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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: November 2, 1966
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The 2016 David Schwimmer comeback was one of the most welcome developments in the pop culture universe, for a great many reasons. For one thing, Schwimmer’s performance on The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story as Robert Kardashian was one of the most interesting things on television this year. Between 600,000 mentions of the word “Juice,” Schwimmer presented the late Kardashian patriarch as a most unlikely paragon for decency and honesty. As Robert’s faith in O.J. wavers, we watch the veil of celebrity fall away. It’s a very good performance! One that was worthy of its Emmy nomination.
What made Schwimmer’s return to prominence doubly amazing was that The People v. O.J. Simpson was dramatizing the events of the media circus that dominated 1994 starring the people who were making some of 1994’s most memorable entertainment. Think about it: in 1994, John Travolta was igniting his comeback in Pulp Fiction, Nathan Lane was a voice in the summer-blockbuster behemoth The Lion King, and David Schwimmer was starring in the just-debuted Friends, the sitcom that would dominate TV for the next decade. All three were playing members of the Dream Team.
About Friends, too: we declared Ross the worst Friends character a few months back, and have been feeling nothing but regret ever since. Because while Romantic Lead Ross is awful, Weirdo Ross is kind of the best! Weirdo Ross got super into creating the quiz show questions for Chandler/Joey vs. Rachel/Monica. Weirdo Ross flipped out when somebody stole his Thanksgiving leftover sandwich (with moist-maker!). Weirdo Ross created that double-fist hand gesture for when he wanted to flip off Monica but couldn’t use the finger.
So on this, the occasion of David Schwimmer’s birthday, we wish him a hearty whatever-the-opposite-of-that-gesture is. And a declisious turkey-leftovers sandwich too!
