Four words that everybody hates to hear – “Ready to feel old?”

For many, the 90s may feel like they were just yesterday, but the cold, dark reality is that 1999 was almost 20 years ago. Now, you can be depressed by the passing of time, or you can reflect on the past fondly — we here at The Geekiverse are choosing that second option. With 2018 well underway, we’re taking a look back at what made waves in the entertainment industry 20 years ago. The crew has come together to highlight the movies, television shows, and video games released in the year that was 1998. You might just be surprised to learn what is already two decades old.

Today, we’ve got television shows that turn 20 in 2018. We’ve already talked about movies that are celebrating a 20th anniversary this year, while tomorrow, video games are on tap. Until then, enjoy a look at what television was up to way back in 1998!

That ’70s Show

Debuted August 23, 1998

That 70s Show was unique in that it scratched a nostalgic itch for audiences of all ages. Folks who live through the 70s got to see lingo, clothing styles, and heavily referenced pop culture items that were all too well known during the time period, while people that weren’t old enough to make the cutoff would experience the romanticized era for the first time. The show centered on Eric Foreman, who lives under the guise of his sweet-as-pie mother Kitty, his hard as nails dad Red, and his promiscuous sister Lori. Oh, and who could forget the lovable cast of friends that features Kelso, Hyde, Jackie, Fez, and Donna? The show would go on to produce a total of 8 seasons, with the finale leading up to New Years Eve 1979. If you haven’t found your way to That 70s Show yet, what are you waiting for? Final thought: the show featured one of the best intro sequences in any sitcom ever. “Hangin’ out down the street. The same old thing we did last week. And not a thing to do, but talk to you. We’re all alright, we’re all alright.” Boy do we love Wisconsin.

The Wild Thornberrys



Debuted September 1st, 1998

This slightly terrifyingly animated show about a semi-nomadic family of nature documentary filmmakers aired from 1998-2004 and was, hands down, Geekiverse editor Amanda’s favorite TV show growing up. It stars Eliza, the youngest Thornberry, and her magical ability to talk to animals (really cool but totally secret stuff here). Alongside her is her BFF Darwin, a chimpanzee, Donny a feral child they found (WARNING: his backstory is absolutely heartbreaking… don’t watch The Origin of Donnie), her father Nigel (voiced by the great Tim Curry), mother Marianne, and moody teenage sister Debbie. It’s a heartwarming show that focused on the importance of family and conservation with some pretty impressive cameos such as Jane Goodall. The Wild Thornberrys Movie was released in 2002 and nabbed itself an Oscar nomination. The fact that this show is turning 20 and that Amanda still has the opening narration completely memorized is both impressive and sad.

WCW Thunder

Debuted January 8th, 1998

The Monday Night Wars were too explosive to remain on just one night of the week. As WWF started a secondary show, Smackdown!, Ted Turner thought it wise to create his own answer, especially with WCW’s acquisition of Bret Hart at the time. That answer came in the form of WCWThunder, a 2-hour, pre-taped show that aired during the middle of the week to offer fans more of the growing WCW roster during the height of the promotion’s popularity. Being WCW’s secondary show, Thunder rarely had matches and segments of the caliber as Monday Nitro, but there were still some memorable moments that aired during this midweek edition. There was the official debut of the nWo Wolfpac, Macho Man Randy Savage’s final WCW appearance, David Arquette winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship…okay, so maybe it all makes sense why numerous former WCW employees cite Thunder’s inception as the beginning of the end for the company.

Godzilla: The Series

Debuted September 12th, 1998

As we noted in our series for the movies that turn 20 in 2018, there was at least one good thing that came about from Tristar’s GODZILLA, and that was the cartoon that immediately followed it. Godzilla: The Series followed the adventures of that surviving offspring seen emerging at the very end of Godzilla, as well as main character Nick Tatopoulos, although without Matthew Broderick portraying. While the fans despised the drastic changes to Godzilla in the Tristar film, they embraced the animated series for its adherence to what made the original Kaiju so beloved, in the first place. Godzilla still had the slender, raptor-like appearance, but he carried the spirit of his Japanese predecessor. Godzilla: The Series gave the big guy his atomic breath back (green, this time) and pitted him against a gauntlet of giant monsters, aliens, villainous military organizations, and other threats as he traveled the globe alongside the research team H.E.A.T. (Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team). Even though no other Toho Kaiju appeared across the 40-episode show, Godzilla faced plenty of awesome monsters, including the Crackler, the giant scorpion Ts-Eh-Go, King Cobra, Quetzalcoatl, and even Cyber-Godzilla, a reanimated mutation of the slain Godzilla from the live action movie.

Felicity

Debuted September 29th, 1998

This college drama help send several careers skyrocketing, including JJ Abrams’s and Matt Reeves’, but none more than Keri Russell, who played the eponymous Felicity Porter. Russell immediately won the hearts of audiences as a freshman college student seeking discovery and thrill, her performances in the first season eventually netting her a well-deserved Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama series. Although a timeslot change made the show’s ratings dip (no, that infamous haircut hysteria was not the reason), Felicity slowly rebounded over the course of its four stellar seasons—a series length that appropriately corresponded with idea of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years of college.

The Powerpuff Girls

November 18th, 1998

Sugar, spice, and everything nice was what created these three superhero tykes, along with a bit of that Chemical X. The girls first appeared years earlier, in an animated short called Whoopass Stew!, and then, later, in a few editions of What a Cartoon! before finally getting their own series in 1998. For nearly years and 78 episodes, the Powerpuff Girls were a lovable mix of heroics and adorableness. Blossom was your level-headed, self-proclaimed leader, Bubbles was your gentle, ultra-friendly sweetheart, and Buttercup was your brash tomboy who came together to form the perfect trio. The genius of the show was juxtaposition of the girls’ various conflicts—sometimes it was a destructive monster or one of many supervillains (most memorable being the diabolical Mojo Jojo), and other times it was something as down to earth as a loose tooth, bed wetting, or reliance on a security blanket. Injecting that innocence and childhood naivety into mighty superheroes made for some incredibly amusing storytelling.

Charmed

Debuted October 7th, 1998

Primetime television has Charmed to thank for the public’s interest in shows about likeable witches. Before the concept was all the rage, the original coven of the Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and later Paige, were the ones tossing spells on the small screen. Charmed set the Halliwell sisters against all manner of evil, mystical threats (including a wild confrontation in the Season 3 finale) while simultaneously seeing them struggle to maintain average identities in modern-day San Francisco. The show broke ground for the WB network, and television, in general. It had the highest-rated debut episode for WB at the time, pulling in 7.7 million viewers. After a whopping 178 seasons, Charmed stood as the longest-running hour-long television series with all female leads until Desperate Housewives finally surpassed it in 2012.

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