> Also, I think a lot of sci-fi shows had direct ESP references before mid-90s, then the trope suddenly died out.
Everything parapsychology dies out very suddenly in the mid 1980s. Ghostbusters debuted June 8th, 1984, and within 18 months most universities had already gotten rid of the department. Intelligence agency experiments in remote viewing and such all just fade away nearly as quickly. Police departments using psychics for leads has a sharp downward trend from that date onward. About the only thing left was late-night 900 number commercials for Miss Cleo, that last until the mid-1990s.
Comedy is a powerful sociological weapon, able to obliterate entire memetic ecosystems.
Everything parapsychology dies out very suddenly in the mid 1980s. Ghostbusters debuted June 8th, 1984, and within 18 months most universities had already gotten rid of the department. Intelligence agency experiments in remote viewing and such all just fade away nearly as quickly. Police departments using psychics for leads has a sharp downward trend from that date onward. About the only thing left was late-night 900 number commercials for Miss Cleo, that last until the mid-1990s.
Comedy is a powerful sociological weapon, able to obliterate entire memetic ecosystems.