Throwback Thursday: ‘Jane the Virgin’, ‘Smallville’, ‘Timeless’, and The Start of Cory and Topanga
Which 90s kid doesn’t live and breathe the love story that was Cory and Topanga on Boy Meets World? Well, in this week’s Throwback Thursday— October 11th – October 17th — we look at the kiss that started it all.
That’s not all this week has in store for us, no we also look at some iconic TV premieres. Shows such as I Love Lucy, Smallville, and 30 Rock just to name a few.
Plus, who can forget when One Tree Hill‘s Nathan decides to walk away from playing basketball once and for all? Or when we first met Hiram Lodge on Riverdale?
These fantastic, exciting TV moments in history are all here along with some other treats. So let’s begin!
Fasten your seatbelts…it’s going to be a bumpy ride through TV history.
Major TV Moments:
Cory and Topanga’s First Kiss (Boy Meets World Season 1 Episode 4, “Cory’s Alternative Friends”) (October 15, 1993)
Even though this kiss happened 17 years ago it is still widely remembered. It is the moment we all knew that Cory and Topanga actually had something special between them — despite Cory’s outward disdain for her.
On this episode, Cory is forced to work on a class project with Topanga — her first appearance on the show — which upsets him because he finds her to be weird. They soon find a way to get through their project together and Topanga manages to unexpectedly drop a bit of wisdom Cory’s way.
Cory decides to make a drastic change to his hair because of some comments he overheard. This leads him to change his hair entirely cementing his role in the “weird kids” group.
Topanga chooses to kiss him then reminding him that it will be great that he’ll always remember his first kiss being when he looked weird.
Nathan Walks Away From the NBA (One Tree Hill Season 8 Episode 5, “No One Taught Us to Quit”) (October 12, 2010)
Up to this point, One Tree Hill has been all about Nathan’s journey with playing basketball and making it to the NBA. However, by Season 8 Nathan has to make the really tough decision on whether or not he should walk away from it all.
He doesn’t take this lightly and chooses to make this decision with Haley and Jamie instead of alone. He understands that while the NBA is his dream his health can’t be discounted.
It’s a major moment of growth for Nathan and further cements his overall redemption arc that started back in Season 1 when he met Haley. By knowing when to walk away and put his family and his health first, Nathan proves once again he is much better than his father ever could be.
Hiram Lodge the Villainous Father (Riverdale Season 2 Episode 1, “Chapter Fourteen: A Kiss Before Dying”) (October 11, 2017)
During the Season 2 premiere, Riverdale finally unveiled Veronica’s mysterious father — Hiram. If Fred is the epitome of fatherhood then Hiram falls on the very opposite side of that scale.
Hiram Lodge has been to prison for his shady business dealings and his appearance in Riverdale coinciding with the shooting of Fred Andrews is highly suspect. Viewers realize from the first moment that he is not a man to be trusted.
Throughout Season 2 he proves time and time again that he is not a nice man. While his intentions to protect his daughter may seem honorable to him they are anything but to everyone else.
Fun fact: this is also the episode where Charles Melton appears as the Reggie recast.
Premieres:
This week of premieres starts in 1951 with I Love Lucy. This female-led sitcom has been revered for almost 70 years and is still making us laugh today.
Other notable premieres are 30 Rock, MADtv, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. It should also be said that this week in 2005, Stephen Colbert became a household name when his spin on a news show, The Colbert Report debuted on Comedy Central.
In 2014 the fan-favorite, Jane the Virgin premiered, and then in 2016 TV viewers got to enjoy the premieres of shows still talked about today such as Timeless and The Vampire Diaries spin-off, The Originals.
Here are a few TV shows that premiered this week in TV History:
- 1951 – I Love Lucy
- 1959 – The Untouchables
- 1960 – The Bugs Bunny Show
- 1995 – MADtv
- 2000 – Curb Your Enthusiasm
- 2001 – Smallville
- 2004 – The Backyardigans
- 2005 – The Colbert Report
- 2006 – 30 Rock
- 2006 – 1 vs. 100
- 2007 – Say Yes to the Dress
- 2007 – Wizards of Waverly Place
- 2007 – Keeping Up With the Kardashians
- 2007 – Samantha Who?
- 2010 – The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
- 2011 – Last Man Standing
- 2013 – Reign
- 2014 – Jane the Virgin
- 2016 – Timeless
- 2016 – The Originals
Tell-Tale TV Archives:
With the premiere of I Love Lucy on our minds this week, we tried to find articles in our archives that give focus to strong females.
So we found an interview with Bresha Webb from 2015 where she talks extensively about strong female characters and tough topics TV needs to tackle more. There is also our interview in 2016 with Orange Is The New Black‘s, Miriam Morales.
Finally, we found an interview from 2017 in which we spoke to Rukiya Bernard about her badass female character, Doc, on the show Van Helsing.
2015
Truth Be Told’s Bresha Webb Talks Strong Women and Tackling Tough Topics [Exclusive Interview]
2016
Miriam Morales Talks ‘Orange is the New Black’ [Exclusive Interview]
2017
Van Helsing: Rukiya Bernard Talks About Doc’s Human Journey [Exclusive Interview]
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What are some major TV premieres, finales, or moments you remember? Sound off in the comments below and your choice just might be featured in a future Throwback Thursday column.
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Mads Misasi
Mads is a part-time entertainment journalist and full-time marketing content creator. They love any and all TV Dramas with a few sitcoms mixed in. Join in the fun talking about TV by following them on Twitter: @dorothynyc89.