90s Shows I Have Known and Loved

In case you were unawares, Netflix has produced a Full House reunion show (entitled Fuller House) that will be released on 26 February. Although my hopes aren't high, I'm very excited for this show and am going to have to restrict myself from binge watching. In honor of Netflix's shout out to the 90s, I'm preparing some nostalgic blogs from this same time. Today is all about 90s TV.

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 A Nickelodeon sitcom based off books of the same title (I believe - and I think I read them), Alex Mack could do pretty awesome things like turn herself into an amorphous blob. More or less the girl version of Spider Man, Alex Mack chose to keep her powers a secret (hence the "secret world") and I'm not sure whether or not she uses them for anything good or not, but nevertheless she has them. And I wanted them. I don't remember much about the show excepting that I, too, wanted the ability to turn myself into a green blob in order to escape dangerous situations.

 Oh, Erik Von Detten. You are so yummy. Odd Man Out lasted only one season, which probably means it was actually really good, and, despite not remembering anything specific about this show aside from the exquisite yumminess of EVD, I do recall enjoying this short-lived sitcom. Maybe I can find back episodes of it somewhere on the vast expanses of the interwebs.

 She explains it all. Everything. But this show is far from educational unless you are a teenage (or a budding teenage) girl. Clarissa tells us about her training bras, the awkwardness of dating, how to cover up a pimple, and how to look super fly, 90s style.   Replaced by Alex Mack, I do believe Clarissa was Melissa Joan Hart's prime time debut.

 When this boy meets world, boy meets world....I could go on. I love this show and still watch back episodes of it, especially as one of my life's goals is to turn into George Feeney. There's something inviting about the close-knitness of friendships and family in this show that both warms your heart and simultaneously makes you want to barf a little bit. But in an awesome way.

 When I was younger, I appreciated the humor of this sketch comedy show and I liked that there was a fat woman, Lori, who butchered nursery rhymes. Three blind mice, three blind mice, see how they run into things. As an adult, I'm looking at this cast and doing a hindsight shout-out to Nickelodeon for the diversity in this cast. Yes, its predominantly white cast could be replaced by some Hispanic or Asian-American actors, but look at the ages, sizes, and races it does have.

I was never a big fan of cartoons, which is why 90s purists are going to be saddened at the lack of Hey Arnold and Doug on this blog. (Spoiler alert!) But I did love Animaniacs. 'Cause they're zany to the max. I'm not even sure what the hell kind of creatures they are, but they're awfully amusing. Plus, they had Pinky and the Brain, which just can't be beat.

 How you doin'? OH, MY GOD. Chand-luh? Chand-luh BING? Possibly at the top of my list for best sitcom ever made, and I would not bamboozle you. I have seen each season at least twice, because this show is my lobster. First name "Crap," last name "Bag." It's BoGOta, but close enough. And we must clap during the theme song.

 Show of my first crush, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, or, as we all lovingly called him, JTT. When I watch this show as an adult, I get really annoyed by Tim's antics and assumptions that his wife will just roll with and fix everything, but I really like the sons in the chemistry in this show as well as the humor. This show, even without a laugh track, is genuinely funny.

 Alright, alright, I know, this show is hokey and uber-problematic, but I used to watch it every morning before school. I know everybody was in a tizzy as to who was cuter - suave, boy-next-door Zack Morris, or muscley, jock AC Slater - but this show definitely propelled my love of nerdy boys.

Cheesy? Yes. Whiter than wonderbread? You betcha. Entirely unbelievable that Joey has a stand up routine that features entirely clean, family-friendly humor? You know it. But Full House holds a special place in my heart. Perhaps its Danny's compulsive cleanliness or DJ's eternal search to find herself, perhaps we'll just never know what love is.

From Clarissa Explains It All to Sabrina, Melissa Joan Hart rocked the 90s. Sabrina was, unarguably, ah-MA-zing what with Salem, the mechanical talking cat, Salem the town, and some pretty baller special effects. My favorite thing about this show, though, were the aunts, Hilda and Zelda, respectively with their professional violining and sciencing. LOVE this show.

Fran Drescher's voice. Need I say more? 

I'm trying to remember what this show was even about, but Fran Drescher's voice keeps drowning it out.

I'm humming the theme song as I type. Oh, man, this fucking show. I didn't watch it in the 90s, I actually discovered my undying love for it later in life, which I suppose doesn't make it nostalgic, but perhaps YOU watched it in the 90s. I remember how much flack Roseanne caught for her brassy, loud mouth and now I can't help thinking that people were probably just pretty pissed that a big old fat lady was creating, producing, and starring in her own prime time TV show.