29 TV Guide Covers From 1995 That’ll Take You Right Back to the Golden Age of Channel Surfing

I don't think I could ever properly explain to my kids just how huge TV Guide was back in the day. I mean, at first glance, it was just a flimsy little booklet—part magazine, part TV schedule—but every household had at least a few lying around at any given time. And it wasn't just for checking what was on; TV Guide covers were events. If your favorite show or actor landed on the cover, you had to get that issue.

It's wild to think about now, but back then, if you wanted to know what was on TV, you had to physically look it up in print. There was no "What's Trending" section, no streaming algorithm deciding your next binge-watch, just the cold, hard listings of network programming and a few puff pieces about the biggest stars of the time. And somehow, this little magazine became one of the most-read publications in America.

And here's the craziest part—TV Guide still exists. In 2025, they're still putting out issues, though let's be honest, it's not quite the must-have publication it used to be.

So let's take a trip back to 1995, when Friends was still in its first season, ER was the biggest show on TV, and people were still debating who was the best Batman (spoiler: we're still doing that). Here are 29 TV Guide covers from exactly 30 years ago that'll make you nostalgic for the good old days of channel surfing and "Don't touch that dial!" warnings.