Watching TV in the 1990s, and Watching 1990s TV

The '90s took me from a 21-year-old directionless newlywed to a divorcee in grad school.  As in the '80s, I watched less and less TV as the decade wore on, although for different reasons.  Although I followed Roseanne and then Ellen almost to the end of the decade, without cable and sometimes without even network broadcasting, my resources were drying up, as was my time to watch TV.  I had a very active (by my standards) social life by '97, and I also had the Internet.  True, it was dial-up, but I didn't see the need to take on a bunch of new shows.  And, with the exception of His and Her Circumstances, there wasn't much '90s TV I discovered later.  I did occasionally tune into the revamped American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but I wasn't as dedicated to the show as I was even in '95.

The '00s would see me, the former TV addict, drift further and further from television, and yet, there were a handful of shows I discovered after their original airdates.  But we'll get to those.

Here are the best and worst of my 1990s TV shows, in chronological order:

1. Who's the Boss?: Couple Trouble, February 27, 1990, B+
2. Who's the Boss?: The All-Nighter, May 8, 1990, B+
3. Jeeves and Wooster: Brinkley Manor, May 13, 1990, B+
4. Deee-Lite: Groove Is In the Heart, August 1990, B+
5. Roseanne: The Test, September 18, 1990, B+
6. Roseanne: Like a Virgin, October 2, 1990. B+
7. Mystery Science Theater 3000: Catalina Caper, October 13, 1990, B+
8. Roseanne: Becky Doesn't Live Here Anymore, January 22, 1991 B+
9. Roseanne: Her Boyfriend's Back, March 12, 1991, B+
10. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Into the Great Wide Open, September 9, 1991, B+
11. Who's the Boss?: Seer of Love, September 28, 1991, B+
12. Who's the Boss?: An Affair to Forget, October 5, 1991, B+
13. Who's the Boss?: Death and Love, Part 1, November 9, 1991, B+
14. Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, December 21, 1991, B+
15. Roseanne: Breakin' Up Is Hard to Do, February 18, 1992, A-
16. Roseanne: Aliens, May 12, 1992, B+
17. Annie Lennox: Walking on Broken Glass, August 22, 1992, B+
18. Roseanne: Terms of Estrangement, Part 1, September 15, 1992, B+
19. Roseanne: Terms of Estrangement, Part 2, September 22, 1992, A-
20. Roseanne: The Dark Ages, September 29, 1992, B+
21. Roseanne: Crime and Punishment, January 5, 1993, B+
22. Roseanne: War and Peace, January 12, 1993, A-
23. Roseanne: It's a Boy, March 2, 1993, B+
24. Roseanne: Promises, Promises, April 6, 1993, A-
25. Jeeves and Wooster: Return to New York, May 16, 1993, B+
26. Roseanne: Daughters and Other Strangers, May 18, 1993, B+
27. Roseanne: Homeward Bound, November 2, 1993, B+
28. Roseanne: Guilt by Imagination, November 9, 1993, B+
29. Roseanne: Everyone Comes to Jackie's, February 8, 1994, B+
30. Ellen: Thirty Kilo Man, Part 1, May 10, 1995, B+
31. Pride and Prejudice: Episode 1.4, October 15, 1995, B+
32. Ellen: Hello, I Must Be Going, October 18, 1995, B+
33. The Beatles Anthology: Episode 1, November 19, 1995, B+
34. The Beatles Anthology: Episode 2, November 22, 1995, A-
35. The Beatles Anthology: Episode 3, November 23, 1995, B+
36. Roseanne: Another Mouth to Shut Up, March 26, 1996, B+
37. Roseanne: The Miracle, February 25, 1997, B+
38. Ellen: The Puppy Episode, April 30, 1997, A-
39. Ellen: Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, May 7, 1997, B+
40. Ellen: Moving On, May 14, 1997, B+
41. Ellen: Guys or Dolls, September 24, 1997, B+
42. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling: Episode 1.1, November 9, 1997, B+
43. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling: Episode 1.5, December 7, 1997, B+
44. His and Her Circumstances: Her Circumstances, October 2, 1998, B+

Notice that Roseanne dominates both best and worst, but then it dominates '90s television in general.

1. The Bradys: The Brady 500, February 9, 1990, D+
2. Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 3.12, April 5, 1991, D+
3. Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 4.10, March 28, 1992
4. Ranma 1/2, Random Rhapsody: Master and Student...Forever!?, April 3, 1992, D+
5. Roseanne: The Last Thursday in November, November 21, 1995, D
6. Roseanne: Pampered to a Pulp, October 22, 1996, D-
7. Roseanne: Roseambo, November 19, 1996, D+
8. Roseanne: Arsenic and Old Mom, May 13, 1997, D-
9. Jane Eyre (1997), October 19, 1997