15 UNREAL 90s SCI-FI/FANTASY TV INTROS - 1990-94

[@chrisw6164]

Gillian Anderson was only 24 when The X-Files started. Nobody had any idea how huge that show would become. I was lucky enough to have watched it from the first season.

[@56postoffice]

*The Flash* (1990) was great. And it was good to see John Wesley Shipp the original Barry Allen/Flash as the dad for the new version. Danny Elfman's theme was fantastic as well.

[@cylontoaster7660]

The best part of SeaQuest DSV is they had a joke where some guys are playing trivia and it asked some question about the Rolling Stones still touring in like 2015. It was supposed to be a joke, but it turned out to be legit lol

[@RoBot9491]

Nothing will ever beat The X-Files, one of the best all time shows of any genre, especially those first few seasons.

[@astrocitizen]

I could swear that there was some kind of "Prototype X-FILES" that aired on the USA Network in the early, early Nineties... the intro shows camera footage sweeping through some kind of cityscape (New York?) while spooky images and lighting effects were imposed upon the footage. I think it was about a paranormal research group that stumbled across stuff, maybe? I was a kid and too spooked to really watch the show but the opening fascinated me.

[@catmandude1800]

I think it's great that the CW Flash has given so many nods to the original: J W Shipp as the Golden Age Flash, Amanda Pays as an older version of her original character and Mark Hamill as the Trickster.

[@futuramayeah]

we hardly get the sense that he's fast because of the special effects used he's just replaced by lightning, whereas in the 90s flash, they had to use camera tricks and slowing down the camera speed so we actually see glimpses of the flash but because he's running in real time, he's just a blur, something we don't get in the new show because it's shot digitally, the episode cause and xs direted by danielle panabaker is actually good directed episode and shows off nora's speed abilities

[@ryancoulter4797]

I think they even had him suit up in the old velour suit once as another alternate version

[@Shadowkey392]

CatmanDude now if they would only do the theme tune...

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Current Technology has blurred the Flash real time!

[@iandickson9097]

Ahhhhh back when the lead males all looked like they were peeled off Harlequin romance smut novels. Except Black Jack Savage! LOL!

[@TokyoXtreme]

The Twin Peaks intro looks absolutely epic compared to all the others, as if it were transplanted fresh from 2018.

[@Clock_70]

I agree

[@IncHulkLover]

The theme of "Twin Peaks" is so beautiful.

[@mulberryman1305]

such a nostalgia trip I remember watching Sea Quest, Eerie Indiana, Earth 2, Touched By An Angel, Twin Peaks, and The X Files I still like the theme song to Touched By An Angel

[@DarthAnubis1138]

The one thing I miss most about the 90’s was the abundance of sci-fi on TV. What a fucking time to be alive!

[@carybeweary7209]

I loved eerie Indiana as a kid. I loved twin peaks as an adult. Cool seeing both intros here.

[@rlj151]

I remember M.A.N.T.I.S. They were filming a few scenes where I worked at the time (in the evening), from inside the one building, watched the setup. Took a long time. Missed the actual actor filmed scene. It was when Carl Lumbly's character was covered in barrels and other stuff and just flung it off.

[@ariaflame-au]

RLJ.251 had by far the most bizarre ending of any series I had watched.

[@josephpiech4240]

The Flash, M.A.N.T.I.S, Eerie Indiana, The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage, Viper, Nightmare Café...(sigh) they just don't make shows like that anymore. Thanks for the nostalgia.

[@carybeweary7209]

The new flash show is pretty good. The show bar karma had a similar premise to nightmare cafe. Also,nickelodeon had a show called 100 good deeds for Eddie McDowell that was similar to black jack savage.

[@josephpiech4240]

Never heard of any of these, but I may have to give them a look, see if they're as good as the originals. Thanks for the info.

[@mantis1s1k]

I was particularly pleased to see M.A.N.T.I.S. pop up on here, as it was the show I was watching many years ago when I had to come up with SOME screen name to use in the video game I was playing at the time... 20 years later, still using the same one.

[@elcidsecundo3097]

M.A.N.T.I.S was a progressive show at that time, have an African-American as a hero on a main channel and in the beginning has two Africans as his assistants.

[@marklowther3228]

It's amazing how many of these shows I actually own on DVD. Thanks for the memories.

[@tmarofvulcan]

seaQuest was very good in its first season, but I don't know what they were thinking in the second. The third was the best, story-wise, but by then the retooling had gotten out of hand. And poor Jonathan Brandis... miss him still.

[@biocapsule7311]

Yes, SeaQuest was rather interesting. Earth 2 however is much better.

[@CaptainMotocycle]

They added in aliens and it turned to shit

[@tolfan4438]

The second season that did away with all that pesky real science and turns it into Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

[@Xezlec]

It was a horrible intervention by the producers. All the actual artists involved in the production knew it was a horrible idea, and said so. Producers threw away another wildly successful concept, like so many times before.

[@shallendor]

I so wish that Earth 2 would of lasted long, such a great cast and premise.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

Yeah! It was great and i'd loved to have seen what happened to Devon after she was put into hibernation.

[@reh3884]

Earth 2 was awesome. One of the first shows I ever got on DVD.

[@hot2warm]

Never could get into it. If I recall, it came out the same year as Space-Above and Beyond

[@nicholasmaude6906]

It came out about the same time and i'm surprised S:AAB wasn't on the list another about the same time was The Cape. @@hot2warm

[@hot2warm]

@@nicholasmaude6906 Babylon 5 would also fall in this time period. Perhaps the intros aren't too the poster's liking.

[@lazyperfectionist1]

_Seaquest DSV_ was a good show that I probably would've gotten into if it had not aired in the same time slot as _ST:DS9,_ and _Lois and Clark._

[@orkz7258]

Nice list. I'll let you off as space above and beyond missed this by one year :p I almost had a waaagh here at it not making the list, but don't worry your refrigerator is safe, this time.

[@scotcarr3390]

Crap, I'm old! I remember when a few of these were truly unique & hot-hot must-sees the 1st time around! Whether it was a good idea to resurrect them is still up for debate, but the original runs of "X-Files" & "Twin Peaks" alone are still outstanding TV.

[@charlottecorday8494]

PHENOMENAL group this time! Twin Peaks is my all time favourite show, though X-Files is fairly close. Special love to Eerie, Indiana though. That show started off SO amazing, it was definitely the first show I ever got obsessed with as a kid.

[@gabrieleghut1344]

Sea Quest - I liked for the first season, The Flash - I was mad when it stopped, Eerie Indiana - cool show, Dark Shadows - I was really pissed when they took it of, Touched by an Angel - just easy to watch, Twin Peaks - loved that crazy the series, The X Files - it was just great.

[@blackphoenix77]

I was always annoyed by the premise of Viper: they mindwiped a criminal racer and made him into a crimefighting race car driver. In the final episode, he regained his original memories but kept fighting crime but it was still a shitty thing to do to a person.

[@paulfeist]

You missed Space:Above and Beyond! Earth 2 could stand a reboot... that show was just getting its legs when it was cancelled!

[@JoeDope]

Eerie Indiana was a legit show though, right? I don't just falsely remember that because I was a kid, right?

[@tim.dedopulos]

It definitely existed!

[@frankthelion]

it was a great show, one episode I remember was where twin boys were kept in Tupperware containers! I like to think that the show evolved to become warehouse 13.lol. I also found it to have a similar Australian show called round the twist.

[@tolfan4438]

Joe Doe i remember it being on after football so it was never on because games always run long. Then it was retooled as a kids show saturday mornings

[@brenthaymon280]

It was a really good show. Don't know why it was canceled.

[@NeoGee]

You aren't misremembering anything, I was 22 when it debuted and it was definitely a great show!

[@japkap]

Would love a remake of SeaQuest DSV so many of the old shows have gotten some new traction with either remakes or people going nostalgia hunting

[@angelus4282]

The Flash was awesome! Such a crushing disappointment to lose it after just 1 season.

[@Ninjajp247]

Too much money

[@jonathangerlach3045]

Actually they dropped it because Shipp came out of the closet. Not even kidding

[@biocapsule7311]

Well I guess it now counts as part of Arrowverse.

[@Ninjajp247]

@@biocapsule7311 multiverse. They're saying arrowverse is the original verse I guess.

[@davidhill2020]

Nightmare Cafe was underrated. I remember liking that show.

[@elcidsecundo3097]

The need to redo this show in SYFY.

[@deanarupe73]

Yancy Butler was better in Witchblade!

[@elcidsecundo3097]

She could have wrote her ticket if it wasn't for her alcohol and drug problems.

[@farscape319]

Yes

[@doop8436]

Loved Space Rangers.. Flash.. Mantis.. Mann & Machine.. Viper... Sea Quest... absolutely loved Nightmare Cafe.. Dark Shadows.. Earth 2..

[@Cander5142]

Loved Seaquest. Wish it had gone longer.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

The first series was great, the second series was alright and the third series was a joke (I don't blame Roy Scheider for leaving the show after S2).

[@elcidsecundo3097]

@Shufei Damn right! Tell it like it is! I think is the right time to revise Seaquest. A plot should be stopping piracy in the high seas and B plot should be saving earth from pollution.

[@WardNightstone]

yea till they brought in aliens

[@SonnyViceR]

@@nicholasmaude6906 Second season was terrible but I actually think the 3rd to be almost as good as the first? Michael Ironside fitted into the role imo and most of the awful supernatural nonsense from season 2 was washed away. Too bad they couldn't finish it

[@jimjim292]

That was one boring ass TV show.

[@MaskedMan66]

Some of my favorite shows right here! I adored that pneumatic lovely Yancy Butler as android Eve Edison on "Mann & Machine" and actually got to meet her some years later. Even more gorgeous in real life.

[@VFVE26]

The Flash was a great show. In the vein of Tim Burton's Batman.

[@lsgreger2645]

Yeah, it might have done better if CBS hadn't put it directly across from "the Cosby Show" and "Family Ties", which were the two highest rated shows at time.

[@angelus4282]

Helps that Danny Elfman did the main theme for both Batman and The Flash.

[@morlar]

Like that the actor who played the Flash back then now has the role as the Flash's father in today's series

[@stevethapirate4846]

Yep! just spotted that this Flash is Barry's Dad and the alternative Flash! mind fuckin blown!

[@JL-kz3qt]

This is one of the biggest easter eggs from that series that I haven't heard mentioned.

[@ryancoulter4797]

I would’ve added Friday The 13th: The Series and Nowhere Man

[@Pavysama177]

Thanks, Ryan! These are 2 of my favorites.

[@NeoGee]

Friday the 13th: The Series ended in May of 90, so it was more of an 80's series. edit: And I just checked and Nowhere Man debuted on August 28, 1995 so it was after the 94 cut off for this video.

[@weresmurf]

Twin Peaks intro seriously has to sit in the top ten intros of all time...

[@donaldpaluga]

elyts ni kcab si mug gniwehc ruoY !swen doog evah I

[@mikebowermaster8513]

I love the music from the show.

[@carybeweary7209]

@@donaldpaluga the gum I like never went out of style

[@carybeweary7209]

I love bumping that theme and the stranger things theme. They both are so good.

[@carylosborn1808]

X-Filed was my #1 favorite!! Eerie Indiana, Dark Shadows and Nightmare Cafe were great! Touched by an Angel was wonderful family night tv.

[@AldenRDavis]

M.A.N.T.I.S., Viper, and The Flash are my all-time favorites.

[@Cujo_Ate_My_Credit_Card]

Boy was I disappointed when I heard they had cancelled Earth 2. Those bastards...

[@andrewmilner2511]

cant believe thunder in paradise wasn't in this vid

[@3piper]

Seaquest was kickass

[@compmanio36]

@Shufei The 3rd season wasn't actually nearly as bad as the 2nd, but it was an entirely different show, with Michael Ironsides playing the polar opposite of Roy Scheider's enlightened persona.

[@i.k5143]

Eerie Indiana actually looks dope af.

[@brenthaymon280]

It was a great show.

[@H31MU7]

@@brenthaymon280 Foreverware!

[@ShojoBakunyu]

3 minutes in and I don't recognize ANY of these shows and I'm the biggest Sci-Fi nerd on Earth. All of these seem right up my alley and would have come out during my early adolescence so how did I miss these train wrecks???

[@randombear728]

Space Rangers Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa would go on to be Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat movie.

[@sonicguyver7445]

Oh man The Flash! I remember I caught every episode of that with my dad. We both thought it was a cool show. And I remember really digging the 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage. But honestly how could you have forgotten the best Sci-fi series from that timeframe? The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. That was one of the few westerns I ever liked because of it's sci-fi elements. And in retrospect because of Bruce Campbell.

[@albertmas3752]

Twin Peaks was so great...in story and music. The new series kills the rule that "2nd parts are never good". It is great too.

[@mariaelenamorgan9288]

Was active duty military during this time so I never saw: Mann & Machine, Viper, 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage, and Nightmare Café. All the others shows I saw and loved.

[@psirus1979]

Nightmare cafe looks like its worth watching. Weirdly I remember watching most of these.

[@Ghastly10]

Only a few I remember Space Rangers (shame it only had 6 episodes), Sea Quest DSV, maybe Viper just, definitely Earth 2.. Though I never watched all of it Touched by an Angel, remember Twin Peaks the music was so haunting and who could forget the X Files so cool it was..

[@HavocPrime8989]

Viper, SeaQuest, and Earth 2 were good shows. Mantis had a great pilot movie, but the changes they made for the show, as well as a lot of executive meddling killed it. I think Touched by an Angel was the only show on this list that had a proper run (of 9 seasons). A lot of these had interesting concepts that would have had larger fanbases if they were done presently with proper writing and decent budgets.

[@reluctantidiot2995]

Eerie Indiana was awesome

[@carybeweary7209]

Yeah it was!

[@1981bdt]

Now I wanna see more viper and SeaQuest

[@milanmocik3591]

SEAQUEST!!!

[@fredgarvinism]

Damn. I have never seen any of these shows except X-files and twin peaks in reruns. I guess 1990 was the year I discovered Alcohol.

[@fjccommish]

The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage looked like it could be a good show.

[@Laceykat66]

I always thought Bruce Campbell was in the Flash. I liked MANTIS but they just did not know what to do with the show or character. MANN & Machine was a good (if overused) idea, but it degenerated into stereotypes so fast people got hit with the shrapnel. You need Sci-Fi writers to write Sci-fi. Eerie Indianan, like The Torkelson, was never given a chance. It was the pre-cursor to Stranger Things.

[@hot2warm]

He had a recurring role on the Kevin Sorbo Hercules

[@Theri4444]

was a huge fan of Seaquest, space prescinct, earth 2, xfiles, touched by an angel

[@ma55aracin9]

VIPER BABY!!!!!!!!!

[@TarHeelBrit]

Seaquest, Dark Shadows and The X-Files were my favourites.

[@Pantechnicon]

5:57 even when the show is named for your character, the black guy still can’t get top billing.

[@bqkmg2037]

Aaaahh the 90s last good decade for good decent TV shows.

[@tippi1977]

Twin Peaks and Space Rangers.....what an golden era of TV-series.

[@robertombricen7966]

Eerie, Indiana was one of my favorites...

[@christopherjones5446]

Roberto MBriceñ, I recall an episode where they referenced Eerie, Indiana’s sister city Normal, Illinois, which is a real place!!

[@dDbalL-to7rt]

Holy shit i remember almost every single one of those!!!! Mann & Machine was one of my frickin prepubescent introductions to the female form!!!

[@user-si3gu8pm6j]

Discovers Michael T. Weiss was in Dark Shadows...😧 Watches entire video but doesn’t see ‘the pretender’ featured...😔

[@BryonLape]

I still like Stacy Haiduk.

[@elcidsecundo3097]

Rebecca Gayheart

[@christopherjones5446]

The Flash’s theme rocked. Danny Elfman for the win!!

[@lianaverwood9810]

For some reason it sounds more like a batman theme then anything flash related. Like if you just listen to the music without the graphics it's so Batman inspired.

[@monakh_jcf2312]

its more like Batman TAS is inspired by the Flash (90s) theme, chronologically Batman TAS came out in 92 and Flash was in 90. and both was a Danny Elfman creation

[@Slashkamr]

Both DC related as well

[@GrimDMasterMind]

Batman came much later, Flash paved the way on TV

[@GrimDMasterMind]

Unless you thinking about Adam West...

[@teddownum7428]

I remember enjoying the nineties version of THE FLASH, unconvincing muscle suit and all. Amanda Pays helped.

[@infernalmajesty845]

I remember sea quest lol wow and eerie indiana was the shit!

[@kittenblossom2794]

Xfiles. Greatest show ever made. Love it! Twin Peaks was amazingly groundbreaking and unparrelled. Great theme too. Also the Showtime reboot. Still unsolved as to who killed Laura Palmer.

[@CelentAle]

Sea quest, from Amiga LightWave! 3D ✌️ and Babylon 5,Star Trek NG, Deep Space 9,Voyager, Robocop, XFile ! ☺️

[@davidjackson2524]

And the music on The Flash was by Danny Elfman who did music on the Tim Burton Batman films.

[@scotcarr3390]

Hell, Elfman's such a good sport in his homage pieces in the "Justice League" soundtrack, he even riffed on John William's "Superman" main theme!

[@endorbr]

I used to love Earth 2. That show got screwed. It got cancelled just when it got really interesting.

[@alexojeda9048]

I remember watching most of these shows. Don't remember Mann & Machine though. Too bad, I loved Yancy Butler when she was on Witchblade.

[@faisal_noor]

Ahh what a wonderful 90s !!! Feels like heaven .

[@johnmontgomery2321]

I love all these themes. Almost all of them are shows I watched. Makes me want to check out the ones I didn't.

[@sagefoole]

OK, now some of these were pretty darn good! Too bad some of them were cancelled...

[@bettergamesthandestinyican3421]

Seaquest was amazing. Mantis and viper were pretty good too

[@fuzzymohawk478]

I miss Earth 2 that was a great show

[@ernestmac13]

They could probably do reboots of, seaQuest DSV, Earth II, Tekwar, Babylon 5, etc; with today's better special effects technology and 4K TV, these reboots would look amazing.

[@Bladestar7]

Okay, "Touched by an Angel" and "Twin Peaks" do not belong on this list.

[@Locktwiste72]

Why not?

[@Bladestar7]

@@Locktwiste72 "Touched by an Angel" was Spiritual and "Twin Peaks" was well......Twin Peaks.

[@CrossJeniel]

@@Bladestar7 Della reessl

[@haileyshannon7548]

Now, unlike your other videos, some of these are quite well-known and still popular: The Flash, Seaquest (Did Eddie from Frasier ride Darwin during Sweeps Week?), Eerie Indiana, Dark Shadows, Touched by An Angel, Twin Peaks, X-Files! I saw Golden Years on Netflix YEARS ago, all I remember is they used the David Bowie song A LOT!

[@ScottKorin]

The X-Files theme was sped up in this video.

[@lurkerrekrul]

I watched every one of these with the exception of Black Jack Savage and Touched by an Angel. I'm still pissed by how CBS just left Stephen King's Golden Years on a cliffhanger. They passed on making it into a series and when King asked for four more hours to finish the story, CBS refused. Then they added some twinkling light BS to the video release just so it wouldn't seem like they sold people an incomplete story.

[@LAX5x5]

Yup! I was completely off my tit during most of the '90s. As much as I'd like to blame it all on being in my early to mid-20s, and attending university, 90's television definitely had a hand in me feeling the need to self medicate.

[@JTuniversenet]

I remember all of these and loved em all.

[@yegenek]

Tekwar must be in this list.

[@ShortStorytime]

Where's Babylon 5?

[@tackyman2011]

In space.

[@johnbertrand7185]

The original Flash could have lasted longer, it was well written and had a good cast, but low ratings and high production budgets killed it. Nice to see they honored the old series by having Shipp play Barry's father in the current series.

[@crowtrobot17]

Amanda Pays also reprises her role as Tina McGee in the new series, and Alex Desert has made a couple of appearances as well.

[@deanarupe73]

Wow! Black Jack Savage. Disney had a hit on their hands there! Roma Downey was probably glad she got Touched by an Angel!😋

[@alonzoneal8090]

Ah The 90’s Back when Sci Fi Reigned Supreme

[@carybeweary7209]

So,the flash,twin peaks,x files and dark shadows all got revivals of sorts. That's pretty cool.

[@LordSpleach]

I still find it funny that I only finally got around to watching Twin Peaks because of the game Deadly Premonition.

[@VirtualSuperSoldier]

Earth 2 was epic. Too bad they tried to cram 8 seasons worth of material into the last half of the final season.

[@Hikuro2pnt0]

Little surprised Space Above & Beyond wasn't on this.

[@bradleyanderson4315]

The 90’s was a golden age for sci fi on television. I loved it though some didn’t come on my cable.

[@frodofraggins]

Earth2 had a great cast but the writing fell apart. the network always pre-empted it which didnt help. SAAB deserved another season

[@Pavysama177]

Wow! I haven't thought of some of these shows in years! Eerie Indiana deserves its own category of awesome! I really liked Space Rangers, Viper, Mantis, Space Precinct, and of course the X Files and The Flash.

[@guitarmdpittsburgh7139]

Yancy Butler . . . .I wanna' have your children . . . .

[@homelesshannah50]

GARY, Indiana is far scarier than Eerie could ever be!

[@carybeweary7209]

What about Hawkins,Indiana?

[@MadameChristie]

That Blackjack show...tell me it's as glorious as it looks XD

[@jreese2474]

The pilot movie was. The series changed the actor who played the pirate. The new guy was a good actor, but not a charismatic. Still was a fun show though.

[@Shadowkey392]

Nightmare Cafe seems like a watered down version of The Twilight Zone intro.