Remember when Nickelodeon was good and didn't consistently air awful shows?

[IanTheGamer]

This is a rant/nostalgia thread

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Well, don't they have ninja turtles now.

That shows cool

They also have Power Rangers apparently

 

[Lythium]

New TMNT is legit, so... whatev.

 

[Iguana]

Don't know what they have now, haven't watched Nick in ages (also, being from where I am, there might be a few differences in programming with other regions), but I do agree that the old 90's Nick was phenomenal.

I still remember the first time I saw the Wacky Delly episodes from Rocko, I almost die of laughter.

 

[IanTheGamer]

Nickelodeon is filled with unwatchable sh*t sandwiches that just shouldn't air, (I only watch the SpongeBob reruns of seasons 1-3) et's see the crap on , Breadwinners (gasp), Sanjay & Craig, generic unfunny sitcoms, toilet humor, Stupid horrendous Spongebob (they made Patrick and even bigger idiot) and Fairly OddParents episodes (Cosmo is a huge moron now, even more so than ever and were Poof, Foop, and that stupid dog even necessary)

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

They still make fairly OddParents???

 

[Sarki Soliloquy]

Remember when the YouTube ranting community only centered around how ****ty the programming is on the Big 3 channels until they realized that they were mostly being nostalgia blind?

Don't get me wrong, classic 90s-early 00s Nick was the shiznit. Though this is about Cartoon Network. I'd argue that the landscape is starting to improve with shows like Adventure Time and Regular Show.

 

[Pass]

No, I don't remember.

 

[IanTheGamer]

They still make fairly OddParents???

Sadly, yes they still do, the show has really fallen hard, but Spongebob has fallen even farther

 

[Sarki Soliloquy]

You know, my first post was pretty compulsive. It's like I switch stances there.

So here's what I really feel about this subject: it's pointless. Why? Because no matter how much people ***** and moan, it won't bring any changes to the Big 3's quality and programming.

Remember what I said about the YouTube ranting community? They were all on this **** during their inception. But now the issue has been beaten to death and any new perspectives take a more reasonable approach to it. It convinces me that half of them viewed it through Nostalgia Goggles. Those people seem to think lamenting about retro cartoons will bring them back. After all, the OP states that "This is a rant/nostalgia thread." which is totally fine.

So do you want to see the Big 3 improve? Well, learn what made many of the 90s greats so... great, and replicate them to new shows. You should also judge every new show with fair judgement. Judge it like any show, movie, game, or novel. Don't cut it slack because it's a cartoon. Adventure Time and Regular Show are doing so well because they are entertaining and not trying to pander to children. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the people working on those shows grew up with the 90s cartoons.

 

[JFB (JurgaBurgaFlintines)]

I'm 14 years old and I grew up with SpongeBob, Fairly Odd Parents, Jimmy Neutron, Hey Arnold, ICarly. They were pretty good shows (Granted Spongebob sucks now and you might disagree with ICarly). Atleast the characters weren't
frustratingly annoying and fart jokes weren't made every minute.

As for Disney Channel... no...it's not even funny. The only show that's good in my opinion is Gravity Falls. It is unique and has some good episodes.

Cartoon Network just sucks mostly. The new Loony Toon and Tom & Jerry Shows are a disgrace to the series. I grew up with those cartoons waking up 6 O'Clock in the morning to watch these awesome episodes that made me giggle 'till I could breathe. The only good Cartoon Network shows are "Regular Show" and "Adventure Time" because they are entertaining and funny. They aren't really childish shows either.

 

[IanTheGamer]

I'm 14 years old and I grew up with SpongeBob, Fairly Odd Parents, Jimmy Neutron, Hey Arnold, ICarly. They were pretty good shows (Granted Spongebob sucks now and you might disagree with ICarly). Atleast the characters weren't
frustratingly annoying and fart jokes weren't made every minute.

As for Disney Channel... no...it's not even funny. The only show that's good in my opinion is Gravity Falls. It is unique and has some good episodes.

Cartoon Network just sucks mostly. The new Loony Toon and Tom & Jerry Shows are a disgrace to the series. I grew up with those cartoons waking up 6 O'Clock in the morning to watch these awesome episodes that made me giggle 'till I could breathe. The only good Cartoon Network shows are "Regular Show" and "Adventure Time" because they are entertaining and funny. They aren't really childish shows either.

The first two seasons of iCarly were OK, not great, Regular Show is decent, Adventure Time is much of the same as Regular Shows (The debut promos for the first season were what really turned me off, the ads had a kid running around screaming like an imbecile who was both sugar and regular high, and drunk, that had Tourettes and ADHD, the people in the commercial must have thought there was something wrong with him)

 

[Trick or Treat]

I actually like where (most of) Disney Channel is going. While the shows themselves aren't great (except for Good Luck Charlie and Gravity Falls), the type of humor in them is progressive. As a silly example, I'm noticing a lot more sexual references/innuendo in shows like Jessie than in those from the previous eras. You might not like that change, but I fully welcome it.

But Fairly Oddparents is still going? I might check that out, I'm curious. I stopped soon after Poof came along because I never really liked the show much anyway.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Nah, Nick died soon as Spongebob (their biggest program) started sucking after the movie. SpongeBob and Patrick used to have SOME intelligence, but acted a little too ******** in the later seasons. Mr. Krabs used to be lovable, but ranged into the jerkass territory nowadays. Sandy went from Chuck Norris's sister to a girly nerd that barely does anything badass. Then there's poor Plankton, who's gone the way of Lord Zedd since parents thought he would be "too evil and scary for kids". Lastly, the show is trying TOO HARD to be like Ren & Stimpy with the unnecessarily gross humor and unwanted nightmare fuel to funny. At to least I'm glad Cartoon Network isn't suffering as much. Only a few animated shows and ALL live action ones were bad, but their other programs are still as entertaining as the last few gens.

 

[katastrophic]

You can't honestly tell me Legend of Korra and TMNT are "turd sandwiches"

 

[Holder of the Heel]

It's pretty much down to a difference between the culture we had as a child and what children are used to being fed these days, much like how shows that were on for the kids of the generation before a lot of us probably wouldn't appeal to our tastes.

There's a definite turn towards constantly bombarding with information and jokes with a bunch of characters rotating onto the set or being clumped together all at once all in scenarios that are getting progressively more and more unbelievable and surreal. Just look at Drake and Josh (something that can still get me to smile/laugh to this day) going to iCarly which was a lot of hit or miss to Victorious which was incredibly out there and then to Sam and Cat, which literally took the most bizarre characters out of the two prior shows and put them together, revolving everything around them.

I'm also seeing a tendency towards an obsession of how physically attractive the actors and actresses are and constantly reminding you with dialogue that reinforced that. Although that could be a trend that I'm making up, it certainly involved Victorious in particular.

Somewhat parallels with how Spongebob transformed, which R.O.B. perfectly describes. That is a show where anyone, no matter how old they were, could have on and at least not have their brains turned to mush. But now... yeah not so much. A lot of the writers changed among who was in charge I think, which explains the cause, but the show continued to be popular and still is as far as I know, so the cultural shift for their targeted audience is still a contributing factor to that.

And I love that Fairy Oddparents added Poof and then proceeded to ignore the existence of said character the majority of the time because there was nothing they could do with it. Didn't really think that addition through, did they? I could be wrong though, not long after that my TV watching declined majorly in general.

I'm 21 though, so I've pretty much accepted these things and moved on, such channels as Nickelodeon or Disney aren't things I'd turn to even if I watched television to begin with. Most of what I know about what is going on now is because I've two sisters at the age of 11 that love TV and watch it right next to where I spend the majority of my time in the house.

 

[Pachinkosam]

I remember I watched doug on nickelodeon.

 

[HugoBoss]

Nickelodeon AKA TMNT and Korra Channel. I remember a time on Nick when I did not watch it for only two shows. I am not even going to start on new Spongebob or FOP but they are both awful. Not all of the new shows are bad, Sanjay and Craig is tolerable at least, and Dan Schneider Shows have always been a guilty pleasure of mine. All of their other Live Action shows range from passable to horrid.
Cartoon Network, on the other hand, seems to be getting better.

 

[KatKit]

Rugrats, Taina, All That, Kenan and Kel, Catdog, Spongebob circa 1999-2003-ish, Ren and Stimpy, Hey Arnold, Doug, Clarissa Explains it... the list goes on. It was a better channel overall. I don't watch much tv nowadays, but Korra is on there so it isn't all bad, haha.

 

[TimeSmash]

I used to love CatDog and Hey Arnold!

Those shows were good stuff

 

[mimgrim]

I never really care for Nickelodeon all the much.

I really only watch it when Full House/Friends/George Lopez/That 70s Show some on at night and there isn't really anything else on. However I've also never been a fan of the likes of Spongbob and crap because I find them to be kiddy versions of shows like Family Guy which I have also never liked.

As for CN. Ehhhhhh.I use to be into that channel when I was into the Pokemon anime, but since I got sick of that anime I stopped watching for the most part. I'll still go there if I see a good movie on it or something.

As for Disney. Those are probably some of my most watched channels, however I only watch some of the sitcoms (Suite Life, Waverly Place, Lab Rats, Mighty Med, Jessie, Kickin' It, and once in a while Dog with a Blog and A.N.T Farm) and movies. And I could care less about the other stuff on it. Actually I haven't been watching it as much recently because those shows haven't been coming on as often.

 

[KatKit]

I just remembered KaBlam. That was the shiznit.

 

[JoshCube2]

Nickelodeon and Disney started sucking in 2006.

 

[HugoBoss]

Nickelodeon and Disney started sucking in 2006.

I would say at latest 09 for Nick when they changed their logo, and Disney since 07 at least for it's live action sitcoms. I never found entertaining with a few exceptions. Surprisingly aside from a few hiccups, Disney Cartoons have been consistently good but very underrated.

 

[Skywalker]

Fairly Odd Parents
Invader Zim
Rugrats
or even Butt Ugly Martians

I don't know what it's like now, but the old one was my childhood, pretty much

 

[KatKit]

@HigoBoss: Disney Channel (and Toon Disney, Disney XD, Jetix, etc.) cartoons have been good since forever. Although I think the lineup pales in comparison to how it was back in the day.

I agree with the underrated thing, though. Llyod in Space is one of many examples.

 

[finalark]

I can't wait for today's kid's to be posting this same exact thread somewhere in about ten years from now.

 

[Booster]

Unfortunately I wasn't born yet, I was born in 1995 right around when it began becoming crap

 

[Airgemini]

Legend of Korra is the only show I can watch on there now without having acid reflux.

 

[#HBC | Acrostic]

Cartoons are distasteful.

 

[Riggy Rascal]

It's not so great, that's for sure. Years back, though, I could still pick out the shows I didn't like from Nick like Rocket Power or Invader Zim. After Drake and Josh, I kinda stopped bothering with the non-animated stuff. I never exactly saw it as the most wonderful channel.

But yeah, I loved lots of shows on there: Rugrats, Rocko's Modern Life, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Jimmy Neutron - I even gave Robot and Monster a couple tries, and find it pretty decent! Of course I liked Spongebob and FOP too, but I am one of those that feel that they're really milking them for all they're worth.
Overall, I prefer Cartoon Network these days. I'll watch 3/5 of what's on there.

 

[finalark]

It's not so great, that's for sure. Years back, though, I could still pick out the shows I didn't like from Nick like Rocket Power or Invader Zim.

Invader Zim is, hands down, the single most overrated animated series of all time. Don't get me wrong, there are a number of episodes I actually rather enjoyed. But I feel like as a whole, Zim is one of those series that got a cult following because of its dark humor and little else.

Also, sorry Zim fans, but a series is not a cult classic if every middle school student in the first world who shops at Hot Topic wears your show's merch.

 

[JusticeColde]

I've been watching Nickelodeon ever since I was a baby, my mom let me watch shows like Ren & Stimpy along with age-appropriate shows like Blue's Clues. I practically watched Nick everyday along with CN, VH1 and ESPN when I got my own TV.
I've seen the network go though some great times, terrible shows and questionable decisions through the years and I can honestly say that these days, Nick is in a slightly bad period.

Shows like Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents have dropped badly in quality (SBSP is too crazy and FoP is repetitive,) the live-action sitcoms like Sam & Cat are pretty bad even by kid/tween sitcom standards. But on the flipside, the action shows like Legend of Korra and Power Rangers Super Samurai hit the mark (though Korra's writing is kinda slipping) and other cartoons like Sanjay & Craig and Breadwinners are pretty entertaining and worth a watch.

The problem with Nick these days is that they are literally trying to copy Disney right down to the D. While Disney's roster of shows is mostly filled with crap (Austin & Ally, Jessie, ANT Farm) there are shows that stand out and have charm (a la Good Luck Charlie and Gravity Falls.)

The head honchos at Nick don't seem to fully understand that the channel has a clear personality that attracted people before and can attract people now if they'd just roll with it full force instead of looking at how everyone else is doing. They're straight-up copying part of Wizards of Waverly Place with Every Witch Way and they gave a show Fred to of all people (which directly caused CN to pick up Annoying Orange, ugh.)

Nickelodeon doesn't need our nostalgia to be good, it just needs a sense of quality.

 

[Booster]

Invader Zim is, hands down, the single most overrated animated series of all time. Don't get me wrong, there are a number of episodes I actually rather enjoyed. But I feel like as a whole, Zim is one of those series that got a cult following because of its dark humor and little else.

Also, sorry Zim fans, but a series is not a cult classic if every middle school student in the first world who shops at Hot Topic wears your show's merch.

Most of those middle schoolers don't even know who Zim is, they just buy the merchandise and wear it because "Gir is cute"

 

[Saikyoshi]

Nickelodeon: Breadwinners, to me, is hit-and-miss. Mostly miss. I don't like it, but... I didn't like Ren & Stimpy and Regular Show for the same reasons. That's just me, I simply don't like shows revolving around two stupid "bros".

Sanjay & Craig, though, can just plain go to hell. I've watched it, too, and unlike Breadwinners (which has occasional good moments), there is absolutely nothing redeeming about it.

Also, Avatar Korra is a total insult to the original series. Yech.

Disney XD: They finally seem to be getting back to their senses. Gravity Falls and Wander are popular and for good reason, and now they have Doraemon, too. Time will tell if 7D continues the trend.

I won't comment on Pac-Man, as opinions on his show are pretty divided.

Cartoon Network: ...nope. Nothing there for me. Steven Universe is popular, but I don't understand why. And Adventure Time is on its last dying breath.

MAD was a guilty pleasure for me, I admit, and I was sad to see it go.

Clarence is alright, but nothing really special.

 

[LIQUID12A]

Nick: I want to use swear words so badly. Breadwinners, Sanjay and Craig and Fanboy and Chum Chum can go die in a hole. Spongebob has gone horrendous seasonal rot and needs to die. Idc for FoP.

Cartoon Network: Don't watch it anymore.

Disney Channel: Easily my favorite channel nowadays. Gravity Falls and Phineas and Ferb make it worth watching. Pac-Man is a guilty pleasure :/

The Hub: Close second. Ignoring MLP: FIM, (formerly ;_ Transformers Prime, Littlest Pet Shop and Dan Vs are surprisingly entertaining for me.

 

[HeavyLobster]

I feel like TV in general has gone downhill in recent years. There's hardly anything on that I actually care about, save for the occasional live sporting event. As far as Nickelodeon specifically, nothing worthwhile that I can think of has come out of it in the past decade other than Avatar/Korra. I can't really tell if TV's been getting dumber or I've been getting smarter, but I feel it's getting harder to justify a basic cable subscription in the age of the internet.

 

[Sarki Soliloquy]

If I am going to watch TV, it's only if I'm tuning into the local news, Toonami, or the occasional AMC/FX drama series. Then there's the occasional coverage of some significant national or world even that'll be deemed historic within years.

 

[Pachinkosam]

Most of those middle schoolers don't even know who Zim is, they just buy the merchandise and wear it because "Gir is cute"

I agree they just like gir not zim.

 

[StaffofSmashing]

Disney has turned into a sitcom thing, CN has Pokemon, Adventure Time, and (ir)Regular Show and that's it. Nick... Ah... The only thing Disney is doing right now is their animated shows.