It’s 1999 Week here at The A.V. Club, so let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes

We’re well into the worst of the dog days of summer at this point, which means two very important things around these parts: One, that it’s just ridiculously, inhumanly hot out there right now, necessitating a general retreat indoors to the cool, welcoming arms of our various pop culture obsessions. And two, that it’s time once again for The A.V. Club to slap on its best nostalgia glasses and look back at those very same obsessions, specifically as they expressed themselves 20 years in the past. That’s right, friends: Get ready to count your midichlorians and dodge Backstreet Boys CDs via cunningly shot, endlessly imitated slow-motion, because 1999 Week has arrived.

As always, we’ll be looking back at one of the last years of the last Willennium through a variety of lenses, including a new installment of Off The Charts, a look back at a full 24 hours of 1999 TV, and a rundown of the best films of the year. (And also a space for you to yell at us for leaving your favorite films of 1999 off our list, natch.) We’ll also be offering our usual piece focusing on various windows into the far-flung world of 1999, when everyone wanted to be a millionaire, Y2K was king, and you could talk about “taking the red pill” without sounding like the worst kind of online asshole. All while grooving to the smooth sounds of Lou Bega, “All Star,” and Eminem’s “My Name Is…”—truly, these were halcyon days, when gods themselves were seen to walk the Earth.