View Full Version : 10 90s Sitcoms That Are Better Off Forgotten


TMC
01-06-2021, 01:17 AM
https://screenrant.com/90s-sitcoms-best-forgotten/

10
Uncle Buck

The John Hughes movie Uncle Buck is beloved and fans love the story of a man who has to take care of his nieces and nephews without knowing a thing about parenting or even being part of a family.

Sometimes a hit movie becomes a TV show and it doesn't always work out. The TV version of Uncle Buck can definitely be forgotten. It ran for one season in 1990 and 1991, and Kevin Meaney played the title character. It didn't get good reviews and 16 episodes aired before the show was taken off the air.

9
Caroline In The City

There are so many great TV shows set in NYC but Caroline in the City isn't a very memorable one. The sitcom starred Lea Thompson in the main role of Caroline Duffy, who lives in New York and works as an illustrator.

While the show is pretty cute, it doesn't stand out when compared to other Manhattan-set sitcoms, such as Seinfeld and Friends. The premise also isn't super original, as there are countless shows about a young woman dealing with her dating life and hanging out with her friends. Many also felt that Caroline in the City wasn't particularly funny.

8
Dharma & Greg

Another 90s sitcom that is better off forgotten is Dharma & Greg. The show starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as the title characters whose marriage was chronicled for five seasons.

The point of the show was that Dharma was a hippie yoga teacher and Greg was a lawyer, so the whole "opposites attract" thing was supposed to be funny, but many felt that it often fell flat. There are other 90s sitcoms that do a better job talking about marriage, such as the wonderful relationship between Paul and Jamie on Mad About You.

7
Ned And Stacey

While some 80s and 90s sitcoms made an important impression, that can't really be said of Ned And Stacey. Debra Messing would, of course, be praised for her performance on Will and Grace. But on Ned And Stacey, she played a woman who married someone (played by Thomas Haden Church) so she could live in an apartment and he could get a better job at the ad agency where he worked.

This is an odd premise and also a fairly sexist one, as why couldn't she go after her dreams herself? Why didn't she just get a roommate? It doesn't measure up to other sitcoms from this decade.

6
Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place

There are some Ryan Reynolds characters that fans overlook, but many people forget that he played Berg on Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place.

This 90s sitcom aired for four seasons and is somewhat forgettable. While the title is cute and charming, the concept of friends hanging out has been done so many times before, from Seinfeld to How I Met Your Mother, that this show doesn't feel that necessary. Many felt that the storylines weren't that interesting, either, and often featured the characters becoming offended or annoyed about little things.

5
Two Of A Kind

The Olsen twins starred in many movies and they also had a 90s sitcom called Two of a Kind. It aired for 22 episodes during the 1998/1999 TV season and the famous siblings played Mary-Kate and Ashley Burke.

The episodes revolved around issues that arose from them being twins, and it wasn't memorable or very funny. If fans want to see MK and Ashley on a TV show, Full House is a much better bet, and their direct-to-video movies are much cuter as well.

4
The Simple Life

Many people might not have heard of the 1998 sitcom The Simple Life. Judith Light played the main character, Sara, who relocated to a farm and her character was meant to be something like Martha Stewart.

The show also featured actors who are famous for their roles on other TV shows, such as Matthew Perry and Sara Rue. Seven episodes ended up airing. With so many sitcoms released in this time period, this one doesn't seem to stand out, and the storylines aren't that funny. One episode featured Sara eating pies as part of a contest, and in another, her ex-husband is penning a memoir.

3
Veronica's Closet

Starring Kirstie Alley as Ronnie, who owned a store that sold lingerie called Veronica's Closet, this sitcom seemed to do well at first and then it flickered out. The show had 35 million viewers watch the pilot, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, it was canceled after three seasons.

Created by Marta Kaufman and David Crane, who also created Friends, it makes sense that there was a lot of buzz around this show, at first. But the episodes don't seem to be about much: Ronnie gets divorced, but she spends a lot of time fighting with her ex, Bryce, and some storylines revolve around business dealings. If people want to see a 90s sitcom about the fashion world, Just Shoot Me takes place at a fashion magazine and is much more interesting and also funnier.

2
Townies

With household names starring as pals in their 20s, it's interesting that the 90s sitcom Townies only lasted for a few episodes. Jenna Elfman, Molly Ringwald, and Lauren Graham played friends who worked at the same restaurant, and while this was a nice idea for a show, it wasn't enough to sustain the storylines.

Other sitcoms, such as Friends and Cheers, are more memorable and also feature a close friend group and a restaurant setting.

1
Jenny

Jenny McCarthy has appeared in many movies and TV shows, most notably playing a role on Two and a Half Men and co-hosting The View. In the 90s, she starred in the sitcom Jenny, which only aired for a few episodes in 1997/1998 and is another best left forgotten.

She played a character who became rich after her dad, who she had no relationship with, passed away and left her some money. He was an actor and she worked at a convenience store, so she thought that she could become famous, too. Fans of The Real Housewives of Orange County will be interested to learn that Heather Dubrow played Maggie, Jenny's friend, on the show. There are so many TV and movie characters who try to become famous actresses or some kind of star, so this doesn't seem that original, in retrospect.

SledgeBarone
01-06-2021, 04:18 PM
Disagree on Two of a Kind. I guess if you're primarily an Olsen Twins fan (I'm not), there may be shows that featured them more/better, but I hated Full House. Two of a Kind was more interesting than it had any right to be because of the charming dynamic between father/professor Kevin and housekeeper/student Carrie, and the acting skills of the two adult stars that portrayed them.

RetroGuy2000
01-06-2021, 04:23 PM
I liked Dharma and Greg, at least for the first few years. I remember the final season being very bad.

Chocolate Moose
01-06-2021, 07:58 PM
I liked most of those very much!!!

Christopher
01-08-2021, 09:07 PM
I enjoyed Veronica's Closet, Two of A Kind and Dharma & Greg. I wish Veronica's Closet was complete on DVD. I like Kirstie Alley and that was one of my favorite shows of hers.

JamesG
01-08-2021, 09:14 PM
I caught the ABC Family reruns of “Two of a Kind” with my sister who was obsessed with the Olsen Twins. I liked that one better than their other sitcom “So Little Time”.

cnnbcbs
01-16-2021, 03:58 PM
They miss the point of Ned and Stacey. It was like an anti-rom com the way Married With Children was an anti-family comedy. Characters that hate each other, kinda like a mixed gender Odd Couple or Perfect Strangers.

Yong Fang
01-17-2021, 10:53 PM
I remember most of these but have never seen any of them. Some were actually fairly successful shows like Dharma and Greg, The Pizza Place, Caroline in the City and Veronica’s Closet.

I think I never watched these because I wasn’t of the demographic to like them. Too many pretty people talking about sex or trivial nonsense. Sort of the downward spiral to the derth of shows we have today.

I was on drugs for most of the 1990’s, so the 1990’s was sort of a nightmarish Reverend Jim flashback. Sort of the black hole decade between the good old days of the 1980’s and the 21st Century.

Mace Dolex
01-18-2021, 12:34 AM
Form that list I saw Uncle Buck, Caroline In The City and Ned & Stacey mostly out of boredom.

In would also add to the list all the forgettable sitcoms from when UPN and the WB first started.

Dan Tullis
01-19-2021, 12:12 AM
Disagree on Two of a Kind. I guess if you're primarily an Olsen Twins fan (I'm not), there may be shows that featured them more/better, but I hated Full House. Two of a Kind was more interesting than it had any right to be because of the charming dynamic between father/professor Kevin and housekeeper/student Carrie, and the acting skills of the two adult stars that portrayed them.
It's too bad the show lasted only one season; it seemed near the end that Kevin and Carrie were about to become a couple.

SledgeBarone
01-22-2021, 04:54 PM
It's too bad the show lasted only one season; it seemed near the end that Kevin and Carrie were about to become a couple.

I can't find the article, but one of the writers said they were going to keep Kevin and Carrie apart as long as possible. So the kiss in the finale that Carrie laid on Kevin before leaving for Brazil was purely a tease.

PracTz
01-22-2021, 07:51 PM
What was especially odd re 'Uncle Buck' was that they made a big deal about how to spell/pronounce the name of the performer playing his teen niece- one Dah-ve Chodan but despite whatever publicity that may have netted, it wasn't enough to keep the show from being cancelled after just 16 episodes. Oh,and the legendary Audrey Meadows was brought in during the last part to play the grandmother on the other side of the family but even that wasn't enough to keep it from being sent to the moon ASAP!