So! What are your top four 90’s shows?!
Hulk will be sticking with live action, since those were Harley’s criteria.
4. JEOPARDY!
While not specifically a 90s show, its run throughout the decade surely qualifies it. This is easily the greatest game show ever created, with its simple, gimmick-free format, the fun of playing along at home, and of course the inimitable, irreplaceable, genuinely classy Alex Trebek. Rest In Peace!
3. THE X-FILES
Yeah, The X-Files doesn’t hold up in this current age of conspiracy theories, and its bungled myth arc makes the show seem a whole lot shakier in retrospect, but this was appointment TV for a young Hulk early in its run. It felt truly transgressive at the time. Taking the spooky vibes of Twin Peaks, which went over Hulk’s head in the 90s, and making it accessible enough to be a generation’s introduction to genre TV. The “monster of the week” episodes still hold up.
2. SEINFELD
An obvious choice, maybe, but there’s a reason it’s so celebrated! Basically every TV comedy since is either a variation on Seinfeld or The Simpsons. This changed the sitcom landscape forever, which previously was mostly a bunch of Horsin’ Around stuff. Redefining comedy to the point where it became the new norm. Screw that Friends reunion; this is the king!
1. MST3K
A TV show which included an entire (awful) feature film in each episode? Brilliant! This riffing format - so tired nowadays thanks to hundreds of amateur YouTube comedians - was simply ingenious at the time. I learned to love terrible cinema thanks to Joel and the bots. Joel, Mike, both were fantastic! Still probably the biggest joke-per-minute ratio of any show ever. Discovering this at midnight on Comedy Central was eye opening.