Explore the top 100 television series that premiered in 1993. From viral hits to award-winning dramas.
Top 100 Best TV Series of 1993
Relive the greatest moments in television and cinema history. Our definitive guide ranks the top-rated and most influential titles released in television during this year.
Explore the live-updated list below to find the masterpieces that defined the era.
The Definitive Collection
Our proprietary algorithm analyzed thousands of titles to bring you this definitive, real-time updated ranking.
The X-Files
The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases.
The Nanny
That flashy girl from Flushing with the heart of an angel (and the voice of a slighty more nasal angel). The comic misadventures of the sweet and sassy Fran Fine, her sophisticated employer, Broadway producer Mr. Sheffield, his boisterous brood and his wisecracking staff.
Slam Dunk
Sakuragi Hanamichi is a junior high punk used to getting into fights and being rejected by girls but upon entering high school he meets the girl of his dreams, Haruko Akagi. He will do anything in order to win her heart including joining the school basketball team that is aiming to conquer the nation lead by Haruko's brother. The problem is that Sakuragi has never played basketball before and a freshman sensation is stealing the spotlight and Haruko's affection from him.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
At Deep Space Nine, a space station located next to a wormhole in the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, Commander Sisko and crew welcome alien visitors, root out evildoers and solve all types of unexpected problems that come their way.
Frasier
After many years spent at the “Cheers” bar, Frasier moves back home to Seattle to work as a radio psychiatrist after his policeman father gets shot in the hip on duty.
Power Rangers
A team of teenagers with attitude are recruited to save Angel Grove from the evil witch, Rita Repulsa, and later, Lord Zedd, Emperor of all he sees, and their horde of monsters.
Animaniacs
The two Warner Brothers Yakko and Wakko and their Warner sister Dot had been (supposedly) created in the 1930's, but their cartoons were too screwy for the general public to handle. The three Warners were locked up in the studio water tower until they escaped in the 90's. There, they run wild, causing chaos everywhere!
Boy Meets World
The coming of age events and everyday life-lessons of Cory Matthews, a Philadelphian who grows up from a young boy to a married man.
Walker, Texas Ranger
Modern-day Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker's independent crime-solving methods have their roots in the rugged traditions of the Old West. Walker's closest friend is former Ranger, C.D. Parker, who retired after a knee injury, and now owns "C.D.'s," a Country/Western saloon/restaurant. Rookie Ranger, James "Jimmy" Trivette is an ex-football player who bases his crime-solving methods on reason and uses computers and cellular phones. Alex Cahill is the Assistant DA who shares a mutual attraction with Walker, but often disagrees with his unorthodox approach to law enforcement.

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
A much more lavish version of the popular Superman television series which had first aired forty years earlier, Lois & Clark focused more on the Man of Steel's early adult years in Metropolis. With the unknowing help of Lois Lane, Clark Kent created Superman there in Metropolis after finding work at the world-famous Daily Planet newspaper, where he meets fellow reporter Lois Lane.


Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Dr. Michaela Quinn journeys to Colorado Springs to be the town's physician after her father's death in 1868.




Beavis and Butt-Head
Two dimwitted teenagers discuss TV, heavy-metal music, nachos, and trying to "score with chicks." When the duo aren't sitting on the couch, they try to pick up girls at the local convenience store, slack off at school, or wreak havoc while working at a burger joint.



Raw
A regularly scheduled, live, year-round program featuring some of the biggest WWE Superstars.




Rocko's Modern Life
Rocko is a wallaby who has emigrated to America from Australia. He lives in O-Town and tries to get through life but, of course, comes across a multitude of dilemmas and misadventures he must get through. Other characters include Rocko's best friend, Heffer, a steer who has been raised by wolves, Filbert, a paranoid hypochondriac turtle, Rocko's faithful (but none-too-bright) dog Spunky, and Ed Bighead who detests Rocko and hates having him for a next door neighbor. On this show, Rocko has such adventures as trying to adapt to a new vacuum cleaner, having Heffer move in temporarily after his parents kick him out, and going to a movie theater.


Two Women, One Road
Dos mujeres, un camino is a Mexican telenovela, produced by Televisa, which originally aired from August 2, 1993 to July 1, 1994, on Canal de las Estrellas.

The Tommyknockers
A buried UFO slowly turns local inhabitants into gizmo-building alien mutants.

NYPD Blue
Police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwined several plots involving an ensemble cast.




Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic, Tails, Princess Sally, and a band of freedom fighters battle to overthrow Dr. Robotnik, a despotic dictator who conquered their home planet Mobius years ago, and rules it as a polluted industrial dystopia.

Late Show with David Letterman
David Letterman uses mature humor to appeal to his audience in this weeknight series, which gets its music from a house band led by Paul Shaffer. Among the show's most-famous segments are the Top Ten List and Stupid Pet Tricks, the latter of which subsequently led to an additional recurring segment called Stupid Human Tricks.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Stepping into the late-late slot vacated by David Letterman, Conan O'Brien stars in a show that far outdoes its competition in sheer strangeness. Along with the celebrity interviews and musical numbers typical of late-night talk shows, this program make frequent use of odd walk-on characters and frequent "visits" from celebrity guests.

seaQuest DSV
In the early 21st century, mankind has colonized the oceans. The United Earth Oceans Organization enlists Captain Nathan Bridger and the submarine seaQuest DSV to keep the peace and explore the last frontier on Earth.

Tales from the Cryptkeeper
Tales from the Cryptkeeper is an animated series aimed at children made by Nelvana Limited, PeaceArch Entertainment, kaBOOM! Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Animation. It was shown on TVO and ABC, and is still shown near Halloween on Teletoon. It was based on the live-action television show, Tales from the Crypt, which aired concurrently on HBO. Being directed at children, Tales From the Cryptkeeper was significantly milder than the live-action HBO version.

Homicide: Life on the Street
An American police procedural chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.

Diagnosis: Murder
Dr. Mark Sloan is a good-natured, offbeat physician who is called upon to solve murders.

SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
In a world of anthropomorphic felines, two demoted fighter pilots battle evil as high flying masked vigilantes.

Cracker
The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
A comical, light-hearted and gag-driven adventure series based on the titular character, an arrogant and mischievous yet kind-hearted teenage hedgehog with the power to move at supersonic speeds. Sonic, with his idolizing young friend Tails, regularly oppose the wicked Dr. Ivo Robotnik, his robot henchmen Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts, and thwart their plans to conquer their home planet of Mobius.

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
A tough-as-rawhide cowpoke, debonair ladies' man and Harvard-educated smarty-britches roams from Frisco to Jalisco in pursuit of outlaws who killed his father...and in search of a mysterious orb possessing out-of-this world powers. Hot lead and cool anachronisms await Brisco as he and his sidekicks - including Comet, the intellectual equine who doesn't know he's a horse - fight for justice in the way, way, way-out West.

Bill Nye the Science Guy
It's "Mr. Wizard" for a different decade. Bill Nye is the Science Guy, a host who's hooked on experimenting and explaining. Picking one topic per show (like the human heart or electricity), Nye gets creative with teaching kids and adults alike the nuances of science.

The Pink Panther
He's cool, he's pink, he's animated! The Pink Panther is back for more adventures, and he's brought along a few new friends and some old favorites.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Jotaro Kujo is a popular high school student – at least until that day when he thinks he is possessed by a ghost, which is why he locks himself up. During a fight between his grandfather and his grandfather’s friend Muhammad Abdul, he notices that the ghost is his “Stand”, named "Star Platinium", his fighting aura. Later, his mother also gets such a “Stand” and thus falls ill. Jotaro learns that a man named Dio Brando, who was defeated by Jotaro’s great-great-grandfather a hundred years ago, is to blame. He joins his grandfather and Abdul to destroy Dio once and for all.

Biker Mice from Mars
Three anthropomorphic mice motorcyclists named Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie escape a war on their home planet Mars before arriving to defend the Earth from the evil that destroyed their homeland and to one day return to Mars.

2 Stupid Dogs
“Two Stupid Dogs” follows the lives of two dogs: the overly excited Little Dog (the dachshund) and easy-paced Big Dog (the sheepdog). These crazy canines don't know how to fit in the world, and they definitely don't have any know-how. They often find themselves in commonplace situations (going to the drive-in, walking through the mall, working on the farm), some not so common situations (stuck on a space shuttle, a contestant on a game show, getting mistaken for the prime minister) and even in some familiar situations (little red riding hood, Noah's ark, and Hanzel and Gretel). But no matter the situation, their stupidity usually leads them to calamitous results.

To Play the King
Francis Urquhart's survival at the top is threatened by the new king's populist agenda.

Los Parientes Pobres
Los Parientes Pobres is a telenovela made by Mexican TV network Televisa. It is a telenovela set in Mexico. This telenovela was broadcast in 1993.

Saved by the Bell: The College Years
The gang from Bayside High is leaving home and heading to the campus of California University for four years of new challenges, new faces and wild, new adventures.

Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
Like his legendary namesake, Kwai Chang Caine is a warrior monk, operating a Shaolin temple in Northern California. After an evil priest, Tan, destroys the temple, Caine and his young son, Peter each believe the other has perished. The two embark on very different paths -- Caine wanders the Earth, while Peter is a cop. When fate brings the two together, they work to overcome their differing philosophies to battle Tan, and then to help the innocent and bring justice to the new Wild West -- 90s urban America.

The Animals of Farthing Wood
The Animals of Farthing Wood is an animated series created by the European Broadcasting Union between 1992 and 1995 and based on the series of books written by Colin Dann. It was produced by Telemagination, based in London, and La Fabrique, based in Montpellier in France, but also aired in other European countries. The first countries to air the series were Germany and the United Kingdom, in January 1993.

This Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics, combining news parody, sketch comedy and satirical editorials. Originally featuring Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer, Greg Thomey and Mary Walsh, the series featured satirical sketches of the weekly news and Canadian political events. The show's format is a mock news program, intercut with comic sketches, parody commercials and humorous interviews of public figures. The on-location segments are frequently filmed with slanted camera angles.

Living Single
Living Single is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 22, 1993, to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone. Throughout its run, Living Single became one of the most popular African-American sitcoms of its era, ranking among the top five in African-American ratings in all five seasons. The series was produced by Yvette Lee Bowser's company, Sister Lee, in association with Warner Bros. Television. In contrast to the popularity of NBC's "Must See TV" on Thursday nights in the 1990s, many African American and Latino viewers flocked to Fox's Thursday night line-up of Martin, Living Single, and New York Undercover. In fact, these were the three highest-rated series among black households for the 1996–1997 season.

Wild Palms
A man uncovers a dangerous web of schemes and deceit when he accepts the presidency of a TV company.

Goodnight Sweetheart
Gary Sparrow is an ordinary bloke in 1990s Britain, married to the ambitious Yvonne and working as a TV repairman. Then his whole world changes when he stumbles upon a portal to WWII-era London and begins a dual life as an accidental time traveler.

Saved by the Bell: The New Class
Six friends grow and learn at Bayside High.

Droopy, Master Detective
Droopy, Master Detective is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera in association with Turner Entertainment. The show is a spin-off from Tom & Jerry Kids and was dropped from Fox's Saturday morning schedule on January 1, 1994. Months later, the series was aired on weekday afternoons in August and September 1994.

The Adventures of Pete & Pete
Pete and Pete are two redheaded brothers living in the somewhat surreal town of Wellsville. Pete, the older of the two, narrates the stories about their adventures in everyday life.

Special Investigation Robo Janperson
Special Investigation Robo Janperson was the 1993 installment in Toei Company’s Metal Hero Series. The series revolved around Janperson, a robotic detective who patrolled the streets of Tokyo and fought against three different underworld organizations who used super technology to subjugate the masses. Unlike most Metal Heroes, a monster-of-the-week was rarely shown and most of the villains are criminals akin to television police dramas. The name given to this series by Toei for international distribution is Jumperson.

Bonkers
Bonkers is an animated American television series that aired from September 4, 1993 to August 24, 1995 in first-run syndication. The syndicated run was available both separately, and as part of The Disney Afternoon. The show was last seen on Toon Disney, but was taken off the schedule in late 2004.

Hotel Room
The lives of several people spanning from 1936 to 1993 are chronicled during their overnight stay at a New York City hotel room.

Heidi
After charming her reclusive grandfather and falling in love with the beautiful mountain he calls home, Heidi is uprooted and sent to Frankfurt where she befriends Klara, a young girl confined to a wheelchair.

Ghost Sweeper GS Mikami
Overdevelopment and crowding in Japan has forced many of its indigenous spirits and ghosts to lose their homes. Due to problems caused by the homeless spirits, a new profession was created, the Ghost Sweepers (GS). Private exorcists for hire, they serve only the highest bidder to survive in the cutthroat corporate world. Among this, the Mikami GS Company, led by 20-year-old Reiko Mikami and her two assistants, the 17-year-old boy Tadao Yokoshima and the ghost girl Okinu, is said to be the best.

Grace Under Fire
Grace Kelly is a tough woman with kids to raise. A recently divorced recovering alcoholic, Grace struggles with the pressures of being a single mother supporting three children. Grace doesn't always handle situations with, well, grace, but she does get results.

Sharpe
Sharpe is a British series of television dramas starring Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Sharpe is the hero of a number of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books. Produced by Celtic Films and Picture Palace Films for the ITV network, the series was shot mainly in Turkey and the Crimea, although some filming was also done in England, Spain and Portugal. The series originally ran from 1993 to 1997. In 2004, as part of ITV's new set of drama, ITV announced that it intended to produce new episodes of Sharpe, in co-production with BBC America, loosely based on his time in India, with Sean Bean continuing his role as Sharpe. Sharpe's Challenge is a two-part adventure; part one premiered on ITV on 23 April 2006, with part two being shown the following night. With more gore than earlier episodes, the show was broadcast by BBC America in September 2006.

Modern Marvels
HISTORY’s longest-running series moves to H2. Modern Marvels celebrates the ingenuity, invention and imagination found in the world around us. From commonplace items like ink and coffee to architectural masterpieces and engineering disasters, the hit series goes beyond the basics to provide insight and history into things we wonder about and that impact our lives. This series tells fascinating stories of the doers, the dreamers and sometime-schemers that create everyday items, technological breakthroughs and manmade wonders. The hit series goes deep to explore the leading edge of human inspiration and ambition.

Tales of the City
Mary Ann Singleton, a naïve young secretary from the mid-west, tumbles head first into the colorful world of San Francisco, where carefree chaos revolves around the funky old apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane.

Secrets of Sand
Twin sisters with contrasting personalities, Ruth and Raquel, rival in the fictional Pontal D'Areia, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

Time Trax
Time Trax is an American/Australian co-produced science fiction television series that first aired in 1993. A police officer, sent through time into the past, has to track down and return convicted criminals who have escaped prison in the future. This was the last new production from Lorimar Television.

Chef
Sharp knives and even sharper tongues! Meet Britain's finest, most short-fused chef, Gareth Balckstock.

Return to Lonesome Dove
After returning the body of Gus McCrae to Lonesome Dove, Woodrow Call takes on the challenge of driving a herd of wild mustangs 2500 miles north to the Hat Creek Ranch in Montana. But tragedy, triumph, despair and deceit will greet him before he ever gets there.

Marsupilami
Marsupilami is an animated series that first appeared on television in Raw Toonage in 1992, and was then spun off into his own eponymous show on the CBS television network for the 1993–1994 season. the seasons end around 1994

VeggieTales
American series of children's computer-animated episodes featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity. They frequently retell Biblical stories, sometimes anachronistically reframed, and include humorous references to pop culture in many different eras by putting Veggie spins on them.

Lipstick on Your Collar
During the Suez Crisis of 1956, two young clerks at the stuffy Foreign Office in Whitehall display little interest in the decline of the British Empire. To their eyes, it can hardly compete with girls, rock music, and the intrigue of romantic entanglements.

Super Dad
A family father struggles in maintaining lifelong relationships with three of his growing children ,after he divorced with his wife. In the unique Çengelköy district Fikret struggles with life, beside love, pain, hope.

Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC Two as a pilot in 1993, then as 3 full series from 1995 to 1997, then on BBC Choice from January to December 2002 with 2 series before returning to BBC Two for another 3 series from 2008 until its cancellation in 2011. Created and hosted by double-act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, it uses the panel show format but with the comedians' often slapstick, surreal and anarchic humour does not rely on rules in order to function, with the pair apparently ignoring existing rules or inventing new ones as and when the mood takes them.

Legends of the Hidden Temple
In a Temple filled with lost treasures and protected by mysterious Mayan temple guards, six teams of two children compete to retrieve one of the historical artifacts in the Temple by performing physical stunts and answering questions based on history, mythology, and geography. After three elimination rounds, only one team remains, who then earns the right to go through the Temple to retrieve the artifact within three minutes and win a grand prize.

Lady Chatterley
After a crippling injury leaves her husband impotent, Lady Chatterly is torn between her love for her husband and her physical desires. With her husband's consent, she seeks out other means of fulfilling her needs.

Oh! My Goddess
When college student Keiichi Morisato dials the wrong number while ordering for some food at his dormitory, he accidentally gets connected to the Goddess Hotline and a beautiful goddess named Belldandy appears out of a mirror in front of him. After getting kicked out of the dorm, Keiichi and Belldandy move to an old shrine and soon afterwards, Belldandy's sisters Urd and Skuld move in.

Life in the Freezer
Sir David Attenborough looks at the natural history of the Antarctic continent

Alex Haley's Queen
Queen is the story about Easter, the illegitimate daughter of James Jackson, III and her lifelong affair with plantation owner Tim Daly, which would result in the birth of Queen. Queen's story revolves around her early years as a slave who yearns to know who her father is, and her condition as a fair skin mixed race woman who spends her life trying to figure out where exactly she fits in.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
The adventures of the human survivors in a future dinosaur dominated world.

Battle Angel
Doc Ido, a doctor and mechanic who lives and works in the postapocalyptic "Scrapyard", finds the remains of a female cyborg in a junk heap. After he revives and rebuilds her, the amnesiac "Gally" begins a life for herself in a world where every day can bring a new fight.

Ninja Boy Rantaro
Rantarō, Shinbei and Kirimaru are ninja apprentices in the Ninja Gakuen, where first grade ones are called "Nintamas". They must learn everything a ninja must know, but as for our heroes, money, food or playing are more interesting. The series show the everyday adventures of our heroes.

Iron Chef
Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended on September 24, 1999, although occasional specials were produced until 2002. The series aired 309 episodes. Repeats are regularly aired on the Cooking Channel in the United States and on Special Broadcasting Service in Australia. Fuji TV will air a new version of the show, titled Iron Chef, beginning in October 26, 2012.

Acapulco H.E.A.T.
Acapulco H.E.A.T. is a 1993 syndicated television series that followed the Hemisphere Emergency Action Team [H.E.A.T.], a group of top-secret agents based in Acapulco, Mexico and recruited by C-5, a secret government coalition, to fight terrorism and international crime. The team kept a low profile, by acting as models and photographers who represented a Beach Fashion enterprise.

Flodder
The misadventures of the anti-social Flodder family living in a upscale suburban neighborhood.

The Detectives
The absurd adventures of two defective detectives, who - despite unbelievable incompetence - somehow manage to solve their cases (or be nearby when the cases are solved) and retain their jobs.

Cobra
Cobra is an American action-adventure series broadcast in syndication from 1993 to 1994. Starring Michael Dudikoff as former Navy SEAL Robert 'Scandal' Jackson, who joins a secret crime-fighting organization. Despite a action-packed premise, it struggled to find an audience and was canceled after one season.
Our Methodology
This list represents a fusion of massive scale TMDB audience data and expert editorial oversight. We track global engagement, critical reception, and historical significance across over 10,000 data points to ensure every entry is verified for accuracy.
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