Ever thought back to your childhood and wondered what were your favourite TV shows? Well we have, and we decided to bring some of the finest and trashiest that nineties television had to offer us. We’ve scoured the Internet looking for the best (and the worst) introductions to various shows that as adults have forced us to question our taste. The nineties was that strange period where people experimented with the technology of computers, although in hindsight it may look horrendous, at the time it was state of the art and trendy. This meant that for a whole decade every show experimented with effects and styles trying to break barriers and become more and more innovative, leaving us as nineties kids with one of the most creative TV centred childhoods since the invention of the television. TV introductions gave us a flavour of what’s to come in the show so it was essential that they had to be memorable. Well our choices are certainly memorable, and in some cases not in a good way either.
The Best:
The Simpsons
The Simpsons creators have produced an ever-expanding array of amusing mini plots that test our cultural knowledge – keeping us entertained before the show has even begun. The show has been on for over 25 years and yet every episode has Bart writing a new misdeed one hundred times, a different story and Lisa playing a different tune on her sax. The intro we have chosen has become an Internet sensation, constructing a whole new fan base for the show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT-P6-zB2gM
Pinky and The Brain
Pinky’s cheesy British accent and the Brain’s continuous failed attempts at taking over the world. Steven Spielberg’s Pinky and The Brain is an iconic nineties show, that now has millions of young adults dreaming of those Saturday mornings gone, waiting to hear the ominous yet recognisable theme song and the anticipation of what mind-baffling adventure the pair would get up to.
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
If you don’t know the words to the Fresh Prince’s opening sequence, what have you been doing with your life? I remember this intro had everyone thinking that they were straight out of the hood – rapping as if they were some kind of mc superstar. Not only was the song fantastic, the 90’s getup was actually really fashionable.
SpongeBob Square Pants
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? -SpongeBob Square Pants! Absorbent and yellow and porous is he – SpongeBob Square Pants!!! -Ahh I love a good sing along, and no show does this as well as SpongeBob, couple that alongside his oh so camp tomfoolery and this hilarious opening is such a winner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEVfz0yGSAk
Recess
Playtimes at my school were never as cool as the ones in Recess. I actually remember trying to spice up mine by re-enacting this exact intro with my friends. Let’s just say it was a massive disaster; detention anyone?
The Worst:
Sabrina The Teenage Witch
Just the thought of Sabrina the Teenage Witch is cringe inducing, but after watching the introduction, my appraisal of this show has gone way down. Did Sabrina kill dozens of cows to make her ridiculous leather clothing? And why does she feel the need to hug various random lampposts on her way home? Is she not embarrassed, because I am…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jncnrT2UDK0
Lizzie McGuire
What is with the annoying orange ball and its ever changing size?! This introduction is so tacky, from the parents playing with Lizzie and her friends, to the blinding orange trousers and the annoying yet impossible to forget song. As children we loved bright colours, developing our senses, but at 20 it’s just shudder inducing. Thank God Disney learnt their lesson with this and made Hannah Montana considerably less cringey!
Power Rangers
This introduction looks like the budget was about £100. The monsters and robots look exactly like toys, but really, really close up. I have to admit as a child I was a huge fan of the red ranger, but looking back at his awkward karate moves and headband I have no choice but to question my taste in superheroes, and wonder why I never realised how cheese-tastic this was just from its opening.
Taina
Tiana was a show about aspiration, drive and passion- now I am not going to lie, I loved the song (I definitely sang it whenever it came on) but there’s just something so ironic about the fact that she is talking about success near a dingy subway entrance. Taina, Taina, Taina, it’s such a shame, we never did see your name in lights…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-lEfrRU8iU
Demon Head Master
This show genuinely scared me as a child; I could not watch it alone – just the very sight of the headmaster still gives me the chills. But what’s even scarier now is the shockingly poor quality of the opening. Watching this makes me feel like I’m on an acid trip with no sense of understanding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNvonmzf8fk
You’ve linked to a late intro to Sabrina, which I agree is poor. However, the original is a classic. Good old 90’s.
Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whyght0ONRw&feature=related
The first series was in 1989, but Round the Twist has to be up there for best theme tune, and best kids show ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mybg0l2Alaw
2 words.
Johnny.
Bravo.
James: that’s the one I remember. I loved that programme.
It only just made it in time for the 90s, but the original Pokémon intro sequence is a classic, simply because it was our first exposure to what was (at the time) a style of animation much different to Western cartooning. Plus it had a wonderfully naff song dubbed over the top. And, y’know, it was *Pokémon*.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux8mJUexBcM
Melissa Joan Hart is genuinely old enough to be an undergraduate’s mum.