin peaks county morgue with the body of the victim. Whats her name . Norah palmer. It was incredible. I mean just how slowly in the beginning the news spread around this little town that this young, beautiful girl had died and that haunting music was so dark and so beautiful. Im got good news, is dying too many. That gum you like is going to come back in style. What on earth is essentially an art film doing in prime Time Television . American Network Television has long been considered the home of the blands, the cautious and the predictable, so it was with some trepidation that the abc Network Recently launched a new series that was none of those things. Twin peaks has already been described by one critic as the series that will change tv. Its directed by david lynch. David lynch was a filmmaker known for his taste in the eccentric and memorable. The idea that he would do Network Television in the 90s was crazy. Do you watch much of it . Well, i like the idea of television, but im too busy to see very much of it. And what do you think of that which you do see on television . Well, some of it, you know, i really enjoy. Are you being diplomatic . Sort of. [ screaming ]. The beautiful thing about television is you have the chance to do a continuing story, and thats the main reason, you know, for doing it. I think that twin peaks with the initial attention that it got allowed all of the other networks to say, lets do something different. What was interesting about northern exposure, it was an odd sort of universe that this guy was dropped into. The days coming, and it aint gonna be long, when you aint even going to have to leave your living room. No more schools, no more tabernacles, no more cineplexes, all right . Youre going to snuggle up to your fiber optics and bliss out. You also had experimentation that set the stage for a lot of what came later. Its kind of hard to pin down what the x files is. I mean, on the surface its a show about investigating paranormal activity it. Unidentified flying objects. I think that fits the description pretty well. Tell me im crazy. Mulder, youre crazy. That dynamic, that dramatic tension of believer versus skeptic is one of the engines of the show, and you were always seeing it from a specific point of view. Theyre equals . Yeah, absolutely. Theyre equals and in a way theyve kind of switched gender stereotypes because the character i play, mulder, is the intuitive one. Large intestine. And scully is the rationalist, the doctor. A lot of folks who enjoyed the x files who otherwise didnt watch tv might have been drawn to the show by its, for lack of a better way to put it, its stickitthetheman ethos. Dont trust the government or big business, dont trust anybody but yourself and your friend and family, i guess. Its a message thats somewhat dark and cynical, but it was kind of a breath of fresh air in the early 90s. The 90s was a time of conspiracies, and the internet was starting to spread beyond just hardcore computer users. So you could have Message Boards and use net news groups and everybody wanted to talk about black oil and the bees and mulders sister and what the cigarette smoking man was up to. To at. Tv xfiles, and people were so nuts for this show. Its just pure science fix and thats probably what i like most about it. The x files changed the way people watched television. You could sense these successful creators trying to do things different than they had done five or ten years ago. Sometimes that led to really challenging Network Television that was cool and fun to watch, and sometimes it just seemed to fall off the edge a little bit. Lets be careful out there at the time Steven Bochco was a very successful producer of hour dramas and wanted to try something brandnew. This is the police we have a warrant for your arrest. Hit it. Ten seconds. And so his idea was to combine a gritty cop show with a broadway musical. I saw one in which a bunch of gang bangers were in jail and they began to sing. Life in the hood aint no peed au pie, everybody die when the bullets fly. Life in the hood aint no pizza pie, people die when the bullets fly and i said, wait a minute. And i thought, well, this is it. This is going to be great, this is going to be as innovative as anything i have ever done. He is guilty, judge, hes guilty you could see it in his eyes he did the crime and now hes got to pay i mean it just it circled the drain. I will give credit to anybody who goes outside the box and swings really hard for the fences. I worked real hard and i got my education im creatively proud of it still. You know, im very glad we tried it. I dont think id want to do it again. What is that . Uh mine, why . Its just that its. Lavender. Yes it is, its for men but i like the smell of it laughs since my dvt blood clot i was thinking. Could there be another around the corner . Or could it turn out differently . I wanted to help protect myself. My doctor recommended eliquis. Eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. Almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didnt experience another. And eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Eliquis is fda approved and has both. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Whats around the corner could be surprising. Ask your doctor about eliquis. My bladder leak underwear. Orried someone might see so, i switched. To always discreet boutique. Its shapehugging threads smooth out the back. So it fits better than depend. And no one notices. Always discreet. Play it cool and escape heartburn fast with new tums chewy bites cooling sensation. Tum tum tum tums well, now you can switch to bsprint and get both an. Isnt it nice when you can keep things simple . Unlimited plan and the all new Samsung Galaxy s10e included for just 35 a month. See what i mean . Simple. Generation x, the 20 somethings, boomerangers, whatever the 46 million young souls are called are turning out to be a hard sell. In the 90s, what we realized is advertisers would pay premiums for College Educated young adults 18 to 49. We started reinventing nbc and trying to speak to that audience. Where is someone . Im starving. This is him right here. Is there a table ready . The Chinese Restaurant was one of the very, very early episodes of seinfeld. And truly Nothing Happened in the episode. They were waiting for a table. I feel like just walking over there and taking some food off of somebodys plate. We said to larry david, hey, like nothing happens. And larry was offended. He was like wildly offended. Nbc believed in the show so they said were committing to four episodes. Yes, yeah, right. Four episodes. Normally its 13 or 8 or something. Yes, at least. We really didnt think they had too much confidence in the show. We didnt think it would work, but we thought they had to go through their process and they would learn and ultimately they knew better than we did. My mother caught me. Caught you . Doing what . You know. I was alone. The turning point for seinfeld from like nice show that all of the cool people kind of know about but thats it to massive hit was an episode called the contest where they tried to abstain from selfpleasure for as long as possible. 6 30, time for your bath. George, im hungry. Hang on, ma. Hang on. Once you do 30 minutes on masturbation, you can pretty much get away with anything. I guess youll be going back to that hospital. My mother, jerry. But are you still master of your domain . I am king of the county. The week after that aired, people were talking about that in the workplace the entire week. They still are talking about it. 52 seconds and two of the greatest words in sitcom history. Im out. One of the shorthand descriptions of seinfeld is no hugs, no lessons. Lets push it a little further than its ever been pushed before. I think the big breakthrough of seinfeld was that the characters were not nice people. Shut up, you old cow they were narcissistic. Help they would screw each other at the drop of a hat. Hes just a dentist. And youre an antidentite. And yet be best friends the next week. When you wish upon a star you dont have to love them. We just have to laugh at them. Im really sorry. I was in the pool. I was in the pool the idea of a character with darker tendencies, that was so taboo in television comedy. Are you about done . Im just getting warmed up. Were in the confines of network tv with commercials, with still a lot of things that are very highly structured and yet were able to find ways of pushing in the boundaries. No soup for you. It took us to a new level of comedy. And it kind of defined like, yeah, nbc, thursday night, this show, expect the unexpected. Can you sing the theme song from cheers . Making your way in the world today come on, i know. Its cute. Just sing it. Takes everything you got taking a break from all your worries sure can help a lot wouldnt you like to get away sometimes you want to go where Everybody Knows your name we decided to end cheers in the 11th year. Over 93 Million People watched the finale of cheers. Its a sad experience for everybody. This was our baby for 11 years and were not going to be around these people every day. You people are as dear to me as my own family. We had been serving fake suds forever. It was time for everybody to sip. In fact, i was sipping along with them. Time goes by so fast. People move in and out of your life. You must never miss an opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you. We had been through so much together. You spend so much time with the same set of people, it does become your family. I feel pretty lucky to have the friends i do. I think the legacy of cheers is our need to belong. And i think thats what we as americans are longing for. Thank you, guys. The final scene of cheers was really what was sams real first love. You can never be unfaithful to your one true love. Im the luckiest son of a on earth. His real first love was the bar. Sorry, were closed. I felt i couldnt be at my best wifor my family. C, in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured and left those doubts behind. I faced reminders of my hep c every day. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. Even hanging with friends i worried about my hep c. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. Mavyret is the only 8week cure for all common types of hep c. Before starting mavyret your doctor will test if youve had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. Tell your doctor if youve had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant, other liver problems, hiv1, or other medical conditions, and all medicines you take including herbal supplements. Dont take mavyret with atazanavir or rifampin, or if youve had certain liver problems. Common side effects include headache and tiredness. With hep c behind me, i feel free. Fearless. And theres no looking back, because i am cured. Talk to your doctor about mavyret. Mno kidding. Rd. But moving your internet and tv . Thats easy. Easy . easy . Easy. Because now xfinity lets you transfer your Service Online in just about a minute with a few simple steps. Really . Really. That was easy. Yup. Plus, with twohour appointment windows, its all on your schedule. Awesome. Now all you have to do is move. That thing. [ sigh ] introducing an easier way to move with xfinity. Its just another way were working to make your life simple, easy, awesome. Go to xfinity. Com moving to get started. A book that youre ready to share with the world . Get published now, call for your free publisher kit today okay, lets play show business. As a young kid in cleveland, i knew i would one day end up doing a talk show. Its arsenio hall in less than two years, arsenio hall has fired his talk show for the mtv generation into a contender for the crown of late night television. Yes, yes how come i didnt hear all of that woofing going on . When i would watch you . Too many white people. Johnny was the big dog. But i knew everybody on the planet wasnt watching him. And it dawned on me that i could go many weeks and not see a motown group on the tonight show. Arsenio hall has been dubbed the prince of late night. There was a whole world of talent that had never and would never have been on any late night show. Sitting at home watching arsenio hall 2livecrew came on and sang meso horny, it was like the sex pistols. Id never seen anything like it. It was an explosion in the audience. He appealed to a black and white young audience and it was a much broader appeal than the powers that be estimated. Rap. Rap is real big among our teens. Thats poetry. Of course it is. Having maya angelou on, i mean, where would you have seen her otherwise . In 1892 he wrote a poem that called a negro love song. It says seen my lady home last night, jump back, honey, jump back. Held her hand and squeezed it tight, jump back, honey, jump back. He didnt just have black people on his show. But if you were hip, you wanted to be on arsenio. This was something i heard a political analyst talk about recently. He said you kind of were i use the word chilling out. He said you were pulling back. You had been instructed not to say as much or be outspoken. No . Ive heard that, but i never know who says it. Its Wishful Thinking on the part of some people. Guess who suggested to bill to do the arsenio hall show if you want to get a younger demo . Hilldawg. He attracted a lot of people who werent fans before that night. The 90s was a glorious moment for black television. Because you saw these representations that youd never seen before. The premise of the fresh prince was this kid who comes from philadelphia. In West Philadelphia born and raised on the playground is where i spent most of my days his mom says im going to send you to live with your uncle. He shows up at this mansion in bel air, baseball cap on backward. Like he doesnt even know how to act in this environment. The black producers and directors and writers were always playing with this kind of subverting expectations of what is blackness. The incredible work of the fresh prince at its most triumphant is when it was showing the ways that being black is always going to be a problem no matter what. Vehicle registration, please. Just a second. But the thing, officer, this isnt my car. Theres the episode i remember where they get pulled over in a car. What . He is going to tell us to get out of the car. You watch too much tv. Get out of the car. We have an interaction with the Police Officer that is horrible and racist in a lot of ways. And carlton has this epiphany about how money wont save him. No map is going to save you. And neither is your glee club or your fancy bel air address or who your daddy is. Because when youre driving in a nice car in a strange neighborhood, none of that matters. They only see one thing. The writers of the fresh prince of bel air had a really tough task to approach these topics with nuance, and were doing it at a clip that was way ahead of their time. Now dont touch that dial. Were about to flip it for you to one of the most talked about tv shows. It is, as they say, on another network. Fox. You can do what you want to do in living color ladies and gentlemen. Keenan ivory wayans. In living color was the first show created by, written by, directed by, starring an africanamerican, all of those things in one. This is celebration of culture and of change. Us opening the doors to allowing america to come inside. Yo, yo, yo, all you bad bargain hunters out there, welcome to the homeboys shopping network. A lot of what they did on in living color was trying to take the stereotypes or the misperceptions about what black men are and turn them upside down. Not only will you get all the cable stations out there, but youll be able to talk directly to the astronauts. It brought this smart, very controversial comedy that black folks had never seen before that centered around their life experiences. Who are you . I am the minister louis farrakhan. Africanamericans composed 25 of foxs market. I always get trapped in the corner with somebody named bob. Hey, listen, martin, i just saw boys in the hood, all right . I didnt know, martin, i didnt know. They knew that they needed to capture this audience to grow. I guess you think you smart and cool. But if you think you get a job here, youre a damn fool. So they basically gave the black creators freedom to do whatever you want. Just get the audience. The wb and upn took that concept from fox. Your shoulders are harder than cheap breast implants. Going after this underserved audience of urban minority viewers and really ran with it. Im a new millennium woman who will not be defined by traditional roles. A lot of the networks built themselves up partly on africanamerican viewers. The africanamerican shows indexed lower in terms of household income. So over the course of the decade, the network started to move away from those shows. I dont know about you people, but ill be damned if it im going to let them destroy my neighborhood. Black creators felt used and abused. You made your money. You built your audience on us and now, you know, youre done. My experience with usaa has been excellent. They really appreciate the military family and it really shows. With all that usaa offers why go with anybody else . We know their rates are good, we know that theyre always going to take care of us. It was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. It was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say oh we cant beat usaa were the webber family. Were the tenneys were the hayles, and were usaa members for life. Get your usaa Auto Insurance quote today. Din this clif bar isst brown rice syrup . Which is just another name for sugar. This kind bars first ingredient is almonds. Which is just another name for. Almonds. Look inside this kind wrapper and youll see wholesome ingredients like heart healthy nuts. With the taste of delicious dark chocolate. And only 5 grams of sugar. Thats 75 less sugar than the leading clif bar. So you can be kinder to yourself. And others. Be kind to yourself. Booking. Com offers free so bookers can book now. And ask their boss later. [do you want breakfast or no . ] free cancellations [definitely breakfast. ] how good is that . Be a booker at booking. Com. Woman on phone discover. Hi. Do you have a travel card . Yep. Our miles card. Earn unlimited 1. 5 miles and well match it at the end of your first year. Nice im thinking about a scuba diving trip. Woman ooh gasp or not. You okay . Yeah, no, im good. Earn miles. Well match em at the end of your first year. The following movie is rated r. In 1990, 91, there was not a whole lot of original programing for cable, but they were airing movies. So we needed to compete and i felt that if we didnt, we were going to kind of get swept out. So i came up with a notion of doing a cop show that was rrated. When abcs broadcast standards read our script, they went berserk. I was sitting with a pad and a pencil drawing pictures of breasts to try to show them what we would show and what we wouldnt show. Grownups sitting in a room doodling. Then we started on the language. We heard it with the brains of a flea and the balls of a moth. The program premiered with an advertising boycott. Channel 7, shame on you but it was such an immediate hit, that boycott lasted, oh, four weeks. They could use the nudity and the curse words to go deeper into the actual emotional burden of being a cop. Im an asshole. And it had this character, andy sipowicz. He is a raging alcoholic, racist, sexist, violent. He created the tv antihero. I know the great africanamerican George Washington carver discovered the peanut. But can you provide names and addresses of these friends . You know, youre a racist scumbag. Despite his flaws, despite his prejudices, i think people identified with his pain. I wish there was a way to say this that wouldnt hurt you. Theres a famous episode where they are investigating the rape and murder of a young boy. And they find a homeless child molester who murdered the kid and sipowicz to get the confession has to be very sensitive and very good cop. I know this has to be tearing you up inside. But youre going to feel a lot better if you just tell the truth. You can sort of see on dennis franzs face this is killing him to not destroy this guy right now. Finally, he gets the confession he gets the signed statement. He walks out of the room, he goes into another Interrogation Room and he breaks the door in two with his fist. And im choking up talking about it right now, because thats how great a moment of tv that it is. 20 years from now, the best tv dramas, what do they look like . I dont know. Will they be bolder than what we see today . Oh, assuredly, assuredly they will be. The 90s gave us several shows that didnt explode in the ratings, but were influential to other people making television. Homicide is one of them. Shell me with questions all night im living in a danger zone homicide life on the street was really innovative in terms of its style. It used music in ways that advanced the narrative and also used feature film directors that brought a look and style to the show that really stood out on television. Tears coming out of your eyes. Aint no tears coming from my eyes. Those eyes are brimming with tears. They had so many africanamerican characters in the cast that on several occasions they were the only people on camera interacting with one another. And that sounds like, so . But as late as the 90s, that wasnt done on television. When a cop shoots somebody, he stands by. He picks up the radio mic and calls it in. He stands by the body. If not, cops are no better than anybody else. In the 90s, television was getting more complicated, stories were starting to become more episodic and characters were starting to develop and change. None of that happened on law order. This was a show that completely delivered on its formula every time. You get a crime, you got the investigation into the crime. You better be packing more than a dirty mouth. You got an arrest. Whats the charge . Hey, im asking you a question. Whats the charge . Theres no charge. This ones on us. Then you had a trial. Hes badgering, your honor. Sit down and shut up. Overruled. You will address the court from now on, mr. Mccoy. So every time you watched you got what you came for. Tell me, doctor. All those women you ran through your examination rooms, do you remember their faces or did you not even bother to look up . You had in law order the kind of characters people take to heart. Ill let you take me to lunch. Onetime offer. And if youre an actor and you say well, gee, maybe its not really such a bad medium after all. Miranda, the supreme courts mimic decision. The whole thing was illegally obtained. They were both represented by counsel. You just get hooked in. Its life and death and stuff. We know what you did. Counsel. You hear me . Do you hear me . Look at me law order was like crack. Youd have to sit and watch me for 50 minutes just like, not moving, barely breathing. Theres times i have almost passed out watching law order. I need your help. E. R. Had originally been written as a movie, forced Steven Spielberg to direct. We had this twohour piece which was michaels reflection of experiences as a medical student. You need a large in case theyre bleeding. Do you know how to start an i. V. . Actually, no. E. R. Is a hospital show, but its really an action movie. Three walking wounded. Red urgent, yellow critical and black a gurney. Got it. A gurney comes in, people are shouting instructions, climbing on the body and doing cpr and racing off to the surgical suite. Get that gurney out of there someone wanders in. Theyre tossing around medical jargon. They dont stop to explain what it is. Prep for a peritoneal lavage. I think i know what that is now, but only because i watched a lot of e. R. Over the years. You try. We can bypass him. That would be the fastest way. What do you think . Youre the attending. There was so much information coming at you that i think it made the experience feel as if you had to watch it in the same way that youd watch a film. You had to stay involved in it the whole time. Come on, ben. Hold on, buddy. Hold on. There was a lot of research that said people didnt want to watch anybody have anything other than a happy outcome. Its not flat line, its defib. Another line of epi. We argued that wasnt really showing what the world was for physicians. I had unbelievable amount of respect for the people who did this because i understood how human they were. vo morning, noon, night; indulgent, delicious, irresistible. Fancy feast makes delighting your cat delightfully easy. Every recipe, every last detail. Another fancy way to show your love. Fancy feast. Introducing fancy feast gourmet naturals recipes now im just waiting at the bar. Theres nothing i can do theres a really big crowd at the bar. Summer jams with dos equis keep it interesante. Summer jams with dos equis i had a few good tricks to help hide my bladder leak pad. Like the old tunic tug. But always discreet is less bulky. And it really protects. cause it turns liquid to gel. So i have nothing to hide. Always discreet. Not this john smith. Or this john smith. Or any of the other hundreds of john smiths that are humana Medicare Advantage members. No, its this john smith. Who we paired with a humana team member to help address his own specific health needs. At humana, we take a personal approach to your health, to provide care thats just as unique as you are. No matter what your name is. This is something bigger. Is. [ movin on up by primal scream ] that is big. Not as big as that. Sure thats big. Thats bigger. Big. Bigger. Big. Bigger. Big. But thats bigger. Wow, big. So much bigger. This is big. But thats. Well, you got this. A new era of technology is forcing networks to reexamine the way they do business. New owners spent billions buying the networks recently. Ge buying nbc. Capital cities, abc. And loewstisch brothers buying cbs. And all of them want their moneys worth. Well now have the strongest network. Well have a stronger defense piece. This is going to be one dynamite company. Theres a danger that news will be mixed up with the rest of television and considered just another profit. Late 1920s, to early 1930s, to the 1980s, the sense was if some of the broadcasting time took public service, 1990s, journalism in the country changed a great deal. You couldnt talk about public service. What are the ratings going to be . What are the demographics going to be . What is the profit going to be . Well, sensationalism sells. In a plea bargain, 18yearold amy fisher got up to 15 years in prison for shooting the wife of her alleged lover. So intense is the interest in it this case there are three, three madefortv movies now in the works about it. You make money off sex. You make money off death. You make money off crime. The press calls the case the Beverly Hills mansion murders. The story reads like a script that circulates here in hollywood. We enter into the Television News soap opera. A story of basic instincts, anger and fear. I was scared and i just wanted him to leave me alone. And so, broadcast journalism loses its purity and becomes much more shoddy and sensationalistic. And then it all comes together with o. J. Simpson. Im larry carrol in los angeles. The los angeles District Attorney has just filed murder charges against o. J. Simpson. I have to interrupt this call. I understand were going to go to a live picture in los angeles. Police believe that o. J. Simpson is in that car . The o. J. Simpson story starts with the chase and then goes on to his arrest and then culminates with the trial, which goes on and on and on and is televised day after day after day. This is going to be a long trial. Theres a lot of evidence to come in. The o. J. Simpson case was such a National Phenomenon that those of us who were covering it just lived this case 24 hours a day because there was so much demand for people talking about it. As simpson struggled to slide the gloves on to his hands and turned to a juror saying theyre too small, prosecutors were incensed. The trial was on television during the hours that had traditionally been the time for soap operas. He appears to have pulled the gloves on, counsel. And o. J. Was very much a soap opera. Impeached by his own witness. I ask you to put a stop to it. Excuse me, mr. Bailey. Will you stand up and speak when its your turn. No question that the best tv show of the 90s was the o. J. Simpson trial, and everybody on it was riveting. Nbc news in depth tonight. The Simpson Trial finally winding to a close. We the jury in the above entitled action find Orenthal James simpson not guilty of the crime of murder. In violation of penal code section 187a the verdict of the o. J. Simpson trial viewed by 150 Million People. Its more people than watch president ial election returns. Thats crazy. Because there was trial footage every day, cnn saw its audience increase like five times. The success of cnn was not lost on other people. And so there were competing forces coming into play. How delighted i am we have now reached this moment when we can firmly announce the starting of a fox news channel. Unfortunately, with cable news and the ability or the need to be on the air 24 7, where you try to get as many eyeballs as possible at one time, to gravitate toward those stories that are sensational, it brought us the ability to go too far. Is the Jonbenet Ramsey Murder Investigation turning into a media circus . Yes, its tabloid. But on the other hand its a tabloid era. Heres the point. Heres where the fear comes into it, i think, larry. Its the fear that says, gosh, if we dont cover it big time, our competition is. When they cover it big time, theyll get a big jump in the ratings. And the first thing is to last. If were going to last, if were going to survive, weve got to do it. What you also see is a whole army of commentators, people who make their business talking about the news. What i say is what we should do is we should bomb his capability of producing oil. Take out his refineries, his stations, his wells. They dont have any capability. Theyre certainly selling a lot of oil no theyre not the networks were doing Good Journalism but they became much more preoccupied by profits. Its much cheaper to have someone in your studio pontificating than to have reporters out in the field reporting. I dont know if any of this is true. But what i heard is that the father went down, opened this basement room, which the fbi had bypassed every single sentence on cnn, perhaps on cnbc, on fox, on msnbc, begins with the words i think but after a while people get confused by what is speculation, by what is innuendo, by what is fact. And as far as the viewer is concerned, be very, very careful of unsubstantiated information presented with great hype. This is mia. This is mias pulse. With pressure rising, and racing. This is also mias pulse. That her doctor keeps in check, so she can find balance. This is mias pulse, and now its more stable than ever. This is what medicare from Blue Cross Blue Shield does for mia. And with over 80 years of healthcare expertise, imagine what we can do for you. This is the benefit of blue. You eat right. Mostly. You make time. When you can. But sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just wont go away. Coolsculpting takes you further. A nonsurgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells, for good. Discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. Some common sideeffects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. Dont imagine results, see them. Coolsculpting, take yourself further. Too many people a restless nights sleep. Theres a better choice. Aleve pm. The only one to combine a safe sleep aid and the 12hour painrelieving strength of aleve. That dares to last into the morning. So you feel refreshed. Aleve pm. Theres a better choice. Priceline will partner with even more vegas hotels to turn their unsold rooms into amazing deals. Delegates, how do you vote . cheering yes, yyyyes, yes. That is freaky. applause tv is changing dramatically now with 150 channels that might be available in the near future. There are more choices than ever before. Its a tough job. You have to try and get a sense of what is the audience going to really make an attachment to. In the 90s, cable was coming on strong. So we had to examine who are we going to be . Well, we wanted to be smart, sophisticated comedy. Six months ago i was living in boston. My wife had left me, which was very painful. Then she came back to me. Which was excruciating. Well, i thought frasier was dead with cheers. But we thought, weve got a builtin audience, and Great Potential for building out the character to another place. Frasier was kind of like oneact plays. Mother and i moved here when i was a small boy after the tragic death of my father. I kept the pain of that loss buried deep within me like a serpent coiled within a damp cave. Okay, thats it. We always assumed the audience was smarter than most other people did. And we played to that. Just unschooled like liza doolittle. Henry higgins. Shell be ready for a ball in no time. Leave it to you to put the pig back in pygmalion. Kelsey grammer played pomposity like nobody youve ever seen. And got huge laughs. Dont consider a move until my fingers have completely cleared the piece. Whats taking so long . I am analyzing my options unlike your wingit approach i like to plan a strategy, like a general leading his troops into battle. Checkmate, schwarzkopf. I think frasier stands as the single most successful spinoff, at least in the history of sitcoms. And the emmy goes to frasier. Frasier. Frasier. We were lightning hot and it was critical for us to be leading the way, not just following. Friends is about that time in your life when your friends are your family. Ow when david crane and i lived in new york we were part of a group of six people. We were all attached at the hip. We went everywhere together and celebrated everything together. And theres that period where youre looking to be out there on your own and the people you rely on are the ones who live down the hall. Here we go. Pivot. Pivot. Pivot pivot pivot pivot shut up shut up shut up friends permeated the culture in a way that was really special. Everybody was obsessed with the show. And it became like which one of these characters are you . If you were a girl, were you phoebe, monica or rachel . I got to tell you this really does put me in a better mood. The kids who were watching, the young audience, saw a lifestyle that was aspirational. I wish i had an apartment in new york city that no one seems to be worried about the rent for. I wish that i looked like matt leblanc. I wish that i had Jennifer Anistons hair. One of the things that made friends a phenomenon was that people beyond the laughs actually bonded with these characters. They emotionally were invested in ross and rachels relationship. I could not have done this without you. Okay. More clothes in the dryer . I was dropping my daughter off for sunday school at our temple, and literally my rabbi stopped me and said, whats going to happen with ross and rachel . You look pretty tonight. Oh, thanks. The one with the prom video is one of my favorites. You guys, we dont have to watch this. Yeah, we do. Come on. Come on. Wheres chip . Why isnt he here yet . Hell be here, okay . Take a chill pill. This seemed like a really surprising way to get rachel to know how ross feels. I cant go to my own prom without a date. Take her. You can wear my tux. Dad, she wont want to go with me. Shes learning something new and he thinks, oh god, please dont let her see this. Please dont let her see this. Rachel, ready or not, here comes your knight in shining oh, no. Bye chip oh, dear. Ross sees himself and you see that look on his face and how sad he is because he wanted to take her to the prom. When she crossed the room, i still kind of get chills from it. When she crossed the room and gave him that kiss [ cheers and applause ] the audience went insane. At the height of mustsee tv, thursday nights on nbc, 75 million americans watched thursday night. That was at the time onethird of the country. Ooh what is this stuff . The sweater is angora. Well, its wonderful. The machine that was nbc in the 90s for comedy was untouchable. Youre not from around here, are you . It generated so much viewership and money and awards. You do not need this. Its the top of our wedding cake. Were not its not a scrapbook, its a freezer. No we kind of all were part of this chapter in television where we realized we were in the right place at the right time. Lets see how you like this, naughty boy. We certainly associate nbc of the 90s with having extremely successful sitcoms but they werent the only network that found their way to having some success. Tgif was on abc on friday, and it was their block of familyoriented comedies. I cant take it. I need the cake. It was not sophisticated television. But these were shows that people adored. [ laughing and snorting ] cbs. Cbs was in a really bad spot. They had just fallen apart over the early part of the 90s and had gone through a couple Different Network executives. But then suddenly they had this hit with an unknown comic. This was the year of seinfeld, no hugging, no learning, and this was a show being made as if it was produced in the era of the Dick Van Dyke show. I love you. There was hugging. There was learning. I love you, son. All right, all right. If you worked for me, your job was to go home, get in a fight with your wife and come back in and tell me about it. Dont sleep on the couch. I just cleaned down there. In fact, the pilot i put in this true thing that happened to me wherein i sent my parents a gift for the holidays of the fruit of the month club. Did you know you sent me a box of pears from a place called fruit of the month . Thats right. Thats right. How are they . And my mother reacted as if i had sent her a box of heads from a murderer. Why did you do this to me . Oh, my gosh. I cant talk. Theres too much fruit in the house oh. What is happening . What do you think we are, invalids . We cant go out and get our own fruit . I tried to tell him. All right. Im canceling the fruit club the real story is where the real connection with your audience is. Thank god, all your families are crazy, too. Looks like you got the whole family together. Yeah, yeah, its dysfunction palooza. Brows for days. Enhanced up to 48 hours. Unbelievabrow longwear brow gel, by loreal paris. No smudge. Sweat resistant. Waterproof. Its unbelievable. Unbelievabrow longwear brow gel. Loreal paris. Unbelievabrow longwear brow gel. Behr presents tough as walls. Thats some great paint. Thats some great paint. Behr. Ranked 1 in Customer Satisfaction with interior paints. Right now get incredible savings on behr. Exclusively at the home depot. For making bucket lists bookers know summer is for booking it like booking a beachside resort, and ordering two more tacos than you need to. Check. Showing the deep end whos boss check. Starting a scooter gang with the fam. Check. Awesome bookers know summer wont last forever. Youre gonna thank me so be a booker at booking. Com. The worlds number one choice for booking accomodations. The worlds number one choice thanks for the ridealong, captain ive never been in one of these before, even though geico has been ohhh. Ooh ohh here we go, here we go. You got cut off there, what were you saying . Oooo. Oh no no. Maybe that geico has been proudly serving the military for over 75 years . Is that what you wanted to say . Mhmmm. I have to say, you seemed a lot chattier on tv. Geico. Proudly serving the military for over 75 years. You ok back there, buddy . Aaaah nooooo. Nooooo. Quick, the quicker picker upper bounty picks up messes quicker and is 2x more absorbent. Bounty, the quicker picker upper. Here are evenonere reasons to join tmobile. Do you like Stranger Things . Sure you do. Thats why netflix is on us. Two unlimited data. Use as much as you want, when you want. Three no surprises on your bill. Taxes and fees included. Still think you have a better deal . Bring in your discount, and well match it. Thats right. Tmobile will match your discount. And now ladies and gentlemen, heres Johnny Johnny carson wasnt just the host of the tonight show. Johnny carson was the man that america said good night to for 30 years. And on my watch, johnny decided that 30 years was a great time to take a bow and say thank you and good night. 30 years is enough. Its a good time to get out while youre still on top of your game plan. Johnny carson retiring in the early 90s was the great moment where a huge chunk of the ice shelf breaks off. Something that has been there for centuries, for thousands of years, suddenly is no longer there. A tremendous part of history. And thats lovely to have made your mark on an era like that. Johnny had told no one what he had planned to do, and we werent prepared. And that set off a game of Musical Chairs for who would get the throne, and there only was one latenight throne. Hi, you guys jay leno had been pretty much carsons regular substitute host when he went on vacation. You know whats amazing, only six months ago people were talking about donald trump as a president ial candidate. Right . Thats true. Since then hes had an affair, hes left his wife, run up debt of several million dollars. So i guess hes going to be running as a democrat, huh . Jay leno wanted to essentially just continue doing a Johnny Carsontype show. And David Letterman was the show immediately following carson. And they had different styles. What is your name . Im going to ask you to turn the cameras off, please. Okay, we just wanted to drop off this basket of fruit part of daves thing used to always be attacking authority. He liked that. Cut the cameras, please. He needed a corporate bad guy to go up against. I was oftentimes that target. I can hear this Warren Littlefield guy whining all year long about not getting his name on the card last year. Hes on it. Look, what about me . I could be on there, couldnt i . It was always lettermans dream to be the host of the tonight show. He idolized Johnny Carson, rightfully so. The big decision thats had the Entertainment Industry buzzing is due this week. That of course is the fate of nbcs late night stars jay leno and David Letterman. Most of us thought the person who deserved to get it was David Letterman. He didnt get it. Jay leno got it. Leno, who earlier rode his motorcycle into a News Conference hosted by nbc entertainment president Warren Littlefield, still has a bruised ego about the way the network wavered in its support for him. When we found out leno was going to get the tonight show, we were all obviously depressed. We felt like we were being punished for making fun of them and not cooperating and not being as collaborative as we could have been. And we also felt like we were being disrespected because we did 11 years of great shows. Just how pissed off are you . [ laughter and applause ] by all rights, David Letterman should have taken over for Johnny Carson, but his agent took a very, very aggressive stand. Were going to really control all of late night. Its going to cost you a fortune. And they put our backs to the wall. I can only tell you it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you. And i hope when i find something i want to do and i think you will like and come back, that you will be as gracious inviting me into your home as you have been. I bid you a very heartfelt good night. [ cheers and applause ] the tonight show without Johnny Carson as the regular host made its debut last night. Jay leno emerged from behind the curtain, stepping into the big shoes that were filled for 30 years by johnny. Cbs came to us and made a very attractive offer. Here we go, number ten. Head cbs, tails cbs. Number nine letterman did place a call to Johnny Carson asking for his advice and johnny said if it was me i would leave. And i think that advice was really the linchpin. Letterman always took johnnys advice. The latenight wars are about to begin in earnest on american television. David letterman is now headed for cbs. Cbs had lured him over with a salary more than four times that of leno and given him what he really wanted, the 11 30 time slot. Now as dave and jay prepare to go head to head, one thing is clear latenight tv will never be quite the same. All of a sudden, theres a talk show war. Start up your remote controls. The latenight race is about to begin. On monday David Lettermans new show debuts here on cbs. Followed a week later by chevy chase on fox and a week after that by conan obrien on nbc. These combatants join the tonight show with jay leno, arsenio, and nightline. It became a crowded space and the competition became that much more difficult. In the third corner, his ratings fading rapidly, arsenio hall. Some tv writers think arsenio could be the big loser in this freeforall. When letterman came in, it essentially diluted arsenios brand because there were so many alternatives. Im sad to see you go because america is going to have a big chunk missing out of its existence. Losing arsenio, yeah, it was bad. He was the lone voice, gone. David letterman had the suits at nbc pausing for a moment. Did we make the right choice . Because he came out gangbusters and he was beating jay leno in the ratings. Theres some people who say, you blew it, that by picking leno to replace carson over letterman, that that was a big programming mistake. It was a shaky start. A really, really shaky first season start. Its true confessions time for actor hugh grant who is trying hard to put his recent encounter with a hollywood prostitute behind him. When hugh grant was arrested, it was big, Live Action News and hugh grant was supposed to do the tonight show that night. What the hell were you thinking . [ drum sting ] [ cheers and applause ] it all came together in that moment and everyone saw it and thats it. We were never number two again. Hey, hey for us it was the fun experience. We got our own theater, an unlimited budget, weve got access to every star in the business who wants to do the show. Somebody bring me the jaws of life so, i think going to cbs was heavensent. It really was. Good night, everybody discover new San Pellegrino essenza. A twist of mediterranean flavors, with the gentle bubbles of San Pellegrino. Add a twist of flavor. San pellegrino essenza. Tastefully italian. Now im just waiting at the bar. Theres nothing i can do theres a really big crowd at the bar. Summer jams with dos equis keep it interesante. Summer jams with dos equis you need insurance. But its not really something you want to buy. Its not sexy. Or delicious. Or fun. But since you need both car and home insurance, why not bundle them with esurance and save up to 10 . Which you can spend on things you really want to buy, like. Well, i dont know what youd wanna buy because im just a guy on your tv. Esurance. Its surprisingly painless. Work in harmony. Ody. Like you, they get hungry. Feed them. With new centrum® multigummies® specially crafted for men and women 50 and over. So youre ready for anything. Centrum®. Feed your cells today. [its funny what happens when people get together. Holiday inn. Holiday inn express. Were there. So you can be too. Hey i live on my own now ive got xfinity, because i like to live life in the fast lane. Unlike my parents. You rambling about xfinity again . Youre so cute when you get excited. Anyways. Ive got their app right here, i can troubleshoot. I can schedule a time for them to call me back, its great you have our number programmed in . Ya i dont even know your phone anymore. Excuse me . what . I dont know your phone number. Aw well. He doesnt know our phone number you have our fax number, obviously. Todays xfinity service. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Ill pass. In the mid1990s if you took a look at the list of the 50 mostwatched shows on cable, at the top would be nickelodeon. Rug rats, blues clues. Dont you know cartoons will ruin your mind . Ren and stimpy had some very surreal, highconcept humor to it. This is the beginning of the splintering of the Television Audience and splintering of the family audience, really, because with families having three or four tvs in the house you had a kid watching nickelodeon, the dad watching espn sports, the mom watching lifetime. You know, they were in their own separate universes watching television. By the time of the 90s, mtv wasnt merely a music channel. They were having Great Success in terms of creating shows that incorporated music but that also were shows and programs that stood on their own. Yes huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh that was cool beavis and butthead established what mtv could be because the shows were about making fun of music videos just like people in the audience were doing. Whoa, check out his neck. Yeah. Theres like all these bones and stitches moving around. Yeah. My manager would call me, like hey, you got this big bump because you were on beavis and butthead last night. I sit there like a doughnut watching these guys. And i find them endlessly entertaining because i know and you know and the world knows, these guys are always, will be, and cannot be anything but idiots. Thats right. Mtv has a detrimental, damaging, developmental effect on the sexuality, on the morality, on the spirituality, maybe even the physical development of our young people. Now we hit the 90s and once you can go for an audience of 5 million and have a successful show, you can say, i dont care if the parents dont like this. Can i tell you something, miss ellen . Of course, wendy. Dont [ bleep ] with me what . You heard me. Stay away from my man, bitch, or ill whoop your sorry little ass back to last year trey parker and matt stone were two of the funniest people i ever met. And their Success Story is proof that if you just stay true to yourself you dont have to do anything else. People think, oh, you came and did the show and now youre big sellouts. The truth is, we were sellouts to begin with. Perhaps there is no stopping the corporate machine. I mean, we were sleeping at friends houses, had no money, and then one fox executive had seen a cartoon we had made in college and he said, make me another christmas video i can send out as a christmas card. He gave us like 700 bucks. We went and made this fiveminute short. I come seeking retribution. Hes come to kill you because youre jewish, kyle. Oh [ bleep ]. It went around the tv Community Like wildfire. I mean, it it was the funniest thing youd ever seen in your life. Go, santa somebody showed me the short. Go, jesus i thought it was hysterical. So i called and said get them in here right away. Oh, my god they killed kenny. You bastards south park was able to be topical. South park really, really detests hypocrites. Christians and republicans and nazis, oh my well, okay, mrs. Cartman, ill legalize 40th trimester abortions for you. Could you imagine back then that these people would ever get on Network Television or any kind of television . Howdy hi its a miracle. South park is a miracle. The early 90s the hbo shows start to kind of come into their own. And then have i always had these breasts . A lot of people want freedom. They dont want to go back to the networks, which are saying you can come to us where youll make more money but youll also have content restricted. You could go to cable and have no restrictions. Not make as much money but have freedom of expression, which almost everybody who works in these mediums wants. Some of the content truly was, you cant get this anywhere else. Youre a fantasy maker, the only limit on the kinds of fantasies is peoples imagination. Hbo turned to people who said, i cant do that on television, but you can do it on hbo. White people dont trust black people. Thats why they wont vote for no black president. Like a black brother will [ bleep ] up the white house. Like the grass wont be cut. Dishes piled up. Cousins running through the white house. Cookouts. Basketball going in the back. In the late 80s hbo was just sort of gaining ground for series. By the 90s hbo had started to begin its explosion. When we started doing dream on one of the things hbo said to us was, its got to be something that couldnt be on network tv. Because hbo was driven by subscribers and not by commercials and selling advertising time, they had a different way of looking at success or failure. What they were looking for was critical acclaim. Youve watched letterman, youve watched leno, but what about larry . Larry sanders, that is. Hes the tv alter ego of comedian garry shandling. Garry shandling wanted to do a show that deconstructed the kind of show the tonight show was. Just pretend like youre talking to me till were off the air so it wont seem weird. Okay. Blah, blah, blah, blah. The Larry Sanders show was sort of cathartic. Because in the world of the Larry Sanders show, there was a network. You want me to [ bleep ] your budget . Is that what you want me to do . So it became this weird funhouse mirror thing, where you could use stuff from your misery, your career, as fodder. Dont take this as a threat but i killed a man like you in korea, hand to hand. My boy doesnt want to do any more commercials. Larry sanders to me was, aside from being a Brilliant Television show can you say, hey now. Hey now. It was my everyday life. Im here for three good reasons. Last show. Big ratings. Movie coming out. Bim, bam, boom. The Larry Sanders show was very unique in that it was very deadpan. And really groundbreaking in its day. I think it made people really go, thats the level of work you may be able to do on a cable network. Please, do not flip around. Come right back. Hey now oh, you sound good. Theres everything from happy to extremely happy. Theres also angry. Im really angry clive actually, really angry. Thank you. But what if your business could understand what your customers are feeling. And then do something about it. Turn problems into opportunities. Thanks drone. Customers into fanatics change the whole experience. Alright who wants to go again . I do i do i have a really good feeling about this. Excuse me. Uh. Do you mind. Being a motour . What could be better than being a motour . The real question is. Do you mind not being a motour . I do. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. I do. Too many people a restless nights sleep. Theres a better choice. Aleve pm. The only one to combine a safe sleep aid and the 12hour painrelieving strength of aleve. That dares to last into the morning. So you feel refreshed. Aleve pm. Theres a better choice. You eat right. Mostly. You make time. When you can. But sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just wont go away. Coolsculpting takes you further. A nonsurgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells, for good. Discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. Some common sideeffects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. Dont imagine results, see them. Coolsculpting, take yourself further. In the 90s you suddenly had shows that were aiming at a young audience. One of the things that really made 90210 stand out is it was one of the first dramas to really get into the teenagers point of view. Do you have protection . Of course. Its always been my problem. Lots of protection but nothing to protect. I wanted to do a tv series that was going to be relevant to teenagers. And its not about the parents solving the kids problems. Its about the kids basically solving their own problems. What are we supposed to do, sit him down and have a kidtoparent talk . No, you cant talk to parents on that mature level. Tragic but true. If the 60s had beatlemania, the 90s had 90210 mania. And when tv guide had its youthquake cover, that was a sign that suddenly television was focused on these young people. My socalled life was like the punk rock version of 90210. It was earnest but not at all saccharine. It didnt have easy answers. It showed teen heartbreak in a way that was staggeringly real for the time. You like this. Like what . Like how you are. Hey jordan, you coming or not . How am i . How am i . My socalled life was your actual life. And the idea that everyone in high school is a misfit, that you have this deep insecurity about who youre supposed to be. You know how sometimes the last sentence you said like echoes in your brain . And it just keeps sounding stupider . And you have to Say Something else just to make it stop. Oh, i just remembered. I owe you 30. My socalled life was not necessarily the show the cheerleader or the captain of the Football Team were watching. They were still watching 90210. But it was the people who maybe didnt recognize themselves in 90210 who felt like, aha, now i recognize myself in my socalled life. Demarco asked me if you were getting a sex change. Exactly. I dont want to be a girl. I just want to hang with girls. Ricky was out on the show eventually, and that was a storyline that was treated with great sensitivity. And i belong nowhere. With no one. And i dont fit. I mean, it was it was so deeply felt. It was saying to the viewer, things that you have gone through, they matter. Buffy the Vampire Slayer depicted high school in a similar way to my socalled life except rather than just feeling like hell, it actually was hell. Her high school was literally built on top of hell. And so all of these creatures would come up that she would have to fight. Three in one night. And it was a brilliant metaphor for adolescence and all the demons that you have to slay. You know, buffy was a teenager, and she was still finding out who she was. One of the storylines that was very popular and much talked about was where she has sex with her boyfriend for the first time, and then in sort of the world of buffy he becomes literally evil. There must be some part of you inside that still remembers who you are. Dream on, schoolgirl. In order to save the world, literally, she knows she has to send him to hell. Buffy knows in an instant that angel has become good again. Buffy so she has this moment of reckoning that she has to decide whether to do this or not, and she makes the sacrifice to push him back into hell. The show was really working on multiple levels. In buffy in particular, we saw a character that was a reluctant protagonist. Forced to make tough decisions. There was a kind of opening of the floodgates in the 90s for women. The idea of being an ideal, i think, was kind of smashed through a lot of the characters on television. Look, if youre a successful saleswoman in this city, you have two choices. You can bang your head against a wall and try to find a relationship or you can say screw it and just go out and have sex like a man. Sex and the city was a huge success right from the start. It was very funny and very clever and very candid. Are relationships the religion of the 90s . These are women who are making a good living, they were independent, they were single, and they were sort of feeling their power. I said all of them. Bad waiter, bad waiter. What do you tip for that . I wanted these women to be objectifying men in the way men had always objectified women. All right. My turn. Sorry, i have to go back to work. You didnt used to be able to discuss sex as sex. Network shows, there never were people talking about orgasms or organs or sex. Okay, words are essential. Tell me exactly how he worded it. Weve been seeing each other for a couple of weeks, i really like you, and tomorrow night after dinner i want us to have anal sex. These are women who shared everything with each other and theyre discussing what anal sex means. It goes up there, theres going to be a shift in power. Either hell have the upper hand or you will. And should she do this or not . This is a physical expression that the body well, it was designed to experience. And p. S. , its fabulous. What are you talking about . I went to smith. The show took an interesting turn by really focusing on the relationship between the women and telling the story of them as really soulmates together as well. You did the right thing buying that apartment. You love it, right . Yeah. And you wont be alone forever. Historically women are often set up in narratives in which only one can succeed. And so showing women not competing with each other and as supporting each other was also an important narrative change. Okay, girls, see you tomorrow. Okay. Nightnight. The show had a message of freedom and liberation especially for women that really resonated. I think sex and the city helped make hbo a place where people to think, i wonder what theyll be doing next. E a child, having a Reliable Network means everything. vo the network more people rely on, gives you more. Like a special price for military families and big savings when you switch. Thats verizon. You dont really talk about your insurance unless youre complaining about it. You go on about how. Its so confusing it hurts my brain. Ya i hear ya. Or say you cant believe. How much of a hassle it is and tell anyone wholl listen. garbled . Its so expensive she said its so expensive. Tell me about it. Yes. Well im telling the people at home. Thats why esurance is making the whole experience surprisingly painless. So, you never have to talk about it, unless youre their spokesperson. Esurance. Its surprisingly painless. In 1991 we got a call from mtv and they were toying with the idea of doing some kind of a scripted show about young people. They said it was like a mix between the big chill and the breakfast club. But ultimately decided the idea of a show with writers and actors would just be too expensive for them. The real world, thats what this was supposed to be. So we essentially applied all the drama rules to documentary to get our what we called at that time a docusoap. This is the true story. True story. Of seven strangers it was kind of a social experiment to watch what happens when you put these strangers together in a house. When people stop being polite and start getting real. Do you sell drugs . Why do you have a beeper . You hadnt seen anything like that on television, that kind of open, honest discussion of race. I can try as much as i can to try to deal with you, but ignorance is ignorance. Stupidity is stupidity. And thats it. Black, white, green, purple, blue, whatever. The real world becomes this kind of big bang moment for reality tv. The idea is that, oh my god, all we have to do is take cameras and put them on people and well get great stuff. You had in the next season in l. A. A young woman who gets an abortion, and the camera literally goes right up to the doctors door. Give me a hug. By the third season in San Francisco you have a young man who is dealing with aids. Im hiv positive. When pedro told me he was hiv positive, it was just like no, not him. I like this guy and i dont want him to have to suffer. It was such a triumph that pedro had the courage at his age to come out as someone with aids. In my small Gay Community on campus we all felt like, wow, he was our hero. He falls in love. And he and his partner, shawn, have a ceremony. You know, this is long before samesex marriage was legal. The tv shows werent doing this. Movies werent doing this. I have to believe that all the pain that im going through, that all the anger, all the frustration, that theres something bigger than that. Aids has claimed a young man who made an enormous impact on a generation of young americans. Pedro zamora died in miami today at the age of 22. Im really glad i got to know pedro zamora. Im grateful that his rich and fulfilling work is still remembered today. And i hope you enjoy and learn from pedros life of compassion and fearlessness. You have to credit the real world with sort of helping the acceptance of the lgbt community. Because there werent many portrayals of gay people, period, on television at that point. Her name is marla. Im seeing a woman. In the 90s gay characters were always secondary or third. There was never a gay character that was the lead of a show. So you want to go look at apartments tomorrow . Great idea Ellen Degeneres the comedian was about to come out as a lesbian. Im on the cover of time. And she does it on time magazine. Yep, im gay. But they decide that the character ellen plays on tv will also come out. It is just reprehensible that abc, now owned by disney of all companies, is going to feature ellen as coming out of the closet. It wont be long before god knows what, you know, bestiality, incest, who knows. We were getting bomb threats. Disney was really getting a lot of flack for even thinking about having a comingout episode with ellen. Im 35 years old. Im so afraid to tell people. I mean, i just susan, im gay. [ cheers and applause ] ellen coming out was a huge moment for me personally because, you know, i was a closeted gay guy. Gay child at that time. And it was the bravest thing i saw. That felt great. That felt so great. Initial reports suggest abc made a bundle on ellens highly publicized outing on national tv last night. The broadcast was accompanied by comingout parties all around the country, including one in birmingham, alabama, where the local abc station refused to broadcast the show. She did a great thing. She was brave. I made the decision that i wasnt going to live my life as a lie anymore. I was i belong with everybody else. And thats what i finally did. We used to say ellen opened the door and we knocked it down. Listen sister i love my mister man tell me lazy tell me so tell me im crazy maybe i know cant help loving that man of mine take it, jackie and pas de bouree, pas de bouree, im gay will grace was a great show in sort of helping a mainstream Straight Community connect to the Gay Community. I think i can fix this thing with your landlord but it might get a little ugly. Play hardball, baby. Throw low and inside. Hes crowding the plate and weve got to grace, sports, youre losing me. I figured 25 of the country wouldnt watch the show just based on the fact that we had two gay men on it. Give it to me but if we could make believe that will and grace would get together. Will, i told you, you live with a hetero long enough, youre going to catch it. Maybe we could get people to watch thinking that would happen, knowing it would never happen. Suffering sappho you know, its a shame. An image like this is completely wasted on us. I remember the network calling every other week saying, can will just fall in love with grace . And the creators were like, well, thats weird, hes gay. Gay people dont do that. Thats why theyre gay. Why wasnt i your girlfriend, queer bait . Will and grace was the first time you saw characters on television that made gay normal. You wanted to be friends with them. Guess what we are. Uh a catholic girl gone bad and karen, what are you supposed to be . The best feeling i get is when people come up and say, thank you for all you do for the Gay Community, and thank you for playing that part in that show. And you feel so fortunate to have been a part of something so great. The best network is even better . Best, fastest, best. Enough. Sprints doing things differently. Theyre offering a new 100 total satisfaction guarantee. I mean i think Sprints Network and savings are great, but dont just take my word for it. Try it out and decide for yourself. Switch to sprint and get both an unlimited plan and one of the newest phones included for just 35 a month. Discover new San Pellegrino essenza. A twist of mediterranean flavors, with the gentle bubbles of San Pellegrino. Add a twist of flavor. San pellegrino essenza. Tastefully italian. Now im just waiting at the bar. Theres nothing i can do theres a really big crowd at the bar. Summer jams with dos equis keep it interesante. Motor . Nope. Not motor . Its pronounced motaur. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. What was happening at the end of the 90s was audiences started to look towards television for what they had only found before in feature film. Victory is mine. Victory is mine. Great day of the morning, people. Victory is mine. And actors no longer felt that it was a comedown to come work in television. What did i ever do to you except deliver the south . You shouldnt have made me beg. The segment of the audience that showed up to watch west wing, they watched the Mcneil Lehrer newshour, they watched west wing, and documentaries in foreign languages, right . If the name of this nominee is leaked out before i want it to be leaked out, im going to blame you and youre going to find that unpleasant. Ive got to tell you something, toby. Youre hot when youre like this. 90s television was the first wave of what we now have, remarkably specific niche programming. Freaks and geeks really sympathized with the losers and had great empathy for its characters. Because you dont see that i got something going right here freaks and geeks breaks my heart every time i think about it. Im sorry. Did i crush your twinkies . It lasted 18 episodes. And theyre perfect 18 episodes but nbc hated it so much. Roll down the windows because i got a big one abrewing. They thought it was a show by losers, about losers, for losers. They hated it. They wanted no part of it. They killed it. At the end of the 90s, the jig is starting to be up for the networks. Basically, quality migrates to cable. Oz comes on in 97. And its set in this fictional penitentiary. Wow. What a strange show that was. In oz, sometimes the things you cant touch are more real than the things you can. For instance, here, hatred, fear, loneliness are more real to me than a shank and a soul. It was jawdroppingly violent. It was a mens prison. It probably should be. But you know, it kind of announces the idea that hbo is going to get serious about doing scripted dramas. Its finished. Its over. But hbo really in my mind comes to its own in 1999 with the sopranos. Woke up this morning got yourself a gun sopranos just is one of those shows that was a benchmark change. It changed a lot of things for everybody. Throw out the handbook. Tony soprano, the lead actor in a drama, he killed a man. We watched him. He took his daughter on a college tour. Pretty, huh . Yeah. It was just a melding of a guy and a world what the [ bleep ] you doing . What the [ bleep ] you doing . And a behavior that promoted all the feelings that you would have for a guy that you love in a guy that you hate. You know . Sopranos came on tv and it really showed us the future, whether we realized that was going to be the future of television or not. This husband of yours, carmella, how much we love him. Hes the best. Oh, come on. Hes like a father to me. Just make sure nothing happens to him. That character in that show was a great inspiration to a great many shows that came after it including one that i worked on. You know what i want, tony . I want those kids to have a father. They got one, this one, me. Tony soprano. And all that comes with it. Oh, you prick. The 90s is a mixed decade of tv. Some of my favorite shows of all time aired in that decade and everybody was watching them. There was still that communal sense from the earlier decades of tv but it was being applied to shows that were reaching higher and farther, and they were great. Because there was so many channels and because so much storytelling was going on, you started to get more variety of stories being told. Get the skull film, schedule a c. A. T. Scan, and call the neurosurgery resident. Objection it showed us women in their depth and began to show us much more of a range of the africanamerican community. Im always here for you. Started focusing on teenagers in a more realistic way. Things changed us. Evolved. What are you talking about . Had you thinking a little more outside the box in terms of what people might want to watch. Youre out of order, hes out of order. This whole trial is sexy. After ten years of the 90s, we had a whole new Television World that could take us anyplace we wanted and even places we had never imagined. Was that the oven timer . Thats right, my friend. Its time for baywatch can you believe they gave stephanie skin cancer . I still cant believe they promoted her to lieutenant. Youre just saying that because youre in love with Yasmine Bleeth. How could anyone not be in love with Yasmine Bleeth . Hey, hey, theyre running. See . This is the brilliance of the show. I say always keep them running. All the time running, run. Run. Run, yasmine, run like the wind. Television on hbo did a lot of its best work when it was bending a genre. Ta