 to 5 Minute Flashbacks. My name is Jasmine and I am your host. So let's just jump right in! Continuing our Halloween theme for October, I wanted to cover one of the most legendary, most long-running, and unfortunately most controversial Halloween shows that has ever run at any theme park that I can think of. Bill and Ted. Now, in order to start at the beginning, we have to go way back in time. All the way back to 1989. I bet you thought I was going to say 1992, didn't you? Well, if you did, I can see why. 1992 was the year of Halloween Horror Nights 2, the second ever Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios Orlando, and the first ever run of Bill and Ted's excellent Halloween adventure. But we can't get too far ahead of ourselves here, because Bill and Ted would never have an excellent Halloween adventure if they didn't first have Bill and Ted's excellent adventure. So back we go to 1989. Now, for you youngins, I'm not going to spoil the plot. I don't really care when you were born, but if you haven't seen Bill and Ted's excellent adventure, you're really missing out and you need to watch it ASAP. But to summarize, it's a hilarious tale of time travel starring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and George Carlin. Like most great comedies, the film was panned by major critics at magazines and newspapers like Variety, The LA Times, and The New York Times, following its 1989 release, with some calling it a quote, painfully inept comedy. So naturally, it grew a cult fanbase. And it wasn't long before a sequel came along in 1991. And so when Universal Studios was looking to expand and rebrand their experimental 1991 Halloween event for the 1992 season, since side note and fun fact, a lot of people don't seem to know that in 1991, Halloween Horror Nights was actually called Fright Nights. And I just thought I'd mention that since last week's episode, I actually covered a similar Halloween event rebrand with Canada's Wonderland. So if you didn't see last week's video, make sure to go and watch that. Anyways, like I was saying, when Universal was rebranding Fright Nights to Halloween Horror Nights for its second season in 1992, they decided to have everyone's latest favorite duo host a new show for the event and add some comedy and Hollywood antics. Now I would go more into why they chose Bill and Ted to host this particular show, but I think the tagline for the first year's show perfectly sums up the experience. And the tagline was quote, bodacious stunts and awesome surprises take you on a trick or treat through time. And if you've seen the movies, you'd know that there are no better hosts for a show with that kind of vibe than Bill and Ted. Bodacious is the word. The show itself was a pretty wild departure from the rest of the Halloween Horror Nights event, which at the time was heavily reliant on gore for shock and scares and honestly a lot less dynamic than the Halloween Horror Nights that we all know and love today. And I think that's exactly why Bill and Ted's show was such a hit. It brought some much needed levity and humor to the event and was a really memorable part of the night for guests. And how could it not be? The show was a crazy mashup of PG-13 style entertainment with references and influences from all corners of pop culture. No IP was safe. And aside from the hanging event at Knott's Berry Farm, which was all the way in California, this was the only adult PG-13 and Upstyle Halloween show at any major theme park on the continent at the time. But I'm getting ahead of myself because spoiler alert, we'll talk more about that next week. Anyways, like I was saying, no IP was safe from Bill and Ted at the time. These days, you'd never see Universal use a Disney IP in their parks without some kind of legal agreement. So honestly, I'm not sure how they got away with it for so long, but they featured more and more iconic characters over the years as they expanded on the show and leaned even further into the cultural and parody elements, including an expansion into their Hollywood location in 1997. You never knew who might make an appearance in one of these shows. Captain Jack Sparrow, Dr. Evil, Superman, and celebrity parodies like Usher, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and even political parodies like Monica Lewinsky. Oh, this is the part where I talk about the controversy and the cancellation. Yeah. Alright, here we go. So we all know that there's a fine line between funny and offensive. And while for many demographics, Bill and Ted's show launched over that line multiple times. Some people took offense to the scantily clad and over-sexualized dancers, but I don't think that was the main or irreparable issue. For The Hollywood Park, it was homophobic jokes in the show that got the show temporarily suspended right in the middle of its 2013 run permanently. Yes, it was a permanent, temporary suspension. It just never came back. And while it's unsurprising that my fellow Floridians never really got offended at all at the show, this is Florida after all. The show at Universal Orlando was also cancelled a few years later in 2017. Universal never gave an official reason for the cancellation, saying only, quote, but now the time has come for these most outstanding dudes to find adventure in other places and other times. And I mean, it's an epic statement, but the lack of a clear reason from Universal left many speculating on the reasons for the show ending. Continued backlash over controversial humor, issues with the venue, finally being sued for copyright infringement. Honestly, I think that did play a part. I mean, YouTube launched in 2005 and people like me started uploading random travel and vacation videos in like 2006. And in 2006 to 2007 is when Universal started implementing strict no filming policies for the Bill and Ted shows. But five minutes on YouTube, even today, will show you how well that ban worked. Rumor has it that by the end of 2006, both Disney and Warner Brothers were considering legal action against Universal over the use of their IP in the shows. In hindsight, it's really kind of impressive that Bill and Ted's excellent Halloween adventure ran as long as it did, given how brazenly it broke so many social and legal rules. And maybe that's exactly why people loved it. I mean, how many other shows can you name that have run for 26 years? But that's where I'm gonna end today because I have a feeling this video is already going long. So please share your thoughts on Bill and Ted in the comments below, whether it's on the movies, the shows, your personal experience. If you got to see the show, I would love to hear your story. And what are your thoughts on the cancellation? Do you think it deserved to be canceled or would you like to see it brought back? And if it was ever brought back, what kind of changes would you make? Let me know down below and I will see you next Friday. Bye everybody!