1. The Simpsons being a controversial TV show because it satirized the nuclear family and because Bart was considered a bad influence on kids:
2. And the "Do the Bartman" music video that played on VH1 and MTV:
3. The Gap when their logo was spelled out in lowercase letters and it was the absolute coolest store:
4. Earring Magic Ken, who ended up being a gay icon after he was accidentally designed to look like an early-'90s gay man heading out for a fun night at the clubs — complete with a cock ring necklace:
5. Madonna's Sex book and the huge backlash she got after releasing it:
6. And her infamous interview with David Letterman where she smoked a cigar and said "fuck" more than a few times:
7. Mark Wahlberg being known as Marky Mark and for pulling his pants down and dancing around in his underwear:
8. In Living Color which, aside from being hilarious, was probably the edgiest show on TV:
9. And In Living Color's Fly girls dancers — which included Jennifer Lopez:
10. CK One, which was the coolest fragrance and had everyone smelling like it:
11. And Sassy magazine, which was one of the coolest magazines around and had a brother (it was aimed towards guys) magazine called Dirt:
12. Batman Returns being one of the most-anticipated sequels ever and the tons of backlash it got for being too dark:
13. Anna Nicole Smith as the face of Guess ad campaigns:
14. SNL's "Coffee Talk with Linda Richman" — whose voice you can probably hear in your head right now:
15. And SNL's "Gap Girls" skit, which Chris Farley would steal every moment of:
16. Cordless home phones that were giant with big antennas that stuck out and, weirdly, did not have much range. They also had zero battery life:
17. And giant carphones, which were such a status symbol:
18. MTV's early seasons of The Real World, which was reality TV before it truly existed. Also, cast members were truly themselves and not there to make careers out of being on television:
19. Tony Little's Ab Isolator infomercials. As soon as they came on on Saturday mornings, you knew cartoon time was over:
20. And Susan Powter's "Stop the Insanity!" infomercials — which was a lot of yelling and played right after Saturday morning cartoons ended:
21. Cindy Crawford as the host of MTV's House of Style:
22. CDs that came packaged in wasteful long boxes. And in case you were still wondering why: this was done because CDs were too small for store shelves created for vinyl, so by packaging them in long boxes, retailers could just reuse the shelves they already had. It also helped make them harder to steal:
23. Cassette singles, which usually came with a remix or B-side:
24. Sony Sport Walkmans that were bright yellow and came with hard plastic headphones that went directly into your ear — and were always slightly uncomfortable to wear:
25. The infomercial that featured Cher selling Lori Davis hair products:
26. America's Funniest Home Videos hosted by Bob Saget, which was one of the original ways to watch viral videos:
27. The Jurassic Park soundtrack — which EVERYBODY owned:
28. Howard Stern's ~superhero~ persona, Fartman — which we probably all just remember from the 1992 VMAs, but was actually a character on his radio show and was almost made into a movie:
29. Melrose Place and it being appointment television:
30. Then-vice president Dan Quayle decrying Murphy Brown as a terrible show that was basically ~destroying America~ because the title character decided to be a single mother:
31. The Club steering wheel lock and the commercials they would play nonstop for them (especially if you stayed home sick and watched daytime TV):
32. The Rock the Vote commercials MTV played during elections and featured a bunch of famous singers:
33. Bill Clinton appearing in 1992 on MTV's Choose or Lose in order to appeal to disenfranchised Gen X voters:
34. Ray Charles' "You got the right one" campaign for Diet Pepsi:
35. The black-and-white ads inside TV Guide that would give you a little synopsis about what that week's episodes would be about:
36. The big reusable plastic water bottles with the thick-ass straws that gave everything a plasticky flavor. These were also the bottles you would freeze and then wrap in aluminum foil (to keep cold) on field trips:
37. And lastly, these square radio alarm clocks that would flash red or green light in your face in the middle of the night:
