There’s something about the late ’90’s/early 2000’s that will forever remain a better time. Even as the innocence of the late ’90’s was crushed under the weight of 9/11, the early 2000’s retains a certain level of a “better days” vibe, which trailed into the mid 2000’s and seemed to be gone by 2010. Life was different, in a way that kids today will never understand. The internet hadn’t fully immersed itself into every second of our lives, but allowed music, art, and social connections to thrive in a way that had never existed before. You were still hanging out with friends in person, movies required a trip to the movie theater or a video rental store, and streaming was just a tech concept.
In short, the mid ’90’s – mid 2000’s was the last great decade of primetime network TV. You had to be home to catch your shows or set your VCR or early version DVR to record. You lived for each week that a new episode would drop. Binging consisted of watching repeats or box sets of previous seasons. You never had the opportunity to watch a show, in full, start to finish, at your own whim until that show ended. And you bought the box sets. Not to mention that show seasons of that time period were very often over 20 episodes, which is nearly unheard of now.
The WB was the crown of primetime network TV as the millennium approached. “Dawson’s Creek”, arguably the most iconic show of the time period, humbly premiered in early 1998 as a mid season replacement and “Felicity” hit the airwaves in September 1998 as a full season premiere. Both launched huge fanbases, but “Felicity” always lived a little under the radar, as “Dawson’s Creek” rose to be the crown jewel of the network.
headphones are on 