Recent Memories is a half-assed retelling of 1979-2009, one year, one story and one conversation at a time.
Season Three: 2004
It’s Bush vs Kerry. Bennifer. Paris Hilton. And American Idol. You’ve heard those stories before. We’re gonna talk about the other ones.
Bellagio
Season 2. Episode 5. And here’s the question we want to answer for history: We know that Las Vegas was changed forever when Steve Wynn built the Bellagio. We know that bachelor parties would never be the same. We know that, for millions of men and maybe dozens of women, the Bellagio gets “it.” But -- here’s the question -- what exactly is “it”?
There’s Something About Pat Healy
Season 2. Episode 4. There’s Something About Pat Healy. And here’s the question we want to answer for history: When Mary Jensen chose that dorky, neurotic, stalker, Ted Stroemann, over the handsome, confident, entrepreneur, Pat Healy, are we sure that she made the right choice? Join us as we deep dive semen as pomade, Brett Favre the actor and the deep mystery of Matt Dillon, underrated comic genius.
Bad Therapy
Season 2. Episode 3. We all love Frasier and Niles Crane. Right? We know that Frasier is the most decorated sitcom in the history of the Emmys. We know that the show was almost flawlessly written and acted. We know that the Crane brothers were lovable, erudite and pretentious. We know so much about them. But do we know -- I mean, do we have even the slightest idea -- if they were competent psychotherapists?
The Death of Childhood
Season 2. Episode 2. Stick with us on this “very special episode” of Recent Memories as we try to find an ounce of humor in all of this. From 1978 to 1985, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Dana Plato and Conrad Baine were part of TVs most loving and lovable family on “Diff’rent Strokes.” But then, when the show ended, things got gruesome. On July 20, 1998, when Gary Coleman assaulted a fan while buying a bulletproof vest for his job as a security guard, was that the saddest day of the saddest post-script in TV history? Moreover, was this the day that Generation X’s childhood officially died?
Flaccid
Season 2. Episode 1. In the 1980s, we had Reagan, Stallone and Schwarenegger. In the 90s we had Clinton, Ross and Chandler. But, in 1998, everything changed. Pfizer launched Viagra, a drug that allowed men with erectile dysfunction to achieve and maintain erections for hours. Simultaneously, major league baseball players began to take performance enhancing drugs in unprecedented volumes. There is no way that these events -- the launch of Viagra and the dawn of baseball’s steroid era -- are not correlated.
Season Two: 1998
It’s Clinton vs. Lewinsky. Dotcom boom 1.0. Britney & NSYNC. The end of Seinfeld. You’ve heard those stories before. We’re gonna talk about the other ones.
Season One: 1983
It’s peak Reagan. Thriller. MTV. Bird vs Magic. Return of The Jedi. You’ve heard those stories before. We’re gonna talk about the other ones.