The Prisoner (TV Series 1967–1968) - IMDb IMDb 13 January 2017 5:53 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error After resigning, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is really a bizarre prison. His warders demand information. He gives them nothing, but only tries to escape. Creator: Number 6 vows revenge and goes after a sadistic Number 2 after he drives a fellow village resident to her death. 8.8 After resigning, a secret agent finds himself trapped in a bizarre prison known only as The Village. 8.7 Number 6 wakes up to find the Village totally deserted.

8.7 a list of 27 titles created 10 Jan 2013 a list of 42 titles created 23 Jun 2014 a list of 23 titles created 24 Sep 2014 a list of 37 titles created 21 Oct 2015 a list of 29 titles created 26 Oct 2015 Search for " The Prisoner " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Title: The Prisoner (1967–1968) 8.6/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. 1 win & 1 nomination. See more awards » Photos Two years after the original "Danger Man" series concluded, it was revamped and retconned. The series returned in a longer format. (1 hour/episode instead of 30 minutes). John Drake was now... See full summary » Stars: Patrick McGoohan, Peter Madden, Earl Cameron John Drake is a special operative for NATO, specializing in security assignments against any subversive element which threatened world peace.

The series featured exotic locales from all ... See full summary » Stars: Patrick McGoohan, Richard Wattis, Lionel Murton The Prisoner (TV Mini-Series 2009) Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller An update to the cult favorite series from the 1960s about a government agent who is kidnapped and sent to a remote island known as "the Village". Stars: Ian McKellen, Jim Caviezel, Ruth Wilson A quirky spy show of the adventures of an eccentricly suave British agent and his predominately female partners. Stars: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Honor Blackman John Steed and his new accomplices Purdey and Gambit find themselves facing new and deadly dangers in the bizarre world of espionage. Mixing fantasy with a darker edge, the trio face ... See full summary » Stars: Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, Joanna Lumley English Lord Brett Sinclair and American Danny Wilde are both wealthy playboys, they are teamed together by Judge Fullton to investigate crimes which the police can't solve. These two men ...

See full summary » Stars: Tony Curtis, Roger Moore, Laurence Naismith Simon Templar, a wealthy adventurer known as The Saint, travels around the world in his white Volvo P1800S. Stars: Roger Moore, Ivor Dean, Leslie Crawford Series of unrelated short stories covering elements of crime, horror, drama and comedy about people of different species committing murders, suicides, thefts and other sorts of crime caused by certain motivations; perceived or not. Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Harry Tyler, John Williams The original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe. Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam Ordinary people find themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner. Stars: Rod Serling, Robert McCord, Jay Overholts Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley Edit Storyline "The Prisoner" is a unique piece of television. It addresses issues such as personal identity and freedom, democracy, education, scientific progress, art and technology, while still remaining an entertaining drama series.

Over seventeen episodes we witness a war of attrition between the faceless forces behind 'The Village' (a Kafkaesque community somewhere between Butlins and Alcatraz) and its most strong willed inmate, No. 6. who struggles ceaselessly to assert his individuality while plotting to escape from his captors. Written by Stuart Berwick <berws@essex.ac.uk> No Man Is Just A Number. Genres: 1 June 1968 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia On several occasions plans were made to adapt The Prisoner (1967) into a feature film. Patrick McGoohan once considered filming a sequel that took place 100 years or more after the TV series. A movie was announced in 2001 with McGoohan as executive producer and Simon West as director, but was shelved by 2002. See more » Goofs The number and knocker on the outside of Number 2's front door change style and position both within and between episodes. See more » Quotes See more » Crazy Credits Portmeirion, Wales is not identified as the location for filming in all but the final episode.

Instead the closing credits in these episodes simply say "Filmed on location." See more » Connections (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews Just watched Once Upon A Time which for me is the best and most important episode in the series, the interplay between Patrick McGoohan and Leo McKern is quite simply brilliant. As for the series like many others I remember first seeing the show as a 10 year old, it left an indelible impression on me then and with time that impression hasn't faded one bit, I still consider it one of the finest television series ever created. I hope Hollywood nor anyone else attempt to remake it, it would be like a sad photocopy of the Mona Lisa, leave it alone please. To Patrick McGoohan and all those involved in creating it I'd just like to say 'THANK YOU' For those who ask what the series is all about, I'd say watch it, and make your own mind up don't just accept my opinion on it, 'think' for yourself. Be seeing you. 30 of 37 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes The 90 Best TV Shows of the 1990s :: TV :: Lists :: Page 1 :: Paste The 90 Best TV Shows of the 1990s By Jim Vorel | August 25, 2014 | 8:06am Share Tweet Submit Pin I was born in 1986, which I would argue essentially makes me the quintessential ’90s child, coming into the decade as a four-year-old making some of my first television memories and leaving it as a jaded 14-year-old, certain that The Simpsons probably had “a season or two left, at best.” But one thing is certain: I watched a whole lot of TV. In that decade, I watched some of the best shows, such as the aforementioned Simpsons in its heyday, and I watched some absolute dreck—I’m talking Street Sharks and SWAT Kats-type stuff here. (Do you even realize how many terrible animated shows there were featuring anthropomorphic animals in the ’90s? I suspect that you do not.) It was a decade of wholesome family sitcoms and subversive cartoons that flew under the radar and straight into cult fame.

Sincerity seemed to rule the airwaves as the ’90s opened, gradually replaced by a sense of cynical, defeatist satire as the decade progressed. It was a transformative period for so many televised genre programs, from science fiction and mystery to horror and absurdist humor. The ’90s came in with dayglo excess and left in a flannel daze, bemoaning the death of grunge and the incoming and clearly unavoidable disaster of Y2K. Here, then, is a ranking of the top 90 shows of the 1990s. 90. Murder, She Wrote Years: 1984-1996 A favorite of the “senior citizen solves mysteries” genre in the same vein as Columbo, Murder, She Wrote actually has a bit more in common with the work of Agatha Christie and particularly her brilliant spinster, Miss Marple. Granted, Angela Lansbury was only in her 60s for most of the show’s long, 12-year run, racking up Golden Globe and Emmy nominations all the while.

Really, the most remarkable thing about Murder, She Wrote is the way that murder literally follows Jessica Fletcher around everywhere she goes. Any locale this woman visits is immediately stalked by death, moments after her arrival. It’s like she emits some kind of magnetic field that causes people to act out their darkest urges. 89. Unsolved Mysteries Years: 1987-2002 Just thinking of the opening music from Unsolved Mysteries sends a chill down my spine—this was undoubtedly the most frightening theme song my grade school self had ever heard. Its accompaniment was the steely voice of Robert Stack, who would reel off quite the list of disturbing “mysteries” each week, from unsolved crime cases and conspiracy theories to terrifying dips into the supernatural. That was the bizarre thing about the show—it could go from a story about long-lost twins somehow finding their way back together into a segment about demonic possession or alien abduction at the drop of a hat. It was a staple of both NBC and then CBS for years before somehow ending up on Lifetime of all places before Stack’s death in 2003. 88.

Dawson’s Creek Years: 1998-2003 The late 1990s saw a large boom in the teen drama subgenre, of which Dawson’s Creek was certainly one of the prototypical examples. It was very much in the same vein as some of its contemporaries, with a cast of attractive young kids, although it was set apart somewhat by its pretty New England surroundings. The scripts by series creator Kevin Williamson caught some early flack before the series had even premiered for their perceived “raciness” and frank discussion of teen sexuality, but time has been kind to memories of the show’s legacy. And James Van Der Beek of course remains a total dreamboat to this day. 87. Walker, Texas Ranger Years: 1993-2001 It’s tough to name any show of the 1990s more fun to ironically watch in 2014 than a vintage episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. I mean really, what other shows have inspired Conan O’Brien to install a level on his desk and show contextless clips over the course of several years—and that was the most requested Late Night skit series of all time, by the way.

The individual moments are so incredible that it’s not even necessary to watch the episodes—you can just enjoy the snippet of an old man in a wheelchair being pushed down the stairs into a pool , completely out of context. Or Walker telling a young Haley Joel Osment that he has AIDS. Or Walker jumping through a man’s car windshield :. Or perhaps the thrilling conclusion to the greatest Walker clip of all time—I won’t spoil this one for you. 86. The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Years: 1993-1994 Bruce Campbell is an actor who never truly received a chance at the starring roles he deserved, and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. is some of the better evidence that we all missed out on a guy who could have been much more than just a cult favorite in movies like The Evil Dead . Ostensibly a western, there are so many other genres wrapped into Brisco’s adventures, from time travel to experimentation with steampunk technology.

It may have even inspired some Venture Brothers episodes, seeing as a good number of episodes revolve around a mysterious artifact from the future called “the orb.” Critical praise was strong for the show, but like so many others on Fox, the ratings didn’t hold up and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was filed squarely into the “cult” folder after its cancellation after one season. 85. Blossom Years: 1991-1995 Before Mayim Bialik was sucked into the CBS comedy void that is The Big Bang Theory , she was the early ’90s star of Blossom. The story of a precocious teenager growing up with her musician father and annoying brothers, she became an icon as the “goofy girl” with weird fashion, particularly the big, floppy hats that became her calling card. Today, the show is often remembered as one of the leading innovators of the “very special episode” format, which was already well established by shows such as Diff’rent Strokes but expanded into an art form by Blossom.

Examples on Blossom include the time her best friend Six (that’s her name, yes) is dating an older man who turns out to be married, or the traumatic occasion of Blossom’s first period. Sometimes it seemed like every other Blossom episode was “very special.” 84. Martin Years: 1992-1997 A lot of people, Martin Lawrence included, probably thought this would be the peak of the former stand-up’s career in comedy, but they were simply unaware that he would one day make Big Momma’s House. Set in direct opposition to the dominance of NBC’s “Must See TV” block on Thursday nights, Martin became a counterbalance, a story set in urban Detroit with a largely black cast. A bit of a blowhard and a paper tiger, Martin is a funny guy who likes to act tough, but is secretly a softy on the inside, a characteristic only rarely seen by his more serious, long-suffering girlfriend, Gina. The show had a bit of an odd conclusion, as a sexual harassment lawsuit from Tisha Campbell resulted in her being absent through a good portion of the final season.

She eventually settled and filmed three final episodes under the stipulation that she wouldn’t appear in any scenes with Lawrence, which certainly sounds like it must have been awkward to witness. 83. Wings Years: 1990-1997 It’s sort of hard to make Wings sound thrilling, but that’s okay because it was always a gentle, sort of stuffy sitcom, albeit one with good performances. You can sum it up in one short sentence: A pair of brothers live in Nantucket and operate a small, one-plane airline. In the vein of Cheers (it was produced by the same people), the stories revolve around the colorful cast of characters who hang around the airport, such as cellist Helen Hackett or Italian-American stereotype Antonio V. Scarpacci, amusingly played by Tony Shalhoub. The brothers, Joe and Brian Hackett, basically have the classic Abbott and Costello dynamic going, with Tim Daly playing the straight man and Steven Weber playing his free-wheeling, womanizing foil. 82.

Full House Years: 1987-1995 Full House is probably the quintessential sappy family sitcom of the ’90s, the kind of show that was the butt of jokes from every late-night comedian who thought he was somehow skewering polite society by making fun of its cheesiness or adorable kid actors. The story of a widowed father raising his three daughters in San Francisco with the help of his brother-in-law and goofy best friend, it was pure sap, but a guilty pleasure for plenty of viewers who wouldn’t have watched anything else in the same genre. It offered a little something for everyone—kids liked the silly voices and characters of Joey, women liked the beefcake that was John Stamos, and families liked the cute kids, especially Michelle, who was turned into a marketing empire by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. But even more than Michelle, what says “’90s” more than Stephanie Tanner leading a dance party to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch? 81.

WCW/WWF Years: 1990-2000 Even more so than in the golden age of the WWF in the late ’80s, the late ’90s was the most popular and relevant that pro wrestling has ever been on a national scale. Good things arose from the competition between Ted Turner ’s WCW and Vince McMahon’s WWF and the so-called “Monday Night Wars” that resulted, as the quest for ratings drove creativity and some of the most popular characters of all time, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Goldberg, Sting and more. The single biggest heel turn in history took place July 6, 1996 when Hulk Hogan did the unthinkable and became a villain, forming the New World Order in WCW and ushering in several of the most exciting, over-the-top and influential years the wrestling world has ever seen. WWF, meanwhile, kicked off its own “Attitude Era,” still considered the high-water mark for pro wrestling as a whole. 80.

seaQuest DSV Years: 1993-1996 It’s easy to sort of deride seaQuest DSV as essentially “ Star Trek underwater,” but in its earlier episodes that comparison was only half right. Roy Scheider of Jaws fame starred as the captain of a research and diplomatic envoy vessel in a future where depletion of the Earth’s resources has led to the only cities remaining underwater, where they harvest the bounty of the ocean. As the show progressed to a second season, the sci-fi elements grew stronger with the discovery of aliens and various “monster of the week” episodes in the vein of those types of Star Trek or X-Files episodes. Scheider was particularly unhappy about the direction the show was heading and stepped down before the third season, which was oddly set 10 years further into the future. Michael Ironside replaced him and played the new, more militaristic captain, but ratings were bad, dooming one of network TV’s quirkier series. 79. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Years: 1995-1999 Ah, Hercules.

This syndicated show was some truly excellent TV comfort food—put it on in the background and devote roughly 25 percent of your attention to it while doing something more important. Plots were minimalistic, but the action was cheesy and fun, although somehow still less over the top than say, Walker, Texas Ranger. The writers clearly didn’t care whatsoever about long-term plots or even keeping their mythologies straight—every other episode would lift random fixtures of Egyptian, Asian and European mythology right alongside the “Greek stuff.” None of that mattered—it was understood you were watching simply for the bromance between Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as his nephew/sidekick Iolaus. Check your brain at the door and let 30 minutes roll by. 78. The Tick: The Animated Series Years: 1994-1996 It’s easy to imagine the average viewer being completely perplexed by The Tick the first time they laid eyes on the animated series. Its satire of both animated children’s TV shows and comic book superheroes came totally out of left field—the one similar parody from the time period I can think of is the occasional character “Really Really Big Man” from Rocko’s Modern Life.

The Tick, though, was a full-time satirist, a possibly insane, blue man-child who possessed super strength but a lack of any common sense, and powerful abilities that literally increased or decreased depending on how “dramatic” his surroundings were. As a Saturday morning cartoon it was only mildly successful before blossoming into a cult hit on Comedy Central re-runs. The subsequent 2001 live-action series returned to Fox but ran for only nine episodes, proving that The Tick was probably best left to a more colorful atmosphere. 77. Coach Years: 1989-1997 The 1990s seemed to be just jam-packed full of sitcoms like Coach, these genial programs about harried parents dealing with kids and family life, only defined by their unique locations. What mattered was each show’s cast, and Craig T. Nelson, as later evidenced by The Incredibles, was pretty much born to be the harried father.

Here, he coached a prestigious college football team at the fictional “Minnesota State” before moving on to the NFL, but even more than the team, his challenges typically revolved around wrangling his college-aged daughter or sorting out disputes between other teachers or members of his staff. Like any of these shows, you had yourself a few goofball comic relief characters who existed just to give out-of-nowhere monologues like this one . 76. Dinosaurs Years: 1991-1994 Dinosaurs was a truly bizarre concept, a puppet show about anthropomorphic dino-humans in flannel, living a Flintstones-type existence in lower-middle class suburbia. To some viewers, it seemed moronic, what with Baby Sinclair’s antics, singing and slapstick humor, but it was simultaneously capable of being both a sincere political platform and a biting parody of TV’s shallowness. I mean, just look at the absurdity of the fourth wall-breaking going on here . It was also notable for having the most depressing conclusion this side of ALF, which heavily implied that all of the dinosaur characters we’d come to know and love over the course of four seasons were going to freeze to death and go extinct.

I’m not sure how this came as a shock—they’re dinosaurs, after all. But still, genocide is a rough way to end a sitcom. 75. The Magic School Bus Years: 1994-1997 “Reckless endangerment, the series!” But seriously, Ms. Frizzle has what, eight or nine kids in her class, tops, right? Is it safe to assume that all the other students were say, eaten by dinosaurs while time traveling or absorbed by white blood cells while fighting viruses inside Ralphie? In all seriousness, The Magic School Bus is one of this decade’s most entertaining children’s shows that somehow manages to be genuinely educational as well. Ms. Frizzle is the perfect agent of chaos, and armed with a bus capable of seemingly anything, there was nothing she couldn’t teach these kids. I just found myself wondering if their parents ever had to sign any permission slips for their children to be exploring deep space or the interior of an active volcano. 74.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast Years: 1994-2004 The ’90s were a crazy, transitional period for Cartoon Network, which came into the decade showing classic Hannah Barbera and Warner Brothers cartoons as their main content blocks and left it with their flagship evening program, Adult Swim, more or less fully formed. I vividly remember watching reruns the original 1960s Space Ghost series, but ’90s audiences couldn’t have imagined that someone would think to recycle this unimportant character into a new show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast. A rather brilliant parody of both late-night TV talk shows and radio programs in the vein of Coast to Coast A.M., it began as a pretty deadpan parody and grew increasingly absurd over the course of 10 full seasons, until the moronic, catlike monster man called Brak had practically become the Adult Swim mascot, getting a spin-off of his own. His musical segments are still among the weirder pieces of material Adult Swim has ever aired, which is saying something. 73.

Babylon 5 Years: 1994-1998 Babylon 5 was certainly one of the decade’s most mature science fiction series, set in a universe where man has taken to the stars and come together with other spacefaring races to build a massive space station for trade, diplomacy and cultural exchange. A rare example of a series that carried out the exact number of seasons (five) it initially planned, it was as such well-planned from the start and featured deep continuity. Compared to the various Star Trek series of the decade, it most closely resembled Deep Space Nine, which aired its pilot only weeks before Babylon 5 debuted. Unsurprisingly, there were myriad accusations out there of which show had the more original idea, but despite lacking the prestige of the Star Trek name, Babylon 5 more than managed to hold its own. 72. The Adventures of Pete & Pete Years: 1993-1996 Few children’s comedies of the ’90s are more fondly recalled today than Pete & Pete, the story of two identically named brothers living in small town USA.

Solidly in the absurdist camp, stories often revolved around the charismatic Little Pete’s schemes and Big Pete’s attempts to get his brother out of trouble. To look at the show, you’d halfway expect something serious like The Wonder Years, but Fred Savage never had a “personal superhero” called “Artie, the Strongest Man in the World” as Little Pete does for no particular reason. The series was critically acclaimed but lasted for only three seasons, though it is still remembered as one of Nickelodeon ’s most charming and best-written live action series. 71. Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist Years: 1995-1999 The concept behind Dr. Katz is a pretty lazy one—a crudely drawn psychiatrist listens to a procession of stand-up comedians do their typical material and offers his professional opinion. One can imagine a Comedy Central staffer just saying to his boss, “Hey, we’ve got a lot of comedy tape in the back, maybe we can make a show with the audio?” Upon closer inspection though, the character of Dr. Katz ends up being fleshed out pretty well as a stressed but well-intentioned guy who is legitimately trying to help his patients.

Most importantly, the show gave early exposure to plenty of significant comedians, including Louie C.K., Jon Stewart, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jim Gaffigan, Dave Chappelle, David Cross and Mitch Hedberg, among many others. 70. Star Trek: Voyager Years: 1995-2001 Including all three Star Trek series of the 1990s on this list kind of seems like a lot, but you just can’t hold any of them in abeyance. Voyager has a particularly cool initial premise—after a freak accident, the ship is stranded 75,000 light years from home, and even with access to warp drive, its crew is facing an estimated 75-year trip to friendly space. This essentially gave the writers a blank check to embrace any part of the Star Trek mythos they wanted, because any time a new alien species was introduced it was always simply a denizen of the uncharted space lanes where they were traveling. Likewise, there was always a driving plot point available in their quest to get home—how will the crew try to shorten the journey or take a short cut this week?

Unlike so many other Star Trek series that were about exploration, this one was the inverse—exploration gone awry. 69. The Critic Years: 1994-1995 Movie parody humor is a pretty narrow venue because it assumes the viewer is as big a film geek as the writers, and it was likely this that kept The Critic from more long-term success. The show really had a lot going for it—Jon Lovitz was perfect in the role, and it was a completely fresh take on a career that few had ever put a comic spin on before. Today, the character is probably remembered for his Simpsons crossover as much as anything, but for a few years The Critic was as funny as anything on TV. The cameos by Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel (voicing themselves) were particularly hilarious, even devoting an entire episode to the two breaking up and courting Lovitz’s Jay Sherman as possible replacements. 68.

Stargate SG-1 Years: 1997-2007 The Stargate movie was really a perfect choice to spin off into a sci-fi series because the Stargate itself is quite the piece of deus ex machina—it can transport people all over the galaxy to different planets, so there was always somewhere new and strange to visit, even over the course of 10 seasons and 214 episodes. MacGyver himself, Richard Dean Anderson, takes over the role that Kurt Russell played in the film, but the greatest role is probably Teal’c, the “warrior race” alien (let’s be honest, they were thinking “Klingon”) with a rather disturbing biological secret: He’s an incubator to a parasitic monster that gives him enhanced abilities but will one day kill him. Just hearing him talk about the sentient worm in his “abdominal pouch” made for some great, icky sci-fi moments. 67.

Will & Grace Years: 1998-2006 Will & Grace remains a pivotal show for gay culture and the presentation of gay characters on a sitcom, the most successful show of its time to feature gay lead characters in anything but the “wacky best friend” role. It received an absurd 83 Emmy nominations throughout its run, and each of the four main stars won an individual Emmy, making it one of only three sitcoms to achieve that feat. The stories weren’t really anything you hadn’t seen before, revolving around life and love in New York City, but the places they were coming from (gay culture/Jewish culture) were refreshingly new to many more conservative Americans. For plenty of Bible Belters, Will & Grace was likely the first television exposure they had to characters of this nature. 66. Saved by the Bell Years: 1989-1993 The definitive high school sitcom of the early 1990s, Saved by the Bell reflects the day-glo colors of the era perfectly. As a central character, Zack Morris is like a slightly preppier version of Ferris Bueller, a schemer and philanderer with no shortage of friends.

Everyone on the show perfectly falls into their tropes of the era, whether it’s “perfect girl” Kelly Kapowski, braniac Jessie Spano, jock A.C. Slater or weirdo geek Screech Powers. The latter is one of the ’90s more instantly recognizable characters, a sort of “white Steve Urkel” who never took over his show the way Urkel quickly commandeered Family Matters. One of the nice things about Saved by the Bell is that it felt like a truly ensemble comedy—everybody got their little moments to shine with regularity, except perhaps for Tiffani Amber Thiessen, who was mostly there to be the archetypal idea of 1991 hotness. 65. Daria Years: 1997-2002 Significantly more influential than one would have expected from a Beavis and Butt-head spin-off, Daria is without a doubt the defining show of angsty teens of the late ’90s who couldn’t quite get over the death of grunge.

It’s a paean to the lazy, the slackers, the cynical and the sarcastic, as Daria and her friend Jane bemoaned the plight of a broken society by watching tabloid shows with titles like Sick, Sad World. Its fatalism was deep, dark and often hilarious, and one got the sense that few shows have ever actually captured the zeitgeist of their subjects more accurately. Every teen who ever shrugged their shoulders and sighed in frustration after being asked how their day at school was by Mom was clearly thinking, ‘My life is just like Daria.’ 64. Designing Women Years: 1986-1993 A pretty progressive show when it began in the late ’80s, Designing Women is about the interpersonal relationships and business dealings of a group of young women running an interior design firm. Running back to back with Murphy Brown for CBS during much of its run, it was thematically similar in its strong, opinionated female characters. Unusually, there was also a single, black male character in the office—although the show still fell into the racial trap of making him an ex-con (even if it was a crime he didn’t commit).

It could be a topical comedy at times, with episodes about issues such as AIDS and spousal abuse, but it’s perhaps best remembered today for the angry, in-your-face speeches delivered by Dixie Carter’s character Julia. It’s pretty over-the-top stuff . 63. The Drew Carey Show Years: 1995-2004 The Drew Carey Show was a pretty classic example of your “everyman” sitcom, with a funnyman star who plays an average, unexceptional guy surrounded by a gaggle of goofy friends, a nemesis (the frightful Mimi) and a love interest who is three or four notches more attractive than he is (Christa Miller). Many of the plots revolve around the hapless hero’s dating life, and the show just sort of manages to coast by on the likability of Carey and a few strong supporting performances by actors like Ryan Stiles and Diedrich Bader. That’s all it took to become one of the longer-running sitcoms of its decade, with 233 episodes. That and the theme song, “Cleveland Rocks.” 62.

Xena: Warrior Princess Years: 1995-2001 The rare case of a spin-off that exceeds the original, Xena: Warrior Princess was certainly a deeper show than Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, although that’s not saying much. Lucy Lawless was the main reason why, a certifiable badass with an awesome, chakram-like weapon that seemed to delight in defying every known law of motion. The series also became massively popular among the gay community for the perceived lesbian relationship or subtext between Xena and her companion, Gabrielle, played by Renee O’Connor. The sexuality of the characters was intentionally left ambiguous, but with this many kisses shared between the two, it’s a little hard to argue against the shipping fan-fiction community. Fun fact: Xena fans popularized the term “altfic” to describe same-sex romantic/erotic fan fiction. 61. Animaniacs Years: 1993-1998 Animaniacs is unlike anything that came before or has really come again since, a series that truly blended sophomoric, silly humor with surprising wit and even some educational aspects.

Also remembered for giving birth to Pinky and the Brain as supporting characters, Animaniacs functioned as a sketch show of sorts, with segments that touched on the legacy of cartooning, reveled in slapstick violence or were simply absurd for the sake of absurd—it was hard to ever know what you were going to get. The songs are the undeniable highlight, startlingly brilliant in their conception and performed with deftness by all three voice actors. Wakko’s song about state capitols set to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw” is particularly well remembered, but that’s nothing compared to the complexity of Yakko’s “Nations of the World” number . 60. 3rd Rock from the Sun Years: 1996-2001 3rd Rock successfully took the Mork & Mindy premise and expanded it to an entire family unit of aliens who land on Earth and attempt to study mankind by blending in among them. There wasn’t much here that you would call “highbrow humor,” but the strong cast always made the best of things, especially Jonathan Lithgow as frenzied High Commander Dick Solomon and future A-lister Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tommy.

Later seasons saw the aliens become more interested in their human lives than the mission at hand, and even had the bonus of appearances by the family’s supreme commander, “The Big Giant Head,” played by William Shatner. You gotta love the dual references to The Twilight Zone and its film adaptation that Shatner and Lithgow share in this scene . 59. Beverly Hills, 90210 Years: 1990-2000 Between 90210 and its spin-off Melrose Place, the primetime soap opera exploded in a big way in the 1990s. This one was about a family of Minnesota transplants arriving in Beverly Hills and the West Coast culture shock they (especially the kids) receive upon arriving in high school. Also known as “that show Shannon Doherty was on and then disappeared from,” her departure as one of the principal characters, Brenda, was explained as “moving away to London.” She was replaced by Tiffani Thiessen, jumping ship from Saved by the Bell to play a girl with quite a lot more attitude than preppy Kelly Kapowski.

Of all its actors, you’ve probably seen Ian Ziering most recently as professional shark slayer Fin Shepard, via Sharknado . 58. Family Matters Years: 1989-1998 Family Matters is the perfect example of a show that would have been nothing special without a single exceptional character, but the really amazing thing is that this break-out character, Steve Urkel, wasn’t even part of the initial show design. Rather, he was simply intended to be a one-time appearance as a nerdy kid who took Laura out on a date, but the reception was so strong that he quickly became a regular cast member. By the end of the second season, this pastiche of nerd tropes had become possibly the most popular and quoted character on all of primetime television, and Family Matters may as well have been renamed The Urkel Show. (In fact, I vividly remember people mistakenly referring to the show as Urkel.) The show could be exceedingly goofy at times, especially from season five onward when Steve would occasionally use his scientific know-how to transform himself into suave alter-ego “Stefan” in an extended Nutty Professor tribute. 57.

Late Night With Conan O’Brien Years: 1993-2009 Critics were not kind at all to Conan when the inexperienced writer of many a classic Simpsons episodes succeeded Dave Letterman as the host of Late Night in 1993, calling him awkward, geeky and untrained. O’Brien, however, grew quickly into one of television’s most respected talk show personalities. His Late Night was patently unlike the shows of Leno or Letterman, with a wilder, absurdist streak that focused more on comedic sketches than interview segments and weird, recurring characters like the infamous “masturbating bear,” among many others. There was more of a sense of originality and unique personality here, which flowed from O’Brien and his repartee with co-host/hype man Andy Richter, who left the show only to rejoin Conan when the show moved to TBS in 2010. 56.

Rugrats Years: 1991-2004 I have absolutely no idea how this show managed to soldier on for 13 years through various specials and movies, but I can confirm that in the early 1990s, there were few things my grade school self enjoyed more than a big block of Rugrats on Nickelodeon . The adventures of Tommy, Chuckie and the rest were dependent on some spectacular voice acting and a unique, instantly recognizable animation style full of comically exaggerated, bizarrely shaped characters. Some of the episodes were almost epic in nature—I vividly recall “Touchdown Tommy,” which parodies the Super Bowl as the entire gang engages in a huge melee while fighting over the holy grail: A bottle full of chocolate milk. Also wonderful was Reptar, the irradiated dinosaur/Godzilla spoof adored by all the babies. (Believe it or not, the dinosaur was somehow voiced by Busta Rhymes in The Rugrats Movie.) 55. Quantum Leap Years: 1989-1993 What a goofy show Quantum Leap truly was. Scott Bakula plays Dr.

Sam Beckett, a physicist who becomes trapped in a morphing time loop after an experiment gone awry. In each episode, he leaps into the body of another person (man, woman or child) in a different historical time and must “put right what once went wrong” before jumping into a new body. It’s perfect episodic structure, and it allowed the sci-fi series to set each episode in literally any time period and setting it felt like taking on that week. Likewise, the body-jumping mechanic meant any number of guest stars could appear and Dr. Sam could go anywhere—he even leaps into the body of a chimpanzee in one episode. Despite the silly premise, though, the series actually had a surprising amount of heart as well, largely motivated by Beckett’s unfailing resolve to return to his own time and body and reclaim his own life and identity. In some respects, it’s like a time-traveling version of The Prisoner. 54. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Years: 1993-1999 Deep Space Nine was an experiment in a different type of Star Trek property, one not built around a spaceship/warship traveling and exploring the edges of the known universe.

Rather, DS9 was an advanced but static outpost where emissaries of various alien races came to congregate, trade and conduct business. The show featured the first and still only black commander-in-chief as lead protagonist and was noted for the diversity of its alien cast and their well-defined characters. It also tackled topics of religion more effectively and extensively than any of the Star Trek series to date, as the Bajoran Wormhole near DS9 was integral to both the series’ plot and the religious beliefs of the Bajoran people, several of whom served as crew. It was never quite as popular as Next Generation, but that was a tough assignment to follow. 53. Felicity Years: 1998-2002 Felicity was a show all about growing up in one’s college years and the transformation a young woman undergoes from bright-eyed high school graduate to fledgling adult. Keri Russell was stunning as the intelligent but impulsive Felicity, who follows her high school crush to college in New York and gets caught up in (surprise!) a love triangle.

Ratings for the second season plunged precipitously right as Russell cut off her trademark, shoulder-length curls, which led to the assertion that Felicity’s haircut was among the most devastating in TV history. However, ratings recovered as her hair grew back in, and Russell won herself a Golden Globe. Still, it was a rather close shave. 52. The Ren & Stimpy Show Years: 1991-1995 Put simply, when Ren & Stimpy first hit the airwaves, pretty much everyone who saw it had to admit they’d never seen anything like it before. Like a nightmarish Ralph Steadman drawing come to life, it flew in like a bomb on Nickelodeon, completely unlike anything else they were airing at the time. Its frightening imagery, harsh language, toilet humor and out-of-nowhere sexual innuendo sent parents into fits, but its influence was equally pervasive. It’s hard to imagine a show like South Park coming along without a subversive cartoon such as Ren & Stimpy paving the way. It remains one of the decade’s most enduring cult classics. 51. The Real World Years: 1992-Present Yep, they’re still making The Real World—who knew?

Back in the early ’90s, though, The Real World was appointment viewing for the MTV generation, those sarcastic Gen. Xers. As one of the progenitors of modern reality TV, it’s hard to overstate how influential The Real World is. It’s such a simple premise—gather together a bunch of attractive, crazy young people and make them live together in a house with cameras—but it signaled a massive shift in mainstream broadcasting as producers realized one didn’t need, say, “professional actors” or “stories” or “sets” in order to create a phenomena. All one needs, as it turns out, is a bunch of drunk, stupid young people making poor decisions to stay on the air for 29 seasons. 50. Dexter’s Laboratory Years: 1996-2003 Dexter’s Laboratory is one of the crown jewels of Cartoon Network ’s mid-’90s original series, created by visionary animator Genndy Tartakovsky, who would later go on to make the equally brilliant Samurai Jack.

There was a freedom to this show, a sense that anything could and would happen in the boy genius/scientist’s realm, which is immediately implied by its classic, wordless opening sequence with its gothic, Danny Elfman-sounding music. Huge props also to Christine Cavanaugh, who provided the nasal, unexplainably accented voice of Dexter, which made him sound like a miniature, histrionic Peter Lorre. Her performance is a huge part of the show’s continued charm. 49. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Years: 1990-1996 Most beloved opening theme song of the 1990s? Could very well be, judging from the response this one will get at literally any bar karaoke night—seriously, try it the next time you’re out on the town. Looking at this series in the context of 1990, it’s funny to think that Will Smith was already sort of viewed as a “has-been” in his music career, a guy desperately trying to stay relevant by joining a sitcom. Of course, he ultimately had the last laugh as the fish-out-of-water story of Fresh Prince became popular immediately and survives in syndication to this day.

Smith went on to become Hollywood elite, and the rest of the country learned to dance The Carlton . Everyone wins. 48. The Powerpuff Girls Years: 1998-2005 On first inspection The Powerpuff Girls seems like a show simply conceived as “superheroes for little girls,” but you’d find just as many men of all ages as part of its nostalgic fan base in 2014. It was almost like a ’60s-era Japanese “tokusatsu” superhero serial, with three precious, retro-looking girls fighting various supervillains or monsters of the week, but at the same time they also had to deal with issues faced by other young children such as, I shit you not, BEDWETTING in one episode. The series benefitted from a few great villains that ended up becoming as popular as the Powerpuff Girls themselves, primarily the simian Mojo JoJo and the bizarre hillbilly monster “Fuzzy Lumpkins.” 47. Murphy Brown Years: 1988-1998 With quite a lot more backbone than most sitcoms, Murphy Brown was patently unafraid to wade into the current cultural and political discourse and take sides.

The story of a hard-boiled, formerly alcoholic television reporter for a news magazine show, it was the role of a lifetime for Candice Bergen, who racked up Emmy’s and Golden Globes for the wry, often ruthless character. Murphy Brown even ended up in the news it so often mocked when Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the show’s depiction of single-parent households in a 1992 speech, leading to an entire episode dedicated toward refuting him. For a sitcom to take such an overt stance was practically unthinkable, but Murphy Brown was a program committed to its ideals as well as entertainment. 46. Mad About You Years: 1992-1999 Every sitcom invariably has some relationship humor in it, but Mad About You is like the ’90s personification of relationship humor. The marriage at its center between Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt begins in the newlywed stage when the two have still yet to discover each other’s flaws, and the audience is there for every painful and revelatory step along the way. It wasn’t always the most thrilling show, but neither is marriage.

Mad About You was the kind of show you watched alongside your clucking spouse, pointing out how many of the same idiosyncrasies you shared—exactly how it was depicted on Seinfeld , by the way. Helen Hunt in particular really grew into her character over time, going on an unbroken streak of Emmy wins from 1996-1999. 45. Melrose Place Years: 1992-1999 Soap operas show up in some capacity in every decade, but the ’90s was when they really went prime time. Spinning off from Beverly Hills 90210 (some folks don’t remember that most of the 90210 characters appear in season one), Melrose Place was originally supposed to be a different kind of a show that would follow all the different characters in an apartment building, with self-contained episodes that would focus on one resident at a time and wrap up by the end of the show. It could have been an interesting format, but it proved unpopular, and the storylines gradually changed to reflect the more prominent soap operas of its days.

Once Heather Locklear’s character Amanda Woodward became a series regular in season two, the show hit its stride and became one of Fox’s mainstays for the rest of the decade. 44. Picket Fences Years: 1992-1996 One of the quirkier dramedies of the ’90s, Picket Fences was often a show seemingly on the verge of cancellation, despite strong critical praise. Taking place in the small town of Rome, Wis., it followed a sheriff played by Tom Skerritt who generally found himself investigating situations well outside the normal purview of rural police work. It featured some funny supporting performances, especially from Fyvush Finkel as Jewish lawyer Douglas Wambaugh , but of all its little eccentricities I most enjoyed the bizarre fates suffered by the town’s mayors. The show went through seven different mayors over the course of four seasons—they essentially had the lifespans of Spinal Tap drummers. Methods of demise included shooting, decapitation and spontaneous human combustion. 43.

Law & Order Years: 1990-2010 Law & Order, the show that ran for 456 episodes and spawned no fewer than four additional spin-offs in its wake. The original is of course the best and most classic of the series, one of the all-time influential police procedurals/court shows and one of the longest-running live action series of all time—it practically made the faces of Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterson synonymous with the show. It stayed relevant when it could by writing episodes structured around court cases that had just been in the headlines, and the characters built such legacies that they became ripe for parody. Case in point: Waterson appeared as a “compensated endorser” on one of the greatest SNL parody commercials of the 1990s, using his serious persona to shill for “Old Glory Robot Insurance.” 42. Chicago Hope Years: 1994-2000 Sometimes, a show is doomed from the very start to play second fiddle, and when you’re a medical drama premiering within a day of the first episode of ER, you are that second fiddle.

Chicago Hope had plenty going for it, though, from the presence of Mandy “Inigo Montoya” Patinkin to strong critical support. Unfortunately, it went up directly against ER in its first season timeslot and lost in the ratings pretty handily. It remained a moderately successful show for CBS in other timeslots while Christine Lahti and Peter Berg settled in as series regulars and fan favorites. Ultimately though, Chicago Hope is remembered as a good drama that was just the second best hospital show of the ’90s. 41. The Wonder Years Years: 1988-1993 It’s a little odd to think of The Wonder Years as an ’80s or ’90s show specifically because it was set in a perfectly evoked 1960s, but at the same time, just hearing Joe Cocker’s take on “With a Little Help From My Friends” immediately makes me think of watching the show with my family in my childhood living room. The show featured some of the best-developed characters of any sitcom, especially owing to the trademark narration by Daniel Stern, which examined all the events with the knowledge of age.

An episode like “My Father’s Office” is still a beautiful thing and such an identifiable nugget of childhood—the realization that one’s father is just a man and a worker bee, rather than a patriarch in all aspects of his life. The Wonder Years was filled with those kinds of revelations. 40. Married…with Children Years: 1987-1997 Each era has its “low-brow classic” show, and for the late ’80s and most of the ’90s, that show was Married…with Children. Unlike Ed O’Neil’s current stint on Modern Family , there’s really no wit or morals to be had here, just a crass commentary on the state of the lower-class American family in the early ’90s. Al Bundy is a simple man, and he has few redeeming characteristics: He’s cheap, he’s a loser, he’s a depressed would-be philanderer, but damn if people couldn’t identify with the sad sack and his quest to simply put meals on the table with enough money left over for beer.

It’s the kind of show that received heaping amounts of scorn from the literati for its entire run but is remembered today with fondness by just about anyone who wanted to kill a half hour on a Sunday night with a few harmless laughs. 39. L.A. Law Years: 1986-1994 L.A. Law was sort like Law & Order with a sense of humor. Deftly combining drama and comedy, often within the same episode, it made a star of Corbin Bernson in particular as the womanizing divorce attorney, Arnie Becker. But really, everyone on this show was either womanizing or—maninizing?—and the various infidelities between cast members was one of the main factors that kept it going. It could also be very topical at times, though, most notably in 1992 when a series of episodes tackled the ongoing race riots centered around the beating of Rodney King. Eight years after the show ended, the characters got one final send-off in a 2002 TV movie on NBC. 38.

King of the Hill Years: 1997-2010 When you really consider the traits and personalities of the characters, one can’t help but realize that King of the Hill is honestly one of the most unique animated shows of both the 1990s and 2000s. Name one other popular, long-running sitcom where the protagonists—people we at least like, if not agree with—are staunch conservative, mildly redneck individuals. You can’t do it, because King of the Hill tapped into an aspect of the American ethos that is often ridiculed and made those characters funny, human everymen. With the possible exception of Peggy (who can be a real pill with few redeeming qualities), the characters on King of the Hill are really decent people, even when they’re a little overzealous. But in the end, Hank always fundamentally does the right thing, even if that does involve threats to “kick your ass” on a disturbingly regular basis. 37. Ellen Years: 1994-1998 It’s kind of interesting to look at random episodes of Ellen from different periods because few sitcoms have ever been so defined by a single, revelatory episode.

There are all of the early Ellen episodes from the first few seasons, which simply deal with her life as a quirky bookstore owner with goofy friends … and then there’s everything after “The Puppy Episode.” It was so named because network execs were frustrated at the lack of progress in the character’s dating life and suggested maybe she should “get a puppy.” That’s exactly when Ellen DeGeneres dropped her big bombshell—she wanted to come out of the closet as a lesbian, both in real life and as her character, Ellen Morgan. The resulting episode guest-starred Laura Dern as the woman who turns Ellen’s life inside out, and suffice to say it was an event. Protestors mobilized, awards were doled out in rapid succession, and the depiction of coming out of the closet on TV was never the same again. 36. Northern Exposure Years: 1990-1995 Charmingly eccentric, Northern Exposure was a classic fish-out-of-water story about a young, New York Jewish doctor transplanted to the small town of Cicely, Alaska, where the moose roamed free.

There, he struggled to adapt while hobnobbing with the quirky locals, such as ex-con turned disc jockey Chris Stevens or alluring bush pilot Maggie O’Connell. One might almost say the show was a small-town comedy-drama with a hint of, say, Fargo in it. It certainly performed well critically, racking up nominations in all the major awards and taking home a few Emmy’s and Golden Globes during its five-year run. It may have gone on longer if lead actor Rob Morrow hadn’t held out in contract disputes with CBS, leading to the introduction of other “lead characters” in the final season. 35. Spin City Years: 1996-2002 Spin City was in many ways the last hurrah for Michael J. Fox in a full-time gig before his semi-retirement due to the ongoing battle with Parkinson’s Disease, and it was a fitting send-off to an actor who accomplished a whole lot before his 40th birthday.

A great political comedy, it skewered the city politics of New York, with Fox playing the city’s deputy mayor, the guy with all the “real power.” Veteran character actor Richard Kind got serious time to shine as antagonistic press secretary Paul Lassiter, and the show even featured a gay black character, certainly a rarity in just about any decade. Fox, of course, was as charming as he was always capable of being. After he left the show, Charlie Sheen of all people stepped in to play the new deputy mayor, but things just weren’t the same.

Question: No. 6 was the major character in which cult TV series?
Answer: The Prisoner