10 Forgotten ’90s Sitcoms That Were Actually More Popular Than Anything on TV Today
Television audiences in the 1990s gathered in massive numbers for scheduled broadcasts. Network sitcoms dominated prime time and regularly pulled in audiences that modern streaming hits rarely match. Many of those shows were once at the center of pop culture conversations. Today, they rarely appear in recommendations or social media chatter. Here are 10 sitcoms that once ruled television but have slipped out of everyday conversation.
Dharma & Greg
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A yoga instructor raised by free-spirited parents marries a meticulous federal prosecutor after a whirlwind meeting. That unlikely pairing powered Dharma & Greg. Jenna Elfman’s performance even earned a Golden Globe. The sitcom finished its first season among the ten most-watched programs on television and averaged more than 15 million viewers during its peak.
Coach
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Before he became widely known for Parenthood, Craig T. Nelson spent the early 1990s shouting football strategy and life advice on Coach. The sitcom followed Hayden Fox, a college football coach who tried to balance locker-room chaos with his personal life. At its peak, the series drew 30 million viewers a week.
The Drew Carey Show
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ABC took a chance in 1995 on a sitcom set in Cleveland that relied heavily on Drew Carey’s stand-up persona. The gamble worked. The Drew Carey Show became one of the network’s most dependable hits. The series gained a reputation for experimentation by staging live broadcasts and elaborate musical episodes that recreated scenes from famous films.
Mad About You
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The show followed Paul and Jamie Buchman, a married couple dealing with everyday annoyances in a Manhattan apartment. Helen Hunt won multiple Emmy Awards for the role. At its peak, the sitcom averaged more than 20 million viewers and was part of NBC’s famous Thursday night lineup alongside shows like Friends and Seinfeld.
Wings
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The sitcom took place at a small airport in Nantucket where two brothers ran a struggling charter airline. Tim Daly and Steven Weber played the siblings at the center of the story. NBC kept the series on the air for eight seasons throughout the 1990s.
Caroline In The City
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Lea Thompson played a Manhattan cartoonist whose comic strip turned her into a modest celebrity. During its first season, it ranked among the most-watched sitcoms on television. Ratings declined over time, and NBC cancelled the show in 1999 with a lingering romantic cliffhanger.
Veronica’s Closet
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NBC hoped Kirstie Alley could repeat the success she enjoyed on Cheers. The result was Veronica’s Closet, a workplace sitcom about the head of a lingerie company whose love life rarely matched her brand’s romantic messaging. For a brief stretch, it even outranked Friends in the ratings before viewership dropped during later seasons.
Grace Under Fire
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Brett Butler’s real life influenced the tone of Grace Under Fire. The comedian played a single mother rebuilding her life after a difficult marriage while raising three children in a Missouri town. The show climbed into the top five programs on television during its early seasons. Later production problems and cast changes eventually shortened its run.
Empty Nest
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The idea for this show began as a potential spin-off of The Golden Girls. The first attempt failed during a backdoor pilot episode, but producers reworked the concept and introduced a new cast. Empty Nest eventually centered on widowed pediatrician Harry Weston and his adult daughters living in Miami. Richard Mulligan’s performance even earned an Emmy Award.
Evening Shade
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Burt Reynolds brought his movie-star presence to CBS television with this small-town comedy about a former professional football player coaching a struggling high school team. Evening Shade ran for four seasons, and Reynolds won an Emmy for the role. The show regularly attracted audiences of 20 twenty million viewers per episode during its prime-time run.