10 Hypes That Took Over America in 1998

Harry Potter Lands in America

Scholastic published Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States in September 1998. What started as a British kids' book became the first rumble of a franchise that would swallow the next decade.

The iMac and Windows 98

Apple's candy-colored iMac G3 and Microsoft's Windows 98 arrived months apart. Suddenly the family computer was a design object — or a mandatory upgrade — and the internet felt like furniture.

The Seinfeld Finale

On May 14, 1998, more than 70 million people watched Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer sign off. Whether you loved the ending or argued about it for weeks, you were in the conversation.

Saving Private Ryan

Spielberg's Omaha Beach opening did not play like a regular summer movie. It sent people out of theaters shaken, and it made 1998's other blockbusters feel like they were happening on a different planet.

The Truman Show

Jim Carrey dropped the loud comedy and America got a parable about being watched. The Truman Show was the movie people explained to each other — then quietly wondered if they were living in one.

Dawson's Creek

The WB's teen soap premiered in January and made a whole generation talk like they had a writers' room. Soundtrack, hair, and a small-town dock that somehow felt national.

South Park Goes Mainstream

The construction-paper kids had debuted in 1997. By 1998 they were a merchandising machine and a moral panic — which is another way of saying they had won.

Pokémon Arrives in America

Red and Blue hit U.S. Game Boys in September 1998, with the cartoon close behind. Kids who had never cared about a Japanese import were suddenly trading, battling and quoting Pikachu in the cafeteria.

Titanic's Oscar Year

The movie opened in December 1997. 1998 is when it became a civic religion — repeat ticket sales, the soundtrack, the Oscars, and that song following you through every drugstore.

Furby

Tiger Electronics shipped a wide-eyed fuzzball that spoke Furbish, learned English, and sold out before most kids had heard one talk. Parents hunted. Scalpers priced. Nightly news treated a toy like a weather emergency.