10 Things You Can’t Believe Happened in Rochester 20 Years Ago!

Rochester's Summer of 1999 saw a LOT of cool stuff, sad stuff, and, at the movies, some whispery stuff. SERIOUSLY whispery. Let's take a look back thanks to Buzzfeed.

10 - SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS

• Not only did SpongeBob SquarePants debuted on Nickelodeon in the Summer of 1999 and it didn't take long for it to become a kid thing and an adult phenom. — and it also aired its iconic "Pizza Delivery" episode that August.

09 - 1999 MTV MOVIE AWARDS

• We sat and watched as Lisa Kudrow was the host and Will Smith performed Wild Wild West with Stevie Wonder. PS - The song was WAY better than the movie.

08, 07, 06, 05 - MOVIES

• Lines were incredibly long at the Barclay Square Theaters (remember Carmike?) for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. 
• Much whispering when The Sixth Sense hit Rochester. The best part? It was way harder to have a movie ending spoiled for you back then. Also, lots of whispering.
• The Blair Witch Project, one of the most profitable movies of all time, bored me to tears, but literally, everyone else LOVED it and had the everlovin' heck scared out of them. When I went (at the Galleria), my friend kept shushing because under my breath I was saying angrily, "Follow the river, fer cryin' out loud!"
• American Pie made us all wet our pants laughing.

4 - DOUG AND THE NANNY

• People in Rochester could no longer watch new episodes of Doug and Fran Drescher's The Nanny because they were canceled the Summer of 1999.

3 - SURPRISE HIT GAME SHOW IN PRIME TIME

• Everyone was turning to KAAL to watch Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the prime time game show where and Regis started a new tie/shirt look!

2 - EXPLAIN THIS ONE TO YOUR KIDS

• No matter what part of Rochester you lived in, there was no high-speed internet. Dial-up was still king and over half of Rochester did not have a computer and/or the internet.

1 - ROCHESTER LANDMARKS

• The Giant Old Time Radio mural was painted on the back of our building. The artwork of Greg Wimmer!

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