The 90s was an interesting decade when it came to TV, movies, and other parts of pop culture, especially since a lot of boundaries were often pushed when it came to entertainment. Sometimes the boundaries were left alone, sometimes they were pushed to a point that some viewers thought wasn’t needed. But the point is that a lot of shows during this period of time weren’t dull, and they didn’t always conform fully to the guidelines that had been set down. In a lot of ways, this is why they were so popular and why they lasted so long. But in some instances, the shows that were popular during the 90s came as kind of a surprise as well since their premises weren’t all that difficult to understand, even though the twists and turns they took might have been. When all was said and done, however, it’s fair to say that a lot of these shows stuck around largely because of the fans.
Here are several of the most popular cult TV shows from the 90s.
10. 7th Heaven
This was the type of show that one watched when they wanted something wholesome and perfectly okay for the whole family. In other words, it was a show that people who don’t like serious conflict might watch to wind down and simply enjoy themselves. It was pleasant enough since there weren’t a lot of heavy challenges that the family had to face, other than anything that might make for light to moderate drama.
9. Melrose Place
Shows about beautiful people and their various problems, which when translated became the same kind of problems that many people deal with, were definitely popular back in the 90s. There were a few shows like this that really dug into the lives of those that were considered good-looking enough to be models trying to act like real people. It might sound a little cynical, but the truth is that this show was easy to roll your eyes at.
8. Are You Afraid of the Dark?
The premise might sound kind of juvenile, but this was actually a fairly popular show that might not have received as much attention as it deserved. There was a reboot of this show not long ago, but it’s fair to say that it didn’t perform quite as well as the original. Quite a bit of the 80s and 90s ideas have been brought back in recent years, but not a lot of those ideas have performed as well as people have wanted.
7. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
It was easy to laugh at this show since it was Will Smith in one of his best roles, and the interactions between the Banks family and Will were perfect, and in many ways helped to shape Will as he grew up a little and came to be a respected actor not long after, and definitely during, the course of this show. Obviously one of the most sought-after and watched episodes is the one in which Will finally sees his father again, only to realize what he’s really like.
6. Xena: Warrior Princess
Some might want to argue about this, but Xena did kind of surpass Hercules, especially since more people are talking about her today than they are of Kevin Sorbo’s attempt to keep a mythological being alive for a while. To be fair, they were both good in their time, but trying to see either of them come back at this time feels as though it would be kind of a wasted effort. They were good in the 90s, leave them there.
5. Star Trek: The Next Generation
A lot of people jumped on board this show when it first came out since it was something new, something exciting, and it pushed Star Trek forward in a way that a lot of people weren’t expecting given that there were all new characters. The cameos from the older characters were pretty cool as well since it showed continuity and it was an homage to the original series.
4. Twin Peaks
As strange as this show was there are still plenty of people that talk about it today. If you think that people up and forget about TV shows it might be interesting to see what theories people are still working on all these years later in regards to some of them. To say that this was one of the favorite shows is putting it lightly.
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy is one of those shows that came from a corny movie and somehow created its own culture in the process since people have been pro-Buffy for quite a while now and some folks would even love to see the show make a comeback at some point.
2. Charmed
Shows and movies about witches are kind of funny really since they tend to come and go and the representation can change from one showing to another given that Charmed has come a long, LONG way from The Wizard of Oz, and even a good way from The Witches of Eastwick.
1. The X-Files
The number of X-Files nerds and fans that cropped up when this show first appeared was absolutely phenomenal since it brought the show into the mainstream in a big hurry and created something that’s still loved to this day.
The 90s were definitely a strange but popular period in pop culture.Will Smith
