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The 100 Best ’90s TV Shows

The ’90s — when things were whack if they weren’t rad and you bounced from a lame party full of capital-L losers … yadda, yadda, yadda. Some of our favorite TV stars are responsible for that fly vernacular. Their favorite catchphrases were seared into fans’ brains and survive to this day on the lips of moms everywhere because those dorks starred in some of the best TV of the decade.

We’re talking the Fresh Prince, Mulder and Scully, Jerry, Elaine, George, Kramer, Bart and Lisa, Captain Picard, Buffy, Angela Chase, and, of course, Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Monica, Joey, and Phoebe to name just a few of the characters that we came to love and left a lasting impression.

Feeling nostalgic, we decided to rank the top ’90s shows below based on their popularity at the time they aired, their cultural resonance today, their Tomatometer score (where available), and an aggregation of editorial lists published by reputable media outlets. You’ll find ’90s sitcoms, ’90s cartoons, ’90s Nickelodeon shows, ’90s hospital dramas, ’90s police procedurals — sensing a pattern?

We’re saving The Sopranos (1999–2007) and other titles that aired the bulk of their seasons primarily in other decades for other lists; however, long-running shows that ran through the majority or all of the 1990s did make the list, even if they’ve had many seasons in other decades, too – shows like Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, and Unsolved Mysteries. (You may also see those on our “Best TV of the 1980s” list — coming soon!) You’ll also note that these are primarily U.S. titles, though the occasional British series was able to cross the pond in the age before streaming and make a major impression in the ’90s.

Did your favorite not make our list of the best ’90s TV shows? Tell us in the comments which ’90s series you think should have made the list or should have been ranked higher or lower.

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