Thursday Open Thread: Pop Culture of 1996

Top TV Shows 1996:

1. E.R.  NBC
2. Seinfeld  NBC
3. Suddenly Susan  NBC
4. Friends* NBC
4. Naked Truth*  NBC
6. Fired Up  NBC
7. NFL Monday Night Football  ABC
8. Single Guy  NBC
9. Home Improvement  ABC
10. Touched By An Angel CBS
* Tied

Daytime Soap Ratings for 1996–1997 Season

• 1. The Young and the Restless 7.1
• 2. Days of our Lives 5.8
• 3. The Bold and the Beautiful 5.0
• 4. General Hospital 4.8
• 5. All My Children 4.7
• 6. As the World Turns 4.4
• 7. One Life to Live 4.0
• 7. Guiding Light 4.0
• 9. Another World 3.1

Highest Grossing Films for 1996 (quite a difference in amount for highest grossing from 1966!)

1.	Independence Day	20th Century Fox	$817,400,891
2.	Twister	Warner Bros. / Universal	$494,471,524
3.	Mission: Impossible	Paramount	$457,696,359
4.	The Rock	Disney	$335,062,621
5.	The Hunchback of Notre Dame		$325,338,851
6.	101 Dalmatians		$320,689,294
7.	Ransom		$309,492,681
8.	The Nutty Professor	Universal	$273,961,019
9.	Jerry Maguire	TriStar	$273,552,592
10.	Eraser	Warner Bros.	$242,295,562

Most Popular Books published in 1996
1. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire)by George R.R. Martin
2. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
3. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
4. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
5. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
7. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
8. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
9. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
10. The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
11. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
12. The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
13. The Green Mile by Stephen King

Tony Award Winners

Best Play	Best Musical
Master Class – Terrence McNally	Rent
Best Revival of a Play	Best Revival of a Musical
A Delicate Balance	The King and I
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
George Grizzard – A Delicate Balance as Tobias	Zoe Caldwell – Master Class as Maria Callas
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Nathan Lane – A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as Pseudolus	Donna Murphy – The King and I as Anna Leonowens
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Seven Guitars as Canewell	Audra McDonald – Master Class as Sharon Graham
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Wilson Jermaine Heredia – Rent as Angel Dumott Schunard	Ann Duquesnay – Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk as ‘da Singer/The Chanteuse

Sports

NFL MVP – Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers
NBA MVP – Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls

NHL MVP – Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
MLB National League MVP – Juan Gonzalez, Texas Rangers
MLB American League MVP – Ken Caminti, San Diego Padres
U.S. Open Men’s Champion – Pete Sampras
U.S. Open Women’s Champion – Steffi Graf