Stocks Soar as Oil Prices Dive - February 1986

The U.S. stock and bond markets rallied sharpily in February as the world-wide prices of petroleum products continued to tumble. At a meeting in Vienna, February 4, oil ministers of major members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries repeated a call for cooperation between members and nonmembers of OPEC but took no firmer action.The ministers appeared willing to adhere to a strategy of keeping output high and forcing prices down, the object being to increase demand for oil. By mid-February, the prices for crude oil per barrel had fallen to the $15 to $16 range. Prices had been above $28 in November. The decline was seen on Wall Street as a promise of lower energy costs for corporations and lower inflation for consumers. The result was a buying frenzy. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 1,600 for the first time, February 6, and needed only 15 more trading days to top the 1,700 level on February 27th.

Gorbachev Rebukes Stalin - November 1987

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, addressing 6,000 party officials and visitors in the Kremlin, November 2, asserted that the late Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had committed enormous crimes. He said that contrary to the beliefs of some, Stalin well knew that "wholesale repressive measures and acts of lawlessness" had occurred. He added that a commission would investigate the possibility of rehabilitating the reputations of innocent victims of Stalin. In a speech marking the 70th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution, Gorbachev praised Stalin for his policy of farm collectivization and for his leadership during World War II. It was reported, November 3, that two leading party figures had argued vehemently at an October 21 meeting of the Central Committee. The disputants were said to be Yegor Ligachev, the party ideologist and a force for conservative thought, and Boris Yeltsin, head of the party in Moscow and an outspoken champion of Gorbachev's reforms. Yeltsin had reportedly blamed some senior leaders for what he saw as the slow pace of reform. Tass, the official Soviet news agency, said, November 11, that Yeltsin had been removed from office because of "major shortcomings." Gorbachev criticized Yeltsin, November 11,  at a meeting of Moscow party officials. Western observers thought that perhaps Yeltsin was removed as a signal to conservatives that the pace of reform would not be too swift.

Chicago TV Flashback - June 30-July 1, 1989

WMAQ channel 5 TV schedule for Friday, June 30, 1989

Morning

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5:30a - Morning Stretch

6a - NBC News at Sunrise with Deborah Norville

6:30a - Channel 5 News at 6:30

7a - Today with Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley (2 hours)

9a - Scrabble

9:30a - Classic Concentration

10a - Wheel of Fortune (NBC Finale)

10:30a - Win, Lose or Draw

11a - Days of Our Lives (1 hour)

Afternoon

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Noon - Channel 5 News at Noon

12:30p - Generations

1p - Another World (1 hour)

2p - Santa Barbara (1 hour)

3p - The Judge

3:30p - The Judge

4p - Channel 5 News at 4

4:30p - Channel 5 News at 4:30

5p - Channel 5 News at 5

5:30p - NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw

Evening

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6p - Inside Edition

6:30p - Family Feud

7p - Highway to Heaven (1 hour; 5th-to-last show)

8p - NBC Friday Night at the Movies: Paternity (2 hours)

10p - Channel 5 News at 10

10:30p - Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (1 hour)

11:30p - Late Night with David Letterman (1 hour)

12:30a - Friday Night Videos (1 hour)

Early Saturday, July 1, 1989

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1:30a - Channel 5 News at 10 (Rebroadcast)

2a - USA Today

2:30a - Movie Greats Network: Blood Song (2 hours)

Wheel of Fortune daytime brought an end to 3 eras after 14 years: Rolf Bernischke's 5-month run as host, shopping for prizes, and NBC. With Wheel moving to CBS Monday, July 17th, primetime reruns of the hit show The Golden Girls will air in the 10a time slot the following Monday.

Chicago TV Flashback - March 3-4, 1989

WMAQ channel 5 TV schedule for Friday, March 3, 1989

Morning

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5a - Sally Jessy Raphael Show

5:30a - Morning Stretch

6a - NBC News at Sunrise with Deborah Norville

6:30a - Channel 5 News at 6:30

7a - Today with Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley (2 hours)

9a - Sale of the Century (Last show until March 20th)

9:30a - Classic Concentration

10a - Wheel of Fortune

10:30a - Win, Lose or Draw

11a - Super Password

11:30a - Scrabble

Afternoon

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Noon - Days of Our Lives (1 hour)

1p - Another World (1 hour)

2p - Santa Barbara (1 hour)

3p - Cagney & Lacey (1 hour)

4p - Channel 5 News at 4

4:30p - Channel 5 News at 4:30

5p - Channel 5 News at 5

5:30p - NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw

Evening

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6p - Inside Edition

6:30p - Family Feud

7p - Father Dowling Mysteries (1 hour; 2nd-to-last show of the 1st season)

8p - Miami Vice (1 hour)

9p - Hunter (1 hour)

10p - Channel 5 News at 10

10:30p - Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (1 hour)

11:30p - Late Night with David Letterman (1 hour)

12:30a - Friday Night Videos (1 hour)

Early Saturday, March 4, 1989

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1:30a - Channel 5 News at 10 (Rebroadcast)

2a - The Judge

2:30a - Family Feud

3a - Movie Greats Network: Dream No Evil (2 hours)

Before the 2nd instant bargain offer, host Jim Perry reminded everyone that Sale of the Century is ending its successful 6-year run on NBC. The reason for this is because the show will be taking a break for 2 weeks due to the interview show hosted by Rona Barrett temporarily occupies Sale of the Century 9a time slot. Then the show returns for its final week Monday, March 20th. For this show and leading up to the finale, three garage sale offers takes place. A garage sale is where the prizes were offered in past instant bargains during its daytime run, and in some cases, prizes unsold from the nighttime version. Champion Darrell Garrison was the first to buy the 19" TV, VCR and the music machine totalling $2,829, but to make it more interesting since Sale takes a break starting Monday, March 6th, $500 cash was thrown in for $3,329. Garrison comes back for the final week with $40,670 after 4 days.

My Life - December 7, 2025

Hey y'all, what's going on?

I've been very, very busy with a lot of stuff as of late. I had a great but low-key thanksgiving by eating a bit and watched Charlie Brown on DVD. My mental health's still hit rock bottom because of all the bad stuff still happening around me by way of the political circus, but I'm still holding on. I've just finished with my online holiday shopping a few days ago where I got myself 5 more t-shirts and three vintage Chicago TV guides from 1980 and 1989 so after this, I'm gonna give my spending habits a rest for the next few months.

What's going on in the toxic world of wrestling is none of my business, but I think it's time for Mercedes Mone to vacate all those belts she won and give them to others, because I've grown sick and tired of "Mercedes 12 belts" this and "Mercedes 12 belts" that every single time she parades herself with these titles to please "stat boy" Tony Khan who spends too much time on his hands on social media 24/7. In addition, it's time for this Continental Classic gold and blue tournament to be sent to the gimmick graveyard, because I just find this crap not even entertaining and the fans themselves don't even know what's good for them.

Chicagoland finally got snow and lots of it last week, because the toddlin' town didn't even get a single trace of snow or cold temps last year. All we had to deal with is the warm winter that ruined the holiday season.

Chicago TV Flashback - July 29-30, 1988

WLS channel 7 TV schedule for Friday, July 29, 1988

Morning

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5:30a - 20 Minute Workout

6a - ABC News This Morning (1 hour)

7a - Good Morning America (2 hours)

9a - Oprah Winfrey Show (1 hour)

10a - Growing Pains

10:30a - Home

11a - Ryan's Home

11:30a - Loving

Afternoon

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Noon - All My Children (1 hour)

1p - One Life to Live (1 hour)

2p - General Hospital (1 hour)

3p - Win, Lose or Draw

3:30p - Jeopardy!

4p - Eyewitness News at 4 (1 hour)

5p - Eyewitness News at 5

5:30p - World News Tonight with Peter Jennings

Evening

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6p - Eyewitness News at 6

6:30p - Wheel of Fortune

7p - Perfect Strangers

7:30p - Full House

8p - Mr. Belvedere

8:30p - I Married Dora (Finale from January 8th)

9p - 20/20 (1 hour)

10p - Eyewitness News at 10

10:30p - Nightline with Ted Koppel

11p - Late Night Movie: Roustabout (2 hrs, 5 min)

Early Saturday, July 30, 1988

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1:05a - Eyewitness News at 10 (Rebroadcast)

1:35a - Late Night Movie: Sing and Like It (1 hr, 35 min)

I Married Dora became one of the most infamous finales in television history, where in the final scene at the airport, Peter Farrell (Daniel Hugh Kelly) said goodbye to Dora (Elizabeth Pena) and his two children. He was supposed to board the plane, but he returned to the airport with these final lines by him and Dora.

Peter: It's been cancelled...

Dora: The flight?

Peter: No, our series!

With laughter from the audience at their expense, the fourth wall was broken as the cast waved goodbye while the camera zooms out. I Married Dora ended on January 8th after just 4 months.

2 Drugs Are Aid to Heart - November 1987

The success of two drugs in preventing and treating heart attacks were announced in November. Dr. Basil Rifkind, a researched at the Lipid Research Clinics of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, MD, said November 11, that the drug gemfibrozil changed the type of blood in ways that reduced coronary ehart diseases. He said the drug lowered cholesterol only sighted but its significance was in raising the level of low-density lipoproteins ("good cholesterol") and lowering the level of low-density lipoproteins ("bad cholesterol"). The health community, however, had viewed such a drug only as a last resort if diet, exercise, and weight loss failed to achieve desired cholesterol levels. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced, November 12, that it had cleared Genentech Inc. to begin marketing TPA, or tissue plasminogen activator, a genetically engineered blood clot disorder, that would be used to treat heart attack patients. It had been found effective in dissolving blood clots and reducing the incidence of congestive heart failure after an attack. Causing bleeding was its most serious side effect.

Chicago TV Flashback - October 2-3, 1989

WFLD channel 32 TV schedule for Monday, October 2, 1989

Morning

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6a - ThunderCats

6:30a - Denver, the Last Dinosaur

7a - The Flintstones

7:30a - Dennis the Menace

8a - Alvin and the Chipmunks

8:30a - Maxie's World

9a - Gilligan's Island

9:30a - Too Close for Comfort

10a - Donahue (1 hour)

11a - Sally Jessy Raphael Show (1 hour)

Afternoon

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Noon - Jackpot!

12:30p - Talkabout

1p - Last Word

1:30p - I Love Lucy

2p - I Dream of Jeannie

2:30p - Woody Woodpecker Show

3p - Real Ghostbusters

3:30p - Jim Henson's Muppet Babies

4p - Super Mario Bros. Super Show

4:30p - Small Wonder

5p - Family Ties

5:30p - Mr. Belvedere

Evening

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6p - The Cosby Show

6:30p - A Current Affair

7p - 21 Jump Street (1 hour)

8p - Alien Nation (1 hour)

9p - Fox 32 News at 9 (1 hour)

10p - M*A*S*H

10:30p - Comedy Express

11p - Three's Company

11:30p - Star Trek (1 hour)

12:30a - Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Early Tuesday, October 3, 1989

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1a - Latenight 32 Movie: Blondie Goes Latin (1 hr, 30 min)

2:30a - Latenight 32 Movie: Blondie Brings Up Baby (1 hr, 25 min)

Bulgarian Premier Resigns - November 1990

8 Soviet Republics Sign Economic Treaty - October 1991

Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev and the presidents of 8 Soviet republics signed an economic union treaty in Moscow, October 18, that declared "private ownership, free enterprise, and competition" to be the "basis for economic recovery." The presidents of 4 other republics---Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldavia, and Ukraine---boycotted the signing. The Ukrainian parliament voted, October 22, to create an independent armed force that would have a strength of at least 400,000. The Ukranian government announced, October 23, that it would henceforth conduct its own economic transactions with other countries.