Reminiscing on the 90s! TV Shows

This week on Going Off Topic we are going back to the greatest decade, the 90s. I reached out to a few friends and family members who grew up during that time to cover a few categories: Music, Movies, TV Shows, Athletes, Toys, Stores, Video Games/Board Games and Crushes from the 90s. I gave them the reins to discuss each topic whether that meant things they remember from each category, things they had or loved, things they didn’t have but wish they did. I enlisted a few returning people but most are making their blogging debut. Each day we will be covering a new category with each person’s opinion on that topic. The third category for the Going Off Topic 90s week is TV shows so head to Netflix and watch some of your favorites!

Kyle:

There were so many good kids TV shows in the 90s: Animaniacs, Doug, Hey Arnold, Recess, Dexter’s Lab, Arthur, Magic School Bus, The Wild Thornberrys, Powerpuff Girls, CatDog, Biker Mice From Mars and so many more. As a kid we were not allowed to watch Rugrats because my Mom did not like Angelica. I don’t think I could name any shows that kids are watching today; we need to rerun the 90s TV shows as much as possible for kids now. Other shows I remember watching with my parents were Home Improvement, The Wonder Years, The Drew Carey Show, Friends, Frasier, and ER are a few I remember.

Ellen:

So many great TV shows! My dad would let us watch The X-Files with him all the time and then we would get scared shitless and cry in the middle of the night to my mom. She loved it. The X-Files is a classic show and I still randomly watch it on Netflix. “I want to believe”. Boy Meets World was another show that I loved so much! I want to go back and watch it again one day. Dawson’s Creek, now I didn’t watch this until my college roommate introduced it to me and let me tell you, it’s bitchen. So much drama! It’s like One Tree Hill only circa 1999 and I was all about that. Team Pacey forever! I watched a lot of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Clarissa Explains It All, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Sister Sister. But the best of them all was Animaniacs, All That, and Pinky and the Brain. These shows were so good! “What are you doing?” “Hiding.” “From who?” “From the little puppy children.” Oh my god, I still quote Animaniacs to this day! “Helloooooo nurse!” So inappropriate, but so funny.

Shannon:

It's time for Animaniacs!

And we're zany to the max! 

C’mon, even my dad liked that show because it was amazing and hilarious and just plain awesome. And then there was Pokemon. I don’t even have to say anything about that because that’s a whole lifestyle. The Pinky and the Brain, and then who remembers Gargoyles?? I think I just remember the theme song of it but it was amazing! Then there was Ducktales. Not the new weird one, but original good one, with Huey, Dewey and Louie causing havoc and adventure for everyone involved. Arthur taught us how to spell aardvark, and the Magic School Bus taught us all about everything. Then there were the shows like Ed, Edd and Eddy which only made us laugh, but it was so worth it. Then, one of my favorites was the Wild Thornberry’s, with Nigel?? He’s making a comeback with those memes and gifs, and he needs to! Kids gotta know Nigel!! 

Becca:

I am never more grateful to have grown up in the 90’s then when I think about TV. For real we had the best TV out there. Rugrats, Rocket Power, Doug, Hey Arnold, Sister Sister, Boy Meets World, Clarissa Explains it All, and Full House are just a few of the shows that I remember watching all the time. I always wanted to be a Tanner or a Pickles! So much better than what’s on Disney and Nickelodeon today! 

10 Most Rewatchable TV Shows of All Time

You may have noticed the blog underwent a name change! We will now be "Going Off Topic with Kyle Foshe" and we have a new logo. Make sure to keep checking out the Facebook and Twitter pages. I joined the Anything But Credible Podcast this past week to discuss the "He's The Hero" series and hang out for a little bit. Check out the Podcast episode and let me know what you think. Make sure to keep up to date with the ABC Pod with new episodes every Monday. For the first subject from Going Off Topic, the Editor-In-Chief, Ellen, is joining us!

The question always arises, what is the best TV show of all time? It is an incredible list and I know I have a lot of watching to do to catch up. The list ranges from Sopranos, Seinfeld, Friends, MASH, Game of Thrones, West Wing, The Simpson's, South Park, Lost, Cheers, and many many more. When thinking about these a more important question came to my mind. What are the most rewatchable shows of all time? Basically if it is 2 o'clock on a Tuesday and a random episode of one of these shows is on, what are you watching?(Now a show can fall in both categories as one of the best ever and one of the most rewatchable as well.) This question also has an extensive list of shows but I have narrowed it down to 10 by using the categories listed below. We will give each show a score of 1-10 in each category and find an overall score for each show. The final list will be the ranking of the 10 shows in order of "rewatchability" according to the ranking system.

A. Rewatchability: Are there random episodes of this show on TV every day during the afternoon/evening hours? Also, if you watch TV while going to bed it is more then likely one of these shows?

B. The Characters: How relatable are the characters? How do the characters develop over the shows run? How well do the characters interact with each other? How well do the original characters survive over the course of the show and how many new characters are introduced?

C. The Story: How essential is the story to watching a random episode? (By that I mean can you turn on a random episode and not be completely lost) How relatable/realistic is the story to everyday life?

D. Intro Scene: How good is the opening song? How well do the graphics and cut scenes introduce you to the show?

I came up with quite a list of shows and it was tough to narrow it down to 10. With that being said, here is a list of the honorable mentions: Cheers, MASH, ER, Sesame Street, Muppets, Happy Days, 90's Cartoons, Wonder Years, Beavis & Butthead, The Bob Newhart Show, The Rockford Files, 30 Rock, and Supernatural. Ellen would like to add The Animaniacs, Dexter, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost to this list as well.

So that leaves us with the Top 10 Most Rewatchable Shows of all time that we will rank below: Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Law & Order: SVU, The Office, South Park, Seinfeld, The Simpson's, House, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and New Girl.

1. Rewatchability:
 -Ellen's Rankings                                                                                   -Kyle's Rankings

1.	Friends	10
2.	South Park	9
3.	New Girl	8
4.	Law & Order: SVU	7
5.	How I Met Your Mother	6
6.	House	5
7.	Fresh Prince	4
8.	The Office	3
9.	The Simpson's	2
10.	Seinfeld	1

1.	Friends	10
2.	Law & Order: SVU	9
3.	New Girl	8
4.	How I Met Your Mother	7
5.	House	6
6.	Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	5
7.	South Park	4
8.	The Simpson’s	3
9.	The Office	2
10.	Seinfeld	1

Kyle's Explanation: Watch Friends every night while falling asleep. If you have a deadly disease, watch House, he will help you figure out it's just a bad stomach cramp (or not...). New Girl is one of the funniest and underrated shows on right now.

Ellen's explanation: I also watch Friends every night, I love it. I may or may not have been referred to as the female version of Chandler Bing and I take it as a complement. Law & Order: SVU? Have you ever watched Ice T in this show? Do yourself a favor and check that out immediately. And finally, I am foul mouthed and full of toilet humor, so clearly I LOVE South Park. "I'm goin' down to South Park" because that's probably where I belong...                      

2. Characters:

-Ellen's Rankings                                                                                     -Kyle's Rankings

1.	South Park	10
2.	Friends	9
3.	The Simpson's	8
4.	New Girl	7
5.	How I Met Your Mother	6
6.	Law & Order: SVU	5
7.	The Office	4
8.	Seinfeld	3
9.	Fresh Prince	2
10.	House	1

1.	Friends	10
2.	New Girl	9
3.	Seinfeld	8
4.	Simpson's	7
5.	South Park	6
6.	How I Met Your Mother	5
7.	The Office	4
8.	Law & Order: SVU	3
9.	Fresh Prince	2
10.	House	1

Kyle's Explanation: Chandler, Monica, Ross, Rachel, Joey, Phoebe...Nick, Jess, Schmitt, Cece, Winston, Ferguson...Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, George, Newman...we all want a group of friends like all of these shows.

Ellen's explanation: SOUTH PARK! Eric Cartman? Kyle? Butters? Mr. Garrison!? Need I mention Hankey the Christmas Poo who is on the pair of pajama pants I am currently wearing. It doesn't get much better than this folks. Also Friends has some bomb ass characters but so does HIMYM... Marshpillow, Big Fudge, Ranjit!? 

3. Story:

-Ellen's Rankings                                                                                    -Kyle's Rankings 

1.	Friends	10
2.	Seinfeld	9
3.	How I Met Your Mother	8
4.	New Girl	7
5.	Fresh Prince	6
6.	The Office	5
7.	Law & Order: SVU	4
8.	The Simpson's	3
9.	House	2
10.	South Park	1

1.	Seinfeld	10
2.	Friends	9
3.	New Girl	8
4.	The Office	7
5.	Fresh Prince	6
6.	How I Met Your Mother	5
7.	Law & Order: SVU	4
8.	Simpson's	3
9.	House	2
10.	South Park	1

Kyle's Explanation: This was nearly impossible, Seinfeld basically started the "friends hanging out" storyline. Fresh Prince is lower because none of us have rich Uncles in Beverly Hills. New Girl is entering it's final year so it will be interesting to see how they end it. Loved HIMYM but they completely destroyed the ending.

Ellen's explanation: This was a hard one especially since HIMYM blew it at the end! You had the entire show done and laid out.... aaaaand you blew it. 

4. Intro Scene:

-Ellen's Rankings                                                                                      -Kyle's Rankings 

1.	Law & Order: SVU	10
2.	South Park	9
3.	Fresh Prince	8
4.	Friends	7
5.	The Simpson's	6
6.	The Office	5
7.	House	4
8.	Seinfeld	3
9.	How I Met Your Mother	2
10.	New Girl	1

1.	Fresh Prince	10
2.	Simpson's	9
3.	Friends	8
4.	Law & Order: SVU	7
5.	The Office	6
6.	South Park	5
7.	House	4
8.	Seinfeld	3
9.	How I Met Your Mother	2
10.	New Girl	1

Kyle's Explanation: "In West Philadelphia..." that's all you need to hear for why Fresh Prince is number 1. How many of you know The Rembrandts? (they did the Friends opening song) This is an incredible list of openers.

Ellen's explanation: "In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are

members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories. BUM BUM!" You can't just say the first line, people! You know you have to try and say it all, 'BUM BUM' included! Also gets you in the right mind set for some MESSED UP stuff.

Final Rankings for the Most Rewatchable TV Show of All Time:

-Ellen's Final Ranking                                                                         -Kyle's Ranking

1.	Friends	36
2.	South Park	29
3.	Law & Order: SVU	26
4.	New Girl	23
5.	How I Met Your Mother	22
6.	Fresh Prince	20
7.	The Simpson's	19
8.	The Office	17
9.	Seinfeld	16
10.	House	12

1.	Friends	37
2.	New Girl	26
3.	Law & Order: SVU	23
4.	Fresh Prince	23
5.	Simpson's	22
6.	Seinfeld	22
7.	How I Met Your Mother	19
8.	The Office	19
9.	South Park	16
10.	House	13

Kyle's Explanation: Friends is the run away favorite and for good reason. New Girl and HIMYM are both newer shows that are underrated in my opinion. I have never been a big Seinfeld or The Office fan so that shows in their rankings. House is an awesome show but can't match up against the rest of this list. 

Ellen's Explanation: Friends is a classic and I was not shocked to see it win by a landslide. I feel that I have already explained my case for South Park but just in case I need to again, Chef. If I'm being honest, I could watch Olivia Benson save the day every day so SVU earned it's spot in the top 3.

This was an incredibly difficult list to compile but also a lot of fun to do. Let me know where you agree and disagree! Make sure to click the follow button in the top left corner and keep up to date with the Facebook and Twitter!