20 TV episodes every millennial remembers

For millennials, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was their first set moment in the day for TV. 5 pm, after the homework and play were all done, it came on and was a colorful addiction from the jump, but then they cranked things up to an eleven when they not only introduced a new ranger, Tommy, but then had him go on this multi-episode arc where he is turned evil, but eventually comes back to the good side, becoming the White Ranger.

Millennials everywhere had their TGIFs rocked when Cory decided to cheat on Topanga with some random girl (played by the wonderful Linda Cardellini) while the gang was on a ski trip. It was shocking for a number of reasons, including the fact that when they got to their graduation, Topanga still chose a cheater over her future.

When they say they don’t make TV like they used to, some are indeed referring to when The Simpsons decided to end the sixth season with one heck of a cliffhanger. Someone in Springfield had shot Mr. Burns, and fans had all summer to debate who did it. It was a national obsession that had everyone sure their pick was the one who pulled the trigger. In the end, the seventh-season premiere revealed that it had been the Simpsons’ youngest member, Maggie, the baby.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? was one of the scariest half-hours that millennials took it upon themselves to endure almost daily. A group of friends would gather in the middle of the night, in the woods, and tell a scary story after tossing magical powder (definitely just sand) into a fire pit. It was miraculous, addicting, and something actually pretty frightening, like in the case of “The Tale of the Dead Man's Float” episode. It featured one of the show’s most notorious shots, a reddened skeleton creature of sorts emerging from a pool. It’s safe to say nightmares were had after seeing that one.

There was a time when celebrity cameos on TV shows were the norm. Even Beyoncé and the rest of Destiny’s Child made them at one point, because then, no one was too big to promote on a hit TV series. That includes Britney Spears. The late ‘90s phenomenon appeared on a number of shows throughout her career, from Sabrina the Teenage Witch to How I Met Your Mother, but the one that sticks out in the minds of millennials most is when she performed on The Famous Jett Jackson because, well, millennials will always hold the most random facet of a pop star’s appearances at the forefront of their minds.

In 1996, millennials were introduced to an episode that would not only become a holiday tradition for years to come but might also have been one of their earliest memories of empathy. Hey Arnold! wasn’t shy about presenting some not-so-easy topics in between some more silly plotlines, but the Nickelodeon show took things a step further with “Arnold's Christmas,” which featured the story of Mr. Hyunh, a tenant at Arnold’s grandparents’ boarding home, and how he lost contact with his daughter during the Vietnam War. An emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, it’s regarded as one of the series’ best.

Melrose Place was a primetime drama that took the classic soap opera and cranked things up just a bit. Well, more than a bit when it came to the single episode of the series that every millennial can remember - even if they didn’t watch the show - and that is when Marcia Cross’ Kimberly Shaw revealed that her hair was not only a wig, but that there was a gnarly scar underneath. Today, with the internet, her scar would not have been as shocking, but in the ‘90s, it caused quite the commotion.

For the most part, the Tim Allen show Home Improvement was a silly time spent laughing at how hurt Allen’s character could get, seeing how annoying he could be to both his wife and TV sidekick, Al, getting sage advice from the wise never-to-be-seen neighbor, and fawning over Jonathan Taylor Thomas. That last one was about the millennials who watched and subscribed to Tiger Beat. Anyways, Home Improvement scared all those millennials when the show decided to give Thomas a health scare that turned out fine, but the episode's previews scared many to their cores.

Rugrats stands as one of Nickelodeon’s best. Especially when one goes back and pays close attention to how skilled the writers were at showing how a bunch of babies would view not only the world around them but also bigger concepts like life and death. This is where Melville comes in. “I Remember Melville" is one of the most notable episodes of the series in that Chucky, the toddler afraid of his own shadow, has to confront death when his pet bug passes away. It’s sad, yet touching.

If there are two things most fans of Kenan & Kel have stored in the back of their heads, it’s, of course, the fact that Kel loves orange soda, as well as the time the boys went to court over a screw in a can of tuna in which the aforementioned Kel makes his case about the SCREW IN THE TUNA.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a movie in the ‘90s that didn’t fare that well at the box office, but later became a cult classic that went on to spawn a TV series starring millennial icon Sarah Michelle Gellar. Unlike the movie, the show was a hit, and to this day, every fan can recall where they were when they watched the sixteenth episode in the series’ fifth season, “The Body,” where Buffy’s mom just up and died because of the surprise and shock it caused.

In hindsight, CatDog’s pilot should have been millennials’ biggest indicator that their sense of humor was a little…strange.

The final dance in Dirty Dancing is to Gen X what the upside-down kiss in Spiderman is to millennials. So when The O.C. decided to showcase Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts doing THE kiss, a generation squealed in unison.

Not every small-screen memory for millennials was a hoot. Some were traumatic, like the time Will’s dad showed up on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air only to rip out the hearts of every viewer for years to come.

Youths today will try to claim SpongeBob because the Nickelodeon series is still airing, but it originally debuted in 1999, which means it’s a millennial thing. At least those first few seasons that held so many classic episodes like the one with Bubble Buddy, the one where SpongeBob is stuck in the darkest depths, and the one that comes with an earworm. The latter was when the Krusty Krab got into the pizza game, leaving SpongeBob and Squidward to deliver a pie in the midst of a heavy dose of wind.

The series finale of Full House comes to mind for many millennials because it was just weird. For some reason, Michelle falls off a horse, gets amnesia, and both Olsen twins appear on the series for the first and final time.

Television series used to take fun risks, like the time Saved by the Bell took everyone’s favorites from Bayside and tossed them into a summer at the beach. This wasn’t just one episode, though; it was like a very mini series millennials lived for.

Futurama had no right to make “Jurassic Bark.” Those who know know all too well that this episode will haunt one’s dreams and quickly turn them into nightmares, as it features a heartbreaking story about a man, his man’s best friend, and how time can be cruel.

Back in the day, an annoying neighbor was commonplace in sitcoms, and on Sister, Sister, that was Marques Houston’s Roger. However, during the third season, Roger appeared less like the neighbor one would avoid as he transformed into the hottest neighbor anyone could ever ask for. It was a shock to the collective millennial system, for sure.

When Dan Conner heard some man lay hands on his sister-in-law, and took it upon himself to let that man know that is not how one treats a woman, millennials cheered, and still do.