7 Shows Set In the 90s to Satisfy Your Nostalgia Cravings (original) (raw)
Published Dec 26, 2021, 12:00 PM EST
Jennifer McHugh is a Los Angeles-based writer. She refuses to binge-watch anything.
Welcome back to the 1990s, the last decade before technology took over our lives. It was the last time people were forced to create their own fun without having the internet to rely upon and before cell phones were in everyone’s hands. It’s been over 30 years since the 90s began and it’s the perfect time to get nostalgic. There’s always the option of revisiting some great 90s TV shows like Beverly Hills, 90210, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, or The X-Files. But with upcoming shows such as That 90s Show and Kyle Mooney's Saturday Morning All-Star Hits, it seems that 90s nostalgia is only just beginning.
Here is a list of some recent shows jumping on the 90s aesthetic bandwagon.
Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets TV show cast
Image via Showtime
Set in both modern-day as well as flashbacks, this show is abouta soccer team called the Yellowjackets whose private plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness in 1996. Being stranded for 19 months can do strange things to people and even 25 years later, the survivors are still dealing with the trauma and aftermath of the decisions they made for survival. With an all-star cast including Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey, and Tawny Cypress as the modern-day versions of the girls, this is one of the buzziest shows of 2021.
Yellowjackets is currently airing its first season on Showtime. It was recently picked up for a second season.
Cruel Summer
Harley Quinn Smith and Olivia Holt in Cruel Summer
Image via Freeform
Cruel Summer takes place over the years 1993 - 1995. Each episode takes place in one day in all three years simultaneously. It sounds strange, but it is an effective storytelling mechanism. The show illustrates how these teenagers' lives change dramatically from year to year after Kate (Olivia Holt) goes missing and returns only to accuse Jeannette (Chiara Aurelia) of knowing where she was. Friendships and family relationships are tested as the story unfolds, but it has an amazing soundtrack and grunge style galore. There’s even a fun shout-out to the cult classic film, Clerks, by Kevin Smith. To make it cheeky, the shout-out is by his daughter, Harley Quinn Smith who plays Jeannette’s on again off again best friend, Mallory.
Season 1 of Cruel Summer is available on Hulu with Season 2 scheduled to air in 2022.
Young Rock
young-rock-cast-social
Image via NBCUniversal
The year is 2032 and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a candidate for President. Randall Park (playing himself) interviews him about his life and what led him to run for the White House. We are transported back in time as we learn about The Rock’s life. Jumping between 1982 when he was 10, 1987 when he was 15, and the early 1990s when he was playing football at the University of Miami. Since the show is based on Johnson’s real life, thus far the audience has been treated to actors playing football greats such as Warren Sapp, Mario Cristobal, and Michael Irvin just to name a few. This show really encapsulates college life in the early 90s and they have the acid-washed jeans to prove it.
The first season of Young Rock is streaming on Peacock and Hulu.
Derry Girls
The cast of Derry Girls
Image via Netflix
Derry Girls is a show set in Derry, Northern Ireland in the early 1990s during the Troubles, where five friends attend a Catholic high school. There are bombings all around them and nowhere is safe, but life must go on and so must teenage angst. This show is a great example of how you don’t always realize you’re living through history so you just have to live your life. It also shows how blissfully unaware you can be of danger when you’re 16 years old. It is hilariously funny, but always with an air of tension from their parents and guardians who know how truly dire the situation is.
The third and final season of Derry Girls will premiere in 2022. The first two seasons are available on Netflix.
City on a Hill
Image via Showtime
Set in the early 1990s in Boston, this is a super gritty cop drama. If you can handle thick Boston accents and a LOT of cursing this is the one for you. Kevin Bacon stars as Jackie Rohr, an FBI agent who forms a surprising alliance with the Assistant District Attorney, DeCourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge). Be warned, there is a lot of outdated derogatory and misogynistic language in this one, just like there was in the 1990s, but it’s a glaring example of how far we’ve come and just how far we still have to go.
The first two seasons of City on a Hill are streaming on Showtime.
Fresh Off the Boat
Fresh Off the Boat
Image via ABC
The story of 11-year-old Eddie Huang (Hudson Yang) when his family moves from Washington D.C. to a very white neighborhood in Orlando, FL. Eddie’s dad, Louis (Randall Park) runs a steakhouse and figures out he’d do more business if he hires a white man to be his host (Paul Sheer). In case we didn’t know we were in the mid-90s, Bonnie Raitt, Ace of Base, Biggie Smalls, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard are played within the first five minutes of the pilot. Eddie is a huge hip-hop fan which makes the soundtrack of Fresh Off the Boat off the charts. Don’t let the fact that it’s a comedy fool you, though. The show also deals with a lot of issues dealing with racism and what it’s like to be the only Asian family in a small Florida town. It is a sweet show about the importance of a family who must stick together no matter what the world throws at them.
The entire series of Fresh Off the Boat is streaming on Hulu.
Aşk 101 (Love 101)
Love 101
Image via Netflix
Set in Istanbul in the late 1990s, a group of unruly high school students is on the verge of expulsion. Their only hope is their favorite teacher, Burcu (Pınar Deniz), who is about to accept a transfer to another school. When they discover a loophole that states if Burcu is married, she can choose where she wants to teach, the students decide to fix her up. Their intentions are less than noble, however, the lessons they learn about love and friendship are worth all their trouble. An underrated gem on Netflix, Love 101 is a sweet, nostalgic trip through adolescence where some selfish teens are able to learn and grow by putting someone else’s best interests before their own. It is set later in the 90s so cell phones are brand new and only the rich kids have them. The internet exists, but it is nowhere to be found. Have no fear, there are still plenty of doc martens and plaids to go around.
Both seasons of Love 101 are available on Netflix.