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The 10 Most Essential Teen Shows of the '90s
It's the stuff you grew up on
Nothing defined the '90s television landscape quite like the teen TV boom. While the wave of content continued into the 2000s and still persists – albeit in smaller ripples – to this day, the sub-genre undeniably began in the 90s and shaped the decade accordingly. From the very first moment that the Walsh twins stepped foot in the 90210 zip code, television was forever changed. Both hour-long dramas and half-hour comedies caught onto the trend and, by the mid-90s, nearly every major network had at least one hit teen series on its hands. And what better tropes to capture audiences' attention in such a major way? Who doesn't remember their first high school heartbreak or the life-or-death emotions of learning to drive a car? It's a wholly universal adventure, even if some of the shows don't necessarily reflect real life and instead serve to remind adult viewers of the experiences that they wish they had.
From the decade-long drama that started it all to the shows that were canceled far too soon, we've compiled the 10 best, most popular, and most influential teen shows of the '90s. (Of note: shows that started in the '80s, like Saved by the Bell, and series wherein the main characters don't start as high school students, including Boy Meets World and Felicity, were excluded from consideration.)
