Weekly Roundup
Roundup of the things we have found
Big week for 90s kids. S Club 7 have confirmed they are back working together, with rumours of a full 2026 comeback arena tour doing the rounds. The Tamagotchi just turned 30 (yes, thirty), and it is still selling. Plus, a 90s rock band has announced a collaborative album with 80s legends - because apparently the decades are finally teaming up. Let us get into it.
Commercial of the Week
Nike "Bo Knows" (1989)
Before there was "Just Do It," there was "Bo Knows." In 1989, Nike was still playing second fiddle to Reebok and desperately needed something to close the gap. Enter Bo Jackson - the only athlete in the modern era playing both professional baseball and American football in the same year.
The "Bo Knows" ad was genius in its simplicity. It showed Bo trying his hand at every sport imaginable - tennis, basketball, hockey, cycling - with athletes from each sport confirming that yes, Bo knows their game too. The only exception? Bo playing guitar, which prompted Bo Diddley to look into the camera and say, "Bo, you don't know diddley."
Fun fact: The campaign was so successful that it helped Nike overtake Reebok in market share the following year. Bo Jackson became one of the most recognisable athletes on the planet, and the cross-training shoe he endorsed became one of Nike's best sellers. Not bad for a bloke who played two sports at once.
Watch the original Bo Knows commercial on YouTube
Good News in the 80's/90's
S Club 7 Are Back Working Together
If you spent the late 90s learning the dance to "S Club Party" in your bedroom, this one is for you. S Club star Tina Barrett has confirmed that the remaining members of S Club 7 are actively working together, with rumours swirling about a full 2026 comeback arena tour.
The news comes after band member Jon Lee dropped some cryptic social media posts last month that got fans buzzing. The group - Tina Barrett, Jo O'Meara, Bradley McIntosh, Rachel Stevens, Jon Lee, and Hannah Spearritt - became one of the biggest pop acts of the late 90s and early 2000s, selling over 10 million records worldwide.
Speaking at the Cabaret Gala night for Kit Kat Club in London, Tina said they are working on projects together. Whether it is new music, a tour, or both - watch this space.
Movies in the 80's/90's
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Watch the When Harry Met Sally trailer on YouTube
Can men and women really be just friends? That is the question at the heart of When Harry Met Sally, Rob Reiner's 1989 romantic comedy that basically invented the modern rom-com as we know it. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are absolutely electric together, and the script by Nora Ephron is so sharp it could cut glass.
The film follows Harry and Sally across twelve years of chance meetings in New York, and features what is probably the most famous fake scene in movie history - you know the one - at Katz's Delicatessen. That scene was Meg Ryan's idea, by the way.
Fun fact: Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron initially met over lunch so he could pitch her a completely different movie. She rejected it before they had even ordered. The second time they met, she rejected another idea. It was only when he briefly mentioned wanting to explore how sex ruins friendships between men and women that Nora got excited and immediately knew how to structure the film. The rest is cinema history.
Game of the Week
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
Watch Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone gameplay on YouTube
If the Green Hill Zone music just started playing in your head, you are not alone. Sonic the Hedgehog burst onto the Sega Genesis in 1991 and changed gaming forever. The blue blur was Sega's answer to Nintendo's Mario, and for a good few years in the early 90s, he was winning that battle.
The game was designed by Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara, and its whole identity was built around one thing: speed. While Mario was carefully hopping between platforms, Sonic was blasting through loop-de-loops at a pace that made your eyes water. It was fast, colourful, and had one of the most iconic soundtracks in gaming history.
Fun fact: Sonic was originally designed as a rabbit who could pick up objects with his ears. The team scrapped that idea because it slowed the gameplay down. They then considered an armadillo before settling on a hedgehog - because a hedgehog could curl into a ball and attack enemies while maintaining speed. Also, Sonic's signature blue colour was chosen to match Sega's logo. Everything about that character was a marketing masterclass.
Cartoon Corner
ThunderCats (1985)
Watch the ThunderCats opening theme on YouTube
"Thunder... Thunder... Thunder... ThunderCats, HO!" If those words just sent a shiver down your spine, welcome home. ThunderCats premiered in 1985 and became one of the defining cartoons of the decade. Created by Tobin Wolf - a World War II veteran who also invented the first portable record player for teenagers - the show followed a group of cat-like humanoid aliens who crash-land on Third Earth and battle the ancient evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra.
The series was produced by Rankin/Bass, the same company behind Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which is about as far from sword-wielding cat warriors as you can get. The voice cast was brilliant - Larry Kenney as Lion-O, Earle Hyman (who also played Cliff Huxtable's dad on The Cosby Show) as Panthro, and Earl Hammond as the terrifying Mumm-Ra. The show ran for 130 episodes across four seasons.
Fun fact: Rankin/Bass hired a child psychologist to review every single episode before it aired to make sure the content was appropriate for young viewers. Despite being a show about aliens fighting with swords, the psychologist apparently never flagged a single episode. Also, the theme music by Bernard Hoffer is widely considered one of the greatest cartoon themes ever composed - and once it gets in your head, it never leaves.
Tech Time Machine
The Sony Walkman (1979)
Watch the 1983 Sony Walkman commercial on YouTube
Before iPods, before Spotify, before streaming anything anywhere - there was the Sony Walkman. First released in 1979, it exploded through the 80s and completely changed the way people listened to music. For the first time ever, you could take your mixtape on the bus, to the park, or on a run. It sounds basic now, but back then it was genuinely revolutionary.
The original model, the TPS-L2, came in blue and silver, ran on two AA batteries, and cost $200 at launch - which was a serious amount of money in 1979. But it sold like mad. By the mid-80s, "Walkman" had become a generic term for any portable cassette player, much to Sony's annoyance. The device became the ultimate 80s accessory - right up there with Ray-Bans and Members Only jackets.
Fun fact: The original Walkman had two headphone jacks so two people could listen at the same time, plus a "hotline" button that lowered the music volume and activated a built-in microphone so you could have a conversation without taking your headphones off. Sony removed both features from later models because, as it turned out, people mostly wanted to use it to ignore everyone around them. Fair enough.
Poster of the Week
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
A bicycle silhouetted against a giant moon. A boy and his alien friend flying through the night sky. No words needed. The E.T. poster, created by legendary movie artist John Alvin, is one of the most instantly recognisable images in cinema history - and it captures the magic of the film in a single frame.
John Alvin was responsible for hundreds of iconic movie posters throughout the 80s and 90s, including Blade Runner, Gremlins, The Goonies, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. But the E.T. poster remains his masterpiece. Steven Spielberg's 1982 film became the highest-grossing movie of all time on release, and that poster became the image an entire generation associates with childhood wonder.
Fun fact: The iconic "bike over the moon" image was not actually in the original theatrical poster. The first version featured just the touching fingers of Elliott and E.T. It was only after the film became a massive hit that the bicycle silhouette poster was created - and it went on to become far more famous than the original. Sometimes the sequel poster wins.
Random Things of the Week
The Tamagotchi (1996)
The Tamagotchi just turned 30, and somehow it is still going strong. First released in Japan in 1996 by Bandai, this tiny egg-shaped gadget contained a pixelated alien pet that you had to feed, clean, and play with using three tiny buttons. Neglect it and it would die. Which, for millions of kids in the late 90s, was genuinely traumatic.
The toy was developed by Akihiro Yokoi and his team, and it became an absolute phenomenon. Schools banned them. Parents confiscated them. Kids cried over them. Almost 100 million Tamagotchis have been sold across more than 50 countries, making it one of the best-selling toys of all time.
Fun fact: Tamagotchis were so popular that in some Japanese offices, employees would take turns looking after each other's virtual pets during meetings. There were also Tamagotchi graveyards set up online where people could mourn their dead digital pets. The 90s were a different time.
That's your lot for this week. If any of this brought back some memories, hit reply and let us know - we love hearing your stories. See you next week for more trips down memory lane.