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The 100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History — Member Berries Livestream #45

My So-Called Gen X Life | January 12, 2026



I found a special issue of TV Guide from 1996 in an old box of stuff. It’s all about the 100 most memorable moments in TV History. Let’s watch as many as we can!

Written by My So-Called Gen X Life

Comments

This post currently has 29 comments.

  1. @ChrisBakerauthor

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    The final episode of The Fugitive was the most watched television show ever at the time. One significant fact is that they were afraid resolving the situation would kill it in reruns.

    It was also the first time that a series finale was special. It brought closure, and the final scenes are very well done. Lots of shows never got a proper series finale.

    And how can you forget the legendary William Conrad saying it was "the day the running stopped."

  2. @ChrisBakerauthor

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    "Who Shot, JR?" was a big deal. There were clothing and all kinds of stuff saying, "I shot JR." I was in the fourth grade in the fall. We talked about Dallas every Monday morning.

    That episode was also the most-watched television show ever at the time.

  4. @ChrisBakerauthor

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    I was sick and at the doctor's office when we got the news about the Challenger explosion. It was a Tuesday–two days after the Super Bowl. We'd had a snow day on Monday. The Bears never got to visit the White House, which had become a standard for Super Bowl champs.

  10. @aseygirl9295

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    What’s wild to me is when I hear people only knowing Barbra Streisand as an actress and not knowing she is a singer! My mom is a HUGE Streisand fan so I grew up hearing her songs, watching her and Neil at the Grammy’s surprising everyone with “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, listening to her Christmas album (fast Jingle Bells), and my mom crying when Barbra came back after years of battling anxiety and belt out “I’ve come home at last!” during “As If We NeverSaid Goodbye”. Knowing she never had 1 voice lesson still amazes me – her book is incredible!

  13. @celticangel73

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    I might have missed it, but the rescue of Baby Jessica should have been on this list. I remember me and my family were glued to the television when she was pulled out of that well. The whole world was watching. Definitely a memorable television moment.

    I'm really enjoying your channel, Natalie! As a Gen X baby (1973) , watching your videos is a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me. You seem like a really awesome person and I wish you all the best!
    🙂

  16. @SkywalkerDavis

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    I was 8-years old when "DESERT STORM" kicked off. At the time, I was a military brat so I remember watching all the fathers leaving at the same time. I sat in our upstairs window watching all of them on my street load up their seabags and kiss their wives goodbye. When the news announced the war ended, my mother yelled in excitement, as I was getting ready for school. The had the base decorated for when everyone returned, and the base had a nice BBQ event.

  17. @wordlifeecw

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    Going into this blind, so I'm commenting as I go along lol The 2004 edition of the list included a lot of news moments, as well as scripted moments. Seeing as this edition is from 1996, 9/11 and the second Iraq War aren't going to be on here. Also need to factor in that some moments may have been a bigger deal in 96 than in 04, so I'm curious to see how much crossover there is. I'm gonna pull out my copy of the 04 list and see how many made both and where they placed in comparison!

    So, a lot of older TV moments got bumped for stuff that was more recent in 04, and real-life stuff (Keri Strug bumping Tonya Harding, for example). The Miami Vice premiere dropped from 99 to 100 in 04. The Dynasty catfight moved up between lists from 84 to 76. NYPD Blue also moved up from 83 to 75. Miracle on Ice moved up from 81 to 21. MASH finale moved up to number 8 in 04. Clarabell speaks dropped from 75 to 95 in 04. The Bookworm moved up to 25 in 04. Ruby Shoots Oswald moved up to 14 in 04. The tank stop moved up to 13. The Munich Olympics moved up to 23. Peter Pan dropped to number 94. Hill Street Blues moved down to 72 but also zeroed in on one specific moment from the episode. The Oscar streaker moved up to 51. The Sam and Diane kiss was misdated in 96, but it was 48 in 04. American Family moved down to 71. Rumble in the Jungle dropped to 64. The Contest moved up to 20. The Bombing of Baghdad went up to 15. The Borg went up to 45. Went With the Wind dropped to 47 in 2004. The Olympics black power salute dropped to 55. Michael Jackson moved up to 28. Chuckles' funeral dropped down to 60. Nixon waving farewell went up to 29. Cosby Show went down to 70. Roots was 7. Buckner dropped to 57. (Just realized that1986 was a traumatic year for Boston sports fans lol) Kennedy-Nixon moved down to 44. Dan Rather getting punched in the stomach dropped to 89. McCarthy dropped to 39. The Bronco chase moved up to 12. Hank Aaron dropped to 34. The Challenger explosion was number 3 in 2004, so I can't believe it was so low here. Luke and Laura dropped to 35. Samurai Deli dropped to 69. Who Shot JR was number 10. Elvis' comeback special dropped to 63. And actually, I have the collector's cover for that entry! Bette Midler on Carson was 41. The Royal Wedding was 16. The OJ verdict was number 11. Yes, both OJ moments were ranked back-to-back in 04. The Fugitive finale dropped down to 22, but it was still pretty high up there. Newhart was number 24, so actually lower than The Fugitive. The Beatles dropped a spot to number 5. JFK's funeral was number 6. I Love Lucy dropped to number 9. And the moon landing dropped one spot to number 2, being usurped in 2004 by the South Tower collapse.

    There were some notable pre-1996 exclusions from this list that made the 04 list: MLK Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, Sammy Davis Jr. kissing Archie Bunker, Eddie Murphy as James Brown, the Ayatollah on 60 Minutes, Baby Jessica, Nadia Comanechi getting a perfect 10, Bill Clinton on Arsenio, Henry Blake's death, the fall of Saigon, Elvis getting censored by Ed Sullivan, the Battle of the Sexes, a Charlie Brown Christmas, Iran-Contra, Lucy having her baby, the Iran Hostage crisis and the birth of Nightline, Captain Kirk kissing Uhura, Ross and Rachel's first kiss, Letterman's Velcro suit, Geraldo and Al Capone's vault, Nixon on Laugh-In, Rosalind's death on LA Law, Florida's husband dies from Good Times, the Jerry Lawler/Andy Kaufman segment on Letterman, The Day After, Gary's death on Thirtysomething, Hugh Grant on Jay Leno, the St. Elsewhere heart transplant, the wrong baby episode of Dick Van Dyke, The Odd Couple quiz show episode, the Duke basketball buzzer beater, Sinead O'Connor ripping the photo of the Pope, Puck getting kicked off the Real World, Marcia Brady's nose getting broken, and Brenda and Dylan doing it on 90210.

    I am absolutely stunned that the Mr. Hooper episode didn't make the 04 list, but certain other moments did. And some of the moments that didn't make the 96 list are pretty surprising and like you said, it really shows you where the world was in 1996 compared to 2004. Was a really fun stream to watch. TV Guide did a bunch of lists like this, I'd love to see if you have any others (top 50 commercials list from 1999, maybe??)!

  24. @battygirlrachel

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    1:27:41 when you do the USA up all night live stream, would you consider having Mark Grobert (aka Lord Buckley) on to talk a bit about Gilbert Godfree? They were friends and he knows a lot about Hollywood etc. He has a channel called whats up with lord buckley where he does deep dives into hollywood type stuff and occasionally has guests on if you want to see what hes about.

  25. @battygirlrachel

    January 12, 2026 at 11:00 am

    51:56 YT has community posts now where channel subs can post stuff for your community… not sure if its available for all channels though. The Frugal Crafter Lindsay Weirick channel has the community tab if you want to see what its like.

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