Call it what you will, “Peak TV” or the “Golden Age of Television,” but there has never been a time when there have been more options when it comes not only to what to watch, but who to watch with shows like as Queer Eye, Jane the Virgin, and Insecure offering strong, unique perspectives that have been absent from the small-screen for far too long.

But, we didn’t just arrive here overnight, TV shows have been trying to speckle in socially-conscious messages for quite some time, though often in ways that were met with controversy or outright dismissal. The real seeds of challenge were planted in the 90’s, through shows such as Ellen or The Fresh Prince of Bel Air which offered characters and situations that were refreshingly unafraid to oppose the social mores of the time.

Above, we’ve gathered 12 shows which tackled issues in ways that continue to be relevant today—and the episodes which best exemplify their then-groundbreaking approaches.