Ride Home Rants
Ride Home Rants
Nineties Nostalgia, Unpacked
Press play and step through a time portal to the 1990s—sports dynasties on every screen, movie tie-ins on your soda cup, sitcoms that rewired comedy, and a Monday night where wrestling made the whole country pick a side. We hand the reins to our manager, Fiddy, and bring a lively panel together to relive the decade that shaped how we watch, listen, and eat.
We kick off with the big question: were the 90s the true peak of sports dominance? From Jordan’s Bulls to Gretzky and Lemieux, home run chases, and quarterbacks who defined eras, we tally the legends and ask if a decade could ever stack stars like that again. Then it’s straight into the booth with John Madden and Pat Summerall—why their chemistry felt effortless and how their calls still echo in our heads. On the big screen, we revisit the Batman hype machine, the marketing that swallowed whole summers, and the films we still stop to watch—Heat, Forrest Gump, Mallrats, Billy Madison, Tombstone, Friday, and more.
TV gets a full tour: 90210’s taboo-breaking storylines, the TGIF routine, Seinfeld vs Friends, Fresh Prince, Married with Children, X-Files, Nickelodeon game shows, and the eerie charm of Are You Afraid of the Dark? We fire up the Monday Night Wars—WWF vs WCW, the NWO invasion, ECW chaos, and the Attitude Era’s lightning-in-a-bottle energy that made pay-per-views must-see. Music rounds out the culture shift: grunge and alt-rock, hip-hop’s canon from Biggie and Tupac to Outkast and Wu-Tang, pop’s boy band takeover, Hootie’s singalongs, and TRL’s daily decider that turned tastes into a scoreboard.
We close where so many memories started: McDonald’s birthday parties, ball pits, Happy Meal toys, Pizza Hut red roofs, Ponderosa buffets, Denny’s late nights, Chi-Chi’s chips and salsa, and that perfect McD
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Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is, as always, your host, Mike Bono. I have a great episode for us today, and a very special episode for us today. But first and foremost, uh, we did just land a new sponsor for the Ride Home Rants podcast. That is Web Western apparel made for those who aren't afraid of hard work, for those who work with their hands, live off the land, like hunting, fishing, and all of the above that goes along with that. If you are one of these people, go to webwestern.com. Uh, use the promo code MikeBono. Save yourself 10% off of the purchases there. I am wearing the hat here with the arrow on it. The arrow reminds everybody to be a straight shooter and they have no BS with them. So be a straight shooter, go to webwestern.com again. Promo code MikeBono to save yourself 10% off of your purchase. That being said, this episode is going to be a little bit different. Uh, we have a special episode today. Uh, we're gonna be talking all about all the things 90s and everything that goes along with that. And with this special episode like that, we had to bring on a special host, and everybody knows him. I am actually going to give the reins over to the wonderful manager of the podcast, Johnny Fitti Falcone. Fiddy, take it away.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks, Bono. Well, everyone, today we have a great episode. We're gonna talk about all things 1990s, man. One of the greatest decades ever, if not the greatest decade ever. And by the end of this show, if you didn't think it was the greatest decade, at the end you're gonna say, wow, I wish I lived in the 90s or I grew up in the 90s, because we have six outstanding topics of sports, movies, TV, culture, music, and food. We're gonna be breaking down with a great, great panel of guests who are gonna talk about all things with their personal experiences with the 1990s. So, guys, when our intro here, you're gonna give your name. Would you rather eat an orange or an apple? And how old were you when the 1990s began and ended? So I'll start. Everybody knows me. This is Fitty. I would rather eat an apple than an orange, just because you can have an apple with peanut butter, a lot of protein in there. Uh, it's great energy, has some sugar in there for you. It's really awesome. And then when the 90s began, I was three. When the 90s ended, I was 13. So, Bono, we'll kick it over to you for uh your intro.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, everyone knows me. Mike Bono, host of the show here. Um Apple or Orange? I I like both of them. I would have to go I'd have to go orange because I can't bite into an apple anymore. I I've had something that I have to cut it up like a child, and that just frustrates me. Um I do uh I do like it with peanut butter or caramel as another good thing, but I had to go orange just on the sheer convenience for me. Uh when the 90s started, I was one, and when it ended, I was nine years old.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. How about uh you, Dave? We'll go to you next.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so uh Dave Frank, uh Apple or Orange. Uh I'm an apple, like the fine uh apples grown in western Pennsylvania while I attempted to harvest whitetails over the last two weeks. Um, as far as how old was I when the 90s began? I was nine, and uh when the nineties ended, I was 19, which makes me in the 90s aficionado and perfect for uh tonight's podcast.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, let's go to you next, Matt. Uh Matt Oldmore. Uh I would take an orange because I'm kind of getting sick of apples because I've had an apple a day since the 90s. Uh when the 90s started, I was 14, and when it ended, I was 24. So uh a little bit different perspective, I think, than some of you guys.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, and last but not least, a vampire coach, Mr.
SPEAKER_04:aka vampire coach, Mr. Mr. Ask you, as you already know. Uh let me get that good old, you know what I'm saying, an apple a day, keep a doctor away. Uh when the 90s started, I was what, 14, 15? When it ended, I was what, 25? Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00:And as you can see, so we have some different ages in here. All right, we're gonna talk about all our experiences. But guys, we're gonna kick it off with this question. The 1990s was dominated by athletes and teams such as Mike Tyson in boxing, Wayne Gretzky in hockey, the Denver Broncos, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Buffalo Bills in the NFL, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and the kid Ken Griffey Jr. in the MLB, and the Bulls' dominance in the NBA. Will we ever see such a decade like this across all sports spectrums ever again? Bono, let's start with you.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely not. Um, I I don't think so. There were some dominant athletes in that decade. And you left out one, and I'm I'm really upset that you left out uh Mari Lemieux. We're not we're just not we're just gonna leave the big guy out of it. Uh you're from PA, uh Fiddy. How you how how are we gonna leave my man Lemieux out of that?
SPEAKER_00:Uh I can't I can't name all the great athletes. I'm just having to name some.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. But um, yeah, there's just there's just never gonna be a a decade, in my opinion, that's gonna dominate with across all sports, not just having one in one major sport. Across all major sports, there was dominant athletes on every team.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, Dave, how about you? What's what's your thoughts on this?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, I I think you you go back to the old TV cartoon, the Pro Stars, and you had Wayne Gretzky, you had Bo Jackson, you had Michael Jordan, you had not only did you have superstars, you had guys that could play other sports. Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, you know, even Michael Jordan went and played baseball for a while. Um, just simply the fact that these guys were not only the superstars and the greatest of all time in their own sports, these guys were so good they could play other sports too. Um, legendary, um you know, we'll we'll never see this again. We might go back to the 70s and 60s and have some stuff like this too, but never like the 90s uh ever again.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, Matt, what are your thoughts? Yeah, you know, I I kind of agree with both of them. Uh, you're never gonna get the personalities. Also, you know, uh, you know, you were kind of replaced Michael Jordan with the Shequel O'Neal there in the 90s. The personalities just kept getting bigger, and Charles Barkley when you're talking basketball. But uh I hope not, and I hope people don't forget about them because uh all those uh baseball and football cards I got in my parents' uh closet still uh I'm hoping uh I don't think they're gonna pay for my kids' college, but they're still there.
SPEAKER_00:You know what? And and I was when I was going through all this, I'm just we're gonna go to you next, but I was going through it, so I'm like, wow, I'm like, I'm thinking about the NFL. Like Peyton Manning came in the NFL, you got Dan Marino, you had Jim Kelly, you had John Elway, like you had Troy Aikman. You're talking about some of the most historic quarterbacks in the NFL history all playing at that time. Kobe comes into the league, Larry Bird just retires, you know, uh Magic Johnson still playing, right? You have Mario Lemieux, you have uh Yammer Jagger, you have um Patrick Waugh or Waugh Gretzky, Wah, yeah. Wah, yeah, you know, and Gretzky going on. You have all these great people, you know, with it. But Mr. You know, what are you saying about the 90s? Will we ever see a decade like this in sports ever again?
SPEAKER_04:Most the 90s most definitely was a uh, I mean, it was it was a unique era for sure across all sports and entertainment. You know, uh you had guys that was playing, I mean, that could have played two sports, you know, basketball, football, baseball. I mean, and you know, you had track, but uh, I don't know, man. I don't I don't think so. You know, you would say, uh, you know, with as time keep going on, you would think that there might be, you know, maybe another era. If it is, we'll all part, I mean, be gone. I don't ever seen in my lifetime, I think. Um, but you know, things have changed so drastically. You know, I mean the today's athletes, you know, it's hard if it's it's hard if uh to figure out what's in their what's in their brains, man. You know, it's hard to figure out what the what what they want. Because, you know, a lot of you gotta think about, you think about the 90s, think about just the athletes, right? Them them them them people were athletes. Nobody wasn't nobody really cared about, you know what I'm saying, shoe deals and and starting their own clothing line and and wanting, you know, saying this is my favorite special type of pencil and hats. These mothers care, these, you know, these people, these guys are looking at socks and shoes and draws. Back then, we just we just play, they just play sports. They wanted to dominate that that sport. And you know, today athletes, they mind is all on water. I mean, that's it's just closed, it's in and out. You know, sure, you know, so no, probably not. If we do, I'll be gone. That's for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Well, guys, because we're all football uh fans on here, a lot of us are our current coaches or former coaches. Let's talk about this, right? The NFL best play-by-play team was the legend himself, John Madden, former coach of the Oakland Raiders, and Pat Summerall. And anyone who grew up in the 90s should remember these guys from their legendary games and wham bam and the Treduncan and everything else that went along with John Madden. Was this the best tandem of announcers ever in all of sports, John Madden and Pat Summerall? Bon, all let's start with you.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, that's a tough one. Um Yeah, I think so. I mean, there's there's just never been a tandem like those that everybody wanted to listen to. Everybody enjoyed their call to game. I I can't tell you how many times I'm watching a game and I see like Chris Collinsworth come on, and I can hear the collective of America be like, oh, we gotta deal with this guy again, like just being a hater. And like you, you never had that with Madden. Yeah, he was he was a Pittsburgh hater, but he was a fair announcer. Um, but just the catchphrases that you get uh with them that still people are trying to and quoting today, yeah, Madden and Summerall, like they're that's top tier when it comes to announcers, uh, that everyone look forward to their calls. Yeah, there's no way there's gonna be anyone better than them.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Dave, what are you saying about Pat Summerall and John Madden?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so I mean, maybe recognizable simply because of the video game franchise that went along with it. However, you know, Summerall was a little bit of a soak, Madden was a little bit kitschy. I think you can take Al Michaels and go with just about any one of his uh broadcast partners over the years, and I would take Michaels, and that's simply because Michaels worked with Madden. Michael's worked with all of these guys. He he is the the utility knife that works for everything, man. He's the Swiss Army knife of announcers, he's even made Bono's guy, Collinsworth, palatable nowadays. And so I'm gonna go with Michaels and anybody over Madden and Summerall. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. All right. You know what I was I was funny too, because like when I was coming up with the topics for this, I just happened to stumble across like the 1993 or 1994 like NFC Championship game, Cowboys, 49ers, and like Summerall and Madden are on that. And I'm like, like I can remember that, and that was 31 years ago, like it was yesterday, listening to those guys though play like in sloppy Candlestate Park in the mud, you know, out in San Francisco, and and just Madden and Summerall just just announcing it. It was just so funny, it was just like so nostalgic. But uh, Matt, what are you saying about uh Summerall and Madden?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I mean, I would say they're the most iconic. Um, you know, it's funny because you're talking and I could just close my eyes. And if I think about basketball in the 90s, I think you know, Marv Albert, you know, if you think baseball in the 90s, Bob Costas always did the games, usually with Joe Buck, and you just close your eyes, you can just think of them doing the game. And I think of Summer All Imad doing a you know, four o'clock game, never a one o'clock game, usually the afternoon game. Um, but they did, you know, going through it. Um, they kind of got a little bit long in the tooth, at least for me and some people, because uh, like Dave said, uh, you know, they got a little bit too kitschy, I think he said, but uh, you know, uh started leaning on the telestrator a little bit too much at the end and uh going off tangent, but still iconic.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, Mr. What are you saying about these guys?
SPEAKER_04:They most definitely was a an iconic, unique brand. I love them. And I think the the one thing with John what made us so uh recognizable is you know, you know, it was genuine. Everything he said, it just seemed genuine, you know. It wasn't like uh, you know, like he was being instructed or you know, he had to say certain things. I think that I think that's what made commentators different and stand out, you know, from uh from other people. So I don't think so. Uh it was most definitely a unique bunch because a lot of times, again, like you said earlier, you know, you turn into watching the game, but you get caught up in in the actual commentating of the game. I mean, how many times do people actually get caught up in the commentating and not the actual game?
SPEAKER_01:You know, now I I'll I'll mute it anymore and just not listen to the commentators after a while. Like it's that's it's to the point now where I just can't stand this. I went I have a journalism degree and a broadcast degree. That's that's what I wanted to do. And like I'm I'm muting it because it's like just shut up. Like, I what are we talking about here? Like, and that you know, the the catchphrases with uh man boom, you know, you you got that and you know everything like that too as well. But yeah, nobody muted their TVs back in the 90s. No, nobody, nope.
SPEAKER_00:So continuing on the 90s here, guys, let's flip to movies. So if I'm not mistaken, Dave talked about this on the Arnold Schwarzenegger episode that we did, but let's kind of dive into this a little bit more. So the original Batman series brought us three out of the four original films in the 90s, with Batman Returns in 1992, Batman Forever in 1995, and Batman and Robin in 1997. During the time these movies were uh hyped up everywhere, with McDonald's being such a huge supporter of the movies, along with the singer Seal bringing us the hit song from the 95 movie. So, guys, taking away the first Batman, let's talk about two, three, and four with Michael Keaton as one Batman, uh Val Kilmer, rest in peace as the other Batman, and George Clooney as the other Batman. Let's talk about this though. The movies itself, okay, and everything that surrounded it, all the hype, the music, the McDonald's, the advertisement. What are your thoughts about that, those Batmans from the 90s? Mr. Let's start with you on this.
SPEAKER_04:Man, the first one's the best one, man. Everything else, man, you can just go ahead and just trash it. If it wasn't for the if it wasn't for the crazy joker in that one, which one was the crazy joker to do after that?
SPEAKER_00:That was the first one, like in 88.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah, 88. And then what was the what was the guy, the other joker, and the one that the guy that died, they ended up dying. The Joker, you know what I'm saying? He played Joker.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, Heath Ledger in the new one.
SPEAKER_04:That was that was in the 2000s though, was that? That was in way in the 2000s. Dark Knight, yeah. Oh, okay, okay. Well, there, there you go. And any any the anything else in between sucked. Okay. Just go back and just just bring me Superman or or I don't know, man. Something else. I mean, all them other ones was just whack. Because I didn't know I didn't even see them. I started washing them and then I just cut it off. Come on, uh, Pony, or whoever he was, whoever man, they couldn't get me play that.
SPEAKER_00:Well, now we know we're Mr. Stam's on that, but uh uh Matt, let's go to you for this.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, um, boy, that's a tough question because you know, I think I'm same age as Mr. on this one. I gotta be honest with you. I saw the first Batman with Michael Keaton. I don't even think I saw the other ones. Um, I don't even think I ever walked. I don't even think I saw them. I mean, you know, I said I was 14 in 1990 and 24 in 1999. I was into way other stuff than playing with Batman toys. I can tell you that much. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, hey, you know what? That that's fair. Now, Dave, you talked about this with how bad Schwarzenegger was with Mr. Freeze in Batman Forever. But Dave, what are your thoughts of those three Batmans and all the hype around them in the 90s?
SPEAKER_02:So Pittsburgh's own Michael Keaton was uh, you know, the the second Batman. And, you know, when you think about it, there were some redeeming qualities from it as a sequel. The fact that you had Danny DeVito as the penguin, and of course the highlight of the second Batman movie, which would be Catwoman in the cat suit, Michelle Pfeiffer, um, you know, of a list of very, very subpar movies by standards of Batman, Batman begins that would be later, the original Batman that Mr. Mr. said what was the the the the money one and to begin. You know, the the Michelle Pfeiffer in the cat suit saved the second one, so I think you know it'd have to go with 1992's Batman uh two.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Bono, what are you saying about this? Uh I mean, Keaton obviously is the best Batman. Like, can we just can we all agree on that one that Keaton is the best Batman uh around? Um but oh man, uh yeah, Mr. Freeze ruined it for me for Batman Forever in Schwarzenegger. It was just it was terrible. Uh, but you're not wrong. Catwoman, come on now. How how we how are we not gonna talk about that and act like that's not the best one? Like that didn't just get everybody in the 90s into Batman for that reason.
SPEAKER_00:You know, I I was when I was thinking about this, and those are probably like was probably arguably the most iconic series because it had the most hype behind it, right? Like if you think about it, McDonald's had all those like collectible cups that were like 99 cents. Yes, McDonald's used to actually sell collectible cups for everyone who didn't know in the 90s. I think people still have them, you know. Um, Dave has them, I think. You know, Seal was involved in it. You had George Clooney like getting into acting, right? Leaving ER. For people that don't know, George Clooney was in ER and just started acting. And like his first couple movies were like that Batman movie and From Dusk Till Dawn, which we'll talk about here in a little bit. But you had Val Kilmer like almost in his prime as well, coming off the hit movie Heat. Um, so you know it was very interesting. I think the hype behind him was really cool, but unfortunately, some of them weren't very good. But Jim Carrey, prime Jim Carrey was regular. So um, but guys, that leads me to the second part of this one for the movies, right? Some of the outstanding movies that came out in the 90s, unbelievable. Uh The Godfather Three, Heat, Any Given Sunday, The Program, all the Disney movies. That came out, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, uh, everything that came out with uh with those. You had the movie like The Saint with Val Kilmer, you had uh Pierce Bronson in um double eye, you know, or sorry, Goldeneye 007 movies, James Bond. You had a ton, a ton of great movies that came out, casino, um, a lot of great movies. So, you know, I want to get your opinions. You know, what are some of your favorite movies during that time frame in the 90s, you know, that came out? And I'll let you kind of ponder this because you all have the pondering look on your face right now. So I would say probably one of my favorite movies, um, probably my favorite movie from the 90s has to be the movie Heat. If people never seen that, it's about 30 years old. Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, the second movie they have ever done together outside of Godfather 2, but the first time they started side by side. So I would say uh Heat, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer was in that, Tom Sizemore, West Sudai from Last of the Mohicans, another 90s movie. Um, you had McKelty Williamson in that. Uh, you had Dennis Thurlbert, I think that was his name. That used to be the old AfLak commercial guy, the guy with the real deep voice. Um, you had Ashley Judd in that as well. You had a young Natalie Portman in that, and who can forget Tone Lok was in that movie, too. So uh Heat was probably my favorite, probably second favorite from the 90s, any given Sunday. Another outstanding cast. Al Pacino, the birth of uh Jamie Foxx really as an actor, Cameron Diaz, who can forget Warren Moon, Dick Buckus, Terrell Owens was in that, Bill Bellamy, uh Charlton Heston, Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Dennis Quaid, LL Cool J. Who Can Forget That movie? Probably two of my favorite Bono, though, what were you some of your favorites from the 90s?
SPEAKER_01:Man, this is still just a tough one for me. I but we were talking about this before we started rolling, and I've been trying to think since then um to pick a favorite. I mean, I was a big Austin Powers guy growing up. I I loved the Austin Powers movies. Uh big comedy guy shocker, the comedians into comedies. Uh, but all those uh Heats is a great one. Uh there. All the Disney movies, mainly now, because I have a new bit about Disney songs uh that is in the set list too as well. And I was a big Disney guy growing up uh watching all those. My parents still have the VHS tapes for the those of you that are too young to know what those are, Google it. Uh I'm not gonna explain what a VHS tape is to to everybody out there, but uh the Austin Powers series for me uh in the 90s is what really stands out. Mike Myers in that, just playing uh all that. You get Vern Troyer in there too as well, mini me. Um it just his range as an actor, um, and what he was able to do playing multiple role roles and um making it believable that it was a different person playing those roles back in that time, uh for me, and just the sheer slapstick comedy that was in it, and just the the the one-liner jokes that were so I don't want to say hidden, but if you weren't looking for them, you you you you'd miss them. Uh, people still quote today and stuff like that. You know, it for me it's gotta be Austin Powers.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Dave, what would you say? What are some of your favorite movies from the 90s?
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so I've broken it into categories, and I'm gonna hit you hard and fast with them, and everybody's gonna shake their head. Oh, yeah. First of all, when you're flipping through the channels and you see it, you stop. It is the Shawshank Redemption. Yeah. Uh bombed in the theater. This absolutely just killed it afterwards. If you're staying in that kind of same category, um Forrest Gump was unbelievable as a movie, and everybody was all about it. It had uh it made you laugh, it made you cry, it was a little bit of everything. If you're looking at action flicks, um, you know, Bruce Willis is uh in Armageddon um was fantastic, but we're gonna double down with Bruce Willis Die Hard with a Vengeance, Die Hard 3 was maybe one of my all-time favorite movies. It was hilarious. They blew stuff up, it was exactly what you were looking for in movies. And with Bono, I love the comedies of the 90s. Uh I uh just full on to be honest with you. You know, you're you're in getting into those late 90s, you have varsity blues, and you have American Pie, but perhaps my favorite, and it's a little bit of an indie cut, is Kevin Smith's Mall rats. Like it's just an unbelievable, uh, funny movie, and it spawned kind of Kevin Smith's career. It was the first movie he made. Um the 90s just you still had a little bit of an innocence that occurred before September 11th. And I feel like after September 11th, everybody had to make these movies that were just so over the top. And we've gotten to the point now where people don't even really make funny movies anymore. And that, my friends, is depressing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, okay. You know, you know what, let me piggyback off that, uh, Dave. When you know, you mentioned Forrest Gump. I can't believe I forgot that movie, Forrest Gump. They gave us the best villain in ever it ever in Jenny. If and it I will fight people to the death that she is the best villain in all of cinema. Um, we're not gonna get into that rant about how she just strung Forrest along for the entirety of that movie. Um, and then yeah. But you know what? You're right there with the they don't make movies like they did in the 90s. Like there were so many in there that you you said I honestly couldn't remember if varsity blues happened in the 90s or if that was in the early 2000s. Like, you know, I was trying to think back if that was in the 90s or not, but varsity blues is definitely, definitely, I I still quote Tweeter in that movie to this day. My wife and I talk in movie quotes, and varsity blues is just like top tier for movies that we quote for sure. Uh, but yeah, just you the the forest cup one, uh Jenny is the definitely the best villain in all of movies.
SPEAKER_00:All right, Matt, what do you say?
SPEAKER_03:What are some of your favorite movies from the 90s? Well, uh we'll start uh you know, hanging around in high school. Um, these are all movies that I actually probably still have memorized line for line. But high school, we were either watching Clerks, which was actually Kevin Smith's first film, uh we watch that about every night, Clerks, uh Days the Confused. Uh we watch that I got that about memorized, and then Tombstone from the early 90s, and then of course uh laying around on college on dirty couches and uh having leftover food and beer. Uh we I definitely still have Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore memorized all Billy Madison. Yeah, so those are probably my four go-tos even now. Um, I just watched them so so many times. Um, but yeah, those are mine. Okay, Mister, what are you saying?
SPEAKER_04:The first two are casino. Casino is one of them uh with ginger. And uh we have to have another conversation about the significance of ginger in that movie and who she relates to in real life, okay. Uh the other one is uh Godfather. Uh I mean I'm sorry, not not uh not Godfather, but um Bahip. Uh those are uh probably two of my top ones. But man, listen, you guys are forgetting about two other movies. And I have to say, you know, uh you can't not go wrong with Friday. What are you talking about, man? Friday. You know what I'm saying? Friday, and then one of the other ones, though, and you guys probably haven't seen it. Maybe one day you guys will, but we used to watch it all the time. It was always on repeat, and it is Menace to Society.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, uh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I'm gonna we have one brother here on the podcast. Right long time I watched Menace to Society. Oh great movie, great movie Friday, too. How could you forget that?
SPEAKER_04:How do we forget Friday? Who D boo? That's right.
SPEAKER_01:You can get five in your day off stealing boxes. What you building a clubhouse, right? Right, right.
SPEAKER_00:You know, it's and it's funny when you when you're mentioning these, right? And we're talking about them. I'm sure people are flooding back memories, people don't remember that. But it was so cool to go to the movies in the 90s, like it was so cool. It was to get your ticket, like it was an event to rent movies on VHS, like and you're at the movie store trying to like look at the back of the movie, reading the you know, reading the the synopsis of it.
SPEAKER_01:So man, um it was it was Blackbuster where everybody was going.
SPEAKER_00:The red movies like Hollywood video. It was so awesome, probably and just just so so awesome. So uh moving off of movies, though, let's talk about another subject, guys, and that's TV. Now, um I remember Dave was on the TV uh episode, and we kind of talked about this a while back, but the 1990s brought us a huge variety of TV shows, and probably the most well-known that was probably transcending at the time because of what they covered was Beverly Hills 90210. It dealt with things of teen pregnancy, drug abuse, alcoholism, racism, ageism, um, divorce, moving away, friends, family, and so forth. Um, and sadly, a few of those actors and actresses have passed away today from that that show. But um, you know, what are your guys' thoughts on this show? I think it was one of the most transcending shows um that ever came out from 89 until 2000. Um, and did it brought us a lot of a lot of things, mental health um as well in there. So, and just growing up as a teenager. So, um, Bono, what what were your thoughts about Beverly Hills 90210? Did you watch it? Were you a fan of it? What do what do you want to uh talk about with this?
SPEAKER_01:I didn't watch it during the 90s as much as you know, you you still find old TV shows today to to kind of go back and watch it. And watching it now, you mentioned it there. It goes over a lot of big topics that you know I think it brought to the light, you know, what needed to be talked about with all those issues that were going on that weren't as I don't want to say they weren't as prevalent as they are today. It's just we get information quicker and easier today. Everybody has a computer basically in their pocket with their phones where you can get that, and everybody's recording everything nowadays to where you get to see those. But 90210 just kind of kind of started the conversation uh with these issues and getting everyone to to be aware that they're out there that to get the people that the help that they needed, and just just showing how people grew up then. You know, it's it's nostalgic to watch today. I didn't really watch it too much then. Um being you know the age that I was being anywhere from one to nine years old, uh, you know, not not a lot that I was watching then, other than you know, Saturday morning cartoons, you know, being at that age range, which who who could forget those if we're if we're gonna talk about uh TV and oh don't worry, don't worry because we we've got more TV stuff. We better work. We better, Fanny. We're we're uh I brought you over the toe. We better get to that.
SPEAKER_00:Um this is strictly just Beverly Hills 90210 right now.
SPEAKER_01:Beverly is like watching it now, you know. I appreciate it more now than I probably would have back then.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Dave, what about you? I think you can make an argument that Beverly Hills 90210 is singularly responsible for the downfall of America. Um the the the seriousness and the the total lack of of humor and humility that it that existed in 90210 and its its counterpart Melrose Place is what's gonna lead you to to all of a sudden get these real serious dramas like the Dawson on Dawson's Creek and Party of Five and all those sorts of things. And then those spawn all of the real world and the the sort of real serious reality TV shows. And then you get The Bachelor and you get all this other crap out there where people are taking themselves entirely too seriously. And I have a real serious problem with uh uh a total lack of creativity where everybody's just trying to reach for the lowest common denominator of how much something can bleed or how many people can get AIDS or get murdered or or graze anatomy or whatever, to the point now where television is almost unwatchable. Thank you, 90210.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so Dave was not a fan of 90210 in the 90s. Uh Matt, can you uh can you bring us back from that?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, well, uh actually I've never seen 90210, and I said that when I was young that I'd never watch it. Uh, the only two things I remember and can tell you about 90210 was um me and my group of guy friends absolutely hated it because all the girls liked it, and that's coming right off of them having a crush on everybody on New Kids on the Block. So we didn't like Luke Perry or anybody uh on the show. And then um the other thing is I remember I think that's the one that Kelly Kapowski was on, right? Uh I think she was on there for a little bit at the end, or was she on Melrose Play? Yeah, it was okay. Yeah, I remember trying to watch it because Kelly Kapowski, she was my first crush, you know, and uh uh Tiffany Ambertheson is her name, I guess. But uh uh tried to watch it. My crush really didn't, my love didn't go that far. So uh never really saw it, never had a desire to. Uh just was jealous because all the girls loved Luke Perry, and I wasn't Luke Perry.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. And you know, rest in peace. Luke Perry unfortunately passed away a few years ago. So, Mr. You were on that uh TV episode as well when we talked about this. But what are your thoughts on, you know, thinking back to the 90s with Beverly Hills 902 and no?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I'll tell you what, man. Hey, you know, Matt and Frank, they kind of you know said it, you you know, uh the down the downfall. Downfall and fancy. I mean, it most definitely brought some things to light as far as uh uh situation issues that people were that people were going through. Um the only thing about 90210 that we would watch it was because we you know we were trying to get to Hollywood. And so that's the only I mean I mean, you know, that that's the only reason why, you know what I'm saying? We watch it, and we know it's a reality show or you know, a TV show, but you know, I tell you back in the day, people people used to start writing 90210 because they were trying to, you know, you know, they were trying to get to the get to Hollywood. But that was the only reason why we watched it, because we just, you know, we wanted to get get out there to Cali.
SPEAKER_00:You know, and I and I and it it was definitely a very, I think we'd all agree if we remember back. It was it was a very controversial show because of those topics that nobody was talking about before with that. So um, but I was always a big fan of that. Now, guys, this is gonna be kind of like the one we just talked about with the movies. Now, I'm only gonna list a few shows, but please let's talk about all the ones you love, though. The 1990s brought us such great shows, like The Dinosaurs, Step by Step, Fool House, Family Matters, Sister Sister, the Jamie Foxx Show, The Way and Brothers show. What are some of your favorite shows from the 90s? And I'll start here um and let you guys think about it. Um, I loved, I love the dinosaurs, Jim Henson's The Dinosaurs. Um, people don't know it's uh not the mama, I'm the baby, gotta love me. Um, you know, the voice at Elmo for Baby Sinclair there. Probably had the saddest ending of a TV series probably in history. I don't know if you guys ever remember that that ending of that, but people don't know. Dinosaurs on four seasons about dinosaurs, all this stuff. Da-da-da-da-da. Whatever last episode, um, because of what the boss did that created the like nuclear fallout and the sun was blocked and all this stuff, and it starts snowing, and the ice age happened. And the very last part, baby Sinclair asked his parents, he said, What do you think's gonna happen to us? And it kind of like faded out of the house, and the ice age happened, and that was the end of the dinosaur. So saddest ending ever, but love the dinosaurs, loved Fool House, love Family Matters, TGI or TGIF was awesome, um, you know, to watch on Friday nights. But Mr. Let's start with you. What are some of your favorite shows from the 90s?
SPEAKER_04:Some of my favorite shows was um Say by the Belling Color. In Living Color, yes, and uh, and then here's one, you know what I'm saying? Because you always gotta have one where you kind of you know say it's out there in the deep end, and I washed the heck out of Beavis and Butthead.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah, oh yeah. Beavis and Butthead. Who can forget? Who can forget that? Um Matt, how about you? What were some of your favorite?
SPEAKER_03:Well, uh I got some that I still watch today. Um, Seinfeld, of course. I was a Seinfeld guy. If you were to ask me Seinfeld of Friends, I hated friends, but everybody loves Seinfeld back then. That was my age group. Um, I had in my bachelor pad before I got married a whole room in my house dedicated to Simpson stuff. So, you know, that was right my age. Uh the Simpsons, uh that was appointment viewing. Um, probably my eclectic show. Uh, as Mr. said, um, I always loved the show Quantum Leap when I was younger. Uh Quantum Leap. Yeah, that's from the 90s. Um, and that's really about it. That's all I could really think of. I'm sure there's good, you know what I liked, but I think it still qualifies as 90s because it ended early with Cheers. I always loved Cheers, and I think it ran into the 90s a little bit there at the beginning. But that that I used to love that show too. But um, once we started getting on later into the 90s, I don't know, my knowledge really started to drop off because I don't know, just wasn't a sitcom guy or whatever.
SPEAKER_00:Sure, sure. You know, and and one I forgot, and if people were younger, they probably remember this. But like, Are You Afraid of the Dark on Nick at night? That was like oh yeah, like for a children's show, if you go back and watch it, you're like, How did I watch this? This was actually like terrifying clowns coming out of the faces in the closet, eating people, the world ending, like, and who lets their kids just start a fire in the woods to tell ghost stories and then just put it out? I mean, who does that? I mean, now granted it was the 90s, it was a whole different, you know, whole different place, but uh but yeah, but uh Gabe, how about you on this question?
SPEAKER_02:Well, you know, you just you talked about creepy, and it made me think of uh Unsolved Mysteries was one that was um unbelievable with Robert Stack. Um Cops, you know, was one of the original uh um reality TV shows that just you know you couldn't stop watching. Um Matt mentioned Cheers. If you mentioned Cheers, you also couldn't appreciate Frasier, which was fantastic during the 90s. He stole Seinfeld, Mr. Mister, you got to save by the bell one. But I'm gonna throw two more comedy uh uh uh sitcoms out there. Uh, one is The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Um, I think you know, in later. Years. Will Smith kind of got a little bit uh off kilder, but Fresh Prince of Bel Air was absolutely appointment watching. Um, add to that, uh, Married with Children. Al Bundy was everybody's dad, and all of a sudden we're sitting there now and we're in our 40s and we're going, oh my gosh, I I identify with all the stuff on this show. And Al Bundy in Polk eye football, four touchdowns, married with children.
SPEAKER_00:And and but Bono, before we go to you, I want to throw this out, and this is just one I forgot. People remember this. You mentioned Al Bundy is the the uh actor Ed O'Neill from Modern Family at Youngstown, Ohio. Um, he played in the movie Um Little Giants with Rick Moranis from the 90s. Who can forget that? John Madden's in it pulling up on the Madden bus, uh helping the team out. When you talk about John Madden and movies, and Ed O'Neal there has tie it all in. But Bono, where were some of your favorite uh shows from the 90s?
SPEAKER_01:Man, everyone took a lot of the good ones. Uh, Matt, I I might actually fight you on the Friends thing, uh, for sure. I'm a huge Friends fan. Uh my wife and I absolutely love Friends. Uh I was a big Seinfeld guy too, though. I can't I can't say that I wasn't. I liked both of those. Um I'm trying to remember. Everybody loves Raymond. There, I think that came out in the 90s. I was a big Everybody Loves Raymond guy. Um also uh going back to that, the Are You Afraid of the Dark? Is the reason I'm probably still afraid of the dark as as a 36-year-old man. Um is because that that that show, yeah, looking back at it, it's just like what what the hell were we thinking? Letting kids watch this shit. Uh oh man. Going back on the X-Files was another one in there. Um to Nickelodeon, like some of the like uh the global guts, you know, the the the competition shows, uh Legends of the Hidden Temple, you know, you had those there too as well. Um, I always wanted to be on those shows. Like I I I can remember like it was yesterday sitting there, be like, yeah, man, I'm gonna be I I can beat this obstacle course right now, like, you know, and thinking that. Uh loved all of that. Obviously, you have all the the Saturday morning cartoons. I mentioned that a little bit into the first question there. Uh big big bugs bunny guy myself uh watching those uh growing up in the Looney Tunes. Um but yeah, Friends was another one. I mean, I still quote it to this day, and it's to the point where I can quote the bloopers on those two as well. Um as much as I can the show. Uh but Friends was another one I still watch to this day. Uh, if it's on, I always find myself changing it to that channel and watching the reruns of it. Um but yeah, um Mr. You mentioned it, Beebas and Butthead. I mean, how can you not love Beebas and the fact that they're they brought it back now and like they're making new Beebus and Butthead episodes just shows you how much the 90s had television in a stranglehold. Um one that's not talked about, um TRL.
SPEAKER_00:Don't get too far ahead, man. We got we got all this stuff covered. Don't you worry to be got it covered. Just saying.
SPEAKER_01:I can remember after school being like, ah, shit, it's TRL time. You know, when when MTV was actually music television, um, and they played music videos and not reality shows, um, and everything like that on there now. But yeah, there's just I mean, I could go on all day about it.
SPEAKER_00:Don't worry, Bono. Fitty fitty got you covered, man. Fitty green through on there.
SPEAKER_01:I figured you did, cuz I figured you did. But yeah, those are those are some of the ones I like.
SPEAKER_00:So that kind of leads me into the next one, guys. And this is gonna be really cool. Now it's we I I labeled this culture because it it was like culture in the 1990s. Okay, and there's two ones, two different questions here. People may not believe this though, but back in the 90s, the WWF and WCW were two different wrestling organizations, which have now merged into the WWE, the multi-trillion dollar corporation that it is. But they had a huge rivalry in pop culture, not just wrestling, pop culture. People debated WCW and WWF for a long time. You had wrestling icons switching over and back and forth who came up through there, like Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, Goldberg, uh, Macho Man Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, rest in peace, Owen Hart, Scott Hall, otherwise known as Razor Ramone, Diesel, um who's known as Kevin Nash. You had um the death of Andre the Giant, though, during that time, but you had Sid Vicious, Stone Cold Steve Austin, uh, you had a lot of great guys, Shawn Michaels. So, guys, you know, what do you remember fondly about that era of uh, you know, of professional wrestling, whether it's professional wrestlers you want to talk about or some of you know your greatest memories? I think for me, um, I liked watching both. I'd go back and forth every Monday night and watch both. Probably my favorite memory from WCW is when Goldberg beat Hollywood Hogan to win the WCW heavyweight championship, and people were throwing things in the ring. Um, as he's like winning it, he puts them in a jackhammer and slams them down, and the way Goldberg would come out uh into the fireworks every time he'd get introduced. And I would say probably in the 90s, you know, with WWF, it was like, you know, the end of Hulk Hogan in the WWF, but how they transitioned to like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, and Brad Hart, that's when they sent The Undertaker being the new face of it was pretty unbelievable. And who can forget SummerSlam 1992 in Great Britain and SummerSlam 1993 or four? Matt, you're the wrestling expert here, though. The one they had at Caesar's Palace, uh and and and when they had that when Hulk Hogan slammed Yoko Zuna. So, Matt, you're the wrestling expert here. Let's start with you about this.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I'll let the other guys talk about the two major promotions. I gotta tell you, my one of my some of my favorite memories, not just of the 90s, but overall, was we used to go to the Golden Dome at CCBC. I don't know if that's close to where you grew up there, Johnny, but uh over in Beaver County. And uh we were uh such regulars at the ECW shows in the early mid-90s that uh uh used to used to be Taz. If you remember Taz, he became a commentator. We'd show up there and we were on a first name basis with him. Um we were, yeah, my friends and I, we were extreme ECW uh fans, uh was right when in our age demographic uh followed all those guys through because you get guys that would come through the ranks to ECW, go to the big two, then they or some left the big two and would come back, and they just you know, a a 17 to 22-year-old uh young man, the ECW is right in their wheelhouse. And I think, you know, WWF uh stole a lot of not stole, but you know, took a lot of that stuff. Um, you know, that's where Steve Austin kind of refined his personality and uh some of my best memories uh that, you know, then when it wasn't football season, we'd all go somewhere get wings and drink beer and watch the Monday Night Wars. And uh, you know, that was fun in college. So yeah, I'm gonna defer to the other guys. I can talk wrestling here for an hour, but go ahead, guys.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, Mr. How about you? What do you remember? What do you remember fondly about the 90s with those guys?
SPEAKER_04:Man, you know, my favorite, my favorite off time wrestlers is uh, you know what I'm saying, the late and absolutely Randy Savage, Macho Man. That's my favorite one.
SPEAKER_05:Uh I tell you.
SPEAKER_04:We ain't gonna get started though. But no, that's my that's my favorite one, man. Uh Macho Man, but you know, him and and come on, man. You got Elizabeth. You can't come on, Macho Man and Elizabeth. That's all you need, man.
SPEAKER_00:And snapping into snapping into a slim gym.
SPEAKER_04:Snapping into a slim gym.
SPEAKER_00:But you know, rest in peace, uh, Macho Man and um, you know, Miss Elizabeth. They we you know definitely we lost them uh too young, too young for all of us fans. So um Bono, what about you? What do you remember from the 90s with the wrestling as a little boy?
SPEAKER_01:I remember the attitude era getting started with D Generation X, uh, Triple H, the Road Dog, Jesse James, Shawn Michaels, uh X-Pac, China in there, getting the women's going uh too as well. Uh The Rock kind of trying to start to make his his run with Stone Cold and everything like that. Was a big Undertaker fan uh too as well. Uh just thought it was cool. He was creepy, you know, the dead man walking, everything like that, all that. But um yeah, the at the attitude error is what stands out for me. You know, you had the the the war with them with WCW and the WWF at the time, you know, going back and forth and them just just being menaces and just wanting to to cause chaos. I I I thought it was great. It was great for the sport. They were starting to to lose it with, you know, two different promotions going on at once, people flip-flopping going back and forth. Um really really brought to light the you know the entertainment factor of of uh professional wrestling to a point where I would love to see if they could even do it and bring the attitude error back and and try to make that in the WWE, but I I just don't think they they have the the faces to be able to do it. It's to the point now that we're like there's such a pop if you watch any clips of the WWE now. If they bring back like a a road dog, Jesse James, uh Billy Badass, you know, Billy Gunn, and then having these guys come back, Shawn Michaels comes back, the Crow Jups pops, the the Hardy Boys, uh the Dudley brothers, you know, uh bringing a Mick Foley with the just the absolute psycho that that band was, and just getting beaten all the time, and then getting the hardcore matches, bringing that aspect to it. I mean, it was just it was a different era uh of of wrestling. And one I loved, I still remember my uncle who like had the the satellite dish back then, and he could get the pay-per-views and going up to his house and uh sitting there and just watching every match on pay-per-view. He would order for order them for me all the time, and it it was just it was just great. I can't like like Matt, I could go on forever about about wrestling here too as well. So I'll let somebody else talk.
SPEAKER_00:Dave, what do you gotta say about the Monday night wars back in the day?
SPEAKER_02:I'm allowed to hijack the screen for just a second, Fiddy. Got you.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, Bonnels controlling.
SPEAKER_02:Got you. Okay. Uh so in 2025, uh, my buddy is uh uh getting married, and our shirts that we had for his his stag and drag party were GWO shirts in the style of NWO because in WCW you the NWO was just unbelievable. Um I I don't know how to share this, but just uh um the the the February of 2020 had an opportunity to meet Scott Hall. Um he came to Erie, he was uh signing autographs, and this was like two weeks before COVID happened, and then you know Scott would end up passing away a couple of years ago. Um you know, um the the ultimate bad guy, man, hit the hall and Nash were were unbelievable. Um and I'm a little offended that Matt would think for one second that we weren't all about ECW too, whether it was Al Snow, New Jack going through the tables, the Dudley boys before they came to WWE, like ECW, you know, we didn't have any any rich uncle paying for it on a satellite dish. We had one of those cheater boxes that you put in there and you got all the channels and nobody talked about it. It's kind of like now oh, everybody uses the streams to steal all the sports channels that they don't have. Yeah, well, we had the cheater boxes back in the day, and that's how we got ECW, ECW, ECW.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, we had the cheater boxes too, man. Like that don't act like I'm you know just out here with rich uncles. Like it was just we had the cheater boxes for what he wanted out.
SPEAKER_00:A lot of a lot of good times with that. So, guys, um Bono kind of hit in on this, and I want to I want to go to it next. Um, you know, MTV used to be all about music videos uh and the real world, where they when they when they started with their shows. But most people don't know Beavis and Butthead were really made to watch music videos and kind of make fun of them during that time. So guys, just want I just want to know like were you a Beavis and Butthead fan as they un uh evolved into their new show or sorry, into their own show. Um I was a huge Beavis and Butthead fan. I thought it was hilarious. Uh, Mr. How about you? Were you a fan of the Beavis and Butthead show?
SPEAKER_04:Oh man, I yeah, I loved it. I mean, we we watched every episode, I don't know how many times. I mean, that thing was gonna repeat, especially when I got older and will be in the office, you know. Um, but I love I love it, man. Beavis and Butthead, I mean the coach, you know, you know, now I don't know if any of you guys are still playing game or are a gamer, but I'm still a heavy gamer. Um and in Call of Duty, they actually have both for their skins, those characters, be using a butt head and a coach. Um, so you can play play as them on Call of Duty, and just in case, you know, you and you guys you know think you're good and want to play me. You know, we can play all of me.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Um, and one oh that reminded me when you said another great show from the 90s that's got thrown to us out, Coach with Craig T. Nelson.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, so great show.
SPEAKER_00:But uh, but Matt, were you a fan of Beavis and Butthead?
SPEAKER_03:Um a little bit, you know what? I actually bought some cassettes from songs that were on there. And the one memory I do have was I think it was a pretty heavy song uh by Danzig that Beavis and Butthead like made fun of or liked. I can't remember, but it made it on our uh weight room playlist. Uh somebody got the cassette and they were like, oh, where's that from? And you know, there's a bunch of songs actually from Beavis and Butthead on our uh you know, weightlifting uh soundtrack there, but uh never really watched it for the cartoon aspect, but they had some good music on there and didn't see in the normal rotation.
SPEAKER_00:So okay, okay, Dave, how about you?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. So uh my cousin and I went as Beavis and Butthead for Halloween four consecutive years. Um we were pretty big. Yeah, yeah, we were pretty big fans. Uh um and you know, just to add to that, Fitty, you know, a show that we forgot about that was a spin-off from Beavis and Butthead, and that of course is King of the Hill. Um, you know, that that was uh another piece to add to just the that puzzle.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and you know, another one that reminded me off of that because it was cartoonish and it came out with football celebrity deat match when it used to come out during the Super Bowl. Um, people can find that Mills Lane was the referee, but uh not going back on the TV shows, you know, and rehash and all that was just a thought. But Ubono, you did you like Beavis and Butthead?
SPEAKER_01:Loved Beavis and Butthead, you know, the everything, you know, everyone I am Gonorial, you know, every everybody, you know, the the quotes that come from that. I'm a I'm a huge Beavis and Butthead fan. When they brought it back, like I I was I was brought right back to the 90s when they brought back Beavis and Butthead. I was shocked that they were able to do it, and I'm so happy that it's back.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Now, guys, it leads me into the next one. Let's talk about some music, right? So the music of the 1990s was simply amazing. You had a bunch of different varieties. You had the rap battles of Beaky and Tupac, you had Madonna, Mariah Carey, Nirvana, The Spice Girls, Green Day, Hootie and the Blowfish, you had the Birth of the Boy Bands with InSync and Backstreet Boys in the battles that they had. Um, you had GovCourth Keith Sweat, you had LSG, you had Brian McKnight, you had a lot of different great music artists out there. So who are some of just you know a few of your um favorite artists, you know, from the 90s? Um, if you could, you know, just throw them out there for the guests, maybe they would like to hear that. But I would say probably some of mine. Um, and looking back at it now, especially I really big Hootie and the Blowfish, love uh Darius Rucker. Yeah. So definitely Hootie and the Blowfish. Um, you know, I didn't like him at the time. Looking back though, backstreet boys did have some good songs. I will say that. Um Vertical Horizon was pretty cool. Uh, you know, Aslo, Everything Uh You Want as well, you know, was a great song with them. Um and then also, of course, I was a I was the Tupac and Biggie guy too. But uh a lot of good, a lot of good stuff back then. But Bono, what about you? What were some of his uh, you know, as a little kid, even though you were, but what was some of your you know more go-to music back then?
SPEAKER_01:You know what? It it depended on the genre. I mean, I could listen to anybody. Hootie Nebelovish is a great one, Darius Rucker now, uh, end of the country singing everybody loves Hootie. Um going into like boy bands, you know. I mean, it it BSP for life, man. Backstreet Boys, you know, for sure. Um, on that one. One that doesn't get as much. I I get a lot of hate for this one. If you're going into like the the rock and roll genre, you know, you obviously you had the punk with Green Day, Simple Plan, uh, all those in there. But I get a lot of hate for being a Creed fan. Um, I absolutely loved Creed. And um I I still listen to to Creed and Nickelback to this day. Um, I'll I'll fight any I'll fight anybody to the death about Nickelback. Anyone that says that they're they're garbage, you don't know anything about music um at all. And but you know, there's there's so many iconic bands um that it's it's hard to nail down. But I mean I listened to like almost anything. You know, you had I mean a big MM fan, uh obviously Tupac and and all them and Biggie and just that that whole rap battle there was just you know nostalgic, and you know, it it it brought to light a lot of things with that. But yeah, I I was more into the into the rock and roll that I mean I s I still listen to it. I mean, I know it's going back to the 80s, but my my dad was always listening to the 80s hair metal. Um, so all those bands that were still making music in the 90s, uh, listened to to all them. But I would have to say my top two for me is Creed Nickelback.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. What about you, Dave?
SPEAKER_02:What are you saying on this? Well, you know, the great thing about the 1990s was it wasn't like the 70s and 80s where you had to just associate with whatever kind of music you listened to. Oh, you were a metalhead or you were, you know, a pop guy or whatever. The nineties were cool because I I'm gonna speak for everybody here on the panel. We liked a variety of music. You know, and and you always were looking for that next great deep cut for something. So for me it was uh a band like The Offspring, or it was You know, I kind of got into alt rock with Weezer. Um, you know, I had Dave Matthews first band, and of course, crack review from Hootie was kind of just that's quintessential nine stuff. Blues Traveler with Hook was unbelievable. Then you know, you flip it and you, you know, okay, so Biggie and Pac in the G-Funk era with Dre and Snoop was so important. But, you know, if you really started listening and you got into Outcast, and then you you, you know, for for some of us, it was uh, you know, Wu Tang is for the people, man. So it was uh I mean that was what the 90s were all about, man. And and if you weren't listening to good music, you know, people judged you by it. But what people didn't judge you by is what kind of music you liked. You can like rap, you can like alternative, you can like anything, and great music was coming out all the time.
SPEAKER_00:For sure. Matt, what about you with your some of your favorite music from the 90s?
SPEAKER_03:Um, yeah, I kind of stayed the course with the hair metal 80s bands all the way through the 90s, but I I gotta give a shout out to uh my uh roommates and my college football players there. We uh moved in and you had an air hairband guy and myself, you had uh the world's biggest George Strait fan, the world's biggest Garth Brooks fan, the world's biggest Tupac fan, and uh somebody uh I don't know what he was a fan of, but they really opened my eyes to some of the, like uh Dave said, some of the great music coming out. But uh I always felt at my age I got it kind of ripped off a little bit because you know I went to school, my freshman year with my boat shoes and my peg pants, and thought my IOU sweatshirt was gonna be cool, and then grunge hits, and then everybody's wearing flannel shirts and you can't long hair and you can't tell guys from girls because of the grunge scene. I go to college, I come back, and then the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears hit, and I'm like, what what happened? You know, so it was kind of a huge shift in culture and music there when I was uh doing my own thing in college. But I don't know, that's my little story, but okay.
SPEAKER_00:What about you, Mister?
SPEAKER_04:You know, I had a uh like you know I listened to a lot of different type of music. I mean, all different type of music, but that's but the two that I used to always listen to, especially during football, it was always um it was always bone clubs and Tupac. Uh always bone clubs and Tupac. You can never go around him. It was just all day long. Um and you know, and during my time, and you guys would know too, the whole East Coast, West Coast thing. And so the only East Coast thing that I would ever, ever play or ever will put in is uh was Wu-Tang. You can't go wrong, you couldn't go wrong Wu Tang no matter what, man. That whole East Coast, West Coast, Midwest type battle that was going on, and especially when I was at school, that's all it was. All they played was East, East, just East Coast, East Coast, East Coast music. I don't care what it was. It was all about East Coast. So yeah, East Coast, but then you had a go-go, the go-go music, the go-go band, uh, which I which I like and enjoy too, though. The go-go is is good. Check that out. That's that deep Baltimore, Maryland, whatever they want, they want to call themselves.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Next question on the music one, guys. And this is just really just like a simple yes or no. Um, I just want to see what you guys think. But TRL, otherwise known as Total Request Life, came out in 1998, 27 years ago with Carson Daly. Um, did you watch this when it when it was out when it first started? Just a simple yes or no. But I would say yes, I was a huge fan. Uh Bonnell, what about you? Absolutely, yes. Okay, Dave.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, it it was either that or or sports center, whatever was just on in the background. Okay, Matt? No.
SPEAKER_00:No, Mr.
SPEAKER_04:No.
SPEAKER_00:No, okay, and that's kind of like I think it just depended on our ages and and where people were kind of at with that. So, guys, rounding out the last topic of the six here about all things 90s, and I hope everyone is loving the flashbacks to the greatest decade ever. Let's talk about food. McDonald's of the 1990s was a vibe, and I think anyone can agree with that. Play areas, great happy meals, uh, you had all those cool toys that came with them, birthday parties, the characters like Ronald McDonald and Hamburglar, collectible cups like with the Batman series, you know, Garfield and many others, and so much more. Um, you know, what are some of your greatest memories? Or, you know, what was your go-to meal, whatever you want to talk about with the old school McDonald's? And I would say because I was like a little kid, I loved the Happy Meals. Man, the Happy Mills, the toys that came in those Happy Meals were so awesome. Like you had like race cars and you had the action figures. Granted, they were smaller and cheaper, but it was a lot, a lot of fun always getting a happy meal. Um, but my go-to meal in the 90s, I as a young kid, I loved me a chicken McNugget Happy Meal. That was my jam. So, Mister, what are you saying about McDonald's in the 90s with the vibe?
SPEAKER_04:Man, suck, man. I never I hate McDonald's. Suck.
SPEAKER_00:McDonald's never got down with it in the 90s.
SPEAKER_04:Roy Rogers.
SPEAKER_00:Roy Rogers of all things. All right, don't hold that thought for the next question. Matt, let's go to you. McDonald's in the 90s.
SPEAKER_03:Well, uh, two things. I liked and it was short-lived. I loved the double styrofoam McDulti. I don't know if any of you guys remember that. The hot side was hot and the cool side was hot. Looks like it was cool. About that. Uh, I loved that, but it was always, I can't focus on the dinner because the big breakfast, and I think they still have it, but the big breakfast for McDonald's, that was it, man. And it was the pancakes and the sausage and everything else. Uh so yeah, that those that was my go-to if it was breakfast time. Okay, Dave?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so so one thing that that is still excellent to agree with Matt is all things McDonald's breakfasts are still solid. I hate how much I love it. Um, the one thing that McDonald's did in the 90s that was great, that isn't great anymore, is the Big Mac. Um, they used to do the two for two or two for three deal or whatever, and they were actually really, really good. And um, you know, I got into a burger eating contest in high school in 1997, and I ate 12 Big Macs in one sitting. Um I'm not gonna say that I'm proud of it, but I'm not gonna say I'm not proud of it either. Uh, the Big Mac R.I.P. It's nowhere near as good as it used to be.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, and you know, shout out to Dave Frank, ate 12 Big Macs in one sitting. If I ate two, I would be in pain for three days. So the Big Mac ain't no ain't no joke. But Bob 1990s McDonald's.
SPEAKER_01:1990s McDonald's slapped. It was awesome. I remember having birthday parties with the ball pits and stuff like that there. Like you had yeah, the play area was was awesome. That you mentioned it, Freddy, the toys that you got in the Happy Meals, you you couldn't wait to see what you got. Um, yeah, chicken McNugget Happy Meal was the go-to uh for me. That I then I got a little bit older, went to the the double cheeseburger. I never in the 90s never graduated to the Big Mac. Um, although I don't think I could ever eat 12. I mean, if I ate 12 of anything in McDonald's, I'd be down for three to five business days um for sure. Um but yeah, shout out to you, D Frank, for that one. That that's that's an accomplishment in and of itself. But yeah, I I remember having birthday parties at McDonald's.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, McDonald's was a uh a vibe. And um, I think this was maybe the 90s. I think I'm gonna throw this out. Someone might have to fact-check me when we move on to the next question. But the uh the McRib, loved the McRib when it came out. Who can forget the McRib and a great shamrock shake, which they still have today? Even though I swear to god, whenever you go to McDonald's, whether it was in the 90s or now, somehow the ice cream machine's always broken. It's always broken.
SPEAKER_01:Somebody said, I saw this off Facebook just to pick it back up to McDonald's thing. They're like, they they showed McDonald's in the 90s to it now, and it's like, why does McDonald's now look like a 50-year-old divorced dad from the Midwest versus what it was just a happy-go-lucky, everything was colorful, and you had the ball pits and the play area, Ronald McDonald's, the hamburger. Now it's just all gray, and you have the little red and yellow, and that's it in there. But yeah, that that's my yeah. McDonald's now is it's that's the perfect analogy. It's a divorced dad.
SPEAKER_00:So, and we're gonna go off this last one. This time we're gonna end the show. Mr. Kind of talked about this with the Roy Rogers burger. Well, the Roy Rogers, I'm assuming he's gonna say he loves the burgers from Roy Rogers. There was a whole lot of popular food options back in the 1990s. Some of the most popular ones, of course, were McDonald's. That's when Olive Garden and Red Lobster were a vibe. Uh, and you only got to go there like maybe once a year. Who can forget Shoney's, the original Pizza Hut with the brick interior and the salad bar? Um, and pizza was so cool because of the Ninja Turtle movies that also came out in the 90s. Taco Bell, TGI Fridays, Lone Star Steakhouse. We'll throw in Roy Rogers, his mistress said that, but there is a ton of different ones. And even the flame uh broiled um hamburger from Burger King as well. So, what were some of your favorite restaurants, guys, back from in the 1990s? And I'll start being a little kid, you know, I loved McDonald's, I loved Pizza Hut. Shoney's was cool. I liked Shoney's. And you know, go to like Olive Garden or Red Lobster like once a year because like it was it's more expensive back then. Um, and it was like almost like a treat to go to. Um, but those are probably more my favorites. Never really got into Taco Bell until I got a little bit older. Um, but those are probably my couple. But um, Bono, what were some of your favorite, you know, restaurants as a little kid in the 90s to go to?
SPEAKER_01:Well, obviously, I mean we talked about McDonald's was there. Um, you you mentioned it, you know, we had the Olive Garden in uh Red Lobster. That was that was a special treat, you know, special event was going on. Somebody was graduating, somebody something was happening, you know. Um we got to go out, splurge a little bit because it was more expensive back then than it is now. Um I I gotta say, Mr. I never I've never eaten Roy Rogers. Um, I've heard it's phenomenal. Uh so uh I'll take your word for it. Uh you've never steered me wrong yet, Mister. So I'm I'm uh I'm gonna roll with you on that one. Um but um TGI Fridays was was one that we would we would go to a lot, but yeah, it was it was more or less um McDonald's, and you had your special events with the Red Lobster and the Olive Garden. And uh every now and again we throw a Burger King in there just to mix it up. But yeah, those those were the the ones that for me Okay, Dave, what are you saying on this?
SPEAKER_02:Uh so uh you know Taco Bell with the Chalupas man was just unbelievable. Um you could get a whole sack of tacos for 10 bucks, and you and all your friends could eat. It was unbelievable. If you're talking about a couple of of more regional places, if you grew up in and around Pittsburgh, um treat for us was going to King's. Um that that was just uh uh King's and Eaton Park. Those are some places that were just uh you know kind of cool. Um and the the the last one, and this is a little disappointing because I just heard they're closing 650 stores, but that's Denny's man. The Grand Slam breakfast, um Denny's was legit. If you're talking fast food 90s, uh uh Denny's was all it. Oh, okay. I I almost forgot. Um Ponderosa. Um you know, all you can eat buffet, Ponderosa. If you have Ponderosa on there, you don't you're ready to roll.
SPEAKER_00:No, Ponder Ponderosa. I think there's only like I mean, there's literally only a few ponderosas left in the United States. Um, there's one on Butler. Yeah, the the that didn't know didn't know that one. But Matt, what do you say about your favorite 90s restaurants?
SPEAKER_03:You know, being in rural Columbiana County here, we didn't have a lot of choices, but uh Dave took my uh medium, medium kind of choice of Ponderosa. Used to always go there, could never get any entree, but you know what? They had the salad bar, that's what I was stuck with. Um, you know, McDonald's. Uh we had on the way to my grandparents' house, they had uh, I don't know if anybody even remembers this, but it's called Burger Chef. And uh, I think Hardy's bought them out. That's a lot of the Hardy's food now. Uh, but you know, for a treat, um, you know, like the like uh Bonna said, TGI Fridays, our treat was always Chi Cheese because you got that was one of the few places back then you got the free chips and salsa. So, you know, my my brother and I were told, hey, you know, fill up on these here and uh you know we'll get you a soda. So that was our treat back then, Chi Cheese. I think they got a raw deal and kind of missed Chi Chi's, even though even though I don't I don't know if I had anything other than chips and salsa there in my life, but uh miss them. Yeah, Chi Chi's was a Chi Chi's was a vibe, Mr.
SPEAKER_00:How about you on this?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, man, Chi Chi was Chi Chi was one we used to go to all time. I used to go and get that Texas nachos. It was huge, it was unbelievable. Uh but a Chi Chi's, like uh Riley's, uh, you know, uh Arby's, um, you know, but Ponderosa, man, we had one right down the street from the school, from the high school. And let me tell you something, we tore that place up, man. We we used to just eat, I mean, some some of the meaning guys from the football team, uh, but we love that Ponderosa. Um, it was like you said, there's only a few of them. I know they had one still in the Columbus. I don't know if they closed down yet. But another one, though, um, we would go to be Long John, Long John Silver, when it was real good. Long John Silver, baby.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Now you get the Long Jones and the AW mixed in one, you know, whatever. Like if they're still around, it's Long Jones and AW for sure. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, a lot of a lot of good restaurants back then. Yeah, I think you guys really hit uh hit the now on the on the head there with all those because some of those I completely forgot about too. But Bo Jangles was another one, man.
SPEAKER_04:We seen it.
SPEAKER_01:They just opened up a Bojangles in Zanesville, where I'm where I'm at now. There's there's a Bojangles dead ass. Like they they just opened it up, and everyone is losing their minds over.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, spicy chicken biscuit, spicy sweet tea. Unbelievable. Yes, oh man, yes, sir.
SPEAKER_00:Mr. is gonna be there tonight, heading back into the mister.
SPEAKER_04:We got a spot for you right here, man. Oh, yes, sir. That's what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00:So, well, guys, thank you so much for coming on and you know, reminiscing about the 90s. I hope all the listeners out there who lived through the 90s, you know, shared in a lot of the special memories we just talked about. And there's so many more that you can go into. And I hope you can have your own 90s discussion with your friends. For the people that didn't grow up in the 90s, you know, I hope this was a little bit of enlightenment into what the 90s was, probably the greatest decade ever. I think anybody can agree with what all the things we talked about, not that the other decades weren't great, but just the culture and the food and TV and all the transcending things that happened in the 90s. And we all grew up in the 90s, so it was even better for us, right? Because, you know, there's five special guys on this podcast. Shout out to Bono for letting me host this week's episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast about the all things 1990 show. I'd like to thank Bono, Mr. Matt, and Dave for coming on with me and reminiscing for the past hour and a half or so about this. So, as always, if you enjoyed this show, be a friend and tell a friend. And if you didn't enjoy it, tell them anyways. I bet they like it just because you didn't. This is Fitty signing off, and we will see you next week.
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