7-List Nickelodeon shows we miss
By Marcus Whalbring, Entertainment Editor
There are those who say you shouldn’t live in the past, but if you grew up in the early 90s and watched the Nickelodeon channel, you probably can’t help it. It’s no secret that those were the good old days of children’s television. Then, of course, we all got older and grew out of watching cartoons (minus those on Comedy Central and Adult Swim). Finally, Nickelodeon Studios drew a sketch of a little yellow sponge, made a killing and decided they didn’t have to try anymore. So this list is a tribute to the good old days. Some great shows have been left out, and I apologize for that. But that doesn’t mean they’ve been overlooked.
7. “Legends of the Hidden Temple.” This list has only one game show on it, and this is it. “Guts” was a close second, but Olmec was calling from beyond the jungle in the Amazon. “Legends” featured the dorky but necessary Kirk Fogg as host, and a cast of color- and animal-coordinated duos such as the blue barracudas and the red jaguars . The winning spot seemed to be available to all teams, but if I were on the show, I would probably have joined the silver snakes. They seemed to win the most.
6. “Pete & Pete.” The ginger-headed brothers were the feature characters in the most original show on Nickelodeon. Who doesn’t want to live in a town with a superhuman in a skintight shirt and a school that had Adam West as principal? Every episode was written to include minute details that were treated as epic rules about life. The show was almost poetic.
5. “Hey Arnold!” Football Head was the leader of that gang of inner-city miscreants, who played baseball in alleys and taunted the angry stoup kid. But under that, Arnold was just a good-hearted kid who wanted everyone to be happy. He would sacrifice his time for one person in almost every episode, taking baby steps in making the world a better place.
4. “Rocko’s Modern Life.” This cartoon made my parents laugh. Rocko, a dingo who thought every day was Hawaiian shirt day, spent his time fighting with the Bigheads, his next door toads, hanging out with his bovine friend Heifer and taking care of his dog Spunky, who had a romantic relationship with a mop. Philbert the turtle was probably the funniest character on the show, but every unique personality was essential.
3. “Doug.” He had the same noble nature that Arnold possessed, but Doug was much more relatable. He was the definition of mediocrity. On the other hand, he was content with sitting in his room, drawing his latest Quail Man comic and writing in his journal. Among his other interests were his girlfriend, Patti Mayonannaise, his best friend, Skeeter Valentine, and playing first baseman for the Pulverizers. This show was golden, but Nick sold Douglas Yancey Funnie to Disney, and he just hasn’t been the same.
2. “Salute Your Shorts.” Anyone who’s seen this show knows the song by heart. Camp Anawanna was the perfect place for any young boy and girl. Ug, the head counselor, was constantly tormented by the terrors for which he was responsible. Donkeylips, Budnick, Z.Z., Dina, Michael and Telly were running, jumping, swimming and playing in an eternal summer that kept us coming back every week.
1. “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” On Saturday nights, Snick would wrap things up with the show that wanted to keep us up at night. And even though it didn’t, even though the scariest part of the show was the acting skills of the members of the Midnight Society, we still came back every week to sit around the campfire and hear the latest tale. And if you travel back, you’ll find some big names who got their start in this show, such as Ryan Gosling and Neve Campbell. So submitted for your approval, here’s the list. Happy reminiscing!
