History can happen any day, anytime, anywhere and to anyone. That's a lesson learned by some of the unexpected newsmakers for National Geographic Channel's upcoming three-night miniseries event, The '90s: The Last Great Decade?, narrated by Rob Lowe. Among the 120 participants sharing firsthand aspects of their stories of their unanticipated brushes with fame in new, original interviews are:
Christopher Darden, a Los Angeles district attorney whose career forever changed when he was assigned to the prosecution team trying O.J. Simpson for murder.
Richard Dean, an employee of the Social Security office in the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building in Oklahoma City, who saved the lives of three people in the explosion that killed 168 people.
Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern whose relationship with Bill Clinton led to her becoming a legal target in an investigation and a media target like the world had never seen before.
Titus Murphy, who sped to the scene of a brutal attack on truck driver Reginald Denny as it played out live on TV in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, and helped the man to safety.
Kevin Powell and Julie Gentry, who signed on to an untested
MTV social experiment called "The Real World," and in doing so helped to create the reality TV revolution.
Judy Sheppard, whose son Matthew's tragic death invigorated the gay rights movement
"These new interviews bring fresh perspective and insight on aspects of events that forever changed not only the lives of these newsmakers, but also the course of our history," said Jane Root, executive producer. "Their stories, coupled with 120 other participants, give a full 360-degree look at this decade like never before with stories that made us laugh, cry and think about the world in a new way."
A distinguished group of pundits and journalists also lend their voice to The '90s, providing context and analysis to the decade's biggest moments and game-changing events, including Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter, writer and public radio host Kurt Andersen, The New York Times' Thomas Friedman, Popular Mechanics' James B. Meigs,
USA Today's Robert Bianco, Entertainment Weekly's Jessica Shaw, columnist and PandoDaily staff writer David Sirota, author Douglas Coupland, Daily Caller's Tucker Carlson and CNN's Peter Bergen.
Other previously announced participants include Jason Alexander, Roseanne Barr, Shannen Doherty, Vanilla Ice, Courtney Love, Matthew Perry, Martin Sheen and James Van Der Beek, as well as senior politicians including Colin Powell, Tony Blair, Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani.
Revisiting the decade through "inside out" storytelling and analysis, The '90s: The Last Great Decade? uses charismatic storytelling and memorable footage to ignite conversation about the decade between the Cold War and the War on Terror. It was a decade of highs and lows. Bill Clinton swept into office on the promise of change; we all made new "Friends"; the LA Riots kept us glued to our TVs; Nirvana gave Generation X a voice but everyone danced the Macarena; "The Real World" and
Jerry Springer changed the television programming landscape. It was a time when technology accelerated us into our digital future, when the United States had won a Cold War yet faced a new enemy driven by fanaticism. A time when billionaires were created faster than ever before, when even the government had a surplus.
The '90s: The Last Great Decade? will air globally in 440 million homes in 171 countries and in 45 languages, and on the Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo.
Nutopia's Jane Root and Peter Lovering are executive producers, and supervising producer is Fred Hepburn. For National Geographic Channels, Erik Nelson and Michael Cascio are executive producers; Alan Eyres is senior
Vice president, programming and development; Lynn Sadofsky is
Vice president, production and development; and Heather Moran is executive
Vice president of programming and production.
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