Top 15 cult TV series of the 90s

In the 90s, a stormy stream of foreign films and TV series poured into Russia. Some of them were frank "slag" designed for the most unpretentious audience. But some movie masterpieces have become popular favorites, and to this day have high ratings on Kinopoisk.

We present to you the top 15 cult TV series of the 90s, which were watched all over Russia.

15. Santa Barbara (TV series 1984 - 1993)

Genre: drama, melodrama
Kinopoisk rating: 4.3
IMDb rating: 5.6
Country: USA
Producer: Rick Bennewitz, Michael Gliona, Rob Schiller and others
Music: Dominic Messinger, Joseph Harnell, Randy Padgett and others

People grew up, got married or got married, they had children, and "Santa Barbara" went on and on.

In our country, this soap opera about the life of four families in the American town of Santa Barbara began to be shown in 1992, and finished on April 17, 2002. At the same time, the Russian viewers were not shown another 97 final episodes of the telesag.

But even that did not stop "Santa Barbara" from becoming the longest television series of all that was broadcast in Russia.

14. The rich also cry (TV series 1979 - 1980)

Genre: drama, melodrama
Kinopoisk rating: 4.9
IMDb rating: 4.8
Country: Mexico
Producer: Raphael Bankels, Fernando Chacon
Music: different compositions

Although the series was filmed in the late 70s of the twentieth century, it began showing in Russia in 1991. The fate of Marianne Villarreal was then sobbed both by the rich and the poor. After all, for her film fate, the heroine managed to know great and pure love, part with her beloved, give birth to a son, lose him and look for many years.

And the spectators could only worry about her and hotly argue about who Marianne will eventually stay with - with Luis Alberto or with the architect Mendizabal.

13. Just Maria (TV series 1989 - 1990)

Genre: drama, melodrama
Kinopoisk rating: 5.2
IMDb rating: 4.9
Country: Mexico
Producer: Arturo Ripstein, Beatrice Sheridan
Music: Jose Antonio 'Potro' Farias, Paco Navarette

Nowadays, the story of a beautiful peasant woman who was loved but rejected by a rich young man, and then became a famous fashion designer, seems naive and not worthy of special attention. But in the early 90s, when Prosto Maria was on TV, the streets of Russian cities were empty.

What was the secret of the success of one of the most popular television series of the 90s in Russia? Not only in the non-spoiledness of Russian viewers (or, mainly, spectators), but also in the fact that a simple Russian woman could easily associate herself with a naive, kind and hardworking heroine.

The relatively small number of episodes for Mexican TV series (143) made it possible to quite dynamically reveal the characters of the heroes, their relationships and bring the matter to a logical ending.

In honor of “Prosto Maria”, Belarusian breeders even bred a pear variety with the same name.

12. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series 1997 - 2003)

Genre: fantasy, action, drama
Kinopoisk rating: 7.1
IMDb rating: 8.2
Country: USA
Producer: Joss Whedon, James A. Contner, David Solomon and etc
Music: Christoph Beck, Thomas Wanker, Robert Duncan

Long before the Winchester brothers began their fight against evil spirits, young Buffy Summers were doing this.

A well-chosen cast, great jokes and touching moments, and simple and understandable topics for teens such as school, love relationships and relationships with friends and family are the ingredients for the success of this series.

As the series developed, it more and more turned from a fairy tale about victory over evil into a deep and even tragic story, in which good did not always come out victorious, and the "good" were not good at everything. However, you fully notice this when you revisit Buffy in adulthood.

11. Xena - Warrior Princess (TV series 1995 - 2001)

Genre: fantasy, action, adventure
Kinopoisk rating: 7.2
IMDb rating: 6.5
Country: USA, New Zealand
Producer: Bruce Campbell, Charlie Haskell, Charles Siebert et al
Music: Joseph LoDuca, Daniel Peter Colton

Fearless, cool and damn sexy warrior with her characteristic battle cry and unusual chakram weapon became not only the warrior queen, but also the queen of the TV series of the 90s.

Her adventures were not limited to Ancient Greece, but took place in the Roman Empire, India, Egypt, China, Japan, Africa, Norway and even Siberia. Sometimes, in her travels, Xena encountered Hercules and then the heroes acted together, for the good of people.

Renee O'Connor starred as Xena's loyal friend Gabrielle. And she performed almost all the stunts in the series herself, without the help of an understudy.

It's funny that in life the dark-haired Xena (or rather Lucy Lawless) is blonde. For the role, she was painted in dark or chestnut colors.

10. Amazing Wanderings of Hercules (TV series 1995 - 1999)

Genre: fantasy, action, adventure
Kinopoisk rating: 7.2
IMDb rating: 6.5
Country: USA, New Zealand
Producer: Bruce Campbell, Charlie Haskell, Charles Siebert et al
Music: Joseph LoDuca, Daniel Peter Colton

The strong and independent "Xena" had a worthy rival - the courageous and noble handsome Hercules, played by Kevin Sorbo in the popular TV series of the 90s.

His adventures, which featured the characters of Greek (and not only) mythology, were not only fascinating, but also funny, there was a place for good jokes, instructive moments, and even tragic episodes. For the sake of comic effect, the scriptwriters sometimes added doubles of the main characters to the plot. For example, Kevin Sorbo played an evil version of Hercules - the Sovereign.

Unlike "Xena", "The Amazing Wanderings of Hercules" does not have a clear ending, the heroes leave towards the horizon, towards new exploits. They simply did not have time to remove it, since Kevin Sorbo suffered three strokes during filming and quietly retired.

9. Beverly Hills 90210 (TV series 1990 - 2000)

Genre: drama, melodrama
Kinopoisk rating: 7.6
IMDb rating: 6.3
Country: USA
Producer: Daniel Etties, Chip Chalmers, Jason Priestley and others
Music: Marty Davich, Gary S. Scott, John E. Davis

Beverly Hills 90210 had everything a teenage viewer needed - beautiful characters, love, loyal friends, heart-warming drama and the lack of clichés typical of soap operas of the time.

In addition, the series raised common youth issues such as early pregnancy, difficult relationships with parents, betrayal of friends, drugs and alcoholism, which quickly elevated it to the peak of popularity.

It is curious that the school building Torrance High School, which was used for filming, "migrated" into another popular youth TV series of the 90s - "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

8. Tales from the crypt (TV series 1989 - 1996)

Genre: fantasy, horror, thriller
Kinopoisk rating: 7.6
IMDb rating: 8
Country: USA
Producer: Russell Mulcay, Elliot Silverstein, Robert Zemeckis and others
Music: Jay Ferguson, Nicholas Pike, Alan Silvestri

Those who, in the 90s, wanted to tickle their nerves not only in reality, but also on the movie screen, were eagerly awaited by the Crypt Keeper. His stories were full of blackest humor, and the denouement of each story was completely unpredictable.

Many famous actors have gone through this series, from Lance Henriksen, Whoopi Goldberg and Michael Ironside to Demi Moore, Robert Patrick and Kirk Douglas.

7. Knight Rider (TV series 1982 - 1986)

Genre: fiction, action, drama
Kinopoisk rating: 7.7
IMDb rating: 6.9
Country: USA
Producer: Winrich Kolbe, Georg Fenadi, Sidney Hyers and etc
Music: Don Peak, Stu Phillips, Morton Stevens

Get out of the way, Tesla! Give way to police officer Michael Long (starring David Hasselhoff) and his gorgeous partner, the black sports car Kitt with self-developing artificial intelligence and a talking on-board computer. Together with this couple, the audience traveled along the roads of America, fighting evil in all its manifestations.

Spectacular scenes, funny dialogues between Michael and Kitt, stunts and the very idea of ​​friendship between man and an intelligent machine provided "Knight Rider" with phenomenal popularity for many years.

6. Parallel worlds (TV series 1995 - 2000)

Genre: fantasy, adventure
Kinopoisk rating: 7.8
IMDb rating: 7.4
Country: USA
Producer: Richard Compton, David E. Peckinpah, Jerry O'Connell and etc
Music: Danny Lux, Stephen Graziano, Mark Mathersbo

Another name for this popular TV series is Sliders. It hints at the action of a portal machine invented by one of the main characters, Queen Melory. With its help, you can "slide" into parallel worlds, somewhat similar, but in some ways very different from our mother Earth. For example, in one of the worlds the Russians conquered America.

The series "Parallel Worlds" has earned the love of the audience due to several features:

• charismatic characters,
• attention to physics,
• humor,
• non-standard problems that protagonists constantly face,
• unpredictability of the plot.

However, after the departure of John Rhys-Davis, who played Professor Arturo, the series lost some of its appeal, so we recommend watching the first 3 seasons as the most successful.

5. Alf (1986 - 1990)

Genre: fantasy, comedy, family
Kinopoisk rating: 7.9
IMDb rating: 7.4
Country: USA
Producer: Nick Hawinga, Bert Brinkerhoff, Gary Simokawa and others
Music: Alf Clausen

A furry newcomer from the planet Melmak and a big cat lover (in gastronomic terms) won the hearts of Russian viewers with his sincerity, kindness and funny situations in which he constantly finds himself. At the same time, it allows you to look at people from a non-standard perspective, because for an alien, laws, art and other aspects of human life are strange and amazing.

Humor in "Alpha" is understandable for both adults and children, there are almost no vulgar jokes, so it can be safely recommended for family viewing.

At the beginning of the series, the role of Alpha was played by the midget actor Mihai "Mihu" Mesaros, but then he was replaced with an electronic doll and the furry cat lover was filmed only to the waist. Mesaros was involved in filming only when it was required to show Alpha in full growth or in motion.

4. Colombo (TV series 1968 - 2003)

Genre: detective, drama, crime
Kinopoisk rating: 8
IMDb rating: 8.2
Country: USA
Producer: Vincent McEvity, James Frawley, Patrick McGuen and etc
Music: Richard DeBenedictis, Bernardo Segal, Patrick Williams et al

A simpleton detective in an ever-crumpled raincoat, driving around in an old Peugeot 403 and constantly mentioning his wife, whom no one has seen - this is how Lieutenant Frank Colombo appeared before the audience, played by Peter Falk. By the way, the cloak was taken from the wardrobe of the actor himself, he served Falk for about 25 years.

Despite his apparent absent-mindedness, Columbo unravels the most complex crimes without resorting to shooting or threats. And the way how gracefully he does his work won the series the enduring love of the audience. Who is the killer is known from the very beginning of each episode, but it seems that the villain or the villainess has provided himself the perfect alibi. Until Colombo comes ...

3. Poirot (TV series 1989 - 2013)

Genre: detective, drama, crime
Kinopoisk rating: 8.1
IMDb rating: 8.6
Country: United Kingdom
Producer: Edward Bennett, Rennie Rye, Andrew Grieve and others
Music: Christopher Gunning, Christian Henson, Stephen McKeon

Proud, overly neat and aristocratic Hercule Poirot is completely different from his British "colleague" Sherlock Holmes or the modern image of a detective who uses more fists or weapons than brains. And this is good, because the audience loves Poirot precisely for his behavior and manners, as well as for the brilliant work of the "gray cells".

It's funny that the Briton David Suchet has reincarnated on the silver screen as the Belgian Poirot. In order to get into the spirit of Hercule, to better understand his character, Suchet studied the history of Belgium, watched all the works of Agatha Christie from the cycle about Poirot and previous film screenings related to Poirot, and also developed a special walk for the famous detective.

The result is a series in which everything is good - from acting to costumes, from directing to the atmosphere in which events take place. Every step, every movement of the characters is thought out and brought to perfection, every detail in the series has its own meaning, and the audience can only compete with Poirot in their sharpness of mind, wondering who the criminal is.

2. The X-Files (TV series 1993 - 2018)

Genre: fantasy, drama, crime
Kinopoisk rating: 8.2
IMDb rating: 8.6
Country: USA, Canada
Producer: Kim Manners, Rob Bowman, David Nutter and others
Music: Mark Snow

Mulder and Scully, looking for the truth, which is “somewhere near,” for many years have become the favorite movie pair of Russian audiences.

Interesting and non-standard plots related to paranormal phenomena, well-thought-out dialogues, high-quality special effects and the notorious "chemistry" between the main characters made both young and adult Russians cling to blue screens so as not to miss a single episode of the cult series of the 90s.

The X-Files have repeatedly received prestigious awards - Emmy, Saturn and Golden Globe in various categories (most often - as the best drama series), and their success lasted so long that in 2016 it was decided to release on the screen Season 10, with older but still vigorous David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Alas, the tenth failed to come close to the success of the first seasons.

1. Twin Peaks (TV series 1990 - 1991)

Genre: thriller, drama, crime
Kinopoisk rating: 8.5
IMDb rating: 8.8
Country: USA
Producer: David Lynch, Leslie Linka Glatter, Caleb Deschanel and etc
Music: Angelo Badalamenti

Who Killed Laura Palmer? This was the main mystery of Twin Peaks, and it kept viewers on their toes until the last episode.

The fusion of detective, drama, mysticism and melodrama provided the series with a high viewer rating, and in 2007 it was named among the best TV shows of all time according to Time magazine.