Image via Complex Original
The Internet sustains itself on fear, shame, and nostalgia. Recently, nostalgia has manifested itself in a wealth of posts about the '90s, especially the quality kids TV programming (truly, it was a golden age). You had Are You Afraid of the Dark?, My Brother and Me, Salute Your Shorts, Clarissa Explains It All—and that's just on Nickelodeon.
The nostalgia surge has left out a number of great shows. It's our job to remind you.
Here are 25 Great '90s Kids Shows You (Probably) Don't Remember.
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The World of David the Gnome
Network: Nickelodeon
Air Dates: 1985-2006
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Originally a Spanish production before Nickelodeon stepped in for syndication, this was an animated fairy tale about a 399-year-old gnome and his wife, Lisa.
Eureeka's Castle
Network: Nickelodeon
Air Dates: September 4, 1989 – June 30, 1995
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: R.L. Stine—yes, the man behind Goosebumps—co-created this puppet-driven edutainment half-hour set in a music box that was actually a castle (or maybe it was the other way around). RT if you had one of the rubber hand puppets that Pizza Hut gave out.
Roundhouse
Network: Nickelodeon
Air Dates: August 15, 1992 – January 27, 1996
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: A former In Living Color writer created this sketch comedy series for Nick. If All That was sketch comedy for kids with an urban slant, Roundhose was for the kids who cried when Kurt Cobain died.
Wild and Crazy Kids
Network: Nickelodeon
Air Dates: January 4, 1990 – December 1, 1992
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Large teams of children competed in massive physical competitions on this reality show. If it were Japanese, it would be about humiliation and mud. Because it was on Nick, it was mostly about fun and Omar Gooding's bright smile and cool hair.
Dog City
Network: Fox Kids
Air Dates: September 26, 1992 – November 26, 1994
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Jim Henson studios created this Muppet/cartoon mash-up that combined two popular pulp genres: noir and dogs. But instead of calling it Do All Dogs Smoke Cigarettes?, they called it Dog City. It was just as rough.
The Pirates of Dark Water
Network: Fox Kids
Air Dates: February 25, 1991 – May 23, 1993
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: If you grew up to be the kind of person who flipped when Firefly was cancelled, you must've watched The Pirates of Dark Water as a kid. The Hanna-Barbera series was the result of a successful miniseries about an alien world plagued by Dark Water. But the show ended before the good pirates could collect all 13 treasures necessary to defeat the substance. There were five to go.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Network: Fox Kids
Air Dates: September 8, 1990 – November 23, 1991
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Based on a parody of the original cult Z-movie that aired on Muppet Babies—this is not a joke—the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes became a franchise, and spawned a kids cartoon. For 21 episodes, the Great Tomato War was animated.
Eerie, Indiana
Network: NBC
Air Dates: September 15, 1991 – April 12, 1992
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Turn The X-Files into an Encyclopedia Brown-style mystery about a smart but existentially depressed kid and a strange town. That's Eerie, Indiana.
VR Troopers
Network: Fox Kids
Air Dates: September 3, 1994 – February 21, 1996
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Power Rangers plus virtual reality.
Big Bad Beetleborgs
Network: Fox Kids
Air Dates: September 7, 1996 – March 2, 1998
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Power Rangers plus bugs.
Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad
Network: ABC
Air Dates: September 12, 1994 – April 11, 1995
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Power Rangers plus Matthew Lawrence.
Biker Mice From Mars
Network: UPN
Air Dates: September 18, 1993 – February 24, 1996
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: The premise is in the title: Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie—mice that love bikes—flee Mars for Earth, where they wait for the Plutarkians, the same creatures that forced them into refugee status. Sure.
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Network: The Disney Channel
Air Dates: September 14, 1985 – February 22, 1991
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: You already know what it is—gummi bears drink gummi juice and then bounce around having adventures. Somehow, this was not just a long advertisement for Ecto Cooler.
Bug Juice
Network: The Disney Channel
Air Dates: February 28, 1998 – October 15, 2001
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Disney's reality show followed young girls and boys at Camp Waziyatah in Maine.
So Weird
Network: The Disney Channel
Air Dates: January 18, 1999 – September 28, 2001
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Canada has produced so many kids shows that went on to find success (or at least aired) in America, it boggles the mind. Where were the American creators? Anyway, So Weird (which was Canadian, obs) told the tale of Fiona Phillips, who investigated paranormal activity with her mom, who happened to be a rock star.
Flash Forward
Network: The Disney Channel
Air Dates: September 7, 1996 – 1997
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Ben Foster, of X-Men and Alpha Dog fame, got his start on this Evens Stevens prototype about two young adults who are—wait for it—neighbors AND best friends.
Ready or Not
Network: Showtime, The Disney Channel
Air Dates: 1993-1997
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: The Canadians gave us this teen dramedy about two best friends. Savvy viewers wondered when the show would finally decide which girl was a lesbian. But the gutless show never broached the question in its five-season run.
Road to Avonlea
Network: The Disney Channel
Air Dates: January 7, 1990 – March 31, 1996
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Road to Avonlea appealed to readers of American Girl books, telling a melodramatic story about Prince Edward Island, Canada, in the early 20th century. Sarah Polley, director of Take This Waltz, played the lead. She was 11.
Weinerville
Network: Nickelodeon
Air Dates: July 11, 1993 – June 30, 1997
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: One of the weirder Nick shows, Weinerville was a variety show hosted by Marc Weiner. He shrank the actors down into weird talking heads with stubby arms and legs. To do this, a "Weinerizer" was used.
The Tomorrow People
Network: Nickelodeon
Air Dates: November 18, 1992 – March 8, 1995
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: In 1992, TV showrunners went back in time to the '70s to ressurect The Tomorrow People, a British show about time travel. The new TP had a cast of young actors and actresses who epitomized hip. And then the '90s ended.
Under the Umbrella Tree
Network: The Disney Channel
Air Dates: September 11, 1986 – June 20, 1993
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: On this Canadian show, a kind human woman named Holly opened her home to a number of puppets, including Iggy (an iguana), Jacob (a Blue Jay), and Gloria (a gopher). They hung out in her Ottawa home, near the umbrella tree.
Mighty Max
Network: Nickelodeon
Air Dates: September 12, 1993 – December 2, 1994
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Everyone was so up in arms about Battleship, but where were those people when the Mighty Max line of toys became a TV series? The show followed the adventures of Max, who couldn't help but get trapped in the creepy dungeons of alternate dimensions.
Ghostwriter
Network: PBS
Air Dates: October 3, 1992– February 13, 1995
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: Filmed in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Ghostwriter followed a team of young sleuths who solved neighborhood crime with the help of an invisible ghost. While boosting their vocab.
The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police
Network: Fox Kids
Air Dates: October 4, 1997 – April 25, 1998
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: A dog and a bunny fought crime in this Fox Kids series, which first came into the world as a comic book and then a video game. It earned a cult audience for its smart humor and jabs at pop culture.
Space Cases
Network: Nickelodeon
Air Dates: March 2, 1996 – January 27, 1997
Watch the Intro Credits
The Premise: The world was only gifted two seasons of this super lo-fi space comedy. Imagine Hey Dude, just on a spacecraft.