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« on: April 14, 2008, 08:09:27 PM »
For me, Nickelodeon jumped around 1999. That's when they started cancelling all the old shows that made the network popular. That also happened to be around the same time (as Nicklegends mentioned) that Rugrats began adding all those pointless characters and (as I saw it) correcting all the problems and making it a "perfect" show. Don't believe me? Take a look; they gave Tommy a brother, which he didn't have; Chuckie a sister and a mother, both of which he was lacking (although he did have a mother at one point, who passed away); Grandpa Lou got married to a woman played by Debbie Reynolds, who I don't believe ever really appeared, thereby giving Tommy and Dil two sets of grandparents; and Angelica got an "assistant" in Harold, which I guess was the best they could give her in regards to a younger sibling (I can't really see Drew and Charlotte having another kid).
Then you started getting these really stupid Nicktoons about that time as well. SpongeBob and Invader ZIM were great, and Rocket Power was okay, but pretty much all the others were terrible. The ones that weren't (like Jimmy Neutron) suffered from rerun abuse and became bad really quickly. It was also around this time that their movies started getting really bad. Clockstoppers had probably the dumbest premise for any movie I've heard of, and I would love to know who thought it would be a great idea to have a crossover with The Wild Thornberrys and the Rugrats.
In recent years, I think Nick has tried to lure older kids back to the network with TEENick (or as I used to call it, Teen Ick.), Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Unfabulous and that show with what's-her-name's sister (I don't even care anymore). Sadly, it's started to fail miserably. Even their good shows (Kappa Mikey for example) have become really bad in regards to new episodes.
I think Nickelodeon should try releasing a show with humor geared towards older people (like the old episodes of Rugrats. One episode made reference to Clarence Thomas, and another Saddam Hussein.) I think when it's written for older people, the humor becomes better for the younger crowd as well, although they won't understand it until they're older.
Just my two cents.