Pop Culture Happenings: September 2024

In the tenth, fortieth and fiftieth anniversaries of Septembers past, Ford was forgiving, Alex gave the answers, and Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich.

1974

50 YEARS AGO

In September 1974, President Gerald Ford was of a very forgiving mind. On Sept. 8, he pardoned former President Richard Nixon of all federal crimes committed during and after the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Complex. Ford continued to let bygones be bygones on Sept. 16 by announcing a conditional amnesty for U.S. Vietnam War deserters. Some historians conclude both decisions of leniency hurt Ford’s presidency as he finished Nixon’s second term and led to his defeat in his run for a full term.

1984

40 YEARS AGO

On Sept. 19, 1984, Alex Trebek first appeared as the host of the game show “Jeopardy!” and quickly became an American institution. He was a reassuring presence and seen by many viewers as a close family friend, neighbor or politely-encouraging, firm-but-fair teacher. He hosted the show for 37 seasons until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2020 at age 80. A native of Canada, Trebek became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998. For his work on “Jeopardy!,” Trebek received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host eight times.

1999

25 YEARS AGO

September 1999 premiered a host of mind-blowing films at the Venice Film Festival. On Sept. 2, in Spike Jonze’s “Being John Malkovich,” John Cusack and Cameron Diaz discover a tiny door that leads into the mind of John Malkovich. They find they can control him and decide to stay. On Sept. 8, in “American Beauty,” Kevin Spacey is a disappointment to his family, employer and even himself, so he decides to quit it all and winds up with his mind — literally — blown. And on Sept. 10, Edward Norton hits Brad Pitt as hard as he can and definitely does not talk about Fight Club in the David Fincher-directed film “Fight Club.”