Living as regionally as I did (with our limited TV channels) I didn’t get to watch a lot of the popular shows of the 90s, but you can bet I made up for that with my ever-presence at the local video store. I think I watched just about everything the store ever had, sometimes twice. We would get stuff years and years after a film was shown in the cinemas and another probably year after that after every other video store in the world got it. I watched so many 80s movies I think they’re now part of my DNA.
When I moved to Fremantle in 1995 my dad worked opposite a video store, and he often came home with a horror or sci-fi selection for me, usually every week. He would fix their VCRs and they would give him carte blanche to watch whatever he liked (once a different video store gave him/me a block-mounted Clueless movie poster and I would have given my life to protect it). I started catching up and watching OMG NEW RELEASES that were almost actually new releases and when DVRs appeared they looked like OMG THA FUTURE.
On Christmas holidays when I’d come back to Victoria I’d fill up on Agro’s Cartoon Connection and sit through the pleasant confusion of unfamiliar characters of Home and Away, and finally see Jeremy Jackson in action after him staring at me broodily from the pages of TV Hits in his red swim trunks and lifesaving flotational device. It was a whole new world.
Now as an old lady, I’m extraordinarily excited about the selection coming to my very own TV screen courtesy of Netflix, and wonder every month what’s about to unexpectedly show up on my watch list.
So far, these have given me flashbacks:
- Full House
- Round the Twist
- The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
- Absolutely Fabulous (to be fair, I’ve never stopped watching this!)
- 3rd Rock From the Sun
- Freaks and Geeks
- All manner of Ninja Turtles/Pokemon/Power Rangers etc
- Back to the Future III
- Empire Records (yay! hear our Sweet Teen Club podcast episode here)
- Mrs Doubtfire
- Inspector Gadget saves Christmas
- Natural Born Killers
- Mask
- Muriel’s Wedding
- Casper
- Friday (it’s Friday, and you ain’t got shit to do!)
- Space Jam
- Fargo
- The Wedding Singer
- Blast From the Past (I love that movie so much)
- American Pie
- 10 Things I Hate About You (sob)
- Total Recall
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day (so begins my first celebrity crush with one Edward Furlong)
- Batman Returns
- Batman and Robin
- Batman Forever (so many Batmans)
- Cliffhanger
- Stargate
- Mortal Kombat (back, back, forward)
- Eraser
- Deep Impact (“I want to go shopping! me too!”)
- Saving Private Ryan
- Fight Club (you didn’t hear it from me)
- Twin Peaks Firewalk With Me
- Silence of the Lambs
- Reservoir Dogs
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Seven
- David Attenborough Wildlife Specials (more dead shit)
- Kurt and Courtney
- The Godfather III
- The Power of One
- Once Were Warriors (insert egg and frying pan emoji)
- Forrest Gump
- Eyes Wide Shut
- American Beauty (insert plastic bag picture)
- Spawn
- End of Days
- Sleepy Hollow
- 12 Monkeys (insert Brad Pitt near me)
- The Crow
So what are you going to watch first on your stroll down memory lane? I’ve got to do some kind of 90s action flick. Netflix has a drastic dearth of Jean Claude Van Damme, something has to be done about that.
PS you can also listen to our Empire Records podcast riiiiiiiight here. It’s better than going to Atlantic City!
Rach@Here's to you, Mrs Rodimus says
Fresh Prince was on most of the time here. It is often lamented folk lore anywhere near me. Freaks & Geeks was my first ever Netflix binge as we only got it late at night and not in it’s entirety back in the day. I’ve just had to cancel my subscription so, sob, I’ll be watching vicariously through the eyes of you lovely lot 🙂
Stacey says
I’ll Livestream it haha
Erin says
Probably Demolition Man since I found out today that my partner has never seen it. And to be fair, he’d never seen any decent Star Wars, Harry Potter or LOTR so I’m not surprised..
Stacey says
WAIT WHAT IS DEMOLITION MAN ON THERE? how did I miss that? I need to watch that immediately, still sad I had to get rid of my VHS
Madeleine says
The only show on this list I was really familiar with is Round the Twist. This might be because I *cough* may have been born in the 90’s.
But I still watch allll the Terminator movies because they’re awesome. And Fight Club. So much love for that movie. Even if I watched it for the first time about two years ago. Also I own Saving Private Ryan on DVD because I love WWII movies (in a totally normal, not macabre way).
Stacey says
“born in the 90s” *tries to comprehend this sentence*
Zena says
I’m off to watch Empire Records. Thanks!
Stacey says
YESSSSSS! I love facilitating this haha
Missy D says
Hahahaha @ Agro’s Cartoon Connection. I remember even my parents thinking this show was very funny (though thankfully, most of those jokes went over our young heads), now as an adult I totally understand why.
Stacey says
I used to love it when I got to watch it, mostly for the cartoons though!
Sig says
love all of these , but most of all love how there’s a random hindi movie in the pics. And it’s the most cheesiest, dodgy movie of all hahah.
Stacey says
Oh man there was so many of them in those years on Netflix! I’ve never heard of any of them but I couldn’t get a picture without one in it haha
Kit@lifethroughthehaze says
Thank you so much for doing all the hard work and searching for me Stacey! I look at STAN or Netflix and just get so overwhelmed with the choice!!! Saving this so I can remind myself of some of the great shows to look for!
Stacey says
ha super happy to help with this! I get decision paralysis too I end up spending so much time deciding what to watch that I end up watching nothing haha