these are terrible reasons

im gonna take a guess and say you werent a 90s kid.

You BASTARD! Catdog was a CAT with a DOG for a butt! not the other way around!!!!11!!1!one1!

A well written and thoughtful article. A sense of collective nostalgic navel gazing has become something of a defining feature of our generation and its unbearable. The advent of the internet has allowed this to grow and fester to the point where people keep claiming that things like “Rugrats” (a source of what are quite possibly the most annoying examples of voice acting ever) and “Doug” (It’s angst! For the kids!) to be viewed as essential television canon. They aren’t. Nickelodeon in the ’90s was a fascinating example of market research, trend spotting and marketing to create a product that not only could appeal to children of the time but was able to reach their parents. By doing so, these programs allowed for young viewers, now 20-somethings, to be able to look back at a program that seemed subversive when in all actuality, it was market tested to have that edgy feel. The essay collection, “Nickelodeon Nation,” sheds more light on the creation of many of these programs and how they have influenced television today.

I’d also like to say that I’m 21 years old and I watched all of this stuff as a child with cable being substituted for parenting.

I really wanted to salute my shorts and Have Clarissa Explain It All and finally know the secret word of Alex Mack

I don’t think people in their 20′s revere 90′s Nick TV as a “work of genius” so much as 90′s Nick TV reminds them of a different, more innocent time in their lives. It was the mid-late 90′s–before Bush fucked the country, before we knew what the word “recession” meant, and when our parents weren’t losing the contents of their 401Ks.

Nowadays, people in their 20′s have had to settle for less than what they hoped for as kids (after a decade of being told we could do anything we wanted to without compromising).

So it’s not about how AMAAAZING and high quality Nickelodeon 90′s programming is, but it’s about the 90′s themselves and how it felt to be a kid in that time, as opposed to being a kid in the post-Bush era.

Correction: a 20-something in the post-Bush era.

Not to get picky, but your first byline was two months ago, which probably means you’re an intern, which probably mean’s you’re still in college, which probably means you were BORN in the 90s, which definitely means that by the time you were old enough to have any semblance of cognitive memory or reasoning, the golden age of 90s TV that you’re discounting here was already over.

I mean, you reference things like The Angry Beavers, CatDog, and The Amanda Show which didn’t debut until 1997, 1998 and 1999 respectively. No self respecting “kid of the 90s” actually watched those shows. We were well on our way to sneaking more “mature” programming on the graduated Nick network, MTV.

I think this sort of criticism is better left to people who… I don’t know… properly lived it? And if you are like, 25, sorry but 13 is way too old to be watching a show about a dog with a cat for a butt.

Come on guys, I’m sure the writer remembers the 90s just fine. I’m still in college and I totally remember Nickelodeon in the 90s. I was born in 1990, and even though TV shows like Doug, Clarissa Explains it All, The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Rocko’s Modern Life premiered in 91-93 doesn’t mean I didn’t watch them. Nickelodeon was all about the reruns. I’m almost positive I saw every single episode of Rocko’s Modern Life. Also, Nickelodeon may have “targeted” the 9-11 year olds, but younger kids definitely watched these shows too. I remember watching episodes of Ren and Stimpy when I was 5. I have a sister who is 16 and she remembers watching some of these shows shows.

Anyway, I agree and disagree with the writer. I agree that these tv shows aren’t as awesome as we remember, but that’s what nostalgia is. It’s okay to be nostalgic. I don’t think reminiscing about your favorite episode of Kenan and Kel is creepy or snobby. It’s just fun.

a) you have no idea what you’re talking about
b) these are really poor examples of “90′s Nickelodeon” – really? the amanda show?
c) The point of Pete and Pete was that is was unbelievably weird, it wasn’t for everybody and didn’t try to be…

Also, to commenter Valerie, if you were born in 1990, you don’t remember Nickelodeon in the 90′s, I’m not a mathemetician here but you were zero-10 years old during the 90′s. If you remember that part of your life to the extend you claim, you should’ve skipped college and should be studied.

*extent

@Dan — The Amanda Show is one of the shows that Nick is airing again in the rerun revival block; it was their decision to group it with the 90s batch. Since it aired on Nick in the 90s, it is a part of 90s Nick, and the fact that you called it a bad example of it is consistent with the point of this article: crazy nostalgia is distorting our vision of the past.

That aside, I gotta admit, I loved the dancing lobsters . . .

Dan, I was born in 1989, and I think that even if you were born in 89 90 you still remember everyone of those shows. I remember being like 5 watching ren n stimpy with my parents. I remember salute your shorts, I remember wild and crazy kids, I remember hey dude, legends of the hidden temple and global guts. What I do remember is definitely not finding the amanda show funny. That’s when the unpleasant and unnecessary humor of shows like that started. I can compare that show to icarly and I can’t stand it. “Whooooo put the screwwww in the tuna?”.

Ok, actually a lot of these shows AREN’T available readily, especially “Pete & Pete” which is still cited by critics as one of the best kids show’s ever. It’s nice to watch old shows from when we were young. Calm down.

I think more shows could use some dancing lobsters. It couldn’t possibly make some of the schlock that’s on air any worse.

@Dan how the fuck u gone tell somebody what they remember ? If you’re born in 1990 then when you’re 5 you could be watching rugrats in 1995 ! -___- and all that stopped running in like 2005 and ppl born in 1996 still remember SOME of these shows cause some of these shows didn’t stop running till maybe like 2005

Author: idiot. If the shows weren’t AT LEAST semi-good then people wouldn’t be praising them and remembering them still in 2011. You should cool down, you sound mad. I think you’re mad because while these shows played an integral part of most 1990′s-born children (not to mention some ’80s kids as well), you missed out watching Cartoon Network or something. Any ’90s kid would look at 2011 Nickelodeon and cringe, thinking of what a blasphemous abomination it has become. You, however, seem to see no problem with the turn that Nickelodeon has taken? Because anyone with a brain in their head that watched these shows during their original runs would generously welcome the idea of ’90s Nickelodeon shows returning, considering it was the prime era of Nickelodeon programming. Welcoming ’90s Nick shows back would be a splendid idea; you sir, are incorrect.

Wow…well I must say that bringing back 90s shows on Nickelodeon is something that should have been done YEARS ago! There have been numerous petitions and even actors who were on Nickelodeon during its golden years support this movement. The 1990s had some of the best entertainment PERIOD. Nostalgia has some to do with why people miss these shows so much, but also just quality and entertainment does to. There were jokes in these shows that I probably didn’t quite understand as a kid, but watching them now I understand it and I appreciate it more. No shows from any era are perfect…we don’t live in a perfect world. However, Nickelodeon had great programming in the 1990s and such a diverse variety of shows, not playing the same show for HOURS at a time EVERY DAY…that’s get old QUICK!

I also want to make note of the fact that there are 2000s kids who don’t even like their generation of shows. Some have even said they like 1990s shows on Nick MUCH better. Some may have never seen the 1990s shows. This idea would give them an opportunity to experience the “good old days” of Nickelodeon, before technology took over and when kids were actually kids. Shows that came out on Nickelodeon in like 1998 or 1999 were not Nick’s best shows, true. Catdog, The Amanda Show, and Clarissa Explains It All were some of Nickelodeon’s worst shows.

EDIT: that gets old QUICK!

Seriously……..

Just shut the fuck up.

I think I say this on behalf of all the 90′s children.

n bai the way this article is written by a woman

lol point proven

kthx bai

a) We don’t think they’re the best shows EVARR. It’s more that they remind of us simpler times. Just like Transformers for kids of the 80′s.

b) Really Dan? First, the human brain forms memories starting at around age 3. Second, if you weren’t watching cartoons between ages 3-9 wtf were you doing? That’s prime cartoon time. That’s who they aim for. Your post smells of “I want to be more cool by saying I’m 2 years older than you.” Btw, Beavers began in 1996. So does that mean Titanic isn’t a quintessential 90′s movie or does everything have to be from the early part of a decade, the rest doesn’t count…lol.

c) It’s fine that it’s only a small programming block. An entire channel like some wanted is dumb. I don’t want to see every episode over again. Here and again is fine.

I was born in 1986 and anyone born in the 80′s to the very early 90s probably grew up with these shows which were syndicated and put into program blocks through the very early 2000s.

d) Author sounds like a crappy contrarian. We get it, you’re cool. And The Amanda Show suckes and sucked. And Cat Dog isn’t part of the core group of 90s shows IMO.

Do people not remember other more unique shows like Roundhouse? It seems no one’s mentioning Are You Afraid Of The Dark either. There were better stuff than the Amanda Show and CatDog. Pete and Pete is a good example, Mysterious Files of Shelby Woo, anyone? Ren and Stimpy?

@Dan just because you were born in the 90s doesnt mean you dont remember these shows. I was born in 1994 and i still remember most of these shows that i watched with my older brother. All that, ren and stimpy, legends of hidden temple and all those other show except for salute your shorts and pete & pete.

b) whoever this writer is must have had a garbage childhood. How could you forget Are you afraid of the dark?!?

Chat and Eddie. Both of you shut the fuck up. I believe the only one that has any type.of say on this are people born on the 80′s. How can you remember watching Are you afraid of the dark at age 3?! I suppose you remember sucking your mom’s breasts too? Smh at kids being born during the 90′s. Stick to pokemon.. Bitch.

I hope they bring Kablaam back.

[...] Love the 90′s? Wish they would come back? Me, too. So, of course I was happy to find out that Nickelodeon is bringing back some of its programming from the glorious years of my still being in the single-digit age range. It may help to satisfy my longing for the days of yore, when I could enjoy all the splendor of a better economy from the luxury of my Lion King coloring book page lined room, and $130 could probably buy a whole Power Wheels car and not just some random part relating to my oil that my mechanic swears I need to purchase within the next month “before it gets worse.” Also, the 90′s Nick block gives me something else to watch now that The Bachelorette has wrapped up its latest season (JP is so hot; too hot for Ashley – I give it 3 months). But here’s an article that builds a strong case for why resurrecting 90′s Nickelodeon is a bad idea. [...]

i knew before reading that the reasons were beyond stupid. i didn’t really care for clarissa explains it all back then or even now but i still watch itb/c it is apart of my childhood. and to the person talking about CD, AB,and amanda show i watched and loved AB and amanda show. i even like iCarly (i know its not 90′s). and i’m a 90′s kid. i think no i know its b/c the kid in me didn’t want to grow up completely.

Clearly, the author is a riot at parties.

Did 90′s nick kill your dog or something? I love going on nostalgia trips with my favorite old shows, and they are still worthy of excitement. You must be writing this article as an assignment because nobody from my generation thinks it is a bad idea to rerun these shows. maybe you are an old fart, or maybe a pimple faced kid feeling ripped off because most shows on today’s nick does not hold a candle. Except maybe spongebob, which is the closest you’ve got to the raunchiness we loved about 90′s nick.

Doug, Rugrats (prior to 98 or so), and Rocko’s Modern Life were 3 of those most intelligently written shows you’ll ever come across. And Pete & Pete is in that same class. Good writing withstands the test of time, even if people these days might whine about the “animationzzz” in the 3 nicktoons I referenced, because they’re hand drawn and people are used to the CGI crap they produce these days.

One of the reasons to revisit these shows is to discover all the things you didn’t pick up on as a kid; they’re all satirical in nature, and most kids don’t really grasp satire. I know I knew to some extent elements were obviously being exaggerated for humor, but I didn’t get the bigger picture…the broader implications that applied to the world at large. That’s because as a kid, I wasn’t as knowledgeable about the world. I wasn’t as cultured.

And don’t even get me started on all the cultural references I missed.

btw i was born in 1984 i was watching these shows at a good age not 1-5 years old. i was part of the marketed children..there are so many more shows to talk about from then not just nicks but that’s not the topic..also more then previously mentioned from nick do you remember inspector gadget? roundhouse? SNICK at all? you need to speak with someone who knows what they are talking about before you criticize anything bitch or do better research..

I personally like new shows and think they should go on but it would be really cool if they made a channel just for 90s and early 00s from all channels. If they have a channel for the 30s 40s 50s etc (tmc) y not have one for when I was a child it isn’t the same to watch on DVD or Netflix I’m a person who likes to flick through channels n watch what I find not put n a DVD and watch all episodes of 1 show. I want to watch things like recess, wild thornberries, as told by ginger, pepperann….. I could keep going on and on but my point is let’s make a channel just for us I’ll but the package with that specific channel in it

This article, not the 90s revival, is misguided, dumb@$$. The author is a barbaric, demented, naughty Freako who knows zilch.

I agree with some of the points the writer makes. I used to be one of those people who was very nostalgic about 90s Nick and I was very excited when they brought it back in this block. But I have to admit, some of the excitement has worn off for me because the shows, which before they were regularly played on The 90s Are All That, were really little more than a figment of my imagination (I was born in the early 90s, so I was very young when watching these shows and my memories of them aren’t as clear as say, someone born in the 80s that watched Nick as a kid with fully developed taste in TV). And along with that came the association of the shows with a simpler time in my life, NOT really the uality of the shows themelves. But now that I see the shows just about every day, and I see how some of them actually are not as good as I remembered, well let’s just say some of that nostalgia has worn off. Now when I see Kenan and Kel, it will trigger memories of summer 2011, not the 90s. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but, it’s not the same.
I think most people kind of feel the same way. When 90s kids actually watch these shows and evaluate them with the mind of a now adult, they’ll see that many, (not all) ofthe shows really aren’t that great, and the magic of the shows will be lost.
So, to sum up this long post, for the shows’ own sake, 90s revival is a bad idea, because if you make the shows too available, people will appreciate them less.

Dirtbike Mike, there are those who had better memories than you may have had at that age. Maybe you were a little slow, although I feel like saying that would be an insult to all other slow people.

I disagree. I love reliving the 90s! Pete & Pete, All That, Salute Your Shorts…great shows.

Ms. Jordan:

Your reasons for not supporting the resurrection of ’90s Nickelodeon are atrocious! Why don’t you just go out and say that you support Nick’s current lineup of garbage shows like the overplayed iCarly or Big Time Rush? Spare me. I’d rather sit in a chair and stare out the window all day than watch two hyper teenage girls jump around a room screaming into a camera i.e. iCarly or watch preteen boys attempt and fail to sing a decent song i.e. Big Time Rush, which is Nick’s version of the Jonas Brothers, from Disney.

Although I’m pleased that Nick has brought back their shows from the 90s, I feel as if they are doing this out of desperation. It is clear that the station has lost the magic it had back then, so this could be their way of getting some of the ratings back. If they really wanted to please the fans, they should cancel some of the garbage they currently have airing and bring some of the 90s cartoons back to the main channel. But for now, I’m thankful they at least offer some of the older shows on one or more of the channels.

Just found out that the execs at Nick have decided to revive “Figure It Out”, but instead of bringing back original host Summer Sanders, which they should’ve done in the first place, they carried over Jeff Sutphen from their current game show “BrainSurge”…..EPIC FAIL!

icarly is funny and there is one thing i hate: OLD NICK LOGO! serously stop complaining about it and did i mention SpongeBob and this article is awesome! please dont call me evil…