The 1990s
10 HYPES — 1998
10 hypes that took over America in 1998.
1998 was the year a talking toy crashed Christmas, a Japanese game landed in American backpacks, and a shipwreck movie still had the country in its grip. This episode walks through the ten hypes that defined the year — the ones you heard in malls, rec rooms and every other conversation.
#10
culture
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 U.S. edition arrived on September 1, 1998, with a new title and cover.
1998#9
tech
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 original Bondi Blue iMac launched in August 1998 and helped pull Apple back from the brink.
1998#8
tv
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.
- The finale drew an estimated 76 million U.S. viewers — a network event in a fragmenting TV world.
1998#7
movies
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.
1998#6
movies
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.
1998#5
tv
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.
1998#4
tv
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.
1998#3
games
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.
- Nintendo spent far above its usual launch budget to make Pokémon a stateside event.
1998#2
movies
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.
- Titanic won 11 Academy Awards in March 1998, tying the all-time record.
1998#1
toys
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.
- Tiger sold about 1.8 million Furbies in 1998 alone — the must-have holiday toy of the year.
1998