Generally speaking, the TV shows I’m watching these days are mostly available on Netflix. Game of Thrones was the biggest exception, but that’s over now. Winter came and went. Valar morghulis. When I’m feeling a little nostalgic, I can fire up an episode of Friends or Full House… but what ’90s TV sitcoms aren’t on Netflix?
Seinfeld is a big one for sure, and I just noticed that The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air isn’t there anymore either. What’s up with that? This further led me down a rabbit hole to see what else Netflix is missing from the era that should totally be there. I should preface that this is from the perspective of Netflix in Canada; the licensing agreements elsewhere may vary.
Dinosaurs
“Not the mama, not the mama, not the mama!” Okay sure, looking back, the premise behind Dinosaurs was sketchy at best, but the show was nothing if not original. What if dinosaurs led more human-like lives, complete with jobs and houses and horrible bosses? It’s a weird spin on the typical family comedy… and I was (still am) a big dinosaur nerd too, so that helped.
I remember the New Year’s Eve episode wherein teenage son Robbie Sinclair asks why the years count down, like from 85,000,000 to 84,999,999. “What are we counting down to?” It’s an absurdly poignant joke, don’t you think?
California Dreams
Surf dudes with attitude… For this “category” of ’90s TV sitcoms, it’s much easier to point out that, for some reason, Saved by the Bell isn’t on Netflix. And neither is Saved by the Bell: The College Years or Saved by the Bell: The New Class. Weird, right?
That era of high school sitcom spun off other shows too, like California Dreams, which was executive produced by the same Peter Engel as the guy behind Saved by the Bell. It follows the same basic formula, except the core group of friends are aspiring musicians in Southern California. Good vibrations…
Martin
I came across a YouTube video several months ago that asked whatever happened to the “black sitcom.” With the rise of networks like UPN and more opportunities on Fox, we saw the emergence of several shows in this subgenre of 90s TV sitcoms.
Do you remember Living Single, Sister Sister, Moesha, The Jamie Foxx Show, The Wayans Bros and In the House? I sure do. But of this cohort of shows, Martin came first and it introduced most of us to Martin Lawrence for the first time. He played a radio DJ in Detroit, living with his girlfriend Gina. Who can forget Sheneneh and Bruh-Man?
Married… with Children
This is probably the omission that bugs me the most. Married with Children was on Crackle, even if Sony couldn’t get the rights for the theme song for some reason, but Crackle is no longer available in Canada (as of last June). Whereas other sitcoms generally depicted “wholesome” families, the Bundy family was decidedly dysfunctional.
Maybe that was a big part of the appeal, the same reason why we were drawn to series like The Simpsons. Homer has his place to be sure, but when it comes to ’90s TV dads, no one but Al Bundy can say they once scored four touchdowns in a single game. Remember that time they trapped Bob Rooney inside the wall? Let’s rock.
Boy Meets World
Perhaps it’s only fitting that this list of ’90s TV sitcoms both starts and ends with a show from ABC’s TGIF lineup. Alongside Step by Step, Family Matters, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, among others, Boy Meets World didn’t try reinvent the wheel, nor did it need to. All you need are some relatable teenagers and their wholesome families, and you’ll fit right into TGIF.
If Fred Savage could do it with The Wonder Years, then by golly, little brother Ben Savage could do it with Boy Meets World. Let’s just update it a bit, replace Paul and Winnie with Shawn and Topanga, and call it a day. Oh, and let’s throw in Mr. Feeny for some valuable life lessons in a Mr. Belvedere or Wilson the neighbor kind of way. Why not?
What show do you wish Netflix would pick up? Perfect Strangers? Frasier? Will & Grace? 3rd Rock from the Sun? With Disney+ right around the corner, and since ABC is owned by Disney, could we see more of these TGIF classics coming to the streaming service?
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