Comments on: Marie Osmond throws extra dip into her ‘Dancing With the Stars’ routine

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:31:18 +0000

Not tragic by any stretch of the means, but I’ll never forget when Charles Rocket said “f***” at the end of SNL. The show was immediately pulled and came back with a new cast and Charles Rocket’s career was never the same.

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:34:33 +0000

This won’t have any relevance to anyone except Canadians, but in 1995 I was watching a referendum on TV to determine whether or not the people of Quebec wanted to separate from Canada. After the vote was tallied, the yes (to separation) vote lost by about .6%. I was watching the post-referendum speeches in French with my roommate, and the leader of the separatist party blamed ethnics for its defeat. I turned to my roommate and said, “Did he just say what I think he said?” and she confirmed it. That leader stepped down shortly after, partly because of that remark, forever painted as a racist.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:10:20 +0000

Not really anything shocking, but seeing Miss USA take a dive on the Miss universe pageant this year was an instant classic.

By: bootsycolumbia

bootsycolumbia — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:07:23 +0000

I’ll respectfully put aside 9/11 because to me it’s THE most obvious answer. I still remember when President Reagan leaned into a mic (he said later he didn’t know it was turned on) and said “We start bombing Moscow in two minutes”. The White House hastily smoothed things over and said it was just a joke, but relations between Moscow and Washington had been pretty strained at the time, and that little crack only made things worse. I remember being halfway convinced for a few days that we were on our way to WWIII. That the president could make such a joke made me lose what little respect I had for him.

By: cor

cor — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 04:06:27 +0000

I experienced both the Challenger explosion and 9/11 on the radio, at least initially, but was in an airport waiting to get on a plane for a business trip when the TV suddenly filled with images of the Columbia going down. A very young colleague looked at me with saucer eyes and said, “Do you think they’re okay?” I told him gently that no, I didn’t think so. I don’t imagine any of us felt like getting on a plane after that, but…we did.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:37:42 +0000

I’m really surprised by how few mentions there are of 9/11 here. Although the post may not have been intended to be about news broadcasts, several people have mentioned news — and seeing the second plane hit the World Trade Center is easily the most shocking thing I have ever seen on television (I’m 31). It’s one of the defining moments of an entire era. Seeing the jumpers from the building would come in as a close second behind seeing the plane crash.

By: Jenn67

Jenn67 — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:24:08 +0000

Joe Theisman’s leg breaking was big for me, too. It was awful. The shuttle blowing up as well. I was in college and was heading to math class. I skipped classes that day and stayed glued to the TV.

By: Lorrie

Lorrie — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:05:55 +0000

One not mentioned was when Joe Theismann’s leg was broken on “Monday Night Football.” I had taken something outside and came back in when I heard that “snap” of his leg over all the noise of the game. Ick.

By: peggym

peggym — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:02:43 +0000

Not necessarily shocking, but the first thing I thought of was Joe Theisman’s broken leg– one part at a right angle to the rest. there went his career.

By: PurePlatinumInYuma

PurePlatinumInYuma — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:03:10 +0000

Faith Hill freaking out when Carrie Underwood won the CMA Award…..