For some years now, pop culture seems to have looked to the past for inspiration. As anyone who’s ever attended a “tight ‘n’ bright” themed party can attest, we’ve taken some of the best the ‘80s had to offer and brought it with us into the 21st century. Fashion-wise, clothing like leggings, fluorescent colours, and ripped denim have been brought back into circulation, but thankfully the shoulder pads remain a thing of the past. Even movies like 13 Going On 30 and Hot Tub Time Machine have reminded us of all the great things that decade had to offer. Recently, however, the focus of pop culture has shifted away from the ‘80s, and into the ‘90s. As generation Y (or the Echo Boomers, children of the Baby Boomers), has now grown up and flooded the work force, movies, music, and television are all starting to re-incorporate fads from the ‘90s, leaving us to wonder: are the ‘90s the new ‘80s?

Take McGill Frosh this year as an example. Arts frosh was “Harder, Better, Frosher, Stronger” themed, drawing heavily on Daft Punk, while science frosh was “Night at the Froshbury,” a take on the ‘90s movie A Night at the Roxbury. With McGill at the forefront of this newfound ‘90s movement, hopefully it gains momentum to rival the second wind of the ‘80s. So, without further ado, let’s take a little trip down memory lane to figure out what we want back from our first decade on earth, and what would be better left alone.

Few television shows like The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, or The Real World enjoy such longevity, but there were a myriad of gems on the air in the ‘90s that could definitely be re-imagined. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls, Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are all surely missed. Teen dramas like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place have already been (somewhat controversially) remade in a post Luke Perry world. The almost immediate cancellation of Melrose Place serves as a cautionary tale, and suggests that some classics really are meant to be just that. Shows like Friends, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, or Seinfeld were amazing, but can you really imagine Will Smith still living in his uncle’s house? Even with a new, fresh, young cast, 90210 and Melrose have proven that the old stars will want back in, and it just won’t be the same.

Musically speaking, we’ve already seen the comeback of the boy band (the NKOTBSB reunion tour for example). Although to call them boys at this point is really just too ridiculous to comment on; I’ll leave the witty one-liners to the rest of you. Their tour did gross over $10 million dollars, and the Spice Girls reunion tour was estimated to have grossed over $70 million, proving that fans didn’t mind having their idols back, even if a little aged. That doesn’t mean that every group from the ‘90s should get back together. I would hazard a guess that most of us prefer Justin Timberlake the solo artist turned actor to the *NSYNC member, and Mark Wahlberg to Marky Mark.  

As for movies, there’s really not much to say except that the fundamental things still apply. Teens will always want a good high school comedy, be it American Pie, Clueless, Superbad or Mean Girls. And who doesn’t love a good franchise? Cinematic gold was struck with trilogies like Austin Powers and the Wayne’s World movies were simply outstanding. Yet revisiting those can be a very tricky business, forcing studios to walk a fine line between milking a cash cow and beating a dead horse. Disney seems to have gotten it right with their re-release of The Lion King in 3D, with talk of The Little Mermaid receiving the same treatment in the future. Also, their return to ‘90s-esque animation for The Princess and the Frog drew an older audience as well as a younger one.

So maybe the ‘90s were a little bit of a mixed bag. It’s a tall order to make sure the good stuff translates into the next generation properly, let alone to even distinguish it from the bad. So as the millennial generation takes more control of the entertainment industry, hopefully we’ll see more of what we loved about the ‘90s. But please, no more Vanilla Ice.