Pop Culture | TV | 90s
10 After-School Shows From My Childhood That I Could Not Miss
We all had those childhood shows that we raced home to watch, sometimes it was a struggle for the remote when my favorite show came on at the same time as my brothers', but we usually agreed on the classics.
This list looks at the classic '90s cartoons that had us all talking the next day. From gargoyles to chipmunks, we followed the adventures of our favorite heroes big and small as they saved the day, solved mysteries, traveled through space and even - the small intestine!
Check out our Top 10 after-school shows from the '90s!
Gargoyles
Nothing like a muscly, mullet-haired stone beast with wings to rescue all the humans of New York.
"We are defenders of the night, we are Gargoyles!" .... we are super intense. But, kids loved them!
The first episode aired on October 24, 1994 and the series ran until 1997. The gargoyles were transported to New York from medieval Scotland, where they remained as enchanted stone statues until they are awoken. They fight the evil bazillionaire, Xanatos and other supernatural threats to their clan and their new home.
Darkwing Duck
During the day, he is an unassuming Dad, Drake Mallard. By night, he's the crime-fighting Darkwing Duck. As kids, we loved the slapstick comedy battles he had with supervillains and street criminals. Little did we know that his story was actually a parody of pulp heroes like the Shadow, Batman, The Lone Ranger and Zorro. His sidekick, Launchpad McQuack was right there to help him in moments of trouble - we loved that we recognized him from DuckTales, as Scrooge McDuck's pilot!
Captain Planet
How many of you remember this theme song? I probably sang along with it at every episode! The first episode of Captain Planet and the Planeteers was broadcast on TBS in September of 1990 to December 1992. And the sequel series, The New Adventures of Captain Planet, was broadcast on the same network from 1993-1996.
The original theme song mentions "Linka from the Soviet Union", after it dissolved, she was "Linka from Eastern Europe" - that's how old we are people. Kids from around the world were given magical rings to control the elements as well as love to fight back against pollution and the destruction of planet earth.
Some of us may or may not have been shipping Linka and Wheeler....
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
Who else loved these adorable, crime fighting chipmunks? Kids from the '80s will recognize these two from when the original show ran from 1989 to 1990. The show was later re-run from '90-'93 on Disney Afternoons and then in '98 on Toon Disney.
Chip and Dale were detectives who, along with friends Monterey Jack, Zipper and Gadget, solve crimes usually with other animals as their clients. Their biggest foes were the mafia kingpin, "Fat Cat" and the mad scientist Norton Nimnul.
Reboot
At a time when gaming visuals were rapidly evolving, ReBoot was the hot new show. This Canadian show was the first half-hour TV series to be completely computer-animated.
We watched as Bob, the Guardian of the Mainframe and his friends Enzo and Dot Matrix completed computer games to save the system from viruses - Megabyte and Hexadecimal. Even though they were there to save the day, there was always an underlying attraction between Dot and Bob that EVERYONE acknowledged except them.
Goof Troop
If you loved Goofy as kid, you loved his son, Max, even more! Everything about this show was '90s, from the intro music to Max's outfits. The show lasted for 65 episodes from 1992-'93 and focused on the relationship between Goofy and his son Max. Sure, he was the typical dorky dad, but watching this show sort of made us appreciate our own dads that much more. You might remember the film spin-off, A Goofy Movie , that totally had us in tears when Max saves Goofy.
TaleSpin
Sure, it was another spin-off that featured characters from another Disney film, but us kids loved the familiar and it was exciting to see our favorite characters in new situations! The show ran for 65 episodes from 1990 to 1991.
TaleSpin followed the adventures of Baloo the Bear (The Jungle Book), his sidekick Kit Cloudkicker and his boss, Rebecca as they manage an air delivery service and avoid air pirates in Cape Suzette. Our parents might have recognized the similarities between Baloo, Rebecca Cunningham and the Cheers characters they were modeled after: Sam Malone and Rebecca Howe.
Rugrats
What could be better than a show about the adventures that babies go on behind their parents' backs? Rugrats follows the exploits of Tommy, Chuckie, twins Phil and Lil and the older, bossy Angelica. The show aired in 1991 and lasted for 65 episodes until May 22, 1994. The show was brought back in 1997, and was so popular, that The Rugrats Movie was released in 1998.
Hey Arnold!
Fourth grade in the city was cool and Arnold's adventures with Gerald were what childhood in the city was all about: nighttime adventures, rundown buildings and parks. The show would not have been the same without creepy Helga who was forever tormenting her beloved "Football Head" or Arnold's signature baseball hat and kilt.
The Magic School Bus
Every '90s kid watched at least one episode of the Magic School bus. It was THE after-school science show that we all loved to watch. Miss Frizzle took her class on the most epic field trips on her magic school bus and we all wished so hard that someone would invent an actual school bus that could do all of that. We all hated Janet, the conceited know-it-all, and secretly wished that she would get "accidentally" left behind on one of the field trips.
But my favorite was Carlos, he was always crackin' terrible jokes....
Even though the rest of the kids weren't having any of it, he still kept the mood light!
Do you remember these shows? Were there any others that you would race home to watch? Let us know in the comments below! Don't forget to Like & Share!