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

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

So... what is an iPlayer?

hulu for britishers

40 - Late Night With Conan O'Brien (NBC, 1993-2009)
- 1210 points, 8 votes

http://sharetv.org/images/late_night_with_conan_obrien-show.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5o8asX9wxA

too americans; didn't watch

problem with this poll was that i couldn't remember too many shows, and i'll no doubt be kicking myself as ones i should have remembered/voted for come up.

frasier deserved a higher placing, i think. yeah it's arch and frou-frou, but all sitcom characters have to have some basic charactersics to riff on. at least frasier's were different.

There were a few years that I watched Conan every night upon getting home from work. I can't remember many of the bits now though - the In the Year 2000 segment was great, in it's time. Was there a running gag about Preparation H? The Max Weinberg 7 were great. Kinda surprised that he placed this high.

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Like I said I like Frasier. It feels like a good winter show actually, would be nice to curl up with a bunch of eps + some booze about now. I was trying to account for why it doesn't inspire much devotion, seemingly.

39 - Animaniacs (Fox Kids, 1993-98)
- 1220 points, 12 votes

http://www.wavplanet.com/animaniacs.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ip4voSfrj4&feature=PlayList&p=0F374FAB428679F5&index=0&playnext=1

Tsk you kids

will never forget the one where they had to travel through the WB backlot to stop a rogue producer, with a jim morrison guy turning up to sing about where they were in the story.

What's next, Teletubbies?

"Isreal"?

iirc Yakko packed away the snacks while Bill Clinton played the sax

If Animaniacs placed this low, it probably signals that we haven't seen a critical re-appraisal of Might Morphin Power Rangers yet.

Anyway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYmcD2HLs8A

animaniacs :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDd

if you didnt at least smile watching the nations of teh world clip then there is no hope for you

It's a lovely clip!