Mental Floss

THE '90S

J.K. Simmons stars in HBO's Oz.

Before ‘The Sopranos’ or ‘The Wire,’ television’s golden age arguably began on HBO on July 12, 1997, when the premium network premiered Fontana’s prison drama ‘Oz.’

Jake Rossen
Nickelodeon

To those who grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s, 'All That' was must-see television. A kid-centered, 'Saturday Night Live'-style variety show, it ran for 10 seasons, begat a spinoff movie, and helped launch the careers of a number of rising musicians, f

Mark Mancini


YouTube

More than a quarter-century ago, ABC introduced us to 'Twin Peaks.' The rainy Washington town was home to log ladies, red rooms, and at least one murderer—but if you were only watching to find out “who killed Laura Palmer,” you were missing out.

Kristin Hunt






Robby Benson and Paige O'Hara in Beauty and the Beast (1991).

As the new 'Beauty and the Beast'—starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens—readies for its big-screen premiere, the tale as old as time is ready to enchant a new generation of audiences.

Stacy Conradt
Frank Micelotta Archive/Getty Images

On April 5, 1994, the music world mourned the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who died by suicide at the age of 27.

Roger Cormier




You love them.

While children of the '90s might remember topping their pencils with the miniature wild-haired figures, children of the '60s were all over that trend too.

Erika Berlin


Amazon

JNCOs were quintessentially '90s jeans, worn largely (at least at first) by skaters and nonconformists and known for mega-wide leg openings—and now, the brand is back.

Colin Gorenstein


Mark Bellomo

If you visited an older, well-established McDonald’s franchise during the latter part of the 1990s—specifically one of the corporation’s two-story restaurants boasting a “McDonald’s PlayLand”—you may have noticed some odd shapes and unfamiliar characters

Mark Bellomo
Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images

Nintendo's groundbreaking console just turned 25. Find out why the system had such a big impact (and why the company needed to sell protective gloves for one particular game.)

Jason Serafino
YouTube

'Home Improvement'—which premiered 25 years ago, on September 17, 1991—was a sitcom documenting the work and home life of Tim “The Toolman” Taylor, stand-up comedian Tim Allen’s interpretation of a man unjustifiably secure in his knowledge of power tools

Roger Cormier








PBS

Between 1995 and 1998, PBS fed kids classic tales like 'Ivanhoe' through a wise-cracking Jack Russell Terrier. And now it looks like he's getting his own feature film.

Kristin Hunt
NBC

Still airing in syndication more than a quarter-century later, the once-critically panned teen sitcom has become a cultural phenomenon.

Abbey Stone
toytoystoys4 on eBay

For nearly as long as there have been movies, there have been food and snack brands appearing in movies, either as intentional product placements or unintentional props of the times.

Andrew LaSane