Sitcoms that Changed the 1990's

Sitcoms thrived throughout the 1990's, but a few special ones changed television altogether. These shows made us laugh, think and ultimately shaped some thoughts and points of view toward a variety of issues.

Will & Grace premiered in 1998 telling the stories of Will Truman, a gay lawyer, and his best friend Grace Adler, an interior designer, along with their lovable sidekicks Karen Walker, the wealthy spitfire lush and Jack McFarland the extremely effeminate singer, dancer and actor. This show delved into the relationship of a gay man and his straight woman counterpart. Although "Ellen" broke ground by coming out, the show soon lost its following, Will & Grace picked up where "Ellen" left off, and went further. It used brilliant writing, pop culture references and unique comedic ensemble acting to make gays accessible to the mass public. Accessible and acceptable.

Married With Children single handedly launched the once fledgling FOX network into an American television giant. It became the second longest running sitcom in FOX history. The show centered around the dysfunctional Bundy's: Al, Peggy, Bud and Kelly. It was the "All In The Family" of the 1990's since it centered on racy humor for laughs. Objectification of women, sex, family dysfunctionality more closely related to the American public who knew that "The Brady Bunch" was a ridiculous camp fantasy, Married With Children was a ridiculous camp fantasy on the dark side, which is where the American family lives and resides. It changed humor on television to a more relatable American view.

Murphy Brown ran for 10 years and centered around aggressive reporter Murphy Brown, played by celebrated award winning actress Candice Bergen. Having a female lead in a strong, single woman position was a fairly new concept. Brown made her own money, more than male counterparts, ran the home, ran the office and didn't take a backseat to any man. Famously the fictional Brown entered into a real life controversy upon criticism from Vice President Dan Quayle, who criticized the character's story line as a single mom, calling her an inappropriate role model for women. The show fired back, making jokes at the Vice President's comments and subsequently making Brown an excellent and strong role model.

Seinfeld, although rarely controversial or delving into issues, was truly the show about nothing, that did a lot to change comedy. Jerry Seinfeld's patented observational comedy was fairly new at the time and has since taken over the comedy world. Centering around four New York neurotics, Seinfeld took seemingly pointless everyday storylines and created countless catch phrases that have changed the English vocabulary.

Topping off the list, Roseanne changed American television with its blue collar take on family life. Straying from the 1980's look at success and wealth, and late 90's similar take on television, Roseanne centered on Landford Illinois and the Conner's. Roseanne ran the house, and father knew squat. This show was groundbreaking humor, finding the humor in such issues as domestic violence, death, homosexuality, depression, teen angst, family fights and underage sex. Roseanne looked at reality and brought it to the screen without fear, and with plenty of humor. She became a surprising superstar and brought a familiar face to every middle class American.