Seinfeld.
So it begins: Surviving Jack.
Though I have to admit, even though it’s set in 1991 there doesn’t seem to be much actual 90s nostalgia in there.
What’s the point of setting that show in 1991?
Aside from the year being a palindrome, of course.
But otherwise, you could set the show in 2013 with absolutely zero change, except instead of the kid masturbating to softcore cable TV movies, he’d be masturbating to his iPad.
I was a teenager and young adult in the 90s and don’t feel particularly nostalgic for it (except maybe for the economy) . Most of the reasons given already show why there’s no major 90’s nostalgia. I remember disco from the 70’s became popular again in the 90’s. “I Will Survive” and songs like that were everywhere after being ridiculed during the 80’s. In fact, the 80’s tried to be the opposite of the 70’s- materialism vs simple tastes, skinny ties vs ones wide enough to flag down aircraft, perms and mousse vs long straight hair. There just never was that anti-90’s backlash.
If someone with a time machine sent me back to the '90s without my knowing it, I probably wouldn’t notice the difference — until I happen across a gas-station’s price signs.
One of my favorite “non-standard” video games from this year is Gone Home, which is set in 1995. Plenty of (cassette) mixtapes filled with “riot grrl” music owned by a teenage girl, VHS tapes everywhere, a Super Nintendo game system, references to ‘high-tech’ equipment like combo CD/laserdisc players, etc.
Or until you tried seeing what people were debating today on the Dope. 