These old series deserve a second chance. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for those short-lived T.V. shows from the ‘90s that deserve some reinvestigation.
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00:00Man, I hate high school.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're
00:05counting down our picks for those short-lived TV
00:07shows from the 90s that deserve some reinvestigation.
00:10You've got a very big future at this network, Daniel.
00:12My future is writing and anchoring a sports program
00:14with my partner, Casey McCall.
00:16Number 10, The State.
00:17As the old saying goes, you had to be there.
00:19How else can we properly contextualize
00:21the humor present within MTV's blink-and-you-missed-it sketch
00:24comedy series, The State?
00:25How was your weekend, Max?
00:26Oh, pretty good.
00:27Spent a little time at home.
00:28Oh, yeah, which home is that, Max?
00:29The strip club or the casino?
00:31Oh.
00:33So much of the talent involved with this show
00:35went on to other things, from Michael Ian Black,
00:37to Joe Lo Truglio, to Thomas Lennon, Ken Marino,
00:40and Kerry Kenny Silver.
00:41This makes it interesting to go back and watch
00:44surreal sketches involving Pudding, Jesus, and a guy
00:47named Doug in the modern day.
00:48I'm Doug, and I can't be locked in a cage
00:51like some sort of manimal.
00:54Forget it.
00:55I'm out of here.
00:57It has that edgy 90s swagger with very
00:59little of the problematic trappings
01:01that often come packaged with this decade.
01:03Trust us, if you enjoyed watching
01:04some of this cast in Reno 911, you'll
01:06love checking them out in The State.
01:08Call me old fashioned, but I still
01:11believe there's only one true God, and he lives in this lake,
01:17and his name is Zorgo.
01:22Number nine, The Critic.
01:24We'll say it here and now.
01:25We're honestly not sure if The Critic would have survived
01:27as long as it did without John Lovitz at the helm.
01:29It stings.
01:31Heck, we're not even sure another actor
01:32could embody the sad sack fictional shoes of Jay
01:34Sherman, a movie lover who nevertheless thrives
01:37upon slicing and dicing flicks for a living.
01:39Here's my two word review, bad movie.
01:42Lovitz's droll, self-deprecating delivery
01:45makes the character inherently likable,
01:47even if he's making mistakes or being difficult.
01:49Plus, the relationship he has with his son,
01:51for whom he splits custody with his ex-wife,
01:53made the show interesting, as did
01:54the barrage of pop culture insults and bits of satire.
01:57Hey, Jay, want to ride in with me?
01:58You don't want to ride with him.
02:00Ride with me.
02:01This critic definitely did not stink.
02:03Yay.
02:04Number eight, The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr.
02:07Bruce Campbell will always be a hero for horror and cult cinema
02:10fans everywhere, but we still think
02:12his work on the small screen deserved more attention.
02:14I got to warn you, I'm real hungry,
02:16and I could be here all day.
02:18His appearances in the Hercules and Xena universes
02:20were always fun, as was his short-lived series,
02:23Jack of All Trades, in 2000.
02:25If there was ever a television also ran for Campbell,
02:27however, it'd be The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr.
02:30Or we could jump.
02:32Oh.
02:35The actor's legendary charisma and comedic chops
02:37made this serial Western throwback tons of fun,
02:40as did his timing with co-star Julius Carey.
02:42Uh-oh, you hit the sheriff.
02:48Yeah, but I didn't hit the deputy.
02:50Briscoe amassed a loyal following of fans,
02:52but it wasn't big enough to save the show from cancellation.
02:55However, we highly recommend going back
02:57and taking another ride down that old, dusty trail.
03:00Number seven, The Ben Stiller Show.
03:02There are probably multiple generations at this point
03:05who aren't even aware that Ben Stiller
03:06had an early 90s sketch comedy show.
03:09Never mind actually taking the time to check it out.
03:11You people, you want me to be a god,
03:13and then you look at me and then you say,
03:15I can't be a god, so I'm telling you to buzz off
03:17because I don't even know what a god is, you know?
03:19We'd advise doing just that, however,
03:21since The Ben Stiller Show serves as a great time capsule
03:23for what was going on comedically and culturally
03:26during this transitional period in pop culture.
03:28I know it was you, Beethoven.
03:29I know it was you, and it breaks my heart.
03:36Granted, some of the content of certain sketches
03:38may not fly today, but The Ben Stiller Show
03:40remains smartly written, chaotic fun.
03:42Rock and roll is here, stay, woo!
03:46Uh, it's me again.
03:48Plus, the show featured a wealth of future talent,
03:50including Bob Odenkirk, Judd Apatow, David Cross,
03:53and Janine Garofalo.
03:55Didn't you study American history?
03:57Yeah, but I wasn't a freak about it.
03:58Number six, Eerie Indiana.
04:00Nobody believes me, but Eerie Indiana
04:03is the center of weirdness for the entire planet.
04:06This next series wasn't necessarily
04:07a horror anthology, per se, but it possessed a similar mystery
04:10or monster of the week vibe that made older shows
04:12like Kolchak the Night Stalker so much fun.
04:14Marshall, what is your problem?
04:17Why didn't you tell us you had such a cool friend?
04:20Yeah, Mars, why are you keeping your old friend
04:22Tripp McConnell a secret?
04:23Yet Eerie Indiana was a show geared towards youth,
04:26and this energetic spirit helped it pull away
04:28from the pack of other shows that provided early frights
04:30to teens and preteens.
04:31Wait a minute, what's going on here?
04:33You guys just left.
04:35Last chance, Marshall.
04:36You're going to miss a great movie, two fingers up.
04:40The cast was likable, the atmosphere spooky,
04:42but also with enough moments of lightheartedness
04:44to break up the tension.
04:45If you were the kind of 90s kid that lived and died
04:47by Are You Afraid of the Dark, then you owe it to yourself
04:50to check out Eerie Indiana.
04:51Still don't believe me?
04:53You will.
04:53Number five, Freakazoid.
04:55It probably seemed like a foregone conclusion
04:57that Freakazoid was going to be a hit.
04:59I'll help you out, my lady.
05:00I'll help you out, my lady.
05:01I'll help you out, my lady.
05:03I'll help you out, my lady.
05:04I'll help you out, my lady.
05:05I'll help you out, my lady.
05:06I'll help you out, my lady.
05:07I'll help you out, my lady.
05:08I'll help you out, my lady.
05:09I'll help you out, my little mangy pal.
05:11After all, this was yet another collaboration
05:13between Steven Spielberg and Warner Brothers,
05:15a partnership that was responsible for birthing
05:17both Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs.
05:20So what happened with Freakazoid?
05:21Well, nothing, at least, if you're
05:23referring to its reputation as a cult classic.
05:25But cult status doesn't necessarily
05:27translate into ratings, and the show only
05:29mustered a pair of seasons.
05:30Ah!
05:31Ah, nut bunnies.
05:33I've got crime to fight.
05:35However, those who watched Freakazoid
05:36during its original run can easily
05:38tell you how bizarre and uniquely funny it was
05:40and how they never missed an episode.
05:42We have some unfinished business from earlier this evening.
05:46I want you to chase me.
05:47You've got to be kidding me.
05:49All right, never mind.
05:51Enjoy your date.
05:52All right, a little chase, then you help me.
05:55Splendid.
05:55Should I start, or do you want to?
05:57This was a superhero show with something extra,
05:59and we think it holds up wonderfully well today.
06:01What can I say?
06:02It's part of my contract.
06:03Number four, Sports Night.
06:05Hands up.
06:05Anyone out there who writes for a living
06:07or just enjoys good quality writing,
06:09do you love Aaron Sorkin?
06:10Of course you do, because every writer loves Aaron Sorkin.
06:1332 points, it was a career high.
06:14Then he sends you out of the hospital with 14 stitches.
06:17Can you imagine if you'd had a lousy game?
06:19You come in early?
06:21I came in early.
06:22You slept in the office?
06:23I came in early.
06:25You came in yesterday.
06:26Mom!
06:26The man has composed some mesmerizing monologues
06:29and captivating screenplays over the years,
06:31always with a focus upon complicated poetic dialogue.
06:34We are going to get through the top half hour.
06:36I'm not going to be beaten by a 6,000-year-old Roman god.
06:38He's a 3,000-year-old Greek ghost.
06:40Well, I'm a 33-year-old television producer,
06:42and for one hour every night, this
06:44is my little corner of the world.
06:46And nothing screws up here unless I screw it up.
06:48Sports Night was Sorkin's attempt
06:50at dramatizing the world of a fictional sports
06:52score in new show, one that specifically takes aim
06:55at the real-life sports center.
06:56I know we promised you soccer highlights,
06:58so let me just tell you that Columbus beat Miami 1-0,
07:00Dallas beat San Jose 1-0, Chicago beat Colorado 1-0,
07:04and New England beat Kansas City 2-1
07:06in an offensive slugfest.
07:09A modest proposal.
07:10Make the nets bigger.
07:11Josh Charles, Peter Kraus, Felicity Huffman, and more
07:14round out the Sports Night cast, all of whom
07:16bring their A-game to bring Sorkin's stories
07:18and dialogue to life.
07:20What are French for?
07:21How about it?
07:22Exactly.
07:22Number three, my so-called life.
07:24Hey, have you ever experienced the Mandela effect
07:26where you thought that a show was on the air a lot longer
07:29than it actually was?
07:30My parents keep asking how school was.
07:33It's like saying, how was that drive-by shooting?
07:37You don't care how it was.
07:39You're lucky to get out alive.
07:41Some fans of my so-called life feel that way,
07:43perhaps due to watching it in reruns,
07:45but more likely thanks to the passion
07:47they felt watching the show during its original airing.
07:49How you doing?
07:50You know, life goes on.
07:52My so-called life made Claire Danes an instant name to watch,
07:55and its writing presented the anxieties and frustrations
07:58of teenagers in a remarkably realistic fashion.
08:01Do you have any idea what it's like to be an accelerated?
08:03Do you realize the pressure on a person
08:05when it's like assume that they will always get A's?
08:07There was no sugarcoating going on.
08:09This was exactly how many kids of the day
08:11felt, acted, and behaved.
08:13That said, those who caught my so-called life never forget it.
08:16This life has been a test.
08:21If it had been an actual life, you
08:24would have received instructions on where to go and what to do.
08:28Number two, Spaced.
08:29This British sitcom just barely makes our criteria,
08:32having been produced right at the tail end of the 1990s.
08:35Mate, he's made this personal.
08:36He made it personal the guy who slept with your girlfriend.
08:38Yeah, well, now he's made it more personal.
08:40Well, I don't think you can get much more personal
08:41than sleeping with your girlfriend.
08:42For Christ's sake, Mike, have you ever
08:44considered thinking about what you're going
08:45to say before you say it?
08:47That said, it's fun to watch Spaced now,
08:48if only to catch baby Simon Pegg and Nick
08:51Frost early in their careers.
08:52Spaced also ties nicely into Pegg's established love
08:55of pop culture, nerdom, albeit discussed
08:57within a traditional sitcom format.
08:59The Phantom Menace was 18 months ago, Tim.
09:02I know, Bilbo.
09:03OK, just, it still hurts.
09:05The quirky direction of Edgar Wright
09:07ensures that Spaced never falls into the pitfalls of tedium,
09:10but instead balances romance and humor
09:12in a way that's still very funny so many years later.
09:15Don't judge a book by its cover.
09:16He who dares wins.
09:17Look before you leap.
09:18Do you believe in life after love?
09:19That's a song.
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09:37Number one, Freaks and Geeks.
09:39This is a show that almost always tops lists like these,
09:42those gone but not forgotten programs that fans still love.
09:44You were in my English class last year, right?
09:47You're that chick who got an A.
09:50Yeah, well, what are you going to do?
09:54I don't know.
09:55What are you going to do?
09:57Freaks and Geeks may have aired at the very end of the 1990s,
10:00but its early 80s setting made the term retro-cool
10:03years before other network shows jumped on that train.
10:06You know who used to cut class?
10:08Jimi Hendrix.
10:10You know what happened to him?
10:11He died.
10:12Freaks and Geeks is also another one of those shows
10:15where nearly everyone involved went on
10:16to gain mainstream fame, from Seth Rogen, Jason Segel,
10:19and Linda Cardellini to James Franco, Busy Phillips,
10:22and creator Paul Feig.
10:23What do you mean, that's it?
10:24What, that's it?
10:25Yeah.
10:27Thanks a lot.
10:29Hey, good luck with that 29-piecer, man.
10:32Maybe someday you'll knock it up to an even 30.
10:34The teen comedy drama continues to be rediscovered today,
10:37thankfully, as younger fans latch on
10:39to this cool and chic series about high school life.
10:41She likes you.
10:44Yeah, like a friend.
10:47Ew, that's the worst.
10:51I don't need another friend.
10:53I already have two.
10:54I mean, how many more friends does a guy need?
10:57Did you see any of these shows when they originally aired?
10:59Let us know in the comments.
11:00You cut me off mid-funk.
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