For the band, see 1990s (band).
The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999. During this time, the widespread adoption of personal computers and the Internet increased economic productivity, while high levels of private investment in equity markets increased personal wealth among many Americans, Japanese, South Koreans, Australians and Western Europeans.
Economics
Skyline of Sanhattan, Santiago, Chile\'s Financial District — Example of global economic growth during the 1990s.
Despite economic prosperity and democracy, there were problems in the 1990s that became more visible after the decade ended. In Africa a rapid increase in incidence of AIDS contributed to falling life expectancy and zero or negative growth rates. In the former Soviet Union GDP decreased as their economies restructured to produce goods they needed and some capital flight occurred. Financial crises in the developing world after 1994 (i.e. the Asian economic crises of 1997) began to undermine some support for a global economy.
Many countries, institutions, companies, and organizations experienced the 1990s as a prosperous time. Despite the recession that affected much of the world in the late 1980s, high income economies such as the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and South Korea experienced steady economic growth for much of the decade.
In many countries, political stability and decreased militarization due to the winding down of the Cold War led to economic development and higher standards of living for many citizens. These trends were also fueled by inexpensive fossil energy, with low petroleum prices caused by a glut of oil. Oil and gas were discovered in many countries in the former Soviet bloc, leading to economic growth and wider adoption of trade between nations, but the 15 new nations of the old USSR, plus Russia, struggled to adjust to the new economic reality. Consequently, the decade ended in a painful recession for it.
- US economy ends the decade with a 4% unemployment rate, personal incomes doubled from the recession in 1990, overall higher productivity. After the 1996 Welfare Reform act there was a great reduction of poverty rates, and the Wall Street stock exchange stayed over the 10,000 mark from 1999 to 2001.
- After 1992 the booming of the US stock market, in reference to which Alan Greenspan coined the memorable phrase "irrational exuberance", eventually merged into the dot-com boom / dot-com bubble (2000 – 2001).
- GATT update and creation of the World Trade Organization and other global economic institutions, but opposition by anti-globalization activists showed up in nearly every GATT summit, like the demonstrations in Seattle in December 1999.
- With the creation of the E.U. there is free movement of labor between member states, such as the 1992 and 1995 free trade agreements. The EU agreed to have a single currency, and the Euro began circulation in March 1999 in 15 member states.
- Philippines shown a great economic development after The People Power revolt. The economy gains 5% from its deficit until the Asian financial crisis of 1997.
- The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which phases out trade barriers between the United States, Mexico and Canada is signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
- From 1990 until 1998 inclusive, the economy of Russia and some former USSR states was in a severe depression. Eastern European economies struggled after the fall of communism, but Poland, Hungary, Estonia and Lithuania saw healthy economic growth rates in the late 1990s.
- Except for Great Britain and Ireland, much of Europe had serious economic problems, such as the massive 1995 general strikes in France during its worst recession since World War II. The French economy mildly rebounds at the end of the decade.
- Democracy, economic reform and peace arrive in Latin America, while the sluggish economies of Brazil, by a new emphasis on free markets for all their citizens, and Mexico, under economist president Ernesto Zedillo elected in 1994, were their best shape by the late 1990s.
- Financial crisis hits East and Southeast Asia in 1997 and 1998 after a long period of phenomenal economic development. Japan was heavily affected, as was Indonesia when the 30-year rule of President Suharto ended in his resignation after widespread protests in May 1998. See East Asian Tigers.
World-changing events
Significant events that occurred during or after 1990 which would influence the course of history and character of the decade, include:
Significant events that marked the passing of the decade include:
Social Trends
Science
Hubble Space Telescope
- Physicists develop string theory and M-theory.
- Detection of extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the sun.
- Dolly the sheep is cloned.
- Human Genome Project begins.
- DNA identification of individuals finds wide application in criminal law.
- Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990; revolutionizes astronomy.
- Protease inhibitors introduced allowing HAART therapy against HIV; drastically reduces AIDS mortality.
- NASA\'s spacecraft Pathfinder lands on Mars and deploys a small roving vehicle, Sojourner, which analyzes the planet\'s geology and atmosphere.
- The Hale-Bopp comet swings past the sun for the first time in 4,200 years in April 1997.
- Development of biodegradable products, replacing products made from Styrofoam; advances in methods for recycling of waste products (such as paper, glass, aluminum).
- Genetically engineered crops are developed for commercial use.
- Discovery of dark matter, dark energy, brown dwarfs, and first confirmation of black holes.
- The Galileo probe orbits Jupiter, studying the planet and its moons extensively.
- The Global Positioning System (GPS) becomes fully operational.
- Proof of Fermat\'s last theorem is discovered by Andrew Wiles.
- Construction starts on the International Space Station - 1996/1997
Technology
Some technologies invented and improved during the 1990s:
Graphic representation of the WWW
Hardware
- The Pentium processor is developed by Intel.
- Explosive growth of the Internet, perhaps caused by a decrease in the cost of computers and other technology.
- Advancements in computer modems, ISDN, cable modems and DSL lead to faster connection to the Internet.
- Pagers are initially popular but ultimately are replaced by mobile phones toward the end of the decade.
- Hand-held satellite phones are introduced towards the end of the decade.
- CD burner drives are introduced.
- Digital SLRs and regular Digital cameras become commercially available.
- The DVD media format is developed and popularized along with a plethora of Flash memory card standards.
- Apple introduces the iMac computer, initiating a trend in computer design towards translucent plastics and multicolor case design, discontinuing many legacy technologies like the serial ports, and beginning a resurgence in the company\'s fortunes that continues unabated to this day.
- IBM introduces the 1-inch wide Microdrive hard drive in 170 MB and 340 MB capacities.
- The first GSM network is launched in Finland in 1991
- The first MP3 Player, the MPMan, is released in late spring of 1998. It came with 32Mb of flash memory expandable to 64Mb.
- The introduction of affordable, smaller satellite dishes and the DVB-S standard in the mid-1990s expanded satellite television services that carried up to 500 television channels.
Software
Computer and video games
- 3-D graphics become the standard by end of decade. Although FPSs had long since seen the transition to full 3D, other genres begin to copy this trend by the end of the decade.
- Lara Croft became the first video game sex symbol, becoming a recognisable figure in the entertainment industry throughout the late 1990s.
- The console wars, primarily between Sega (Sega Mega Drive (marketed as the Sega Genesis in North America), introduced in 1988) and Nintendo (Super NES, introduced in 1990), sees the entrance of Sony with the PlayStation in 1994, which becomes the first successful CD-based console (as opposed to cartridges). By the end of the decade, Sega\'s hold on the market becomes tenuous after the end of the Saturn in 1994 and the Dreamcast in 2001.
- Mario finds a rival in Sonic the Hedgehog with the release of the original game on the Genesis in 1991.
- Nintendo released the first 3-D styled video game Donkey Kong Country for the SNES in 1994, and three sequels to further advance video game design.
- Arcade games rapidly decrease in popularity.
- Fighting games like Capcom\'s Street Fighter II, Sega\'s futuristic Virtua Fighter and the more violent Mortal Kombat from Acclaim prompted the video game industry to adopt a game rating system, and hundreds of knock-offs are widely popular in mid-to-late1990s.
- Sony\'s PlayStation becomes the top selling game console and changes the standard media storage type from cartridges to compact discs in consoles.
- Doom (1993) bursts onto the world scene and instantly popularizes the FPS genre, and even how games are played, as Doom is among the first games to feature multiplayer capabilities. It is not until Quake (1996), however, that game developers begin to take multiplayer features into serious consideration when making games. Half-Life (1998) features the next evolutionary step in the genre with continual progression of the game (no levels in the traditional sense) and an entirely in-person view, and becomes one of the most popular computer games in history.
- The real-time strategy (RTS) genre is introduced in 1992 with the release of Dune II. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) popularizes the genre, with Command & Conquer and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1995 sets up the first major real-time strategy competition and popularizes multiplayer capabilities in RTS games. StarCraft in 1998 becomes the second best-selling computer game of all time. It remains among the most popular multiplayer RTS games to this day, especially in South Korea. Homeworld in 1999 becomes the first successful 3d RTS game. The rise of the RTS genre is often credited with the fall of the turn-based strategy (TBS) genre, popularized with Civilization in 1991. The Civilization franchise is the only TBS franchise that remains popular.
- Final Fantasy first debuted (in North America) in 1990 for the NES, and remains among the most popular video game franchises, with 11 total sequels to date, with another in development, plus numerous spin-offs and related titles. Final Fantasy VII, released in 1997, especially popularized the series.
- Zelda continues its massive popularity with a series of groundbreaking games, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released in 1998, which is considered one of the best and most groundbreaking games of all time.
- Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing games (MMORPGs) see their entrance into the computer game world with Ultima Online in 1997, although they don\'t gain widespread popularity until EverQuest and Asheron\'s Call in 1999. MMORPGs go on to become among the most popular genres in the 2000s.
- Pokémon entered the world scene with the release of the original Game Boy Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green games in Japan in 1996, later changed to Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue for worldwide release in 1998. It soon becomes popular in the U.S. and is adapted into a popular children\'s anime series and trading card game, among other media forms. Its popularity remains well into the 2000s.
Popular video games of the 1990s
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
Culture
Cultural Trends
- Youth culture in the 1990s was characterized by environmentalism and entrepreneurship. Fashions were often individualistic, tattoos and body piercing gained popularity, and "retro" styles inspired by fashions of the 1960s and 1970s were also prevalent. Some young people became increasingly involved in outdoor activities that combined embracing athletics with the appreciation of nature (such as kayaking, rock climbing, windsurfing and snowboarding).
- Jam bands grew in popularity, the most famous were Phish and Dave Matthews Band.
- Following the 1980s media counter-culture lead by tabloid talk shows popularized by Oprah Winfrey in 1986, which provided high-impact media visibility for gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and transgender people [1] the 1990s saw a further increase in gay visibility in the mainstream media and the introduction of outing. In 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. US TV shows like Will and Grace, Friends, Thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, Roseanne, Dawson\'s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Melrose Place and Ellen featured gay characters. Movies like The Birdcage, In and Out and Kiss Me, Guido saw mainstream success, and celebrities like k.d. lang, Rob Halford, Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, Amanda Bearse and all spoke openly about their sexuality. U.S. President Bill Clinton generally held a pro-gay rights viewpoint.
- The 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus\' discovery of America in 1992 was popularly observed, despite controversy and protests against Columbus\' expeditions victimization of Native Americans. The holiday was labeled by some as racist, in view of Native American experiences of colonialism, slavery, genocide and cultural destruction.
- Douglas Coupland publishes the novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularizing the term Generation X as the name of the generation born in the late 1960s and early 1970s (then college-age).
- The Grunge trend explodes due to the success of grunge bands such as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. It is characterized by wearing flannel shirts, torn jeans, Doc Martens, Converse high top sneakers and long, straight hair. The fashion hits an ironic point in 1993, when the flannel clothing these bands wore (because it was cheap and warm and most of these musicians were very poor) became high fashion accessories. Post Grunge bands would later gain widespread popularity by bands such as Foo Fighters, Creed and Seether.
- Reality television explodes on MTV with the popularity of The Real World (1992 – ); along with Road Rules (1995 – ), Real World/Road Rules Challenge (1998), and Real World reunions, these shows remained popular throughout the 1990s. Reality would become a staple of main networks in the early part of the 2000s.
A Ford Taurus, which was one of the best selling vehicles in the U.S. throughout the decade.
- Blood and gore in television and video games rises dramatically, along with language and sexual content, especially during the latter half of the decade; a Parental Ratings system for television is introduced in 1997 because of related complaints.
- Video games become more advanced and popular. Rivals Nintendo and Sega dominate the early 1990s. The Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 would later dominate the late 1990s and remain popular beyond 1999. Sega\'s Dreamcast (1999) marked the end of Sega\'s role in the console market. Simulation and God games rise in popularity in the mid-late 1990s, with games such as SimCity 2000, Microsoft Flight Simulator 95, 98 and RollerCoaster Tycoon (game).
- Body art, in the form of body piercing and tattoos becomes commonplace for young people. This trend continues into the 2000s.
- Extreme sports reached a new height in popularity, and by 1995, were given their own annual tournament on US cable network ESPN, the X-Games.
- Recreational outdoor sports such as rock climbing, mountain biking, sky diving, snowboarding, mountain climbing, bungee jumping, in-line skating, kayaking, windsurfing and rowing become hugely popular.
- Extended alcohol sales are implemented in the US to reduce alcohol abuse.
- The exploitation of the collectability of comic books results in a trend of "gimmick" packaging and storylines (most notably The Death of Superman). The comic book industry collapses as interest in print comics decreases among younger generations and casual readers. Comic books disappear as a familiar sight at the newsstands. As comics, including Japanese manga and other graphic novels become more available in bookstore chains, the role of the comic book store as a source for comics and social gathering wanes. The domination by industry giants Marvel Comics and DC Comics ends as various independents, such as Image Comics produce popular titles. The era of comic book collecting for speculative investment ends. Webcomics by amateur cartoonists become popular.
- Conversion to Block scheduling became a trendy initiative for United States schools.
The Ford Explorer, which sparked the SUV craze among families in the \'90s. The Explorer was also one of the most popular vehicles in the \'90s
- Due to the success of the Ford Explorer, Sport Utility Vehicles became very popular among families, and effectively replaced the station wagon and minivan as the stereotypical family vehicle.
- Major 1990s slang words/phrases, mostly related to hip hop culture, include: "dawg" "homie", "phat", "da bomb", "tight", "word to your mother", "Talk to the hand [because the face ain\'t listening]", "it\'s goin\' down", "Sike!", "You go girl!", "yo", "whatever!", "all that and a bag of chips".
- Young adult and teenage fiction books become popular due to the efforts of R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike throughout the entire 1990s.
- Dogme 95 becomes an important European artistic film movement by the end of the decade.
- Eurodance music dominates discotheques and has numerous major mainstream hits in European (and to a lesser extent, North American) music charts.
- Mainstream "Techno", as it is dubbed by the media, became hugely popular in Europe and the U.S. From the early raves of 1990 to about 1996, electronic music gradually gained widespread recognition as a new genre in its own right. This trend reached a head in the latter part of the decade as underground parties were largely replaced by massive commercially sponsored parties, and as music media such as MTV began coverage of it.
Breakdancer in Ljubljana, Slovenia when hip-hop music swept the globe in the 1990s.
- Media consolidation leads to increased segmentation in styles of music.
- 24-hour CNN coverage (Wolf Blitzer) during the Gulf War leads to increased awareness and coverage of world events and knock-off Infotainment shows such as A Current Affair and Geraldo Rivera-style journalism.
- Hip-hop culture grows; by the end of the decade hip hop gained more and more popularity.
- Grunge culture sparks as glam metal dies off in late 1991 and 1992, allowing other styles of heavy metal to return to prominence when the popular groove metal group Pantera hits number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart with their third album Far Beyond Driven. The grunger subculture associated with grunge becomes very prominent in this decade. Due to grunge\'s huge success, Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder become the spokesmodels of Generation X.
- Tupac Shakur of Death Row Records and The Notorious BIG of Bad Boy Records, wage a cultural war in the hip hop music scene, leading to the murder of both Shakur in 1996 and BIG in 1997.
- Professional wrestling experiences a huge rise in popularity, beginning primarily in 1995 with the beginning of WCW Monday Nitro, a Monday night wrestling program owned by Ted Turner and broadcast on TNT. WCW Monday Nitro squared off against rival promotion WWF and their Monday Night Raw program, which was also broadcast on Monday nights on the USA Network. This period is known in the wrestling business as the Monday Night War, and spawned the success of wrestlers such as Bill Goldberg, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Sable, Sting and others. Eventually, due to declining ratings caused by various factors, WCW (World Championship Wrestling) was purchased by the WWF (World Wrestling Federation, now known as WWE: World Wrestling Entertainment) on March 26, 2001. The Monday Night War lasted from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001. Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) also experienced much success in the 90s, but was also purchased by WWE in 2001 (although it had an "invasion" storyline along with WCW in 2001 in the WWF).
- National conservative political commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy emerge on United States AM Radio, influencing the 1994 Contract for America and criticism of Bill Clinton.
- Electronic Music is hugely popular on Top 40 radio from 1990 to present and up to 1996 or 1997 in the U.S. Popular artists include The Prodigy, Eiffel 65 and Fatboy Slim.
- Alternative rock overtakes Grunge in popularity around 1995. Nu-metal, a genre popularized by the 1994 self-titled album by Korn, becomes a major genre of rock around the year 1997 along with post-grunge and "indie rock".
- Indie/hipster culture appears during the mid-1990s. Emo and "scene" culture flourishes in the late 1990s, most likely around the later part of 1998.
- Teen pop makes a comeback in the late 1990s, starting in the year 1997 with artists such as the Spice Girls (who became the greatest selling female group of all time), Hanson, Aqua, Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, N\'SYNC and many more.
- Christian music peaks in the mid to late 1990s.
- R&B Music and hip-hop influenced R&B, such as music groups like The Fugees, Boyz II Men and TLC), are big in the 1990s.
Fashion
- See also: 1990s in fashion
The 1990s in popular culture is typically referred to as the decade of "anti-fashion". In reality, anti-fashion was only one of many trends in fashion in the 1990s. The fashion of the 1990s was characterized by minimalist styles, and many overlapping, often contradictory trends. The most significant event was the rise of grunge fashion in 1992. In the late 1990s there was a move away from grunge. Retro clothing inspired by the 1960s and 1970s was popular for much of the 1990s.
Music
- Popular styles include alternative rock (Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Smashing Pumpkins), grunge (Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden), post-grunge (Collective Soul, Third Eye Blind, Everclear, Creed, Foo Fighters, Bush, Stiltskin, Silverchair), heavy metal and alternative metal (Helmet, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Pantera, Tool), black metal gained a large number of fans in Northern Europe, Britpop and British rock (Oasis, Blur, Suede, Pulp, Radiohead, The Verve, Travis), pop-punk (Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, Blink-182), third wave ska (No Doubt, Sublime, Reel Big Fish, Mighty Mighty Bosstones), indie rock (Fugazi, Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse), jam bands (Dave Matthews Band, Phish), and nu metal (Korn, Limp Bizkit, Deftones) towards the end of the decade. Singer-songwriters include Alanis Morissette, Beck, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, and Jewel. Emo music which, would later become a staple of rock music, began receiving commercial and critical acclaim. Notable examples include Sunny Day Real Estate\'s Diary and Weezer\'s Pinkerton, which have since become highly influential on the genre. Radiohead\'s popularity exploded in 1997 with the release of OK Computer. Most notable, though, was the explosion of Grunge band Nirvana into the mainstream, who found a large audience in the youths of the \'90s through their apathetic attitude and their appeal to Generation X.
- Hip hop music diversifies throughout the decade and experiences numerous trends, beginning with the commercial success of pop rappers MC Hammer, Tone Loc, Young MC, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, and Vanilla Ice. Other major developments include the proliferation of alternative/jazz rap (De La Soul, Beastie Boys, Arrested Development, Digable Planets, Native Tongues, and A Tribe Called Quest) and the West Coast G-Funk/Gangsta Rap phenomena (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Cypress Hill, Dr. Dre, NWA, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Warren G, Coolio, and Tupac Shakur), followed by the resurgence of the New York hip hop scene (The Wu Tang Clan, Boot Camp Clik, Nas, Mobb Deep, and The Notorious B.I.G.), and pop rap (Puff Daddy, Will Smith, and Jay-Z).
- Smoothly produced Teen pop held over from the late 1980s into 1991, returns with the Spice Girls and Take That in Britain and the Backstreet Boys in America beginning in 1997, ultimately leading to stars like Britney Spears, *NSYNC and Christina Aguilera, while artist like Madonna and Janet Jackson continue to have success with their influential Dance-pop. Michael Jackson continues making arresting music and finds international popularity growing. "Black Or White" released in 1991, becomes a huge global hit, remaining at #1 in the US charts for 7 weeks.
- American Club/Dance music is very popular from 1990 to 1996, with acts like C&C Music Factory, Ce Ce Peniston, Crystal Waters, RuPaul, Black Box, & Dee-Lite. Similarly, Eurodance gains popularity in the United States, with many Eurodance artists scoring club hits on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Billboard Hot 100 radio. These artists include Technotronic, Corona, Cappella, N-Trance, Culture Beat,Reel 2 Real, Capital Sound, Jam & Spoon, E-Type, Maxx, La Bouche, Indra, Le Click, Pharao, Real McCoy, Ice MC,Me & My, JK, Cappella, 2 Unlimited, Dr. Alban, Masterboy, Basic Element, AB Logic, Fun Factory, Mr. President, Shaman and Snap.
- The music festival Lollapalooza gained popularity similar to Woodstock; a fusing of genres from alternative rock, rap, punk rock and garage bands.
- Latin music becomes popular outside a Spanish-speaking audience with crossover hits by Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez,and Selena, the hit dance song Macarena and others. As Hispanic culture grows in the US, other Latin music genres took root, like Tejano music in the Southwestern United States is a mixed music genre: accordion based Mexican conjunto, Texan country, and modern pop merged to produce a new sound.
- Music becomes more profane, by end of decade a Parental Advisory sticker becomes acceptable rather than controversial.
- In America, country music becomes more mainstream with popular chart topping artist such as Garth Brooks, George Strait, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sara Evans, Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw. The genre will also build up a more extensive audience world-wide, which sees the first English 24 hour terrestrial country station open in 1994.
- Popular hard rock bands maintain a strong presence into the 1990s. Guns N\' Roses, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, and Van Halen were all still quite popular through the mid-1990s. Aerosmith and Bon Jovi\'s popularity and success spanned the entire decade and both were extremely popular at the turn of the new millennium.
- Music resumes its political content after the hiatus of the 1980s. Starting in 1996, the Tibetan Freedom Concert draws up to 120,000 people per year to a rock festival for the benefit of the cause of the International Tibet Independence Movement. Also, socially aware metal bands such as Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down form.
- Electronic music becomes widely recognized at rave parties in Europe/USA and, later in the decade, in popular culture. The drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine, (also called Ecstasy or MDMA) is popularized by the burgeoning rave culture. Electronic music is highly popularized in mainstream culture later in the decade by The Prodigy, among other artists of the big beat genre.
- 1980s backlash. During most of the 1990s, anything "Eighties" was considered to be ultimately uncool. As a result, people start wearing straighter hair, darker clothes and acoustic music becomes popular in opposition to the bright synthpop of the 1980s.
- Contemporary Christian Music continued to increase in popularity, with artists such as DC Talk, Jars of Clay, Amy Grant and Sixpence None the Richer all releasing platinum selling albums. Songs such as Baby Baby by Amy Grant, Flood by Jars of Clay, and Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer were all Top 40 hits..
Television
- North America
- Seinfeld becomes enormously popular in the United States, lasting from 1989 to 1998 and spawning a new sitcom subgenre.
- Home Improvement (1991-1999) is also a very popular TV show that depicted an average American family\'s life set in suburban Detroit.
- The Simpsons (1989 – ) becomes popular with adult audiences, eventually paving the way for many adult-oriented animated television shows throughout the next 10 years, including Beavis and Butthead, South Park, Family Guy and King of the Hill.
- Professional wrestling became popular throughout the 1990s. In the late 1990s, the Monday Night Wars was the biggest impact for professional wrestling with the World Wrestling Federation (present day World Wrestling Entertainment), World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling. By the early 2000s, the WWF came out of the wars victorious over both WCW and ECW.
- Twin Peaks (1991 - 1992), David Lynch\'s surrealistic crime drama set in small town America (taking inspiration from his previous work, Blue Velvet), ran on ABC for two seasons, expanding the limits for prime time subject matter and quirky characters, and pushing TV producers and directors toward adapting a more cinematic filming style for television programming -- an influence still visible in the 2000s.
- 20th Century Fox and BBC collaborate to produce the 1996 television movie of the science fiction series Doctor Who, starring Paul McGann as the Doctor.
- NASCAR Racing starts to become popular on TV in the Southern US in the mid to late 1990s. Popular NASCAR drivers during this era are the late Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Labonte.
- Pro Basketball sees high US TV ratings in the 1990s with stars like Shaq, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Shawn Kemp, Reggie Miller, David Robinson, Penny Hardaway, Tim Duncan, and Patrick Ewing.
- US Saturday morning children\'s television programming, Like Fox Kids, reaches its peak popularity in the early and mid 1990s considered by many to be a "renaissance" in American animation. Everything from Animaniacs, Garfield and Friends, Eek! The Cat, X-Men, Batman, The Tick, Donkey Kong Country (TV series) and Tiny Toons, to television adaptations of popular video game characters Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog.
- The Disney experiences an animation renaissance with the popularity of The Disney Afternoon shows in the early and-mid-1990s, such as DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, Chip \'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Gargoyles, Goof Troop, and the Mighty Ducks.
- Nickelodeon gains popularity with the Nicktoons block of shows, such as Doug, Rugrats, The Ren and Stimpy Show, Rocko\'s Modern Life, AAAHH!!! Real Monsters and Hey Arnold!.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, originally from the 1980s, remain popular in the early and-mid-1990s.
- Mighty Morphin\' Power Rangers gains popularity with children in the mid 1990s, leading to the entire Power Rangers series.
- Anime becomes popular in the United States in the late 1990s with shows like Sailor Moon, Samurai Pizza Cats, Pokémon, Dragonball Z, Saint Seiya, Outlaw Star, Ranma ½, Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- MTV moves away from music videos and into original television shows such as The Real World, which is often cited as the main inspiration for the Reality TV boom of the 2000s.
- Cartoons aimed at an adult audience become popular. Among the most successful are The Simpsons (1989 – ), The Ren and Stimpy Show (1991 – 1996), Beavis and Butt-head (1993 – 1997), Daria (1997 – 2002), South Park (1997 – ), King of the Hill (1997 – ), Family Guy (1999 – 2002, 2005 – ) and Futurama (1999-2003, 2008-).
- US Television networks increase programs aimed at twenty- and thirty-somethings. Some of the most popular are Roseanne (1988 – 1997), Seinfeld (1989 – 1998), Beverly Hills 90210 (1990 – 2000), Melrose Place (1992 – 1999), Friends (1994 – 2004), Party of Five (1994 – 2000), and Ally McBeal (1997 – 2002).
- Television shows involving human interaction with dangerous wildlife become popular. Most notably shows like The Crocodile Hunter, a popular series starring Steve Irwin, which began airing in 1996. The Crocodile Hunter, and other similar shows (many of which involved Steve Irwin) remained popular into the 2000s.
- Notable American television sitcoms aimed at the teen/preteen market include Full House (1987 – 1995), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990 - 1996), Family Matters (1989 – 1998), Blossom (1991 – 1995), Boy Meets World (1993 – 2000), and 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996 – 2001), Smart Guy (1997 – 1999), Sister, Sister (1994 – 1999), among others. Many of these were concentrated on ABC\'s Friday night block TGiF.
- The sci – fi/fantasy TV genre saw three successful Star Trek spinoffs: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994), Deep Space Nine (1993 – 1999), and Voyager (1995 – 2001). It also featured other massively popular shows, such as The X-Files (1993 – 2002); Babylon 5(1993 – 1998); Stargate SG-1 (1997 – 2007); Sliders (1995 – 2000); Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1993 – 1999); and Xena: Warrior Princess (1995 – 2001), the spinoff of Hercules that went on to drastically dwarf its predecessor in popularity, notoriety, controversy, and overall viewership. Another notable series in the fantasy genre was Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003) which never had very high ratings but quickly received a cult following as well critical acclaim. It inspired many other series with the superhero/struggle of real life theme, such as Charmed (1998 – 2006) and Buffy\'s spin-off Angel (1999 – 2004).
- The Disney Channel changes from classic Disney programming to live action programming starting in the late 1990s, especially around the year 1998. No longer a pay-subscription channel in 1996, the channel expanded their young audience on basic cable. See Zoog Disney. By 1999, the "MTV-esque" Zoog Disney along with Playhouse Disney was the main focus of the Disney Channel, causing classic Disney shorts and shows such as the Nutty Professor to experience backlash.
- Cartoon Network starts showing more original programming in a form of Cartoon Cartoons that almost changed the face of the network by 1999.
- On May 22, 1992, after 30 years, Johnny Carson retired as host of the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on NBC, with Jay Leno taking over as host on May 25. The choice of Leno over Late Night host and Carson protege David Letterman is instrumental in Letterman signing a deal with CBS in January 1993. Letterman aired his final NBC show on June 25, 1993 and the Late Show with David Letterman premiered on August 30, 1993.
- The highest-rated shows on network television:
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