1. Seinfeld
   Friends
2. Everybody Loves Raymond
   Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The original concept for Seinfeld wasn’t for an ongoing series, but a one-off, 90-minute special titled Stand Up that was set to run for one night only in Saturday Night Live’s time slot.

1. Boy Meets World
   Everybody Loves Raymond
2. Friends
   Seinfeld

While there isn’t an actual Central Perk in New York City, the fictional café from Friends has inspired some real ones. In 2010, Friends fan Du Xin opened a Central Perk replica in downtown Beijing, which became extremely popular.

1. The Nanny
   Frasier
2. Boy Meets World
   Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Future Friends star Lisa Kudrow originally won the role of Frasier’s producer, Roz Doyle. But during the third day of rehearsals prior to filming the pilot, the producers realized that while Kudrow was certainly funny enough, she just wasn’t forceful enough to match Grammer when he went all out.

1. Kenan and Kel
   Full House
2. Boy Meets World
   Home Improvement

The original idea for Home Improvement came from Tim Allen and was titled Hammer Time. Frances Fisher, who is better known for her dramatic work on the stage and in films like Unforgiven and Titanic, was originally cast as Tim's wife, Jill.

1. Roseanne
   Step by Step
2. Family Matters
   Will and Grace

When Roseanne ended in 1997, ABC considered a sequel about the main character’s life as a widow. It never materialized, but Barr has since had a talk show, a reality series, and a few sitcoms in the works.

1. Hang Time
   Saved by the Bell
2. Growing Pains
   Full House

Because child labor laws severely limit the hours a very young child can work in a day, twins were needed to play the role of Michelle, the youngest Tanner in Full House. Out of the 10 sets of twins who auditioned, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were the only ones who didn't cry, thus getting them the part.

1. Married with Children
   Full House
2. Growing Pains
   Boy Meets World

The budget in the early days of Married with Children was so small that when Buck the dog went on a credit card shopping spree, the big items he purchased were brought in from the homes of the show's cast and crew. It wasn’t until season three that Katey Sagal got to wear a wig.

1. Spin City
   Murphy Brown
2. Family Matters
   Two of a Kind

The breast cancer plot of Murphy Brown resulted in something bigger than just good ratings: The number of American women who got mammograms increased by 30 percent.

1. Night Court
   Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
2. Two of a Kind
   The Wonder Years

Though it wasn’t an immediate ratings bonanza, The Wonder Years was a critical smash from the get-go. On August 28th—with only six episodes screened—Marlens and Black took home the 1988 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series.

1. Seinfeld
   Everybody Loves Raymond
2. Friends
   Home Improvement

In the pilot of Everybody Loves Raymond, the kids were known as Matthew and Gregory. Romano’s own twin sons are named Matthew and Gregory and he decided it was imitating life a little too closely and asked for the names to be changed. They were subsequently turned into Michael and Geoffrey for the rest of the series.

1. Unhappily Ever After
   Evening Shade
2. Caroline in the City
   Mad About You

In Mad About You, the Buchmans' dog, Murray, was actually Maui, a collie mix. He was originally found in a Castaic, California, animal shelter by a Hollywood animal trainer. Maui got his start in TV commercials and as the understudy for the titular circus dog in Bingo (1991).

1. The Nanny
   Brooklyn Bridge
2. The Amanda Show
   Spin City

As The Nanny gained success, Fran’s real-life marriage began to deteriorate. Just as Fran Fine struggled on The Nanny to find true love, she and the sitcom’s writer and producer, Peter Marc Jacobson, divorced in 1999.

1. Wings
   Roseanne
2. Home Improvement
   Step by Step

The theme songs for sitcoms of the '90s are almost as iconic and memorable as the shows themselves. The catchy theme song of Step by Step, called Second Time Around, was written by Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay. These legendary composers also wrote music for Full House and Family Matters.

1. Boy Meets World
   Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
2. Freaks and Geeks
   The King of Queens

It was taking a while to come up with Topanga’s name for the show Boy Meets World, and it ended up becoming a last-minute decision. The character was named after Topanga Canyon when the producer happened to be driving past it.

1. Grace Under Fire
   Just Shoot Me!
2. Roseanne
   NewsRadio

The opening credits of NewsRadio were re-edited in the season four episode Catherine Moves On to show Alexander’s character slapping the male cast members in the face.

1. The Amanda Show
   Ellen
2. Princesses
   Clueless

Ellen DeGeneres starred in the hit sitcom, Ellen. Her character came out on the show, in the iconic The Puppy Episode. Before she found her calling as a stand-up comedian at age 23, DeGeneres was a college dropout who waited tables, shucked oysters, served as a bartender, painted houses, and worked as a legal secretary.

1. Martin
   The Wonder Years
2. Cousin Skeeter
   Blossom

Martin Lawrence played a total of nine characters in Lawrence: Mama Payne, Sheneneh, Jerome, Roscoe, Bob from marketing, Dragonfly Jones, Elroy Preston, King Beef, and Otis.

1. Coach
   Cybill
2. Futurama
   Perfect Strangers

Bill Fagerbakke’s run as Offensive Coordinator Dauber on Coach ended in 1997, the same year that he successfully auditioned to voice Patrick Star on SpongeBob SquarePants. For the first few years of SpongeBob, he referred to Patrick as “AquaDauber.”

1. Grace Under Fire
   Mad About You
2. Coach
   Wings

It’s no coincidence that Wings is the airport version of Cheers, as its co-creators, David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee spent several years working together on the beloved series about the bar where everybody knows your name. Though it’s not a spin-off, Wings featured several tie-ins with both Cheers and Frasier (another Angell-Casey-Lee creation).

1. Sister, Sister
   Sabrina the Teenage Witch
2. In Living Color
   Ellen

Tia and Tamera Mowry are childhood stars who shot to fame on the hit TV show Sister, Sister. They were so close that, up until the fall of 1997, they had never been away from each other for more than 9 hours!

1. Kenan and Kel
   Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
2. The Amanda Show
   Mad TV

Almost six months before Sabrina, the Teenage Witch premiered, the show's "unofficial pilot" premiered as a TV movie on Showtime. In the movie, Sabrina's last name was Sawyer, not Spellman. Ryan Reynolds portrayed Seth, Sabrina's (short-lived) love interest.

1. Dharma and Greg
   Grace Under Fire
2. Boy Meets World
   Mad TV

Grace Under Fire was nominated for three Golden Globe awards: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Comedy/Musical in 1995 and 1997 and Best TV Series Comedy/Musical in 1995.

1. Empty Nest
   Cousin Skeeter
2. Blossom
   The Wonder Years

Blossom's best friend in the show was named Six. In the pilot of Blossom, six was the number of beers Six's parents drank the night she was conceived. In another episode, it was because she was the sixth child in her family.

1. Doogie Howser, M.D.
   The Nanny
2. Wings
   Everybody Loves Raymond

Doogie Howser, M.D., was brought to ABC by Steven Bochco, a producer with an impressive track record. Despite his reputation, the network wasn’t pleased with his choice of Neil Patrick Harris in the title role.

1. Undeclared
   Living Single
2. Freaks and Geeks
   The T

Throughout its run, Living Single became one of the most popular African-American sitcoms of its era. Living Single centered on four women and two men living the single life in the heart of Brooklyn, New York.

1. Frasier
   Home Improvement
2. The Amanda Show
   The Larry Sanders Show

Garry Shandling, star of The Larry Sanders Show, passed away unexpectedly in 2016 at the age of 66. He died of a massive heart attack. Shandling made comedy history with The Larry Sanders Show, which served as a breakout show for many comedians.

1. The Simpsons
   Mad TV
2. South Park
   Rugrats

All of the characters on The Simpson's have just 4 fingers on each hand, except for one with five: God. Another interesting tidbit: Bart Simpsons' voice is provided by a woman!

1. Family Matters
   The King of Queens
2. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
   Everybody Loves Raymond

After one season of being more of an adult-oriented sitcom about a man living with two female roommates, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper became more family oriented for season two, adding Raven-Symone and Nell Carter to the cast and dropping one of the female roommates. The show remained a family show from then on.

1. Ellen
   Doogie Howser, M.D.
2. Boy Meets World
   Friends

While there isn’t an actual Central Perk in New York City, the fictional café from Friends has inspired some real ones. In 2010, Friends fan Du Xin opened a Central Perk replica in downtown Beijing, which became extremely popular.

1. Kenan and Kel
   Mad TV
2. That '70s Show
   Grace Under Fire

Mila Kunis' first kiss was on set of That 70s Show, with none other than Ashton Kutcher. Kunis had several other firsts on the show as well, including driving, clubbing, and drinking.

1. Grace Under Fire
   Friends
2. Seinfeld
   Will & Grace

The two creators named the show Will & Grace, based on a concept in the Jewish philosophy book I and Thou by Martin Buber, in which he says that one needs the "will" to go after the presence of the Eternal and the "grace" to receive it.

1. The King of Queens
   Full House
2. Home Improvement
   Boy Meets World

Oops! On a season 9 episode of the King of Queens, when Doug is driving and eating Chinese takeout, he slams on the brakes and the food covers his jacket. The scene shows him open his truck door still covered in rice, yet when he steps out, his jacket is spotless.

1. The Golden Girls
   Saved by the Bell
2. Charlie Hoover
   Good Company

Following Saved by the Bell's cancellation, the set was never completely struck down. You can catch glimpses of Bayside High School in reruns of That's So Raven (where the school is also named Bayside High) and Nickelodeon's iCarly (where it's re dubbed Ridgeway Middle School).

1. Mad About You
   The Louie Show
2. 3rd Rock from the Sun
   Campus Cops

Eight days after the airing of the season three finale of 3rd Rock from the Sun, Phil Hartman was tragically murdered. When the episode re-aired a week before the following season’s premiere, Hartman’s scenes were re-shot with a different actor as a different character, so the resolution to the cliffhanger involving Hartman's character wouldn’t seem awkwardly re-cast or possibly considered disrespectful.

1. The Golden Girls
   Ellen
2. The Amanda Show
   The Drew Carey Show

After The Drew Carey Show became a hit, producers reportedly gifted him with a new Porsche. Legend has it that Carey then walked onto his set and asked who had the worst car. One crew member didn’t have one at all; Carey threw him the keys to his Miata.

1. South Park
   The Simpsons
2. King of the Hill
   The King of Queens

The Refreshments created the theme song for King of the Hill - it's called Yahoos and Triangles. The setting of the show, Arlen, Texas, is based on the real Dallas suburb of Richardson.

1. The Nanny
   Futurama
2. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
   Just Shoot Me!

Just Shoot Me! was never given a definitive time slot during its series run. The show ended up being moved around on the NBC schedule. It still retained good ratings. In the fourth season, it was the top-rated show for NBC Tuesday nights.

1. Dharma & Greg
   Will & Grace
2. Beavis and Butt-Head
   Mad About You

Dharma and Greg was a successful show, but not error-free. Oops! When Dharma and Kitty are out driving in a season 1 episode, Dharma turns the steering wheel for a hard left turn but the car appears to turn right. Additionally, Dharma and Kitty look to be affected by forces indicating a left turn despite the image of the car turning right.

1. Spin City
   Brand New Life
2. Maybe this Time
   Martin

In Spin City, Barry Bostwick portrayed New York City Mayor Randall Winston, which was also the name of the show's associate producer. The real-life Winston asked Bostwick to make the character very popular so that he could get great tables at restaurants in New York.

1. The Wayans Bros.
   Kenan and Kel
2. Family Matters
   Spin City

The "second-half" of The Wayans Bros. theme song was changed twice throughout its four-year run. In the first two seasons, the show's theme song was A Tribe Called Quest's Electric Relaxation. In the third season, the theme song changed to a 4-second hip-hop beat. In the final two seasons, the show's theme song was changed again to a regular hip-hop instrumental beat

1. Kenan & Kel
   Doogie Howser, M.D.
2. ALF
   Fired Up

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell were the first black stars of a Nickelodeon primetime sitcom. The network had been on the air for nearly 20 years when Kenan & Kel made its debut on July 15, 1996.

1. Herman's Head
   Everybody Loves Raymond
2. Empty Nest
   Babes

The inside of Herman Brooks' head was presented as an attic with four characters who represented the conflicting forces which drove his personality and his life: Angel (his Sensitivity), Animal (his Lust), Wimp (his Anxiety), and Genius (his Intellect).

1. The Facts of Life
   It Had to be You
2. Family Guy
   Kirk

When the Facts of Life ended, it was the longest-running sitcom in NBC's history. Nine seasons and 201 episodes were enough to set the record at the time. It has since been surpassed in NBC’s record books by Cheers, Frasier, and Friends.

1. Unhappily Ever After
   Murphy Brown
2. Almost Perfect
   The Golden Girls

The series, Unhappily Ever After, was initially intended to be a starring vehicle for Stephanie Hodge, whose character of Jennie was the focus of the first few episodes. However, the series concept was soon re-worked.

1. Caroline in the City
   Campus Cops
2. Get a Life
   George and Leo

Caroline's success as a cartoonist is displayed throughout the first season of Caroline in the City. Her cartoon character gets a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, she has a park dedicated to her in her native Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and she even has an offer for a cereal brand.

1. Dinosaurs
   Drexell's Class
2. Joe's Life
   Mad TV

Dinosaurs was originally designed by Jim Henson, who is best remembered as the creator of the famous Muppets. Jim spent several years planning the series. He wanted something familiar and fun, but with a small change. So he made the protagonists dinosaurs who could use technology and were socially advanced, facing everyday problems like work, school and education.

1. Empty Nest
   Picket Fences
2. American Dreamer
   Good Company

In Picket Fences, the show's exteriors were shot in the L.A. suburb of Monrovia, California, with many of the townspeople appearing in the background of episodes. It sometimes struggled to maintain a stable prime-time audience and had fluctuating ratings, due in part to its Friday night time slot.