10 Best Forgotten Sitcoms of the '90s

When network TV shows are greenlit, all participants understand the precarious gamble they've agreed to, regardless of casting, budget, or creative team involved. Series creators and actors are at the mercy of the TV viewer, and securing a winning air time is a critical variable. Each of the 90s sitcoms listed below was entertaining, hilarious, insightful, or romantic in its own right but was canceled too soon or fell through the cracks of time. They might've been forgotten, but they're far from forgettable.

10 'Hearts Afire' (1992-1995)

Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

Hearts Afire stars the late, great John Ritter as an aide to a conservative Senator on Capital Hill, John Hartman, and Markie Post as liberal journalist Georgie Anne Lahti, the Senator's press secretary. Georgie Anne, a respected writer experiencing lousy luck, takes the press secretary position out of necessity. However, contrasting politics aside, she can't deny animal magnetism attracting her to Hartman. Billy Bob Thornton, Beth Broderick, Wendie Jo Sperber, Conchata Ferrell, and Leslie Jordan co-star, providing supplemental humor in the memorable, convoluted series.

Time slot whack-a-mole strikes again, but for Hearts Afire, airing earlier translated into "family-friendly," resulting in a restructuring of plot, tone, location, and characters. The first season was political, depicting interior dynamics in the Senator's office and sexual innuendo between the series' leads (and nearly every character). With significant adjustments in season two, including a move from Washington, D.C., to a small town in the Midwest, Hearts Afire barely resembled the show it was before. Series creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, responsible for iconic TV shows, including the beloved sitcom Designing Women, had the necessary ingredients for a hit. Unfortunately, in the era of 90s TV, Hearts Afire's blaze became a slowly dying ember.

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9 'Hangin' With Mr. Cooper' (1992-1997)

Created by Jeff Franklin

After a career in the NBA, former player Mark Cooper (Mark Curry) trades his jersey for a necktie and whistle when he returns to his hometown of Oakland, California, to teach and coach basketball. Mark moves in with two single women, his childhood friend Robin (Dawnn Lewis) and her friend, Vanessa (Holly Robinson Peete), who need an additional tenant to help with the rent. Mark, now affectionately known as 'Mr. Cooper,' finds meaning and an opportunity to teach adolescents essential lessons about life and basketball, simultaneously eliciting copious amounts of laughter from viewers.

Hangin' With Mr. Cooper was a comedy fixture in the famed TGIF 90s lineup (89-2000) that captured audiences' attention every Friday night. The series enjoyed a four-year run in the coveted time slot but was moved to Saturdays in its final season. While the writing staff wasn't doing any heavy lifting (the show was critically dragged for innumerate use of clichés and stereotypes), Curry's charm and physical comedy kept fans chuckling. The supporting cast features Mr. Cooper's roommate-turned-love-interest Robinson Peete, one of the busiest child stars of the 90s, Raven-Symoné, Omar Gooding, and the talented Nell Carter. The show has continued to find new fans in syndication, proving that it's never too late to get nostalgic and hang.

8 'Major Dad' (1989-1993)

Created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens

In a classic tale of opposites attracts, conservative Marine Major John MacGillis (Gerald McRaney) falls for liberal journalist Polly Cooper (Shanna Reed). Audiences witness the reality of their impulsive union as the straight-laced Major faces a challenge unlike anything he's experienced in his military career: Parenthood. Luckily, Major MacGillis is surrounded by dutiful and supportive staff who remind him which of his new daughters "isn't supposed to sleep with her hamster." Family-friendly 90s fun worth saluting.

Like the '83 movie Mr. Mom, starring Michael Keaton, Major Dad had fun with the decorated Marine's inadequacy as a new father, and McRaney was excellent in the role. In an overt nod to the film, the episode "Major Mom" tasks Major MacGillis with recovering his youngest daughter's lost "woobie." For four seasons, audiences invited the MacGillis family into their homes, entertained by the series' wholesome military-adjacent household hijinks. Despite its popularity and sustained Monday-night viewership, Major Dad was moved to Friday nights in its final season and canceled without closure.

Major Dad is currently not available for streaming or purchase.

7 'Anything But Love' (1989-1992)

Created by Wendy Kout

Anything But Love stars Richard Lewis as Marty Gold and Jamie Lee Curtis as Hannah Miller, colleagues working at a Chicago magazine. The co-workers flirt mildly to moderately in the series' first season, but their chemistry is undeniable. Marty and Hannah gradually give in to their mutual attraction after casually dating other people throughout the series. Lewis and Curtis (both proud supporters of the stylized mullet during their careers) are a delightful comedic duo with a degree in romantic restraint.

The shoulder pad-clad ensemble from Anything But Love enjoyed a four-season run on the ABC network beginning in 1989, but the show's success was contingent upon its ever-changing time slot. The network moved the series from Tuesday to Wednesday nights, leading to a subsequent drop in ratings. Though Lewis and Curtis turned in memorable performances that fostered interest and investment in viewers, they proved no match for shows like the Neil Patrick Harris-led Doogie Howser, M.D. Time slot musical chairs was Anything But Love's downfall, an unfortunate result for a genuinely gifted cast and well-written sitcom.

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6 'Cybill' (1995-1998)

Created by Chuck Lorre

Cybill is a 90s sitcom based on the life and relationships of aging actress Cybill Sheridan (Cybill Shepherd), who lives and tries to find acting work in Los Angeles. Each episode often begins with Cybill performing in a commercial or B-movie before the opening credits theme song (also performed by Shepherd). In addition to her two daughters (Alicia Witt and DeDee Pfeiffer) from two previous marriages, Cybill's best friend, wealthy divorcee Maryann Thorpe (Christine Baranski), is a constant fixture and companion. Cybill auditions, co-parents with her exes, and Maryann mixes drinks while plotting against her adulterous former husband, "Dr. Dick," often involving Cybill in her schemes.

After Moonlighting made Shepherd a household name, audiences were thrilled to welcome the actress back to TV in Cybill. One of the series' most unexpected gifts was Baranski's acerbic turn as Maryann, a role that garnered four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and one win for the talented actress. The series was a twelve-time Emmy nominee, three of which honored Shepherd for best actress, and she took home a Golden Globe for her self-described semi-autobiographical performance. Though the show's ratings were consistently above average throughout its four-season run, Cybill was abruptly canceled following a decidedly inconclusive episode ending with "To be continued..." and disappointing confusion from fans.

5 'Grace Under Fire' (1993-1998)

Created by Chuck Lorre

One phenomenon of the 90s TV landscape involved sitcoms starring comedians with a premise loosely based on their stand-up routines or personal lives. One example is Grace Under Fire, a show depicting a working single mother of three and recovering alcoholic who has left a volatile marriage. Grace, played by comedian Brett Butler, juggles raising her three precocious children while maintaining her sobriety and exploring the dating scene. Comic relief is supplied by Butler, her neighbors, and work colleagues at the oil refinery where she is a pipeline operator in the fictional town of Victory, Missouri.

Following a successful Showtime comedy special, Grace Under Fire was the highest-rated new sitcom in 93. Legendary guest stars included Diane Ladd and Jean Stapleton, and the show was a top twenty hit for ABC for the first three seasons. However, Butler's real-life battle with addiction resurfaced, leading to casting changes, writing staff departures, and, ultimately, a decline in ratings. Series creator Chuck Lorre, another 90s TV hitmaker, left the show after writing only six episodes, citing differences with Butler for his exit. Grace Under Fire was canceled after five seasons in a sad instance of life imitating art.

4 'Coach' (1989-1997)

Created by Barry Kemp

Before Ted Lasso, there was Coach, starring Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, head coach of the fictional Minnesota State University football team. Assistant head coach/best friend Luther Van Dam (Jerry Van Dyke) and special teams coach Michael "Dauber" Dybinski (Bill Fagerbakke) collaborate on and off the field. Coach Fox divides his time between his news anchor girlfriend, Christine (Shelley Fabares), and his estranged daughter, Kelly (Clare Carey), while trying to lead his football team to victory.

Coach aired for an impressive nine seasons, navigating the fickle TV terrain of hot spots and dead zones like a running back dodging defenders. Amid two hundred episodes, the series invited real-life football stars, including Johnny Unitas, Troy Aikman, and Mike Ditka, for guest appearances, to the delight of sports fans. Despite time-slot shuffling from its home on Tuesday evening to an experimental (failure) move to Monday catering to Monday Night Football viewers, to Wednesdays, back to its original time on Tuesdays, Coach survived. Nelson won a Primetime Emmy Award for his work as Coach Fox in 92; however, the synergetic comedy produced by Nelson, Van Dyke, and Fagerbakke was a collective MVP.

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3 'Roc' (1991-1994)

Created by Stan Daniels

Before HBO gave David Simon the freedom to report (through a fictional lens) from the streets of Baltimore in The Wire, the groundbreaking cable network had its hand in an earlier pivotal series on the fledgling Fox network, Roc. Charles S. Dutton, an accomplished stage actor, was adamant about the series maintaining its social justice slant rather than "play the clown" for audiences who "wanted another Steve Urkel." In the show, Dutton (Roc) plays a trash collector from Maryland living with his wife (Ella Joyce), brother (Rocky Carroll), and father (Carl Gordon). While the series is technically a sitcom, Roc's tone is often serious, providing space for Roc and his family to enlighten and inform rather than simply entertain.

Before the credits roll in the season three episode "Terrence Got His Gun," Dutton addresses the audience directly, appealing to the black community and imploring parents within it to talk to their children about gun violence. His passionate call to unify and protect inner-city black youth was unlike anything on TV, especially a primetime sitcom. Roc was a remarkable 90s series for showcasing taboo storylines focused on infertility, drug use, racism, social change, and a gay wedding featuring Shaft actor Richard Roundtree​​​​​​. Like many network programs, the sitcom's success was contingent upon viewership, which proved difficult due to multiple time and air date fluctuations. Roc was ahead of its time and sadly only ran for three seasons, but its messaging and powerful performances resonate today.

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2 'Dinosaurs' (1991-1994)

Created by Michael Jacobs and Bob Young

In the late 80s, puppet master Jim Henson wanted to make a sitcom starring a family of animatronic dinosaurs who delved into topical issues with a satirical slant. Following the surprising success of The Simpsons, Henson's vision was finally realized, though he wouldn't live to see it. The show follows the middle-class Sinclair family navigating everyday life in a Pangean suburban community. The father, Earl, is employed at WESAYSO as a tree pusher, absently clearing trees to make room for more suburbs, earning little pay. Their adolescent children, Charlene and Robbie, grapple with personal conflicts like possible "vegetarianism" and "not being able to grow their tail," euphemisms for homosexuality and hormonal teenage changes, respectively.

Nestled between TGIF hits Full House and Family Matters, Dinosaurs pushed TV boundaries with thinly veiled, modern human dilemmas through a Mesozoic lens. From existential rumination to puberty and the problematic tradition of throwing dinosaur elders into tar pits, Dinosaurs didn't hold back. Sure, Baby Sinclair was fun because whacking someone over the head with a frying pan never gets old, but Dinosaurs was a clever, layered spectacle that changed the scope of TV. If audiences were deterred by the assumption Dinosaurs belonged to a younger demographic, they should rediscover this gem from TGIF history. The haunting, powerful series finale is undoubtedly one of the most successful and unforgettable TV endings ever, untarnished by time. Henson would've been proud.

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1 'Evening Shade' (1990-1994)

Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

Gunsmoke star Burt Reynolds returns to TV in Evening Shade, a series about hometown hero Woodrow "Wood" Newton. Newton is a former NFL star who has returned to rural Arkansas to coach a notoriously lackluster high school football team. Wood and his district attorney wife (Marilu Henner) navigate their new scaled-back lifestyle amongst a host of colorful, southern small-town characters. Evening Shade is home to high-caliber talent featuring Hal Holbrook, Ossie Davis, Elizabeth Ashley, Michael Jeter, and Charles Durning.

Audiences in the 90s responded enthusiastically to series creator Bloodworth-Thomason's southern motif, doubling down with Evening Shade following the success of her Georgia-based sitcom, Designing Women. While the latter has gone on to become a classic, some viewers have forgotten the charming short-lived sitcom featuring one of America's iconic mustachioed actors. Reynolds took home a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for his role as Wood Newton, and the show might've continued if CBS had the budget to continue paying their top-tier roster of actors. Unfortunately, fans of the show had to say goodbye after three seasons, but the sleepy cadence of Davis' outgoing narration at the end of each episode nostalgically lives on. Pour a glass of iced tea and tune in.

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