Since we just revealed what needs to go, now it’s time to reveal what needs to make a comeback! Welcome to our list of The Things That Need to Come Back in 2022, a list of the things,food,trends,and other stuff that need to come back in the new year. This is Part One of our list where we will reveal Numbers 25-11. 

Disclaimer: Just like the Things That Need to Go list, this list is for entertainment purposes and is meant to be taken semi-seriously, so keep that in mind when you read the list. We’re just trying to have fun here!

Without further adieu, here’s #25!

25. Buffets

One thing the pandemic all but eliminated was buffet style dining. I hardly see any of those around anymore,especially at the casinos near where I live that shuttered them and those were some of the better ones I ever went to and now they’re gone. Sure,there’s Hometown Buffets and the Golden Corral,but there aren’t many of the former left and the ones of the latter are in bad neighborhoods. I’m not eating buffet style in a ghetto. I would love to see at least the casinos bring them back because there’s nothing better than a full belly like losing your money to a slot machine $1.25 at a time.

24. Studio audiences

One thing that is missing on the sets of many TV shows is their live studio audience. Sure,some shows have them back,but many either don’t or they don’t like they used to. I recently saw The Price is Right for a few minutes and I saw like 11 people in the audience. That’s just not right. That show is supposed to have 8,000 people in the audience like the old days. I hope what they did to the set to eliminate 90-percent of the studio audience isn’t a permanent thing because the show loses a lot of charm in that regard. It’s an audience participation show and a show without an audience for that isn’t worth watching. If the audience isn’t there and there should be one,I won’t watch! Sorry,last night’s SNL!

23. Black liquorice Altoids

Okay,so this item really is for me and the 14 other people who love black licorice, but I really don’t give a shit because this is my list and for those of you reading who didn’t have anything for me,this is on you for not contributing to the process. Anyways, in the mid-2000s Altoids came out with the best flavor they ever had in black liquorice and they were amazing and I loved them. Ask anyone who worked with me at Golfland Sunsplash and they’ll tell you all about it. So much so that I got six tins of them as a secret Santa gift in 2004. The last time I probably bought some was around 2007 and I highly doubt they still make these,but dammit,they should. Why? Because I’ll buy all of them whenever,wherever. I love black licorice and will buy just about anything that tastes or smells like it. It’s called having an acquired taste and expanding your horizons,try it sometime!

22. Don Mattingly’s mustache

Does anyone else not want to live in a world where Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly doesn’t have a mustache anymore like he did during his playing career? That’s the thing I knew him for the most as a player was having the mustache and playing on some bad Yankees teams in the 1980s. He just doesn’t look the same without one and while everyone had one back then, he wore his gracefully and when it was gone so was part of him. He is one of those certain people whose look is off when they shave and it would be really neat if he brought back the mustache.

21. The San Diego Chargers

If it isn’t clear by now, the Chargers do not belong in Los Angeles and never did. After being in San Diego for 56 seasons, the team moved up I-5 to Los Angeles and became a team that nobody there asked for and one nobody there wants. While,yes, the team did struggle to have their own fans at games towards the end of the San Diego era, that wasn’t because they didn’t care of weren’t fans, it was because they hated the ownership group of the Spanos family and didn’t want to line their pockets with more cash than they already have. The team could’ve stayed in San Diego and with a proper owner who is willing to build a stadium they one day might. 

20. MySpace

Now that social media is a toxic wasteland of people peddling conspiracy theorists and all of these know-it-alls who think they know better than scientists and doctors, it’s time we bring back a medium that wasn’t so toxic: MySpace. MySpace was in such a simpler time, a nicer time where we ranked our friends from 1-8 and displayed our favorite music on our front page and left comments at the bottom right of the screen. It was an incredible time to be alive. I also had a blog on mine where I could have  at least 200 people reading it every week and it was awesome. I even had a cool refrigerator where people could leave cool messages with the magnets. I say we pool our money together and buy it and remake what it once was so that we can have a friendlier and less toxic place to be online. Who’s with me?

19. Tylenol Allergy Sinus

Back in the day this was my go-to allergy medicine and probably the one that not only worked the best,but also tasted like delicious candy. Unfortunately they don’t make it anymore and it’s a disgrace because that was not only the most effective,but it also didn’t cost very much. Nowadays these medicines are so expensive and have low quantity pills that don’t do anything for me. Come on,Tylenol,bring back the cure for what ails me during those allergy heavy times. Oh,Tylenol Allergy Sinus,how I miss you!

18. McDonald’s having 39-cent cheeseburgers on Wednesdays

Does anyone remember this from the late-90s and early 2000s? When McDonald’s would have hamburgers and cheeseburgers were 29-cents and 39-cents respectively on certain days. Let’s have that again!

This was one of the highlights of my high school life when McDonald’s had these days where they sold burgers for hella cheap. I could probably eat like five or six at a time back then like it was nothing,but then again I was a growing boy so I was able to. By 2002 or so this practice ended as did a treasured time of my life. I know this kind of food isn’t good for anyone,but let’s be real,everyone goes to McDonald’s for something,and why can’t that something be cheap cheeseburgers on a Wednesday night? I think it’s time for us to have something to be happy about that we can afford for once and I think this should be that thing. Make cheeseburgers 39-cents again one day of the week!

17. Lollipops at banks

I think the thing I miss the most about going to the bank on a regular basis was that there were lollipops in the lobby. They’re not there anymore. I don’t know if it’s due to the pandemic or maybe just the branch of the bank I go to has them,but they are missed and I would love to see them back sometime. Also get more tellers named Debbie!

16. Strip Poker,the game show

Keeping with the nostalgia theme, one game show I loved watching when I got off of work at 2 in the morning was this USA network gem called Strip Poker. The game involved two people from each gender competing to win cash by answering questions and playing five-card stud. If you got a question wrong, you had to remove an article of clothing. At the end of the game the losers had to remove whatever they had left and the winners would join them and dance with them. This was television gold and while it didn’t last long,it did in my memory and I would love to see quality entertainment back on television again. Check out the clips on YouTube,they’re awesome!

15. Disneyland trams

When Disneyland closed for over a year and reopened, one thing that guests would learn would not be returning is the trams taking guests from the parking structures to Downtown Disney, forcing them to make the long walk back to their cars. Not cool,Disney,not cool. Reasons why ranged from issues of people being too close together to the trams were old as hell and needed to be replaced. So why not replace them? You guys have trillions of dollars and can’t seem to get trams to get people back and forth to the park without having to hoof it forever. Eventually you’re going to have to bring these back so that your disabled customers have access to your park. Otherwise, get ready to see lawsuits stemming from a lack of tram access from the garage to the park. I have heard rumors they might bring them back,but these days I have to see it to believe it

14. Supermarket music from the 1970s

Sure,this is an obscure choice to place on our comeback list,but I think there’s a real nice feel to how grocery stores had music in the 1970s. It was nice and jazzy and listening to it was a joy compared to the same moldy oldies that stores play nowadays. Don’t believe me? Sample this track from 1975 right here:

I think I would rather hear those tunes than the same songs from the same artists played overhead in the store only to have it interrupted by a commercial or a computer voice announcing a phone call over it when the song is getting good. I think the smooth sounds of the grocery stores need a comeback.

13. Humans answering telephones

Do you remember when you could call a place of business and get a live person? Don’t you miss that? I know I do. I understood it when it was a major place of business like a hospital or a big box store or something,but when it gets to be like the grocery stores where you have to go through many hoops to speak to someone, something’s gone wrong there. It shouldn’t take forever and a half to get to a real life person on the goddamn telephone to ask a question and to have the call be no more than 30 seconds. Hell,I’ll answer the phone for you on the weekends if that’s what it takes to have a human voice be reached. Bring back real life people on the telephones when you call someone at a place of business.

12. KFC Hot Wings

For over a quarter of a century, KFC had hot wings on their menu and they were fantastic. Were they too hot? Not really. Were they too mild? Not really. They were just hot and they were delicious. I could eat so many at one sitting it was ridiculous. Then one day they disappeared and I wasn’t too happy about that. They relaunched them into different types and sauces,but nothing beats the original. I would love to see these back on KFC’s menu one day. They were absolutely great to eat and are missed by many. Okay,mainly me, but still,bring em back!

11. Doing the right thing

Okay,this was our top item on last year’s list and while it’s not as high,it’s still something I’d like to see more of,especially when it comes to the pandemic. So many people still won’t get vaccinated and still won’t wear a mask when asked and still think this is all a hoax. As someone who had the virus and was worried for a time that I might not make it, it’s not nothing or a hoax. We should be out of this now and instead so many are doing everything but the right thing and things are not only not improving,but getting worse. Also,this applies to our lawmakers who haven’t been and aren’t doing enough to help regular people in a time of need. People need jobs and money and other basic needs to survive and those needs aren’t met because these folks on both sides continue to not do the right thing by not passing legislation that would pave the way to help people in a big way. I myself try and do the right thing when I am asked to, why can’t you? I,for one,am tired of it and so are many others and while I hold no hope that people will wise up and do what’s expected of them, there’s the king of wishful thinking in me that wants them to anyway.

Part Two comes your way tomorrow!