My Nickelodeon Days

My foundest memories of Nicklodeon
On
January 03, 2008
I just finished this after the "decline of classic nick" was posted hopefully people will like my different twist on this. I swear I am not a copycat.


The only show that I like right now on nickelodeon is spongebob squarepants.I Iike the show because of its great characters and crazy, inventive story lines but I guess mainly because it carries the tradition of ren and stimpy. Is this the only good show left? Yeah, I know there is the fairly odd parents and stuff like that. But what happened to all the great nick shows that made nickelodeon, nickelodeon? What we have now are shows like the corny jokes (the suite life) of zack and cody. I guess I wanted to take some time to reminisce on my favorite shows and events from what I consider to be the glory days of nickelodeon.


Legends of the hidden temple
I have a couple of game show favorites and this is one of them. I do not know exactly what attracted me to this show. Either it was that big talking head Olmec, the obstacle courses,or the floor maze at the end of each show. What ever it was, for me it was always a great time to watch.


rockos modern life
I love the zanyness and the wackyness (if those are even words) of this show.It took our life's misfortunes turned them upside down, shook them a bit, spray painted them,chewed them and spit them back out.Taking things like House cleaning, laundry, grocery/mall shopping, and the other miscellaneous things that life throws at us and Adding an extra twist of craziness to them. Plus add crazy animal friends like an overweight cow and a turtle with glasses who love wrestling and you have got a great show.


wild and crazy kids
The same old games after a while can get dull and
boring. "Hey guys, let's go play tag or football" Now those are great games. I mean with all the versions of tag like Ghostbusters, TV, and the many others it would be hard to get bored with it for awhile. But there is time (at least for me anyway)where you wished for some variety or something different. Well, this show was a great example.It took games and gave them a crazy and fun twist. Maybe by combining two games together or just creating a game with something like a big tire or a swimming pool. Don't yeah just wish your camp counselors thought of these things?


Are you afraid of the dark
Ok, there is some debate on which is the best scary kids show. Is it Goosebumps or is it are you afraid of the dark? Well, for me in many ways it was are you afraid of the dark. Although, Goosebumps was a fun show, but the screenplays were all based on books that had to be shortened to fit a half an hour. So at times the show kind of felt forced. But with are you afraid of the dark, pretty much all the ideas for each episode were original.That's one of the main things I liked about it the most. Each had it's fun and creepy story.I bet each one of us has had that time where we were alone in the house and there was that one show that really creeped us out. For me it was the tale of laughing in the dark with the smoking clown and the tale of the twisted claw (when they wished for somebody to come back from the dead and the zombie was knocking on their front door). I found the dvd set on Amazon and it was worth every penny. I would like to end with "I'm dr. vink, no vink with a va! va! va!"


video arcade
One of the first gameshows to feature videogames as their main focus. You have a digital game board where your token is mikey and wherever he lands decides where you go in the game. Plus you have video game challenges to either complete with somebody head to head or beat a high score on a game like ghouls and ghosts. Plus at the end of every show a team got to be in a real version of a video game. I wonder how they do that backstage? Anyway,it is good time especially for those who were the videogamers of that period.


cartoon shorts "sports cartoons and various cgi"
Remember the cartoons during the commercial break along side all the cool nick bumpers.Basically the beginning of cgi animation type shorts along with other great animated ones. LIke, I remember seeing a couple of the sports cartoon shorts. But how I really know them the most is on the f.h.e.(family home entertainment) vhs collection. Cartoon animals wild take on sports.Pigs, hippos, cats, and dogs, oh my. Then there was the shorts. Like Tuber's Two step, a guy inside an egg short and something called frog soup or something like that. It is posted on retrojunk I just could not find it.These were great cartoons that everytime I see them they bring back memories.


Nick at nite
I wonder if I am the only person that did this. Wait until the end of the cartoons when you were supposed to go to bed and watch the classic shows on nick at nite. I at least got two or three in before bed. Shows like Dick van dyke, taxi, Newhart, happy days, the Mary Tyler Moore show, I love Lucy, and the Munsters. They were always fun for me. I got so excited when they released TV land. Now I would not have to wait till late night to see these great shows. However I do miss the familiar block they used to have. On tv land they play the older shows like Petticoat Junction and on Nick at nite they play the newer ones like the Wonder years.The great days (nights) of Nick at nite.


"Mr. Wizard, Looney tunes, and Rocky and Bullwinkle" The Redoes
These classic shows were alot of fun to begin with then you throw them in with the nickelodeon lineup what variety. I think Mr. wizard was only shown early in the morning (next to cable in the classroom). I was not a morning person but I was fortunate enough to catch it a couple of times. It kind of had a feel of an early Bill Nye. I have seen the intro on the commercials list for "Looney tunes on Nickelodeon" so I know that i'm not the only one who had fun with that. My mom used to get the cheap slp (super long play) tapes for a buck and popped them in for me when I was a kid. So, I was kind of a Looney tunes junky to begin with. Having them on nickelodeon saved me the hassle of turning on the old VCR and messing with the tracking button. Lastly Rocky and Bullwinkle, which I guess having them on nickelodeon helped them to grow on me a little more. I think I had heard of them before but nickelodeon was the one to really introduce me to the classic cartoon. The great classic duo Rocket j squirrel and Bullwinkle j moose.Great fun with classic cartoons. (that's the fourth time I in this paragraph that I said "classic" for whoever is keeping count)


Eureekas castle
Nickelodeon's version of the Muppets/Sesame Street. Plus my only mention of a Nick jr. show. This was a great show too. I can't remember too much of it. I remember the main dragon character Magellan , the bat called Batly, peanut butter and jelly?, and a princess.(which I am going to assume is Eureeka) I will have to watch it again soon. It was one of my all time favorite nickelodeon shows.


Double dare
I believe this is the show where gak orientated. I loved this show not for the questions,but for the challenges and the obstacle course. That obstacle course was sweet. I can't think of anybody who would not want to pick a huge nose, dive into a huge tub full of plastic balls,or slide across slime all for the purpose of getting a flag, which would get you a prize. For some odd reason, whenever they won a prize it felt like I won the prize. Kind of like a form of daydreaming I guess.


Kablam
Henry and June are your hosts on an animated feast of great shorts. My two favs were Prometheus and bob and action league now. One of the smartest beings and one of the stupidest beings in a show, that was Prometheus and bob.An alien and a caveman's crazy misadventures. Action league now was every kids fantasy a short featuring live action features.I remember the dialogue being hilarious. I am due to watch this show again.


Snick/Nick takes over your school sweepstakes/the big help Oh, the big orange couch and the block of great nick shows every Saturday night, what fun. Snick had some pretty cool features like the in-between bumpers, snick snacks, and the cool clock that counted down till next Saturday night. I had always fantasized about what
it might be like for nick to take over my school. But the funny part is I never did fill out one of those application forms. The big help was kind of corny. But there were a lot of celebrities supporting it. So I as a kid just had to jump on the band wagon. I remember during a telethon calling in to pledge hours just so I could talk on the air. After calling in a couple of times my conscience kicked in and said that I was going to have to work off all those hours. So I just keep it with me as a lasting reminder so every time I see a plastic bottle on the ground I go "ohh..5 seconds off my pledge."


Ren and stimpy
Ok, one of my favorite cartoons of all time. Yeah, it's stupid but that's what makes it great. It carries on the three stooges tradition. Where do I start? Maybe with it's characters like, Mr. horse,Muddy mud skipper (fish), chiwawa (ren), a fat cat (stimpy), powdered toast man, the firefighter, or the man with the pipe hanging out of his mouth. Maybe I could get into the parody commercials like log, sugar frosted lumps, powdered toast, or "Don't wiz on the electric fence" (yeah, it was featured in an episode, but wouldn't have been a great phony commercial). Man, there are so many great things I could say about this great animated series. I guess I will end with the fact that this is close to being my number one favorite show on nickelodeon.


The tomorrow people
This show was kind of like nickelodeons answer to a sci-fi. I always got caught in the middle of a continuing episode, so I was always lost. I remember it being a fun show though. I don't see it around anymore. I believe this was made from the same company that made are you afraid of the dark? I think it was based in Canada. It would again be good for me to see again.

Alex Mack
How would you like to come home from school and have someone pour toxic waste on you? What if it gave you super powers? Kind with a feel of Sabrina the teenage witch but with more or her powers leaning towards science instead of magic. Alex Mack was always a good time for me. Plus I kind of did have a small crush on Larisa Oleynik. It must have been more than just me because she made some pretty big teen flicks "aka" 10 things I hate about you.But there was a time before when I just liked the show before I liked her. The plots were always pretty fun and it was interesting to tune in to see what new powers she had.


Nickelodeon magazine
In my magazine collection next to cracked and mad was my trustee nickelodeon magazine. Yeah, they still have it now. But I doubt it is as good as it was when it first came out. The best part of it was that it was not just full of interviews and articles. It was full of spoofs, crazy games, free stuff, and had the great comic book
section (which the new one probably has a comic book collection as well.) Anyway, this a fond nickelodeon memory for me. I think I still have an old issue lying around somewhere.


Nickelodeon toys/nick on video
I love the nickelodeon toys. Yeah I know a lot of them are kind of rip offs from something else. But a lot of them were fun. I remember getting nick toys for Christmas. Like the flash screen, the nick alarm clock, the farting plush ren and stimpy dolls, some kind of doodle writer with a heat pen?, and maybe a one or two Nerf/ Nickelodeon toys. Another thing I remember is the McDonalds nickelodeon happy meal. Those cheap toys were awesome. The blow spinner and hand-clapper were pretty sweet. I also would like to mention nickelodeon on vhs. It was not really a big thing just nickelodeon on video. But then you could watch any of your favorite shows at leisure. I love the orinagal black box they came it. As a kid like an idiot, I dropped one of my ren and stimpy video case in the toilet,ahh....


Doug
Doug almost felt like an animated version of myself. The outcast who was always picked on by the bully.But I guess that is the cliche for just about any kid drama. Maybe it was the fact that I was and still am a heavy daydreamer (just like George from uhf) and so was Doug. Porkchop (no, not the main course for dinner) Doug's dog, kind of brought back the feel of snoopy from Charlie brown. Although I think I saw some points where Doug could actually understand what pork chop was saying or maybe not. Overall Doug was a great addition to the Nicktoons lineup.


Rugrats
I like this show mainly because of the adults. I think they are hiliarous. The fights that brake out between the two brothers, talks with grandpa, and the wives bickering,classic.The parts with the babies are also good. I guess my favorite parts with that are when they have their own way to say things and the their own way to see things, if that makes any sense. This show for me kind of had a dropping point when Dil when introduced. Which was basically after the first Rugrats movie.


Ahhhh! real monsters
Krumm, Oblina, Ickis, the head master, and ahhhhh! the real monsters. This was a great show made from the same studios that brought us the Rugrats, klasky csupo inc. Had a monsters inc. type feel to it but I think that this version was just a bit more darker. The characters that played the the humans were classic, like in that episode with the man who collected his toenails. It was fun to the head master make Krumm, Oblina and Ickis squirm. (I know i'm awful)


I want them to release these on dvd. But nickelodeon will probably just bring out their newest shows on dvd instead. At least we got Ren and Stimpy, the tomorrow people, and Are you arfraid of the dark? on dvd. These are my great nickelodeon moments and I hope they were some of yours too.


other great mentions


Hey Arnold
What is the easiest way to describe this? A football
shaped sensation loved by a bully who lived in an
apartment owned by his grandparents. Good times


Clarissa explains it all
The debut of Melissa Joan Hart. Who could not love her moments where she talked to herself (us) with the use of simple animation at her disposal. Also it was hard not to like her bratty brother Ferguson.There were times when I actually wanted him to win (by means of his pranking), shame on me.


Angry beavers
Like a version of dumb and dumber but with beavers. I always seem to be in a trance when it comes on TV. Good stuff.


Pete and Pete
I never caught on with this show. I know it is a nick favorite. I just never caught on I guess. My favorite moments were with Artie.


All that/Roundhouse
I put them both together because they are the only two classic nick variety shows I can think of. Humor was always corny on both shows, but somehow amusing. This show is also where Amanda Bynes got her start.


Kenan and Kel
Orientated from all that, the Kenan and Kel skit made it to their own tv show. Also soon after to their own movie."Good burger" But that was maybe more from the show all that, then Kenan and Kel. For some reason I like orange pop because of this show and I don't know why.


Hey Dude
Teen drama on a ranch. Had a saved by the bell feel to it.


Guts
A great show that I never caught on to. I wasn't really a fan of American gladiators. Maybe that's why.Climbing up the big rock trail looks like it would have been fun.
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