Episode 198: The Goonies Turns 40, Disney Channel's Debut, Discontinued Fast Food Favs, What Was Betamax?(6-4-2025)

The anniversary of a beloved 1980s film. The debut of a game-changing cable channel. Some fast food favorites we wish were back full-time.

Episode 198 celebrates the unofficial start of summer by bringing the warm and fuzzy nostalgia.

It all starts off with the 40th anniversary of a staple of 1980s kids, The Goonies. A fun story, relatable characters, a unique setting, and infinitely quotable lines, this film was a rite of passage for so many who grew up back then. We will do a deep dive into why it's still so popular.

Children's television changed forever in 1983 with the launch of the Disney Channel. Chock full of the classic cartoons and films kids knew of the channel, also introduced many new shows that became staples of the daily lives of 80s and 90s kids. We'll dust off our Mickey Mouse ears and reminisce about Disney's leap into cable. 

Some fast food items come and go with few batting an eye. On this week's Top 5 we're going to go in the opposite direction. We will examine some discontinued fast food items that were popular, some of which occasionally make a return to tease us momentarily.

There is as always a new This Week In History and Time Capsule that seeks to answer the question: What exactly was Betamax?

Don't forget to become a free member and to go vote in the polls for Listener's Choice Episode 200 over on Patreon!

Helpful Links from this Episode

• Purchase My New Book Cape Cod Beyond the Beach!
• In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide(2nd Edition)
• Hooked By Kiwi - Etsy.com
• DJ Williams Music
• KeeKee's Cape Cod Kitchen
• Christopher Setterlund.com
• Cape Cod Living - Zazzle Store
• Subscribe on YouTube!
• Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog
• Webcam Weekly Wrapup Podcast
• CJSetterlundPhotos on Etsy
• The Old Men of the Mountain Documentary

Listen to Episode 197 here

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hello, world! And welcome to the In My Footsteps Podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund, coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 198. June is here, summer is officially on the way, and we are turning up the heat on the road to episode 200. This week's show is loaded with Gen X nostalgia. We are gonna start it off with a look back 40 years at the release of a classic from my childhood, The Goonies, the movie that inspired me to become a writer. We're gonna go way, way back in the day and look at the debut of the Disney Channel and some of the original shows that were a part of that lineup. There's gonna be a brand new top five. We're gonna look at the top five popular, discontinued fast food items, ones that came and went that we actually miss. And there'll be a brand new This Week in history and time capsule centered around the introduction of the Betamax video cassette recorder. All of that is gonna make up the fun trip down memory lane that will be episode 198 of the In My Footsteps podcast. Yes, it's episode 198, and this week I feel about 198 years old. Some days it feels like my body is held together by chicken wire and duct tape. But how are you doing out there? Wherever you are, I hope the weather is amazing. I hope you're able to enjoy the podcast, enjoy your scenery. I will do my best to make the next hour-ish a great part of your week. Why do I feel about 198? Well, I can tell you a quick story. It comes down to A, being in my late forties, and B, my brain not realizing that. Lots of running like it was ten years ago, then playing basketball like it was twenty five years ago. This led to one day this week at my day job, having both my hips feel like they were just stuck in cement. Luckily for me, my boss, Dr. Michael Singleton at Mind Body Spying Chiropractic, he's a genius, he's a wizard. He adjusted both my hips. They were sore, but felt great after. I just have to laugh because within a few days from recording this podcast, I guarantee you I'll be back running, I'll be playing basketball again, and I'll probably rinse and repeat getting adjusted. I was telling someone this week that playing basketball in my late 40s is similar to when I would eat Taco Bell in my twenties, and what that means, there is a connection. Playing basketball, I know my hips are going to be sore tight the next day, but I still do it because I love basketball. When I was in my 20s, I loved Taco Bell, but I knew my stomach would just be ruined from eating it, and I would forget. I'd eat it, I would get sick, and I'd be like, well, next time will be different, and it wasn't. So there you go. The story of why I feel ancient this week. But if you can't laugh at yourself, what can you do? So before this gets too sad and depressing, we've got to get into the actual show. And before I get into the actual show, I can't start off without thanking my Patreon subscribers. Laurie, Mary Lou, Ashley, Kevin, Marguerite, Neglectoid, Crystal, Matt. Thank you all so much. You are my biggest supporters, my biggest backers. Hopefully, all of you have voted in the polls just two weeks to go until episode 200. Listener's choice. There are four polls up on Patreon for all members, free and paying. You will decide what is on episode 200. So go in there and check it out. I've created a special folder where you can just go into it and all the polls are there. Thank you to all of you who will vote. Thank you to all my Patreon subscribers, free and paying. And thank you to everybody who listens. As I just passed 25,000 downloads for the podcast. It's a great achievement. It's a big number. Granted, it's not, I'm not in the top 1% of podcasts, but I'm in the top half. And I love what I do. I love sharing this. I love creating new content for you out there who tune into me weekly or who are tuning in for the first time ever. So thank you all for being one of the 25,000 plus downloads of my show. But all of this, the podcast, all my content on YouTube, every blog, every book that I've ever done, it has an origin story. And it all starts with the movie we're going to talk about coming up now that turns 40 this week, and that is The Goonies. So let's go do the truffle shuffle and look for one-eyed Willie's treasure. Every superhero has his origin story. I'm no superhero. I'm a small time content creator from Cape Cod, but even I have my origin story. I've been asked a lot of times, how did I get to be a writer, podcaster, YouTuber, whatever you want to call it? And I can say, yeah, I was always interested in creating things, in things from my imagination. And that's true, but that spark, that grain of an idea, it had to come from somewhere. For me, that spark came from the movie The Goonies, which turns 40 years old this week, which obviously time always goes, but I seem to always be surprised when things hit these milestone anniversaries. I'm like, oh my god, I can't believe that it's actually another day. A quick overview of what I mean as Goonies inspired me to become a writer. In second grade, which I was when this movie came out, I was inspired to write a sequel to the movie, Goonies 2, starring me and several of my friends. If you want a deeper dive into the connection between the Goonies and me as a writer, content creator, I did a whole segment on it in episode 135. There'll likely be some crossover from that segment and this one, but pretend you haven't heard it before. If I say something, you're like, wait, I know you said that already. For this segment, we're gonna look at the movie itself. And who knows, maybe you'll get inspired to write something, Goonies 3, and you can have me in it as the podcaster that gets heaved off the side of One-Eyed Willie's ship. Forty years ago this week, a scrappy group of misfit kids from Astoria, Oregon captured the hearts of audiences around the world when they stumbled upon a treasure map and set off on an unforgettable adventure. The movie The Goonies was directed by Richard Donner and based on a story by Steven Spielberg. So there's some big heavy hitters right there. It would become a defining film of the 1980s. Don't just take my word for it. But it wasn't just a kid's movie, it was a cinematic rite of passage that blended adventure, comedy, danger, and heart in a way that resonated with young audiences and still does four decades later. Now, the origin of the Goonies can be traced back to the imagination of Steven Spielberg. At the time, he was one of the biggest names in Hollywood. He was riding high off the success of E.T., Indiana Jones. Spielberg envisioned a film that captured the spirit of childhood adventure, something akin to a modern-day pirate tale with the energy and camaraderie of real kids. Spielberg's story was developed into a screenplay by Chris Columbus. He would go on later to direct Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter films. So you're looking at Spielberg, you're looking at Richard Donner, who just did the Superman films, and Chris Columbus, who would go on to do Home Alone and Harry Potter. I mean, it's a murderer's row of Hollywood. This team assembled a young, talented cast, including Sean Aston, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Kehoy Kwan, Martha Plimpton, and Jeff Cohen. Filming took place largely in Astoria, Oregon, which is interesting, that it actually was filmed in the place where they say it took place. It provided the gloomy, overcast, and rugged coastal setting that added authenticity to the kid's quest. Those beach scenes, coastal scenes, it looks almost like a fairy tale world that couldn't be real. So then finding out it's a real place that I could actually travel to at some point made it even more interesting. The production of the Goonies embraced real locations, elaborate sets, especially the full-scale pirate ship, and an emphasis on practical effects, which helped ground the fantasy in a tangible world. The Goonies was released on June 7, 1985. It opened to generally positive reviews and box office success. It made in total $125 million on a budget of 19 million. That equates to a little over $371 million when adjusted for inflation to 2025. It's also 77% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, if that influences you, if you haven't seen it before. At the time, critics praised the movie's energy, humor, and the chemistry among the cast, with famed critic Roger Ebert calling it kind of a Raiders of the Lost Ark for kids. Now, granted, I love the movie. A lot of kids my age love the movie. I'm sure a lot of you love the movie. It wasn't universally acclaimed. Some critics found it chaotic or noisy. But it didn't matter what critics thought. It was an immediate and deep connection with young audiences. Children didn't just watch the Goonies, they lived it. That brings me right back to the first thing that made me want to be a writer was wanting to create my own Goonies world. But why? What made it so special? One thing was the unapologetic embracing of real stakes and genuine peril. There are times in the movie that you feel like these kids are in danger. The main villains, the fratellies, they were scary when they were gonna shove Chunks' hand into the blender, or when they nab him on the side of the road and throw him into the back of the car. And there were the booby traps that were deadly, having to play the organ with certain notes, otherwise the floor starts falling down around you. And there were emotional moments, like Mikey's speech about not giving up, the ending, which I don't want to spoil, where everything kind of works out. There are so many fun and memorable moments in this film, and that comes down to the cast. They weren't overly polished, they were goofy, awkward, brave, and hilarious. Data played by Kehoi Kwan with his homemade gadgets, Mouth played by Corey Feldman with his sarcasm, like when the boys go into the Fratelli's restaurant, which is their hideout, and they ask for water and it comes out, it looks like pee, and mouth is like, ooh, you gotta go to the bathroom, and he's pouring it back and forth. Or chunk played by Jeff Cohen with his truffle shuffle. First, you gotta do the truffle shuffle. Come on! Do it! Come on, do it! Consisted of him picking up his shirt to show his belly and kind of gyrating around. As a little side note, it's kind of interesting to see Jeff Cohen grown up physically in good shape, skinny. And then you look at Stand By Me, which came out the next year with Jerry O'Connell, who played Vern, and he was like the chunk of that group, and you see him, he grew up to be a heartthrob in his twenties. I don't know why that always made me happy to see those two guys that were the chubby comic foils grow up to be like good-looking fit guys. I loved how this movie would weave the comedy, the danger, but the fun and excitement of the adventure, it would all just wash over each other. So you wouldn't laugh for too long, you wouldn't be scared for too long. Those of us that were kids in the 80s, you remember Cyndi Lauper's song, Goonies Are Good Enough. That was in the movie, but there was also the music video. That song, Goonies Are Good Enough, it became Cindy Lopper's fifth top ten hit, and the video was directed by Richard Donner from the film. Over the yikes, four decades since the movie came out, the Goonies has grown into a cultural touch tone. It's a cornerstone of 80s nostalgia. Obviously, I'm talking about it here. It's frequently referenced, parodied, celebrated, or sequels are written about it by eight-year-old kids from Cape Cod in the 80s. You've now got entire generations that have passed the film down to their children. The cast has remained closely associated with the movie, often appearing together at fan events and anniversaries. A fun little thing to show how beloved the film is the Walsh House is a real house where Mikey and his family lived in Astoria, Oregon. And even though it's a private residence, the people will allow you to take pictures in front of it. There's a filmed in Astoria bus tour that if you get tickets for that, you're allowed to go up on their porch. It's part of the Oregon Film Museum. It's so amazing that these people own this house, it's theirs, it's private, but they realize the connection the Goonies has with generations of people. But if you're going there to Astoria, Oregon, and you go to the house, be respectful. It is a private residence. I wasn't the only one with Goonies 2 on the mind. I might have written the first sequel for it. I don't think I'd get credit. I can't even find the paper that I wrote. But for years and years there have been rumors, hopes about a Goonies sequel. If you go and research it, you will find from different years people saying, yes, it's happening, no, it's not happening. So it I guess it depends on which way the wind blows. The younger cast who were the kids at the time, they're all still around. Unfortunately, Anne Ramsey, who played Ma Fratelli. She was also in Throw Mama from the Train. She passed away a long time ago. John Matuzak, who played Sloth, he passed away years ago. Sloth's another one. You just have a whole episode just about his quotes and his adventures. Or flipping out about his baby Ruth. Sloth love junk. I bet I could go up on the street to a bunch of people my age and just say that to them, and most of them would know what I meant, and the rest would probably pepper spray me. I highly, highly recommend if you haven't seen the Goonies or if you haven't seen it in a while, check it out. Relive your childhood if you're my age. Because The Goonies was more than just a movie. It's a time capsule of youthful adventure, unbreakable friendship, and the kind of storytelling that sticks with you long after the credits roll. For those who grew up with it, like me, it's a beloved memory. And it literally is a connection to what I am doing now. It's very full circle, it's very meta. That Goonies inspired me to be a writer. Being a writer is my creativity. That helped inspire me to do the podcast, and here we are. So, in a way, the Goonies inspired this podcast. Maybe on episode 300, I'll do the truffle shuffle for you all. But not before then. I need time to get back in shape. What was Betamax? Oh, stay tuned. So in the fast-paced world of home entertainment technology, few products have experienced a more dramatic rise and fall than Betamax. It's been a punchline. Betamax was released by Sony in 1975, and at the time was a groundbreaking innovation that aimed to revolutionize the way people watch television and movies at home. The Betamax was the first consumer-grade video recording system, VCR. The technology for it was based on earlier professional video recording systems that Sony had developed, but these were adopted for home use. Betamax allowed users to record television programs onto magnetic tape for later viewing, a concept that was revolutionary at the time. No longer did viewers have to schedule their lives around their favorite television show. They could control when and how they watched. The first Betamax unit released was the Sony LV 1901, a combination 19-inch Trinitron color television with a built-in VCR. This was priced at $2,295, or about $13,600 when adjusted for inflation to 2025. So that's a pretty expensive piece of equipment. The Betamax, this original one, it was clearly marketed toward early adopters and tech savvy consumers. Technologically speaking, Betamax offered excellent video quality with a horizontal resolution of about 250 lines, which was higher than the competing VHS format that would soon appear. Sony also promoted Betamax as high fidelity, reliable system, ideal for preserving the integrity of both picture and sound. But obviously, I started this segment off with what was Betamax, like you might not know. That's what despite its technical merits, Betamax quickly faced fierce competition from VHS, Video Home System format. This was introduced by JVC in 1976, and the format war between Betamax and VHS became one of the most studied cases in marketing, business, and technology history. VHS tapes could record up to two hours initially, soon extending to four and even six hours. Betamax's original tapes only recorded one hour, which limited their usefulness for recording full-length movies or sporting events. Sony also tightly controlled the Betamax technology, choosing to manufacture it alone or with select partners. In contrast, JVC licensed VHS to a wide array of manufacturers, including Panasonic, RCA, and a lot of others. This quickly saturated the market, making VHS machines way more affordable. So VHS could record longer tapes, it was way more affordable, and as the video rental industry took off in the late 70s, early 80s, VHS had a larger catalog of movies, more partnerships with rental chains. Betamax users found their options very limited. Like I said, it was released in 1975. By 1981, VHS already had a majority of the market, with the battle between VHS and Betamax being basically over by the mid-1980s. Despite its commercial failure, Betamax did leave a lasting legacy. It helped to spark the entire home video movement. There was also the 1984 Supreme Court case of Sony versus Universal City Studios, also known as the Betamax case, which ruled that consumers could legally record TV shows for personal use. You imagine that in the early 80s, it was seen as possibly illegal for you to record a show to watch later. And lastly, Betamax became a symbol of innovation and caution. It's often cited in business and technology studies as a classic example of how superior technology can still fail due to poor strategic execution. And Sony's revolutionary video format, Betamax, made its debut 50 years ago, this week in history. Oh, it's time for a brand new time capsule. I will not tape over this with a new and better time capsule next week. We're gonna stick to the same day. Betamax has been released. It's June 7th, 1975. What's going on in the world of pop culture back then? Well, let's find out. The number one song was Thank God I'm a Country Boy by John Denver. This was off of his album Back Home Again. It was actually one of six songs in 1975 that topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Country Charts. The song was number one for just one week, this week. He had a lot of other big hit songs: Take Me Home, Country Roads, Sunshine on My Shoulders, Rocky Mountain High. He was also in the 1977 film Oh God with George Burns. And he famously and sadly died in a plane crash, a plane he was flying in 1997 at the age of only 53. The number one movie was French Connection 2, and you could get into the theater with a ticket costing $2.03. This is an action thriller sequel starring Gene Hackman as Detective Jimmy Popeye Doyle. Which when I was a kid, I thought the cartoon Sailor Popeye, I thought that was his last name, that Popeye Doyle was a live-action movie based on him. Boy was I wrong. The movie was a modest hit, making just over $12 million on a budget of 4 million. It was a far cry from the original French connection, which made $75 million on a budget of 2 million. The number one TV show was MASH. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. I always have to say it slow because I just end up stumbling over those words. This is the famed show that took place during the Korean War. Comedy, drama, the finale of the show was still the highest-rated show ever. It was on for eleven seasons between 1972 and 1983, and a total of 256 episodes. It has that iconic theme song and some less than iconic spin-offs like Aftermash. Although Trapper John M.D. was on for seven seasons, so I guess that can't be considered a fail. And if you were around back then, June 7th, 1975, maybe you just heard John Denver's Thank God I'm a Country Boy. It's inspired you to write your own song. You get some five cent notebook at Bradlee's, but you need a nice pen to write. Oh boy, well you're in luck. You can get yourself a Waterman classic chrome noir fountain pen. And how much would this special fountain pen cost you? Thirty-five dollars. That's two hundred and fourteen dollars. Could you imagine going to the store and spending over two hundred dollars on a pen? How would you justify that? You might as well take that pen and just stab yourself in the neck with it. Don't worry though, Waterman has regular ballpoint pens. Those are only five dollars or just under thirty dollars when adjusted for inflation. Jesus, you could get a four-pack of bic pens right now for five dollars and seventy-nine cents at staples, but you could get one for thirty dollars or a fountain pen for over two hundred. Yeesh. But that wraps up another time capsule, another this week in history. Even if fountain pens cost as much as a car payment, you could count on fast food for being affordable and very, very unhealthy. So let's look at a new top five and get sad over fast food items that were popular but discontinued that we hope to see again someday. Boy, I'm really taking a risk here talking about fast food items as it gets closer to lunchtime for me here as I'm recording the show. I only have so much willpower when it comes to avoiding bad foods. I definitely have favorites. Ones that if I'm going to go off the wagon and eat stuff that I'll regret later, these are the ones that I go for. But on this new top five, we're not gonna be talking about things that you can go and get right now. Maybe you're on your way to get fast food. Maybe you're in the drive-thru at McDonald's, or you're sitting in your car looking at the Domino's pizza tracker. What we're gonna do here is we're gonna look at popular discontinued fast food items. So what we're talking about here, it's things that used to be available regularly through these fast food restaurants, and now you can't just go whenever you want and get them. That means that things that come back every now and then for special occasions, they can be on here. And I'm saying that because obviously there's something in my top five that fits that criteria. I figured there were so many different top fives I've done that are fast food fails that I should have something that's more uplifting. As uplifting as greasy and high calorie food can be. I did my best with my research to find enough from different places, but you're gonna find that there are a couple of heavy hitters in the fast food industry that are on here a couple of times. As with most of these top fives, they're in no particular order, and we've got some honorable mentions. So let's bring back the memories. We'll start with the honorable mentions that I will gloss over faster than it takes you to get your order at the drive-thru. Honorable mentions for popular discontinued fast food items include Burger King's Cine Minis. These were four little cinnamon buns with icing on them. They were around in the 1990s and very briefly made a comeback at the end of 2024, only in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which what a jip. Another honorable mention from Burger King is the BK Burger Shots. This was similar to the Cini Minis, except they were burgers, little ones, like sliders. The Burger Shots were out in the late 2000s and ultimately flopped, but I love them. They were actually out in the 1980s originally as burger buddies. So technically they failed twice, even though they get a lot of love online if you look them up. And the last honorable mention is a cheat but not a cheat, and that is the entire McDonald's super size menu. Beloved by me in high school, and then vilified due to the documentary Super Size Me. You could get super size fries, supersized drinks. They even had triple cheeseburgers for the 1992 Olympics. Oh man. That's why you're lucky to have a fast metabolism as a kid because God, I couldn't imagine the stuff I ate back then. If I ate it now, I'd be having to be driven to work on a forklift. Alright, so those were the honorable mentions. Let's get into the actual top five popular discontinued fast food items, starting with number one. The Bigfoot Pizza from Pizza Hut. Way back in episode 72, I did a segment about the giant pizza wars of the early 1990s. Pizza Hut's Bigfoot was a part of that. It was 12 inches by 24 inches, so a big rectangle. It was twenty one slices of pizza, which obviously it was meant to be shared. If you could eat a whole Bigfoot pizza, I mean, God bless you. A few months ago I had the new Domino stuffed crust pizza. I must have thought I was. 16 again or something, but boy, it was great. But by the time I was done with that, I was like, well, hopefully I have no plans for the next few days because I am just laid out. I remember getting the Bigfoot pizza back then, but there was also Domino's had the Dominator, Little Caesars had pizza by the foot. It's sort of like McDonald's super size menu, where unless you're having a party with people, why are you gonna get a giant pizza that's the size of your table? It was a good deal though. You could get a three-topping Bigfoot for $10.99 in 1993. When adjusted for inflation, that's about $24. So that's still a good deal. Like I just said, if you want more info about the giant pizza wars, go check out episode 72. Number two is the Burger King Italian chicken sandwich. Well, this was at the top of my list when it came to things that I used to love about fast food that are not around anymore. When I would go to Burger King, quite often I would get the Italian chicken sandwich. It was on an oval-shaped roll, big old breaded chicken patty, mozzarella cheese, whatever their marinara sauce was. This is one of those ones that I was talking about. It comes back every now and then as a limited time offer. Italian Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich. But the whole point of it is I can't just go to Burger King whenever I want and get one. Which is probably a good thing because I love that thing so much that I need to get greased up with butter to get in my car if I had that all the time. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. Maybe the Italian chicken sandwich wasn't as popular as I think. It must be somewhat popular if they keep bringing it back for specials. Number three is Kentucky Fried Chickens Potato Wedges. These were another favorite of mine. They were hugely popular in the 21st century. They got discontinued in 2020 for secret recipe fries. But again, they get brought back every now and then as a limited time offer, like a tease for people. I don't know. If I wanted regular fries, I would go to McDonald's or Burger King or Wendy's. KFC, you wanted something more unique. That's what the potato wedges were. They were more like the steakhouse fries, the thicker ones. I was actually gonna put KFC's chicken littles sandwiches, which were like the BK Burger Buddies, but chicken. Because I had sworn they got discontinued at one point, but as I did my research, I found out they have come back. That shows how little I've gone to KFC over the last 10 plus years. Ooh, those chicken littles. Knowing that they're out there now and there's a KFC about a 10-minute drive from me, you might be seeing me in the drive-thru there at some point soon. Number four is the Taco Bell Enchorito. Enchilada, burrito, Taco Bell, you heard me talk about earlier on the podcast. I frequented the Taco Bell the next town over from me a lot in the late 90s when I was in college. I would eat a ton, my stomach would hate me for a few days. Once I felt better, I'd say, well, you know, next time I'm sure the Taco Bell will agree with me more, and it wouldn't. The Enchorito was a part of Taco Bell's menu almost from the beginning. In the late 60s, it came out. It was officially discontinued in 1993. But if you go online and research, you can find how to make it. And what's interesting is that it's almost like a secret menu item that if you ask for it, they have all of the items to make it. So I'm sure if you went into a Taco Bell during a slow time and said, Can I have an Enchorido? I mean, I'm figuring if there are kids in there that are in high school, they may have no idea of something that was discontinued 30 years ago. But maybe someone who's older might remember it and they will make it. I've seen stories of that. But if you go to Taco Bell and ask them for an Enchorido, don't say I recommended it, because if you get yelled at, I don't want to get blowback from Taco Bell. And finally, number five on the list of popular discontinued fast food items is the king of all of them. McDonald's McRib. This was the first one I thought of, and then it was the Burger King Italian chicken sandwich. McRib is now back for limited times so much that it's like an event they put out. It's like McRib coming back to McDonald's. It's like a celebrity coming back to their hometown. This big parade with a McRib in the back of a limo. It's one of those oval-shaped buns with this shaped pork patty with their special sauce, onions on it. I think it had onions. I don't know. I haven't had McRib in a while, and every time it comes back, I'm tempted to go there because I remember how much I loved it in the mid-90s, and I'm a huge fan of ribs in general. That's like my kryptonite. What's interesting is McRib was only on the McDonald's menu full time for about four years from 1981 to 85. Poor sales caused it to get discontinued. Then it got reintroduced in 1989, staying longer until about 2005. McDonald's really learned the, what do you call it, absence makes the heart grow fonder? Because I bet they sell a ton of McRibs during the limited time, but if they put it on the menu full time, I guarantee you sales would tank. So there you go. Top five popular discontinued fast food items. Which of these was your favorite? Which of these did you remember having? Did you have a McRib recently when it was brought back again for a limited time? Out of all of them, that BK chicken sandwich may be the one that I cave to when it comes back again for the limited time menu. Look out. And then one day everything clicks, and you're like, wait, now I know what I was thinking about. That's what kind of started this segment as we're gonna look at the debut of the Disney channel. I was thinking of a television show from when I was little, seven, eight years old, and it had a very specific theme song. That was what was in my head. So I finally, I think one day I just typed it in. Just you and Me Kid. I remembered watching it when I was little. The show ended up being one of the original Disney Channel shows, Just You and Me Kid. It's got that song, a parent and a child dressed in similar outfits. And it's about learning and love and family. When I was doing the research, I was kind of like, I don't know if I want to do a full segment on Just You and Me Kid. Not that I couldn't milk it and get ten or eleven minutes of me talking about it. But when I found out it was one of the original Disney Channel shows, I decided why not just do a segment on that. Bring us all back to the days of the early 1980s. I don't know why I didn't think of the Disney Channel being as old as it was. Maybe it's because my time of watching that channel was pretty brief. Once I got to be 11 years old, I don't think I really watched the Disney Channel anymore. To this day, it's a fixture in households across the globe. But in order to talk about the Disney Channel, how it started, why it matters, we gotta go all the way back to 1923 and the founding of the Disney Company by Walt and Roy Disney. Yes, it's wild to think that Disney is a name that's just associated with entertainment, but it started with someone who that's their real last name. It started with Steamboat Willie, the sound film with Mickey Mouse. There was the first full-length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in 1937. They opened Disneyland in 1955. They had long been a pioneer in family-friendly entertainment, both in theaters and on television. Because as early as 1954, Walt Disney was producing Disneyland, a weekly anthology series for ABC that helped fund that theme park, Disneyland. Then they created the Mickey Mouse Club, which was wildly popular. It debuted in 1955. For decades, Disney's television presence was limited to network specials and reruns, but the rise of cable television changed everything. By the late 1970s, cable television was transforming the media landscape. It was originally designed to deliver better reception in rural areas, but cable grew into a medium for niche programming, 24-hour content, channels like HBO, ESPN, and MTV. They were the early players carving out audiences that broadcast TV often ignored. With average everyday families increasingly subscribing to cable, Disney executives saw a gap in the market, a premium channel focused entirely on wholesome, family-oriented programming. The Disney Channel debuted on April 18th, 1983. It had an estimated 532,000 subscribers. And it was a premium channel, which meant that families had to pay an extra fee to access it. We're talking about $995 a month. So round that up to $10, and you're looking at $5.3 million roughly a month that Disney was making from the Disney Channel right from the jump. Its original slogan was the best TV for kids and families. On that first day, the Disney Channel launched with a 16-hour programming block, including a mix of classic Disney films, cartoons, and new original series. If you had turned on Disney on that day, the very first program that you would have seen was Good Morning Mickey, which was an anthology series featuring Mickey Mouse and friends in classic cartoons. So they likely didn't really need a lot of new original programming. They could have padded most of those days with stuff they'd already done. But I think they wanted to give value to the people that were paying $10 a month in 1983, which in case you were wondering, equates to about $32 when adjusted for inflation. So in addition to the old cartoons and old movies, you got a lot of fun new original programming for kids. So I mentioned just you and me, kid. Well, I couldn't talk about it without playing the theme, so it gets stuck in your head, too. Just you and me, kid. We're quite a pair. Just stick with me, kid. This show was on for 130 episodes from 1983 to 86. My family got cable in 1985, so I think that was my introduction to the Disney Channel. I would have been about eight years old. I was one of five, so my youngest sisters would have been a year, two years old. So it made sense for my mother and stepfather to get the Disney Channel, loads of content for these kids. You and me, kid, had five different segments with exercises, creative skills. They even had celebrities and their kids. So that was the first one I thought of with the Disney Channel. There are several that come to mind that these are probably gonna bring back a lot of fun memories for you that are my age. Like, welcome to Pooh Corner. Welcome to you. And how do you do? Everybody's waiting here at Pooh Corner, waiting for you, and Winnie the Pooh to have a happy Uchipo time. This was live action puppet series with Winnie the Pooh and his friends, Tigger, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl. This was on for 120 episodes from 1983 to 86. Obviously, all these shows had reruns that would be on for years later. So if you think you saw Welcome to Pooh Corner in like 1991, you're not crazy. The show had Hal Smith as the voice of Pooh, replacing Sterling Holloway, who had been the voice of Pooh in the animated shorts and movies. He did a good job because I thought that it was the same actor. The songs for Welcome to Pooh Corner, if you like them, they were written by the Academy Award-winning duo of Richard and Robert Sherman. They wrote a lot of music for a lot of Disney films, including Mary Poppins, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, which was hard to say, The Jungle Book, Charlotte's Web, and a whole lot more. Another live-action puppet show based on a Disney film was Dumbo Circus. Dumbo Circus flying out of the sky. You'll never see another show like this. Dumbo Circus to see an elephant by is something that you really shouldn't miss. The show had 120 episodes over the course of two years, and obviously was in reruns for years later. It stars the grown-up Dumbo and his friends, and they've made their own circus on their own. It had loads of different animals: Lionel the Lion, Barnaby the Dog, Sebastian the Cat. Speaking of earworm songs, here's one for ya. Oh yes, Mickey Mouse's Mouser Size, a fitness show for kids. This was the one that would always be on when I was getting up for elementary school. 7, 7:30 in the morning, you turn it on and watch kids exercise while you eat cereal. There were 60 episodes of Mouser cize. The show took place at the Mickey Mouse Health Club. The show was hosted by Kellen Plushart, and she had a definitely a very 80s jazzer size look to her. Headbands, kind of spandex suit. There were a lot more shows from those early days, from the early to mid-80s. I'm sure I will do probably some kind of a top five segment for most popular or forgotten Disney Channel shows of the 80s. These early shows, they balanced the educational content with entertainment, but reflecting Disney's brand of safe, wholesome fun for kids and families. It didn't stop there though. Throughout the eighties and nineties, the Disney Channel evolved from a premium channel to basic cable channel. In 1997, it became available to most subscribers as a part of their standard package, which significantly increased its viewership. It was around this time that Disney introduced the concept of Zoog Disney, which was a programming block that blended TV with internet activity, targeting preteens and tweens. This then set the stage for a new era of original programming. In the early 2000s, there were shows like Lizzie McGuire starring Hillary Duff, That's So Raven, Hannah Montana starring Miley Cyrus, and High School Musical. These shows helped to launch the careers of stars like Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and the Jonas Brothers. I just think of my nieces Kaylee and Emma's shock that I mentioned the Jonas brothers on my podcast. I know, I can't believe it either. In a sea of cable TV channels, the Disney Channel wasn't just another network. It carved out a unique space where children and families could find entertainment designed specifically for them. Parents could sit kids down in front of the TV and know that they were getting good, wholesome entertainment Pooh Corner, Dumbo Circus, Mouser Size, You and Me Kid. Later on, the redo of the Mickey Mouse Club. As the years went on, the Disney Channel became a proving ground for young talent. I mentioned some a few minutes ago, but there was also Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake. It's amazing to think that the Disney Channel's been around for over 40 years. It was a watershed moment in the history of both the Walt Disney Company and children's television. It was a good time to be a kid in the mid-1980s. You could choose between the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, you had Saturday morning cartoons, you had sugary cereals, and us kids back then, we were the last kids that would go outside and stay out till the streetlights came on. Boy, now I really sound like an old man. From Good Morning Mickey on day one to high school musical and beyond, the Disney Channel has not only entertained millions of kids, but also played a crucial role in shaping the landscape of family television. Its legacy is one of innovation, imagination, and impact, true to the spirit of Walt Disney himself. But until next week, that is going to wrap up episode 198 of the In My Footsteps Podcast. Thank you all so much for tuning in. Thank you all for making it to the end, making me a part of your week. Like I said, I hope the weather has been good. I hope you're outside enjoying it. Summer's on its way, it's only a few weeks out. Before that, though, episode 200 is coming in two weeks. Make sure to go to Patreon, become a free member, and you can be a paying member too for $5 a month. But free members, any member, you can vote in the polls. What's going to be a part of episode 200, listener's choice? Vote, vote, vote, go. Before episode 200, though, next week is episode 199. I will not be just phoning it in to get to episode 200. It's going to be a fun one for me. The time of year is right. We're going to talk about what it was like to witness the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers NBA rivalry in the 1980s. In my opinion, the best rivalry and best time period for a rivalry in the history of sports. LA and Boston, Magic and Bird. Oh man, I can't wait. It took a lot of restraint to hold it off until when the NBA finals are going to be going. Like I said, you can become a subscriber on Patreon for $5 a month. You get access to bonus podcast episodes, including one that went up just a few days ago, where I give the story of my second ever road race and fun behind-the-scenes stuff of a road trip. You also get access to the remastered versions of the Without a Map live streams that I did a few years ago. Go on YouTube and check out my old Men of the Mountain interview that I did with the stars of Frank Durant's newest short film documentary about two 70 plus year old best friends that deepen their bond while hiking Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The interview's on my YouTube channel. The documentary is linked in the podcast notes below. Not too long from now, in the coming weeks, I will be sharing the interview that I did with the director and a few of the stars of the film that I was in, my acting debut. The film is done, it's edited. We have a streaming deal, so as soon as I can, I'll be sharing all of that. I'm also working on another project for Frank Durant, my friend the producer. When I finish it, when it's done, I will share it and let you know what it's all about. I'll just say it has to do with a very famous director. So there's a good tease. Yeah, I've never got a lack of content that's coming out or content that I'm working on. I'm starting to work on voiceover gigs or at least applying for them. The site that I'm a member of, they have these voice sample prompts where they tell you how they want you to read a certain script for things like an online ad. They give you direction and then the script, basically, so that if people are looking for voice actors for jobs, everyone's got the same script so they can compare you pretty easily. As far as I go, if you enjoy my content, if you're not tired of my voice, I've got my YouTube channel, go and subscribe to that. Check out my homepage, Christopher Setterlund.com. It's got links to all nine of my books. 2025 is the first year since 2013 that I haven't had any book events or book releases. I left it open intentionally to see what other opportunities might come floating around my orbit. Just because I don't have events or new books I'm working on doesn't mean you shouldn't go check out nine books. It's a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of love that I put into them. Happy birthday this week to my cousin Sarah. Hopefully, Matt spoils you and you have the best day possible. And I hope everyone else out there who's listening has the best day possible, the best week possible. I hope that my dose of Gen X nostalgia has added to your week. I try to keep my crying about growing old to a minimum on this show, or at least make it funny. I'll be back next week for episode 199, unless I go play basketball and both my hips explode. Although I would still be able to record, I would think. Be in a bed and traction and just have my microphone hovering above me. I'll make it work. But until then, remember, in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps. Create your own path and enjoy every moment you can on this journey we call life because you never know what tomorrow brings. Thank you all again for tuning in. This has been the In My Footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. You already knew that. I'll talk to you all again soon.