Old As the Hills

Or Hill Street Blues, Natch

On the afternoon of February 11, 2002, we sat together in our (Wolfe's and mine) bedroom, listing things that not only do we remember (usually vividly), but that people approaching voting age either don't remember, or WEREN'T EVEN ALIVE FOR!!!

So, here's the test. See how much of the following rings a bell in your brain. (If an answer has stars on either side of it, that's the person who mentioned it.)

Do you remember...	BlackWolfe	Wolfe	Hans
...When ET originally came out?	YUP!	Yes	*YES*
...When pay phones were 15 cents?	Yep.	*Yes*	25-- yes, 15-- no.
...DALLAS?	Yes, but I still don't know who shot JR.	Yep.	*YES*
...Newhart?	*Yes, and I know who shot Bob, too!*	Uh-huh!	Oh, yeah!
...SOAP?	*LOVED it!*	YEAH!	Oh, YEAH!
...Benson?	*Remember where Benson started? I'll give you a hint: look up one row.*	YES! BENSON!	YES!
...Happy Days?	*Yup*	Yes	Yep
...Busom Buddies?	Yo	Yep	*Yeah*
...The Greatest American Hero?	*YEAH*	Yes	Yep
...The Beastie Boys when they FIRST came out?	GIRLS! (in the kitchen)	GIRLS! (to do the laundry)	*GIRLS! (to clean up my room)
...Queen (the BAND, stupid, the BAND)?	*Yes*	Yes	Yes
...That Highlander was a MOVIE before it was a TV show?	Yup	Yes	*Yep*
...The Smurfs? Snorks? He-man? She-ra? The Transformers?	Oh, yes.	*Yes*	Yep
...SuperFriends? "Wonder Twin Powers -- ACTIVATE!!!"	*Form of... a stupid puddle. (I'm the one who remembered the title, too!)*	*Form of some alien no-one ever heard of but it looks cool!*	*Yes*
...When Japanese animation meant Speed Racer, Voltron, or Robotech?	*And I'll form... the left pinky knuckle! (The vehicles version)	Yes!	I feel old now.
...When nudity on TV meant at most a bikini?	Unfortunately	*Yeah, that sucked.*	Yeah.
...When advertising always contained cigarettes, beer, and sex?	That's sorta truish now... Sorta, but I know what you mean.	Ummm... yeah.	*Of COURSE you remember!*
...When 3D video game graphics were monochrome wireframes (Star Wars, Battlezone)?	*Star Wars ALSO had one of the earliest digitized voices in an arcade game*	And we thought that was so fantastic!	Hell yeah!
...The Great Dungeons & Dragons Scare?	"Dungeons & Dragons: Satan's Game!"	*When your parents were more concerned with whether or not you were playing a board game than whether or not you were, say, stealing, doing drugs, etc.*	=Shudder= Yes, I remember.
..."Well, I... can't recall" or "Read my lips"?	Reagan -- The president that wouldn't die. And Bush, with Mr. "PotatoE"-head as VP...	People won't remember that???	*Sad, isn't it?*
...School grinding to a halt so everyone could watch the space shuttle take off?	Wow. Looks just like LAST time...	*Hey, it was like a party!*	Yeah, plus there's the -- [SHH! That's the next one!]
...The Space Shuttle Challenger?	This is why you replace your gaskets in your engine, people.	*Watching your teacher leave the room because that could've been them...*	Not to mention the... [You're getting ahead again!]
...The Color of the astronauts' eyes? or, How they knew the astronauts had dandruff? or, Why pepsi sponsored the launch? or, What the last words on board were?	*We each contributed at least one. Mine was "They couldn't get Seven Up," and Wolfe & I both did "'Cause they found their Head & Shoulders floating in the ocean."*	*Head & Shoulders, and, "BLUE! One blew this way, one blew that way, one blew..."*	*What's THIS button do?*
...When looking something up meant opening a book?	Mom, how do you spell "pterodactyl?"	Look it up, dear.	*InterWHAT?*
...Communism?	Yeah, it failed 'cause there's no money in it!	*Barumpbump!*	This isn't a very difficult test, is it?
...That Communism was "just a red herring?"	Then... this had nothing to do with the Commies?	*No! Communism was just a red herring!*	If you don't get this one, get a Clue!
...When Jim Carrey was the guy in Once Bitten? Or even In Living Color?	I'm still the only one who remembers him in The Duck Factory, though.	*Who'd'a thunk he'd make so much?*	Yah.
...Automan?	*I don't know WHAT I saw in that show.*	Me neither.	We all loved it, and nobody knew why.
...Manimal?	*=SIGH= Please tell me I'm not alone here.*	[Couldn't remember it when I was drawing a blank on the title... Don't know about later.]	[Ditto]
...The ORIGINAL Robocop movie?	"I LIKE IT!!!!"	The ONLY good one?	*Beat the hell out of the cartoon.*
...My Best Friend is a Vampire?	I STILL get little weird feelings in my spine seeing Rene Auberjonois without heavy makeup on.	*This blood's for you!*	Silly damn movie.
...Val Kilmer: Real Genius?	"Okay, we need a new perspective. Take a step back. No, no, take a step forward. No, wait, take a step back. And a step forward. And now we're cha-cha-ing!"	"It really IS God!"	*"You know you really shouldn't park there."*
...Keanu Reeves: Ted "Theodore" Logan?	*You know, even knowing who he was and what he looked like, it still took me YEARS to realize George Carlin was in that? He had a key role, too!*	"EXCELLENT!"	"FAG!"
...V?	"Mousie! ... Mousie!"	*My arm itches... OGOD, I'm an ALIEN!*	Not many people realize that was one of Robert Englund's first roles, too.
...Knight Rider (the ORIGINAL, natch)?	*=hums Knight Rider theme=*	Yes.	Yes.
...The A Team?	*I pity the fool don't remember the A Team!*	I wanna make an APC out of a van!	(Thinks BlackWolfe reminds him of Murdock, but won't admit it)
...When Space Ghost was an ACTION cartoon?	Those stupid kids and that stupid monkey.	Yes.	*NOT a stupid talk show.*

We've got lots more -- three pages of two columns each so far -- so stay tuned for more updates on this one, "Same Bat time, Same Bat channel!"