Another day, another ten shows!
#60: The Journey of Allen Strange
Aired: November 8, 1997-April 23, 2000
Late in 1997, cryptic messages began airing on Nick about “something strange…coming to SNICK”. That “something strange” turned out to be a new comedy/drama series, which revolved around a young alien stranded on Earth. The alien (nicknamed “Allen Strange”) meets up with a young girl and boy, and takes refuge at their California home. The series finished strong in the ratings throughout its three-season, 57-episode run, but was inexplicably canceled in early 2000, with Allen still stranded on Earth with no sign of him ever getting home.
Scores: High popularity; Above average longevity; Moderate originality and nostalgia; Low impact
Total: 334 points
#59: Little Bear
Aired: April 3, 1995-October 20, 2003
One of the most long-running little kid’s shows Nick ever aired,
Little Bear was produced by our old friends at Nelvana. Based on the popular book series by Else Minarik and Maurice Sendak (who were also on the production team of the show), the show follows the exploits of grizzly bear cub Little Bear and his anthropomorphic animal friends in the woods. The show ran for a whopping five seasons, spawned a direct-to-video film after ending, and reruns of the show are still broadcast on Nick Jr.
Scores: Very high popularity and longevity; Moderate impact; Low nostalgia; Very low originality
Total: 338 points
#58: My Brother and Me
Aired: October 15, 1994-February 2, 1995
My Brother and Me was a very popular family sitcom which debuted on Nick in late 1994. The show revolved around the exploits of Alfie Parker and his younger brother Derek, nicknamed “Dee Dee”.
My Brother and Me made history on Nickelodeon as the first show on the network with an all-black cast, and was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Youth or Children’s Special. Unfortunately, the show lasted only 13 episodes before being cancelled due to disagreements between the producers and the creators of the show—each one had their own idea of the direction of the show.
Scores: High popularity and nostalgia; Moderate originality; Low impact; Very low longevity
Total: 339 points
#57: Space Cases
Aired: March 2, 1996-January 27, 1997
Another popular drama/comedy,
Space Cases is a product of creators Billy Mumy and Peter David. Set in the far future (the year is never specified), the show revolves around a group of students (as well as two adults) who are stranded on a spaceship orbiting Pluto after a field trip, following their journey to get back home. Budget constraints forced the show to use props from other Nick shows, such as
Are You Afraid of the Dark?. The show ran for 27 episodes over two seasons, and featured a variety of guest stars, including Danny Tamberelli, Michelle Trachtenberg, and even Robin Leach.
Scores: High popularity and nostalgia; Above average originality; Moderate impact; Low longevity
Total: 341 points
#56: Oh Yeah! Cartoons
Aired: July 17, 1998-May 26, 2001
An animation project guided by Fred Seibert (the former president of Hanna-Barbera studios), this show is so high on the countdown because it spawned more shows than any other series in Nick history. Although the show ran for only 37 episodes (as well as five unaired episodes), there were several individual cartoons on each episode, giving over a dozen animators the chance to create over 100 new cartoons! Several of the animators who got their start on the show went on to become much more famous, such as Butch Hartman and Seth MacFarlane. And of course, as previously mentioned, numerous NickToons that were shown as regulars on
Oh Yeah! Cartoons became series in their own right, including
ChalkZone,
The Fairly OddParents, and
My Life as a Teenage Robot.
Scores: Very high originality and impact; Moderate popularity and longevity; Very low nostalgia
Total: 347 points
#55: The Amanda Show
Aired: November 6, 1999-September 21, 2002
Aaaahhh…Amanda Bynes. Give me a second…*dreamy sigh*…okay, I’m good. Anyway, this show was a spin-off of
All That, on which Amanda had been a regular cast member for several years before landing this gig. The show basically worked in the same way as
All That, involving several comedy skits and humorous antics, some of the more memorable ones involving dancing lobsters and a Judge Judy parody. The show ran for three seasons before being cancelled unexpectedly in 2002, but Amanda would go on to become a huge star in movies and television, and Drake Bell and Josh Peck, who also appeared on the show, received their own spin-off from it as well. Sadly, no matter how much I adore Ms. Bynes, I can’t let my little crush on her affect this countdown too much. (If and when we get married, however, that’s out the window.
)
Scores: High popularity, longevity and impact; Moderate nostalgia; Low originality
Total: 348 points
#54: ChalkZone
Aired: March 22, 2002-November 21, 2009
Originally featured on
Oh Yeah! Cartoons,
ChalkZone premiered in 2002, and up to that point, was the most-watched new show premiere in Nick history (it has since fallen to seventh place). The NickToon revolved around grade-school boy Rudy, who discovers a magical world inhabited by beings that have been created by chalk drawings. The show itself is a nod to a 1974 cartoon called
Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings, but its creators Bill Burnett and Larry Huber insist they came up with the show without knowledge of this. The show lasted for 42 episodes over four seasons, stretched out over several years due to numerous hiatuses, and reruns can still be seen on NickToons.
Scores: High popularity, longevity and nostalgia; Moderate originality; Low impact
Total: 353 points
#53: Think Fast!
Aired: May 1, 1989-June 29, 1991
One of the first game shows ever produced by Nickelodeon,
Think Fast! premiered in the spring of 1989. The gameplay involved two teams of two kids, who competed in various physical stunts to win cash prizes. After each stunt, the winning team would have a chance to solve a visual puzzle called “The Brain Bender” (often a picture of a celebrity or a rebus puzzle). If the team solved it correctly, they won $200 more, and at the end of the game, the ones with the most money went on to the bonus round, “The Locker Room”, where they found pairs of objects or characters inside various lockers, all while trying to avoid the infamous “Red Herring”.
Think Fast! was the second Nick game show to be taped at Nickelodeon Studios (
Double Dare was first), and ran for a whopping 106 episodes over three seasons.
Scores: High originality and impact; Moderate popularity and longevity; Low nostalgia
Total: 354 points
#52: Franklin
Aired: January 4, 1999-Late 2004
Another children’s show based on a book series,
Franklin debuted in early 1999 to much fanfare, and soon became as popular on Nick Jr. as the longer-running
Little Bear. Revolving around the titular character, a young turtle who could “count by twos and tie his shoes”, each episode dealt with Franklin and his friends’ exploits in the woods where they lived. Though it ended its new episodes in 2004, reruns of
Franklin are still shown on Nick Jr., and several live stage shows have toured in the U.S. and France.
Scores: High popularity and longevity; Above average nostalgia and impact; Low originality
Total: 358 points
#51: Nick Arcade
Aired: January 4, 1992-March 12, 1993
It’s been panned by the website Game Show Garbage as tacky and cheesy, but
Nick Arcade remains one of the most high-energy, flamboyant game shows of all time. Hosted by the always-energetic Phil Moore, the show pitted two teams of kids against one another in a series of video game-inspired challenges. Along the way, the teams tackled what Phil called the “four P’s”: points, puzzles, pop quizzes and prizes. The winner had a chance to enter the Video Zone, where they played a live-action game on a blue screen for a chance to win the grand prize. Contestants from other Nick game shows appeared on the show, as well as a young Joey Fatone, who would go on to be a member of the boy band N*SYNC.
Scores: High popularity and longevity; Moderate nostalgia and originality; Low impact
Total: 361 points
Topic: The Top 80 Greatest Nickelodeon Shows of All Time (Read 5225 times)
