90's TV Classics

TV's about to look like the 90's all over again, due to the proposed return of two cult classics - The X Files (returning to its former home on Fox for a limited run) and Twin Peaks.

Paranoia seemed highly popular in the 90’s, especially if one judges by the coolest programs on the air waves. Twin Peaks seemed to usher in the decade’s dark obsessions with its odd characters and unsettling visions occurring in small town USA, but it was The X-Files (whose mottos include ‘The Truth Is Out There’ and ‘Trust No One’) that seemed to make paranoia a TV fashion. The investigators of The X-Files routinely encountered aliens and ancient monsters while never quite managing to prove their existence. The show’s creator, Chris Carter, launched two other series of X-Files stylistic sensibilities – The Lone Gunmen, and Millennium. The first series continued the outrageous adventures of conspiracy crazed computer masterminds who had regularly appeared on The X-Files. Millennium was something a bit different, with complex storylines dealing the darkest motivations of human nature as well as destructive Biblical prophecies. After all a new millennium was looming with the dreaded Y2K bug approaching.

Myself & Lance Henriksen (Frank Black on Millenium) at Monstermania.

Millennium gets my vote as the best series of the 90’s due in large part to an excellent turn by Lance Henriksen as Frank Black, a tortured former FBI profiler in league with the mysterious Millennium group. The group is comprised of talented investigators whose interest in violent crimes often goes beyond the mundane goal of simply catching a killer.

Other favorite series of mine from that era includes…

Twin Peaks – “Who killed Laura Palmer?” was the catch phrase of the early 90’s.

Babylon 5 – A complex sci-fi narrative charting treachery and intrigue on a space staion playing host to alien ambassadors.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Even the normally optimistic Star Trek franchise painted a bleak picture in this entry focused on the aftermath of war and corruption on another planet.

Forever Knight – Before TV’s Buffy took a swing at a vampire, this series delved into the remorse felt by its title character after ages of evil acts as he continued his interaction with fellow vampires.