iPlayer? What's an iPlayer? ILX's top 50 TV shows of the 90s!

Could probably find a Batman and a GBH. Impressed if somebody finds a Wonder Years tattoo. Impressed or depressed, anyway.

fuck haters, the Birkin sketch where he goes all sad and serious at the end is still gold

oh i'll still rep for birkin, and yep that one in partic.

42 - 120 Minutes (MTV, 1986-2000)
- 1110 points, 8 votes

http://www.paulking.nl/MTV/logo_120minutes_V12247.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkqVyeMZUIo

never liked the 'sad at the end' birkin sketch, but the one where he suddenly yelps "snake!" would still make me laugh today.

going to rep for the wonder years too. i was roughly kev arnold's age when it first ran, so it was key famiuly viewing at mine because i identified w/him, and my dad loved the music and was also hella sentimental. caught some episodes the other week by accident while staying at my brother's (he has sky) and while it was more mawkish than i'd remembered it, i do think the show was pretty good at capturing some of the confusion of adolescence. though it was a little smug about it.

I know 120 Minutes ran for the whole decade, but I never watched it post-'91. It is 80s TV in my mind.

120 mins was on (iirc) from 12-2 which was past my bedtime in HS so I used to sneak downstairs and watch it while my parents slept. <3 <3 <3 I have v fond memories of this show as a result.

I very clearly remember seeing the video for "Just like Heaven" on 120 mins when I was about 12 or 13 and thinking it was the best song I'd ever heard. I bought my first Cure CD the next day.

The first of my nominees! I started watching 120 Minutes when I lived on a Navy base in 9th grade (prolly, like, 120 minutes away from anything that might be considered civilization). So I was stranded in this weird oasis with no one else my age and living in southern Indiana and feeling like an outcast in a new school and having nothing to really connect with. I stumbled upon late night MTV programming and I remember seeing The Sundays' 'Here's Where The Story Ends' for the first time on 120 Minutes, and I was totally sold. Those early '90s years when the show was very Brit-heavy were a revelation and an amazing introduction to music I may never have discovered otherwise.

'00s poll : '90s poll :: "I really liked this show!" : "This show changed my life!!!"

Those early '90s years when the show was very Brit-heavy

Yeah, exactly. This is probably to blame for my <3 of brit pop even to this day.

sad that 120 Minutes is in this but Party Zone won't be

Whereas I think being in Britain at the time accounts for my hatred of Britpop even to this day.

lol

Party Zone? Never heard of it. Care to elaborate?

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I think it was this show where you could phone up ladies in their underwear and if you paid them money they would do a little dance and take their bra off.

That reminds me: no one remembered to nominate MTV Grind. That was a fucking funny show.

So kinda like The View?

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I know 120 Minutes ran for the whole decade, but I never watched it post-'91. It is 80s TV in my mind.

that's why i didn't vote for it, my personal associations with it are mostly late '80s, even though i probably watched it into '91 or '92.

i did vote for house of cards despite only having seen the first series. i've been meaning to watch the rest, the first one was good.

I think that is an age thing. I turned 18 in '90, and just wasn't around to see 120 Minutes anymore.

oops, i take that back. i didn't vote for house of cards, it just got bumped off my list. still. need to see the rest of it.

You should, all the series are quality. The second has a fantastic turn from Michael Kitchen as King Charles and is probably my favourite.

41 - The Maxx (MTV, 1995)
- 1200 points, 8 votes

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2009/06/maxx.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icOerAhqGv4

And that's your lot for today.

The second show from my ballot; really odd, really poignant. Am very excited MTV is making this available as a burn-to-order DVD through Amazon.

Party Zone? Never heard of it. Care to elaborate?

it was basically 120 Minutes but for dance music (at least the kind that didn't end up getting played on the Euro editions of 120M in the 90s) - airing on MTV Europe for nearly 10 years. mainly just videos (often the first show to air them) but expanded to feature studio guests (from A Guy Called Gerald to Jean-Michel Jarre) each week, live performances, reports from festivals etc.

I loved The Maxx but would rather see Liquid Television on here

recently waded thru huge playlists of old MTV shit on YouTube and discovered Stevie Washington The Angry Youth for the first time - nutso

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Huh. Sounds kinda like Amp. Although I guess it was probably pre-Amp (lol).

Party Zone sounds cool. I don't think the USA had an analogous show, unfortunately - at least not in the same time frame.

About Amp, MTV's dance show. It was pretty rad, really. I nommed it but I didn't vote for it.

omg - i missed the Maxx on my ballot! oh well.

http://seattlest.com/attachments/seattle_dan/frasier.jpg

Kelsey Grammer looks like a motherfucker with some dark secrets

hahahahaha

I didn't put my votes in, because I am an idiot. GBH, Frasier and This Life would have been top ten.

You can write in a number one vote for Cracker for me.

OK, I'm gonna pretend you sent me a one-vote ballot for Cracker. That's still doable.

Cool, cheers :-)

i haven't gone back and rewatched the maxx and i'm not even sure i saw the entire series, i probably missed a few episodes. but it was really striking and there are things from it that have stuck with me ever since. none of the other allegedly "grown up" cartoons since have seemed as interesting or imaginative to me.

The Maxx was as faithful an adaptation as there ever was. Practically the comic pasted onto the screen.

You Brits can thank me for nominating G.B.H.. And you're welcome. Still haven't seen it and barely know what it is, but I'd heard enough good things about it that it's on my 'must see at some point' list. And I figured it deserved a nod.

So, yeah, tipsy: if you've never read the comics, hop to it! The cartoon encapsulates a relatively small bit of a much larger story.

The Maxx was as faithful an adaptation as there ever was. Practically the comic pasted onto the screen.

My brother hated this! He complained through the whole thing: "Why aren't I just reading a comic and listening to a crappy jazz CD?"

Yeah, to be honest, it's why I wasn't the hugest fan. I liked the comic bunches, but I didn't really feel like the cartoon brought a lot to the table. I can see where you might really dig it, though, if you weren't aware of/interested in the comic.

really like this list so far.

Goddam, I forgot to vote again. Curses! If Twin Peaks finishes in the top 5, I will nevertheless feel fairly represented.

Those early '90s years when the show was very Brit-heavy were a revelation and an amazing introduction to music I may never have discovered otherwise. - OTM! Like ENBB, I snuck downstairs on Sundays to watch this & paid the price may times over during Monday first period. The show lost me during the Pinfield era, as it progressively became nothing more than a rehash of the same alt-rock/nu-punk roster that MTV's main playlist consisted of.

"You're watching 120 Minutes on MTV. I'm your host, Dave Kendall, & here is the new one from The Judybats."

I missed the deadline as well. Initially I wasn't too keen on voting anyway, as my age means I'd be viewing a lot of this through the prism of youth/nostalgia over actual quality. However, an actual rundown of the shortlist I mocked up surprised me by mostly being shows of verifiable quality. Day Today and Buffy would have jostled for my top vote. I hope Sports Night is represented somewhere as well.

The show lost me during the Pinfield era

Yeah, but the early part of the 90s had plenty of pre-Pinfield greatness.

Judybats! Woooohooooo KNOXVILLE

Wow, Frasier scored low!

..I have the Fast show a high placing.

...

....Shall I get it? Shall I?

Like ENBB, I snuck downstairs on Sundays to watch this & paid the price may times over during Monday first period.

One of the (in retrospect) delightful things about the 120 Minutes airtime is that I pointedly didn't do this all that much. I often just taped it and watched it the next day, which means I have a ton of the stuff floating around somewhere on rapidly-degrading VHS tapes.

^ Oh but sneaking to watch it at midnight was 1/2 the fun.

The show lost me during the Pinfield era, as it progressively became nothing more than a rehash of the same alt-rock/nu-punk roster that MTV's main playlist consisted of.

Oh see I watched mainly the Pinfield stuff. I think I too young and not quite cool enough to know about it any earlier than that. At the time though I was pretty into the stuff you described so it was OK by me.

hope home improvement places

hope you're kidding