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

btw, i didnt even see this had started until today because when scanning it as a lolmerican i just thought "iplayer? well, nothing for me in that thread"

Eh, sorry. Should've thought of that.

no people should be more open-minded! (jk)

Just curious, chap (as I don't think it's been mentioned): how many ballots did you receive in total?

Counting mine, an even 50.

Including one from a certain controversial former poster. Any guesses?

dom obv

Yep.

Hi Dom.

Dom will have voted for some very good things here, so yeah. Raises the chances of Father Ted winning and IAP finishing top-5.

belated xpost on friends, the first couple seasons of that show were really good. the writing was sharp, the ensemble was good and the characters' quirks hadn't yet devolved into the lazy shorthand gags they inevitably became later on. the ross-rachel storyline was well developed, and lisa kudrow took what could have been a one-note ditzy role and did a lot of very funny things with it. (and, to be fair, i was immediately postcollegiate when it started, so there was a definite "hey a show for us" thing when it started.)

when it started when it started

21 - Futurama (Fox, 1999-2003)
- 2010 points, 16 votes

http://thefilmwiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/futurama.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_8-_lXUlfE

hmph

no worse than including Spaced tho i guess

Things are probably going to kick off an hour or two later than usual tomorrow, gotta go and teach in the morning. See you then.

xpost - Futurama really hit the ground running, the first season is possibly the best. I voted for it.

Didn't ITV used to show Newsradio in the UK? I'm sure it used to be on in the post-midnight hours.

Starting to hope Day Today or Brass Eye will make the top 5...?

I'd be happy to see some Chris Morris stuff near the top of the poll, despite having barely scratched the surface of his work myself.

Day Today's a lock for top 5 surely, top 3 perhaps? Brass Eye, a bit lower I'd guess.

Depends how well known it is outside UK I suppose.

Not very well, I'd wager. I'm aware of its existence, but mostly because I actively seek out good British TV. I don't think any Chris Morris stuff has made it overseas, either on TV or on DVD. Although I may be mistaken.

Well, I have high hopes for my top 4 (which should be SO hard to guess) all finishing inside the top 10...in reality, Brass Eye and IAP might fall a little lower.

Father Ted will win this thing by a street. Jerry who?

It'll be a tug of war between FT and Seinfeld for the top two spot, prolly. Although I like the show fine (I do own the entire series), I don't see any reason why Seinfeld should finish top 5. The '90s were composed of better stuff.

would be very surprised if Father Ted or anything else beat The Simpsons. This would also be very stupid and wrong. So when's Ren & Stimpy btw?

oh wait damn forgot the simpsons

hmmmmmm

Samo's predos:
5. Seinfeld (but hoping Buffy instead)
4. Day Today
3. Father Ted
2. Twin Peaks
1. The Simpsons

The Simpsons should rate highly (perhaps even #1), but I can't help but wonder if its cachet was damaged by the last decade of 'meh'.

Father Ted will win this thing by a street. Jerry who?

Nah, suspect that Simpsons will probably edge it partly due to greater visibility. Top 5, Day Today, Twin Peaks, FT, Simpsons and one other which I haven't a clue. Ren and Stimpy? X-Files?

X-Files is another one that shouldn't place as highly as it probably will. Loved it back in the day, but I rewatched a large chunk of it a couple of years ago and it doesn't really hold up. It's not bad and it definitely has its moments, but it sure isn't great.

i would like to see I'm Alan Partridge in the top 5

Seeing everyone's predictions is fun. I'll buy a pint for the person who gets closest to the top 10, provided they live in or are prepared to come to London. Failing that I'll email them a picture of one.

i would like to see I'm Alan Partridge in the top 5

I would have thought it was at least as popular as Father Ted

IAP is the 90s UK comedy apex - love it a lot more than TDT and even Father Ted (tho the latter is a bit less painful)

I accurately predicted the top ten in the '00s poll...albeit out of order and a bit late in the game, after a good number of things had been eliminated. But still! I'll take a stab at predictions for the '90s, although all of these UK shows that I'm unaware/barely aware of are total wildcards. In no particular order:

Simpsons
Seinfeld
Father Ted
X-Files
Buffy
I'm Alan Partridge
Larry Sanders
Twin Peaks
The Day Today
Kids In The Hall

I may have mistakenly omitted Mr. Show or Brass Eye, but I guess we'll see, won't we!?!

swap father ted and seinfeld and that's pretty much the order i expect

also drop x-files a few places and bump the day today and twin peaks up

I feel fairly secure in predicting that the following will show up in the next set of ten: Ren & Stimpy, Homicide, ST:TNG.

Yeah, like I said, it was in no particular order, but your ordering seems pretty solid, LJ.

Never heard of Kids In The Hall, should I check it out?

OMG YES. Not only one of my favorite shows of the '90s, but seriously in my top 5 shows ever.

Canadian sketch comedy, FYI. But don't let the descriptors scare you off.

to Billy: O_O

Yeah, I want to give the benefit of the doubt because maybe Billy isn't somewhere in North America and I really have no idea what the impact of KITH is overseas, but I am kinda taken aback that there are still people who haven't even heard of the show. It's 20 years old now (another O_O for you).

Definitely semi-famous in the UK. I remember people talking about it at school and stuff. But it was shown quite late, so maybe someone a few years younger than me wouldn't know about it.

i had KITH explained to me by a Canadian former ilxor (possible lurker still) a few years ago but i've still only seen one of the films

There's plenty I haven't heard of in this poll. I probably know 90% of the British stuff and maybe 30% of the American / rest of the world stuff.

I'm aware of its existence but have never knowingly seen it (I'm mid-to-late 30s, UK-based, and mostly quite up on popular culture). Was it a late-night Channel 4 thing?

Yeah.