35 Things People Found Absolutely Hilarious In The '90s

'90s people — these are why you have laugh lines.

1. Everything Chris Farley did — but especially his motivational speaker character Matt Foley.

NBC

Farley was a comedy juggernaut who would do ANYTHING for a joke. Tommy Boy, with his pal, David Spade, had you in stitches.

2. The "I'm so excited, I'm so scared!" scene from Saved By The Bell.

NBC

Thank goodness Saved By The Bell taught us about the dangers of...caffeine pills.

3. In Living Color, which pushed the envelope until you couldn't stop laughing.

Fox

Keenen Ivory Wayans and family (Damon, Kim, Shawn, and Marlon) lead a mostly African-American cast that hilariously satirized things — like race relations — that few others on network TV dared to.

4. Jim Carrey's next-level silliness in Dumb and Dumber, The Mask, and Ace Ventura.

New Line/Morgan Creek

Jim Carrey rose to fame on In Living Color, but his movies made him the biggest comedy star in the world. No one had seen over-the-top physical comedy like his before — especially not when he mimed literally talking out of his ass.

5. The Mentos ads that made you go "WTF? Were these made by aliens?"

youtube.com

The lyrics to the theme song were almost as bizarre:

"It doesn't matter what comes

Fresh goes better in life

With Mentos fresh and full of life

Nothing gets to you

Staying fresh, staying cool

With Mentos, fresh and full of life!"

Um, OK.

6. Adam Sandler's songs on Saturday Night Live, like the "Red Hooded Sweatshirt."

NBC / Via youtube.com

Sandler's movies, Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, were stupidly hilarious, but songs like "Red Hooded Sweatshirt" and "The Hanukkah Song" had people of all ages yucking it up. Seriously, grandmas knew these songs.

7. Friends, which had you saying, "Can I BE wearing anymore clothes?" and singing Phoebe's "Smelly Cat" song.

NBC

Almost everyone under 30 watched this show on Thursday night. Chandler was your favorite, unless it was Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, Ross or Monica.

8. Also Seinfeld, which usually came on after Friends and topped off one heckuva night of comedy.

NBC

Your parents may not have watched Friends with you, but they surely plopped onto the couch for Seinfeld. Remember soup nazis and close talkers?

9. Every time Martin screamed "Damn, Gina!"

Fox

If NBC's "Must-See TV" wasn't your thing (or if it was showing re-runs), you definitely switched over to Fox to watch Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell — and then the equally funny Living Single afterward.

10. The "You can't handle the truth!" line from A Few Good Men.

Columbia

For a while, everyone shouted this whenever someone said, "Tell me the truth."

11. The Dancing Baby, which seemed to be pretty much everywhere for a few years.

Kinetix/Autodesk

This seems quaint now, but at the time everyone thought this dancing baby was really funny. Computer-generated stuff wasn't everywhere then, but this baby was, even ending up on Ally McBeal.

12. The Simpsons, which weren't yet an institution — just a new, groundbreaking show that re-wrote the rules of comedy and animation.

Fox

Because it was animated, most people didn't get how subversive it could be.

13. Funny away AIM messages — you know you left one.

your away message @YourAwayMessage

if u WeRe my hOmEwoRK, i'D b doing U riTe now ;)

04:42 PM - 10 Sep 2012

Cracking up your friends was a major priority.

14. The wackiness of All That and Kenan and Kel.

Nickelodeon

Has there ever been a teenage comedy duo like these two? They were bringing the yucks on a whole other level than the rest of Nickelodeon. #GoodBurger

15. Budweiser's "Wassup!" commercial which had you calling your friends and saying, "WASSSUUUUUUUUP!"

Budweiser

"WASSSUUUUUUUUP!"

16. Chris Rock, who was THE stand-up comedian of the decade, especially after Bring the Pain.

HBO

Rock was funny on Saturday Night Live, but it was this standup special that set him off on the path to where he is today.

17. Also Margaret Cho, whose autobiographical stand-up seriously brought the LOLs.

ABC

You probably watched her All-American Girl sitcom and were royally pissed when it got canceled.

18. Wayne’s World — the sketches on Saturday Night Live, but especially the movies.

Paramount

Mike Meyers' and Dana Carvey's public access show hosts/BFFs had people for years — literally years — saying, "Schwing!", "We're Not Worthy!", and "Not!"

19. Austin Powers — which also starred Mike Meyers.

New Line

Mike Meyers created a second '90s comedy phenomenon with this cryogenically frozen (and horny) British spy from the '60s who was thawed out in the '90s. You definitely knew someone who dressed up as him for Halloween.

20. The "Dancing Itos" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

NBC

The double murder that O.J. Simpson was on trial for wasn't funny, but — perhaps because it was so ubiquitous —people joked about it. This troupe of dancers dressed up like the trial's judge, Lance Ito, was the most famous example.

21. But what college kids (and anyone else up laaaaate) knew was that Late Night with Conan O'Brien was the late-night talk show to watch.

NBC

People still loved Letterman (and Leno topped the ratings), but Conan was edgier. It also introduced us to Amy Poehler, who appeared as sidekick Andy Richter's Conan-obsessed teenage sister, Stacy.

22. Speaking of Amy Poehler, her comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade brought the laughs — and a lot of weirdness.

Comedy Central

UCB is now a comedy institution, but people first heard of them nationally thanks to their Comedy Central sketch show starring founding members Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Walsh.

23. Muriel's Wedding — especially whenever Joanie said, "You’re terrible, Muriel."

Miramax

You came for the Abba songs, stayed for the salty sister.

24. The unbearably awkward Swingers answering machine scene.

Miramax

Back then there was no texting, so this scene — where Jon Favreau left an awkward message on a girls' answering machine, then another, and another — was cringingly relatable.

25. Ice Cube and Chris Tucker in the stoner classic, Friday.

New Line

These days it might be best known as the originator of "Bye, Felicia!" but in the '90s this comedy classic was hard to find at Blockbuster, especially on a...Friday.

26. The Kids in the Hall and weird sketches like "The Chicken Lady."

CBC

You didn't know Canadians could be this quirky and surreal.

27. Mr. Show, which introduced us to the twisted comedy of Bob Odenkirk and David Cross.

HBO

The show was also a launching pad for alternative comedy heroes like Sarah Silverman and Jack Black.

28. The episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 where the gang chants "Donna Martin graduates!"

Fox

After Donna Martin got drunk at prom, the school threatened to ban her from graduation. The kids' protest was both totally cheesy and totally awesome — and something everyone sarcastically chanted at least once.

29. Beavis and Butthead — hehehehe!

MTV

These knuckleheads — created by Mike Judge, who also blessed the '90s with Office Space — made fun of music videos just like you did.

30. Urkel, stealing every scene he was in on Family Matters.

ABC

Yes, Jaleel White, who wasn't meant to be a series regular initially, did that.

31. The "I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!" Life Alert commercial that every kid did with an exaggerated old lady voice.

Life Alert

You know you did it.

32. Macauley Culkin, especially in the Home Alone movies.

20th Century Fox

Mac almost always made us laugh, except — sob — when you went to My Girl expecting more Kevin McCallister-esque hijinks.

33. The ridiculous lead vocal of "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred — and its even more ridiculous lyrics.

Tug/Charisma

"I'm too sexy for my shirt...too sexy for my car." Wha?

34. Will Ferrell bringing the LOLs on Saturday Night Live long before he was a movie star.

NBC

Late '90s SNL wasn't as strong as early '90s SNL (don't @me), but there was no denying Will "More cowbell!" Ferrell was a weekly highlight.

35. And lastly, the Hamster Dance, which was one of the first internet memes to make people laugh and laugh and laugh.

imgur.com

You had to be there.