33 things only millennials could explain
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(NEXSTAR) — If you’re a millennial, lately you’ve probably been noticing you’re not necessarily “young” anymore.
We all know the Millennial stereotypes: “Harry Potter,” “adulting,” and skinny jeans. But before we were embarrassing, we were cool.
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So here are a few things you probably haven’t thought about in ages.
1. Why you couldn’t keep these things alive
You just had to have a Tamagotchi for Christmas or your birthday back in 1997 — that is unless you preferred Giga Pets, Tamagotchi’s American counterpoint by Tiger Electronics. Though 1990s kids put these on the map, the popular toys are still around and still popular. As of last June, Bandai said it’s sold 91 million Tamagotchi units globally since the toys first debuted in Japan in November 1996.
2. What this is and why you wanted one so badly
You were a little older when this device came around in the early 2000s. You’ll recognize this as the wildly popular T-Mobile Sidekick, which could be seen in the hands of virtually any celebrity you idolized in 2003. For most of us, it’s been at least a decade since our phones had any physical buttons, but you’ll never be too old to forget the exhilaration of sliding the Sidekick’s screen right-side up to reveal that clickable keyboard. The last T-Mobile SideKick sold was the 4G in 2011.
3. Who this is
Portrayed by late actor Earl Hindman, wise neighbor Wilson only showed his full face on 90s TV juggernaut “Home Improvement”: in a special behind-the-scenes special attached to the sitcom’s final episode. But much like Nanny in “The Muppet Babies,” you mostly still don’t really know what Wilson looks like.
4. Who they are
Pictured above is a person inside a life-size Tommy Pickles (main character of your favorite TV show as a kid, Nickelodeon’s “Rugrats”) costume next to Jake Lloyd, who we all could recognize from a mile away as child Anakin Skywalker from the movie you were dying to see in 1999, “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.” It’s unfortunate that the “Star Wars” movie your generation got to experience in real-time is widely hated, but the memories are priceless.
5. The theme song for this show
Okay, “Baywatch” wasn’t very good and most people only watched it to look at the lifeguards. Nevertheless, you likely watched reruns on USA Network while you had your after school snack. But let’s be real, you were really watching for the over-the-top but iconic “Baywatch” theme song, which really didn’t have to go so hard.
Officially titled “I’m Always Here,” the song by late singer Jimi Jamison, features Jamison proclaiming “Some people stand in the darkness! Afraid to step into the light!” And you were singing every lyric every afternoon.
6. The theme song for this show, too
The Disney Afternoon was a staple for countless millennial children and that included classics like “DuckTales,” “TaleSpin,” “Darkwing Duck” and of course, “Adventures of the Gummi Bears.” The show, which ran for 65 episodes, followed the titular characters’ (loosely based on gummy bear candy) various medieval adventures. While you may not be able to recall any particular episodes or storylines, odds are you haven’t forgotten the legendary “Gummi Bears Theme.” Like the previously mentioned “Baywatch” theme song, singer and musician Joseph Williams didn’t have to rock this hard on this song but we’ll always be glad he did.
Want to activate a millennial? Start singing “Dashing and daring, courageous and caring…”
7. What she’s doing
Slap bracelets were definitely a 1980s thing that came back around for kids of the 1990s. Whether or not you actually wore them, you enjoyed slapping your own wrist, or else, slapping your friends or siblings.
8. This logo
Before Spotify and Apple Music, and before iTunes, there were dozens of peer-to-peer file sharing programs to find music through. But the OG was Napster. Founded in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake in “The Social Network” (2010), which is also very millennial), Napster burned bright and quickly. Though the application was ultimately shut down over copyright infringement litigation, you probably just migrated to a few of the other sites to download music, like Kazaa, LimeWire or BitTorrent. Wasn’t all this such a hassle? We do miss CDs, now, but we definitely don’t miss how hard it used to be to find quality MP3s.
9. You can hear this logo
Known as the “THX Deep Note,” if this logo — the audio quality assurance company co-founded by George Lucas — came ahead of a movie you’ve just popped into the cassette player, you knew something crazy was about to go down. Though the note and its feature before movies have gotten shorter and quieter, you’ll never forget this sound. The sound is so iconic, Gen Z indie noise-pop band 100 gecs even incorporated a similar note on the opener of their sophomore album “10,000 gecs,” which collages many genres of music signature to millennial culture (screamo, crunkcore, etc).
10. You spent countless hours with this logo
Before we had easily available and cheap texting, MSN Messenger (or AIM chat) was where all the after-school hangouts were happening. If you missed yesterday evening’s MSN chat, you only got half the story. MSN Messenger hasn’t technically existed since 2005, though it’s existed under various other Microsoft-centric names since.
11. You recognize this monster
You most likely know — and fear — this yeti that ended countless rounds of play of “SkiFree,” the early-mid ’90s PC game you probably played a lot. Things would always be going so well before he’d jump out and eat you alive!
12. Your first first-person shooter
The name: Bond. James Bond.
The game: “GoldenEye 007,” the legendary first-person shooter game you spent hours playing on Nintendo 64. Did you know? You can still play this classic through the Nintendo Switch online store.
13. The movie you were maybe a little too young for
Back in the 90s and early 2000s, there used to be a thing called “movie stars.” They don’t really exist in the same way (though Tom Cruise is still kicking), but in the early 2000s, even teens had their own movie stars. And many of the biggest teen idols of the day assembled for 1999’s “Cruel Intentions.” Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe (both megastars by this time) as step-siblings with an interesting relationship this dark romantic drama created some iconic scenes and dialogue, not to mention its classic soundtrack.
14. The band(s) that made college party bangers but were probably kind of bad
Pour one out for LMFAO, 30H!3, Far East Movement, Cobra Starship and Gym Class Heroes. It just seems like nobody wants to get slizzered anymore.
15. What this drink is
You likely remember a time when the vending machine area at your school had at least one Fruitopia machine. Though Fruitopia hasn’t existed in the U.S. since 2003, you can still get it when you’re in Canada or Australia.
16. What that is beside the iPod
You loved your iPod — and you miss the simplicity of a device only intended for listening to music. But in the early days of portable digital music players, there were other competitors, including the best possible contender, Microsoft’s Zune. These rectangular players were pretty good, even if most of us did eventually become iPod disciples. Ultimately, Zune is seen as a flop for Microsoft but it was better than most people remember.
17. What it was like waiting for this
Today’s kids have no idea how difficult dial-up life was.
18. Who this is
He might not have been your first friend, but if you were ever on MySpace, founder Tom Anderson was your first MySpace friend. Tom’s profile picture is an iconic millennial artifact, with Anderson even using the photo as his featured image on modern social networks like X, formerly Twitter, and Facebook.
19. What you did with this program
Dial-up was slow and media players like RealPlayer or QuickTime were the only way to watch music videos online. You just had to wait for it to load.
20. Who these characters are
Remember when McDonald’s had its own cartoons and sold the videotapes at the restaurant counter? (Or else, they came along with a Happy Meal). This is different than when McDonald’s would sell VHS tapes of theatrically released movies — yes, there were McDonald’s-specific VHS releases — because the videos we’re talking about were original cartoons featuring the restaurant chain’s McDonaldland characters like Ronald McDonald, Grimace and the Hamburglar. Did you know? McDonald’s enlisted animation house Klasky Csupo, the powerhouse behind Nickelodeon’s “Rugrats,” for these videos.
21. Why her red glasses were iconic
There was nothing better than being sick from school in the 1990s and watching all the daytime talk shows and game shows you ordinarily couldn’t. One of the absolute best talk shows was “Sally,” which ran from 1983 to 2002. Sally was smart, she was kind and she had a pair of iconic red eyeglasses. Why were they red? We never knew but you couldn’t forget this look if you tried.
22. What this game is
The days of playing Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow on our Game Boys and Game Boy Colors are long gone but they’re in hearts forever. Did you ever find Mewtwo?
23. Who they are and what they’re sitting on
“Home Improvement” was really huge when we were kids. Many a millennial likely had a favorite Taylor family son, or at least one they identified with. Were you more of a tough jock like Brad, a mischievous smart aleck like Randy, or a sweet and sensitive Mark? Here, the real-life stars of “Home Improvement” sit on the “SNICK” Big Orange Couch.
24. What these are
POGS: The cause of countless fights.
25. You too were in your college party days when this happened
It was a night many will never forget. Three of the biggest millennial celebrities — Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton — went out on Nov. 26, 2006. At this time, all three stars had become constant tabloid fodder for their various activities around Los Angeles (including some arrests). Since things had yet to get dark for Britney, most of us were thrilled to see celebrities out at the clubs just like you were.
26. You took some of your best photos with this advanced equipment
Before our phones had decent cameras (and before even digital cameras), we captured moments with film. No other cameras were built to capture millennial moments quite like the Polaroid i-Zone. The long, rectangular instant camera printed its photos on a pull-out strip (very fun) with an adhesive back for creating your own photo stickers. Photos were tiny but you probably still have some saved somewhere.
27. Everything about this photo
What was the deal with Abercombie & Fitch? In middle and high school, it seemed like you just had to have Abercombie gear — some people even used the store’s paper bags as textbook covers. Thankfully, the company gave itself a much-needed rebrand after getting bogged down in some toxic reputation-baggage from the 1990s. Back in the day, Abercrombie positioned itself as “exclusive,” but the company is now thriving with a focus on inclusivity and individuality.
28. As a kid, you thought this show was what being a teenager would be like
Growing up, you couldn’t wait to get to high school because it was going to be as fun as it looked in the Saturday morning/after school-favorite sitcom “Saved by the Bell.” Turns out, it was nothing like this.
29. At 21, you thought this show was what being an adult would be like
MTV’s “The Hills” premiered in May 2006 and followed the life of Lauren Conrad, who we’d watch as a high schooler in teen reality show “Laguna Beach.” The sequel series followed Conrad to Los Angeles, where she and a group of friends worked at their first out-of-college jobs, got apartments and continued higher education. For many of us, this seemed like what we hoped real adult life would be like. Spoiler: it wasn’t.
Also, bonus point if you know what that logo is on the wall behind them.
30. You were obsessed with this pizza — and still kinda are
Pizza Hut debuted its Big New Yorker Pizza all the way back in 1999, promising a 16-inch, foldable pizza pie that commercials (which can be found on YouTube) promised would make even a 15 year-old in Wisconsin feel like Martin Scorsese. The pizza was intended to mimic the taste and feel of authentic New York pizza, and was made with sweet marinara sauce instead of the sauce used for its regular pizzas — in addition to more cheese. Most New Yorkers would likely say it didn’t even come close to authentic, but for many non-New Yorkers, the Big New Yorker was like a special treat from the big city.
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The pizza was retired sometime in the early 2000s but remained so fondly remembered that one Change.org petition to bring it back received nearly 4,000 signatures, and just last February, Pizza Hut announced the limited return of the nostalgic favorite.
31. You loved these almost as much as you loved their jingle
Bagel Bites were delicious and so was their advertising, which featured a memorable commercial jingle that went: “Pizza in the morning, pizza in the evening, pizza at supper time… when pizza’s on a bagel, you can eat pizza ANYTIME!”
31. Who these people are and why they’re dressed like this
Anyone remember Vans Warped Tour? Anyone remember emo or scene kids? Pictured above is the very-Millennial band Fall Out Boy in various states of millennial dress. And in case you never got the chance, Fall Out Boy are still touring and making music — though they’ve updated their clothes and style a bit.
32. Your early 20s ‘adult’ phone
Hello, Moto. This is the Motorola Razr.
33. Not related to Skechers but it’s the “S”
Finally, why were we constantly drawing this all the time? Though Vice investigated the “S” origins, ultimately, it seems like no one really knows where the symbol came from. Nevertheless, you could draw it in your sleep.
If you made it through this list, you’re officially even older than when you started. Millennials, drink some water and get some rest — we deserve it.
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