At long last, it is time for the Top 10 to be revealed! Get ready for the best of the best, everybody!!
#10: All That
Aired: April 16, 1994-October 8, 2005
Dan Schneider has been called “The Norman Lear of children’s television”, having produced at least nine highly successful children’s series. This, however, was his first—and boy, was it a good way to begin. Beginning in the spring of 1994 with a “sneak peek”,
All That debuted for real on Christmas Eve of ’94 on the SNICK block with a theme song by ‘90s group TLC. At its core, the show was a sketch comedy series that functioned in much the same way as
Saturday Night Live. Sketch-comedy pieces were performed throughout the show in front of a live studio audience, and at the end of the show, a musical guest often performed. Several
All That skits became mainstays and are still very well-remembered, such as Repairman, Vital Information, and of course, Good Burger (which spawned a full-length motion picture in 1997). The cast members of
All That were a virtual who’s who of future Nickelodeon and Hollywood stars, including Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Amanda Bynes, Lori Beth Denberg, Danny Tamberelli, Nick Cannon, Gabriel Iglesias, and many more. Nickelodeon cancelled
All That in 2000, but a special series called “The Best of
All That” aired in 2001, and respawned popularity for the show. As such, the show was revived, but none of the original cast returned, and the show struggled to gain much popularity. Still, the classic
All That remains a fond memory for kids of the ‘90s, and reruns continue to air on
The '90s Are All That block on TeenNick.
Scores: Perfect longevity; Very high popularity, originality and nostalgia; High impact
Total: 470 points
#9: Rocko’s Modern Life
Aired: September 18, 1993-November 24, 1996
Quite possibly one of the most innovative shows ever made for Nickelodeon,
Rocko’s Modern Life was the first major project for both animator Joe Murray and creative director Steve Hillenburg. Murray first conceived of the character Rocko as a comic book character, but eventually decided to create an animated series around the character. Nickelodeon picked up the show in late 1993, and the show became part of the regular lineup a few months later. The series revolved around the title character, a wallaby from Australia who moves to a suburban area in the United States, and has numerous crazy or improbable misadventures with his dog Spunky and his best friends Heffer the steer and Philbert the turtle. The show was often full of adult humor, including the likes of double entendres, watered-down sexual innuendos, and satirical social commentary, making
Rocko’s Modern Life one of the first true “adult cartoons” ever to air on Nick. The show also marked the professional debut of voice actors Carlos Alazraqui and Tom Kenny (the voices of Rocko and Heffer, respectively), who have since gone on to voice many other animated characters.
Rocko was considered one of the biggest Nicktoons of all time, and even after production ended in 1996, reruns on Nick still garnered high ratings. The show’s creators went on to do other big-profile things, especially Hillenburg, who created
SpongeBob SquarePants in 1999.
Scores: Perfect popularity; Very high originality, nostalgia and impact; High longevity
Total: 473 points
#8: Blue’s Clues
Aired: September 8, 1996-May 10, 2004
When you surpass
Sesame Street to become the highest-rated show for preschoolers on commercial TV, you know you’re doing something right. In 1993, fledgling television writers Todd Kessler, Angela Santomero and Traci Paige Johnson were assigned by Nick to create a new show for their upcoming Nick Jr. block, which would cater to preschool-aged Nickelodeon viewers. Drawing inspiration from
Sesame Street,
Mister Rogers and several other children’s shows, the three writers researched and labored for three years before coming up with this groundbreaking series. The show revolved around the title character, a blue dog, and her owner, Steve (played by actor Steven Burns). Over the course of the show, the viewers are invited to solve a puzzle by finding three objects marked with Blue’s blue pawprints. At the end of the show, Steve and the viewers work together to decipher the puzzle and always come up with the answer. The show proved a smash success on Nick, and within a year and a half, almost 100% of preschool-aged kids were said to have at least some knowledge of the show or its premise. By 2002, more than 13 million viewers were watching the show each week. However, later that year, Steve left the show to pursue a music career, and new host Donovan Patton, AKA “Joe”, took over for him. The show didn’t last very long after that, and was cancelled in 2004. A short-lived spin-off called
Blue’s Room was introduced, but wasn’t nearly as popular, and was cancelled after only 17 episodes. Even so,
Blue’s Clues’ legacy remains, and the show is still considered one of the greatest preschool-age shows of all time, as evidenced by the fact that it’s the only such one in my top 10.
Scores: Perfect originality; Very high popularity, longevity and nostalgia; High impact
Total: 475 points
#7: Hey Arnold!
Aired: October 7, 1996-June 8, 2004
Here’s yet another Nicktoon that enjoyed incredible popularity in its heyday. The character of Arnold was originally conceived way back in 1988 by veteran animator Craig Bartlett, who had previously worked as an animator on
Pee-wee’s Playhouse. A clay version of Arnold even appeared on a
Sesame Street segment titled
Arnold Rides a Chair (it can still be seen on YouTube). Bartlett was working as a writer for
Rugrats when he pitched the idea to include Arnold in his own show, and
Hey Arnold! made its debut in the fall of 1996, following the exploits of the title character and his grade-school friends in their fictional hometown of Hillwood. In addition to the level-headed Arnold, some of the more memorable characters included Arnold’s eccentric grandparents, his best friend Gerald, and perennial tormented soul Helga Pataki, who bullied Arnold to cover up the fact that she secretly had a crush on him. Unlike most cartoons at the time, the voices of Arnold and the other kids were provided by actual children instead of adults. The show received positive reviews from critics, who praised the show for its high-quality animation and good character development. One hundred episodes were made over five seasons, and a full-length film was made in 2002. Sadly, the show ended its run in 2004, on the same day
Rugrats ended its run. Craig Bartlett went on to create the show
Dinosaur Train on PBS. Oh, how the mighty have fallen…
Scores: Perfect popularity; Very high longevity, nostalgia and impact; High originality
Total: 477 points
#6: SpongeBob SquarePants
Aired: May 1, 1999-present
Love it or hate it, you can’t deny the impact
SpongeBob has had on Nickelodeon. First conceived by former marine biology major Steve Hillenburg in 1998, SpongeBob was originally going to be called “SpongeBoy”, but believe it or not, this name was already taken. The series premiered in 1999, and revolved around the title character, a sea sponge, and his fellow undersea creature friends as they live out their daily lives in the subterranean city of Bikini Bottom. The show has become probably the most successful show in the history of Nickelodeon, often scoring exponentially higher ratings than almost every other show on the network. Still, the show has received its fair share of criticism, including a famous accusation by Christian activists that he was homosexual. Despite this (or perhaps because of it), the show has remained popular, and has been renewed for an unprecedented ninth season in 2012. Currently,
SpongeBob is the only Nicktoon from the ‘90s that hasn’t ended yet, and unless it’s cancelled by February 2012, is scheduled to become the longest-running Nicktoon in history, beating
Rugrats’ run of 172 episodes.
Scores: Perfect popularity, longevity and impact; Very high originality; High nostalgia
Total: 481 points
#5: Double Dare
Aired: October 6, 1986-February 6, 1993; January 24, 2000-November 10, 2000
Without this show, there would be no great Nickelodeon game shows that we’ve all come to know and love.
Double Dare premiered in 1986, and during its first two months on the air, Nickelodeon’s ratings nearly tripled! Hosted by the incomparable Marc Summers and announced by the man known simply as Harvey (his real name is John Harvey), the show was considered one of the sloppiest and most entertaining thirty minutes on television. Gameplay revolved around two teams of two kids each who competed for cash and prizes. Summers asked each team questions, and if they didn’t know the answer, they could “dare” the other team to answer it—each “dare” increased the dollar value of the question. In the end, if the answer wasn’t known, the team could take a “physical challenge”, a messy, semi-athletic stunt that usually involved at least one teammate getting drenched in slime, sludge, Gak, chocolate, ketchup, or some other sloppy liquid substance. In the end, the winning team got a chance to tackle the Obstacle Course, in which eight tasks had to be completed in 60 seconds to win the grand prize (consolation prizes were given for each task completed).
Double Dare lasted for seven years, and spawned numerous spin-offs, including
Family Double Dare,
Super Sloppy Double Dare, and the always-controversial revival,
Double Dare 2000. Reruns of all forms of the show aired on Nick GaS up until the channel went bust, and Summers and Harvey have been buzzing of a
Double Dare revival in the works.
Scores: Perfect impact; Very high popularity, originality, longevity and nostalgia
Total: 484 points
#4: The Ren & Stimpy Show
Aired: August 11, 1991-November 14, 1996
On August 11, 1991, Nickelodeon officially debuted its first three Nicktoons to a national audience. With
Doug and
Rugrats immediately preceding it, this particular show had two tough acts to follow, but follow it did by establishing itself as an “older kids’” cartoon.
The Ren & Stimpy Show revolved around the titular characters of Ren the chihuahua and Stimpy the cat as they made their way through an off-beat world of crazy characters and situations. The show was unique in its use of off-color humor, dark comedy, sexual innuendos, and violence, and is often credited for spawning other satirical, “older kids’” cartoons like
Beavis and Butt-Head and
South Park. The producers of the show often clashed with Nickelodeon’s Standards and Practices Department for some of the content aired on the show, but nonetheless,
Ren & Stimpy continued to bring in high ratings, and five seasons were made. The show was cancelled in 1996, ending with a Christmas episode called “A Scooter for Yaksmas”, but reruns aired for several years on both Nick and the NickToons network until the show disappeared from the radar. A spin-off series called
Ren & Stimpy’s Adult Party Cartoon premiered on Spike TV in 2003, but was cancelled due to low ratings.
Scores: Perfect originality and nostalgia; Very high popularity and impact; High longevity
Total: 486 points
#3: Doug
Aired: August 11, 1991-December 16, 1994
As mentioned above, this was the very first cartoon to air on Nickelodeon, setting the trend for all other future “Nicktoons”. Created by veteran animator Jim Jinkins (who claims he got inspiration for
Doug from both
Peanuts and
Saved by the Bell), Doug first appeared in a book called
Doug’s Got a New Pair of Shoes. Though the book was never published, Nickelodeon took interest in Jinkins’ character, and soon hired him to create their first animated series, or Nicktoon, as they would later be called. Doug centered on its title character, Douglas “Doug” Funnie (voiced by Billy West, who also provided the voices for both Ren and Stimpy), who moves with his family to a new city after his dad receives a promotion. The series is told from Doug’s point of view as he writes in his journal, telling all about his new life in his new hometown. During its run,
Doug won two Kid’s Choice Awards in 1992 and 1995. Nickelodeon was reportedly banking on
Doug to become its biggest hit; however, compared to the two Nicktoons that debuted along with it, it had the shortest lifespan, and was cancelled after about three years on the air. Still,
Doug proved to be a big hit for Nick, and spawned a spin-off series made by Disney that drew mixed reactions from fans of the show.
Doug can still be seen in reruns on TeenNick’s
The ‘90s Are All That.
Scores: Perfect popularity, originality and impact; Very high nostalgia; High longevity
Total: 488 points
#2: You Can’t Do That on Television
Aired: January 1, 1982-January 23, 1994
Without this show, Nickelodeon probably wouldn’t have exploded in popularity the way it did. Even though it’s well-known and remembered as a Nickelodeon Show,
You Can’t Do That on Television actually started out on CJOH-TV in Ottawa, Canada in 1979 as a low-budget variety program. Some segments were taped live, but for the most part, the segments were pre-taped. In late 1981, the fledgling Nickelodeon network picked up the show as one of their flagship shows. The show originally consisted of comedy skits, music videos, and live call-in contestants who could win various prizes. When the show was moved to Nick, however, the comedy skits usually had a particular theme, and veteran comedian Les Lye performed the skits alongside Abby Hagyard. The show was also famous for their slime-related pranks, and was insanely popular with audiences. For four years running,
YCDTOT was Nick’s highest-rated show, and never fell below the top 10 in the ratings. Sadly, producer Roger Price moved to France in 1988, and the show was on its last legs for the next six years; however, it still finished very strongly in the ratings. The show finally ended in 1994, but reruns continued to run for many years on Nick, and a special reunion project called Project 131 was aired in Canada in 2004 featuring the original cast members. Les Lye passed away in 2009 at the age of 89.
Scores: Perfect popularity and longevity; Very high originality, nostalgia and impact
Total: 491 points
And the #1 greatest Nickelodeon show of all time:
#1: Victorious
I kid, I kid...the REAL #1 is...
#1: Rugrats
Aired: August 11, 1991-June 8, 2004
Doug may have been the first Nicktoon to ever air, but the
Rugrats made Nicktoons what they are today. Created by veteran animators Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo,
Rugrats premiered immediately after
Doug in 1991, with
Ren & Stimpy premiering immediately thereafter, and the middle show quickly began eclipsing its fellow Nicktoons in the ratings, breaking into the top five in ratings within a few weeks. The show followed the adventures of Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, and Angelica, a group of babies who had numerous escapades while their parents weren’t looking. Later in the series, other characters were added, including Susie, Kimi, and Baby Dil.
Rugrats celebrated its tenth season in 2001 with the critically acclaimed
All Growed Up special that spawned the similarly titled sequel, and also became the first (and so far, only) Nickelodeon show to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The show sadly ended its run in 2004, the same year as
Hey Arnold!. But the show had already established itself as perhaps the greatest Nicktoon of all time. Reruns continued to be shown on both Nickelodeon and the NickToons network, and they can still be seen on the latter to this very day. Without
Rugrats, there would be no
Hey Arnold!,
Rocko,
SpongeBob,
Fairly OddParents, or any other Nicktoon, period. The Rugrats have truly transcended the Nickelodeon audience and carved a niche for themselves in American pop culture.
Rugrats will surely go down as one of the greatest cartoons of all time. It’s easily my winner.
Scores: Perfect popularity, longevity and nostalgia; Very high originality and impact
Total: 493 points
Topic: The Top 80 Greatest Nickelodeon Shows of All Time (Read 8469 times)
