The 1997 shift in pop culture was very real

  • Spice Girls debut in the United States and kick off the teen pop movement of the late 90s.
  • Sony's PlayStation overtakes Nintendo's 64 system in popularity.
  • Tamagotchi toys debut in the United States.
  • Digimon toys debut in the United States.
  • Pokemon/Pocket Monsters goes viral in Q4 over a seizure episode.
  • Frosted tips become popular.
  • Y2K bug is printed on various magazine covers.
  • Y2K fashions start appearing on awards shows.
  • Carson Daly becomes the host of MTV and hosts Times Square countdown shows.
  • Bob Saget's final AFV episode airs with a special 3-D Full House reunion episode on abc.
  • Step by Step and Family Matters move from abc to cbs.
  • Disney channel becomes a basic cable channel without subscription.
  • Disney channel rebrands for Gen Y.
  • WWF Raw becomes WWF Raw is War with red ropes and starts the Attitude era.
  • Princess Diana dies.
  • Notorious B.I.G. dies .
  • King of The Hill debuts on FOX and is a smash hit.
  • OZ debuts on HBO.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog rebrands to his Dreamcast design sans green eyes.
  • Alley McBeal debuts on FOX.
  • The Simpson's start their decline with a fake skinner episode.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuts on The WB.
  • South Park debuts on Comedy Central and is also a smash hit.
  • YoYos come back as a popular toy fad. (Mostly Yomega Fireball and brain)
  • NES emulator becomes popular online.
  • Rapid closing of arcades in malls.
  • WNBA programming debuts on NBC and ESPN.
  • Toonami debuts on Cartoon Network.
  • Beavis and Butthead end their run on MTV.
  • Daria starts her run on MTV.
  • TV rating system debuts on tv [TV G] [TV 14] etc.
  • Cartoon network debut their cartoon cartoons with Johnny Bravo and Dexter's Laboratory.
  • Batman the animated series moves from Fox Kids to Kids' WB.
  • Harry Potter's first book is released.
  • AOL launches AIM and becomes popular all the way until 2009/2010.
  • Backstreet boys blow up.
  • Final Fantasy 7 releases on PlayStation with a huge marketing blitz and makes JRPGS mainstream.
  • Star Wars becomes popular again due to cinema rereleases and production of Episode 1.