Blast From the Past: The Best TV Shows of the `90s

The `90s brought us lots of things, including grunge, the “Rachel” cut, stick-on earrings and scrunchies— things which many of us would like to forget. Something that the `90s decade did do well was television —remember those now hard to find TV shows that were huge hits at the time? Take a walk down memory lane with these five blasts from the past.

“Friends”

The platform that launched Jennifer Aniston to extreme heights of fame, “Friends” was one of the best bits about the `90s. Before “Friends” was launched, it went through a series of name changes, including “Insomnia Café” and “Friends Like Us”. It was bought by the NBC in 1993 and was given a premier 8:30p.m. weeknight timeslot. It quickly took America and the rest of the world by storm, with the series finale having the fourth biggest audience numbers of any show in history. Twenty years after it was first launched,“Friends” is still considered one of the most popular series of all time. Alongside smashing ratings figures, it also spawned a number of fashion trends with the “Rachael” haircut being requested by women all over the world.

“Frasier”

This hugely successful sitcom was preceded by “Cheers”, the sitcom that took place in a bar and featured Dr. Frasier Crane as one of the regular patrons. “Frasier” is still widely considered to beone of the most successful spin-off shows of all time. It ran for 11 seasonsand was the leading television comedy of its time. It was great in that it brought ideas surrounding the complexity of family and relationships to the forefront of society in a light-hearted manner. People related to Frasier’s issues with his son, the breakup of his marriage and his issues finding new love; viewers were refreshed by the fact that his life wasn’t always perfect and peachy.The characters, including Niles, Daphne, Roz, Martin and even Eddie (Martin’s dog) were also much-loved and appreciated by the public, who perhaps hadn’t seen such breadth and depth in a sitcom before.

“Sex and the City”

“Sex andthe City” helped make it okay to talk (and joke) openly about sex and relationships, which was still quite a revelation around the time of the show’s1998 launch. Through the eyes of four very different women, “Sex and the City” explored issues around sexuality, promiscuity, relationships and what it meant to be woman in the `90s. Despite its revolutionary content, it was distributed to a broad range of countries all over the world including Serbia, Bosnia, Slovakia and Ukraine.Over its six-year run, its stellar acting, interesting plotlines and great storytelling earned it a total ofsevenEmmy Awards, eight Golden Globes and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.

“Seinfeld”

The masterpiece that is “Seinfeld” was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld and ran for nine incredibly successful seasons from 1989 to 1998. It quickly became a social and cultural phenomenon and was ranked as one of the top television series of all time by the likes of TV Guide, and E! This year theWriters Guild of America actually named it as being the second “Best Written TV Series of All Time” having been bested only by “The Sopranos”. Packed with clever one-liners, brilliant characters and what can only be described as comic genius, “The Show About Nothing” set a new precedent for television comedy, and “Seinfeldisms” continue to show up in popular culture to this very day.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

The show that cemented Sarah Michelle Gellar as every teenage boy’s fantasy, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was one of the most popular programs among the youth of the `90s. It was widely acclaimed due to its focus on “girl power”, and portrayal of young women as being strong, independent, powerful and self-sufficient, unlike many of the female characters featured on shows aimed at a teen audience during that time. This culminated in “Buffy” being named on Time magazine’s “100 Best TV Shows of All-Time” list in 2007.Its impact on popular culture is still apparent to this day with an abundance of parodies to be found in other films and TV shows.

 “Friends” image from Flickr’s Creative Commons by Hot Rod Homepage

“Frasier” image from Facebook Frasier Page

“Seinfeld” image from Wikimedia Commons