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

Seinfeld was my number 1 - am I alone in the Britishe contingent in this?

And the Merv Griffin Set show is priceless - good choice.

Haha, it was just the first proper clip from the show to come up in results - never got into Seinfeld myself. Thanks anyway!

2 - Father Ted (Channel 4, 1995-98)
- 5280 points, 25 votes, 3 first place

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~warden/craggy/cast1.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AB7IDw3PNI

What is this?

people fail to realise, IMO, just how much fr ted is observational drama rather than invented comedy.

yanks gonna love this.

Quite a few yanks voted for it.

yes, they are gonna love it

As I said above, I do like Father Ted a lot, but I'm not sure where this torrent of love and admiration has come from on ILx. There's no way it's better than Chris Morris at his best, guys, come on.

no surprise- it was tipped for top 3 pretty much since the poll started up.

just how much fr ted is observational drama rather than invented comedy.

where's the fecking child abuse

This Yank of Irish extraction loves Father Ted.

I watch Brass Eye for the umpteenth time and I find more things to admire, but I don't do much actual laughing. I watch Father Ted for the umpteenth time and I laugh almost as hard as the first time I saw it. It's one of the most unique and immersive comic universes ever created.

Having said that, I did give more points to Brass Eye.

I love the ridiculous rating system at work here - 5280 points!

Father Ted knocks everything Chris Morris has ever done into a cocked hat, and I really like Chris Morris (in the 90s at any rate). What works in its favour is absolute bucketloads of charm, pretty hard to come by in 90s Brit comedy.

Yeah, Morris is smarter, Ted is a heck of a lot more lovable.

1 - The Simpsons (Fox, 1989-present)
- 7870 points, 39 votes, 6 first place

http://crabfisher.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/early-simpsons-1987.jpg

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

Look at that points gap.

el dorado was robbed

..the best of Twin Peaks is right up there with the best television ever.

seinfeld is about the most divisive tv show i could think of?

― stop grieving, it's only a chicken (darraghmac), Friday, December 11, 2009 11:00 AM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's not really any more divisive than any show of its stature, you just think that because you're in the inevitable minority that doesn't like it. Buffy, to name just one example, is way way more divisive.

Here's your complete top 50 rundown. 100-51 to follow shortly.

50 - The House of Cards Trilogy
49 - Frasier
48 - Vic Reeves Big Night Out
47 - This Life
46 - Quantum Leap
45 - G.B.H.
44 - The Wonder Years
43 - Batman: The Animated Series
42 - 120 Minutes
41 - The Maxx
40 - Late Night with Conan O'Brien
39 - Animaniacs
38 - Freaks & Geeks
37 - Red Dwarf
36 - Oz
35 - Daria
34 - The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer
33 - Shooting Stars
32 - The Adam and Joe Show
31 - The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air
30 - Space Ghost Coast to Coast
29 - Knowing Me Knowing You... with Alan Partridge
28 - Friends
27 - Roseanne
26 - Mystery Science Theater 3000
25 – Cracker
24 – Newsradio
23 – My So-Called Life
22 – Spaced
21 – Futurama
20 – The X-Files
19 – King of the Hill
18 – Mr. Show
17 – Northern Exposure
16 – Beavis and Butt-head
15 – Ren and Stimpy
14 – The Fast Show
13 – Star Trek: The Next Generation
12 – The Larry Sanders Show
11 – Homocide: Life on the Streets
10 – The Kids in the Hall
9 – South Park
8 – The Day Today
7 – I’m Alan Partridge
6 – Brass Eye
5 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4 – Twin Peaks
3 – Seinfeld
2 – Father Ted
1 – The Simpsons

It's such a thuddingly obvious canonical choice but also probably exactly the right one given that the 90s Simpsons has given me more hours of enjoyment than anything else on this thread several times over.

Oh, and thanks to everyone who voted, commented or lurked. Hope you've enjoyed yourselves, I have.

Wot no Fist of Fun - That was my #1, I imagine it could be a bit dated looking back now but it influenced my young sense of humour so much and S Lee has turned out to be a great stand-up.

Still, some of these US shows that I've never seen look half-decent, going to look into a few of these.

Thanks for doing this chap. Well done.

indeed

xp I'm not sure about that- seinfeld tends towards love/hate extremes in a way that most popular shows don't- buffy is another good example though

yeah good work that chap

cant believe prime suspect didnt place!

100 – Home Movies (410 points, 3 votes)
99 – Tom Green/Tiny Toon Adventures/Jeeves & Wooster (410, 4)
96 – Dancing in the Streets (420, 3)
95 – Nevermind the Buzzcocks (420, 5)
94 – The Crystal Maze (420, 6)
93 – Absolutely Fabulous (430, 3)
92 – Top of the Pops (430, 5)
91 – Yo! MTV Raps (440, 4)
90 – The Drew Carey Show (450, 3)
89 – Smack the Pony (450, 5)
88 – Picket Fences (460, 4)
87 – Gamesmaster (460, 5)
86 – The Late Show with David Letterman (470, 3)
85 – Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (480, 4)
84 – Riget (490, 3)
83 – The Cops (510, 5)
82 – An Interview with Dennis Potter (540, 2)
81 – Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (540, 3)
80 – Dr. Katz (540, 5)
79 – Eastenders/Ford Super Sunday (550, 3)
77 – Saturday Night Live (550, 6)
76 – The Tick/Liquid TV (560, 5)
74 – Millenium (570, 3)
73 – Harry Enfield’s Television Programme (570, 7)
72 – Pride & Prejudice (580, 3)
71 – The Critic (610, 5)
70 – Have I Got News For You (610, 7)
69 – Fist of Fun (650, 5, 1 first place)
68 – Married with Children (660, 5)
67 – The State/Pop-Up Video (660, 6)
65 – The Royle Family (670, 7)
64 – Sports Night (690, 4)
63 – A Bit of Fry & Laurie (690, 5)
62 – Whose Line is it Anyway (UK) (700, 8)
61 – Rock Family Trees/Fishing with John (720, 5)
59 – Prime Suspect/Inspector Morse (750, 5)
57 – Our Friends in the North (760, 5)
56 – Get a Life (780, 6)
55 – Absolutely (780, 7)
54 – Law & Order (790, 8)
53 – Sifl & Olly (810, 6, 1 first)
52 – This Morning with Richard Not Judy (850, 5)
51 – The Adventures of Pete & Pete (850, 6)

Thank you kindly for all your hard work, chap. Overall, I'm pleased enough with the results. As pleased as I can be, given my limited amount of control over the results. Ha.

Here's my ballot, in full:

1. The Larry Sanders Show
2. The Kids in the Hall
3. Twin Peaks
4. The Simpsons
5. Mr. Show
6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
7. Newsradio
8. Roseanne
9. Seinfeld
10. Star Trek: TNG
11. My So-Called Life
12. Friends
13. Get a Life
14. 120 Minutes
15. Homicide: Life on the Streets
16. Superman: The Animated Series
17. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (kind of a joke, honestly)
18. The Storyteller
19. Beavis & Butthead
20. Riget (The Kingdom)
21. The X-Files
22. Ren & Stimpy
23. Cartoon Planet
24. The State
25. The Tom Green Show

We certainly liked comedy in the 1990s.

HIGNFY and Premiership are low placed suprises for me

I think I rated The Simpsons a little lower than I might've because...it's like someone that you're really close to and really good friends with for the better part of a decade. But then the relationship started souring slowly. And you could've just drifted apart and been okay with things, except that maybe you work in the same place or live in the same building, so you're constantly reminded of things going sour and how things aren't the same anymore, so you can never quite look back at the good times fondly without some taint of the sad way things ended up. That's what it's like.

some tactical voting here:

1.The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer
2.The Adam & Joe Show
3.MTV Party Zone
4.Dancing in the Streets: A History of Rock N’ Roll
5.Cracker
6.The Simpsons
7.This Morning With Richard Not Judy
8.Ren & Stimpy
9.I’m Alan Partridge
10.The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
11.King of the Hill
12.Later With Jools Holland
13.Liquid Television
14.Father Ted
15.Have I Got News For You
16.The Fast Show
17.Shooting Stars
18.KYTV
19.The Cops
20.Fantasy Football League
21.Yo! MTV Raps
22.Top of the Pops
23.The Mary Whitehouse Experience
24.The Big Breakfast
25.Space Ghost: Coast to Coast

Wow, 86 for Letterman...was I ever off! Glad to see DS9 rated, anyhow.

My ballot, stuff that didn't place in bold:

1. Cowboy Bebop
    2. Batman: The Animated Series #43
    3. Homicide: Life on the Streets #11
    4. Fishing With John
    5. Sports Night
    6. The Tick
    7. Father Ted #2
    8. The Simpsons #1
    9. The Maxx #41
    10. Animaniacs #39
    11. Knowing Me Knowing You… With Alan Partridge #29
    12. Spaced #22
    13. Ren & Stimpy #15
    14. Prime Suspect
    15. South Park #9
    16. Red Dwarf #37
    17. The Powerpuff Girls
    18. Pop Up Video
    19. Space Ghost Coast to Coast #30
    20. American Gothic
    21. King of the Hill #19
    22. Mr. Bean
    23. Roseanne #27
    24. My So-Called Life #23
    25. Babylon 5

cant believe prime suspect didnt place!

surprised me too, i thought a british show with a lot of american fans would be a shoo-in.

and yeah thanks, chap. nicely done.

and for that matter, only 3 votes for abfab?

Thanks for computing, chap-bot. Interesting poll.

#55 and #63 for the two best sketches show of...well, 1989 actually, but they were decent into the '90s. Hurrah.

No Lipstick on Your Collar, Karaoke or Cold Lazarus, but Potter gets in via his Bragg interview? That's the one where he was swigging liquid morphine, right?

I'm glad Smack The Pony made it into the top 100. I felt bad that it didn't make it onto either my '90s or '00s ballot, but it really is good stuff.

My top 10 is probably the most canonical of all the ballots - only one didn't place, and most of the others went top 10:

1. Brass Eye
2. Twin Peaks
3. The Day Today
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
5. Riget
6. G.B.H.
7. The Simpsons
8. I’m Alan Partridge
9. Father Ted
10. Ren & Stimpy

Riget was hurriedly stuffed into the number five slot on my resubmitted ballot, when it was called to my attention as being The Kingdom, but probably should have been number four. It is brilliant.

We certainly liked comedy in the 1990s.

Dude, I like comedy all the time. Comedy and long-form narrative are like my entertainment heroin, and TV is my main supplier, for sure.

Was I the only person to vote for How Do You Want Me and Cardiac Arrest or something then?

They also served: the places on my ballot of those that didn't place in the top 50.

2. Our Friends in the North
3. Inspector Morse
6. Cardiac Arrest
7. How Do You Want Me?
8. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
13. Absolutely
15. Prime Suspect
16. The Cops
17. The Crystal Maze
19. Brookside
20. The Mary Whitehouse Experience
21. Our Mutual Friend
23. Dancing in the Streets: A History of Rock N’ Roll
24. Harry Enfield’s Television Programme

I don't regrette rien

1. The Larry Sanders Show
2. King of the Hill
3. The Day Today
4. Riget
5. The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer
6. G.B.H.
7. Father Ted
8. This Morning with Richard Not Judy
9. Seinfeld
10. The Simpsons
11. Beavis & Butthead
12. Inspector Morse
13. The Cops
14. Brass Eye
15. Futurama
16. Fist of Fun
17. How Do You Want Me?
18. Our Friends in the North
19. Vic Reeves' Big Night Out
20. I'm Alan Partridge
21. South Park
22. Rab C. Nesbitt
23. One Foot in the Grave
24. Absolutely
25. The Mary Whitehouse Experience

I'm glad Home Movies got in but it deserves better than #100.. ;_;