Why We Love 90s TV in 2k15

The year was 1999. I was four years old, wearing a highly fashionable array of pink and blue butterfly clips in my hair that clashed terribly with my white and green polka dot overalls that I wish I still fitted into today. Seated comfortably on my Blues Clues mini couch after a day at kindergarten, I can recall being ecstatic about being able to finally watch my brand new Rugrats VHS tape entitled ‘Chuckie’s Lucky Day’. To this day, I still own that VHS tape and I cannot deny I still enjoy it just as much as I did back then when the show was still in its original run on TV.

In my opinion, in the last five years or so, worldwide, 1990s television has certainly been making a comeback. Why? For me personally, it’s due to a number of factors. Maybe it’s the nostalgia associated with the show itself or the nostalgia surrounding the simplicity my life embodied during that time? Maybe it’s because I enjoy watching shows that aren’t so fast paced and full of technology? Maybe I’m curious about what the 90s was really like, considering I was young and don’t remember a great deal about it? Whatever the reason for my recent love of 90s TV, there are many who also share my fascination.

On October 5th 2015, due to viewer demand, Nickelodeon once again began airing popular 90s cartoons. “We just listened to the audience,” Keith Dawkins, senior vice president of Nicktoons, TeenNick and Nick Jr., told MTV News, “This initiative has felt so fresh and exciting because the audience has asked for it. They were 90s kids who grew up on this content – and they want it back.” Similarly, popular 90s show ‘Full House’ has been revived through the creation of a follow up series 20 years after the original ended in 1995. ‘Fuller House’ stars the original cast members of Full House, including Candice Cameron Bure, who recently spoke of the way fans have responded so positively to the new show, saying: “I know how excited the fans are… the people that have been in some of the live audience shows have cried over the fact that it’s so nostalgic for them. The memories are incredible, and they’re just excited to see the progression of these characters that they grew up with.”

Nostalgia is a sentimental yearning for a former time fuelled by the memories it holds. It’s a powerful thing and I think it’s helped to propel the popularity of 90s shows in recent years. Some believe that nostalgia comes in 20 year cycles and maybe there is truth to this considering it has been exactly 20 years since the mid-nineties.

I’m 20 years old and I have noticed many people at or around my age seem to be currently re-consuming 90s media. Vocativ collected data about which 90s television programs had the most Facebook likes from people between the ages of 13 and 19. Take the quiz I created in the video below to see if you can guess which programs are most popular among this demographic.

The number of likes are significantly large for some shows. According to Nielsen’s Twitter TV rating, “the Twitter TV audience for an episode is, on average, 50 times larger than the authors who are generating tweets.” One can can probably apply a similar amplifier effect to Facebook likes. Considering this, it is quite evident that young people are indeed re-consuming a great deal of 90s TV programs. I feel this is largely to do with the fact that re-visiting our favourite 90s shows allows us to re-live a simpler time in our lives when we were children. We were too young to have to stress about school, work or our social lives. In the 1990s the digital age, and its pressures, didn’t exist as it does today. We didn’t feel pressured by having to maintain social media accounts that portray us the way we want to be seen. We didn’t have to constantly respond to text messages. We went to Wiggles concerts instead of concerts that look more like iPhone conventions, due to people feeling pressured to obtain as many photos as they can rather than simply absorb the experience.

Childhood in the 90s was an indulgent mix of simplicity and innocence. And I know personally that those times are certainly missed now, more than ever, upon entering adulthood and living in an age where technology undeniably dominates my life. Sitting back and watching a Nickelodeon cartoon today instantly brings me back to the place I was when I was four years old and my life lacked the complications it does now. Watching 90s shows reflects the way ‘…The nostalgia of the Gen-Y childhood is making a comeback.’ Sure, our childhood wasn’t without it’s flaws, but there is a sense of things being easier when we were kids in the 90s, rather than young adults in 2015.

Earlier in the year, Jimmy Fallon reunited the cast of ‘Saved by the Bell’, a live action comedy which originally aired from 1989–1994.

This reunion saw the original cast reclaim their roles in an eight-minute skit. Less than a year later, a whopping nearly 32 million people have viewed the reunion on YouTube, leaving popular comments on the video such as ‘We should bring back the style of the 80s and 90s’. This sparked me to think maybe people’s interest in watching these shows again is partially a result of the way many (definitely not all) 90s clothes, and even makeup trends have come back in fashion. Trendy stores such as Topshop and American Apparel are selling clothing items that were popular in the 90s such as ‘mom jeans’ and ‘tennis skirts’, both of which were originally worn in Saved by the Bell and are seen in the skit above. I can’t say I think people watch 90s shows with the sole aim of obtaining fashion inspiration but I know that sometimes when I watch shows like ‘Saved by the Bell’ and even ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ I often admit to loving some of the outfits and noting that similar styles are being sold in stores today.

Speaking of Beverly Hills 90210, a couple of weeks ago a film aired which depicted the behind the scenes drama that occurred during the show’s production in the 90s. Entitled ‘The Unauthorised Story of Beverly Hills 90210’, this followed ‘The Unauthorised Saved by the Bell Story’, ‘The Unauthorised Full House Story’ and ‘The Unauthorised Melrose Place Story’. The sole fact that money was poured into producing these films indicates that there is a market for them; they wouldn’t have been created or funded if it was believed there would be no audience. I feel such content is being made for us to watch today because it is reflective of societies' interest in popular 1990s TV as these movies are designed to expose what life was like for the cast during this era. In my opinion, another reason the youth of today desires to re-watch 90s series is because they are curious about what this decade was like as many were too young to understand it during the decade. I know this is the case for me personally. I find it interesting to witness a time that was not so dominated by the Internet or so reliant on smartphones and other technologies. Some may argue that this forces audiences to disengage with shows as they can’t relate to them, however, I think people are definitely still able to enjoy shows from the 90s, especially teen dramas like ‘Beverly Hills 90210’. This is largely due to the fact that the core issues they deal with (such as love, family and friendship woes, sexuality, drugs and mental illness) are still very much prevalent in today’s world. This of course makes for genuinely interesting viewing as today’s youth can still relate to the characters on screen and watch as they experience the things we do growing up.

Many 90s TV shows featured episodic story lines that were centred around a core issue. Upon the story’s resolution, the viewer was left feeling like they had learnt a life lesson.

There is no denying that the Internet has played a major role in re-popularising 1990s television. Many entertainment news websites such as e-online and Buzz-Feed are responsible for creating list style pieces about popular 90s shows. Reading such things causes people to fall in love with their favourite programs all over again as they are reminded of why they once adored them. Social media and the rise of popular hashtags such as #FBF and #TBT have also contributed to the increased popularity of 1990s television as they present an opportunity for people to shed light on pop culture from the past. There are also many popular blogs dedicated to 90s shows. They allow people to view images and screen caps from shows, as well as interact with others from around the world who share the same passion for the programs they do. Vocative reports that “A fake Will Smith Twitter account posted a screenshot of a direct message conversation with “NBC” about reuniting the cast in Avery’s memory. The message said if 300,000 people retweeted it, NBC would consider it. Over 300,000 did, a nice indication of popularity, but sadly not for a real cause.” This is evidence that 1990s television has a strong online presence. It’s also worth noting that almost two years after that ‘fake’ tweet, thanks to the real Will Smith, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air is said to be getting a reboot. I can’t help but wonder if the show’s notable online popularity played a part in this decision.

‘Seinfeld’s’ original run ended 17 years ago, however constant re-runs enable us to feel like it never did. In addition to this there are many popular online streaming sites such as Netflix and Hulu, who commonly provide 90s content for people to stream. I feel the proliferation of television channels in recent years, channels which air shows in syndication, has perpetuated the popularity of 90s shows.

In Australia, the re-runs of 90s shows like ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, ‘Fraiser’ and ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’, are commonly seen on free to air channel Eleven which was introduced in 2011. People who catch old programs on TV are often reminded of how much they love them, meaning they are easily convinced to watch them. Television is also a very public household appliance. The entire family sees what’s on TV as it is usually situated in an area everyone shares, like the living room. Therefore different generations can view the same shows together and such programs playing in syndication are perfect for everyone to enjoy. Parents can recall past moments from such shows while introducing their children to them so they can enjoy them for the first time with their guidance. A survey by Netflix confirmed 85% of dads admitted to watching their favourite 90s cartoons on the streaming service. 90s cartoons and sitcoms are also generally family appropriate and can be enjoyed by everyone, whereas many of today’s shows are geared towards fast-paced violence as sitcoms seem to be taking a backseat. Hanna Sender and Versher Sharma describe the way they believe teenagers “…may just happen to like sitcoms, which are harder and harder to find today in the sea of supernatural dramas and reality shows aimed at teens.”

There is no sole reason that can be attributed to the surge in popularity of 1990s television over the past five years. Many factors have cemented the comeback of these late twentieth century TV shows that come with retro fashion inspiration, great life lessons and even better theme songs, which seem to hold a special place the hearts of many.