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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 Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew 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.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
91%

#20

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

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn

Directed By: Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor

Will & Grace (1998)

#19

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

Starring: Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, Megan Mullally

Directed By: David Kohan, Max Mutchnick, James Burrows, Alex Herschlag

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]

Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone

Directed By: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Anne Garefino, Trey Parker

Baywatch (1989)

#17

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

Starring: David Hasselhoff, Mitzi Kapture, David Chokachi, Kelly Packard

Directed By: Gregory J. Bonann, Michael Berk

Full House (2004)

#16

Synopsis: Korean drama about a romance between a girl and a pampered movie star.... [More]

Starring: Song Hye-kyo, Rain, Han Eun-jung, Kim Sung-soo

Directed By: Min Hyo-jung, Pyo Min-soo

Saturday Night Live (1975)

#15

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

Starring: Aidy Bryant, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day

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]

Starring: Calista Flockhart, Greg Germann, Jane Krakowski, Peter MacNicol

Directed By: David E. Kelley, Bill D'Elia

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]

Starring: Roseanne, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson

Directed By: Roseanne Barr, Sara Gilbert, Tom Werner, Bruce Helford

Home Improvement (1991)

#12

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

Starring: Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, Earl Hindman, Zachery Ty Bryan

Directed By: Carmen Finestra, David McFadzean, Matt Williams, Elliot Shoenman

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)

#11

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

Starring: Will Smith, James Avery, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Alfonso Ribeiro

Directed By: Quincy Jones, David Salzman

Everybody Loves Raymond (1996)

#10

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

Starring: Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle

Directed By: Phil Rosenthal, Stu Smiley, Rory Rosegarten

Married ... With Children (1987)

#9

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

Starring: Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate, David Faustino

Directed By: Michael G. Moye, Ron Leavitt, Barbara Blachut Cramer, Katherine Green

Frasier (1993)
93%

#8

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

Starring: Kelsey Grammer, John Mahoney, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce

Directed By: David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee, Mark Reisman

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]

Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith

Directed By: James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean

Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990)

#6

Synopsis: One of the definitive shows of the 1990s, "90210" originally follows the lives of Brandon and Brenda Walsh, who both... [More]

Starring: Ian Ziering, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Tori Spelling

Directed By: Charles Rosin, Darren Star

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
83%

#5

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

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, James Marsters

Directed By: Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, David Fury

ER (1994)

#4

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

Starring: Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Sherry Stringfield

Directed By: Christopher Chulack, Michael Crichton, David Zabel, John Wells

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]

Starring: Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, Mitch Pileggi, Robert Patrick

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]

Starring: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards

Directed By: Larry David, George Shapiro, Howard West

Friends (1994)

#1

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

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc

Directed By: Kevin S. Bright, David Crane, Greg Malins, Wil Calhoun

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