The '90s contributed some of the most beloved series to the television landscape, filled with memorable characters and storylines that have made indelible impressions on pop culture. Fans were passionate about their favorite shows, and before the internet was widespread enough to let them share their opinions quickly and easily, they often wrote to producers and network executives to let them know how they felt.
Most of what fans shared was praise, but sometimes there was considerable backlash for creative choices and changes made to the series they planned their nights around. With enough pressure, fans could influence the direction of the programming, and many of these '90s TV series changed after fan backlash, for better or for worse.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
It was always going to be a controversial choice to have a teenager on the bridge of the Enterprise, especially one imbued with a genius-level intelligence who seemed to always know everything. Star Trek: The Next Generation was the first Trek series since The Original Series, and it had enough trouble overcoming fan scrutiny without Wesley Crusher's presence.
According to Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004: Histories, Casts and Credits by Frank Garcia and Mark Philips, fans held "Nuke Wesley" signs at actor Wil Wheaton's first Trek convention, and the backlash only got stronger. By Season 3, the writers had toned down Wheaton's involvement considerable in storylines, and by Season 5 he was written out of the series entirely.
The X-Files
By the time Season 4 of The X-Files premiered, the writers thought they had the secret cracked for generating exciting entertainment focusing on the supernatural and paranormal. Little did they know that "Home" would end up causing such a strong reaction among the series dedicated fanbase.
The episode centered on the incestuous Peacock family participating in truly disturbing behaviors that attracted the attention of agents Mulder and Scully, and proved so frightening that the episode was later pulled from future syndication, and wouldn't air in its entirety until years after fan backlash had subsided. The tone of the series never got that dark again, but the creepy notions of motherhood it featured would be reflected in the seasons approaching Scully's own fertility issues.
Roseanne
Rarely has a sitcom focused with such unapologetic candor and reverence on the life of a struggling blue collar family quite like Roseanne. Throughout almost the entirety of the '90s audiences spent time with the Conners, a genuine Mid-West clan known for their wildly different personalities and perspectives, and felt like they were looking at people who reflected their domestic reality rather than a perfectly-packaged idea of it.
No character was more outspoken than matriarch Roseanne Conner, played with aplomb by comedian Roseanne Barr, who had an authentic homespun wisdom that she never shied away from sharing. Though the series ended in 1997, it resumed with a revival in 2018, but by that time Barr's political views had overshadowed her character, and due to fan backlash she was dropped from the show at it was renamed The Conners.
Ren & Stimpy
Lampooning the cartoons of the '50s and '60s with sometimes profane, often gross, and always bizarre storylines, Ren & Stimpy followed a chihuahua and cat as they went from one outlandish adventure to another. It changed the tastes of an entire generation of children in the mid '90s, and while kids loved it, their parents wrote in and demanded its cancellation.
With each wave of complaints that Nickelodeon received, more episodes were edited to the extent that they scarcely resembled the previous season. Eventually, the series lost fans attention with Nickelodeon's censorship and the creative team's aspirations at an impasse, so it was cancelled for good.
Ellen
In the now infamous "Puppy Episode" of Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres (who also played the titular character) came out as gay, shocking the fanbase for the series and sending an avalanche of mail to the network executives.
Executives who had already been hesitant towards Ellen's decision started placing content warnings before episodes, which caused DeGeneres to nearly leave the show prior to a fifth season. She remained, but the series leaned even more heavily into gay issues, and was cancelled after its sixth season.
Step By Step
Amidst a burgeoning cast of kids in Step By Step, the '90s answer to the Brady Bunch, the affable Cody played by Sasha Mitchell stood out. Living in a van in the driveway of his uncle's house, he reliably found his way into the mix of every episode and caused hilarious chaos.
Eventually fans found out that he was convicted of spousal abuse, and his character was quickly written out of the show. The lack of the goofball changed the tone considerably, and not even the addition of Bronson Pinchot's Jean-Luc could fill the void. Mitchell was cleared of the domestic abuse charges and returned for the seventh season in a guest appearance.
Saved By The Bell
After Kelly and Jessie left Saved By The Bell in its last season, producers wanted someone to take their place, as well as provide a different sort of love interest for Zack. Enter Tori Scott, a tough-as-nails biker chick who also managed to get on the wrestling team with Slater. Unfortunately, half of the season had already been filmed, and she wasn't as interesting as its two lead actresses.
Tori was a universally disliked character, so much so that she was written out of the series without explanation, vanishing right at graduation never to be seen again (even in the spin-off Saved By The Bell: The College Years). She's briefly mentioned in the revival series as a joke shared between Zack and Kelly.
Married With Children
By its seventh season Married with Children, the uproarious comedy about boorish husband Al, his gaudy wife Peggy, and their two slacker children had its cast chemistry down pat. So introducing the rambunctious six year old son of Peggy's cousin was a risk that threatened to upset the tried and true comedic formula.
Known as Seven, he added little to the rest of the cast's interactions, perhaps even going so far as to pull focus from them in detrimental ways. He might have been adopted by Al and Peg, but fans didn't feel so generous, and after twelve episodes he vanished. It was explained that he "ran away from home" and his face could later be seen on the back of a milk carton in Season 8.
South Park
South Park, the controversial animated series about four foul-mouthed children getting into increasingly violent situations premiered in 1997, and its first feature film came out just two years later. Amidst the edgy humor inspired by the culture wars of the '80s and '90s, one of its strongest reoccurring gags was killing the character Kenny, until eventually creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone wanted him gone for good.
What was intended to be a moving episode (appropriately called "Kenny Dies") turned out to be a disaster for Kenny fans. Despite the inclusion of characters like Butters, fans felt the series wasn't the same without, "Oh my god, you killed Kenny!" jokes and made their ire known around the internet. Luckily, Kenny was resurrected, and given the ability to be reborn every time he died thanks to a superhero backstory.
Twin Peaks
The David Lynch helmed Twin Peaks became a sensation with its first season in 1990, pioneering many of the attributes of Prestige Television that are enjoyed today, like cinematic cinematography, complex multi-faceted characters, and bold narratives all rolled up in a thrilling mystery.
Unfortunately, after the death of Laura Palmer was solved in Season 1, Season 2 failed to find its footing, and ABC placed the series in the Saturday night death slot. Fortunately, fans formed COOP (Citizens Opposing the Offing of Peaks) and wrote to the network as well as signed a petition to keep the series alive. Lynch changed from an episodic format to making the Twin Peaks movie Fire Walk With Me, but a third season was eventually made... thirty years later.