TV Moments that Shook the World

[Haggis and tatties]

John Lennon being shot dead.
The First space shuttle launch(I thought my god we are really now moving into space)
The challenger disaster.(The truly heartbreaking loss of those brave few end of a dream)
9/11.

 

[exodus]

Sheesh most of the moments listed have happened int he last 10 years. How old is everyone here 25? Most of the really shocking stuff happened well before that. You guys arent trying hard enough, except for Masteroforion. I will list only one show........

-All in the Family, this show dealt with Rape, menopause, bigotry etc. That show alone shook the world its first couple seasons. It broke alot of tv barriers in the very early 70's. It most definitely shook the world.

I'm glad somebody else remembered, cool!

Yes, I'll never forget the rape of Edith Bunker.
It gave you chills.


ROOTS & The Thornbirds: the two most highest rated mini-seires of all time.

The premiere of "The Wonderful World of Disney"

 

[Vanyel]

JFK's assassination and the assassination Lee Harvey Oswald.
Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Lucy gives birth to Little Ricky on I Love Lucy.
The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.
The Moon Landing.
The premier of All In The Family (It had a warning before it opened!)
Bewitched because it had many protest because it had a witch as the main character.
President Nixon resigning and his flying away on what was still Marine One.
Maude's abortion.
JR being shot.
Super Bowl I
The assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat.
9/11
The space shuttle Challenger disaster
The television coverage of the Vietnam War.
Ellen coming out as a Lesbian.
Queer as Folk, the UK version.
The Columbine Shootings.
The Death of Matthew Shepard
The Assassination of RFK.
The Assassination of MLK.
Tiananmen Square.
The attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II.
The Fall of Saigon.

There's plenty more, but I think this is a good start.

 

[darthraidr]

The Inauguration of Barack Obama. The huge, enthusiastic crowds... everyone seemed so happy... it's hard to believe that it happened only months ago.

 

[Kirk's_Tights]

What's wrong with being 25?

Nothing. But much of the "Shook the world moments" of tv happened way before you were born. You guys are listing stuff that wasnt ground breaking or world shaking. "Best of Both Worlds" for example was great but it didnt shake the foundations of the general tv viewing public. Many people of your generation and even mine have never seen it. But All in The Family was seen by my generation (though I was only 1 when it first aired) the previous generation and even yours now. Its widely know.

No offence but I find people arrogant who sort of talk down to people who weren't around in a time when certain things happened. It just comes across as saying that the younger generation doesn't know anything.

I am VERY aware of a large number of things that have happened, past and present, because I involve myself in entertainment related things from then and now. I am sure events like the Moon landing and Lennon getting shot, things like that, are well known by a number of younger members in this forum. We just name things that haven't been mentioned yet or simply things that just stick out in our minds. That doesn't mean that we have no clue as to what happened before we were born.

You said yourself that you were only a year old when All in the Family first started so it's not as if you even remember the shocking events that took place at that time yet you somehow feel the need to use that as your example and then proceed to basically tell us younger people "pfft, you guys have no idea what's shocking".


I'm not saying that was the point of your post but that is how you seem to be coming across in this thread. I'm not the only person you've quoted and said "that's not shocking" and proceeded to give your example. Everyone here is from different times and we all have events that stick out in our minds and all are shocking in one way or another.

 

[exodus]

What's wrong with being 25?

Nothing. But much of the "Shook the world moments" of tv happened way before you were born. You guys are listing stuff that wasnt ground breaking or world shaking. "Best of Both Worlds" for example was great but it didnt shake the foundations of the general tv viewing public. Many people of your generation and even mine have never seen it. But All in The Family was seen by my generation (though I was only 1 when it first aired) the previous generation and even yours now. Its widely know.

No offence but I find people arrogant who sort of talk down to people who weren't around in a time when certain things happened. It just comes across as saying that the younger generation doesn't know anything.

I am VERY aware of a large number of things that have happened, past and present, because I involve myself in entertainment related things from then and now. I am sure events like the Moon landing and Lennon getting shot, things like that, are well known by a number of younger members in this forum. We just name things that haven't been mentioned yet or simply things that just stick out in our minds. That doesn't mean that we have no clue as to what happened before we were born.

You said yourself that you were only a year old when All in the Family first started so it's not as if you even remember the shocking events that took place at that time yet you somehow feel the need to use that as your example and then proceed to basically tell us younger people "pfft, you guys have no idea what's shocking".


I'm not saying that was the point of your post but that is how you seem to be coming across in this thread. I'm not the only person you've quoted and said "that's not shocking" and proceeded to give your example. Everyone here is from different times and we all have events that stick out in our minds and all are shocking in one way or another.

Speaking as an older person myself: Well said.

BTW, "Best Of Both Worlds" does very much count regardless of what age anybody is. "BOBW" is the highest rated cliffhanger of all time next to Dallas' "Who Shot J.R.?". So yes, it is apart of TV history.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

- 9/11
- Challenger
- Columbia
- Apollo 11
- Nixon resigns
- Princess Diana's death
- Beatlemania on Ed Sullivan
- The Best of Both Worlds, Part I
- Lost: Walkabout, Through the Looking Glass and The Constant
- Crispin Glover, and later Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman
- JFK's funeral
- Warren Zevon's final appearance on Letterman
- The series finales of The Prisoner, The Sopranos, Seinfeld, The X-Files, The West Wing, The Wire, BSG, The Shield, Friends, Buffy, Angel and Six Feet Under
- Sinead O'Connor destroys a photo of the Pope
- OJ Simpson's "innocent" verdict
- South Park: "Scott Tenorman Must Die"
- BSG: "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" and "Exodus, Part II"
- Buffy: "The Body" and "Once More With Feeling"
- 2000, 2004 and 2008 election coverage
- Barack Obama's inauguration
- Nixon/Kennedy debates
- Clinton/Lewinsky scandal
- Gary Condit investigation
- Hurricane Katrina coverage
- Northridge Quake Coverage
- Columbine coverage
- Lloyd Benson serves Dan Quayle

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Ellen DeGeneres coming out via "Ellen".

Remember how is was such a massive deal at the time? Her career was literally almost destroyed. The show was riding high and then literally tanked a few episodes after the famous coming out episode.

Today however it would totally not be a big deal. She's part of the reason for that shift in perception. I think it's easy to underplay the significance of the show "Ellen" but I think in time it will be regarded as a major moment in TV history.

That's a really good one (significant for me since it was within living memory, although I didn't exactly watch the show before).

There were several in All in the Family that certainly qualify, but I wasn't exactly alive for them To be more specific, Sammy Davis Jr. and the episode where edith was raped would be two big ones.

For all you old people, I Love Lucy would be another hugely significant TV show, but I can't think of a specific moment to point to. I guess the first second that Ricky Ricardo was her husband qualifies, since it was one of the earliest bi-racial marriages shown on television.

 

[J.T.B.]

BTW, "Best Of Both Worlds" does very much count regardless of what age anybody is. "BOBW" is the highest rated cliffhanger of all time next to Dallas' "Who Shot J.R.?". So yes, it is apart of TV history.

I'd like to see a citation for that ratings claim. There were plenty of cliffhangers of shows much higher-rated than TNG, which, as mentioned up-thread, wasn't even in the top 30. Dallas had other cliffhangers besides "Who shot J.R." and Dynasty was always trying to out-cliffhanger Dallas, and they were top-five shows. Cheers had a famous cliffhanger (Sam's telephone proposal) when it was a top-five show, getting something like a 20-25 rating. BOBW got around a 10 for part one and a 12 for part two.

--Justin

 

[Mistral]

As the OP(who had to correct himself in a later post) I am NOT interested in real events(aka Oswald/Challenger/911) I am interested in moments like John Belushi smoking a joint on SNL as part of a fake ad for the "new" volunteer Army. Or the All in the Family moments. Things like that. For those of you who posted blind in the arrogant assumption that you knew what this was all about, try again. And BOBW as an earth-shaking event? Maybe. Let's see some official stats. I think Maude did better to shake the world.

 

[TGTheodore]

Yeah! Consider yourselves chastised! Get my thwacker!

Greg Morris' entrance in the classic Dick Van Dyke Show episode "That's My Boy?". It was unheard of for something like that back then.

(Rob Petrie thinks he and Laura got the wrong baby at the hospital. The Peters family had a baby the same day. Rob calls them over to talk about it. Turns out the Peters are a black couple. The longest laugh in the history of the series. They had to cut a lot of the laugh out of the final episode because it was so long.)

--Ted

 

[Zachary Smith]

Fonzie making the jump . . .

(What jump? You KNOW what jump . . .)

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Fonzie making the jump . . .

(What jump? You KNOW what jump . . .)

Could it be....this?

 

[Zachary Smith]

Fonzie making the jump . . .

(What jump? You KNOW what jump . . .)

Could it be....this?

AAAAAYYYYYYYyyyyyyy!

 

[WillsBabe]

I haven't read all the rest of the thread, so in case no one has yet mentioned it: Nelson Mandela's walk to freedom. Also, the announcement of the death of Princess Diana.

 

[exodus]

BTW, "Best Of Both Worlds" does very much count regardless of what age anybody is. "BOBW" is the highest rated cliffhanger of all time next to Dallas' "Who Shot J.R.?". So yes, it is apart of TV history.

I'd like to see a citation for that ratings claim. There were plenty of cliffhangers of shows much higher-rated than TNG, which, as mentioned up-thread, wasn't even in the top 30. Dallas had other cliffhangers besides "Who shot J.R." and Dynasty was always trying to out-cliffhanger Dallas, and they were top-five shows. Cheers had a famous cliffhanger (Sam's telephone proposal) when it was a top-five show, getting something like a 20-25 rating. BOBW got around a 10 for part one and a 12 for part two.

--Justin

None of which you've mentioned fit the topic catagory. That's the difference.

 

[J.T.B.]

None of which you've mentioned fit the topic catagory. That's the difference.

First of all, the claim was that BOBW was the second-highest tv cliffhanger of all time, next to "Who shot JR?" Any support for that claim has yet to be shown.

Second, to what topic are you referring? Do you mean the other examples of cliffhangers did not "shake the world?" I'll agree, they didn't, but they were higher rated than BOBW, which is the point in question.

--Justin

 

[exodus]

None of which you've mentioned fit the topic catagory. That's the difference.

First of all, the claim was that BOBW was the second-highest tv cliffhanger of all time, next to "Who shot JR?" Any support for that claim has yet to be shown.

Second, to what topic are you referring? Do you mean the other examples of cliffhangers did not "shake the world?" I'll agree, they didn't, but they were higher rated than BOBW, which is the point in question.

--Justin

http://television.aol.com/feature/may-sweeps/photos-quizzes/best-tv-cliffhangers

 

[J.T.B.]

None of which you've mentioned fit the topic catagory. That's the difference.

First of all, the claim was that BOBW was the second-highest tv cliffhanger of all time, next to "Who shot JR?" Any support for that claim has yet to be shown.

Second, to what topic are you referring? Do you mean the other examples of cliffhangers did not "shake the world?" I'll agree, they didn't, but they were higher rated than BOBW, which is the point in question.

--Justin

http://television.aol.com/feature/may-sweeps/photos-quizzes/best-tv-cliffhangers

OK... That doesn't say anything about ratings.

--Justin

 

[exodus]

First of all, the claim was that BOBW was the second-highest tv cliffhanger of all time, next to "Who shot JR?" Any support for that claim has yet to be shown.

Second, to what topic are you referring? Do you mean the other examples of cliffhangers did not "shake the world?" I'll agree, they didn't, but they were higher rated than BOBW, which is the point in question.

--Justin

http://television.aol.com/feature/may-sweeps/photos-quizzes/best-tv-cliffhangers

OK... That doesn't say anything about ratings.

--Justin

However, this does say allot about arguing semantics.