Originally launching in 1979 as a commercial free network, Nickelodeon has created some of the best original programming for kids and adolescents that television has to offer, whether it's cartoons, live action sitcoms, or whacky gameshows. Although the quality of programming has arguably taken a hit in the last couple of years, the network really has had a wide variety of quality shows throughout its history. Some programs were so popular, so creative, so fascinating, and sometimes so disturbing, that it went on to create long lasting memories for an entire generation of viewers.
To honor the network’s legacy, we’re counting down the 25 best original Nickelodeon shows ever created. For this list, any show under the Nickelodeon sun can be up for a nomination, whether it be a cartoon, gameshow, live action, or anything in between. It doesn’t matter if the program aired in the 80s, 90s or 2000s, or lasted or one season or ten seasons. The criteria we’re judging on involves overall quality, creativeness, popularity and how influential each of these shows has become in its own right.
So get ready to feel nostalgic, here are the 25 Best Nickelodeon Shows, Ranked.
KaBlam!
Kicking off our list is the show that blended variety, stop motion animation, claymation, and a team of crime fighting action figures who are total idiots. Beginning its run in 1996, KaBlam! was one of the first shows that was featured on SNICK, a two-hour programming block that ran from 8 to 10pm on Saturdays. The variety program featured several shows within a show, and its off-beat brand of humor mixed surprisingly well with its indie animation techniques.
Among the most popular was Action League Now which was played out with custom-made action figures that are pretty bad at their jobs. The crime fighters consisted of The Flesh, Meltman, and everyone’s favorite, Stinky Diver, who all proved to be so popular the segment briefly spawned a spinoff series. Also popular was Prometheus and Bob, a claymation about an alien trying to fix his ship with a clueless caveman. With a number of other entertaining shorts, along with an amazingly catchy theme song from The Toasters, KaBlam! was a great piece of highly unique entertainment.
Figure It Out
A crazy mishmash of old game show formulas and sliming gags that Nickelodeon was so fond of, Figure It Out was a game show with 1992 Olympic champion Summer Sanders as host. The object of the game consisted of four Nickelodeon celebrities attempting to guess a guest child’s special talent or unique skill. A puzzle is displayed in which the celebrities had to solve by asking the child yes or no questions. Once the trait was revealed, the child would demonstrate the ability and discuss it with the and host.
Among the many Nick celebrities that were featured on the show were All That heavy hitters Amanda Bynes, Lori Beth Denberg, Danny Tamberelli and Kel Mitchell. The show was a good bit of fun as we watched the celebrities try and figure out the kooky talents of the kids, which consisted of longest name ever and cow chip tossing champion (whatever that is). And of course, if the missed a talent or got it wrong, they were greeted with green slime which rained down from above. A perfect recipe for an entertaining game show.
Salute Your Shorts
Besides having one the best titles of any Nick show, Salute Your Shorts was a thoroughly entertaining ride with some decent performances and smarter writing than you would think. The plot consists of a group of ragtag friends at summer as they get into crazy situations and spend time messing with their clueless camp counselor, Kevin “Ug” Lee. The chemistry between the friends, who had names like Eddie "Donkeylips" Gelfen and Sponge Harris, was a blast to watch as they captured the flag and tried to the wrestling team.
If you were to watch the show now, you might be surprised how well Salute Your Shorts has aged, all things considered. It’s still clearly a 90s production, but the direction and a lot of the writing is noticeably clever, especially the “Capture the Flag” episode which featured too many Apocalypse Now references to count. Still, it isn’t without the immature humor that made these shows so much fun to watch, including the theme song which lovingly went, “Camp Anawanna, we hold you in our hearts. And when we think about you, it makes me wanna FART!” Classic Nick.
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
Capitalizing on the things that go bump in the night, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters is about the adventures of three adolescent monsters who attend school that specialize in frightening humans. Each episode is a new “class assignment” that usually involves performing scares to unsuspecting humans on the surface. The dynamic between the three lead monsters is a blast to watch, from Ickis who is a young red jokester that grows in size, to Oblina who is a high society shapeshifter, and Krumm who is a blob of a monster that carries his eyeballs in his hands, and has overwhelming armpit stench.
The standout from the program however is the heaster of the monster school, The Gromble, who is brilliantly voiced by Gregg Berger. The character can eerily go from comical to genuinely frightening in a matter of seconds, which is even more bizarre due to the fact he wears red high heel shoes on his four legs. Aaahh!!! Real Monsters is a dark series, but not without a brilliant sense of humor that asks that creative question: What is life like for monsters in school?
Hey Dude
Being this is a list that can include any Nick show throughout the years, we had to include Hey Dude, which is the network’s second original live action TV show. Originally airing way back in 1989, the program follows Ben Ernst, his son Buddy, and the colorful group of workers on their dude ranch as they run into comical mishaps. Hey Dude blended various television genres together, like comedy, adventure and family, while still being genuinely funny enough to make older viewers laugh along.
Yes, it is a silly program that is geared for teens, but its mixture of gags, silliness and themes about love and friendship is a potent bag that springs a certain sense of nostalgia for anyone who grew up in the 80s or early 90s. Unfortunately, and ironically, as Nickelodeon grew, it could no longer Hey Dude. The show was unfortunately canceled after its fourth season when Nick opened their new studios in Orlando, and they could no longer justify the production costs for filming in Arizona. Hey Dude hung up its spurs in 1991, but the set still stands on a dude ranch which is now a resort outside Tucson, Arizona.
Rocket Power
If you owned a skateboard as a kid and watched Rocket Power, you were probably jealous of the mad skills Otto and his group of buddies had. Skills mind you that should have been impossible for a group of ten year olds to pull off the kind of tricks they did, but you have to remind yourself that this is a kid’s cartoon.
Rocket Power is Nickelodeon’s sun drenched cartoon about four friends taking part in any extreme sport they could lay their hands on. It follows the classic dynamic of the egotistical hero, Otto, his level-headed sister, Reggie, his dumb as bricks best friend, Twister, and the skittish nerd, Sam aka the Squid. The banter between the four, while not always the best written, is still fun to watch with a great cast of ing characters including Otto and Reggie’s laidback dad that everyone wanted, Raymundo, and his Hawaiian best friend, Tito, who was always quick to give the kids some ancient advice.
Ancient Hawaiian saying: If you like brightly colored animation with extreme sports, check out Rocket Power.
Clarissa Explains It All
In 1991, Nick’s first live action program, Hey Dude, was just wrapping up its run, and the network needed something attention grabbing to fill the slot. Enter creator Mitchell Kriegman’s Clarrisa Explains It All, a sitcom about a teenager dealing with typical adolescent problems like high school, boys, driver licenses, and pimples. The show was famous for Clarissa Darling, played by Melissa Joan Hart, addressing the audience directly during the episodes, breaking the fourth wall.
The show is an awesome blend between Ferris Bueler’s Day Off and hit 90’s sitcom Blossom. It was the first original Nick show that headlined a young girl as the main character, making it possible for The Secret Life of Alex Mack, and much later, iCarly, to be made. The show was also hugely popular with both men and women, breaking the stereotype that women would only like a show with a girl center stage. Along with her pet lizard Elvis, and her cool neighbor, Sam, Clarissa Explains It All is a solid teen-comedy that was fresh, original and funny.
CatDog
One fine day with a woof and a purr, a baby was born and it caused a little stir. It was no blue buzzard, or three-eyed frog, just a feline/canine little CatDog. And that feline/canine became part of one of Nick’s most popular animated programs in the late 90s and early 2000s. CatDog featured one up-tight Cat, and one messy and dumb Dog, who were constantly at each other’s throats for the fact that they were ed at each other’s abdomens.
Like most Nicktoons, CatDog was an outrageous mix of comedy and some disgusting elements. Nowhere near the kind of gross out gags of Ren and Stimpy, but still, CatDog had its fair share of cringey moments. That’s at the heart of a lot of Nick shows however, and along with it came some enjoyably creative animation, some subtle sight gags, and some brilliant voiceover work including the likes of Spongebob’s Tom Kenny and Futurama’s Billy West.
The Angry Beavers
The Angry Beavers tells the story of two beaver brothers and their series of unfortunate mishaps and shenanigans. The older brother, Norbert, is the equivalent of Arthur Fonzarelli if he lived in the woods and chucked wood. He always knows the coolest things to say, and never breaks a sweat worrying about life’s problems. His younger brother however, full name Daggett Doofus Beaver, is a spazz on wheels, and isn’t the smartest beaver under the tree.
Together the two seem to get involved in every odd occurrence conceivable including growing super long teeth, battling mind-controlling pond scum, making bets to see who can stay up later, and dealing with a dreaded disease known as ‘stinky toe.’ Like CatDog, the animation here is rather stunning, as is the offbeat writing which includes throwbacks to 1950s sci-fi. Creative as it is sporadic, The Angry Beavers is chaotic, nutty, whacky, and fun in the best possible way.
Legends of the Hidden Temple
A child’s equivalent of American Gladiators, Legends of the Hidden Temple was a rousing action-adventure game show that pit six teams against each other in a series of physical and mental contests. With an intro that featured host Kirk Fogg making an entrance by swinging in on a rope, and the set based on some sort of Mayan temple that actually talked, it obviously struck the right note with kids. Most staring at their television set as we watched the Red Jaguars, Blue Barracudas, Orange Iguanas, Silver Snakes, Purple Parrots and Green Monkeys go toe to toe, squaring off in theTemple Games and the Steps of Knowledge.
Legends of the Hidden Temple is so appealing for its depiction of childhood fantasy as ordinary kids crawled along a slippery plastic mat while bungeed to a chord, or knocked each other around on a high beam over a pool. The moment everyone looked forward to the most however was the climactic Temple Run, in which the winning team got a chance to make a mad dash through the ultimate obstacle course. The only kick in the pants was, if you did win, Legends of the Hidden Temple didn’t feature the most illustrious prizes which included a book and bookmark, shampoo, a pair of outdated jeans, and a disposable camera.
To fans’ delight, Nickelodeon has announced a TV movie version of the popular show will be released this November. You can check out the recently released first trailer here.