Television tagged with 90s - 3/5

Inspector Gadget

Imagine a hybrid of Maxwell Smart, James Bond, and Inspector Clouseau and you have a pretty good representation of the trenchcoat- wearing, bumbling (but heavily-equipped) Inspector Gadget. Unfortunately, where he excelled in technological advances, he sorely lacked in savvy. Still, it was hard not to love Inspector Gadget, the syndicated cartoon series created by DIC Entertainment – which arrived on the airwaves in 1983.

Married with Children

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

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Take a collection of robots, add some strange monsters to the mix and throw in a healthy helping of Kung Fu, and you have the attention of just about every red-blooded kid in existence. Just such a recipe of entertainment was offered up in the mega hit series of the 90s, a surreal offering known as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. And like any respectable robot show, the onslaught of toys would follow close behind, making the Power Rangers an overwhelming success of the decade.

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

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From 1968 to 2000, Fred McFeely Rogers invited viewers to spend some quality time in his little yellow television house. Soft-spoken, but with strength of purpose and complete sincerity, Mister Rogers offered a simple but powerful message: “I like you just the way you are.” And, in retrospect, we liked him just the way he was. Today, we look back at this iconic and educational children's show that left many of us with such fond memories.

Northern Exposure

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A classic fish-out-of-water story if there ever was one, Northern Exposure was one of the cleverest, quirkiest and most under-appreciated television series in the 90s. Following the lives of a collection of colorful characters in a small Alaskan town, the show received an avalanche of critical accolades and developed a faithful and smitten fan following that persists to this day.

Quantum Leap

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Oh, boy. Nobody can resist a time-travel story, especially when the sci-fi aspect is toned down in favor of drama. Quantum Leap, which debuted in 1989 on NBC, put a unique twist on time-travel, having the main character, Dr. Sam Beckett, actually inhabit the bodies of various people living in the past. That included women, kids and, in one memorable episode, a chimp. Thanks to compelling plots and a wonderful chemistry between Sam and his sidekick, Al, Quantum Leap won the hearts of many a TV viewer.

Reading Rainbow

Rugrats

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It is no secret that children live in an entirely different world than adults, with its own rules, dangers and thrills. The best way to understand the complexities of kiddie imagination is to see life through their eyes and at their own (short) level. Rugrats, Nickelodeon's excellent and long-running animated series, managed to give us a peek inside a toddler's (soft) head.

Saturday Morning Live-Action Shows

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We spend a lot of time talking about all of the cartoons that filled the Saturday morning lineup of our youth, but today we thought we would focus on those wonderful live-action shows that we grew up with and were equally beloved. Some offered strange creatures in costume, others offered ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Today, we want to know what your favorites were, and why.