I promise, this is the last of these double episodes, as I’m finally back into the swing of things.
So it is official, vacation is over and Allison’s Written Words is back in business!
As I’m busy constructing the huge recap of my final trip through the ‘Gate last week, I’d be bucking my duties as everyone’s favorite nostalgic commercial finder and Throwback/Flashback memory maker. It’s an important job, and I take it seriously.
We’ve been back and forth between the 1950s and the early 1990s, but in the spirit of premiere weeks (which are still ongoing), I found a block of commercials worthy of a double episode that come to us from September 1998.
Saturday Night Live kicked off its 24th season of life on September 26, 1998 by airing a primetime special as a lead-in to that week’s premiere. In case you’re wondering who hosted that evening, it was Cameron Diaz, and the musical guest was the Smashing Pumpkins.
Gotta love the late 1990s. The music was better.
The lead-in special, for the interested, was a two-hour compilation called The Bad Boys of SNL, and features sketches starring the well-known men of the early 1990s cast – Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Farley, Rob Schneider, and Chris Rock. Basically, everyone who ever has been or ever will be in an Adam Sandler movie was in this grouping. Further proof that nepotism is fun, necessary to work life, and well…inevitable.
Shifting focus away from the joys of knowing people, it’s time to re-acquaint ourselves with the commercials that aired during that evening’s programming.
It is quite the set. We’re in the internet era, but cell phones were not mainstream and huge, but we still paid for long distance…
…unless your call was under 30 seconds, and Sprint was your home phone carrier.
Allergy medication was still available by prescription only…
and Joan Lunden was paid to endorse it!
Cheri Oteri advertised chips that contained Olean…and left many with an embarrassing GI problem. (The chips, not Cheri).
Mmmmm, delicious.
Oh crap.
No, seriously. That’s what happened to people who ate foods with this miracle additive known as Olean! They don’t put “void where prohibited” because of some crazy guarantee if you don’t like the taste, it’s to keep you from eating chips that cause death by chaotic pooping!
This television was awesome, high tech, and easily obtainable with a Discover card…
Sgt. Parker from Flashpoint, what are YOU doing here?
Oh, that’s right…you were on Just Shoot Me! That’s how I remember you!
So go on, get the wam and fuzzies of wrong number calls, just by clicking play. 1998 looks wonderful!
LIES!!!! ALL LIES!!!! This is all family friendly and SFW.
And welcome back to 2016, which looks disappointing when compared to 1998. And the commercials kinda suck.
Put me back in, the present makes me sad!
Well, on that ultra depressing note, we’re going to wrap the nostalgia up with a nice bow and call it a throwback/flashback. Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday will return next week, in their respective days. As nature intended.*
*Does not contain Olean.
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