What The Hell Were They Thinking By Guest Blogger Kiko Jones

 

The First Essential Scary Truth

Nothing major, just a little exercise in hardcore head scratching. Join in with as many as you like of your favorite pop culture blunders of all time. I’m gonna start things off with the following 5 (in chronological order):

1. After disco and its backlash had both passed on to musical history, Sylvester Stallone is chosen to direct a sequel to Saturday Night Fever, the dreadful Staying Alive, which killed John Travolta‘s career until Quentin Tarantino miraculously brought it back to life more than a decade later with Pulp Fiction. (Which he tanked again 6 years later with Battlefield Earth also destroying Barry Pepper‘s chances of ever being a leading man again.) [1983]

2. As if their US fans weren’t already non-plussed by the band’s new found affinity for dance music, Queen dress in drag for the “I Want to Break Free” video. Downhill in North America as far as record sales after that. [1984]

3. Thinking she’s ready for greener pastures Shelley Long leaves Cheers. The show continues for 6 more successful seasons. Meanwhile, Long has a couple of Brady Bunch flicks as the highlights of her post-Cheers resume. (Recently, she’s been on a few episodes of the current hit show Modern Family.) [1987]

4. ’80s and ’90s king of network TV Stephen Bochco–the man who gave us Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue–decides it is time to combine police drama with musical theatre on the small screen and thus Cop Rock is born. Yes, Broadway + badges. Excellent formula.

(It’s no. 8 on TV Guide’s 2002 list of “The 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time.”) [1990]

5. Chris Cornell decides to record Scream and hires Timbaland to produce. The less said… [2009]

— Kiko Jones