If anything was true about satellite TV in the 1990s, it was that the popular channels were packed with prime-time melodramas focused on families and/or groups of friends in their late teens and early 20s. . You probably could have spent the whole week after school or work watching attractive young men, most of whom supposedly lived somewhere in California, dealing with their interpersonal dramas on the old-school living room TV.

Some of these programs were easy to circumvent at the time. But now, you look at them with a deep feeling of nostalgia. Remember when the biggest event of the summer was when Dylan and Kelly got together while Brenda was in France? Or do you remember when the only person you knew with cancer was Charlie from Party of Five? Life seemed so much simpler back then!

But if you miss these old TV shows, you’re in luck. With the countless channels you have access to with satellite TV, you’re sure to see some of them in syndicated reruns. Channels like the Soap Opera Network bought up all the old episodes, repackaged them, and streamed them in high definition for your viewing pleasure.

You might want to start with the Fox show that started them all: Beverly Hills, 90210. Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty played Brandon and Brenda Walsh, respectively, the brown-haired twins at the center of the series. Over the years, the show morphed into a college show and then a show about twenty-somethings at the start of their careers. By the end of the series, 10 years later, neither of the Walshes were still on the show, and yet 90210 earned some of the highest ratings in its history. Not only are the plots nice and juicy, but watching some of that funky early 90’s California clothing in high definition is a real treat!

Melrose Place was another such show, debuting in 1992 and running for a full seven seasons. Aaron Spelling, the creator of 90210, also produced this show. The show took place in an apartment complex called Melrose Place, with a cast of young characters in all their daily dramas. The show’s stars included Josie Bissett as Jane Mancini, Vanessa A. Williams as aerobics instructor Rhonda Blair, and Courtney Thorne-Smith as Alison Parker.

Set in San Francisco, Party of Five was a drama that took on a more sober tone than its Southern California counterparts. The plot centered on a family of five children who lost their parents in a car accident with a drunk driver. Matthew Fox, who is now best known for playing Jack on Lost, played Jack’s older brother, Charlie. Neve Campbell starred as 15-year-old Julia Salinger in the breakout role of her, while Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) played precocious tween Claudia. The show tackled topics such as grievances, disease, and alcoholism.