Plot Synopsis

Narrated by Rob Lowe, this three-night, six-hour documentary series chronicles the cultural, political and financial impact of the 1990s in the United States. Tucked between the end of The Cold War and 9/11, the '90s included a turn to counterculture and retro style, widespread proliferation of new media, a revolution in sports marketing, a record number of women elected to high office and a political transition from the Reaganomics of the 1980s to the Clinton dynasty. This series opens with the action of the high-tech Gulf War, the soap operas of Bill Clinton's nomination, Roseanne Barr's fights with her network, the unlikely rise of Vanilla Ice and Kurt Cobain, and the revolutionary broadcasts that transformed the LA Riots and Anita Hill hearings into must-see events. The decade continued with America becoming ever more divided and fragmented -- even in women's figure skating, where Americans find themselves divided along class lines with the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan saga. But at the same time, pop culture brought part of America closer together, as the hip-hop lifestyle expanded into mainstream media. THE 90S: THE LAST GREAT DECADE? closes with a look at the information superhighway and a new generation of tech entrepreneurs getting rich quicker than ever before as the dot com bubble grows. Plus, sexual taboos are breaking as Viagra hits the market with an unlikely endorsement by failed presidential candidate Bob Dole.