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TV Moments that Shook the World

In 1991 L.A. Law became the first US prime time series to show a lesbian kiss. It seems utterly tame now (you can see it here), but it caused quite the major stir at the time.
it would be hard to even suggest that, that is a kiss between two lovers.
Well, it wasn't a kiss between two lovers. It was a lesbian (or bisexual - I forget which) deciding on the spur of the moment to kiss an increasingly bi-curious, but heretofore straight, woman whom she's attracted to.
well whatever it was, like you already said, its hard to picture people getting all bothered about it.
 
The ones I can think of are:

1 - JR getting shot on Dallas.

2 - Best of Both Worlds part 1, the cliffhanger. Everyone was talking about that for months, Trek fans or not.

3 - Henry's death on M*A*S*H.

4 - Challenger exploding.

^ 4

I'd say 9/11 with Best of Both worlds a close second.

Yes 9/11 when Aaron Brown said there has been a second explosion in the south tower( the first to colapse)
when I saw that I knew the second tower had colapsed.
 
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"Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office."

I was four when that happened and still remember seeing it live on the news. The first news report I ever saw....or remember seeing that is.
 
On a more personal note (I'm sure this didn't really "change the world") but seeing Thomas Magnum, my childhood hero, shoot Ivan in cold blood (because the bastard REALLY deserved it) was really shocking to then-school-kid me. Awesome as HELL, but...shocking.
That was awesome. I never expected Magnum to do that. "Ivan, did you see the sunrise today?" BLAM! If anyone ever needed to be blown away it was him.
 
Since we're talking about television shows...

-Henry's death on MASH.
-JR's shooting (I wasn't even alive when this happened and even I know it was big).
-Best of Both Worlds cliffhanger.
-The Sopranos finale.
-LOST's first episode.
-Ellen's coming out.
 
The first season of Big Brother (do you have this show in the US?).

I remember years ago how hotly debated this show was.. where our society is headed if we allow such voyeuristic shows, how some little things happening on that show made top headlines in the yellow press and how everyone was just waiting for the first couple to fuck.
 
Lots of pre-tv stuff happening in Europe, more of it got to do with feats and inventions but the one key artistic moment I would mention is
'Le Voyage Dans La Lune'. It didn't achieve anything since tv hadn't even begun and the phase was mostly circus act and "experimental" but it gave the pioneers something to aim for, the screen was now something that explored scifi and worthy of broadcast and reception

BBC One around 1930s, international news, local etc wasn't until the 50s that a real news bulletin got finally broadcast

News that The Brown Bomber has beaten the Black Uhlan of the Rhine, Harlem goes into party mode for the next 24 hrs

Bombing of Pearl publicly announced, suddenly tv like the paper becomes a propaganda tool for rallying the people to help defend America

Hitler's dudes broadcast from Paris via Eiffel Tower

Japs Nuked, Team America wins, the war ends

That chick in 'I Love Lucy' gets preggers, in real life and on the screen

Sputnik BEEP BEEP BEEP the reds are looking down on us

JFK kicks Nixon's ass in a live nbc/cbs/abc debate, Tricky although had far greater experience looks flustered and shady as John F. Kennedy comes out the far superior debater and far superior Presidental candiate

Bewitched jumps the shark, same character different actor

Rednecks surrounding University of Mississippi disagree with the Kennedys' attempt to enroll James Meredith
JFK dead

Star Trek: The Original Series!!

TV broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics

Martin Luther King, Jr shot
Robert F. Kennedy shot

1968 Apollo goes around the Moon, reads some religious passage from the Bible to cheer up America and make sure the Moon isn't red
Followed soon by July 20th, 1969. One small step for man - one giant leap for mankind.

Jim McKay says that Muslim nutbags have kidnapped Israeli athletes in Munich

Vietnam keeps getting uglier and uglier, war ain't as glorious as it used to be back in the WW2 days, it all ends with the fall of Saigon

Who shot JR in Dallas

Lynda carter wonder woman, Adam west batman, the chessy battlestar galactica

The HOFF!

Crispin Glover on LSD almost kungfu kicks Dave in the face.

Irangate
and the Shuttle explodes with a teacher on board, school kids watch the fireball in shock, Ronnie Raygun makes some good speech about sacrifice and bravery bla bla

PanAm 103 Muslim crazies kill more innocent people by blowing up an aircraft over Lockerbie

Long runs of The Cosby Show Hill Street Blues etc

Flo-Jo wins 3, Roy Jones Jr. loses in controversy, Greg Louganis cracks his head diving

Home and Away the never ending Aussie soap opera

Gulf War One - Kuawait invaded, Gas prices sky rocket, watch Saddam get bombed in real time and almost in 3D

The HOFF is back in a tv show about lifeguards wearing skimpy outfits and guess who is guest staring
2647764024_5892f047fa_m.jpg


TNG, Babylon-5, DS9, Xfiles etc

Non-stop news, 24 hr news channels

Simpsons v Friends, Simpsons wins

Clinton had a blowjob, admits it
Gore lost, recounts going on for days and days. People throw things at the new president

More Big Brother, Survivor, Punk'd, Springer, and all kinds of reality tv bullshit
shocking how people can swallow such crap

Bush kowtows to China to save face after spy plane incident,
Muslim extremists go crazy again killing people 911
more wars live and almost in 3D

Michael Jackson is still wacko jacko dangles his out a window baby, the only amazing thing is the kid never went splat

Superbowl 2004, Conservatives go crazy after Timberlake performs next to Janet Jackson's nipple slip

Fox fall in love with 24, JJ ropes viewers in with Lost, more tv drama Desperate Housewives, American Idol, Sex and the City, America's got talent, America's Next Top Model bla bla
With the economy in the tank Bill O'Rielly finally admits Emperor Bush has no clothes

China puts on an Olympic show Phelps wins the most gold medals ever, Usain Bolt blows team America away

DUI celebs, Lost, Prison Break, Paris Hilton, Britney....all either wasted, causing accidents or exposing their coochie to the paparazzi of the world

Top-Gear the most illegally downloaded tv show on the net, a typical show ends with Clarkson saying something shocking....which in a way isn't really shocking anymore

Obama-mania
Everybody's finally mentioning the R word
 
JFK kicks Nixon's ass in a live nbc/cbs/abc debate, Tricky although had far greater experience looks flustered and shady as John F. Kennedy comes out the far superior debater and far superior Presidental candiate
JFK was far superior in looks and charisma, but not the far superior debater on points. People listening on radio thought Nixon won. Unfortunately for Nixon, more people watched on TV.

Another seminal real life moment in TV history: the live reading of the verdict in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
 
The first season of Big Brother (do you have this show in the US?).

I remember years ago how hotly debated this show was.. where our society is headed if we allow such voyeuristic shows, how some little things happening on that show made top headlines in the yellow press and how everyone was just waiting for the first couple to fuck.


Yes, we have it over here, season 11 is about to start in a month. Though it is not as raunchy as the European versions I have seen. I don't think it garnered much controversy over here either.
 
Lots of pre-tv stuff happening in Europe, more of it got to do with feats and inventions but the one key artistic moment I would mention is
'Le Voyage Dans La Lune'. It didn't achieve anything since tv hadn't even begun and the phase was mostly circus act and "experimental" but it gave the pioneers something to aim for, the screen was now something that explored scifi and worthy of broadcast and reception

BBC One around 1930s, international news, local etc wasn't until the 50s that a real news bulletin got finally broadcast

News that The Brown Bomber has beaten the Black Uhlan of the Rhine, Harlem goes into party mode for the next 24 hrs

Bombing of Pearl publicly announced, suddenly tv like the paper becomes a propaganda tool for rallying the people to help defend America

Hitler's dudes broadcast from Paris via Eiffel Tower

Japs Nuked, Team America wins, the war ends

That chick in 'I Love Lucy' gets preggers, in real life and on the screen

Sputnik BEEP BEEP BEEP the reds are looking down on us

JFK kicks Nixon's ass in a live nbc/cbs/abc debate, Tricky although had far greater experience looks flustered and shady as John F. Kennedy comes out the far superior debater and far superior Presidental candiate

Bewitched jumps the shark, same character different actor

Rednecks surrounding University of Mississippi disagree with the Kennedys' attempt to enroll James Meredith
JFK dead

Star Trek: The Original Series!!

TV broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics

Martin Luther King, Jr shot
Robert F. Kennedy shot

1968 Apollo goes around the Moon, reads some religious passage from the Bible to cheer up America and make sure the Moon isn't red
Followed soon by July 20th, 1969. One small step for man - one giant leap for mankind.

Jim McKay says that Muslim nutbags have kidnapped Israeli athletes in Munich

Vietnam keeps getting uglier and uglier, war ain't as glorious as it used to be back in the WW2 days, it all ends with the fall of Saigon

Who shot JR in Dallas

Lynda carter wonder woman, Adam west batman, the chessy battlestar galactica

The HOFF!

Crispin Glover on LSD almost kungfu kicks Dave in the face.

Irangate
and the Shuttle explodes with a teacher on board, school kids watch the fireball in shock, Ronnie Raygun makes some good speech about sacrifice and bravery bla bla

PanAm 103 Muslim crazies kill more innocent people by blowing up an aircraft over Lockerbie

Long runs of The Cosby Show Hill Street Blues etc

Flo-Jo wins 3, Roy Jones Jr. loses in controversy, Greg Louganis cracks his head diving

Home and Away the never ending Aussie soap opera

Gulf War One - Kuawait invaded, Gas prices sky rocket, watch Saddam get bombed in real time and almost in 3D

The HOFF is back in a tv show about lifeguards wearing skimpy outfits and guess who is guest staring
2647764024_5892f047fa_m.jpg


TNG, Babylon-5, DS9, Xfiles etc

Non-stop news, 24 hr news channels

Simpsons v Friends, Simpsons wins

Clinton had a blowjob, admits it
Gore lost, recounts going on for days and days. People throw things at the new president

More Big Brother, Survivor, Punk'd, Springer, and all kinds of reality tv bullshit
shocking how people can swallow such crap

Bush kowtows to China to save face after spy plane incident,
Muslim extremists go crazy again killing people 911
more wars live and almost in 3D

Michael Jackson is still wacko jacko dangles his out a window baby, the only amazing thing is the kid never went splat

Superbowl 2004, Conservatives go crazy after Timberlake performs next to Janet Jackson's nipple slip

Fox fall in love with 24, JJ ropes viewers in with Lost, more tv drama Desperate Housewives, American Idol, Sex and the City, America's got talent, America's Next Top Model bla bla
With the economy in the tank Bill O'Rielly finally admits Emperor Bush has no clothes

China puts on an Olympic show Phelps wins the most gold medals ever, Usain Bolt blows team America away

DUI celebs, Lost, Prison Break, Paris Hilton, Britney....all either wasted, causing accidents or exposing their coochie to the paparazzi of the world

Top-Gear the most illegally downloaded tv show on the net, a typical show ends with Clarkson saying something shocking....which in a way isn't really shocking anymore

Obama-mania
Everybody's finally mentioning the R word

rock n roll & cola wars, I cant take it anymore! :p
 
If we are just talking fictional tv then in no particular order:

The Best of Both Worlds Part I: I saw this back in 1990 and it was one of those monumental moments when tv serves as a landmark in one's life. To this day I am still in awe of it. It also deserves special praise because television series every season since then has been doing those season finale cliffhangers and they've all tried outdoing it but never being able to. And shows like Family Guy have paid homage to it.

Who Shot JR?: That was like a two-part cliffhanger whammy. First, there was the question of whether JR would survive and then the mystery of who did it.

Melrose Place's Big Bang:I remember that this was to air in May 95 just a month after the Oklahoma City bombing. People wondered how far they would go and how much they would show. Everyone was talking the next day about Kimberly Shaw readying to blow up the apartment complex and the cliffhanger with her saying "It's not what you think, it's worse."

Kirk/Uhura's interracial kiss

I also remember the Roseanne episode where Becky talked about birth control was a big deal at the time.

The Newhart finale.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb, but for real news, the footage of the fall of the Berlin Wall and Tiananmen Square seem up there in terms of impact and longevity.

For me the Challenger disaster is embedded in my mind as we were watching the launch live on TV and so was watching the BBC/CBC repeater feeds live from NY in 2001.

I can't really comment on the impact of a lot of TV shows though. I haven't seen most of the ones listed (outside of the Trek references) so they probably weren't a big deal for me. Meanwhile there are moments I remember that probably most wouldn't.
 
I was thinking about this thread while doing the washing up (the way you do). And it occurred to me that Sex and the City might actually deserve a mention as an important cultural moment.

I'm not a huge fan of the show, and think it has some major problems, but it got millions of women unabashedly talking about sex, and gave them a vocabulary in which to do it without having to hedge hopelessly about with euphemisms. I reckon that's worth something.
 
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