 This is the SF Productions Podcast Network. In the year 2020! From the Bob Kulture Bunker, I'm Mindy. And I'm Mark. You can check out our audio podcast, How I Got My Wife to Read Comics on iTunes, or on our website SFPodcastNetwork.com. We're recording this right before Christmas. We're decorated for Christmas. Exactly. And as we charge into a new decade, I thought it would be a good opportunity to cover pop culture items coming up for an anniversary in 2020. Going back 100 years, the biggest film of 1920 was Way Down East, a melodrama directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. It earned about a million dollars in profits, which would be about 12 million dollars today. Then moving up to 1930, a young John Wayne had his first starring role in The Big Trail. The Hollywood Reporter was first published and Betty Boop made her first film appearance. The top film was Paramount's adaptation of Tom Sawyer, starring Jackie Coogan, aka Uncle Fester, making 160 million in today's dollars, quite the blockbuster, and all quiet on the western front when the Academy Award in its third outing. There were also nascent television events that year, a theater in Schenectady, New York displayed closed-circuit TV for the first time, and the world's first TV commercial, for a hair-waving product, was broadcast in England. Wow! Moving to 1940, a huge year for animated films. Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny all make their official debuts while Pinocchio and Vintage are released. The top film is Rebecca, 107 million in today's dollars, and Rebecca wins the Academy Award. Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Oscar. The first hockey and basketball games are broadcast on TV, as well as the first metropolitan opera performance on television. NBC broadcasts the Republican National Convention from Philadelphia, and Captain America first appears in comics despite a 1941 cover date, but it actually came out in 1940, this is the classic shot of him punching out Hitler. DC never punched out Hitler. 75 years ago in 1945, the Bells of St. Mary's grossed $119 million in today's dollars, the Lost Weekend won Best Picture, and Paramount released a cartoon short called The Friendly Ghost starring Casper. Sci-Fi writer Arthur C. Clarke introduced the concept of a communication satellite in a magazine article. With the end of World War II, commercial television and the availability of TV sets resumed. The voice of Firestone Televiews begins, which would run in fits and starts all the way until 1963. 1950's King Solomon's Mines grossed $105 million in today's dollars. All about Eve won Best Picture, John Wayne was the biggest earning star, and James Dean got his big break in a Pepsi commercial. Speaking of TV, quiz shows ruled the day, mostly transferred from radio. The top TV series was Texaco Star Theater with Uncle Mildee with a rating of 61.6. Now as a comparison, the Big Bang Theory got a 5.8 rating in 2016. Supposedly, they actually closed movie theaters the night the Texaco Star Theater was on, because nobody went to the movie theater. Restaurants closed. It was like, why bother you being open? Everybody's at home watching Milton Berle. Burns and Allen also brought their show over from radio and Vaudeville before that. Desi Arnais and Lucille Ball formed Desilu. While the FCC approved a color television system from CBS that was incompatible with the system used at the time, this ended up not actually standing. In 1960, Elvis returns from military duty and shoots the movie GI Blues. Good old Elvis. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho also premieres, only beat out for Top Grossing Picture by Spartacus, $121 million in today's dollars. The apartment wins the Oscar while Jane Fonda and Robert Redford both debut in Tall Story. She co-stars, he's uncredited. 1960 was a big year for TV. The top show was Gunsmoke with a 37.3 rating. Jack Parr walks off his Tonight Show for a month after getting preempted, and then returns with the line, as I was saying before I was interrupted, the Olympics is broadcast in the U.S. for the first time. CBS paid all of $60,000 for the rights. They now pay more like billions for the rights. Puppet Show Howdy Doody ends a 13-year run with otherwise mute clown Clara Bell saying goodbye, kids. The Kennedy-Nixon debates are held, which some believe gave JFK a leg up. In the U.K., the long-running soap Coronation Street begins and is still on. The Flintstones, My Three Sons, and The Andy Griffith Show begin their runs. Finally, Etch-a-Sketch goes on sale for the first time. 50 years ago, 1970, the top grossing film is Love Story at $706 million in today's dollars. I still haven't seen it. Neither have I. And airport makes almost as much. Patton wins Best Picture. The IMAX projection system is introduced, while Future Hot Throbs, Tom Selleck, and Sylvester Stallone make their first appearances in cult films Myra Breckenridge and The Party at Kitty and Studs, respectively. That second one is almost soft-core porn. National Education Television is replaced by PBS and Chant Huntley leaves NBC's Huntley Brinkley Report. Good night, David. Good night, Chet. The top TV show was Marcus Welby M.D. with a 33.3 rating. All My Children, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Partridge Family, Monday Night Football, and The Odd Couple all premier that year. 40 years ago, this is 1980. The Empire Strikes Back grosses $684 million in today's dollars. The Shining and Airplane are released, and Heaven's Gate basically takes down a studio united artists. Ordinary People wins the Oscar, and Drew Barrymore, Tom Hanks, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sharon Stone, and Bruce Willis all make their film debuts that year. I'm starting to feel really old at this point. I know, absolutely. Al Michael delivers the Do You Believe in Miracles line at the Winter Olympics. JR Ewing is shot on Dallas, the top show with a 34.5 rating. Not as high as that 61 Milton Burrow rating. But still quite a bit higher than current network TV. Absolutely. CNN and Cinemax begin broadcasting. David Letterman gets a morning show on NBC that quickly fails. Don't worry, he'll be back. And Howard Cosell announces the death of John Lennon during Monday Night Football. The Emmys go on as scheduled despite being in the middle of an actor strike. All but one nominated actor boycotted the event. Powers Booth appeared to take his award for Guyana Tragedy, the story of Jim Jones. They had trouble actually finding a host for it. So it ended up being the Smothers Brothers and Steve Allen were the only ones willing to go over the picket line. Ironically the Smothers Brothers because they're generally very left-leaning. And yet here we are. Solid Gold, Cosmos, Too Close for Comfort, Boozom Buddies, and Magnum PI all premiered that year. One of those things is not like the others. And finally, the Rubik's Cube goes on sale in the U.S. We're now up to 1990, 30 years ago. Ghost is the top grossing film with $1 billion in today's dollars. Dances with Wolves, Wins Fest Picture, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles becomes the highest grossing independent film as of that time. CGI is introduced in films such as Total Recall, Die Hard 2, and Robocop 2. Russell Crowe, Vin Diesel, Juliana Moore, and Catherine Zeta-Jones make their film debuts. Then over in TV, Cheers is the number one show with a 21.3 rating. The Simpsons broadcast their first regular episode after a 1989 Christmas special and the final episode of New Heart Airs with a callback to his previous series. Captain Picard is assimilated into the Borg on Star Trek The Next Generation, the G-Network, the Sci-Fi Channel, and the Family Channel all premiere, along with Twin Peaks in Living Color, Wings, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Law & Order, and Beverly Hills 90210. So at this point in time, we're seeing network TV begin its long, slow decline. 25 years ago in 1995, Die Hard with a Vengeance is the number one film with grosses of $614 million in today's dollars, and Braveheart wins the Oscar. Toy Story is the first feature-length film created on a computer, and Peter Dinklage, Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and Charlize Theron make their film debuts. The number one TV series is ER with a 22 rating. The History Channel, the WB, and the UPN debut, of course they would eventually merge into the CW. The OJ Trial takes over Daytime TV with $150 million watching The Vertic Live. A TV show called Rocks is the first to be distributed on the internet as the world turns reaches 10,000 episodes, and The Walt Disney Company buys ABC and ESPN. Now we'll wrap it up in the year 2000, 20 years ago! The top grossing film is Mission Impossible 2 with $815 million in today's dollars while Gladiator wins the best picture. Sasha Berenkoen, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, and Zoe Saldana all make their film debuts. Over on television, David Letterman has quadruple bypass surgery returning to air the next month, while Oxygen, Boomerang, Tech TV, Malcolm in the Middle, BattleBots, Gilmore Girls, CSI, and Trading Spaces all premiere. Reality shows take over Prime Time with Big Brother and Survivor. The top series with a rating of 17.4. Yes, and let's see in 20 years when they say what the top rating for this year's network TV show is. 0.3. Doesn't even matter anymore. Right, because there probably won't be broadcast networks. We probably have more viewers than some of broadcasts to be. Indeed. And so if you're like our show, you can check out our audio podcast, How I Got My Wife to Read Comics on iTunes, or on our website, sfpodcastnetwork.com. From the Pop Culture Bunker, I'm Mindy. And I'm Mark. Thanks for watching.