What year, in your opinion, do you think most epitomized the '90s? I would have to say 1995 when the O.J. Simpson trial was going on and use of the Internet was just speading. Nirvana was gone but we still had clearly '90s bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Alice & Chains on the charts. In '95 we also already had E.R., Friends, and Seinfeld was still on. So what year do you think most epitomized the decade?

i agree it was probably 1995. Teen movies like Clueless and Empire Records, popular musicians like Mariah Carey, TLC, Presidents of the USA, Green Day, Hootie and the Blowfish, Notorious BIG, Coolio, Boyz II Men, Seal and Hip-Hop Soul was in full swing. TV we had shows like My So called Life, Martin, Living Single, Drew CArey, Fresh Prince, Blossom, Sister Sister, Beavis and Butthead, the MTV oddities. But you could probably pick any year 93-96 and make a good point.

For me it was 1998 simply b/c that was the year when I learned A LOT about myself, what I wanted to be like, just everything basically.I guess I came of age in 98.

It was a very hard year for me but, someone once told me never take the easy way out of things cuz you won't learn anything if you just take a shortcut.

I learned a lot in 1998.


Rio

Anything from 1993 to 1996 is a good representation of the 90's.  Now that I think about, you could concievely go back as far as 1992, and probably as late as 1997, perhaps even 1998 and have a reasonably good snapshot of the decade.  

But I have never considered anything after 1998 to really be "the 90's", much like how anything after 1987 wasn't really the 80's and anything after 1977/'78 wasn't really the 70's.  I mean the boy band, Britney Spears teeny bopper stuff from 1999 had very little in common with the grungy, gloomy music that characterized most of the 90's.

94-96.

I loved the movie Clueless.

I always considered the '-5' year in any decade to be the most descriptive of that time.

But for the 90s, I always liked 1994.  It had hit games(Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Final Fantasy III, Super Metroid), memorable 90s music(Stay, Black Hole Sun, Regulate), excellent movies(Forrest Gump, Lion King, Speed), etc etc.  Granted there was some real qrap going on as well, but that happens every year.

And, even though teen-pop groups are very commercial, I still consider them part of the 90s.  But there was still some of the regular 90s sound in 1999.  Smash Mouth, Matchbox20, Will Smith.  Other than that, though, I still agree that 92-98 were the true decade.

i consider everything up to and including the spice girls to be the real 90's. after that its all the stuff thats still around today- so its not really nostalgia. i dont know why i end the 90's specifically at the spice girls- but i think thats the year i was ending elementary school- so its like the end of the childhood- and my childhood is def the 90's- and nothing else.

but i think that the decade isnt just a series of events- its our life at a certain time- and we decide when a stage in our life begins and ends. to me, my childhood is the 90's- and it begins from when i could remember, like around 4 which was 1990- till the end of elementary school which was like 96/97. also that time was when i moved and left the place where i spent my childhood summers- and those summers were where i was exposed to the all 90's music and movies (90's stuff that wasnt just kids stuff like nickelodeon and disney movies).

so no matter what anyone says- the 90's ended around 96/97- and everything up to then was 90's.

also- i know you all mention grunge as the music that defines the 90's- and i agree- but when chosing a year you can still see that in any year there was rap (like will smith, salt N peppa, tlc) and there was also stuff like alanis morisette and the angry chick music- and also sutff like jewel- so im sure any year has a mix of all those genres.

as far as defining the 90's by a movie- thats really impossible- because there were so many different genres of film. forest gump was a big one- but you also have to think which movie was really popular- even if it didnt win an oscar or something.

for tv- the whole family tv shows were big. shows that you could watch with your parents and kids- and it was just wholesome fun- without being cheesy. sure we all think its cheesy now... but we all loved blossom, full house, the tgif line up, home improvment. and then there are the big shows; friends, sienfeld, rosseane, simpsons, beavis and butthead. and you can forget about the nickelodean shows- because that was BIG! clarissa, whos afraid of the dark, pete and pete, alex mack, rugrats, doug, salute your shorts, and more. and the early saturday line up!

ok ok enough! lol.

To me, 1991 - 1997  were the 90s   8)