18 Children's Television Series That Defined '90s

The shows you used to drop whatever you were doing to watch.

1. Barney & Friends

Everyone remembers this T-Rex and his gang of dino pals who taught kids to use their imaginations. This lovable show taught many of the great life lessons we use today; although how him and his crew escaped extinction I’ll never know.

2. Sesame Street

Sesame Street holds a special place in my heart. Even now the show is about learning and having fun with your favorite characters. Personally I’m still trying to find out what Snuffeupagus was snuffing.

3. The Big Comfy Couch

Remember this crazy kid? Indeed you do. I never quite understood what exactly was going on in the town, from Loonette to her kooky clown pals or those strange dusty bunny creatures; but rest assured all answers could be found inside the magic couch!

4. The Magic School Bus

Anytime you turned this show on you knew you were in for a treat, when watching you were just waiting on the edge of your seat for the kids to board that magic bus of wonders. From crazy Ms. Frizzle to pessimistic Arnold and know it all Janet. Every trip would be an adventure and usually end off with Carlos cracking a joke.

5. Jay Jay the Jet Plane

Personally of all the shows this bothered me the most. I didn’t like the thought of a giant jet plane with the mouth the size of a cow that could swallow you whole. I always imagined R Kelly’s I believe I could fly when this show came on.

6. Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Who doesn’t love a train ride? Especially one from this reliable guy, this little blue engine and his friends seemed to have so much fun in life despite bound to a set of tracks. Every episode felt like a book that had come to life, always freaked me out that people never moved though.

7. Theodore Tugboat

Who doesn't love a train ride? Especially one from this reliable guy, this little blue engine and his friends seemed to have so much fun in life despite bound to a set of tracks. Every episode felt like a book that had come to life, always freaked me out that people never moved though.

8. Wishbone

A cute little dog that dresses up in costumes and fantastically acts out classic literature, what wasn’t to love. This show was your local librarian’s favorite recommendation to watch, that Jack Russel was a star. A star I tell you.

9. Arthur

We all remember following the adventures of Arthur the Aardvark and his best friends. I grew up watching this show and have been able to relate to it every moment of my life. I think we can all agree that Buster was our favorite.

10. PB&J Otter

“Noodle, use your noodle. Noodle, do the noodle dance” These otters were hilarious, after watching this show me and my brother would try and get into shenanigans like them. Entertained me how Peanut, Jelly and Baby Butter somehow used that noodle song to summon a magic light bulb… I never quite figured out how to replicate it.

11. Bear in the Big Blue House

One of my personal favorites, the adventures of Bear and his lil animal pals were heartwarming. Solving house problems and making sure friendships always lasted. This bear was basically a mixture of Ghandi and Jesus. The way his eye brows move always bothered me but given his dance moves I couldn’t really complain.

12. Adventures from the Book of Virtues

One of the greatest shows in human history, this is a show that I could watch without flipping the for hours, I recommend everyone to at least watch it at least once in their life. I remember always wanting to join Plato and Annie out in the forest, sadly in real life animals attack not teach you morals.

13. Dragon Tales

DRAGONS! Who didn't enjoy these dragons and their magical adventures in Dragon land. if I knew them in real life I’d totally steal Max and Emmy’s dragon scale. I still know the song to transport me to Dragon land by heart.

14. Zoboomafoo

Before Steven Iriwn, before Jack Hanna, before Jeff Corwin there was Zoboomafoo. The talking Lemur with a pretty much impossible name to spell. The Kratt brothers and this little guy taught us all we knew about animals. Watching this show was pretty much like injecting the animal encyclopedia directly into your brain.

15. Blue’s Clues

Scooby Doo’s distant cousin Blue and possibly the most fashionable man in history solving house mysteries, this show was great. I used to love the fact Steve and Blue could magically jump into pictures like Super Mario 64. Beside the fact those talking condiments creeped me out, this show was pretty much a college art lesson in 24 minutes.

16. Out of the Box

We always wanted secrete forts as a kid, but these guys actually had one. Where else could you walk into a box one minute and come out inside a PLAY HOUSE the next!? I used to crave being one of those lucky kids who got to play inside the castle of creativity, besides that dude was pretty much a one man show; I’m pretty sure he could literally play ANY instrument.

17. Gullah Gullah Island

Come visit Gullah Gullah Island, see the beautiful trees, eat wonder food, learn life lessons from the natives, and most importantly HANG OUT WITH A 4 FOOT FROG. When I was little this is what I imagined the ideal life on the beach to be. This show probably had the catchiest songs in history, I remember catching my dad singing the songs every once in a while.

18. Bill Nye the Science Guy

Even Einstein had nothing on this guy, to this day I still consider him the smartest man in the world. Bill Nye made science fun and the only thing better than the actual show was the music video at the end, they were Weird Al worthy. I remember watching of Bill Nye episodes in high school and still being impressed.