Pop Culture Odyssey: The 80s, 90s & Y2K Fever

The Manhattan coffee shop with the iconic orange velvet sofa where the Friends gang spent thousands of hours.

Answer:Central Perk

Note:The famous orange couch was found by set designers tucked away in the basement storage of the Warner Bros. lot.

The fictional paper company located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, managed by the well-meaning but cringeworthy Michael Scott.

Answer:Dunder Mifflin

Note:The Scranton branch building used for exterior shots is actually an industrial warehouse located in Van Nuys, California.

The Beverly Hills 90210 after-school diner run by Nat Bussichio where Brandon Walsh worked as a cook.

Answer:The Peach Pit

Note:The Peach Pit became so iconic in 90s teen culture that pop-up replica diners opened across the US decades later.

The energetic, hip-swinging dance to Tom Jones's 'It's Not Unusual' made famous by Will Smith's cousin on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Answer:The Carlton Dance

Note:Alfonso Ribeiro revealed he based the moves on Courteney Cox dancing in Bruce Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark' music video.

The ominous sequence of six recurring numbers that Hurley used to win the lottery in the mystery drama Lost.

Answer:4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

Note:The numbers sum to 108, which corresponds to the 108-minute timer that had to be reset in the Swan Hatch to avert catastrophe.

The mystery-solving Great Dane who travels in the Mystery Machine van with Shaggy, Velma, Fred, and Daphne.

Answer:Scooby-Doo

Note:CBS executive Fred Silverman got the idea for the name while listening to Frank Sinatra ad-lib 'doo-be-doo-be-doo' in 'Strangers in the Night'.

The iconic catchphrase yelled by He-Man while holding his Power Sword aloft to summon Castle Grayskull's magic.

Answer:By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!

Note:Mattel created the Masters of the Universe toy line and comic lore in 1982 after famously passing on the Star Wars toy license.

The four Renaissance artists who gave their names to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles created by Eastman and Laird.

Answer:Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael

Note:Originally a gritty black-and-white comic parodying Daredevil and Marvel comics, the 1987 cartoon softened them into pizza-loving heroes.

The electric mouse Pokémon #025 that Ash Ketchum receives as his stubborn, Pokéball-hating starter companion in Pallet Town.

Answer:Pikachu

Note:Designer Atsuko Nishida revealed she modeled Pikachu on a squirrel with food-storing cheeks, not a mouse!

The sinister leader of the Cybertronian Decepticons who transforms into a Walther P38 handgun in the original G1 Transformers cartoon.

Answer:Megatron

Note:Legendary voice actor Frank Welker voiced both Megatron and his Autobot rival Soundwave using distinctive throat-distortion techniques.

The 1999 eurodance mega-hit by Italian trio Eiffel 65 that topped charts in over 15 countries with its synthesizer riff 'Da Ba Dee'.

Answer:Blue (Da Ba Dee)

Note:The group recorded the vocals using early auto-tune pitch correction on an Akai sampler in their modest home studio in Turin.

The Spice Girls' debut 1996 smash hit that introduced 'Girl Power' and demanded to know 'what you really, really want'.

Answer:Wannabe

Note:Wannabe was recorded in less than an hour and its iconic one-take music video was filmed inside the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras, London.

The 1998 bubblegum pop single that launched 16-year-old Britney Spears to global superstardom in a Catholic schoolgirl uniform.

Answer:...Baby One More Time

Note:Swedish producer Max Martin originally offered the track to TLC, who rejected it because they felt the title sounded like domestic abuse.

The Seattle grunge anthem that knocked Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' off the top of the Billboard 200 chart in January 1992.

Answer:Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)

Note:Kurt Cobain took the title from graffiti an artist friend spray-painted in his bedroom, unaware 'Teen Spirit' was a popular teen deodorant brand.

The Spanish novelty dance track by Los Del Río that spent a record-breaking 14 consecutive weeks at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1996.

Answer:Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)

Note:The duo wrote the song after watching an impromptu flamenco dancer named Diana Patricia Cubillán in Caracas, Venezuela.

The handheld keychain digital pet launched by Bandai in 1996 that beeped constantly demanding food, games, and cleaning.

Answer:Tamagotchi

Note:The name combines the Japanese word for egg ('tamago') with the English word 'watch'. It sold over 82 million units worldwide.

The legendary, virtually indestructible Finnish mobile phone released in 2000 that came pre-installed with the addictive game Snake II.

Answer:Nokia 3310

Note:The Nokia 3310 sold 126 million units and remains an immortal internet meme for its legendary drop-test durability.

The peer-to-peer file sharing service founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker in 1999 that revolutionized digital music downloads.

Answer:Napster

Note:Napster peaked at 80 million registered users before landmark copyright lawsuits by Metallica and the RIAA forced its shutdown in 2001.

The 3.5-inch rigid magnetic storage medium that held a maximum of 1.44 Megabytes of data and became the universal 'Save' icon.

Answer:Floppy Disk

Note:Despite disappearing from consumer PCs around 2002, the US nuclear command and Boeing 747 flight computers relied on 3.5" floppies for decades.

The wildly popular animatronic owl-like robotic toy from Tiger Electronics in 1998 that spoke 'Furbish' and was banned by the NSA.

Answer:Furby

Note:The NSA banned Furbies from its Maryland headquarters over fears the toy was secretly recording and repeating classified conversations!

Nike's world-famous motivational slogan coined in 1988 by advertising executive Dan Wieden, inspired by death row convict Gary Gilmore.

Answer:Just Do It

Note:Gilmore's final words before his 1977 firing squad execution were 'Let's do it'; Wieden tweaked it slightly to 'Just Do It'.

The iconic tagline for the American milk processor campaign featuring celebrities, athletes, and superheroes with white milk mustaches.

Answer:Got Milk?

Note:The initial 1993 commercial directed by Michael Bay featured an Alexander Hamilton trivia expert who choked on peanut butter because he had no milk.

Wendy's 1984 viral catchphrase delivered by 81-year-old Clara Peller poking an oversized hamburger bun with a tiny meat patty.

Answer:Where's the beef?

Note:The catchphrase became so massive in American culture that Walter Mondale used it against Gary Hart during the 1984 Democratic primary debates.

The animated pink bunny powered by copper-top batteries that beats a bass drum and 'keeps going and going and going...'

Answer:The Energizer Bunny

Note:The character was originally created as a parody of Duracell's UK drum-playing bunny mascot, which Duracell had let its US trademark lapse on.

The colorful candy button brand whose timeless slogan assures parents that the candy 'melts in your mouth, not in your hand'.

Answer:M&M's

Note:Forrest Mars Sr. got the idea after seeing British volunteer soldiers during the Spanish Civil War eating pellets of chocolate coated in sugar shells.