Generation x. The 20somethings, boomerangerses, baby busters, whatever these 46 million young souls are called, are turning out to be kind of a hard sell. In the 90s what we realized is advertisers would pay premiums for College Educated young adults 18 to 49. And we started reinventing nbc and trying to speak to that audience. Where is someone . Im starving. This is him right here. Is there a table ready . The Chinese Restaurant was one of the very, very early episodes of seinfeld. And truly Nothing Happened in the episode. They were waiting for a table. I feel like just walking over there and taking some food off of somebodys plate. We said to larry david, hey, like nothing happens. And larry was offended. He was like wildly offended. Nbc believed in the show, so they said were committing to four episodes. Yes, yeah, right. Four episodes. Normally its 13 or 8 or something. Yes, at least. So we really didnt think they had too much confidence in the show. We didnt think it would work, but we felt that they had to go through their process and they would learn. And ultimately they knew better than we did. My mother caught me. Caught you . Doing what . You know. I was alone. The turning point for seinfeld from like nice show that all of the cool people kind of know about but thats it to massive hit was an episode called the contest where they tried to abstain from selfpleasure for as long as possible. Yeah. 6 30, time for your bath. George, im hungry. Hang on, ma. Hang on. Once you do 30 minutes on masturbation, you can pretty much get away with anything. I guess youll be going back to that hospital. Well, my mother, jerry. But are you still master of your domain . I am king of the county. The week after that aired, people were talking about that in the workplace the entire week. They still are talking about it. 52 seconds and two of the greatest words in sitcom history. Im out. I think the big breakthrough of seinfeld was that the characters were not nice people. Someone help. Shut up, you old bag. They were narcissistic. Help they would screw each other at the drop of a hat. Hes just a dentist. And youre an antidentite. And yet be best friends the next week. When you wish upon a star you dont have to love them. We just have to laugh at them. Im really sorry. [ laughter ] i was in the pool i was in the pool the idea of a character with darker tendencies fire that was so taboo in television comedy. Are you about done . Im just getting warmed up. Were in the confines of network tv with commercials, with still a lot of things that are very highly structured and yet were able to find ways of pushing in those boundaries. No soup for you. The audience was saying we reward smart, intelligent, highquality programming. And the more we were putting out the better we were doing. Friends is about that time in your life when your friends are your family. Ow when david crane and i lived in new york we were part of a group of six people. We were all attached at the hip. We went everywhere together and celebrated everything together. And theres that period where youre looking to be out there on your own and the people you rely on are the ones who live down the hall. Here we go. Pivot. Pivot. Pivot pivot pivot pivot shut up shut up shut up friends permeated the culture in a way that was really special. Everybody was obsessed with the show. And it became like which one of these characters are you . If you were a girl, were you phoebe, monica or rachel . I got to tell you this really does put me in a better mood. The kids who were watching, the young audience, saw a lifestyle that was aspirational. I wish i had an apartment in new york city that no one seems to be worried about the rent for. I wish that i looked like matt leblanc. I wish that i had Jennifer Anistons hair. One of the things that made friends a phenomenon is people beyond the laughs actually bonded with these characters. They emotionally were invested in ross and rachels relationship. I could not have done this without you. Okay. More clothes in the dryer . I was dropping my daughter off for sunday school at our temple, and literally my rabbi stopped me and said, whats going to happen with ross and rachel . Wheres chip . Why isnt he here yet . Hell be here, okay . Take a chill pill. The one with the prom video is one of my favorites. I cant go to my own prom without a date. Take her. You can wear my tux. Dad, she wont want to go with me. This seemed like a very surprising way to get rachel to know how ross feels. Rachel, ready or not, here comes your knight in shining oh, no. Bye chip oh, dear. Ross sees himself and you see that look on his face and how sad he is because he wanted to take her to the prom. When she crossed the room, i still kind of get chills from it. When she crossed the room and gave him that kiss [ cheers and applause ] the audience went insane. Its not pretty good or nothing. Its not acceptable or nothing. And its definitely not close enough or nothing. Mercedesbenz suvs were engineered with only one mission in mind. To be the best. In the category, in the industry. In the world. Lease the gla 250 suv for just 329 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Why accept it frompt an incompyour allergy pills . E else. Flonase sensimist. Nothing stronger. Nothing gentler. Nothing lasts longer. Flonase sensimist. 24 hour nondrowsy allergy relief for barcelona . We did promise wed go. [dogs] they get the miles. We get a petsitter. Use the card that gets you miles closer to your promise. [dogs] they should do this every year. And start something priceless. Your favorite starbucks flavors come to life. Smooth bold creamy inspired by the starbucks caramel macchiato you love. Mornings just got better. This changes everything new starbucks creamer, now at home. Okay. Lets play show business. As a young kid in cleveland i always knew i would one day end up doing a talk show. Its Arsenioooooo Hall in less than two years, arsenio hall has fired his talk show for the mtv generation into a contender for the crown of late night television. Yes, yes how come i didnt hear all of that woofing going on . When i would watch you . Too many white people. Johnny was the big dog. But i knew everybody on the planet wasnt watching him. And it dawned on me that i could go many weeks and not see a motown group on the tonight show. Arsenio hall has been dubbed the prince of late night. There was a whole world of talent that had never and would never have been on any late night show. Sitting at home watching arsenio hall 2livecrew came on and sang me so horny. It was like the sex pistols. Id never seen anything like it. It was an explosion in the audience. He appealed to a black and white young audience and it was a much broader appeal than the powers that be estimated. Rap. Rap is real big among our teens. Thats poetry. Of course it is. Having maya angelou on, i mean, where would you have seen her otherwise . In 1892 he wrote a poem called a negro love song. It said, seen my lady home last night. Jump back, honey, jump back. Held her hand and squeezed it tight. Jump back honey, jump back. He didnt just have black people on his show. But if you were hip, you wanted to be on arsenio. This was something i heard a political analyst talk about recently. He said you kind of were i use the word chilling out. He said you were pulling back a little bit. You had been instructed not to say as much or be outspoken. No . I dont ive heard that, but i never know who says it. I think its Wishful Thinking on the part of some people. Guess who suggested to bill to do the arsenio hall show if you want to get a younger demo . Hilldawg. He attracted a lot of people who werent fans before that night. The 90s was a glorious moment for black television. Because you saw these representations that youd never seen before. The premise of the fresh prince was this kid who comes from philadelphia. In West Philadelphia born and raised on the playground is where i spent most of my days his mom says im going to send you to live with your uncle. He shows up at this mansion in bel air, baseball cap on backward. Like he doesnt even know how to act in this environment. The black producers and directors and writers were always playing with this kind of subverting expectations of what is blackness. The incredible work of the fresh prince at its most triumphant was when it was showing the ways that being black is always going to be a problem no matter what. Vehicle registration, please. Just a second. But the thing, officer, this isnt my car. Theres the episode i remember where they get pulled over in a car. What . Hes going to tell us to get out of the car. You watch too much tv, will. Get out of the car. We have an interaction with the Police Officer that is horrible and racist in a lot of ways. And carlton has this epiphany about how money wont save him. No map is going to save you. And neither is your glee club or your fancy bel air address or who your daddy is. Because when youre driving in a nice car in a strange neighborhood, none of that matters. They only see one thing. The writers of the fresh prince of bel air had a really hard task to approach these topics with nuance and were doing it at a clip that was way ahead of their time. Now dont touch that dial. Were about to flip it for you to one of this years most talked about tv shows. It is, as they say, on another network. Fox. You can do what you want to do in living color ladies and gentlemen, keenan ivory wayans. In living color was the first show created by, written by, directed by, starring an africanamerican, all of those things in one. This is celebration of culture and of change. Us opening the doors and allowing america to come inside. Yo, yo, yo, all you bad bargain hunters out there, welcome to the homeboys shopping network. A lot of what they did on in living color was trying to take the stereotypes or the misperceptions about what black men are and turn them upside down. Not only will you get all the cable stations out there, but youll be able to talk directly to the astronauts. It brought this smart, very controversial comedy that black folks had never seen before that centered around their life experiences. Who are you . I am the minister louis farrakhan. Africanamericans composed 25 of foxs market. I always get trapped in the corner with somebody named bob. Hey listen, martin, i just saw boyz in the hood, all right . I didnt know, martin, i didnt know. They knew that they needed to capture this audience to grow. I guess you think you smart and cool. But if you think you getting a job here, youre a damn fool. So they basically gave the black creators freedom to do whatever you want. Just get the audience. The wb and upn took that concept from fox. Your shoulders are harder than cheap breast implants. Going after this underserved audience of urban minority viewers and really ran with it. Im a new millennium woman who will not be defined by traditional female roles. Okay . A lot of the networks built themselves up partially on africanamerican viewers. Shake it to the east, shake it to the west. The africanamerican shows indexed lower in terms of household income. So over the course of the decade, the network started to move away from those shows. I dont know about you people, but ill be damned if it im going to let them destroy my neighborhood. Black creators felt used and abused. You made your money. You built your audience on us and now, you know, youre done. This. Watch. Tells. Time and takes phone calls. And communicates with satellites thousands of miles above the earth and tracks your distance underwater and tracks your activity and tells you which direction youre going and has an app that measures the electrical waves traveling through your heart otherwise known as an electrocardiogram. So just to reiterate this. Watch. Tells. Time among other things . [ song johnny cash, th sthese are my people these are the ones who will reach for the stars these are my people by the light of the earth, you can tell they are ours a new step to take and a new day will break yes, these are my people and i dont add trup the years. S. But what i do count on. Is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. Boost® high protein. Be up for life. Mom youve got to [ get yourself a new car. G ] i wish i could save faster. Youre making good choices. Youll get there. Were you going to tell me about this . I know i cant afford to go. I still have this car so you can afford to go. I am so proud of you. Thanks. Principal. We can help you plan for that. Start today at principal. Com. In the 90s you suddenly had shows that were aiming at a young audience. One of the things that really made 90210 stand out is it was one of the first dramas to get into the teenage point of view. Do you have protection . Of course. Its always been my problem. Lots of protection but nothing to protect. I wanted to do a tv series that was going to be relevant to teenagers. And its not about the parents solving the kids problems. Its about the kids basically solving their own problems. What are we supposed to do, sit him down and have a kidtoparent talk . No, you cant talk to parents on that mature level. Tragic but true. If the 60s had beatlemania, the 90s had 90210 mania. When tv guide had its youthquake cover, that was a sign that suddenly television was focused on these young people. My socalled life was like the punk rock version of 90210. It was earnest but not at all saccharine. It didnt have easy answers. It showed teen heartbreak in a way that was staggeringly real for the time. You like this. Like what . Like how you are. Hey jordan, you coming or not . How am i . How am i . My socalled life was your actual life. And the idea that everyone in high school is a misfit, that you have this deep insecurity about who youre supposed to be. You know how sometimes the last sentence you said like echoes in your brain . And it keeps just sounding stupider . And you have to Say Something else just to make it stop. Oh, i just remembered. I owe you 30. My socalled life was not necessarily the show the cheerleader or captain of the Football Team were watching. They were still watching 90210. But it was the people who maybe didnt recognize themselves in 90210 who felt like, aha, now i recognize myself in my socalled life. Demarco asked me if you were getting a sex change. Exactly. I dont want to be a girl. I just want to hang with girls. Ricky was out on the show eventually, and that was a storyline that was treated with great sensitivity. And i belong nowhere. With no one. And i dont fit. It was so deeply felt. It was saying to the viewer, things that you have gone through, they matter. Man, i hate high school. Freaks and geeks really sympathized with the losers and had great empathy for its characters. Im sorry. Did i crush your twinkies . The kind of characters they didnt want to show you in High School Shows or treated them as the butt of the joke. And these were the people the show put their sympathy behind. Roll down the window because ive got a big one abrewing. The young audience was the audience everyone wanted to get and people could see channels like mtv had that audiences loyalty and had the advertiser dollars to go with it. This concept was explained to me as a reallife soap opera. In 1991 we got a call from mtv and they were toying with the idea of doing some kind of a scripted show about young people. They said it was like a mixture between the big chill and the breakfast club. But ultimately decided the idea of a show with writers and actors would just be too expensive for them. The real world. Yes, thats what this was supposed to be. So we essentially applied all the drama rules to documentary to get what we called at that time a do kruchcu soap. This is the true story. True story. Of seven strangers. Kind of a social experiment to watch what happened when you put these things together in a house, when people start being polite and start getting real. Do you sell drugs . Why do you have a beeper . You hadnt seen anything like that on television, that kind of open, honest discussion of race. I can try as much as i can to try to deal with you, but ignorance is ignorance. Stupidity is stupidity. And thats it. Black white, green, purple, blue, whatever. The real world becomes this kind of big bang moment for reality tv where the idea is that oh, my god, all we have to do is take cameras and put them on people and well get great stuff. You had in the next season in l. A. A young woman who gets an abortion, and the camera literally goes right up to the doctors door. Give me a hug. By the third season in San Francisco you have a young man who is dealing with aids. Im hiv positive. When pedro told me he was hiv positive, it was just like no, not him. I like this guy and i dont want him to have to suffer. It was such a triumph that pedro had the courage at his age to come out as someone with aids. In my small Gay Community on campus, we all felt like, wow, he was our hero. He falls in love. And he and his partner, shawn, have a ceremony. You know, and this is long before samesex marriage was legal. The tv shows werent doing this. Movies werent doing this. I have to believe that all the pain that im going through, that all the anger, all the frustration, that theres something bigger than that. Aids has claimed a young man who made an enormous impact on a generation of young americans. Pedro zamora died in miami today at the age of 22. Im really glad i got to know pedro zamora. Im grateful that his rich and fulfilling work is still remembered today. And i hope you enjoy and learn from pedros life of compassion and fearlessness. More towers. More coverage its a network that gives you freedom from big cities, to small towns, were with you. Because life can take you almost anywhere, tmobile is with you. No signal goes farther or is more reliable in keeping you connected. Son, i need to tewhat is it, dad . If you ever have any questions, you call 18775225001. It means a lot pop. Special moments with dos equis. Keep it interesante. Your favorite starbucks flavors come to life. Smooth bold creamy inspired by the starbucks caramel macchiato you love. Mornings just got better. This changes everything new starbucks creamer, now at home. Everything they give us excellent customer otservice, every time. E. Our 18 year old was in an accident. Usaa took care of her car rental, and getting her car towed. All i had to take care of was making sure that my daughter was ok. If i met another veteran, and they were with another insurance company, i would tell them, you need to join usaa because they have better rates, and better service. Were the gomez family. Were the rivera family. Were the kirby family, and we are usaa members for life. Get your Auto Insurance quote today. We believe nutrition is full of possibilities to improve your pets life. Were redefining what nutrition can do. Because the possibility o