Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies - Excalibur Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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A victory season The biggest events in the world of sports stood as the center of attention in the year of athletic com- petition. Those events were the Olympic Games and the World Series. The Olympic Games took place in Seoul. Ko- rea, and gathered thou- sands of athletes from countries all over the world including East Germany and the Soviet Union who did not at- tend the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Though the Soviets and East Germans dominated in the final medal stand- ings, the United Slates came in a strong third place winning track, boxing, diving, swim- ming, and other events. Florence Griffith Jovner, .Matt Biandi, Carl Lewis, Janet Ev- ans, and Greg Louganis all won gold medals and set new world records. Although there was some controversy over judging in certain events, the Olympics ran smoothly and the United States again showed its high athletic potential. It was a fantastic year for the Los Angeles Dodgers who with the help of manager, Tom Lasorda, obtained the World Series trophy in major league baseball. The Dodgers, going into the series, were the un- derdogs, playing against the Oakland A s. But the Dodgers clinched the title in only five games. The city of Los Angeles celebrated with a parade and ceremony, just as their Lakers did only several months be- fore. The winning Olympic spirit — Florence Griffith Joyner. better known as ' ' Flojo. was awarded three gold medals and one silver in the Olympic Games held al Seoul. Korea in September. My, oh, my. . . David Letlernmn celebrated with band leader. Paul Schaefer. seven years of fun and laughter on Late Night with David Letterman. Late night laughter While prime time televi- sion belongs to shows like Cosby S h vs , ■ ■ Growing Pains, and A Differ- ent World, late night television was dominat- ed by off beat comed and talk shows. The Tonight Show ' s Johnny Carson celebrat- , ed another anniversar for its many years in ' broadcast but now he has to watch out for a jf new group of competi- tion. David Letterman, with his hilarious, yet strange, brand of com- edy has gathered a crowd of loyal viewers that tune to see such things as stupid pet tricks, viewer mail, and late night top ten. New talk shows that ap- peared this year include The Arsenio Hall Show, Later with Bob Costas, and The Pat Sajak Show, who left the morning show of Wheel of Fortune to start his late night talk program. The sudden barrage of talk shows controlled the late night scene and kept midnight audiences laughing in their sleep. Saturday Night Live continued its long tradi- tion of outlandish com- edy sketches. Come- dians John Lovitz, Dana Carvey, and Dennis Miller made Saturday nights speciaL Sports Television -• i Mini-magazine T 1

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NEWS REELS ■ ill Laughing all the way to the bank — Comedies were big hits in the year of the movies. Paul Hogan returned to play Crocodile Dundee and Tom Hanks got his wish in Big Movies have year of success Nineteen eight- eight was pre- dicted to break box office in Holly- wood ' s film industry, and it did with a long l ine of successful mov- ies. The team of producer, Steven Spielberg, and director, Robert Zeme- kis joined with Univer- sal, Disney, and Warner Brothers Studios to cre- ate the biggest film of the year, Who Framed Roger Rabbit that starred an all star cast of Toons . What made this mov- ie special was its use of live action mi.xed with animation never seen before, Roger Rabbit was a hit with the critics and pulled in an estimat- ed 130 million dollars in ticket sales. Gel ready to look for a definite se- quel. The summer line-up was filled with a number of action-adventure films. Bruce Willis showed terrorists that New York cops Die Hard. .Arnold Schwar- zenneger and Jim Belu- shi played with Red Heat, and Paul Hogan showed fans how to be a hero — Aussie Style in Crocodile Dundee H. Emilio Estevez, Char lie Sheen, Keifer Sutherland, and Lou Diamond Phillips turned the West Wild in Young Guns. Martin Scorsecee ' s The Last Temptation of Christ sparked dis- pute and controversy in the film industry. Thou- sands of people gathered at Universal Studios to protest its release. Wil- lem Dafoe. who played as Christ in that film ?lso starred in Missis- sippi Burning, with Gene H a c k m a n , an- other movie that was de- bated over the subject of racial tension in the 1960 s. Big laughs were also part of the long list of movies. Tom Hanks got his wish to become Big. John Cleese, Ja- mie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Pa- lin searched for A Fish Called Wanda, and Ar- nold Schwarzenneger and Dann Devito were perfect Twins. The Christmas season was also a time for laughter. Bill Murray was Scrooged in a modern remake of Charles Dick- ens ' classic Christmas story and Leslie Neilsen pulled from the files of police squad The Na- ked Gun. The critics enjoyed a number of films that all well deserved Oscar nominations. Tom Cruise spent a week with his autistic savant broth- er played by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. There were many love triangles on the sil- ver screen, but each original in its own. Wil- liam Hurt travelled be- tween lovers as The . c- cidental Tourist, Glenn Close portrayed the rich life in Old France in Dangerous Liaisons, and Melanie Griffin took over for boss. Si- go u r n e y W e a ' e r in Working Girl.

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i • ■ ■ ■ ■ i ' i - ' . Keep your mind on the music Musically, this was a year like no other. The nation ' s students were listening to an un- believably wide range of new sounds, and reviv- ing more than a few old ones. erful comebacks, while fresh faces like Tone Loc hit big on rap and pop charts. Female rap art- ists such as Salt n ' Pepa and JJ Fad produced sell-out albums, and rappers like Ice T gained popularity. Another big musical metal bands like Guns n ' Roses, with lyrics remi- niscent of the Sex Pis- tols. Also, for the first time ever, a metal album Metallica ' s And Jus- tice For AH went top ten without releasing a single. gles. The comebacks came fast and furious, with performers like Mi- chael Jackson and the Bangles vomitting up new LP s. Female sing- ers like Paula Abdul and Pebbles were huge suc- cesses. The youth of the na- status by playing groups like the Untouchables and Fine Young Canni- bals. R.E.M. had a big year with the release of Green and U2 made a spectacular comeback with Rattle and Hum. Oingo Boingo and the Rap performers were a major force this year and proved it by sending many performers up the charts. Such rap groups as Run DMC made pow- style that went ma m- stream this year was heavy metal. All metal stations like KNAC played widely popular As usual, pop music dominated the radio charts. Rock bands such as Def Leppard sold mil- lions of albums and had several number one sin- tion has been slowly learning to appreciate non-conformist rock. Stations like KROQ reached mega-popular Smithereens both re- leased hit LP ' s, while ex- underground bands such as Jane ' s Addiction and the Cowboy Junkies ac- quired popularity. TOP TEN Movies 1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2. Coming to America 3. Big 4. Crocodile Dundee II 5. Die Hard 6. Cocktail 7. Beetlejuice 8. A Fish Called Wanda 9. Willow Albums 1. Faith 2. Kick 3. Hysteria 4. Dirty Dancing 5. Appetite for Destruction 6. Introducing the Hardline 7. Bad 8. Tracy Chapman 9. Tiffany 10. Tunnel of Love TV Shows 1. Cosby Show 2. A Different World 3. Cheers 4. Golden Girls 5. Growing Pains 6. Who ' s the Boss? 7. Night Court 8. 60 Minutes 9. Murder, She Wrote 10. The Wonder Years They still haven ' t found what they ' re looking for — V2 members ihe Edge. Adam Clayton. Larry Mullen Jr., and Bono.