People Are Remembering Wildly Popular TV Shows That Are Now Completely Lost To Time
Some of these are going to make you say, “Whoa, I totally forgot about that show.”
Friends and The Golden Girls are two great examples of TV shows that were not only hugely popular when they were on but have also gone on to become classics that are still on the air and discovered by new audiences.
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However, there are also TV shows that were once hugely popular and that, for whatever reasons, have totally been forgotten about. A great example is the Lea Thompson-led sitcom Caroline in the City, which ran from 1995–99. The series was part of NBC’s Must-See TV Thursday night lineup during its first season (airing in the prime timeslot between Seinfeld and ER) and even featured crossovers with Fraiser and Friends. But, today most people wouldn’t even know this show existed unless they watched it at the time.
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Recently, Reddit user whitemikesf asked: “What are some other shows that were the top shows of their time but were forgotten not long after their finale?”
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The thread went viral and got over 6K responses, including from the OP, who started it off. Below are the top and most-often repeated popular TV shows people feel have been forgotten about:
1. “I was just reminded of the 90’s TV series Picket Fences, which had 88 episodes, won 30 Emmys, had an insane cast, and I’m not sure it has any lasting cultural relevance whatsoever.”
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3. “Ally McBeal won a lot of awards when it was on. I haven’t heard anything about it in years or even seen any reruns on TV. I myself don’t even remember any references besides Ally being a bit quirky after all this time.
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“Ally McBeal suffered from using licensed music in the show, so they couldn’t ever release it on DVD as the music rights were too expensive to obtain. So, the show is mostly forgotten as there was no second-run medium for it.”
4. “I think 3rd Rock from the Sun was the best comedy EVER!!!”
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“While I’d seen the occasional episode, I’d never really watched 3rd Rock properly. I binged it all in a few months this year. It was a brilliant show. Some of the humor is a bit schmaltzy as it’s definitely of its time, but there are still lots of laughs to be had. All the characters are funny, but especially French Stuart’s. He’s such a funny, physical actor.”
5. “Early Edition [with Kyle Chandler]. I don’t know about wildly popular, but it has been lost to time.”
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6. “Ed fits the bill for a truly forgotten show — it never even got a home release!”
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7. “Probably HBO’s Six Feet Under. I never see anyone ever talk about it like The Wire or The Sopranos. I thought it would’ve gained more attention a few years later with Michael C. Hall/ Dexter fans, but guess not.”
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“Six Feet has, what I think, the best finale episode of any show I’ve ever seen. Loved everything about that series 😢.”
8. “Wings was pretty big for a while in the ’90s. Don’t think I’ve heard it mentioned since.”
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“The only reference I’ve heard was Quagmire talking about it in an episode of Family Guy when none of the other guys had heard about it. He got pissed off and left (he’s a pilot).”
9. “As much as Oz (HBO) was great, it totally seems to have disappeared. I don’t know a single person who has seen this show, but on some subreddits, people always seem to hold it in high regard.”
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10. “Moonlighting. It was a must-see every week. Known nowadays for the behind-the-scenes drama, but truly some groundbreaking television.”
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“Ah, beat me to it. This show immediately came to mind. Well written, well-acted, funny, and consistently entertaining. I was just a kid back then, but I was able to grasp nearly all of it and looked forward to watching it, especially during its first few seasons. It’s too bad that music clearance issues harmed its cultural legacy by keeping it out of circulation.”
11. “Newhart. The one where he runs the bed and breakfast in Vermont.”
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12. “The Practice was quite popular and won Emmy and Golden Globe awards, but its legacy has been overshadowed by its spin-off, Boston Legal. I loved The Practice. The cast was top-notch, and the show was more realistic compared to the shenanigans of Denny Crane et al. in Boston Legal.”
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“I loved The Practice back then. I totally forgot about it until I read this, haha.”
13. “Murphy Brown! There was even real-life controversy with then-VP Dan Quayle. And there was a crossover cameo with Seinfeld! (Kramer appears as one of Brown’s many secretaries.)”
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“I just watched an episode of American Dad where they get stranded on an island, and the only media they have is a Murphy Brown VHS tape. It ended up just being a commercial, but it’s the first time I’ve heard Murphy Brown mentioned since I was a kid.”
14. “I haven’t heard about Just Shoot Me! (ran from 1997 to 2003) in a long time. David Spade was in top form.”
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15. “No one really watches Family Ties anymore.”
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16. “Remember Party of Five?”
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“I was just thinking of that literally as I’m scrolling down, lmao. My mom and I watched every new episode way back in the day. Good times.”
17. “L.A. Law comes to mind.”
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“L.A. Law was so thoroughly killed by Law & Order that even the Animaniacs references to the show felt dated, even though I’m pretty sure the show was still going.”
18. “Cheers doesn’t seem to be talked about anymore, despite being hugely popular when it was airing and then spinning off Frasier, which was also a massive hit.”
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19. “I don’t know how popular it was, but China Beach.”
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“A lot of the people who worked on China Beach went on to work on ER, so that might be the biggest legacy it has.”
20. “Grace Under Fire with Brett Butler.”
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“Brett Butler popped up in My Name is Earl and later had a role on The Walking Dead. I recognized her right away, but no one else I know remembered her show.”
21. “St. Elsewhere. Many people were so turned off by the series finale, that this acclaimed hospital show got forgotten in the ether. The series started the careers of Denzel Washington, Mark Harmon, Howie Mandel, and David Morse. But it went on to be replaced by modern medical dramas with much more fanfare.”
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“It was awesome. Funny, quirky, dramatic. Excellent actors. Excellent writing. Won tons of Emmys.”
22. “Tales from the Crypt literally disappeared. You can’t stream it anywhere, and I’m not sure you can buy it either. It used to be referenced in older media, but now you can’t even watch anything besides the movies.”
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“Ahh, the show that caused several early nightmares when my dad and older brother let me watch it one night when my mom was away. Miss that weird little zombie guy popping out of the crypt.”
23. “Mr. Belvedere“
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24. “Thirtysomething. I remember when this was the biggest show on TV for a year or two. Now, no one talks about it.”
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“After it was canceled, I was kind of surprised at how quickly it died out. At the time, it was a huge presence in popular culture, the internet was full of Thirtysomething jokes, references, in-jokes, kind of the way Friends was (and still is). But, after Thirtysomething went away, it seemed to vanish without a ripple. I don’t remember ever seeing it in reruns.”
26. “Maybe ER? The show was huge for forever.”
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“Not completely lost to time, but I feel like anyone under 30 (maybe 35 or 40, honestly) probably doesn’t understand how big ER was at the time.”
27. “Dallas was literally one of the biggest shows in the entire world; now you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who recognizes it (that didn’t live through it). I’m not sure you can come up with a larger swing from international fame to complete erasure.”
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“You could make a Bible-length book listing all the ‘Who shot J.R.’ references from the ’80s and ’90s…and then it just stopped.”
28. And lastly, “The Drew Carey Show doesn’t pop up in discussion as often as it should.”
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“Apparently, the reason it seems to have disappeared is due to music licensing. It was never fully released on DVD or re-licensed to be able to stream like many other shows from the time did. Probably one of the downsides to having so much music in the show. At the time, it was cool but not very forward-thinking. As popular as it was, it just wasn’t popular enough to re-negotiate and pay to keep all the music in. It appears you can watch it now, just with most of the music cut out or replaced with generic music.”
You can read the original thread on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
