It’s hard to let go of a character when your favorite show ends. Even though they are 100% fiction, it still doesn’t stop you from wondering where they would be today if the show had continued on. Are Ross and Rachel still a thing? What’s Zack Morris doing for a living? How’s Tommy Pickles in the here and now? If your favorite ’90s show hasn’t somehow already snagged a comeback, then all of these are questions that plague us on a daily basis when we think, where are they now? Not the actors, but the characters themselves.
That’s why we obviously had to sit down and figure this out. So here’s where feel some of your favorite ’90s TV characters would be today:
1. Daria Morgendorffer from Daria
Daria was known for being a whiz with not only sarcasm but with a pen as well. That is why there is no doubt in our minds that she would have gone on to be one of the first well-known bloggers of the ’00s. Hell, in our minds she pretty much is the godmother of listicles.
Today though, Daria spends most of her time writing about the real issues that face the world. With her feminist prowess set on high, she leads the fight against patriarchy one word at a time. She also has her BFF Jane doing all the artwork on her site. Talk about a power duo.
2. Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell
While some may not have seen this boy next door rebel as much of an achiever on Saved by the Bell, he actually had it in him to go the distance. All that quick wit and charm led him to be a major player on Wall Street. Yeah, we’re talking Wolf of Wall Street level.
We also feel that Zack would still be married to Kelly even all these years later. We mean, how could they not? They are one of the first definitions of relationship goals.
3. Clarissa Darling from Clarissa Explains It All
She explained it all so well that Clarissa Darling went on to be one of those self-help gurus that sell out hotel ballrooms for her events. While she could give you the best advice, we know that she’s the type that could rarely take her own when it mattered. Because of that, she’s still single and honestly regretting never giving Sam a romantic opportunity. Really, girl? He climbed through that window how many times for you, and nothing? Explain that!
4. Sabrina Spellman from Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Melissa Joan Hart really did own the ’90s. With Clarissa being a self-help MVP, Sabrina would be a more at home kind of gal. Today she’d have her hands full with three little witches of her own. Yes, Harvey is the father and going a bit nuts having four witches in the house; two of them: teens! Ugh, we really wish this was the Sabrina they were bringing back instead of that dark one on The CW.
5. Doug Funnie from Doug
Some childhood sweethearts last and some don’t. Only Doug Funnie actually never married Patti Mayonnaise. They had a quick thing in high school but parted ways after graduation. In college, Doug met what he thought was the love of his life. Only they divorced eight years and two kids later. Now he spends his time working on The Adventures of Quailman in between his weekends with Doug Jr. and Timbo.
6. Will Smith from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Influenced by his Uncle Phil on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will went on to really impress his family when he decided to go to law school. After passing the Bar Exam, he leaned more towards wanting to help troubled youth rather than make the big bucks as a corporate lawyer. Much like the kinds of kids who beat him up and scared his mother into sending him to Bel-Air in the first place. So nowadays, he spends a lot of his time in the juvenile court system helping those in need.
7. Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Settling down was never in the cards for Buffy Summers. When there are demons and crap afoot — someone has to take charge. Since we last seen her she’s grown her life of slaying into a full-fledged business. Sort of like Ghostbusters but with all sorts of creepy monsters on the list. She does well for herself but always thinks of what could have been with Angel.
She and Dawn still live together, and she sees Willow and Xander on the regular. Sadly, Giles disappeared a few years ago and hasn’t been heard from since.
8. Arnold from Hey Arnold!
While Arnold and the gang are still pretty much the same age in their 2017 movie reboot, we’d like to think Arnold had grown like a real boy. With that, Arnold would be the head of a Silicon Valley startup by now.
Remember that bomb room he had? All that ingenuity couldn’t go to waste. He headed to Stanford after graduating and never looked back after creating an app that helps kids locate their birth parents. Beautiful.
9. Randy Taylor from Home Improvement
One of the worst moments for kids in the ’90s was the day we had to say goodbye to Jonathan Taylor Thomas on Home Improvement. His character, Randy Taylor, loved the environment and animals so he left for a trip to Costa Rica and we had to say adios. It was cruel to fans. Whatever.
We’d like to believe that it was all for the best though. Now that Randy is a successful biologist helping animals with his studies today.
10. Al Bundy from Married… with Children
Of all the dads in the ’90s, you had to love Al Bundy the most. He literally did not care one bit about anything. Today? He still doesn’t. Because of his lack of spirit, we feel he’d legit still be at the shoe store. The only problem with that is most small stores like that have closed since the days of Married… with Children. Because of that, Al had to look for a new job. He landed in the shoe department of a Sears where he’ll likely remain until they shut all of those down.
11. Tommy Pickles from Rugrats
Always adventurous on Rugrats, Tommy Pickles went on to go to MIT to be an engineer. Only there was something restricting about being locked up in that world once he graduated. So he took that creativity and matched it with his dad’s toy building skills. Together they made a line of toys that have been the talk of the kid world ever since. Ever heard of Fidget Spinners? Yeah, you can thank Tommy for that!
12. Steve Urkel from Family Matters
If Steve Urkel from Family Matters grew up to be anything but a scientist of some kind, we’d be shocked. He freaking cloned himself into a cooler version! Yeah, there is no doubt that Steve would be working for NASA or part of the Tesla team today, probably doing stuff extremely top secret.
13. Tia and Tamera from Sister, Sister
Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell on Sister, Sister were complete opposites growing up, and that is still the case in their adult years. With her amazing grades, Tia went on to college. Later she became a teacher in San Francisco where she’s married with one child. She lives a pretty wholesome, vegan lifestyle.
Tamera, on the other hand, decided to do something more creative with her life. She moved to LA to try her hand at standup comedy. She struggles a bit financially but loves it all the same. She also loves that her sister has a couch for her to crash on when she books a gig in the Bay area.
14. Kenan and Kel from Kenan & Kel
It’d be unbelievable if these two weren’t still besties — so they are! Yes, Kenan and Kel are still inseparable. They went to the same college. Kenan met his wife there and got married after graduation. All three moved out to New York City. Kenan got a nice corner office job, while his best friend became his assistant. Kel’s not the best with tasks but Kenan loves him all the same.
15. Dawson Leery from Dawson’s Creek
After Joey (spoiler alert) chose Pacey, Dawson had a pretty rough time getting over the heartbreak. He kind of bombed that meeting he had with his idol, Steven Spielberg but while he was — yes, crying about it — he found himself getting consoled by a young actor trying to make a name for himself. The two began making indie films together and while Dawson never quite reached the mainstream success he sought, he’s pretty well-known in the independent flick community and doesn’t do too poorly from himself.
16. Angela Chase from My So-Called Life
Damn that last episode of My So-Called Life! While it wasn’t intended to be the series finale, we’re still pretty salty that’s the last we got of Angela Chase. Twenty-two years later, Angela’s finally (kind of) got life figured out. Big, huge, shocker — things with Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto) didn’t work out. Jordan was a jerk and Angela finally found herself able to admit it. However, while she was still figuring that out, Brian found himself someone else and he and Angela never had anything, either. It was for the best.
Rayanne and Angela found it difficult to keep in touch after going their separate ways for college, but she and Ricky only grew tighter. Today, Ricky works as a bad-ass activist for basically every human rights issue you can think of, and actually gained a pretty big following on YouTube. Good for him!
17. Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Joey from Friends
No one person stood out on Friends so when we think of where one of them is today, we think of where they all are. Ross and Rachel are still together but have moved to Paris for Rachel’s work in the fashion industry. Ross was able to find a job as a visiting professor at an esteemed Parisian University and their family of three turned into a family of four.
Joey decided he had to go to L.A. to really pursue his acting career, and although it was tough he eventually booked a recurring role on a Shonda Rhimes show.
Chandler and Monica are still back east. Their twins are doing great and love to help their mom with her new catering business. Chandler’s still… doing whatever he was doing when they were all living in NYC.
As for Phoebe, she took over Central Perk and while they still serve coffee, it’s more a space for musicians to perform today. Yes, she pulls out “Smelly Cat” on a monthly basis. Chandler and Monica visit each other often and the whole group of six make an effort to meet up as a group around Thanksgiving, natch. We love it.