They say it is summer, but it’s been rather chilly and rainy for the better part of the last week. I’m usually one for mild weather—somewhere in between the 60 and 80 degree mark. I start looking out the window of the ValpoLife office, wondering when the weather will begin to turn, and for some reason, the most annoying, yet catchy theme songs of 1990’s TV gets stuck in my head.
It also got me thinking: What were the best shows of the 1990’s? Obviously 'Hey Dude' wasn't going to make the list. Take note that I did not count most of the great kids-aimed TV shows, like What Would You Do, Wild & Crazy Kids, and Doug, because I felt that many of them were so awesome, that they would dominate this list. (Rugrats definitely would have come in third). So, I’ve come up with a list of 9 because, heck, who doesn’t like Top 9 lists? 
9. Freaks & Geeks: Only a season and a half for this underrated comedy, but this show deserved a mention for the cast alone: Written and directed by Judd Apatow, the show stars include James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Linda Cardellini, among many other recognizable faces.
8. Roseanne: I won’t be allowed back in my house if I do not mention that Roseanne was one of the best shows of the 1990’s. So there, Roseanne was a top 10 show during the decade.
7. Law & Order: On this list solely for re-watch-ability and spinoff purposes. This show was the original, which begat SVU, Criminal Intent, and arguably helped the popularity of the CSI shows and NCIS. You can’t tell me you’ve never been sucked in on a rainy afternoon and watched two or three Law & Order marathons.
6. Who Wants to be a Millionaire: The show that brought back trivia! As a trivia buff, I watched this show every time it was on toward the beginning. Everyone loved Regis, it had the great background music, and that great catchphrase “Is that youah finahl ansah?” Once the show began to run every night and tried new gimmicks for more ratings (re: Celebrity WWTBAM), the show dropped in ratings. It was moved to daytime TV and still runs today.
5. Home Improvement: Every time you grunt, you are reminded of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, right? The show went on for several years amongst intra-cast disagreements, but still brought in the laughs and the ratings for most of the mid-1990s. The show had obviously run its course when the three boys, Brad, Randy, and Taylor, all went off to college.
4. The X-Files: The show that brought sci-fi to the mainstream. Well, ok- it wasn’t Star Wars or anything, but this immensely popular (and completely weird) show kept audiences entertained for several seasons and two full-length feature films (though we’d most like to forget the sequel). We are still reminded today: The truth is out there.
3. Friends: I begrudgingly will put Friends on this list. The numbers don’t lie; it was an extremely popular show. As hard as it is to admit, I actually liked the first season, but the show went completely downhill for me after. Obviously I’m in the minority.
2. The Simpsons: The Simpsons is the longest running show on television, and the only show on this list to be eligible to be the greatest show in three decades (and soon to be four). The 90’s though, was inarguably the heyday for the Simpsons, as the show produced great episodes like The Beer Baron, Homer at the Bat, and Mr. Plow, among many others.
1. Seinfeld: You can debate the merits of Seinfeld, Cheers, and M.A.S.H, but each of these shows had their own runs in their own decade. “The show about nothing:” was so clever and creative, that during the run of the show, they were actually able to work a show about nothing into a show about nothing. The show made mega-millionaires out of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. David, director Larry Charles, and Elaine Benes herself, Julia-Louie Dreyfuss have all gone on to do other successful projects.
Honorary Mentions: Beavis & Butthead, Boy Meets World, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, The Real World, South Park