Snapshots

 

1.    Bill Clinton is President

 

2.    Jan - In Detroit, Michigan, Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an assailant, under orders from figure skating rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband. Tonya later pleads guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for trying to cover-up the attack, is fined $100,000, and banned from the sport.

 

3.    Jan - During a segment on NBC's Today, host Bryant Gumbel asks, "What is the internet, anyway?"

 

4.    Feb - During the opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, guest host Martin Lawrence makes sexually explicit jokes about female genitalia and feminine hygiene, which results in NBC banning him from appearing on the network (for the next year) and SNL (for life). In repeats of the episode, the offending section of the monologue is replaced by a title card read by an off-screen player (writer Jim Downey), saying that although SNL is neutral about the issues mentioned by Lawrence, network policy prevents his remarks from being re-broadcast, and that the incident almost cost the entire cast of SNL their jobs.

 

5.    Apr - Kurt Cobain, songwriter and frontman for the band Nirvana, is found dead at his Lake Washington home. He is believed to have committed suicide three days before he was found.

 

6.    Jun - Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are murdered outside the Simpson home in Los Angeles. O.J. Simpson is later acquitted of the killings but is held liable in a civil suit.

 

7.    Nov - Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces that he has Alzheimer's disease.

 

8.    Nov - WXYC, the student radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provides the world's first internet radio broadcast, aka live streaming.

 

9.    Nov - Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot five times and robbed after entering the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan.

 

10.    Sep - The pilot episode for Friends airs on NBC.

 

11.    Open Comments

 

12.    Top 3 Pop Songs

 

13.    #1 "The Sign", Ace of Base

 

14.    #2 "I Swear", All-4-One

 

15.    #3 "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men

 

16.    Record of the Year: Sheryl Crow for "All I Wanna Do"

 

17.    Album of the Year: Tony Bennett for MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett

 

18.    Song of the Year: Bruce Springsteen for "Streets of Philadelphia"

 

19.    Best New Artist: Sheryl Crow

 

20.    Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: Toni Braxton for "Breathe Again"

 

21.    Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: Babyface for "When Can I See You"

 

22.    Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: Boyz II Men for "I'll Make Love to You"

 

23.    Best R&B Album: Boyz II Men for II

 

24.    Best Rap Solo Performance: "U.N.I.T.Y." – Queen Latifah

 

25.    Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "None of Your Business" – Salt-N-Pepa

 

26.    Top 3 Movies

 

27.    #1 The Lion King

 

28.    #2 Forrest Gump

 

29.    #3 True Lies

 

30.    Notables: House party 3, Blue Chips, Sugar Hill, Above The Rim, The Ink Well, Crooklyn, Beverly Hills Cop 3, Speed, Forrest Gump, True Lies, The Shawshank Redemption, Jason's Lyric, Pulp Fiction, Dumb and Dumber

 

31.    Top # TV Shows

 

32.    #1 Seinfeld

 

33.    #2 ER

 

34.    #3 Home Improvement

 

35.    Debuts - Sister, Sister, South Central, Rolanda

 

36.    Economic Scene

 

37.    Income = 37k (Previously 31K)

 

38.    House = 119K (113)

 

39.    Car = 12.5k (12.7)

 

40.    Rent = 533 (532)

 

41.    Harvard = 24.9k (23.5)

 

42.    Movie = 4 (4.14)

 

43.    Gas = 1.09 (1.16)

 

44.    Stamp .29 (Same)

 

45.    Social Scene: OJ Simpson

 

46.    O.J. Simpson was born on July 9, 1947, in Putrero Hill, California, in the family of Eunice and Jimmy Lee Simpson. His father was a chef and bank custodian and his mother were a hospital administrator. Soon after his birth he developed rickets and had to wear braces on his legs till he was five. In 1952, his father left the family when he was still very young, and his mother had to take responsibility of raising the four children. He joined the ‘Persian Warriors’, a street gang in his early teens and was confined at the ‘San Francisco Youth Guidance Center’ for a short while. He played football for his team the ‘Galileo Lions’ at the ‘Galileo High School’ (now known as ‘Galileo Academy of Science and Technology’) in San Francisco.

 

47.    List of the most familiar faces that played pivotal roles in the trial.

 

48.    Marcia Clark (Prosecution / Ice Queen): An ace trial lawyer for the L.A. District Attorney's office, Clark spent years in the Special Trials Unit, which involved some of the most complex investigations, before becoming the lead prosecutor of the Simpson murder trial. Described as cold and calculating, Clark turned off many black female jurors who viewed her courtroom style as harsh and aggressive. After losing the Simpson case, Clark resigned from the L.A. District Attorney's office.

 

49.    Christopher Darden (Prosecution / Uncle Tom / Token): Despite being a co-prosecuting attorney with Clark, Darden had limited trial experience. Still, as a black man amid a majority black jury, his participation was important so as to dismiss the notion that the otherwise all-white prosecution had racist motivations against Simpson. Although Darden floundered at the start of the trial and was purportedly intimidated by Cochran, he gained momentum as events progressed. However, he made a consequential mistake when he demanded that Simpson try on the infamous bloody gloves, which ended up being too small for the accused's hands. The loss of the Simpson trial devastated Darden, who was known for his short fuse, and he took a leave of absence.

 

50.    Robert Shapiro (Defense / Publicity Hound): A lover of the spotlight, lead defense counsel Shapiro knew how to make a deal without going to trial and was a master at manipulating the media in order to garner sympathy for his famous clients. In fact, he was praised as the "Defense Counsel of the Year" in 1994, which even Judge Ito applauded. But when he began representing Simpson, Shapiro found himself jostling to keep his leadership role as other attorneys on his team were chomping at the bit to outshine him. Reportedly, co-defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey leaked stories to the press about Shapiro's ego, one of many indications there was infighting within the group. However, the blow that removed Shapiro from his lead status was when Cochran won Simpson's favor by visiting him in jail — something Shapiro preferred not to do with any of his clients. Once Cochran took over as lead counsel, Shapiro was vocally critical and attempted to distance himself from his team's chosen strategies. He would later tell Barba

ra Walters that "not only did we play the race card, we dealt it from the bottom of the deck."

 

51.    Johnnie Cochran (Defense / Master Manipulator): Having moved up the legal ranks in L.A.'s criminal division, Cochran went on to represent some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Michael Jackson and James Brown. In 1994, he was considered one of the best trial lawyers in the nation, and it was Simpson himself who asked Shapiro to bring Cochran onto the team. Once Cochran gained control of Simpson's defense strategy and pushed Shapiro to the side, he wooed the courtroom and media. Using his "black preacher" style approach, he controversially used the race card to curry sympathy for Simpson. After prosecutor Darden made the mistake of demanding Simpson try on the ill-fitted bloody gloves, Cochran uttered the famous phrase: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." That moment became a turning point of the trial, giving Simpson's defense a huge advantage.

 

52.    Lance Ito (Judge / Wanna Be): Before Lance Ito was appointed to the bench in 1989, he was an attorney for the L.A. district and at one point, worked under Cochran. A fan of media attention, Ito was arguably too lax about different aspects of the Simpson trial, giving interviews and inviting celebrities and journalists into his chambers. Judge Ito was further criticized on his decision to allow cameras in the courtroom and letting attorneys stall and have too many sidebars. His willingness to include Detective Mark Fuhrman's old taped interviews, in which he denigrated black people, was also a huge source of contention for the prosecution. In a strange twist, the tapes also revealed Fuhrman had made disparaging remarks about Ito's wife, Margaret York, who was Fuhrman's department superior at the time. When those comments were exposed, the prosecution asked for Ito to recuse himself due to his possible bias against Fuhrman, but later the request was withdrawn.

 

53.    Mark Fuhrman (Detective & Witness / Racists): Among the most controversial figures of the Simpson trial was L.A. homicide detective Mark Fuhrman. Responsible for discovering the "bloody glove" at the murder scene, Fuhrman did what the LAPD refused to do to Simpson — he threw the former NFL star in jail. Although Fuhrman denied ever having racist tendencies or using the n-word, a taped interview he had chosen to do 10 years earlier revealed otherwise. In the recording, he was quoted as saying to incarcerated black people: "You do what you're told, understand, n—r?" A wave of backlash hit Fuhrman, but he continued denying being a racist and also pushed back against the defense's theory that he planted the bloody glove to frame Simpson.

 

54.    Dennis Fung (Criminologist & Witness / Dunce): As the prosecution's witness, Dennis Fung — the LAPD criminologist who collected evidence at the murder scene — ended up spending the longest time testifying on the stand. For nine days, Fung recalled how he collected samples of blood, albeit admittedly overlooking some important areas where blood drops were identified and not always using gloves. The defense ate up Fung's inefficient and careless actions and implicated him as a liar who was part of a larger LAPD conspiracy against Simpson.

 

55.    Kato Kaelin (Witness / ???, Comedy Relief): Aspiring actor and houseguest of Simpson, Brian "Kato" Kaelin was a star witness for the prosecution. Present at Simpson's Rockingham mansion at the time of the murders, Kaelin claimed that he ate dinner with Simpson that night but could not account for the star athlete's whereabouts between the hours of 9:36 p.m. and 11 p.m. (the prosecution theorized that Simpson murdered his ex-wife and Goldman between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.). Due to Kaelin's shiftiness on the stand, prosecutor Clark turned against him and treated him as a hostile witness. Regardless, Kaelin — with his thick tufts of blond hair and surfer dude ways — gained considerable popularity in the media as a likable and comedic character of the trial.

 

56.    Allan Park (Witness / Voice of Reason): As the limousine driver who was hired to drive Simpson to the airport for his evening flight to Chicago, Allan Park was a vital witness to the prosecution. Competent and composed, Park helped bolster the idea that Simpson may not have been at the Rockingham mansion when the double homicide occurred. Still, the jury did not give much weight to his testimony, asking for his transcript only hours before deliberation. Reportedly, one juror wholly dismissed Park's testimony because he was unable to recall the number of cars parked at the Rockingham mansion. Upon hearing this, Park was shocked his testimony was so casually disregarded.

 

57.    Open Floor:

 

58.    Question: What did you want to happen?

 

59.    Music Scene: Black songs from the Top 40

 

60.    #3 "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men

 

61.    #5 "Hero", Mariah Carey

 

62.    #7 "Breathe Again", Toni Braxton

 

63.    #11 "Bump n' Grind", R. Kelly

 

64.    #12 "Again", Janet Jackson

 

65.    #14 "Whatta Man", Salt-n-Pepa and En Vogue

 

66.    #16 "Without You" / "Never Forget You", Mariah Carey

 

67.    #17 "You Mean the World to Me", Toni Braxton

 

68.    #19 "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", Prince

 

69.    #20 "Fantastic Voyage", Coolio

 

70.    #22 "Regulate", Warren G featuring Nate Dogg

 

71.    #23 "If You Go", Jon Secada

 

72.    #24 "Back & Forth", Aaliyah

 

73.    #26 "When Can I See You", Babyface

 

74.    #29 "Shoop", Salt-n-Pepa

 

75.    #30 "Any Time, Any Place", Janet Jackson

 

76.    #31 "Shine", Collective Soul

 

77.    #36 "Can We Talk", Tevin Campbell

 

78.    #37 "Funkdafied", Da Brat

 

79.    #39 "Gangsta Lean", DRS

 

80.    Vote

 

81.    Top RnB Albums

 

82.    Jan - Doggystyle    , Snoop Doggy Dogg

 

83.    Jan - Diary of a Mad Band, Jodeci

 

84.    Feb - 12 Play, R. Kelly

 

85.    Apr - Above the Rim, Soundtrack/Various artists

 

86.    Jun - Nuttin' But Love, Heavy D & the Boyz

 

87.    Jun - Above the Rim, Soundtrack/Various artists

 

88.    Jun - Regulate...G Funk Era, Warren G

 

89.    Jul - Get Up on It, Keith Sweat

 

90.    Jul – Funkdafied, Da Brat

 

91.    Aug - We Come Strapped, MC Eiht featuring Compton's Most Wanted

 

92.    Sep - Changing Faces, Changing Faces

 

93.    Sep – II, Boyz II Men

 

94.    Oct - Rhythm of Love, Anita Baker

 

95.    Oct - Jason's Lyric, Soundtrack/Various artists

 

96.    Nov - Murder Was the Case, Soundtrack/Various artists

 

97.    Nov - The Icon Is Love, Barry White

 

98.    Dec – Tical, Method Man

 

99.    Dec - Dare Iz a Darkside, Redman

 

100.    Dec - My Life, Mary J. Blige

 

101.    Dec - Miracles: The Holiday Album, Kenny G

 

102.    Vote:

 

103.    Music Scene: R. Kelly and Aaliyah

 

104.    R. Kelly is an American singer-songwriter, often referred to as the King of R&B.

 

105.    Robert Sylvester Kelly, better known as R. Kelly to his fans, is an American singer. He is one of the best-selling music artists in the United States and the most successful R&B male artist of the 1990s. A multi-faceted personality, Kelly is a singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, and former semi-professional basketball player.

 

106.    R. Kelly was born on January 8, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He and his three siblings were raised by their mother Joanne in the Baptist church, where she served as the lead singer of the choir.

 

107.    The family lived in poverty and struggled to make ends meet. Kelly started singing as part of the church choir when he was eight.

 

108.    He had a very difficult childhood as he was often sexually abused by a woman. In his 2012 autobiography ‘Soulacoaster,’ he had penned down his experience and the reason why he never told about his ordeal to anyone. When he was 11, he was shot in the shoulder while riding his bike home.

 

109.    He had an untreated learning disability, which made it difficult for him to read and write. Eventually, he had to drop out of high school.

 

110.    He studied at the ‘Kenwood Academy’ in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He was an athletic young boy and played basketball for his high school team. However, his music teacher Lena McLin, who had recognized his musical talent, advised him to leave the sport and focus on music.

 

111.    He was very close to his mother, who took him to church and clubs where she performed. She died of cancer in 1993.

 

112.    Kelly gained recognition in 1989 when he, along with Marc McWilliams, Shawn Brooks, and Vincent Walker, participated in the TV show ‘Big Break,’ where he went on to win the $100,000 grand prize.

 

113.    As a youngster, he formed the group ‘MGM’ (Musically Gifted Men) along with his friends Marc McWilliams, Vincent Walker, and Shawn Brooks. In 1990, ‘MGM’ recorded and released their first single, ‘Why You Wanna Play Me’ and disbanded shortly after.

 

114.    In 1992, Kelly released his debut album ‘Born into the 90’s’ along with a musical group named ‘Public Announcement.’ The album produced several hit songs and was eventually certified platinum

 

115.    Kelly's first solo album, ‘12 Play,’ was released in November 1993.

 

116.    R. Kelly, 27, achieves mainstream success when his single “Bump n’ Grind”, released in January of 1994, hits number one on the Billboard 100. A month later, his protégé Aliyah releases her debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, which was almost entirely written and produced by him.

 

117.    His self-titled album ‘R. Kelly’ was out in 1995. Featuring introspective lyrics and foot-tapping music, this album became a huge hit and spawned three number one singles – ‘You Remind Me of Something,’ ‘Down Low (Nobody Has to Know),’ and ‘I Can't Sleep (Baby If I).

 

118.    Aaliyah Biography: Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born on January 16, 1979, in Brooklyn, New York, to Diane and Michael Haughton. She had one brother whom she was very close to. She was very family oriented and had close relations with her parents and grandmother. She was of African American descent.

 

119.    Her mother was a vocalist and young Aaliyah began singing when she was a child, performing at weddings, charity events, and for church choir. Her uncle Barry Hankerson was married to recording artist Gladys Knight who played a major role in introducing Aaliyah to the show business.

 

120.    She attended a Catholic school named ‘Gesu Elementary,’ where she was cast to play a role in a stage play titled ‘Annie.’

 

121.    With support from Gladys, Aaliyah auditioned for commercials and television programs, and also for several record labels. She started appearing in concerts alongside Gladys when she was 11.

 

122.    Aaliyah signed with ‘Jive Records’ and her Uncle Barry Hankerson's ‘Blackground Records’ when she was just 12. Her debut album ‘Age Ain't Nothing but a Number,’ which was recorded when the singer was just 14, was released in 1994.

 

123.    In its very first week, the album sold almost 74, 000 copies. Soon, it reached from 24th to the 18th position in ‘Billboard 200,’ eventually selling over three million copies in the United States, where it was certified double platinum by the ‘RIAA.’

 

124.    The tremendous success of the album catapulted Aaliyah to international stardom. During this time, rumors of her illegal marriage with her mentor and recording artist and producer R. Kelly began circulating.

 

125.    In order to silence the rumors, Aaliyah left ‘Jive Records’ and signed a contract with ‘Atlantic Records,’ under which she released her second album ‘One in a Million’ in 1996. This album was also a major success. It peaked at No. 18 on the ‘Billboard 200,’ and sold over 3.7 million copies in the United States and over eight million copies worldwide. It was certified double platinum by the ‘RIAA.’

 

126.    Aaliyah, along with her crew, flew to the Bahamas on August 25, 2001, to shoot the music video of the song, ‘Rock the Boat.’ Completing the shoot early, the crew decided to return to Florida instead of waiting for the next day as per schedule. For their return, they boarded a small private airplane.

 

127.    The plane was smaller than the one the crew had arrived in. However, the whole party and the equipment were accommodated on board, overloading the plane with a surplus of 320 kg and one excess passenger. The plane crashed soon after taking off, killing everyone on board.

 

128.    Open Comments:

 

129.    Controversies

 

130.    Illegal marriage: According to Vibe and the Chicago Sun-Times, 27-year-old Kelly and 15-year-old protégée Aaliyah were illegally married in a secret ceremony on August 31, 1994, in Cook County.[126][127] Upon meeting Kelly and prior to the nuptials, Aaliyah admitted she had falsely stated she was 18. In a 2008 interview, Kelly's tour manager, Demetrius Smith, said that he facilitated the wedding by obtaining falsified identification for Aaliyah which listed her as 18 years of age.

 

131.    He married Andrea, his former backup dancer, in 1996. The couple has three children. They divorced in 2009 after almost 13 years of marriage.

 

132.    1998, Kelly paid Tiffany Hawkins $250,000 after she claimed Kelly had induced her to have group sex with other teenage girls when she was 15 years old.

 

133.    2001: Sued by intern: Tracy Sampson sues R. Kelly, accusing him of inducing her "into an indecent sexual relationship" when she was 17 years old. The woman, a former intern at Epic Records, claimed she was "treated as his personal sex object and cast aside".  "He often tried to control every aspect of my life including who I would see and where I would go," she said in her legal case against him. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, said the New York Post.

 

134.    2002: Two more court cases - Kelly is sued for a third time by Patrice Jones, a Chicago woman who claims he impregnated her when she was underage, and that she was forced to have an abortion. A woman named Montina Woods  also sued Kelly, alleging that he videotaped them having sex without her knowledge. The recording was allegedly circulated on an R Kelly "sex tape" sold by bootleggers under the title R. Kelly Triple-X. The star settled both cases out of court, paying an undisclosed sum in return for a non-disclosure agreement.

 

135.    2017, Kelly was accused of forcing girls to stay in an ‘abusive cult.’

 

136.    2018, the ‘Women of Color’ branch of the ‘Time's Up’ movement called for a boycott of Kelly's music and performances over the many allegations against him. The boycott was accompanied by a social media campaign called ‘Mute R. Kelly.’

 

137.    2019, Kelly was taken back to the ‘Cook County Jail’ after failing to pay $161,633 in child support. On March 9, 2019, he was released after someone, who didn't want to be identified, paid off the child support.

 

138.    2019, Lifetime began airing a six-part documentary series, “Surviving R. Kelly”, detailing sexual abuse and misconduct allegations against Kelly.

 

139.    Question: Why do we treat R Kelly different than Michael?

 

140.    Movie Scene: Sam Jack Mutha F@#A

 

141.    Samuel Leroy Jackson was born on December 21, 1948, in Washington, D.C. He grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and was raised by his mother Elizabeth Jackson as his father lived away from the family and later passed away from alcoholism. He met his father only twice during his life.

 

142.    He studied at a number of segregated schools and graduated from ‘Riverside High School’ in Chattanooga. During his time at school, he played the French horn and the trumpet in the school orchestra. He suffered from stuttering when he was a child.

 

143.    He initially dreamt of pursuing a degree in marine biology at ‘Morehouse College’ in Atlanta, but soon switched degrees after he discovered the actor in him. He graduated from the institute in 1972 and at the same time, co-founded the theatre group, ‘Just Us Theatre.’

 

144.    After appearing in several plays, including ‘The Opera’ and ‘A Soldier’s Play,’ he made his motion picture debut in the blaxploitation film ‘Together for Days’ in 1972. Four years later, he appeared in the television series ‘i’ On.’

 

145.    He moved to New York City and spent the next several years appearing in stage plays, such as ‘The Piano Lesson’ and ‘Two Trains Running.’ In 1977, he appeared in the film ‘The Displaced Person.’

 

146.    It is believed that in his early years he was mentored by Morgan Freeman. Later on, in his career, he started doing noticeable roles in films like ‘School Daze’ and ‘Do the Right Thing,’ which released in 1988 and 1989, respectively.

 

147.    In 1990, he appeared in ‘Goodfellas’ in a minor role and then worked as a substitute on ‘The Cosby Show’ for the next three years.

 

148.    From 1990 to 1993, he worked in films like ‘Def by Temptation,’ ‘The Return of Superfly,’ ‘Strictly Business,’ ‘Jungle Fever,’ ‘Patriot Games,’ ‘True Romance,’ ‘Amos & Andrew,’ ‘Jurassic Park,’ and ‘Loaded Weapon 1.’

 

149.    In 1994, he played the critically acclaimed role of Jules Winnfield in the hit film ‘Pulp Fiction.’ Jackson became a world icon after the release and subsequent success of the movie. It was later revealed that director Quentin Tarantino specifically wanted him for the role.

 

150.    Open Comments:

 

151.    Question: Is Sam better than Denzel?

 

152.    TV Scene: The Death of Black TV

 

153.    Cancelled in 1994: Jan - The Les Brown Show, Feb – Thea, The Sinbad Show, May – Roc, In Living Color, and The Arsenio Hall Show

 

154.    Article #1: A TELEVISION TREND: AUDIENCES IN BLACK AND WHITE by Paul Farhi November 29, 1994

 

155.    All across the country tonight, millions of households will tune to ABC's "Home Improvement." In a typical week, the situation comedy about the host of a household fix-it show is the most-watched program on the air. Yet one group of viewers is decidedly sparse among the masses of "Home Improvement" fans. In African American households, the program barely makes the top 30. Other big network hits are even less popular: "Seinfeld" and "Frasier" don't even crack the top 90 …The top show for black audiences this season: "Living Single," a Fox sitcom that ranks 69th among all audiences.”

 

156.    Article #2: Let’s rewind a bit. In the mid-'80s, when there wasn't a whole lot of programming aimed specifically at black folks, black and white viewers watched mostly the same shows — 15 of the top 20 most-watched shows for black audiences in the 1985-96 season were also in white viewers' top 20. But by the next decade, everything had changed. While the then-Big Three had a handful of shows with black casts in the mid-1990s like Family Matters and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, it was the upstart networks like Fox and later UPN and the WB (Both launched in Jan 1995)  that seriously doubled down on black viewers in a bid to become commercially viable as quickly as possible. The result was a kind of alternate TV universe where you could find black folks on-screen seemingly every night of the week — In Living Color; Roc; Sister, Sister; Moesha; In The House; The Jamie Foxx Show; Malcolm & Eddie. (Alas, Latinos and Asian-American folks were then, as now, mostly absent from lead roles on network TV, even on th

e smaller "netlets.")

 

157.    Lots of these shows had big, devoted black followings. While huge swaths of America yearned for Ross and Rachel to get together, my high school classmates and I geeked over the fact that an episode of Fox's New York Undercover played "Flava In Ya Ear" over the cold open… Fox's 1994-95 Thursday night lineup — Martin at 8 p.m., Living Single at 8:30 and New York Undercover at 9 — were the three highest-rated shows among black TV viewers that season. But among white viewers, none of those three shows even cracked the top 100. By the end of the 1990s, Fox switched its focus from black audiences to go after young male viewers, a demographic that they felt was more desirable to advertisers.”

 

158.    By 2008, the viewing habits of black viewers and white viewers were converging once more. With few "black shows" on broadcast TV, everyone was watching American Idol, Dancing With the Stars or CSI. Black folks who wanted to watch black folks on TV had to go to cable, and so they did. - https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/04/01/395777889/this-isnt-the-first-time-network-tv-discovered-black-people

 

159.    Question: Do we need “Black” TV?

 

160.    Vote: Best/most important/favorite pop culture item from 1994?