This 90s TV shows trivia quiz has 180 free questions with answers and covers the whole decade of television, not just the sitcoms. It starts with the dramas that defined the era (ER, The X-Files, NYPD Blue, Twin Peaks, Law & Order, Buffy, Dawson's Creek, Party of Five), the syndication giants (Baywatch, Xena, three Star Trek series), and the shows kids raced home for: Rugrats, Doug, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Power Rangers, Goosebumps, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Blue's Clues and Batman: The Animated Series. There is a sprinkling of sitcom history too (the Seinfeld and Cheers finales, Frasier's Emmy haul, the Fresh Prince recasting) plus MTV, late night and the game show that closed the decade. Easy questions ask what Hank Hill sells; hard ones ask which Next Generation episode introduced the Borg and what Mike Post calls the Law & Order sound. Every answer is checked against the show's own production history, so the explanations are safe to repeat at your next trivia night.
30 of 180 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which novelist created the NBC medical drama ER, which premiered in 1994?
Michael Crichton
Crichton, a Harvard-trained doctor, wrote the original screenplay in 1974 and Steven Spielberg's company finally produced it as a series two decades later.
Q 02What was unusual about the 1997 ER episode 'Ambush'?
It was broadcast live, twice
The cast performed it once for the East Coast and again three hours later for the West Coast.
Q 03The first five seasons of The X-Files were filmed in which city before production moved to Los Angeles?
Vancouver
The Pacific Northwest weather gave the show its permanently damp, gloomy look, which fans missed when it moved south in 1998.
Q 04The 1998 X-Files feature film carried which subtitle?
Fight the Future
It slotted between seasons five and six of the show; the second film, I Want to Believe, did not arrive until 2008.
Q 05David Lynch co-created Twin Peaks with which writer?
Mark Frost
Frost had been a writer on Hill Street Blues; the pair later reunited for the 2017 Showtime revival.
Q 06Whose murder drives the plot of Twin Peaks?
Laura Palmer
She was played by Sheryl Lee, who also returned as Laura's lookalike cousin Maddy so the show could keep her on screen.
Q 07Twin Peaks was cancelled by ABC in 1991. On which channel did it return for a third season in 2017?
Showtime
A prequel film bridged the gap the following year, and it took 26 years for Agent Cooper to come back.
Q 08Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered in March 1997 on which network?
The WB
It jumped to UPN for its final two seasons in 2001, one of the first high-profile network switches of the era.
Q 09The Buffy TV series was based on a Joss Whedon film released in which year?
1992
Whedon disliked what the studio did with his film script, and the show gave him a chance to do it his way.
Q 10Why did at least 30 ABC affiliates initially refuse to air NYPD Blue in 1993?
Nudity and raw language
Steven Bochco and David Milch pushed broadcast standards on purpose to compete with cable, and Dennis Franz went on to win four lead-actor Emmys as Andy Sipowicz.
Q 11Which star left NYPD Blue after its first season, after which the show was built around an ensemble?
David Caruso
Caruso left to make movies; Jimmy Smits arrived as Bobby Simone and stayed for four seasons.
Q 12After NBC cancelled Baywatch following one season, how was the show revived in 1991?
In first-run syndication
David Hasselhoff was made an executive producer for helping bring it back, and it went on to be seen in dozens of countries.
Q 13At its peak Baywatch was cited as the world's most-watched TV series, with roughly how many weekly viewers?
1.1 billion
Q 21Star Trek: Voyager premiered in January 1995 as the very first show on which new network?
UPN
Kate Mulgrew's Captain Janeway was the first female commanding officer to lead a Star Trek series.
Q 22Roughly how far from home was the USS Voyager stranded when it was flung into the Delta Quadrant?
70,000 light-years
At maximum warp that meant a 75-year trip, which the crew managed to cut to seven seasons.
Q 23Which animation studio, later behind The Wild Thornberrys, produced Rugrats for Nickelodeon?
Klasky Csupo
The same studio animated the early Simpsons shorts and later made Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and The Wild Thornberrys.
The number came from Guinness World Records, and it was the reason the show could afford to keep going in syndication for a decade.
Q 14On Beverly Hills, 90210, twins Brandon and Brenda Walsh moved to California from which city?
Minneapolis
The fish-out-of-water setup was Darren Star's; Aaron Spelling produced it and Fox ran it for ten seasons.
Q 15Which show spun off from Beverly Hills, 90210 after Grant Show's Jake appeared in a multi-episode run?
Melrose Place
The apartment-complex soap became a bigger phenomenon than its parent for a while, especially once Heather Locklear moved in.
Q 16How many seasons did the original Law & Order run (1990-2010), tying Gunsmoke's record?
20
NBC then revived it for a 21st season in 2022 after an 11-year gap.
Q 17What does composer Mike Post call the famous two-note transition sound heard on Law & Order?
The Clang
Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker described it as an ominous 'chung CHUNG', which is how most viewers remember it.
Q 18Which award did the 1994 Star Trek: The Next Generation finale 'All Good Things...' win?
A Hugo
It was the show's second Hugo; TNG was also the first syndicated series ever nominated for the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy.
Q 19Which Star Trek: The Next Generation episode featured the first on-screen appearance of the Borg?
Q Who
Q flings the Enterprise thousands of light-years to meet them; the cliffhanger 'The Best of Both Worlds' came a season later.
Q 20Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's station sits next to a wormhole leading to which quadrant?
Gamma
The Dominion came through that wormhole, and the resulting war dominated the show's final seasons.
Q 24The Rugrats Movie (1998) was made for $24M. What did it gross worldwide?
About $141 million
It was the first non-Disney animated feature to pass $100 million in the US, and it introduced Tommy's baby brother Dil.
Q 25On Are You Afraid of the Dark?, what was the name of the storytelling club that met around a campfire?
The Midnight Society
Each tale opened with 'Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society' and a handful of midnight dust thrown on the fire.
Q 26Are You Afraid of the Dark? was a Canadian-American co-production filmed mainly in which city?
Montreal
It aired on Nickelodeon's SNICK block in the US and on YTV in Canada, and its co-creator D. J. MacHale later wrote the Pendragon novels.
Q 27Which actor played teacher and neighbour Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World?
William Daniels
Daniels was also the voice of KITT on Knight Rider, and he followed Cory from sixth grade all the way to college.
Q 28Mighty Morphin Power Rangers built its fight scenes from stock footage of which Japanese franchise?
Super Sentai
The first season used Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, which is why the Rangers' Zords are dinosaurs.
Q 29In which fictional California town did the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fight Rita Repulsa?
Angel Grove
Rita had been imprisoned in a dumpster on the Moon, which is exactly the kind of detail that made the show a playground obsession.
Q 30The 1995 Goosebumps TV series, based on R. L. Stine's books, was filmed largely in which country?
Canada
It ran for four seasons and 74 episodes on Fox Kids, and its VHS tapes were among the best-selling children's videos of 1998.