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Weekend Discussion Thread: When Hell Started Bubbling Up for You

I want to start this one by saying: NO POLITICS!!! GOT IT??

Okay. Our pal Timmy says:

I just watched “Eegah!” (and since it was talk about this past Thursday) and I thought when did hell bubble up for you all? For me, (besides when the show was cancelled in 1999), it was when they did the tap dancing routine in the 1999 Oscars (look this one up kids).

I know what some of you want to say. NO POLITICS!!

That said, for me, it’s two words: Cousin Oliver. (Look that one up, too!)

What’s yours? And remember, NO POLITICS!!

145 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: When Hell Started Bubbling Up for You”

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  1. Gobi says:

    Atorgo:
    When TRL debuted on MTV.

    I used to be perpetually angry about all the things in this thread being brought up and not much fun to be around and I would bellyache to anyone within earshot. Now I still get angry but I take a deep breath and try to have a positive mental attitude and I’m a lot more pleasant to be around. Thanks, Weed!

    Repeat to yourself, “They’re just some shows, I should really just relax.”

       4 likes

  2. goalieboy82 says:

    Ryan Seacrest

       3 likes

  3. radioman970 says:

    Classic Star Trek getting cut for time in the early 80s. (In “What are Little Girls Made of?”, before the commercial Kirk is hanging from a cliff, back from commercial he’s okay but giving the evil eye to Ruk. I mean, what the hell…?! He didn’t get off the cokadoodee cliff!!!)

       10 likes

  4. Flying Saucers Over Oz says:

    When Marvel decided it was DESPERATELY, DESPERATELY, DESPERATELY important to rewrite Power Pack so the parents knew all about the kids’ powers. Over and over again. Because it wasn’t going to work and they had no intention of admitting it.
    When Harvey Korman left THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW.
    When Nick At Nite stopped doing ‘How To Be Swell’ segments.
    When the lounge music fad ended.
    When Media Play went out of business.

       5 likes

  5. John Hanna says:

    When I turned 40.
    *mike drop*

       5 likes

  6. Prime Minister Jm J. Bullock says:

    internet trolls.

    Hamilton: The Musical.

       9 likes

  7. Jay says:

    Saturday Kid’s Matinee –

    AKA – The Coke Show, when moms could drop their little hellions off at the theater for a morning of watching third run movies (some of which would be featured years later on a certain puppet show) and all for the price of three soft drink deposit bottles. Nobody cared if you couldn’t hear the dialog over the noise and confusion. We were out of the house and sugared up on soft drinks and Black Cow candy bars! Woo-Hoo!
    But then came those strange looking throw away bottles. No more Coke Shows. No more Black Cows that would threaten to pull out your brand new permanent teeth. I can smell the sulphur just thinking about it.

    PS – Not old enough to remember Coke shows? I shed a tear in your general direction.

       13 likes

  8. goalieboy82 says:

    when American Classic Movies went to AMC and when BBC America stop showing classic British shows to start showing the stuff they show today (except for New Doctor Who).

       6 likes

  9. Ro-man says:

    Great topic… The biggest one I can think of: when people paying more attention to our “devices” than to other people.

       12 likes

  10. goalieboy82 says:

    as for Cousin Oliver:
    http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CousinOliver

       0 likes

  11. DJF says:

    The prequels. Not only did it taint three classic movies it also brought to the fore a really unhealthy obsession in pop culture where adults are stuck in a state of perpetual adolescence and escapism.

       9 likes

  12. YourNewBestFriend says:

    When the suits realized that the biggest ad revenues of their broadcast day came from the evening news/nightly news. Suddenly we went from Walter Cronkite to Sir Giggles von Laughsalot. Thank GOD for internet news sites, because local news has become bearable only if you really need to find out why the South Loop was slowed down so bad at rush hour today.

    Irony upon irony. At least in our mid-sized, midwestern market, if you’re doomed by allergies or rumbletummy to be up at 4:30 or 5:00 AM and watch local broadcast TV, you’ll see THE SAME SNIGGERING MORONS that smirk and grin at each other during the day and in the evening–doing real news. With sober expressions. Finishing their sentences. Not acting like they’ve been mainlining Red Bull.

    Grr. Way to ruin my weekend, Sampo. Now I just want to take someone by the shoulders and shake them.

       5 likes

  13. EricJ says:

    YourNewBestFriend:
    When the suits realized that the biggest ad revenues of their broadcast day came from the evening news/nightly news.

    And local stations decided that they had no more reason for any other local station-produced programming EXCEPT for starting the 6 o’clock news earlier and earlier, at 5pm, 4:30, or whenever they ran out of syndicated Dr. Phil reruns at the end of the afternoon.
    No Bowling for Dollars. No High School Quiz-Bowl. No Polka. No Cub-scout trips to the local Bozo taping. No Ask the Manager. No chirpy local-celebrity talk-shows. No Movie Loft. No Saturday monster hosts. No NUTHIN’.
    Except “Our Eyewitness I-team!”

    (Now I just watch the Mary Tyler Moore show and…just sort of cry. :cry: )

       10 likes

  14. dakotaboy says:

    Hell started bubbling up when our favorite show was cancelled in 1999. It finally started to thaw with Joel’s successful Kickstarter.

       5 likes

  15. YourNewBestFriend says:

    EricJ: And local stations decided that they had no more reason for any other local station-produced programming EXCEPT for starting the 6 o’clock news earlier and earlier, at 5pm, 4:30, or whenever they ran out of syndicated Dr. Phil reruns at the end of the afternoon.
    No Bowling for Dollars.No High School Quiz-Bowl.No Polka.No Cub-scout trips to the local Bozo taping.No Ask the Manager.No chirpy local-celebrity talk-shows.No Movie Loft.No Saturday monster hosts.No NUTHIN’.
    Except “Our Eyewitness I-team!”

    Specifically, childhood ended when the after-school cartoon show hosted by Major Astro or Engineer Bill went away. How has the youth of the past two generations been able to recapture the cultural wonders of Felix the Cat and Scrappy cartoons? Where can a child of the modern age see Popeye Meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves?

       7 likes

  16. Walrus says:

    When Turner Classics Movies broadcast signal blockers on their movies. There went my beautiful library of films. :-(

       1 likes

  17. Blonde Russian Spy says:

    For me personally, it was when someone decided that previously unimaginable levels of violence, blood, and gore were now acceptable to put into movies. It’s as if filmmakers now are trying to see how close they can get to giving their audience members PTSD by the time they walk out of the theater. If other people enjoy it, that’s fine, but I’m simply not desensitized enough to watch a lot of the movies coming out today, and I hope I never get there.

       14 likes

  18. Midwestern Tanuki says:

    When both SCI-Fi and TBS attempted to do Geek shows like “Heroes of Cosplay” and “King of the Geeks or whatever the Big Brother rip off was called”.
    The live action Transformers movies.
    99.9% of Sci-Fi orginal/Asylum films movies.
    The great MOE wave in Anime.
    When Taco Bell started serving breakfast.

       4 likes

  19. Lavendare says:

    No hell here.

    I’m just mentioning that Rifftrax has a new short available to download or stream.

    It’s called “The Value of Teamwork.”

    Enjoy. :-)

       5 likes

  20. GizmonicTemp says:

    I started college about the time the internet started taking off. I was SUPER excited to get my own email address that I could keep in touch with family back home. My first email EVER?!?! Spam. I was done with the internet less than 5 minutes after I started.

       11 likes

  21. Professor Gunther says:

    For me, it was when TOP GUN was released (back when I was an undergraduate). I have now become my former professor, who at that time was happy to talk at length about Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (as well as more obscure films [to me, at the time] like WILD STRAWBERRIES), but who didn’t know who Tom Cruise was. Right around that time I stopped going to the movies (because the thought of going to watch something like COCKTAIL was more than I could take), and I turned to books instead, and I never looked back. I hasten to add that I know that I have missed many a great movie since then, and I’m not proud of how ignorant I am of current (and even not-so-current) actors, but I only have so much time, and ultimately I am grateful to Tom Cruise for helping me become an English professor (because I really couldn’t stand him, or what Hollywood movies had become at that time). :)

    #67: I couldn’t agree more! (But like you, I don’t have a problem at all with people who can watch incredibly violent movies [as many of my friends do, in fact]; I just can’t, and I KNOW I never will be able to.)

       3 likes

  22. Gary Bowden says:

    For me it was Honey Boo Boo,The Duck Dynasty guys,Bieber,the Kardashians,Jersey Shore,Paris Hilton and how the media reported on them nonstop..It was when MTV stopped playing music videos and concentrated on reality shows instead..It was when excellent well written shows like Freaks and Geeks was cancelled…Also,the arrival of autotune comes to mind..When TVLand stopped playing old shows and played newer shows..When SyFy channel started showing wrestling…Pauly Shore,Adam Sandler…political correctness..Glenn Beck,Michelle Bachmann…When country music became “bro-country” and like bad rock music with a fiddle..

       18 likes

  23. Kenneth Morgan says:

    I agree with David Mello and EricJ that the loss of locally-produced TV and radio are definite bubble-up moments. I used to work for a local radio station and saw first-hand what happens when the decision to become more “professional” and “mainstream” leads to computer-controlled, cookie-cutter programming with no real contact with the community. On the other hand, there are a few stations that have held onto a community/local style, so all is not lost.
    Two other bubble-up moments: tearing down the Route 1 Flea Market in order build another googleplex, and when New Jersey Network (NJN) and WLIW-TV from Long Island were sold and became clones of WNET-TV, Channel 13, New York.

       3 likes

  24. EricJ says:

    YourNewBestFriend: Specifically, childhood ended when the after-school cartoon show hosted by Major Astro or Engineer Bill went away. How has the youth of the past two generations been able to recapture the cultural wonders of Felix the Cat and Scrappy cartoons? Where can a child of the modern age see Popeye Meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves?

    On DVD, when their parents show them. (The good Popeyes, including Ali Baba, were spared, the crappy 50’s ones have been lost to public domain.) Our family raised the next generation right on Bugs Bunny, and were relieved to see another generation laughing themselves silly on Pink Panther and the Flintstones.
    Problem is, now we have a generation of sentimental parents who wish Cartoon Network would show Dexter’s Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls again, like when they were kids.

    (And to quote CN circa ’99-’00, “Some people want to watch the same cartoons they saw as kids…Scary, huh?” The defining Bubble-Up moment of cable.)

       3 likes

  25. MissT3K says:

    For me it’s a close tie between when Sonny and Cher announced they were getting a divorce and when Freddy Prince committed suicide – I was very young and loved their shows and then my parents had to explain to me what divorce is AND what suicide is – dark, hell bubbling up days indeed. :(

       10 likes

  26. Kenneth Morgan says:

    EricJ: On DVD, when their parents show them.(The good Popeyes, including Ali Baba, were spared, the crappy 50’s ones have been lost to public domain.)Our family raised the next generation right on Bugs Bunny, and were relieved to see another generation laughing themselves silly on Pink Panther and the Flintstones.
    Problem is, now we have a generation of sentimental parents who wish Cartoon Network would show Dexter’s Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls again, like when they were kids.

    (And to quote CN circa ’99-’00, “Some people want to watch the same cartoons they saw as kids…Scary, huh?”The defining Bubble-Up moment of cable.)

    On the one hand, I agree that its good that home video has allowed us to once again see classic cartoons in their original, uncut form (though some of the more politically incorrect lines are tougher to find). But I disagree with what appears to be a slam on “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “Powerpuff Girls”, two of the more clever and more funny cartoons of recent years. (My apologies if I’m mistaken in my perception.)

       1 likes

  27. A Flat Minor, Mr. B's cousin says:

    one word: Travolta

       6 likes

  28. Cam says:

    There was this episode of The Waltons, when the network sucker-punched me by having John Boy contemplate whether or not he was going to write anymore.

    It was truly disturbing.

    No more closing scenes of him writing in the Big Chief tablet?

    WHAT THE HELL.

    Might as well close the saw mill, too!

    Later, when I saw Carol Burnett riff the series as John Girl in The Walnuts, a swiftly tilting planet was righted.

       8 likes

  29. DedicatedToUranus says:

    Daniel Tosh seems like a pretty ripe slice of hell.

       5 likes

  30. Cornjob says:

    Oh boy, even without getting political there’s a lot of Hell going around.

    On a sad day in 1980 John Lennon died, and Yoko Ono lived. Two major victories for Hell.

    The death of John Belushi.

    The death of Cliff Burton, which in my mind ended up killing Metallica.

    Although my life improved immensely in the 90’s. Hell was on the march. The New Kids on the Block were already assaulting us, and helped usher in the age of lip synced concerts. An evil perfected by Milli Vanilli who not only lip synced awful music in their live shows but during their studio recordings as well. Paula Abdul, Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, The Spice Girls, and Celine Dion bubbled up from Hell to let the world know how much they hated us.

    Nirvana was a blessed ray of light. But then Kurt Cobain died. Leaving us alone to face Courtney Love.

    Also in the 90’s comic book makers decided to abandon plot, writing, artwork, and such in favor of expensive flashy holographic prismatic embossed covers. That went well.

    Visible underwear became a badge of cool.

    The 90’s also gave us Married with Children, Rob Schneider, and Jar Jar Binks. Screw you 90’s.

    Along the way the film career of Michael Bay was begat from the Necronomicon.

    Tentacle Porn.

    Smart Phones. Here’s when we started turning into the Borg.

    And now the world is weighted down by three different Human Centipede movies. I’m an 80’s style gorehound that grew up with Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm St. movies. I can even take Saw and Hostel. But watching Human Centipede made something inside me die. And another part of me is still throwing up.

    Enough of this crap. Time for some Star Trek.

       5 likes

  31. Brock Lee Rubberband says:

    Beards. Big fugly furry irritating food catching floor dusting beards. Why have these become hip and cool? No more beards. I can’t take it anymore. Victor Kiam save us!

       6 likes

  32. skier_pete says:

    Don’t have anything (else) to add…but I just wanted to say that I love this thread!

    P.S. Except it seems like a thread full of cranky old men – and maybe a few women. Hey you kids! Get off my lawn! And take your twitters and kardashians with you!

    P.P.S. Alternate version of that joke: This thread is awesome! I just tweeted about it to Kim and Kanye!!

    P.P.P.S. I really sincerely mean I love the thread though.

       7 likes

  33. Ro-man says:

    Wow… again, I love the topic, but reading some of these has really brought me down. The darkness, I feel, is closing in.

    Time for Joey the Lemur! :monkey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGMz6r37Za4 :monkey:

    … oh… wait….

       2 likes

  34. Dickweed1 says:

    MO LEWIS! Who?, you say. Just the guy from the New York Jets who crushed Drew Bledsoe in week 2 of the 2001 NFL season. The injury results with 6th round draft pick Tom Brady getting his chance and coach Bill Belicheat{who previously told his coaches to RENT not Buy a home}to become a Super Genius!! F YOU , MO!!!! And The Jets! And The PATS. P.S. Can anyone tell I’m a Dolphins Fan!! :-)

       2 likes

  35. Herandar says:

    Hell has never bubbled up. I have always been able to ignore the mediocre and derivative offerings. Focus your attention on what is good and beautiful in life. It has never been easier to access the entertainment you love in pristine quality than it is now.

       14 likes

  36. DarkGrandmaofDeath says:

    Herandar, are you saying that every year of your life you grow more and more convinced that the wisest and the best is to fix our attention on the good and the beautiful, if we just take the time to look at it?

       17 likes

  37. littleaimishboy says:

    When the 5-minutes edit function in the Comments box was eliminated.

       8 likes

  38. Jay says:

    P.S. Except it seems like a thread full of cranky old men – and maybe a few women. Hey you kids! Get off my lawn! And take your twitters and kardashians with you!

    You kids take away your twitters and your kardashians and your reality shows and your biebers and your skinny jeans and your…
    Or I will taunt you a second time!

    PS – Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled like elderberries.

    PPS – Get off my lawn! And your little dog, too.

       8 likes

  39. YourNewBestFriend says:

    Jay: You kids take away your twitters and your kardashians and your reality shows and your biebers and your skinny jeans and your…
    Or I will taunt you a second time!

    PS – Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled like elderberries.

    PPS – Get off my lawn!And your little dog, too.

    And your hula hoops and your fax machnes

       8 likes

  40. MarcusVermilion says:

    WCW’s “Finger Poke of Doom”.

       5 likes

  41. MikeK says:

    When AMC turned into what it is now.

    More hell is the Sundance Channel turning into ’80s popular movie/Law & Order reruns channel.

       4 likes

  42. Atorgo says:

    skier_pete:
    Don’t have anything (else) to add…but I just wanted to say that I love this thread!

    P.S. Except it seems like a thread full of cranky old men – and maybe a few women. Hey you kids! Get off my lawn! And take your twitters and kardashians with you!

    P.P.S. Alternate version of that joke: This thread is awesome! I just tweeted about it to Kim and Kanye!!

    P.P.P.S. I really sincerely mean I love the thread though.

    All kidding aside I really hope the reboot brings in some fresh blood. I cherish my memories of the 80’s and 90’s but its time to move on folks!

       5 likes

  43. Haydn 70 says:

    Herandar: Focus your attention on what is good and beautiful in life.

    As Lt. Ray Makonnen advised.

       1 likes

  44. TrumpyCanDoMagicThings says:

    That point in the early-to-mid 2000’s when Disney made a series of traditionally animated flops and then switched entirely to only computer-animated films (“The Princess and the Frog” notwithstanding). I mean, I’ve loved some of their recent CG efforts like “Inside Out” and “Zootopia,” but traditional animation is one of my favorite things and I never really believed they would stop producing movies in that style.

    That brief-but-horrifying period of time when Cartoon Network tried to become the Crappy Reality Shows for Kids Network.

    The way that texting/instant messaging on phones has created a standard for conversations to meander on forever.

    When Shasta discontinued Mario Punch.

       4 likes

  45. goalieboy82 says:

    off topic but (made a reference in Alien from LA)
    http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/abel-gances-napoleon-get-uk-wide-theatrical-dvd-release
    its about time too (have the old vhs copy with francis ford coppola did)

       0 likes

  46. goalieboy82 says:

    Sandy Frank

       0 likes

  47. Brock Lee Rubberband says:

    DarkGrandmaofDeath:
    Herandar, are you saying that every year of your life you grow more and more convinced that the wisest and the best is to fix our attention on the good and the beautiful, if we just take the time to look at it?

    You’re some guy, DarkGrandmaofDeath

       6 likes

  48. SaintStryfe says:

    Oh boy, lots of them.

    Triple H getting a Main Event push in 1999.

    The coming of Reality TV.

    Folding the credits in to show an ad for the next show.

    Reddit being overtaken by Imgur.

    America Online becoming AOL.

    And my most recent one: When Dutch Mantel was released by WWE and no one noticed.

       1 likes

  49. pork chop cup says:

    Hell came up when we started having to pump our own gasoline. No more oil and air pressure checks. No windshield cleaning.

    Jobs, even lifelong careers were extinguished.

    Did it create cheaper prices?

    Nope. The jobs just became OUR jobs.

    And still we pump… in the rain, the snow, and the wind and the heat.

    The value of professional gas station attendants was VERY underestimated and under appreciated.

    Sorry, Gomer. Sorry, Goober.

       6 likes

  50. Goshzilla says:

    It’s funny (but not ha-ha funny) that MST3K is quite possibly more popular now thanks to the interweb than it ever was when it was airing on television because the show was founded on the principle of not taking too things too seriously. And now, here we are with a certain segment of fans taking it way too seriously. I’m reminded of today’s “hipsters.” Oh, you’re into MST3K? Pffft. I was into them before it was cool.

       4 likes

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