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FRIENDS -- Pictured: (l-r) Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matt Le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

(Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

FALL 2019 TV SURVEY: 20 TV Shows That Defined the 1990s

For Rotten Tomatoes’ annual Fall TV Survey, we asked thousands of our users what they’re most looking forward to in the coming TV season and to reflect on the best shows from seasons past.

They’ll be there for you — unless you’re assembling a giant TV survey, in which case Jennifer Aniston, Courteney CoxLisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlancMatthew Perry, and David Schwimmer are nowhere to be found! (That joke has never been made before.)

Friends celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, so we couldn’t help but give a little cheer when you voted the comedy as the defining series of the 1990s. The cast also took top spot in our list of stars who ruled the decade.

The series won 64% of your vote. Seinfeld came in second with 51%, then The X-Files with 50%, ER came in fourth with 47%, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer took 44%.

The show’s cast nabbed 32% of the vote when we asked which star ruled the decade, followed by Jerry Seinfeld with 17%, Will Smith with 10%, the ER cast with 7%, and the Beverly Hills, 90210 cast came in fifth with 6%.

Disagree with the survey results? Tell us in the comments who you think should have made the list or have been ranked higher.

Synopsis: Featuring a bigger and better USS Enterprise, this series is set 78 years after the original series -- in the... [More]

Will & Grace (1998)
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#19
Synopsis: In the original eight-season run of this groundbreaking sitcom, best friends Will, a meticulous corporate lawyer, and Grace, a neurotic... [More]

South Park (1997)
80%

#18
Synopsis: The animated series is not for children. In fact, its goal seems to be to offend as many as possible... [More]

Baywatch (1989)
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#17
Synopsis: Lt. Mitch Buchannon is the dedicated leader of a group of lifeguards at Malibu Beach in Los Angeles. Although this... [More]

Full House (1987)
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#16
Synopsis: When Danny Tanner's wife dies, the San Francisco sportscaster gets support in the form of two new roommates: brother-in-law and... [More]

#15
Synopsis: Live from New York for more than four decades, celebrity hosts join an award-winning ensemble cast to perform comedic sketches,... [More]
Directed By: Lorne Michaels

Ally McBeal (1997)
61%

#14
Synopsis: Ally McBeal is a young attorney who joins a prestigious law firm with a highly sexual environment and whose staff... [More]

Roseanne (1988)
76%

#13
Synopsis: Explore life, death and everything in between through the relatable, hilarious and brutally honest lens of the working-class Conner household,... [More]

Home Improvement (1991)
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#12
Synopsis: Tim "The Toolman" Taylor, host of the home-improvement show "Tool Time," definitely is not as handy at home as he... [More]

Synopsis: Will Smith more or less plays himself in this good-natured NBC sitcom. As the show's popular theme song explains, fictional... [More]

#10
Synopsis: Ray Barone is a successful sports writer and family man who deals with a brother and parents -- who happen... [More]

Synopsis: The antithesis of the loving "Cosby Show" family, "Married ... With Children" focused on the Bundys, a suburban Chicago family... [More]

Frasier (1993)
95%

#8
Synopsis: Dr. Frasier Crane, a successful Boston therapist, moves to Seattle to get a new start on life; he has a... [More]

The Simpsons (1989)
85%

#7
Synopsis: This long-running animated comedy focuses on the eponymous family in the town of Springfield in an unnamed U.S. state. The... [More]

#6
Synopsis: One of the definitive shows of the 1990s, "90210" originally follows the lives of Brandon and Brenda Walsh, who both... [More]
Directed By: Charles Rosin, Darren Star

#5
Synopsis: Sarah Michelle Gellar takes on the role of Buffy Summers in this TV version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," based... [More]

ER (1994)
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#4
Synopsis: Set in Chicago, this medical drama deals with the personal and professional crises of the doctors in the emergency room... [More]

The X-Files (1993)
74%

#3
Synopsis: In one of the longest-running science fiction series in network TV history, FBI special agents investigate unexplained, mind-bending cases known... [More]
Directed By: Chris Carter, Glen Morgan

Seinfeld (1989)
89%

#2
Synopsis: Four single friends -- comic Jerry Seinfeld, bungling George Costanza, frustrated working gal Elaine Benes and eccentric neighbor Cosmo Kramer... [More]

Friends (1994)
78%

#1
Synopsis: Three young men and three young women -- of the BFF kind -- live in the same apartment complex and... [More]


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