Ah, the mid-90s. When penpals were still a thing, everyone under 20 knew who Colour Me Badd was and Bruce Samazan had not yet entered the world of real estate.
The 1993 Readers’ Poll featured The Late Show
Oh, and there was one other Australian ’90s phenomenon: The Late Show. Indeed, after two successful seasons, the ABC sketch comedy show had become so popular that it was voted “Best Comedy Show” of 1993 by TV Hits readers in their March 1994 issue, which celebrated all things pop culture from the previous year.
Looking back the the poll results reads like a quintessential mid-90s “who’s who”. The top comedy shows were:
- The Late Show
- Home Improvement
- Rosanne
- Full Frontal
- The Simpsons
- Blossom
- Fast Forward (the 1993 winners)
- Mr. Bean
- Married… with Children
- Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper
TV Hits poll results
Another popular category included the Funniest Person on TV. That honour went to US comedian Roseanne, with Tim Allen (Home Improvement) and Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) following suit. But wait! Two Late Show cast members were also honoured, with Mick Molloy taking in fourth spot, and Rob Sitch coming in a respectable 7th, just behind Bart Simpson and Married…’s Ed O’Neill and one spot ahead of Homer Simpson.
Let’s not forget that this was an age before the prevalence of e-mail and internet voting, so votes were painstakingly cast on paper and sent in, meaning it was impossible for bots or hackers to tamper with the results — and only the really desperate would have cast multiple votes by stocking up on copies of the magazine (which cost $3.30 back then). Therefore, we can confidently say, that these results are quite scientifically robust.
Other cateogories included “Event of the Year”, number 1 being the Madonna tour, and number two being Sydney winning the Olympic Games. River Phoenix‘s untimely death also came in the top five. The “Most Annoying Single of 1993” was Ween’s Push Th’ Little Daisies, which we all know was parodied to ear-piercing perfection with Mick Molloy at the helm.
