Every decade has seen the rise in popularity of different trends, and the 1990s had one underrated fantasy trend that gave us two masterpieces. Like many other things, TV is defined by trends. The success of one show that offers something new or different can be the beginning of a trend, which can then lead to the defining trend of an entire decade.
The 1990s are home to some ofthe best TV shows of all time, and are a decade mostly remembered for their sitcoms. However, the 1990s had an underrated but successful fantasy trend on TV that made way for some of the decade’s most popular shows, among them two masterpieces that rank among the best of all time and are also highly influential.
Fantasy shows are always popular, and the genre offers a wide variety of characters and styles that will always find an audience. The 1990s had their good dose of fantasy shows, but the trend that carried the genre and continued through the early 2000s is that ofwitches.
Some of the most beloved and popular characters in horror and fantasy are witches. These characters are quite versatile, as they can go full horror with themes like witchcraft and black magic, be more family-friendly with the use of magic, and can star in either live-action stories or animated adventures.
The 1990s seized the versatility of witches and gave us some of the best TV shows of that branch of the fantasy genre. For younger audiences, there wereSabrina: The Animated Series,The Triplets(also an animated series), andThe Worst Witch, the latter a live-action TV show and part of a franchise.
For teenagers, Nickelodeon housedSabrina the Teenage Witch, and for more mature audiences, there wasBuffy the Vampire Slayer, its spinoff showAngel, and the drama seriesCharmed. All of these TV shows covered witches in different ways, whether in family dramas, accompanied by other creatures, or in a fairy-tale style, offering something for all viewers.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Is One Of The Best TV Shows Of All Time
The trend of TV shows about witches in the 1990s gave us not only some of the most entertaining shows of the decade, but also two masterpieces that continue to be highly influential. First wasBuffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, and which aired from 1997 to 2003, for a total of seven seasons.
Buffy the Vampire Slayertook the audience to Sunnydale, Southern California, to follow Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the latest in a succession of young women known as “Vampire Slayers.” Slayers are chosen by fate, and their mission is to fight against vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness – and Sunnydale happens to be located on a portal.
Witches were present inBuffy the Vampire Slayersince season 1, but they became a more prominent and important presence when Willow (Alyson Hannigan) became one.Buffy the Vampire Slayerranks among the best TV shows of all time thanks to its strong and complex female lead character, its blend of genres, and how it explored serious topics through its fantasy storylines.
Buffy the Vampire Slayeralso built a fascinating world of humans, vampires, witches, demons, and more, which has continued after the show’s end in comic books. After years of speculation,Buffy the Vampire Slayeris now preparing for a sequel series, in which Buffy will mentor a new, younger Slayer.
Charmed Is One Of The Most Influential TV Shows Of The 1990s & 2000s
Another masterpiece of the 1990s brought by the trend of witches isCharmed. Created by Constance M. Burge,Charmedis a fantasy drama series that ran for eight seasons between 1998 and 2006.Charmedfollowed the Halliwell sisters: Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), all of them witches with different powers.
The sisters are known as The Charmed Ones, the most powerful good witches, who use their combined “Power of Three” to protect the innocent from demons and other forces of evil. The sisters keep this part of their lives separate and secret from their daily lives, which is a bigger challenge than it seems.
Charmedwas one of the most popular TV shows of the 1990s and early 2000s, building a cult-following and becoming the first primetime TV show about a coven of witches.Charmedstood out for its focus on sisterhood, relatable characters, and its mythology.
Charmedhas been praised for its portrayal of sisterhood, its strong female lead characters, and its diversity, inspiring many other TV shows about witches (though none of them matched its impact and success) and being key to the resurgence of this trend years later.
The 2010s Saw A Resurgence Of The Witches Trend On TV
The witches trend on TV saw a resurgence in the 2010s, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the shows of the 1990s. The 2010s had TV shows likeThe Originals(a spinoff ofThe Vampire Diaries),Witches of East End,American Horror Story: Coven, andSalem, all of them covering witches in different styles.
The 2010s even had reboots and new versions of the 1990s shows that made them possible, such as the reboot ofCharmed, a new adaptation ofThe Worst Witch, and adarker version of Sabrina SpellmaninChilling Adventures of Sabrina. Witches will continue to be quite popular on TV, but their success will depend on how they’re portrayed.
