When I browse through the DVDs at Best Buy or FYE, the last emotion I expect to feel is nostalgia. Yet that yearning for yesterday hits me time after time when I see the shows I grew up watching available to the masses again.

The biggest shock has to come from learning that "Beakman's World" — the science-experiment show that featured Beakman, the dour Lester the Rat and Josie — has "The Best of Beakman's World" on DVD for the low, low price of $5.97 at Amazon.com. As a kid, I loved watching Beakman perform experiments to answer questions about rainbows and why the sky is blue. Beakman actually ruined "Bill Nye the Science Guy" for me. Without lovable sidekicks and wacky hair, Nye just didn't cut it.

Looking through the seemingly endless selection of '90s TV shows on DVD, there are the big ones I would expect: "Seinfeld," "ER," "Roseanne" and "Frasier."

But then come the ones out of nowhere, shows you expect to remain buried in your past along with Lisa Frank folders and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (which, coincidentally, have three volumes of DVDs on the shelves).

"Doogie Howser, M.D." Technically, the show started in 1989, but it ran through the '90s and definitely brings back the memories. The boy genius graduated Princeton at an ancient 10 years old and passed his medical board at 14. Best part of the show? Watching Doogie type his journal on his advanced-for-its-time computer. Actually, if you think about it, Dr. Doogie had the first blog.

Before getting satellite TV at the onset of high school, I had access to a limited number of TV stations by swiveling around the bunny ears. Of course, one of those stations was PBS. In addition to watching Bob Ross paint a nice, little tree, cheering on contestants in "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" and singing along to "Lamb Chop's Play-Along," I also enjoyed that literary wonder-dog in "Wishbone."

Watching "Wishbone" take on the classics even prepared me for AP Lit in high school. He has four episodes out on DVD, entitled (I kid you not) "Hot Diggety Dawg," "Impawssible Dream," "Hunchdog of Notre Dame" and, my personal favorite, "Paw Prints of Thieves."

Before Teri Hatcher was a desperate housewife, she was a reporter desperate to beat out the competition as Lois Lane in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." The second season was just released this month.

While I will always contend that Batman would destroy Superman in a fight (one of his gadgets has to contain kryptonite), I always tuned in to watch what was happening at the Daily Planet. There are quite a few memorable moments in the show's four-year run, but there's one that stands out in my mind as the best — the marriage proposal.

Clark finally asks Lois to marry him and she responds by saying 'Who's asking? Clark Kent ? or Superman?" and removing the glasses that served as his only disguise. Then the screen goes to black. The drama! The excitement! That's good TV.

The TGIF show I never missed was "Boy Meets World," and I continued to catch episodes of "BMW," as I affectionately call it, when they showed reruns on the Disney Channel. I grew up with Cory Matthews, Shawn Hunter and Topanga Lawrence.

The show poked fun at itself and sometimes society, but it always had that strong message that was necessary for a show in ABC's TGIF lineup. Characters would inexplicably come and go through the show's seasons (what ever happened to Mr. Turner?), but the mix of comedy and drama always had me tuning in.

For every prime time show of the '90s that's made its way back into our hearts in DVD form, there's a cartoon coming around, too. And they don't make cartoons the way they used to. Nothing compares to the big-wheel master Bobby Generic from the animated "Bobby's World." The show is out on DVD in two-episode collections — "The Signature Episodes" and "Classic Scratch 'n' Sniff Episodes."

I remember stuffing my face with the sugary goodness that is Count Chocula and watching Bobby's imagination go wild before heading off to school every morning. Along with watching "Bobby's World" in the morning, I also got ready to party by watching my favorite feline and the barnyard buddies in "Garfield and Friends," another great show that started in the late '80s.

Garfield was never so lazy that he couldn't offer up a sarcastic comment to owner Jon Arbuckle or think up a nefarious plot to get rid of the sickeningly cute kitty, Nermal. Over on the farm, Orson the pig was always struggling to outsmart his older brothers to prevent them from stealing vegetables on the farm, while an egg with legs (Sheldon) walked around, miraculously only bumping into a few things.

Of course, even though it doesn't seem like there's a single show from the '90s that isn't being repackaged and re-shelved, there are a few I can think of that have yet to be released but deserve a watching this decade.

I'm talking about "Captain Planet" (he's our hero!), "Family Matters," "TaleSpin" and the '90s version of "Land of the Lost." For some strange reason, the complete series from the '70s is out on DVD, but not the newer one, which has to be better. I mean, the weird, dinosaur things had crystal-powered guns, for crying out loud. Anyway, for a trip down memory lane that's more entertaining than looking at a yearbook or old photo album, watch some episodes of the shows I consider classics and try to contain that soft sigh for yesteryear.

Margaret Harding is the State News enterprise reporter. Reach her at hardin42@msu.edu.