First Twin Peaks, and now this. Fox is bringing back its seminal monster-of-the-week series The X-Files for a six-episode run, complete with original stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.
We don’t know yet what former agents Mulder and Scully have been up to since we left them floating in the middle of the ocean at the end of 2008 film I Want to Believe (they had a raft; don’t worry). But I imagine it will involve aliens, conspiracies and perhaps an alien conspiracy or two.
If you’re excited about these series making their returns, here are five ’90s cult TV shows to take you back to the world of crappy computer effects and even worse pants. And be sure to let us know more of your favorites in the comments.
Millennium (1996 – 1998)
X-Files creator Chris Carter’s darker companion series, Millennium, stars Lance Henriksen as Frank Black, an FBI profiler trying to juggle his happy family life with his ability to really, really empathize with serial killers. But it’s more than just a procedural with some spooky elements; Frank’s employer, the Millennium Group, is deeply involved in a conspiracy to either prevent or bring about the end of the world. Because Carter made it, so shadowy figures must be involved.
Despite not making it to its namesake event, Millennium is a fascinating show with some unforgettable imagery, and Henriksen delivers some fine work. Especially look out for the demon-centric second season, which includes an episode in which devils commiserate in a doughnut shop and an impressive and suitably screwed-up finale.
Availability: Netflix (disc)
Quantum Leap (1989 – 1993)
If you want a nicer, less murdery series, Quantum Leap has you covered. Scott “Count” Bakula stars as Sam Beckett, an experimental physicist who is so confident of his time-travel machine that he just goes ahead and walks right into it. The show works as a best-hits reel of the last half of the 20th century as Beckett “leaps” into people’s lives to fix mistakes and improve history.
It’s a pretty weird concept, but Bakula and sidekick Dean Stockwell (as Beckett’s holographic guide from the future) handle the material well. If you watch the entire series, and the ending doesn’t just sucker-punch you right in the feels, you may not be human. I’m sorry you had to hear it from me.
Availability: Netflix (streaming and disc), Amazon Video, IMDb (limited free episodes), Hulu Plus, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube, Sony Entertainment Network
Tales from the Crypt (1989 – 1996)
Quantum Leap and Tales from the Crypt, HBOs adaptation of Entertaining Comics’ horror titles from the ’50s, were on at the same time when I was a kid. So I usually had a very difficult decision to make. This anthology series featured some big stars in twisted morality tales with a puppet presiding over it all with terrible puns.
It all goes sour during Tales from the Crypt’s uneven final season, but until then it’s a lot of fun. Highlights include “Carrion Death,” starring Kyle MacLachlan as an escaped convict on the run from a vulture, and “Yellow,” in which Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas plays a World War I general whose son faces a court-martial for cowardice.
Availability: Netflix (disc), Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube
SeaQuest DSV (1993 – 1996)
Roy Scheider (Jaws) stars as Captain Nathan Bridger in this series that was basically Star Trek but underwater. SeaQuest has a lot going for it, including a character who is a talking dolphin but manages not to be ridiculous.
Also, remember Jonathan Brandis? He was on this show, and now I’m sad.
The earthbound limitations of the premise catch up to the show a couple seasons in, so it gets a little weird and alien-y, but it starts out well enough.
Availability: Netflix (streaming and disc), iTunes
Forever Knight (1992 – 1996)
I saved the weirdest one for last. Forever Knight is about a Toronto homicide detective with a dark secret: He’s a vampire.
Yes, I highlighted another crimefighting bloodsucker in Vampire Prosecutor back in that Walking Dead roundup, and now I know that the best show imaginable would team the two of them up like Law & Order: Vampires.
Anyway, the detective in this show, Nick Knight, is 800 years old and looking for redemption for all those people he’s murdered since the Middle Ages. So he solves crimes, protects the innocent, and drinks animal blood from bottles.
Things get complicated when his “very old friends” show up and get all judgy with him for not being a monster. Hijinks ensue in proper, overly dramatic ’90s fashion.
Availability: Netflix (disc), Amazon Video, iTunes
Evan Killham is a freelance writer who lives in Nebraska and isn’t interested in football, so he has plenty of time to play and think about video games. He has written for Bitmob and GamesBeat and sometimes, he even goes outside. But not too often because he’s heard there are bees out there. Occasionally, companies send free units for review. Evan subscribes to Cult of Mac’s Reviews Policy and also does not keep the items he receives for possible coverage.
10 responses to “Get your ’90s nostalgia on with these cult-classic TV series”
Earth: Final Conflict deserves a mention too, if only for the revolving door of cast members.
Agreed!
I also left off Hercules and Xena, which were about as ’90s as it gets. But I’m not super familiar with them.
Hercules. I saw some program with Kevin Sorbo in it the other day and it suddenly hit me just how old that show actually is.
WAAAAY back when I lived in Toronto I worked as an extra on a lot of the TV shows that filmed there and the one I had a lot of fun with was Forever Knight. I started working security on them until a producer asked if I could anything other than stand around looking scary. I said I could sit and do the same so they gave me a second job on the sets as an extra.
Look for the long haired blonde guy in the full length black leather sitting at the bar drinking from a big silver stein in the second season when Nick visits his “old” girlfriend’s bar.
That’s me. :)
Those shows weren’t just a blast for Toronto folks but they were fun to watch.
You missed Kung Fu: The Legend Continues in that list, also filmed in TO and where I was an extra in a fight with Chris Potter, and starred the original Kwai Chang Cain David Carradine.
That is amazing.
The Highlander TV series should be on this list.
That was surprisingly good.
The Robocop TV series, though…
Anyone remember VR.5 with Lori Singer, David McCallum, Will Patton, Louise Fletcher and Buffy’s Anthony Head? It had decent production values for the time (1995). Cancelled due to it’s being seriously too weird for TV. Favorite line from the pilot: “Bit-mapped, like a cartoon…” Oh, really?
Millennium still is one of the best shows ever made. Most of the shows today are, well kind of a rip off. But they are not even close to the level of dialogues, actors, etc. They are boring and do the same over and over again. We could use that show back now. Enough with the freaking vampires, zombies and superhero crap.
It did a great job of combining procedurals and Monster-of-the-Week. If you want to see the original, check out Kolchak: The Night Stalker. It directly influenced The X-Files and therefore Millennium, Buffy, Supernatural, and countless other things.
Just make sure you can take less-than-stellar make-up and special effects because it’s from the ’70s.