Tag: I Remember When It Used To Cost A Nickel (1-10 of 87)

Apr 11 2013 12:44 PM ET

Today in 'things that went over your head in the '90s': The 40 filthiest jokes from 'Rocko's Modern Life' -- VIDEO

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Thought Ren and Stimpy was the rudest, crudest, altogether grossest Nicktoon of them all? Au contraire, ma petite patate de canapé! Rocko’s Modern Life gave Stinky Wizzleteats a run for his money, thanks to the dozens of sexually explicit jokes and subtle incidents of swearing it somehow got past censors during its four-season run. And since the whole shebang is now streaming on Netflix, the dirty joke gurus at CollegeHumor were recently able to comb through the series, splicing together its 40 most shocking gags into one handy video.

I’d say it’s not safe for work, but remember: this stuff aired on a kids’ network, sandwiched between episodes of Rugrats and like, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. So watch away, office drones!

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Apr 11 2013 10:40 AM ET

Check out the only remaining footage from 1926's 'Great Gatsby' movie -- VIDEO

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This trailer for the first film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby promises a “marvelous picture.” Unfortunately, modern audiences will never get a chance to judge that for themselves. All copies of the original Gatsby movie, released four years after Fitzgerald’s seminal novel, have reportedly been lost to the sands of time — perhaps because they were recorded on extremely flammable nitrate film, perhaps because contemporary viewers just didn’t think the flick was very good. (The New York Times believed it “obvious that [the movie] would have benefited by more imaginative direction.”) Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald themselves allegedly walked out on the film, later calling it “ROTTEN and awful and terrible.”)

No matter: The trailer itself is definitely worth watching, if only for Daisy’s (or is it Myrtle’s?) heavy breathing and its dramatic use of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s ever-watchful eyes. It’s just too bad we don’t get any shots of Gatsby’s leading lady downing absinthe — as the Times‘s reviewer noted, in the film, “She takes enough of this beverage to render the average person unconscious. Yet she appears only mildly intoxicated, and soon recovers.” That’s our girl.

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Apr 8 2013 06:17 PM ET

Annette Funicello: A life in film clips, from 'Mickey Mouse' to the beach to 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' -- VIDEO

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Image Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Today, the Magic Kingdom — and the nostalgic boomers who yearned to make her either their girlfriend or their best friend — are mourning the death of Annette Funicello, the teen idol whose sunny, perky screen presence defined the ’50s and ’60s. The boys in Stand By Me lusted after her; Grease‘s Rizzo mocked her (“would you pull that crap with Annette?”); Paul Anka, whom she dated, wrote “Puppy Love” for her in 1960, thus setting the boyfriend bar impossibly high.

Funicello succumbed to complications of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease from which she’d suffered since 1987. Her MS effectively removed her from the public eye; after appearing in an episode of Biography in 1996, Funicello stayed offscreen until last year, when a documentary about her aired on Canadian TV.

Given how long it’s been since Funicello was well enough to act, it might be tough to remember why she was beloved enough in her heyday to receive more than 6,000 fan letters a week. But, thanks to YouTube, it’s easy to look back at the highlights of Funicello’s career — starting with the song that introduced the tweenage future star to audiences across America.

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Feb 5 2013 10:48 AM ET

'Pete & Pete' reunion will make you laugh even as it destroys your childhood -- NSFW VIDEO

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Revisiting the TV you loved as a kid generally leads to one of two things — realizing that you had horrible taste in elementary school, or being pleasantly surprised by how well your old favorites hold up. Happily, Nickelodeon’s eccentric, proto-hipster sitcom The Adventures of Pete & Pete is bound to inspire the second reaction — especially once you’re old (and wise) enough to recognize its guest appearances by unlikely stars including Michael Stipe, Iggy Pop, Janeane Garofalo, and Steve Buscemi.

It’s no surprise, then, that the ultra-hip SF Sketchfest chose to stage a Pete & Pete reunion in San Francisco last month. But before the cast appeared before a cheering crowd of ’80s babies, they stopped by a local bar for a pre-show drink — and Funny or Die’s cameras were there to capture everything that followed.

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Dec 21 2012 09:44 AM ET

Jimmy Fallon, Billy Crystal, and Jerry Seinfeld revive 'Who's on First?' -- VIDEO

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How about that — the world hasn’t ended yet after all!

To celebrate, let’s gather ’round our warm, comforting computer screens and watch a clip that evokes a simpler time — namely, this bit from last night’s Jimmy Fallon, in which Fallon enlists a few of his famous friends to help him perform Abbott and Costello’s classic play-on-words baseball bit “Who’s on First?” (The not-as-famous folk in the video are Fallon announcer Steve Higgins as Costello and Fallon head writer A.D. Miles as What.)

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Sep 20 2012 11:32 AM ET

Don't worry about Amanda Bynes -- she's 'doing amazing,' despite appearances

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Image Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Amanda Bynes is fine, you guys. Really. She is. In fact, she’s better than fine: “I am doing amazing,” the actress told People this week, finally speaking out after spending the last few months single-handedly keeping the auto insurance industry in business.

What, that’s not reassuring enough? Try this quote on for size: “I am retired as an actor. I am moving to New York to launch my career. I am going to do a fashion line… I am not talking about being arrested for DUI because I don’t drink, and I don’t drink and drive. It is all false.”

The magazine described Bynes as sounding “polite, respectful, and upbeat,” although she’s apparently also retiring her ability to use contractions.

But other unnamed sources are singing a different tune.  READ FULL STORY »

Aug 21 2012 12:26 PM ET

Michael J. Fox and Lisa Whelchel return to TV -- which '80s stars should follow them?

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Image Credit: Michael Dwyer/AP

Between Hollywood reboot mania, reunions from the likes of 98 Degrees and the Spice Girls, and the televised resurgence of both Christina and Britney, it’s clear that the 20-teens are saturated with nostalgia for the recent past. That’s no problem for kids of the ’80s and ’90s; since our childhood favorites must be the pinnacle of culture, it only makes sense for those properties to be reborn in a modern context. (We learned our narcissism by watching you, Boomers!)

So when our generation learned yesterday that Lisa Whelchel and Michael J. Fox are both returning to the small screen, it was hard to contain our excitement. Alex P. Keaton coming back to the medium that made him a star? Yes, please! Blair Warner as a Survivor contestant? Not exactly what you’d expect Whelchel’s comeback to look like — but if any of Mrs. Garrett’s girls could outwit, outplay, and outlast the competition, it’d be The Facts of Life‘s snobby manipulator. Or Jo.

When Fox and Whelchel’s shows premiere, we’ll be watching with baited breath. Until then, though, we’ll bide our time dreaming about which other beloved ’80s stars may follow their lead.

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Aug 6 2012 02:22 PM ET

How much did movie tickets cost when you were in high school?

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Tags: , Movies
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Image Credit: Corbis

Remember the good old days, when you walked barefoot uphill to school and movie tickets were cheaper?

According to The Wrap, the average cost of a ticket right now is $8.12. And while that’s (almost) nothing to a New Yorker used to shelling out between $14 and $20, the price is still pretty steep.

When I was in high school back in Hudson, Ohio — I graduated in 2002 — I remember paying around $4.25 for matinees and $6 for regular showings. I took an informal poll of EW staffers, who spilled on how much of their allowance went to seeing films when they were younger.

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Apr 25 2012 04:42 PM ET

Bust open your piggy banks: The first sketch of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is up for auction

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Some would say that childhood memories are priceless. Others would say they’re worth $6,500.

That’s how much the sketch to your left is worth, according to the most recent bid. Yes, it’s true: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman is auctioning off the first sketch of the reptiles who became Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

If you’re a true Turtlehead, you may recognize the image from early press coverage of the series and a few comics. Eastman and his partner, Peter Laird, drew and inked the pic in November 1983. Soon afterwards, they came up with a back story for the characters they’d invented. Eventually, these weapon-wielding terrapins would become heroes in a half-shell who starred in three animated series — including an upcoming show from Nickelodeon — and four feature films.

Sure, dropping four figures — or even five, depending on how the bidding goes — for an 8.5-by-11-inch piece of paper might seem extreme. But in a world where the next generation of turtles is neither mutant nor teenage, I can understand why someone would pay to hold on to a simpler era — a time when glowing ooze had the power to transform humble pet shop refugees into pizza-loving crime fighters. Those were the days! READ FULL STORY »

Mar 16 2012 12:06 PM ET

Cue that scream: 'Home Alone' to get a Macaulay Culkin-free fifth (!?) installment

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Image Credit: Everett Collection

Assuming this won’t be some sort of insane hybrid of beloved holiday classic Home Alone and Uwe Boll “masterpiece” Alone in the Dark, ABC Family has announced that they will air the fifth installment in the Home Alone franchise, titled Home Alone 5: Alone in the Dark. (On second thought, that would be sort of amazing.)

Alas, fans of the 1990 Macaulay-Culkin-battles-home intruders comedy will still watch in complete horror as the Home Alone name carries on without the exploits of Kevin McCallister and the wet/sticky bandits. In addition to coming to terms with this, devotees of the original and defenders of Lost in New York (who stored the third Home Alone in the part of their pop culture brains called this never happened where Scream 3 and Saved by the Bell: The College Years also reside) will now also have to absorb the notion that there was even a fourth one to begin with and it was called Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House. This is my Home Alone, PopWatchers, I have to defend it.
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