The 1990s were tough to beat for television mini-series: we look back at the best mini-series of the decade.

Gilbert Gottfried could ignite a room with a single line, which is why almost no one suspected anything was wrong. He kept the jokes coming while privately carrying something much heavier than anyone imagined.

Some characters walk onto the screen without introductions and somehow become impossible to forget. No backstory, no name, just presence. That mystery often does more work than any dialogue ever could, leaving audiences guessing long after the credits roll.

Florence Ballard’s story is one of those rare music tragedies that manages to be both breathtakingly inspiring and heartbreakingly unfair. She helped build one of the most successful groups in pop history, only to watch her spotlight dim long before the applause ever should have stopped. It’s a story filled with big dreams, bigger voices, and the biggest reminder of all: fame can crown someone one minute and quietly abandon them the next.

Some historical shows keep things polite—corsets, candlelight, a couple polite wars in the background. The 22 shows on this list are not those shows. These are the ones that make the past feel so close you can practically smell the gunpowder, feel the political tension in your shoulders, and start wondering if you’ve somehow time-traveled without signing a release form.

The life expectancy of the Seattle grunge scene’s leading men is sadly below the national average. Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell had all the trappings that afflicted contemporaries like Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley, who both met early demises. But Cornell somehow hung in there. He married, became a father, and even launched a solo career. It looked like he’d survived where others hadn’t. And then, at 51 years of age, it all came tumbling down.