TV’s Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused – Mostly Confused

07/12/2012 11:00 am by

nielsen ratings1 600x241 TVs Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused Mostly Confused

I was expecting something with a little more snazz to it, to be honest.

Yesterday, Nielsen, in partnership with Sony Electronics, released their list of the top 20 most memorable television moments in the last 50 years. It seems like most of ‘murica has their shit together, and remembers the really important stuff (like the coverage of John F. Kennedy’s shooting and funeral, September 11th, O.J. Simpson’s car chase and trial.) But, because these things can’t ever be completely rational or normal, some things about the list just leave me going “Dafuq?!”

President John F Kennedy On The Day Of His Assassination 600x474 TVs Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused Mostly Confused

Definitely glad this one made the list. Though, the attempts on Regan didn’t…hmmm.

For starters, let’s take a look-see at this list. It’s actually pretty interesting to see what got us all to converge on our televisions. I’m also pleased to report that the last season of The Bachelor didn’t make the cut. There really is hope for the human race, after all!

the bachelor ben flajnik glasses1 TVs Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused Mostly Confused

Hurr durrrrr!

Americans’ Top 20 Most Memorable TV Moments of the Last 50 Years

  1. September 11th attacks (2001)
  2. Hurricane Katrina (2005)
  3. O.J. Simpson murder verdict (1995)
  4. Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (1986)
  5. Death of Osama Bin Laden (2011)
  6. O.J. Simpson high-speed car chase (1994)
  7. Earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan (2011)
  8. Columbine school shooting (1999)
  9. BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (2010)
  10. Funeral of Princess Diana (1997)
  11. Death of Whitney Houston (2012)
  12. Capture and execution of Saddam Hussein (2006)
  13. Barack Obama acceptance speech (2008)
  14. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding (2011)
  15. Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (1963)
  16. Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing (1995)
  17. Bush/Gore election results (2000)
  18. Los Angeles riots/Rodney King beating (1992)
  19. Casey Anthony murder trial verdict (2011)
  20. President John F. Kennedy’s funeral (1963)

This isn’t a bad list, but the placement of things, and the lack of far more important events than, say, the death of Whitney Houston, leaves me questioning exactly how many people, from how many different generations, actually participated in this “survey” of sorts. I mean, the coverage of Desert Storm? Vietnam? The destruction of Haiti? The more recent shuttle disaster (Columbia?) The launch of the space station? Haley’s Comet? The first man on the moon? There wasn’t exactly a lot on TV before the late 80′s – early 90′s, so I can’t really wrap my head around how things that the entire nation was watching/seeing/talking about didn’t make the cut. I’m also a little confused as to why Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s royal wedding didn’t make the cut, despite being one of the most televised events ever.

Princess Diana Wedding TVs Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused Mostly Confused

Don’t tell me you don’t remember that TRAIN! DO NOT! I will call bullshit so fast, it will spin heads.

People! Priorities!

I’m a fan of pop culture (on the total down-low, so let’s not over-share this fact, mmkay?!), but let’s think this through for a moment: The death of Michael Jackson didn’t make this list, but Whitney Houston’s did. Also, his first trial, which I remember being highly televised. No coverage of any war(s) made it, and we all know we’ve seen a metric ton of it in the last 50 years, whether we’re actually 50+ or not. Elvis Presley’s death didn’t make it, and I cannot count the number of people I’ve heard talk about that being burned into their memory.

Elvis Presley TVs Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused Mostly Confused

‘Suspicious Minds’. iTunes. Right MEOW.

No sporting events making the list also blows my already feeble mind. I specifically remember being glued to the coverage of the ’96 Olympics (In school!) (Especially in my science class!) because it was a) in my home state, b) IT’S THE MO’FO OLYMPICS, SON!, and c) I was hoping to see the Starbucks kiosk my dad designed/built on TV so I could tell all my friends that my dad was FAMOUS! The draft of LeBron James was more prevalent to me than any royal wedding, and everything Michael Jordan did is also at the top of the list.

TVs Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused Mostly Confused

I mean, FOR REALZ!

Maybe it’s just me, but even at the world-ignorant age of 25, things I wasn’t even alive to see come to the forefront of my mind when I think about the most memorable moments on television. It makes me even more thankful that I’ve spent my life being engrossed in my grandparents’/parents’ stories, and that I make sure to remind them to regale my kid with them. I’d rather she learn about the death of Kim Jong Il than the death of a celebrity, and the coverage of a war that her dad, uncles, and close family friends fought/died in, than a white Bronco speeding down an interstate.

OJ Simpson White Bronco TVs Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused Mostly Confused

Yeeeeaaaaaaah. I don’t care.

Note: Unless Gore showed PROOF of Manbearpig somewhere in the coverage of the Bush/Gore election, I don’t think it should’ve made the list. At all. Super cereal, you guys.

Manbearpig TVs Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Make Me Both Intrigued And Confused Mostly Confused

Half man, half bear, half pig. SUPER CEREAL! SUPER!

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Filed Under: 80s, 90s, Best Of MamaPop, Celebrity Politicians, Celebrity Scandal, Kate Middleton and Prince William, Michael Jackson, Miscellaneous, Nostalgia, Olympics, Politics, Polls, Pop Culture, Science, Television, TV, Whitney Houston Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


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  • SuzyQuzey

    If Hurricane Katrina is there, why not Hurricane Andrew? What about the 1969 freaking MOON LANDING? The murder of Olympic athletes in Munich in 1972? The landmark Supreme Sout decision in Roe v. Wade?
    I call bullshit on this list. Whitney Houston? OJ Simpson? Come on.

    • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who called “total horseshit” on the whole damn thing. Ridiculous. All of it. MLK, Jr? Bobby Kennedy? I mean, HELLO?! The finale of Seinfeld meant more to me than OJ and Casey Anthony.

  • http://twitter.com/thegrumbles the grumbles

    Does OJ really deserve to be on there TWICE? I’ll give them the car chase, because watching that white bronco and wondering what the HELL was going on was classic television excitement, but there are certainly other verdicts that have been equally watched.

    • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

      EXACTLY! I read this damn list and got mad almost immediately. Also, very, very, sad.

    • Tasterspoon

      Although I heard once, and I repeat it endlessly, that Domino’s biggest day EVER was the day of the O.J. verdict because no one wanted to leave their T.V.

  • http://twitter.com/MamaKaren Karen

    There really should be some Olympic moments. 1980 hockey? Kerri Strug’s final vault and the medal ceremony that followed? Michael Phelps? Even people who aren’t Olympics junkies like I am tuned in for things like that.
    What about Nixon’s resignation after Watergate? Or Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald?

    • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

      Hell, even figure skating had a moment bigger than some of the stuff on that list. Nancy Kerrigan? HELLO! I mean, I seriously could’ve written a book on this subject.

    • Tasterspoon

      The Olympics, without doubt. I remember all of those. The big Katarina Witt/Debi Thomas showdown in 88 when they both did Carmen? Greg Louganis smacking his head on the diving board? Michael Johnson?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=525936928 Ed Horch

    Watergate and Nixon’s resignation? Clinton’s impeachment? Bush v. Gore? Tiananmen Square? And what about non-news events? The M*A*S*H and Six Feet Under finales? Live Aid? Luke and Laura’s wedding? Fischer vs. Spassky? Roots? Shoah? Any of these top Whitney, as tragic as that whoe story is.

    • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

      I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels like this list is a load of crap.. I was really scared I would be.

    • Tasterspoon

      For real. Their methods were arbitrary, although who’s to say what is memorable, anyway, and for whom? When the first Space Shuttle took off, I remember that; I was seven and we were in the middle of a move and we took the morning off of school and watched it in our basement surrounded by boxes. I remember the attempted Reagan assassination mostly because of all of the Saturday Night Live coverage of Buckwheat getting shot. Remember that?? The last episode of Cheers? I remember that as a big nationwide Event, but I didn’t actually watch it. Ditto Roots and Live Aid. And the O.J. chase – I have to admit I remember it – I was in England at the time and it made news there as it was going on and people asked me who O.J. was and I didn’t know and we finally figured out he was in the Lethal Weapon movies. So, yeah, pretty subjective.

  • http://snotw.blogspot.com Rachael1013

    Is that list in order of most memorable to least memorable? Because I can accept September 11 being number 1, but I’m having a pretty hard time with JFK’s assassination being that far down the list. I agree about the Olympics too. And MJ. And the MOON LANDING. Seriously. I shrugged at first, but now I think this list is dumb.

    • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

      The list is a lie. A dirty, ridiculous lie.

    • Tasterspoon

      Speaking of MJ and the moon, how about MJ doing the moonwalk on TV for the first time, was it the MTV music awards?

  • http://www.sweetney.com Sweetney

    When John Lennon died. I’ll never forget that. But then, I’m ooooooold.

    • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

      I think I should’ve just made this article a list of EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD BETTER THAN THE ACTUAL LIST. Because, quite frankly, I didn’t get enough of the good stuff in it. I’m ashamed.

    • http://twitter.com/MajorBedhead MajorBedhead

      I remember hearing about John Lennon on the radio, because it happened late enough that I’d gone to bed but was still up with my dinky little clock radio on. I remember going to school the next day and when I mentioned it, most of my friends had no idea who he was. I was THIRTEEN at the time. It’s not like the Beatles were out of the public eye that long at that point. If they ever were.

  • anymommy

    Oh my. You are so right. Many of these are ridiculous and it’s SO biased towards the last ten years. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination? I mean, I wasn’t quite born but that HAD to be on TV.

    • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

      RIGHT?! My point exactly. Craziness.

  • Tyskkvinna

    People have short memories and tend to remember things that have a more direct impact on their lives. I’m going to admit that I don’t remember that much about Katrina or Haiti on TV (news, certainly, but I actively seek on things to READ) and I live far enough north that neither had much of a direct impact on my day-to-day life (I remember gas prices rising?) — I know my friends further south have a much different recollection of both things.

  • die Frau

    Who did they ask? Did they talk to anyone who was old enough to watch TV and remember what they saw 50 years ago, or did they poll mainly people in their 20s? This list seems absolutely ridiculous.The final episode of M*A*S*H? Vvarious Olympic moments? Death of John Lennon? The Berlin Wall coming down? The moon landing? Even Obama’s inaugural speech would have ranked up there for me.

    Because Casey Anthony? TRULY?

    • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

      That’s what I said, and I’m IN my twenties.

      • die Frau

        Exactly. I didn’t mean to knock those in their twenties. I’ve gone to a few different sites and nearly every commenter said this list is a giant crock…including commenters under 30. :-)

        • http://twitter.com/_kateCouture Katey G

          My husband, who never has anything to say about anything, is STILL talking about this list. It has enraged him. He was so excited when I said I was writing about it. He started googling exact dates and ranting around the house. The kitten is still a bit afraid. It’s been the topic of all conversation since Wednesday night.