top ten tuesday: favorite 90's tv shows

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is one I couldn't pass up:  In honor of Fall TV, do a TV-themed topic! You know I love me some TV, and my love for television really developed in the 1990's, so what could be better than talking about my favorite 90's shows?

Top Ten 90's Shows I Watched in the 90's

1. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

I was completely obsessed with Lois & Clark ... as well as Dean Cain! The problem was that the show aired Sunday nights at 7, which is when we had evening church. We also didn't have a VCR during the first two seasons, so I couldn't record it. I remember once, as a 7th or 8th grader, telling my mom that I couldn't wait to be an adult so that I could choose if I was going to go to night church or not. Clearly, I had my priorities straight! 

2. Full House

Oh, how I loved Full House! Even though I'm pretty much exactly the same age as Stephanie, I always identified with D.J. (and I wished for a Steve of my own!). I can't really handle too much Full House these days, but I am loving Fuller House, and I can't wait for season two!

3. Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman

Saturday nights in our house meant Dr. Quinn. Loved, loved, loved it! It was one of the few shows that we all watched together (well, maybe Dad wasn't there ... but it's possible he was, as these were his pre-Hallmark Channel days).

4. Star Trek: The Next Generation

My dad used to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation every Saturday night after the news. As an older teen, he let me stay up and watch with him. As a younger teen, I used to watch through my barely cracked open bedroom door. This show was really my first introduction to science fiction, and I fell in love!

5. JAG

I love, love, love courtroom dramas, and JAG is probably what set that love in motion. Plus, without JAG, there'd be no NCIS, and that would be tragic.

6. Sports Night

My brother and I watched this sadly short-lived show together when we were in high school. (We actually watched lots of shows together—he was definitely my partner in crime when it came to watching TV on the sly.) I thought the show was so witty and different, and I hated when it got cancelled.

7. California Dreams

"Surf dudes with attitude ... Kinda groovy!" Most girls of my generation would probably list Saved by the Bell here. While I did enjoy that show later on, I didn't start watching the TNBC Saturday morning lineup until after Saved by the Bell ended. California Dreams was still in full swing, and I loved the mashup of teen comedy, romance, and music. I could also still sing the entire theme song for you. (If you were a fan, watch this. Thanks, Jimmy Fallon!)

8. Boy Meets World

Boy Meets World was great—it's one of the few sitcoms from my childhood that I still love to watch. I wish I could say the same about Girl Meets World.

9. Early Edition

Early Edition was such an interesting concept—every morning, a cat and a newspaper arrive outside Gary Hobson's door. The newspaper is tomorrow's newspaper, so Gary has one day to try to prevent whatever tragedies are found in the paper. This show ran for four seasons, but only the first two are on DVD, and it's not available to stream through legitimate channels. Tragic, especially considering how well Kyle Chandler has done recently.

10. Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place (aka Two Guys and a Girl)

Two Guys and a Girl introduced me to both Ryan Reynolds and Nathan Fillion. What I remember most about this show is the wild Halloween episodes. I'm no fan of Halloween, but those episodes were fantastic! Also, I just found out the series is (finally!) available on DVD. It's a little pricey, but it's now on my Amazon wish list!

Bonus: Top Five 90's Shows I Watched Later

1. Stargate: SG-1

My dad is responsible for my love of SG-1, as well. I'm not sure when I started watching, but I'm sure I was already in college. I watched most of the seasons in syndication and ended up buying the entire series on DVD. Plus, my cats are all named after SG-1 characters: Skaara (who was briefly named Ry'ac until Blendy informed me that was stupid, and now I have to agree that Skaara is a much better name), Hammond, and Isis. 

2. Friends

Friends premiered when I was in junior high, and everyone watched it. Everyone but me, that is. I watched it at first (I probably made it halfway through the first season), but then my mom caught me watching it and banned it. Being a "letter of the law" follower, I stopped watching Friends until college. (That didn't stop me from watching every other comedy on NBC—after all, Mom had only banned Friends, not Caroline in the City, Veronica's Closet, Just Shoot Me, News Radio, Jesse, or any other show that happened to be on. I definitely was an NBC girl back in the day. Now? I can't think of a single NBC show I watch!)

After I finally had cable, I caught up on all the seasons of Friends I'd missed. Friends is one of those shows that I could watch at any time—I could even jump in mid-episode and be perfectly happy!

3. Dawson's Creek

Growing up, we didn't have cable or a WB station, so Dawson's Creek wasn't really on my radar ... until the summer of 2012, which I like to call the Summer of Dawson's, when I watched all six seasons in three months. I'm currently facing a similar obsession with One Tree Hill, though no pairing on that show looks like it could possibly live up to Pacey & Joey!

4. 7th Heaven

I didn't watch this show in the early seasons because we didn't have the WB. Somehow, I caught a few episodes and fell in love—so I set up my grandma's VCR to record it each week and then swapped out the tapes when we went to visit. Desperate times and all that!

5. The West Wing

My mom watched The West Wing when it aired, and I thought it looked really boring. How wrong I was! A couple years ago, I finally watched it, and I loved it. I'm pretty sure I'll be making another pass through the series in the future.

Did you watch any of these shows? What are your favorite 90's TV shows?

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