Rewind the '90s

Cameras are suddenly everywhere in the '90s, fueling our obsession with ourselves. Cameras ride along with cops while camcorders keep them in check; news choppers chase OJ while courtroom cams film his trial; a hand-held horror flick makes us question reality; "The Real World" changes our world as the groundbreaking series ushers in the age of reality TV.

From a primetime cartoon family getting into it with the president to a show about nothing, the 1990s tore the comedy rulebook in half. The decade revitalized old icons and gave rise to bold new voices - from the young Black comedians of Phat Tuesdays to the Drag Queens of To Wong Foo. The cultural landscape was shifting, and comedians were leading the charge.

From the death of the Cold War to the birth of a space station, our '90s dreams are coming true. But as Biosphere 2 blurs fact and fiction, and The X-Files makes us paranoid, is humanity about to lose control of its own narrative? From Furby spies and human clones to vampire battles and fight clubs, our existential fears build as we speed towards Y2K. Will we survive? Spoiler alert: yes.

A new generation of teenagers with cash to spend flips the script and molds the decade in its own image as TRL rules the airwaves, Scream redefines a genre, House Party kicks off a dance craze, Dawson's Creek gives fans all the feels, and Cher from Clueless reigns as Queen of the Catchphrase. Whatever!

With a Beanie Babies feeding frenzy and Harry Potter changing the literary landscape, the '90s was the decade of the craze. Country star Garth Brooks ruled the pop charts, Must-See TV ruled the airwaves, and contagious catchphrases infected us all. This was the last hurrah of mass culture before the internet changed everything.

Whether it was the bromance between Beavis and Butt-Head, children and their pocket-sized electronic pets, or a little blue pill that provided millions with a new lease on sex life, the '90s was a decade that redefined love. Pedro Zamora shined a light on the experience of living with HIV and RuPaul taught us how to love ourselves, proving that love had no boundaries.

The 24-hour news cycle arrives and with it a booming tabloid industry hungry for scandals and strife to fuel its engines. With breathless non-stop coverage fanning the flames of the biggest beefs of the decade, the '90s becomes famous for its high profile divorces, fighting figure skaters, feuding rappers, battling boy bands and the first presidential impeachment in over 100 years.

The 1990s saw the world wide web set free and humanity wrestling with its awesome power. Although few people recognized it, everything was going to change. This is what happens when a ground-breaking technology potential for creation or destruction is unleashed upon the world.

In the '90s a new generation of women comes of age and takes the feminist movement on a rowdy joyride. Building upon the work their mothers had done before them, these cheeky disrupters embrace all aspects of femininity as "Girl Power" becomes the rallying cry for the decade's trailblazing pop stars, media moguls, athletes, fictional fugitives and warrior princesses.

From the boundary-pushing diversity of In Living Color and Ellen, to the ruthless reality of Madonna's Truth or Dare and Clinton's War Room, it was a period of innovation, authenticity, and exploration. We revolutionized communication by making cell phones cool while infomercials ruled the TV networks and Artificial Intelligence hinted at its powerful potential. Change was the only constant.