What the World Looked Like When "The Arsenio Hall Show" First Premiered

Hint: Completely different.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

It's been 24 years since The Arsenio Hall Show first premiered on primetime. The show, which is being resurrected tonight by CBS television—on WPIX at 11 p.m. in New York—debuted in January of 1989. Sure, a couple of decades don't sound that prehistoric—that is, until you realize that back then your hiking boots and your cell phone weighed about the same. Since the Internet had not yet been invented, there was no way to anonymously insult folks all over the world with Cheetos-encrusted fingers within seconds. If you wanted to diss someone's mama, you had no choice but to—gulp—do it in person. 

Not to say things were all bad. The 'late 80s gave us plenty to root for and laugh at. Music was still huge on MTV, getting around New York City was affordable, and the NBA demanded players play in what might as well have been briefs. The world we live in now is nearly uncrecognizable. While we're all here though, let's reminisce, reflect, and appreciate What The World Looked Like When The Arsenio Hall Show First Premiered

RELATED: The 50 Best Movies of the '80s 
RELATED: The 50 Funniest Movies of All Time 

The Simpsons looked like this.

Not Available Interstitial

Michael Jackson was finishing up his Bad World Tour.

Not Available Interstitial

The Berlin Wall was still up.

Not Available Interstitial

The Cosby Show was the highest rated program in the country.

Not Available Interstitial

Tim Berners-Lee was at work inventing the Internet.

Not Available Interstitial

Cell phones weighed 28 oz.

Not Available Interstitial

Rudy Giuliani ended his term as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York with 4,152 convictions. He brought 11 organized crime figures, including the "Five Families", to court.

Not Available Interstitial

Michael Irvin finished his rookie year with the Dallas Cowboys.

Not Available Interstitial

Rob Base & DJ EZ had recently dropped "It Takes Two" on the masses.

Not Available Interstitial

Mark Zuckerberg hadn't started kindergarten.

Not Available Interstitial

Yo! MTV Raps was fresh on the scene.

Not Available Interstitial

Madonna was filing for divorce from Sean Penn and making a deal with Pepsi. It wouldn't go well.

Not Available Interstitial

No member of One Direction had been born yet.

Not Available Interstitial

Andrew Dice Clay on the verge of becoming one of the world's biggest comedians.

Not Available Interstitial

Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" was climbing the charts to become the No. 1 song in the U.S.

Not Available Interstitial

Arcade games were a billion dollar business.

Not Available Interstitial

NBA players dressed like this.

Not Available Interstitial

President Obama had yet to meet Michelle. When he asked her out six months later, she said no.

Not Available Interstitial

First baseman Don Mattingly was the highest paid Yankee on the roster, making $2.2 million.

Not Available Interstitial

The U.S.S.R. was still around. (It was dissolved in 1991.)

Not Available Interstitial

Legandary hip-hop brand Karl Kani was set to launch.

Not Available Interstitial

Debbie Gibson was on the Billboard Top 10. So was Paula Abdul.

Not Available Interstitial

Starbucks had a grand total of 55 stores.

Not Available Interstitial

Subway fare in New York was $1.15.

Not Available Interstitial

River Phoenix was still alive.

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Pop Culture