18-05-2025
31 TV Shows That Were Once Wildly Popular But Are Now Completely Forgotten
Is there a TV show you used to love, but it seems like nobody else remembers it? Recently, Redditor u/lonelylamb1814 asked r/television about "shows you're surprised are now culturally forgotten."
Here are 31 of the top responses:
1."Ally McBeal was pretty huge for a short time. Calista Flockhart was a household name. It even had that weird dancing baby. It's almost totally forgotten now."
—JohnnyFootballStar
2."Melrose Place was fucking huge in the '90s. People would have watch parties, and Kimberly's scar reveal was late-night talk show fodder for weeks. There was even a Seinfeld episode about the show! And now? It's total pop cultural crickets."
—JamMasterJamie
Here's the scene:
3."People claim Game of Thrones's popularity/presence evaporated overnight because of the terrible finale, but in reality, that happened with How I Met Your Mother."
—Dnashotgun
4."Desperate Housewives was 'water-cooler' TV at one point in history…But in general, any TV show older than about 15 years."
—Msdamgoode
5."Home Improvement was a huge ratings draw (Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson declined a combined $75 million for a ninth season) and probably the third most successful '90s sitcom after Seinfeld and Friends, and yet, it's not talked about anymore, something that the other two clearly have achieved."
—mxinex
6."Rugrats. Kids don't know who Tommy Pickles or any of the other Rugrats are, and that freaks me out."
—Krazy_Kane
7."The O.C. was an absolute cultural phenomenon from 2003-2006. Now, it is barely spoken about, and when it is, it is just referred to as another random teen show from the era and not a culturally defining one."
—Dabrigstar
8."Scrubs has vanished for how big it was; honestly felt like it was on par with Friends at one point."
—Wanbizzle
9."My answer will be American Horror Story. It's basically nothing now, when it was HUGE just a few years ago."
—paulojrmam
10."Moonlighting was also massive. It helped to create the modern network dramedy. Launched Bruce Willis's career and was one of the go-to examples of 'will they/won't they' couples on TV for a long time. But it always had production issues, irregular scheduling, and never got the numbers to make up a syndication package, so it faded from view. Yet recently, it's shown up on a few different streaming services and seems like it might also be having a bit of a revival."
—Belgand
11."Now, the one that nobody talks about is Thirtysomething. It wasn't just a massive hit, it was the defining yuppie show. It doesn't seem to be streaming anywhere. Even if it had an audience and wasn't just 'that show your parents used to watch' for people that are now past their thirties themselves, it's no longer easily accessible."
—Belgand
12."Murphy Brown, as it even had its own presidential-level scandal, when VP Dan Quayle criticized Brown (a fictional character) specifically as a single mom, and the show responded the next season. [Editor's Note: According to CNN, in the Season 5 premiere, Murphy responded to Qualye's speech by inviting several "non-traditional" families onto her broadcast. She said, "I'd like to introduce you to some people who might not fit into the vice president's vision of a family. But they consider themselves families nonetheless. They work. They struggle. They hope for the kind of life for their children that we all want for our children."] Quayle's remarks caused quite a stir in the media, and Brown was also a divorced, professional, successful female character — not exactly a regular occurrence on TV at the time. Nobody talks about it much anymore."
—Hippies_Pointing
Here's the scene:
13."When I was a kid, I honestly thought Jimmy Neutron was as big as SpongeBob and Fairly OddParents in their primes, so it does surprise me that there isn't as much nostalgia for this compared to other 2000s cartoons."
—Upbeat_Tension_8077
14."Babylon 5 is more relevant than ever, but unfortunately, it never had the staying power of any Star Trek series, despite it being pretty popular in its heyday."
—NovaHorizon
15."I'm kinda surprised how quickly the Arrowverse (especially Arrow and The Flash) disappeared from pop culture. Seems like they were decently popular (at least among young people), and now they almost feel forgotten."
—mrmonster459
16."3rd Rock from the Sun."
—EyesWithoutAbutt
"That show absolutely holds up. I've taken a couple of ten-year breaks from watching it, and each time I go back to it, it's still laugh-out-loud funny. Surprising for a laugh track sitcom from the '90s."
—SleepyFarts
17."24 seems to have vanished from pop culture."
—Wazula23
18."Although it was before my time, I was surprised to learn that George R. R. Martin had been nominated for an Emmy for working on a show called Beauty and the Beast as a writer. I'd never even heard of it."
—Big_I
19."I'm surprised The Larry Sanders Show isn't more talked about — ran for a long time, hilarious show with a great premise."
—Truethrowawaychest1
20."Nip/Tuck. That shit was nuts at the time."
—Msdamgoode
21."Picket Fences was such a huge deal when it was on. It's never mentioned anymore."
—gothamsnerd
22."It was a while ago, but NYPD Blue incited a lot of alarm when it first aired because of the language and nudity, which was on network TV (though late at night). I remember people protesting and everything."
—foxsable
23."Heroes. 'Save the cheerleader, save the world.' Then they did, but they wanted to milk the cow, and everyone forgot about it."
—poopapat320
24."Fringe was pretty fucking rad when that was airing. Most people haven't heard of it, let alone seen it."
—Nillows
25."Boardwalk Empire. It was HUGE…. And now it's all but forgotten."
—EmergencyCritical890
26."The Good Wife. I still tell people it's one of the greatest television shows. And I loved The Good Fight as well, but hardly anyone knows about that one."
—Grand_Menu620
27."The Walking Dead felt like it was up there with Game of Thrones as water cooler talk and as the biggest show in the world 12 years ago. Now it's almost forgotten about."
—Stpbatman
28."Bonanza was on the air for fifteen years."
—thefuzzybunny1
29."Mad Men. I don't think it's like 'forgotten' per se, but IMO, it should be around the top ten shows of all time discussions, but rarely is. Which really suprises me, honestly."
—Wolfwing777
30."I'm always surprised how little people talk about Mr. Robot anymore compared to how culturally dominant it seemed when it was airing. Maybe it just got too real?"
—littlebigcheesefries
finally: "Boston Legal was hot when it was on. Everyone was talking about it. Now I never see it anyplace."
—clinging2thecross
Is there a movie you love that no one else seems to remember? What makes it worth watching? Let us know in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.
