Moments In 90s Hit Shows That Now Make Us Cringe

You don’t need to consult the statistics, watch reruns of Alf (or a cheesy Lifetime special), or tune into Sally-Jesse (or any barrel-bottom-scraping talk show) to know that the 1990s was a decade of cringe-inducing television moments. The decade also delivered one landmark show after another and introduced pop-cultural touchstones (The Sopranos, The X Files, Buffy) that altered the television landscape. And yet many of our former favorites are problematic (offensive even) when revisited.

1. OZ (1997)

HBO / Via imdb.com

HBO’s controversial Oz (created by Tom Fontana) is a show that received flak for its dehumanizing depiction of violence in a brutal prison setting. Over the course of seven seasons, Oz offered a somewhat accurate depiction of prison life. The middle-class Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen) is sent to Oswald Penitentiary following the accidental killing of a child and is our (the audience) gateway into the brutal hierarchy, corruption, and gang wars of Oz. There are too many cringe-worthy moments throughout the course of the entire (autocannibalism, acid attacks, sexual violence, etc) series to list here. But Oz embraced cliche, and reinforced negative stereotypes, and the writers of Oz didn’t always handle its BIPOC or LGBTQI+ characters with sensitivity.

2. Cow and Chicken (1997)

Nicklodeon / Via tvinsider.com

The acerbic and innuendo-filled cartoon Cow and Chicken (1997) had a creepy gay-coded character Red Guy. The Nickelodeon cartoon follows siblings Cow and Chicken. The Red Guy was an opportunistic and predatory being with a Satanic aesthetic and a flair for a naughty double-entendre. He dedicated his life to either kidnapping, enslaving, or luring the innocent duo away for some nefarious purpose. With all the hallmarks of a “Sissy Villain.” trope - netherregions (ok, bum) exposed, sneaking into children’s rooms and declaring himself, “their fairy godfather,” while brandishing a wand, cross-dressing to infiltrate a school. The cringe-worthy is pretty self-explanatory. When a show conveys a dangerous message like this, LGBTQIA+ kids internalize that input. “The devil as a gay person” trope is also nothing new, particularly in cartoons. And, more specifically, neither is “the devil as a red, gay man.” explained Rebecca Long in The Observer, “ In 1990s Cartoon Network series The Powerpuff Girls, Cow and Chicken, and I Am Weasel, the main characters’ main foes are effeminate, red demons HIM (His Infernal Majesty) and Red Guy. These villains are iconic, unhinged, and queer-coded.”

3. Tales from the Crypt (1989 - 1996)

HBO / Via amazon.com

The HBO anthology creep-fest Tales from the Crypt (1989 - 1996) is beloved by horror enthusiasts and genre aficionados - but like a lot of the horror genre, not without its flaws. The episode covers similar terrain to Sleepaway Camp and Silence of the Lambs and is similarly cringe-worthy in the depiction of transgender identity - "Came the Dawn" features a cross-dressing serial killer who preys on young women. The Hitchcockian-inspired murder mystery episode actually identifies the killer as trans in the episode’s conclusion, when the killer’s ax-wielding, homicidal tendencies are triggered by the arrival of Brooke Shields’ hitchhiker Norma. In an article for Vox, Aja Romano examines some problematic trans depictions in horror cinema: “When Silence of the Lambs came out in 1991, it followed many other horror films that had problematically portrayed transgender and cross-dressing characters — films like Psycho, The House With the Laughing Windows (1976), Dressed to Kill (1980), and Sleepaway Camp (1983). Almost universally, those films depict queer and genderqueer identity as either synonymous with evil or as the reason for the villainous character’s deviance.”

4. Bottom (1991)

BBC / Via bbc.co.uk

Bottom (1991) was a litany of grotesque jokes, toilet humor, and casual sexism that ran for 3 years in the early nineties. It is difficult addressing the cruder elements of the show when it was a cesspit of Toxic Masculinity, and, fart jokes. The show follows two unsavory characters, eking out a Waiting-for-Godot-like existence in early 90s London. In an opinion piece for My London, Lucy Skoulding revisited the show during the lockdown and was not impressed. “With a lot more focus on inclusivity and diversity in the current age, I found some of the lines homophobic. You could go so far as to say it's sexist, but the joke was that Eddie and Richie can't get the "birds" as they call them, so that wasn't quite so offensive.” wrote Skoulding, “Particularly problematic was the line "come back to my place and I'll cure you" which Richie says to a woman after finding out she's a lesbian.”

5. The Jerry Springer Show (1991)

David Quinn / Via ionainstitute.ie

In The Jerry Springer Show (1991) nothing was sacred and minorities (especially transgender people) were routinely ridiculed, mocked, and both verbally and physically assaulted. Springer put the trash into talkshow, exploiting attention-seeking Americans, often inciting disgusting displays of violence, the show became a ratings-hit overnight, catapulting Springer to stardom. We will take a look at the prevalence of transphobia in the tabloid talk show. Across media platforms, transgender identity has historically been the subject of ridicule and misrepresentation, sensationalized in this show, compartmentalized as cozy or demonic in soap operas, and othered by the mainstream press. Now, things are starting to shift towards a more accurate understanding of what it means to be transgender, non-binary, or gender variant. “When most people think of transgender women, the images and portrayals shows like this provide are the common view of our community,” said Laurelai Bailey, condemning Springer’s show in TransAdvocate. “The worse part about all of this is that trans women on this show are being exploited.”

6. Married with Children (1987 - 1997)

PNG EGG / Via pngegg.com

Married with Children ran for nearly a decade and revolved around the coarse, greedy, and evil Bundy clan. The Emmy-nominated American sitcom followed the unhappily married Al (Ed ONeil) and Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal) and Bud (David Faustino) and Kelly (Christina Applegate) make up the rest of the toxic family unit. Hard to pinpoint just one cringe-worthy moment in the sitcom: Fat-shaming, racism, depictions of minorities, and racist comments.

7. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (1997)

3rd Party Ad Content / Via wickedhorror.com

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer’s season 3 episode “Earshot” tackled human-on-human horror, garnering attention for all the wrong reasons. In a show that utilized horror movie staples - and subverting them - monster slaying was pretty much ubiquitous on a weekly basis, but in the wake of The Columbine Massacre, an episode reflecting real-world horror would have upset viewers with a delicate sensibility. Which begs the question: what is more cringe-worthy? The subject matter mirroring this tragedy or the WB network’s decision on a provisional ban for an episode with next-to-no actual violence? Another episode, “Graduation Day: Part 2” was also postponed. In the Jane Espenson penned installment, Buffy learns of a plot to murder her classmates via demon-induced telepathy and must find him (or her) before succumbing to insanity. The episode was paint-by-numbers Buffy with Buffy relaying a message to a suicidal boy about teenage pain. Causing offense was never Espenson’s intention, her aim was to address teen issues through the prism of supernatural drama. “In Buffy’s case, she’s able to intervene and stop Johnathan,” Jessica Mason highlighted this point in her column for The Mary Sue, “the constant victims of bullies and monsters, from killing himself.”

8. Bad Girls (1999)

IMDb / Via imdb.com

Shed Productions Bad Girls (1999) is the second prison drama on the list. Following a group of legitimately frightening lags (British slang for prisoner) languishing behind the bars of the fictional HMP Larkhall. The show was on-the-nose with issue-led storylines and unapologetically hard-hitting violence. Second-tier (or guest) character Tessa Spall (Helen Schlesinger), was the archetypal prison lesbian, and also mentally ill - simultaneously othered as ‘infantile’ and yet capable of great feats of deception. A case of mistaken identity results in “Mad” Tessa Spall ending up on G Wing, plotting to exact violent revenge on the new governor, Karen Betts (Claire King). Tessa has unresolved issues with Karen after the governor separated her from her former lover. In a show known for its gritty realism, using mental health or sexual orientation as the jumping-off point for this kind of inflammatory storytelling isn’t just cringe-worthy, it was positively criminal.

9. The Royal Family (1998)

Credit: BBC iPlayer / Via themanc.com

Like some of the other shows on the list, The Royal Family (1998) is a much-loved show and yet still problematic when revisited. Ricky Tomlinson’s character was the repulsive (he’’ really makes you cringe) layabout and patriarch of The Royal Family. A family of couch potatoes. Who chain-smoke, eat chips, and watch television. The show now comes flagged with a discriminatory warning and it is about time.

10. Xena: Warrior Princess (1996)

CREDIT: EVERETT COLLECTION / Via ew.com

Once Upon a Time in New Zealand doubling as a time of myth and legend, leather basques, and Colgate smiles, there was a bad-tempered girl called Xena: Warrior Princess (Lucy Lawless). A revenge-driven woman who loved to experience life on a sword edge and to inflict pain on as many nasty schmucks as possible in Robert G. Tapert and John Schulian's 6 season fantasy campathon Xena: Warrior Princess. Once a slave to her murderous impulses, the bikini-clad warrior now travels with Renee O’Connor’s Gabrielle (and a lot of subtexts), saving hammy-acting villagers from poorly CGI-rendered beasts from Greek mythology. Love it or loathe it, there’s no denying Xena’s cultural impact, a large contingent of the fanbase were women/ LGBTQI+ community and despite the Male Gaze-informed outfits, still had a feminist slant, creating the female-led, flawed hero blueprint (sorry Buffy) storytellers still adhere to today. During season 4, the show pushed the envelope a bit too far. The show came under fire when the controversy surrounding depictions of Hindi gods had season 4’s “The Way” (Rob Tapert, John Schulian, and Sam Raimi are credited as writers) pulled from syndication. “We pulled the episodes after protests from some segments of the Hindu community,” Renaissance Pictures told The New York Post in a statement in 1999. Star Lawless was quick to defend the episode, “We did the Indian episodes and we used a character called Hanuman who is a very famous and important Hindi God. Ah, Hindu God. And some guy got wind of it and started a massive campaign to clog Universal's fax machines. They didn't have inboxes at the time. It would have been-- the internet was really in its infancy"