This post began as an essay written for the exclusive enjoyment of the attendees of my all day VHS horror movie marathon that I hosted at my apartment on October 18th, 2026. The theme of the marathon was late ‘90s teen horror, so we watched Final Destination, Urban Legend, The Faculty, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, and The Blair Witch Project . As a Halloween treat for my loyal readers, I decided to share the essay with you all. Happy Halloween! The slasher flick was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. So, when Scream opened to boffo business at the box office in December 1996, kicking off not only a new franchise but an entire horror film revival, it was a plot twist worthy of the genre. For the next five or so years, the studios would release multiple teen slashers a year, constituting a boom time for a genre that was seen as long past its heyday of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. These imitators of Scream took the template set...
What do you think about when autumn rolls along? Falling leaves, perhaps? Apple picking? If you’re anything like me, it’s new TV shows. When I was growing up in the ‘00s and early ‘10s, I would pore over the fall schedules of each of the networks and get excited by the new series premiering and my favorites returning. This was before the streaming wars ruined television. Before Hollywood was overrun by tech. It wasn’t actually all that long ago, but it feels distant and irretrievable. I was so much younger then. Fueled by that feeling of nostalgia that returns every September, I felt it’d be worth my time to revisit TV’s past, back through the years to before my era. I decided to recreate the programming on NBC on September 16, 1993 - the first Thursday night of the 1993-94 season, which was the one that introduced the famous “Must See TV” branding. I hope using the lens of one specific night of programming will be a useful and unique way to think about these shows, which have bee...