The 1990s were a golden era for network television. Every night of the week, it seemed like there was something worth gathering around the set for. Friends, Seinfeld, ER, those shows still come up at dinner tables today.
But for every hit that everyone remembers, there were a dozen more that quietly disappeared. Good shows. Funny shows. Shows that deserved better than the fate of cancellation or slow fade-out.
Here are 14 of them, some you may have loved and forgotten, and a few you might have missed entirely. All of them are worth a second look.
1. Northern Exposure (CBS, 1990–1995)
This one earned seven Emmys, two Golden Globes, and a pair of Peabody Awards. Not bad for a show most people have forgotten. Northern Exposure followed Dr. Joel Fleischman, a New York City doctor played by Rob Morrow, who gets sent to a tiny, quirky Alaskan town called Cicely to practice medicine, because the Alaska state government had paid for his medical school tuition.
Barry Corbin, Janine Turner, John Cullum, John Corbett, and Elaine Miles were among the memorable cast of eccentric locals. It ran five seasons and remains one of the most charming fish-out-of-water comedies the decade produced.
2. Two of a Kind (ABC, 1998–1999)
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were already household names from Full House. This ABC sitcom gave them their own show as part of the beloved TGIF Friday night lineup. They played 12-year-old sisters (tomboy Mary-Kate and girly-girl Ashley Burke) living with their uptight widower father, Kevin (played by Christopher Sieber), in Chicago.
The spark of the series was Carrie Moore, a free-spirited 26-year-old babysitter played by Sally Wheeler, who also happened to be one of Dad’s college students. It only lasted one season, from September 1998 to July 1999, but TGIF fans will remember it fondly.
3. NewsRadio (NBC, 1995–1999)
If you loved WKRP in Cincinnati, this one is right up your alley. NewsRadio ran four seasons on NBC and was set at WNYX, a fictional AM news station in New York City. The ensemble cast included Dave Foley, Stephen Root, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney, Joe Rogan, Khandi Alexander, and the late, great Phil Hartman in one of his final acting roles.
Comedy fans often point to NewsRadio as an early blueprint for what later became 30 Rock, The Office, and Parks and Recreation. The humor was sharp, the characters were delightfully odd, and yes, one episode really did send the whole cast into space.
4. Two Guys and a Girl (ABC, 1998–2001)
Long before he was Deadpool or a rom-com leading man, Ryan Reynolds was playing a twentysomething slacker named Berg on this four-season ABC comedy. Also known as Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place during its first two college-era seasons, the show co-starred Richard Ruccolo as Pete and Traylor Howard as Sharon. The jokes came fast and were often wonderfully ridiculous, very much a preview of the comic timing Reynolds would carry into his movie career.
5. Sports Night (ABC, 1998–2000)
Before The West Wing made Aaron Sorkin a household name, he wrote this sharp, warm comedy about two best friends (Dan Rydell and Casey McCall, played by Josh Charles and Peter Krause) who co-anchor a nightly cable sports show. Felicity Huffman, Joshua Malina, Sabrina Lloyd, and Robert Guillaume rounded out the cast.
Sports Night only ran two seasons on ABC, from September 1998 to May 2000, but it picked up three Emmys for directing, editing, and cinematography. Guest stars included William H. Macy and Ted McGinley. It was canceled too soon, and fans of Sorkin’s later work owe it to themselves to track it down.
6. Bakersfield P.D. (Fox, 1993–1994)
Think of this one as Brooklyn Nine-Nine before Brooklyn Nine-Nine existed. This single-camera police comedy aired on Fox for one season (just 17 episodes) before being canceled due to low ratings. Set in the Bakersfield, California, police department, it starred Giancarlo Esposito, Ron Eldard, Chris Mulkey, Tony Plana, and Brian Doyle-Murray.
At the time, The Los Angeles Times called it “a police spoof that is as witty as television gets.” Ahead of its time, as they say.
7. Dharma & Greg (ABC, 1997–2002)
The premise was simple and irresistible. Dharma, a free-spirited hippie-raised yoga instructor played by Jenna Elfman, and Greg, a buttoned-up Ivy League lawyer played by Thomas Gibson, meet, fall in love, and decide to get married on their very first date. The culture clash between their wildly different backgrounds fueled five seasons of laughs on ABC, from September 1997 to April 2002. Chuck Lorre created the series well before he became the force behind The Big Bang Theory.
8. Caroline in the City (NBC, 1995–1999)
Remember Lea Thompson? She was an absolute ’80s movie staple: Back to the Future, Red Dawn, and Some Kind of Wonderful. In the ’90s, she moved to television and landed a primo spot on NBC’s Thursday night lineup, sandwiched between Seinfeld and ER.
Caroline in the City starred Thompson as Caroline Duffy, a successful Manhattan cartoonist surrounded by an eccentric group of friends played by Eric Lutes, Malcolm Gets, and Amy Pietz. The show ran four seasons and 97 episodes between September 1995 and April 1999.
9. Clueless (ABC/UPN, 1996–1999)
The 1995 film is a genuine classic. The TV spinoff? A little harder to remember, but worth a look for fans of the movie. The series aired one season on ABC and two more on UPN, running from September 1996 to May 1999. Several original cast members returned, including Stacey Dash as Dionne, Elisa Donovan as Amber, Wallace Shawn as Mr. Hall, and Donald Faison as Murray. Paul Rudd and Brittany Murphy even made cameo appearances.
It never quite captured the magic of the film, but spending more time at Bronson Alcott High has its charms.
10. All-American Girl (ABC, 1994–1995)
This one made genuine television history. Margaret Cho’s sitcom All-American Girl became the first primetime network series to star an Asian-American family. Based on Cho’s own stand-up material and her experiences growing up in a Korean-American family in San Francisco, the show starred Cho as Margaret Kim, a rebellious daughter to traditional immigrant parents played by Jodi Long and Clyde Kusatsu. BD Wong played her older brother, and Amy Hill played her grandmother.
It ran just one season, from September 1994 to March 1995, but it was a milestone that helped pave the way for later shows like Fresh Off the Boat and Kim’s Convenience.
11. Smart Guy (The WB, 1997–1999)
Tia and Tamera Mowry had Sister, Sister. Their real-life younger brother Tahj Mowry got his own show too. In Smart Guy, Tahj played T.J. Henderson, a 10-year-old genius who skips six grades and starts high school, where his classmates include his own older siblings Yvette, played by Essence Atkins, and Marcus, played by Jason Weaver.
The WB series ran three seasons from April 1997 to May 1999. It was a warm, funny show built around a genuinely clever premise.
12. Unhappily Ever After (The WB, 1995–1999)
If you were a fan of Married…with Children, this one came from the same creative team, Ron Leavitt and Arthur Silver. The series centered on the dysfunctional Malloy family: a car salesman dad named Jack, played by Geoff Pierson, who regularly has conversations with a foul-mouthed stuffed rabbit named Mr. Floppy, voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait. His ex-wife, Jennie, was played by Stephanie Hodge, and their three kids were played by Kevin Connolly, Nikki Cox, and Justin Berfield.
It ran five seasons on The WB but never quite achieved the cult status of its Fox predecessor.
13. Spaced (Channel 4, 1999–2001)
Before Simon Pegg and Nick Frost became beloved big-screen comedy partners in films like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, they were starring together in this British cult favorite on Channel 4. Co-created and co-written by Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, Spaced followed Tim Bisley (a London twenty-something who pretends to be in a relationship with a stranger just to afford a flat), with Frost as his best friend Mike. It ran two seasons from September 1999 to April 2001.
14. Wings (NBC, 1990–1997)
Some workplace sitcoms are set in bars or newsrooms. This one was set at a small airport in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Wings followed pilot brothers Joe and Brian Hackett (played by Tim Daly and Steven Weber), who ran a tiny one-plane airline called Sandpiper Air out of Tom Nevers Field. A spinoff of Cheers, the show ran a very respectable eight seasons and 172 episodes on NBC from April 1990 to May 1997.
The ensemble included Crystal Bernard, David Schramm, Thomas Haden Church, Tony Shalhoub, Farrah Forke, and Amy Yasbeck. Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, George Wendt, and Kirstie Alley all stopped by regularly to reprise their Cheers characters. It was cozy, funny comfort television, exactly what Thursday nights were made for.