Millennial niece & pop culture when younger

[shootingstar]

Are any of you like her or have children like her?   She's 38 yrs. old, my oldest niece.  The ex-engineer now rom-com novel writer.  Maybe when I get around to it, I can ask what other things she was doing or saw on TV instead at that time in life.  

My niece tends to be a quiet, but fairly intelligent and thoughtful person.  She is not shy. She makes speeches and gives talks for groups even when she was an older teen. She definitely was never the ditzy woman-personnae. Though she likes fashion, she wasn't super big into it.

Frankly, I never finished watching 1 full episode of Friends. I never cared to watch anymore of it.  Married with Children I watched up to 5 episodes. The others I have no clue.  I had no idea that she had not watched these shows.

  

[ChrisL]

52 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Are any of you like her or have children like her?   She's 38 yrs. old, my oldest niece.  The ex-engineer now rom-com novel writer.  Maybe when I get around to it, I can ask what other things she was doing or saw on TV instead at that time in life.  

My niece tends to be a quiet, but fairly intelligent and thoughtful person.  She is not shy. She makes speeches and gives talks for groups even when she was an older teen. She definitely was never the ditzy woman-personnae. Though she likes fashion, she wasn't super big into it.

Frankly, I never finished watching 1 full episode of Friends. I never cared to watch anymore of it.  Married with Children I watched up to 5 episodes. The others I have no clue.  I had no idea that she had not watched these shows.

Well you also have to remember that she was 4-12 YO in the 90’s so those shows, with the exception of Saved By The Bell which was geared for teens, probably were not popular with many kids her age as they were not targeted for her demographic.  I suppose she could have gotten into them later but they become somewhat dated 20 years later.  I don’t know if that comment says something about her or her age group as a whole.  

My 30 YO was not into any of those sitcoms either.  

[shootingstar]

39 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Well you also have to remember that she was 4-12 YO in the 90’s so those shows, with the exception of Saved By The Bell which was geared for teens, probably were not popular with many kids her age as they were not targeted for her demographic.  I suppose she could have gotten into them later but they become somewhat dated 20 years later.  I don’t know if that comment says something about her or her age group as a whole.  

My 30 YO was not into any of those sitcoms either.  

Clearly she wasn't interested even in Friends later on in life. 

[ChrisL]

1 hour ago, shootingstar said:

Clearly she wasn't interested even in Friends later on in life. 

It is interesting as Friends was huge with my age group as we were all twenty/thirty something’s when it ran.  It’s still heavily played in reruns but I wonder who’s watching it?  People my age for nostalgia or younger people?

My kids nor none of their nieces & nephews are in to Friends.  

[shootingstar]

Big Bang Theory sitcom might be better / more fun and also more reflective of friendship diversity of personalities and colour in cities/urban areas.  I enjoyed that sitcom and did other family members.

I just couldn't watch Friends to the end of an episode:   it started to grate on me...all white friends, even minor characters and in NYC.  That's not reality in a big metro city. Actually ridiculous to me ....and made me switch to another channel.

My niece when interviewed for her rom-com novel-writing said herself, she was tired of reading romances set NYC and all characters were white which wasn't reality.  

Aunt has no influence on this...she's arriving at all these thoughts over the yrs. as a biracial.  She lives 2,000 km. away. And only sees Chinese side of her family several times annually. But then she has her non-white friends as well as white in Metro Toronto.

[MickinMD ★]

There were a lot of shows in the '80's, '90's, and 00's that I watched occasionally just so I could keep a conversation with and seem relevant to the high school students I taught and the varsity athletes I coached.

Some of the shows I loved to escape from the trials of life for a while like Married With Children.

Some I liked because it reminded me of a time in my life like The Big Bang Theory.

When I was in grad school, we used to drink beer and argue for hours about things like "How bright did the supernova of 1054 AD appear on earth?"

We also had weird people in the IIT dorms, like "The Phantom" who couldn't stand to have anyone walking behind him and "Weird Willie" who would walk down the halls while he kept moving his index fingers past each other at odd angles to each other, trying to see a 4th physical dimension.

Almost nothing on the Big Bang Theory seemed out of the ordinary to me - except the physicists were presented as also being chemistry, biology, etc. science experts.

[sheep_herder ★]

3 hours ago, MickinMD said:

There were a lot of shows in the '80's, '90's, and 00's that I watched occasionally just so I could keep a conversation with and seem relevant to the high school students I taught and the varsity athletes I coached.

Some of the shows I loved to escape from the trials of life for a while like Married With Children.

Some I liked because it reminded me of a time in my life like The Big Bang Theory.

When I was in grad school, we used to drink beer and argue for hours about things like "How bright did the supernova of 1054 AD appear on earth?"

We also had weird people in the IIT dorms, like "The Phantom" who couldn't stand to have anyone walking behind him and "Weird Willie" who would walk down the halls while he kept moving his index fingers past each other at odd angles to each other, trying to see a 4th physical dimension.

Almost nothing on the Big Bang Theory seemed out of the ordinary to me - except the physicists were presented as also being chemistry, biology, etc. science experts.

We had 2 guys on our dorm floor that awoke and ran off each time a train passed through town. Never knew what they did other than watch.

[bikeman564™]

12 hours ago, shootingstar said:

Are any of you like her or have children like her?   She's 38 yrs. old, my oldest niece.  The ex-engineer now rom-com novel writer.  Maybe when I get around to it, I can ask what other things she was doing or saw on TV instead at that time in life.  

My niece tends to be a quiet, but fairly intelligent and thoughtful person.  She is not shy. She makes speeches and gives talks for groups even when she was an older teen. She definitely was never the ditzy woman-personnae. Though she likes fashion, she wasn't super big into it.

Frankly, I never finished watching 1 full episode of Friends. I never cared to watch anymore of it.  Married with Children I watched up to 5 episodes. The others I have no clue.  I had no idea that she had not watched these shows.

I watched all those shows. Married w/ children is great. I miss not being able to watch it now

Seinfeld I overseen, and watching Friends once was enough. Saved by the Bell I watched when it was on, but that appeals to young people. X-files was a great show.

[Kirby]

When I was young, we had six tv channels and radio for entertainment. The communal entertainment experience was tv. But my niece and nephew were much less into tv but they had more options. My nephew was more into interactive video games that he could play live with his friends. My niece had more social media and streaming options.

But my parents, who often babysat, made sure they knew the classics like Get Smart, the Avengers (the original, not Marvel Comics) and Pee Wee's Playhouse. 

[bikeman564™]

3 minutes ago, Kirby said:

Pee Wee's Playhouse. 

That show was great. Lot of innuendos   as I watched reruns when older.  Have you see the Pee Wee Herman stage show? That was funny.

[Razors Edge ★]

10 hours ago, ChrisL said:

It is interesting as Friends was huge with my age group as we were all twenty/thirty something’s when it ran.  It’s still heavily played in reruns but I wonder who’s watching it?  People my age for nostalgia or younger people?

My kids nor none of their nieces & nephews are in to Friends.  

I think our age (50+) grew up with relatively limited TV options.  Around 1980, we got cable, and despite having many more options than just the "big 3" of ABC, CBS, and NBC, those plus upstart Fox were the main "scheduled TV" channels and most people knew what they were watching on Sunday, Wednesday, or Thursday nights.  Starting closer to 2000, though, DVRs started time-shifting, and by 2010, streaming plus lots and lots of "original" programming on other cable channels was normal.  So, if someone's under 40 now, they would have come of age WAY after the "popular shows" of our generation were seen by "everyone".  Sure, Friends and Seinfeld and the Simpsons IN RERUNS would be a thing, but easy to avoid while watching all other options out there - and there are thousands of other options.

Likewise, maybe it's virtue signaling or a self-pat on the back to say you've never seen XYZ, but maybe you instead fill it in with what you did watch.  Or go the "I don't own a TV" sanctimonious route instead?

[ChrisL]

4 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I think our age (50+) grew up with relatively limited TV options.  Around 1980, we got cable, and despite having many more options than just the "big 3" of ABC, CBS, and NBC, those plus upstart Fox were the main "scheduled TV" channels and most people knew what they were watching on Sunday, Wednesday, or Thursday nights.  Starting closer to 2000, though, DVRs started time-shifting, and by 2010, streaming plus lots and lots of "original" programming on other cable channels was normal.  So, if someone's under 40 now, they would have come of age WAY after the "popular shows" of our generation were seen by "everyone".  Sure, Friends and Seinfeld and the Simpsons IN RERUNS would be a thing, but easy to avoid while watching all other options out there - and there are thousands of other options.

Likewise, maybe it's virtue signaling or a self-pat on the back to say you've never seen XYZ, but maybe you instead fill it in with what you did watch.  Or go the "I don't own a TV" sanctimonious route instead?

Totally agree and from my kids perspective as it pertains to the OP, they didn’t watch those shows noted as they just watched other more contemporary shows.   

[shootingstar]

2 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

I think our age (50+) grew up with relatively limited TV options.  Around 1980, we got cable, and despite having many more options than just the "big 3" of ABC, CBS, and NBC, those plus upstart Fox were the main "scheduled TV" channels and most people knew what they were watching on Sunday, Wednesday, or Thursday nights.  Starting closer to 2000, though, DVRs started time-shifting, and by 2010, streaming plus lots and lots of "original" programming on other cable channels was normal.  So, if someone's under 40 now, they would have come of age WAY after the "popular shows" of our generation were seen by "everyone".  Sure, Friends and Seinfeld and the Simpsons IN RERUNS would be a thing, but easy to avoid while watching all other options out there - and there are thousands of other options.

Likewise, maybe it's virtue signaling or a self-pat on the back to say you've never seen XYZ, but maybe you instead fill it in with what you did watch.  Or go the "I don't own a TV" sanctimonious route instead?

I didn't own a tv and when at dearie's place, we didn't spend time watching hardly any of those listed shows.  There was a lot happening in my life...getting to know dearie, knowing more bike routes/rides, working in Ontario govn't organization that hired its first ever female and non-white engineers in addition to existing white, etc.  This is why later Big Bang Theory was to me, funnier, easier to "get" it.   I enjoyed "Happy Days" in my teens and that was more fun but sorta saw it as fun show with a 50's backdrop.

I remember watching most of the shows for "Six Feet Under" and enjoyed it because it was unusual, family funeral home biz, the cases re people who died, some neurotic folks. 

7 hours ago, MickinMD said:

There were a lot of shows in the '80's, '90's, and 00's that I watched occasionally just so I could keep a conversation with and seem relevant to the high school students I taught and the varsity athletes I coached.

Some of the shows I loved to escape from the trials of life for a while like Married With Children.

Some I liked because it reminded me of a time in my life like The Big Bang Theory.

When I was in grad school, we used to drink beer and argue for hours about things like "How bright did the supernova of 1054 AD appear on earth?"

We also had weird people in the IIT dorms, like "The Phantom" who couldn't stand to have anyone walking behind him and "Weird Willie" who would walk down the halls while he kept moving his index fingers past each other at odd angles to each other, trying to see a 4th physical dimension.

Almost nothing on the Big Bang Theory seemed out of the ordinary to me - except the physicists were presented as also being chemistry, biology, etc. science experts.

Good that as a teacher, at least know the pop references.

Can't claim as equally unusual folks in grad school.   Wonder what those atypical personality folks did later in life.

[Kirby]

3 hours ago, bikeman564™ said:

  Have you see the Pee Wee Herman stage show? That was funny.

Yes, we went when it was on Broadway.  The Playhouse had quite an impressive supporting cast too.

[MickinMD ★]

21 hours ago, shootingstar said:

I didn't own a tv and when at dearie's place, we didn't spend time watching hardly any of those listed shows.  There was a lot happening in my life...getting to know dearie, knowing more bike routes/rides, working in Ontario govn't organization that hired its first ever female and non-white engineers in addition to existing white, etc.  This is why later Big Bang Theory was to me, funnier, easier to "get" it.   I enjoyed "Happy Days" in my teens and that was more fun but sorta saw it as fun show with a 50's backdrop.

I remember watching most of the shows for "Six Feet Under" and enjoyed it because it was unusual, family funeral home biz, the cases re people who died, some neurotic folks. 

Good that as a teacher, at least know the pop references.

Can't claim as equally unusual folks in grad school.   Wonder what those atypical personality folks did later in life.

If you had a scholarship and teaching assistantship to IIT, on of the top-20 chemistry grad schools, and received a graduate degree, it wasn't hard to get a decent-paying job in chemistry except in recessions.

One girl became an oil company chemist in Houston, one guy became a chemist at a steel plant in Indiana, I became a specialty chemical process development chemist in Maryland, some went into teaching, etc.

If you got a grad scholarship and teaching assistantship to IIT and made it to the 2nd year, EVERYONE knew you were an exceptional chemist and student and it was a mutual admiration society and we thought our feces didn't stink.

One guy said, "I could walk into a Russian 4 class and, having never taken Russian 1, 2, or 3, pass it."

The rest of us in the group replied,. "Yeah, so what?" because we were so confident of our academic gifts we all believed we could do it, too!  We had that irrational ego going on and the confidence that went with it surely helped.

[Ralphie ★]

Holy crap!  My oldest will be turning 35 this year!  She and her younger sister saw some of those on Nick at Nite, IIRC.   I know they loved Three’s  Company from there. Not sure where they saw Friends but they did like that too. Not sure about Seinfeld or MWC, owl have to ask them, but those were more my type shows. No x files for any of us.

[Razors Edge ★]

5 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

No x files for any of us.

A good show!  Watched that off and on over the years. But certainly not one the under 40 crowd would have watched new.  Would have been pre-teen and teen during it's run (1993-2002).

• Friends: 1994-2004
• Seinfeld: 1989-1998
• Beverly Hills 90210: 1990 - 2000
• Married...with Children: 1987-1997
• Saved By The Bell: 1989-1993

[Square Wheels]

35 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

A good show!  Watched that off and on over the years. But certainly not one the under 40 crowd would have watched new.  Would have been pre-teen and teen during it's run (1993-2002).

• Friends: 1994-2004
• Seinfeld: 1989-1998
• Beverly Hills 90210: 1990 - 2000
• Married...with Children: 1987-1997
• Saved By The Bell: 1989-1993

On your list, I've only seen Friends.

[Razors Edge ★]

13 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

On your list, I've only seen Friends.

[Ralphie ★]

15 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Al Bundy was way more fun than the new guy on modern family. But you would sure think the new guy would be happy being who his wife is. But ahspose misery is funnier?

 

[Zephyr]

My three kids are all millennial, none of them watched these shows in their first run.  Two of them (I am sure) still haven't watched them.  It was/is not what my kids are/were into.

Those shows in first run were more for adults than young teens.  

[Razors Edge ★]

14 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

My three kids are all millennial, none of them watched these shows in their first run.  Two of them (I am sure) still haven't watched them.  It was/is not what my kids are/were into.

Those shows in first run were more for adults than young teens.  

Barney (1992-2010) and Blues Clues (1996-2006) FTW!

[ChrisL]

2 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Barney (1992-2010) and Blues Clues (1996-2006) FTW!

My daughter (born 93) was all about Barney, son (born 98) all about Blues Clues

[ChrisL]

51 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I wish you guys could have seen how god awful that couch looked in real life.  As MWC was filmed & not taped, the decor had to be really bright & loud to look right once filmed.   It was painful to look at in real life…

[Ralphie ★]

1 hour ago, ChrisL said:

My daughter (born 93) was all about Barney, son (born 98) all about Blues Clues

My oldest loved Pooh Bear, then later we all loved watching Angry Beavers together.

 

[goldendesign]

3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

A good show!  Watched that off and on over the years. But certainly not one the under 40 crowd would have watched new.  Would have been pre-teen and teen during it's run (1993-2002).

• Friends: 1994-2004
• Seinfeld: 1989-1998
• Beverly Hills 90210: 1990 - 2000
• Married...with Children: 1987-1997
• Saved By The Bell: 1989-1993

I'm 41 and of these, and the X-files mentioned above,
I watched Saved By the Bell very heavily, and Friends a decent amount but only in my late teens to early 20s did my sister (twin) get into the show heavily enough that boxed sets of the seasons were her main ask at Christmas, and a bunch of X-files but mostly on the rerun early afternoon showings. Never got to watch it as a serial, where the show was in order. I never understood, nor cared for Seinfeld, even when I got older, I thought it was unfunny and boring. 

[shootingstar]

Maybe my niece never saw certain shows....because her parents didn't watch some of those shows much at all. My sister was 1 yr. younger than I.

[Razors Edge ★]

1 minute ago, shootingstar said:

Maybe my niece never saw certain shows....because her parents didn't watch some of those shows much at all.

I rarely watched TV with my parents. I know my younger sibling DEFINITELY didn't watch it with them.  Exceptions were things like Wizard of Oz.

[shootingstar]

22 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I rarely watched TV with my parents. I know my younger sibling DEFINITELY didn't watch it with them.  Exceptions were things like Wizard of Oz.

I believe the family had only 1 tv...and it is possible there DVDs of other things, ie. Sound of Music were being played often in that family.  My sister and hubby wouldn't have wanted more than 1 tv in house.

[ChrisL]

20 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

I believe the family had only 1 tv...and it is possible there DVDs of other things, ie. Sound of Music were being played often in that family.  My sister and hubby wouldn't have wanted more than 1 tv in house.

We drew the line with one TV as well (for the kids). There was a period of time where both wanted their own TV in their room & we said no.  We didn’t want them holed up in their rooms.  We did/do also have one in our room. 

[shootingstar]

26 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

We drew the line with one TV as well (for the kids). There was a period of time where both wanted their own TV in their room & we said no.  We didn’t want them holed up in their rooms.  We did/do also have one in our room. 

THat is precisely the reason why they didn't allow/buy extra Tv(s) for childrens' bedrooms.  The desktop computer also was out in the living. Of course full-on use of computers for school assignments was just starting when they were kids.  These kids wouldn't have yet had cellphones probably not until their 20's.

The more I think about this:

Other 2 sisters who had their kids 10+ years later, they also never bought /allowed any tvs in any of their children's bedrooms. Of course, the kids now have laptops..

[ChrisL]

3 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

THat is precisely the reason why they didn't allow/buy extra Tv(s) for childrens' bedrooms.  The desktop computer also was out in the living. Of course full-on use of computers for school assignments was just starting when they were kids.  These kids wouldn't have yet had cellphones probably not until their 20's.

Wow, we gave them cell phones in Jr High.  With sports it was hard to keep track of them… Cell phones really helped… For example we knew they were taking a bus back from a tournament but it would be stuck in traffic.  So we would have them call us when they pulled in the parking lot… 

[shootingstar]

23 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Wow, we gave them cell phones in Jr High.  With sports it was hard to keep track of them… Cell phones really helped… For example we knew they were taking a bus back from a tournament but it would be stuck in traffic.  So we would have them call us when they pulled in the parking lot… 

It possible, my sister and hubby loaned a cell phone in their teens for such situations. I dunno.  

There was a point, my niece accompanied her brother to walk to school , etc. on various days. There is a 2 yr. gap.  My niece was more into Girl Guides not sports later and other more brainy stuff (she represented her high school for a regional trivia tv contest, etc.) THis is the ex-engineer, now rom-com writer.

[Razors Edge ★]

4 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

THis is the ex-engineer, now rom-com writer.

Keep in mind, we have quite a few engineers here.  They watch a lot of TV.  I mean...a LOT.  Of course, they're not rom-com writers   We do have a pro writer and several amateur ones, and I wonder how much TV they watch.

[shootingstar]

25 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Keep in mind, we have quite a few engineers here.  They watch a lot of TV.  I mean...a LOT.  Of course, they're not rom-com writers   We do have a pro writer and several amateur ones, and I wonder how much TV they watch.

Who is the pro writer in our motley crew?  UglyBob?

On my niece's side, her father is engineering professor,  her hubby is an engineer.  My BIL has interestingly has read some literary contemporary novels.  HIs sister is like me, graduated in English Lit.  She was an editor for a national publication for the Canadian publishing industry.

When I have access to a tv. I watch no more than maybe 4 hrs./wk....if that.

 

[ChrisL]

19 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Keep in mind, we have quite a few engineers here.  They watch a lot of TV.  I mean...a LOT.  Of course, they're not rom-com writers   We do have a pro writer and several amateur ones, and I wonder how much TV they watch.

I get the impression that Shootie is in some ways comparing her lifestyle with her niece.  Both seem out of touch with pop culture and are good with that.  

[Ralphie ★]

3 hours ago, shootingstar said:

Who is the pro writer in our motley crew?  UglyBob?

Yup!  Tizeye also wrote a travel guide.