Lately, it feels like the '90s all over again! With classic '90s TV shows returning to our screens, movies being remade and the era's fashion making a comeback, Wonderwall.com is rounding up all the ways the decade is impacting pop culture in 2019. Our first example? Let's take a trip back to Beverly Hills! Aaron Spelling's iconic teen soap "Beverly Hills, 90210" first aired in 1990 and ran for a full decade, ending in May 2000, but fans headed back to the ritzy zip code in August 2019 with "BH90210." The revamp isn't a true reboot — more like a fun wink at the original series as the actors play themselves dealing with a reboot of the iconic series in faux-reality — but stars Gabrielle Carteris, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Jason Priestley, Tori Spelling and Ian Ziering all returned to the delight of fans of the West Beverly Hills High alums.
The year was 1994. Elizabeth Hurley donned an iconic black Versace safety-pin dress for the premiere of "Four Weddings and a Funeral." Now, 25 years later, not only did the star sport an updated version of the gown — this one from Versace's pre-fall 2019 collection in April 2019 — but in July 2019, her son, budding model Damian Hurley, also donned a design from the fashion house inspired by his mom's famous dress.
Speaking of "Four Weddings and a Funeral"… the beloved 1994 romantic comedy has also enjoyed a resurgence — in the form of a miniseries on Hulu. Mindy Kaling is behind this new version, which was updated to better fit 2019. The writer-actress stayed behind-the-scenes, creating it alongside Matt Warburton. Nathalie Emmanuel, Nikesh Patel, Rebecca Rittenhouse and John Paul Reynolds star in this more diverse variation on the story.
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It's about time we spiced up our lives again! The Spice Girls first hit the scene back in the '90s, but they returned in 2019 for a new "Spice World" tour. Though they were down one member (Victoria Beckham's too busy with her clothing line), fans turned up in droves for the 13-date summertime concert series, which earned $78 million thanks to 700,000 diehard Spice lovers.
The next season of "American Crime Story" is revisiting one of the biggest scandals of the '90s — President Bill Clinton's impeachment and involvement with infamous White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Beanie Feldstein will play Monica — who's a producer on the limited series from Ryan Murphy — while "American Horror Story" staple Sarah Paulson will take on the role of Linda Tripp.
"Captain Marvel" filmmakers decided to set the 2019 movie in 1995: Brie Larson's character memorably dons a Nine Inch Nails T-shirt and uses a pager in the flick, which also has a killer soundtrack of '90s tunes.
"All That" first aired on Nickelodeon way back in 1994 and ran until November 2000. Like many other '90s show, it got a reboot in June 2019 with former stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell heading behind the scenes as executive producers and Lori Beth Denberg and Josh Server appearing on the premiere episode, which featured an all-new young cast. The show even earned a nomination for Choice Throwback TV Show at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards.
Even though it's a sitcom from the '90s, "Friends" is more popular than ever these days. That's thanks to the ability to stream all 10 seasons on Netflix, which has allowed an entirely new generation to discover the New York City crew. By reliving Ross and Rachel's unconventional love story, the evolution of Monica and Chandler's relationship from friends to lovers and Joey and Phoebe's hijinx, teens and those who missed it the first time around have been able to fall for the characters anew. Though there's no definitive plan for a reboot, most of the cast has voiced a desire to get back together at some point.
Though they formed in the '80s, it wasn't until 1994's "Cracked Rear View" that Hootie and the Blowfish became a mega-successful band. Their unique rock sound helped the mainstream album go 21-times platinum. Though they went on hiatus in 2008, in 2019, Hootie and the Blowfish, led by Darius Rucker, launched a reunion tour to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough album.
Back in 1993, "Rocko's Modern Life" debuted on Nickelodeon and amassed legions of fans during its three-year run. Those who grew up with Rocko didn't forget about the wallaby and his pals in O-Town — there was so much interest that Netflix brought the show back in August 2019 via a special entitled "Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling." The show got a very 2019 update: It was revealed that the creator of Rocko's favorite show, "The Fatheads," is a trans woman, which brought a nice dose of diversity.
The highest grossing film of 1994 wasn't an action flick or a dramatic award season entry — it was "The Lion King"! It became the highest grossing animated film and second-highest grossing film of all time at that point. Twenty-five years later in 2019, Disney transformed it into a computer-animated film armed with some very big names voicing the beloved characters — like Beyonce as Nala and Donald Glover as Simba. The film cost an estimated $260 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made, but it's earned back that budget and more: To date, it's made more than $1.3 billion and beat "Frozen" to take the top spot as the highest grossing animated flick ever.
Back in the '90s, the WB brought us a television show about gorgeous teens and aliens called "Roswell." While the original series debuted back in 1999, the interest in aliens remained and "Roswell, New Mexico" hit our TV screens in January 2019 as the show got a reboot. This time, producers updated the character Liz, changing her name from Liz Parker (played by Shiri Appleby) to Liz Ortecho (played by Jeanine Mason) and making her the daughter of undocumented immigrants instead of the daughter of the owners of alien-themed restaurant the Crashdown Cafe.
Keanu Reeves made a name for himself in the '90s especially after he landed a starring role in "Speed" in 1994. That film helped make him a household name and he followed it up with a more romantic part in 1995's "A Walk in the Clouds." After decades of simmering fame, he's experienced a huge resurgence in 2019 with "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum," a role in the Netflix flick "Always Be My Maybe," a role in the 2020 reboot "Bill & Ted Face the Music" and a few headline-making moments that went viral on social media.
When kids wanted to get scared in the '90s, they turned to Nickelodeon's "Are You Afraid of the Dark." And now it's time to get spooked once more as a limited series reboot is coming to the network in October 2019. This time, the show will terrorize audiences with three hour-long episodes featuring a brand new Midnight Society.
Charli XCX has a song called "1999" that pays homage to the last year of the '90s. The song references a lot of popular things of the era including Britney Spears' 1998 single "…Baby One More Time," driving around listening to Eminem — who's referenced as "Shady" — and the fashion of the time, like Nike Airs.
"Blue's Clues" is making a comeback! The beloved '90s Nickelodeon kids' show has a new star rocking blue stripes, Broadway's Joshua Dela Cruz, who's subbing for the original actor, Steve Burns. But he'll still be surrounded by all the staples — Thinking Chair, the Handy Dandy Notebook, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper, Mailbox and Magenta and even Blue the dog, who's a CGI canine this time, not just a cartoon.
With live-action movies popping up constantly, it was only a matter of time before this '90s animated classic was tapped for a reboot. In 2019, it was time to head back to Agrabah, where audiences were first introduced to a whole new world in 1992 with Disney's "Aladdin." The Guy Ritchie-directed film starring Will Smith as Genie was released in May 2019 and quickly earned more than $1 billion worldwide to become the fifth-highest grossing movie of the year after everyone fell in love with Jasmine and Aladdin all over again.
Sometimes our favorite things from the '90s need a little twist. Case in point? "Sabrina the Teenage Witch"! Though the original was an upbeat, cheery teen sitcom, the creators of "Riverdale" made the reboot for the late 2010s a lot darker. Kiernan Shipka filled in for Melissa Joan Hart and the show got a spookier title — "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina." For source material, they opted to follow the original graphic novel, with Sabrina learning how to balance high school and her dark education as a half-human, half-witch. In 2019, the show was renewed for parts 3 and 4.