Are you an early 90’s kid? We might not have had those innumerable channels that we’ve now, but our good old Doordarshan, Star TV and Zee TV were enough to provide us with a pleasant time with our family, friends and of course, neighbours! Yes, yes, we agree that we didn’t have such a hi-tech childhood with so many modern gadgets and animated series but, nevertheless, life was still fun-filled! Below is the list of popular and wonderful shows of 90’s which gave us some wonderful time. For the ones who missed out, time has come to discover! Family No. 1 (Sony TV-Edit II Productions) Family No. 1 told the story of 6 kids, 3 each from 2 families staying in the same house as circumstances pushed two unconnected families to live as one happy household. And the last thing they wanted to do was to stay together! The madness began with each family trying to outwit the other, scheming and planning, squabbling and tricking, each trying to be one up on the other family, in the mad race to be The FAMILY NO. 1. Hip Hip Hurray (Zee TV-UTV Group) The title track was a blast, one may remember singing this to-and-fro school or during lunch with all friends. The cult TV show that it was, the story is based on the lives of 12th grade students at the DeNobili High School and revolved around their adventures, their fears and hopes, their relationships and interactions. Besides that the story also focused on issues pertinent for the younger generation such as dating, careers, causes, health, exams, in a slice of life manner. While the first season had 80 episodes and the second contained around 55 episodes. Tu Tu Main Main (Doordarshan/Star Plus-M/s Prime Channel) The much admired and extremely popular show Tu Tu Main Main premiered on Doordarshan's DD Metro Channel, where it ended in 1995; thereafter it was taken up by Star Plus in 1996, in all it ran for 11 years. It also had rerun on 9X, Star Utsav, and BIG Magic. After its success, a sequel to the serial with same themes and extended cast, Kadvee Khatti Meethi was launched in 2006 and was dubbed in Tamil too on Raj TV as Bhama Vijayam. Shriman Shrimati (Doordarshan -Adhikari Brothers Television Network Ltd) The much loved comedy sitcom, was based on the premise of ‘love thy neighbour's wife’. Starring talented characters like Jatin Kanakia, Rakesh Bedi, Reema Lagoo and Archana Puran Singh in the lead roles, the show became quite popular due to the good storylines which centered on their attempts to get closer to each other's wives which resulted in comical situations. Dekh Bhai Dekh (Doordarshan/Sony TV-Saraswati Audio Visuals Pvt Ltd) One of the best shows of how a joint family overcame every problem unitedly even though sometimes they ended up creating more problems. Amanat (Zee TV-Sanjeev Bhattacharya & Sapna Bhattacharya) A staunchly traditional Indian man, Lahori Ram, holds a strong set of values and beliefs. His life revolves around his seven daughters: Santosh, Dinky, Bala, Guddi, Bunty, Munni, and Totey, each with her own peculiarities and problems. What kept the viewers entertained was the strong bond between the sisters and their shared moments of happiness and grief, their love and admiration for their father and situations when they got married. Just Mohabbat (Sony TV-DJ's A Creative Unit) There were very few serials for children/ teens other than cartoons on Indian TV back in time. This one offered good entertainment for teens and adults. The drama-series that first aired on Sony Entertainment Television in 1996 was featured in two parts. One where the child actor Harsh Lunia played the central character of Jai and the story focused more on his formative years into a mature being and then when the character was replaced by a teenage Vatsal Seth where the story focused on his relationships with his family and friends, specially his imaginary friend. Hum Paanch (Zee TV-Balaji Telefilms) Hum Paanch successfully ran for four years until 1999. The series returned for a second season in 2005and ran until mid-2006. Regarded as one of the all time favourite comedies amongst a host of other shows mentioned in the article the lead actors of the show Ashok Saraf, Vidya Balan, Rakhee Tandon, Bhairavi Raichura, Vandana Pathak gained overnight stardom and became some of the iconic actors of television industry. Banegi Apni Baat (Zee TV-DJ's A Creative Unit) Who can forget this serial? This show gave many Indian television actors, such as Irrfan Khan, Roshini Achreja, Shefali Chhaya, Firdaus Dadi, Sadia Siddiqui, Anita Kanwal, Divya Seth, Achint Kaur, Rishabh, Varun Badola, Rakhee Tandon and Rituraj a good break. R. Madhavan also started his acting career with this series. Each character was portrayed in an excellent way where the focus lay on college life. Topics such as flirting, romance, eve-teasing were openly discussed and increased avid viewership of the show. Simultaneously, contemporary business life was also showcased. How the rich oppress the poor, and how housewives and working women have different perspectives of life Raja Aur Rancho (Doordarshan-Murali Nallappa) Raja Aur Rancho was a crime based detective series starring Ved Thappar and a monkey, who emerged as a star through the show. This particular detective series attracted all age groups and was largely liked by kids.