Without wasting anyone’s time, take a peek at what was relevant in pop culture between late September and Christmas in 1993. You can also get to look into a window and see what was popping during the holiday season.

At the Movies

Sylvester Stallone, Sandra Bullock, Wesley Snipes, and Demolition Man was the top box office film of October. It’s likely to surprise you that Demolition Man made more money at the domestic box office in 1993 than The Nightmare Before Christmas.

It became a cult classic but its annual viewing at both Halloween and Christmas turned it into a worldwide success. Demolition Man can’t say that but it can say that it featured a young Sandra Bullock before she became a big star.

Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List would swoop in during the final month of the year where it would become a critically acclaimed box office hit that dominated the Oscars, getting nominated for 12 Academy Awards and taking home seven.

The Music World

Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover” was the number one song with another R&B jam, “Right Here (Mother Nature Remix)” by SWV spending time at the the second spot. The song is from the Free Willy soundtrack and features a sample from Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” in the hook.

Billy Joel proved his staying power with “River of Dreams” while one of the top hip-hop songs of the month was Tupac’s “I Get Around.” No song was bigger at the end of 1993 than Meatloaf’s “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” selling millions of copies worldwide.

Speaking of that Meatloaf jam, it came with a gargantuan music video that clocked in at a whopping seven minutes and four seconds, it’s a combination of Beauty and the Beast plus Phantom of the Opera. Regardless of whether you like it, it’s a video worth a watch.

On the Tube

Home Improvement dominated October 1993 but check out the highest-rated shows each night from Monday to Sunday: Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Roseanne, Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Family Matters, Empty Nest, and 60 Minutes.

The Sesame Street Gang celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special called, Sesame Street’s 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration. One highlight of the special is when En Vogue, the most popular female group at the time, made a cameo and sang with the muppets.

Toys and Video Games

The holiday season of 1993 was a glorious time to be a kid. There were the Tiger handheld games and the ever-so-popular Deluxe Talkboy 2, made popular by 1993’s holiday blockbuster hit, Home Alone 2.

Of course, Super Nintendo (SNES) and Sega were battling it out for home console supremacy at the time as well although the SNES would outsell Sega 23,350,000 units to 19,000,000 in the US. In the arcade, NBA Jam was the biggest seller followed by Mortal Kombat.

In Remembrance

Sadly, the end of 1993 was not without its tragedies, including an awful punch to the gut on Halloween night when up-and-coming actor, River Phoenix, died of a drug overdose at Johnny Depp’s nightclub, The Viper Room.

Then, on December 4th, the music world would lose Frank Zappa at a very young 53 years of age to prostate cancer. He was considered one of the most innovative musicians in history and continues to have a strong fan base now more than 30 years after his death.

Rest in peace to all those lost in 1993 and a toast to all of those lucky folks who were born during this wonderful year filled with greatness and tragedy.