'90s TV Shows That Wouldn't Get Made Today

The '90s was an unprecedented time for boundary-breaking TV series, and societal sensibilities were different; many wouldn't be made today.

The 1990s was a Golden Age of TV, with classic sitcoms, science fiction shows, and police procedurals beginning in the iconic decade. Everything from The X-Files to Seinfeld dominated an entire generation of TV viewers, captivating millions with its "water cooler shows." However, not everything produced during the decade was as compelling as the hits, and plenty just wouldn't make it to air today.

RELATED: 10 Best Police Procedurals That Only Lasted One Season

The '90s had its share of questionable pitches, egregiously low-budget productions, and just outdated concepts that wouldn't fly with modern audiences. Exploitative reality shows and dark satire have fallen out of favor, whether with audiences with different sensibilities or studios who went in a different direction.

Although the series has been rebooted, it's doubtful the original Walker, Texas Ranger could be made today. Crime shows have taken a markedly darker and deeper tone, with a much greater expectation for ongoing narratives and character development, as seen in series like True Detective.

Walker, Texas Ranger was too much of a cheesy '90s action series, with episodes that were far too episodically contained. The rebooted series has been great, but has shown just how different audience tastes are with a very different tone from the Norris version.

The fact that Cop Rock even managed to get made in the cheesy 1990s is a surprise, given its awful premise. The series is a combination of a police procedural and the musical genre. It's hard to tell whether the series was meant to be a drama since the characters breaking into song would undermine all tension.

RELATED: 10 Best British Police Procedurals

Cop Rock being made was a fluke of a decade known for experimental television, and just wouldn't fit in with modern television. Its aimless direction, terrible bending of genres, and gimmick-heavy premise probably couldn't have been made at any other time than the late '80s and '90s.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was an incredibly popular fantasy action series of the 1990s, with a teen drama backdrop. It followed the eponymous hero as she battled the forces of evil in her town, Sunnydale, which was built atop a Hellmouth, making it vulnerable to supernatural enemies.

Buffy's main problem in a modern market would be fighting against the stereotype of teen fantasy series as shallow and cringe. Not to mention the fact that the series creator and showrunner, Joss Whedon, has fallen into disgrace over MeToo allegations.

South Park continues to be a hilarious show and brilliant satire that pokes fun at current events every chance it gets. However, it's no secret that it owes its success to appeal to the generation of '90s kids who loved edgy, controversial humor, and who kept it relevant.

The show's main struggle would have been in finding a reliable studio to bankroll production, considering the nature of many of its jokes. It isn't so much that audiences have changed – after all, they made Rick and Morty a success – but rather navigating modern social topics would be a headache for studios.

Tiny Toon Adventures was by no means a terrible series, but it was the result of a distinctly late '80s to 1990s trend called "babyfication." The idea behind the trend was to take recognizable and popular cartoons, like Scooby-Doo and the Looney Tunes, and create baby versions of themselves.

RELATED: 10 Great Cop Shows That Were Set Up To Fail

Tiny Toon Adventures, along with shows like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and Baby Looney Tunes, doesn't mesh with the more popular modern trend of satirizing and maturing popular cartoons. It's hard to imagine a baby-centric cartoon show in the age of Velma.

One of the better ways modern audience tastes have changed is there has been a turn against poverty exploitation reality shows. No show represented this old trend in TV as well as The Jerry Springer Show, which basically created the format of troubled Americans airing their problems for laughs and jeers.

The Jerry Springer Show may still be iconic, and even have plenty of fans who loyally watch every rerun or similar show they can. However, it's hard to imagine a series replicating the same success today, and would undoubtedly illicit questions of "What were they thinking?"

Although it may be one of the most successful and cherished sitcoms of all time, Friends has faced growing criticism from modern audiences. Many, including some of the series' own showrunners, cite the show's all-white cast as something they couldn't do today.

This, coupled with the quintessentially '90s tone of the stories, as well as the fact many of the jokes wouldn't work in an age of smartphones, make it hard. Friends has become more of a piece of nostalgia for children of the '90s and early 2000s than it has broken through to younger viewers.

Although Cops was created in 1989, it didn't become a pop culture phenomenon until the 1990s. The series documented the patrols and work of real police officers, with cameramen riding around various cities and responding to calls, filming the arrests and confrontations.

RELATED: 10 Big Stars Who Got Their Start In Minor Cop Show Roles

Recent events have soured wide segments of the public, as well as studios, against airing so-called "copaganda." While the majority of police aren't at fault, and the series rarely showed any brutality, its studio, Langley Productions, canceled the show in 2021.

The brilliant comedy spin-off of Cheers, Frasier​​​​​​, followed its titular psychiatrist after he moved home to Seattle and tried to rekindle a relationship with his father and brother. Arguably the single greatest – and best-written – sitcom of the decade, there are plenty of detractors.

Frasier has faced criticism from modern newcomers to the series for the perception that it glorifies out-of-touch opulence. While this is very much up for debate, the modern era undoubtedly takes a deeper look at many of the topics in Frasier, and would surely come across as a very different show.

Home Improvement is one of the most controversial sitcoms of its era, largely due to the fact its main character, Tim, was written as an open chauvinist. Although this made for a great TV series, one that saw Tim often learn the error of his ways, it wouldn't fly today.

Home Improvement is often judged for its writing of Tim, but in its defense, the entire series was character development. The man in the show's finale was much more mature and sensible than the younger Tim. Nonetheless, it's hard to imagine modern audiences buying into a sitcom following a sexist lead.

NEXT: 10 Best Police Procedural TV Shows With The Best Twists