Throwback Thursday: ‘Better Call Saul,’ ‘Dollhouse,’ ‘PEN15,’ and 90s TV Moments
We have hit a lull in new content for this week’s Throwback Thursday. This is because during February 7-13th most Winter shows have already started and the Spring ones are still only on the horizon.
Keeping that in mind we decided to take it way back for our throwback TV Moments of the week. All the way back to the fun and exciting 90s looking at moments from the shows: Boy Meets World, Full House, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Despite TV premieres being pretty scarce, it is very important that we mention Better Call Saul. It is probably one of the most successful TV spin-offs in history. The more recently popular PEN15 also premiered this week which is worth noting.
Fasten your seatbelts…it’s going to be a bumpy ride through TV history.
Major TV Moments:
Jesse Loves Becky But Gets Cold Feet (Full House Season 4 Episode 18, “The Wedding: Part 1”) (February 8, 1991)
Jesse and Becky are probably one of the most iconic TV couples from the early 90s. It’s hard to imagine them ever being apart from each other.
However, fans know all too well that their beginning was very rocky and their wedding almost didn’t happen. All because Jesse got a bad case of the cold feet.
In a two-part/two-week event, Full House showed that Jesse may love Becky but the idea of settling down terrifies him at first. In part 1 of the event, Jesse freaks out so much he decides to cross a few things off his bucket list first — including sky diving.
While Becky is getting ready for their nuptials, Jesse with the help of Joey and his pilot license is taking a different kind of plunge.
Will Proposes to Lisa (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Season 5 Episode 16, “A Decent Proposal”) (February 13, 1995)
Everybody knows a highly traumatic moment leads us to re-evaluate our goals in life. Will learns that first-hand when he gets shot on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
This Season 5 moment comes after he’s been shot, but is still in the hospital. Will watches as Lisa worries about him and takes care of him.
He really appreciates her efforts and realizes he wants her to always be in his life. Instead of waiting for his life to calm down a bit, Will gets down to it and proposes to his girlfriend.
A Kiss Leads to a Goodbye (Boy Meets World Season 4 Episode 16, “A Long Walk to Pittsburgh: Part 1”) (February 7, 1997)
When Eric witnesses Shawn kiss Topanga he thinks it means trouble, so he tells his brother. However, Cory soon finds out that Shawn was kissing Topanga goodbye.
All of a sudden, Cory is thrust into this new normal of Topanga not living in Philadelphia with them anymore. He loves her, but he doesn’t know how to express that without scaring her away.
They bid a very sad farewell and Topanga moves to Pittsburgh while Cory is left behind to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart.
TV Premieres:
February is not well known for new TV shows starting. However, there are a few worth noting and talking about.
Most importantly there is the Breaking Bad spin-off — Better Call Saul.
There is also the classic shows Gunslinger and America’s Most Wanted. In more recent years, the Joss Whedon sci-fi drama Dollhouse, and PEN15 made their debuts.
All in all, a quiet week in the history books. For the most part, this is a time for TV viewers to get engrossed in the latest winter programming or patiently wait for their spring shows to come on.
Here are a few TV shows that premiered this week in TV History:
- 1956 – My Friend Flicka
- 1961 – Gunslinger
- 1988 – America’s Most Wanted
- 1989 – B.L. Stryker
- 1997 – The Chris Rock Show
- 1998 – Silver Surfer
- 2001 – Live! with Regis and Kelly
- 2005 – Deadly Women
- 2008 – Lipstick Jungle
- 2008 – Survivor: Micronesia
- 2009 – Sonny With a Chance
- 2009 – Dollhouse
- 2010 – Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil
- 2015 – Better Call Saul
- 2019 – PEN15
Tell-Tale TV Archives:
To keep you entertained this week we have found some really fun lists from us over the years.
Starting us off is a list from 2016 detailing the 6 least successful episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then in 2018, our very own Charles Henning compiled a list of DCTV characters we would love to see make a return.
Finally, last year Esme Mazzeo got us really in the Valentine’s Day spirit by going the opposite direction — tragic love stories.
2016
2018
2020
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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.