Remember back in the 1990s when the American channel Nickelodeon was filled with great programs, and didn’t care about ratings but could instead unload all sorts of new shows for the audiences to sample? Not even old channels can do that nowadays... Anyway, I think the best show Nickelodeon made was RUGRATS. Made by the same people (broadly) who did THE SIMPSONS, it was the perfect embodiment of fantasy within reality: a group of babies embark on adventures behind the backs of their parents. Most of the stories go like this: the kids learn of something from their parents and being infants they misconstrue it into being something epic (a loss of power leads into a quest for missing light, a newly-bought mirror sends them into another dimension) and they set out to find out just what this new thing is all about. Sometimes it takes them as far as possible from their parents, sometimes it sends them into a fantasy world, but always it’s something newborn and filled with exciting potential. Spielberg described the show as an infant’s version of PEANUTS, and I agree with him: the characters are so great and their predicaments are so ordinary and yet compelling, it’s hard to find a show that makes the ordinary seem so fun and fresh and full of adventure. Sadly, the show gradually lost this appeal over the years, as it entered feature film territory with Tommy’s brother Dil, tried to introduce new characters to keep things going and made a spin-off that had them all growed up (I never saw that show, it just killed things for me)... My favourite show, as runner-up, was HEY ARNOLD. Craig Bartlett’s show about a bunch of kids growing up in an urban city. Arnold’s pretty ordinary, but it’s the world around him that’s eccentric, filled with urban legends and freaky characters. And there’s his friends: accident-prone Eugene, upper-class Rhonda, country bumpkin Stinky and the show’s breakout character, the school bully Helga who’s tough to everyone around her but harbours a secret crush on Arnold. Having the focus on these kids and their adult-like behavior was a great thing to do, and to watch. It’s a shame the show never really came to a proper end, I wanted to see where Helga and Arnold went...
what the... rugrats is that old? that's insane. i'd have to say it's a tie between rugrats and spongebob. i never got the appeal for hey arnold.
me like Doug, Rugrats, Rocko’s Modern Life, Hey Arnold!, The Angry Beavers, The Wild Thornberrys, CatDog and Spongebob Squarepants
Man this was tough for me. I liked Doug, Rocko, Ren & Stimpy, and Rugrats back in the day. I went with Ren and Stimpy because I still quote lines from the show and Powdered Toast Man.
looney toons was really the only thing i ever enjoyed watching on nick. oh and when they played tiny toons and animaniacs.
