90's Nickelodeon Shows: Classic or Overrated?

When Kevin and I decided to do a whole tribute to Nickelodeon, we knew that it was going to be a lot of work. However, it wasn't going to be hard for us because we LOVED Nickelodeon growing up. Everyday, whether it would be weekday afternoons after school or on Saturday night, we would tune in and see our favorite shows like Doug, Rugrats, Ren and Stimpy, etc. So when working on every single article discussing and giving a small retrospect on all these shows, there were so many things that I had learned along the way. For example: I didn't know that there was another anthology series before Are You Afraid of the Dark? I didn't know that Jim Jinkens, the creator of Doug, worked on pre-school Nickleodeon shows of the 80's. I never heard of shows such as America Goes Bananaz, Livewire, Standby: Lights, Camera, Action!! and Out of Control. I didn't know that Salute Your Shorts was based on a book. It was such a blast not only learning about interesting facts about the shows you grew up with, but sharing it with people who feel the same nostalgic connection of these shows. For that, I must tell you: thank you.



But there was something else that I learned over the last 6 months. After posting up a review, I would do research on what people nowadays think of the 90's Nickelodeon. What I found were pictures such as this:



This



This



This



and this



Also, I can't even tell you how many "I miss 90's Nickelodeon shows" tributes I've seen on YouTube. Look it up, there's so many of them!

Not to mention all the articles at RetroJunk, blogs, and other websites that seem to praise the 90's Nickelodeon shows and saying that the shows from the 2000's up to today are complete garbage and that kids today don't know what they're missing. However, there was one comment from someone that made me see something I haven't even though of.

"The reason why you praise the 90's Nickelodeon shows is because you grew up with them. When you're saying that today's shows are terrible because they're not the same shows you watched as a kid, you have to understand that you are not a kid anymore. Today's kids are completely different compared to kids from 10 or 20 years ago. Kids are surrounded by different media, they're raised differently, and their tastes of shows are different. If you were a kid in the 90's, I'm sure you wouldn't like it if they didn't show programs like Hey Arnold or Rugrats and instead aired programs such as Facts of Life, Charlie's Angels, or The Cosby Show. You didn't care for your parents' show then and the kids of today don't care about your shows now."

You know what? The person who wrote this comment made a really good point. As you recall from my review of Welcome Freshmen/Fifteen, I had mentioned that the people who grew up with Nickelodeon from the 80's hated the 90's Nickelodeon shows because most of their favorite shows were gone and were replaced by others. But you don't see people doing "I miss 80's Nick" videos with shows such as Pinwheel, Livewire, The Third Eye, America Goes Bananaz, Today's Special, etc. Now it's gone full circle with people who grew up with Nickelodeon from the 90's saying they hated the 00's Nickelodeon because most of their favorite shows are gone and were replace by others.



When reading and watching these "I miss 90's Nick" videos, it got me thinking:



I mean, seriously? It seems that the people who have created these videos and had written these articles has most likely haven't seen these shows in years. Now I'm not talking about when The 90's Are All That debuted last year, no! I'm talking about looking at now outdated websites gushing about how the 90's Nickelodeon shows were the best ever giving out detail in why it was so good and the new shows are crap. A few years ago, I would have been in that group. I would have fought to the death saying that shows of today are garbage and the older shows were the best. But maybe now is not the case anymore. Maybe my rose colored glasses were on for so many years that I haven't admited the fact that many of the shows that I saw as a kid have not held up at all. Is this true? Well, sit back and relax as we talk about the pros and cons of 90's Nickelodeon shows. Here we go.

Pros

When said that the 90's was the most important year for Nickelodeon, I completely agree. As you know, back in the 80's, the majority of their programs were acquired from other networks and even countries such as Canada and Great Britain. While there were original shows exclusively from Nickelodeon such as Pinwheel, Popclips, Livewire, America Goes Bananaz, Out of Control, all the game shows, Nick Rocks, and Hey Dude, all of the kids' shows and cartoons were from other sources such as Danger Mouse, Count Duckula, Banana Man, The Adventures of the Little Prince, David the Gnome, etc. Not to mention You Can't Do That on Television, which put Nickelodeon on the map, was a Canadian sketch comedy show.

When the 90's came, Nickelodeon had at that point created its own identity. Nickelodeon Studios was open in 1990, they were the #1 kids' network, and now they could animate and create their own shows. As I've mentioned before, 1991 was the most important year of Nickelodeon. Shows like Doug, Rugrats, Ren and Stimpy, What Would You Do?, Clarissa Explains it All, and Are You Afraid of the Dark were debuted. Almost all of those shows were innovated and groundbreaking when they first came out. Ren and Stimpy showed us that cartoons can have adult humor and paved the way for shows such as Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Cow and Chicken, Rocko's Modern Life, South Park, Beavis and Butthead, and Adventure Time. Rugrats had an interesting European animation and had created a show that both kids and adults could like. The kids got into the characters and their perspective of the adults while the adults loved the modern pop culture jokes. Clarissa Explains it All was one of the first teen shows that starred a female and had shown us a view of what a typical teenage girl goes through.

Not to mention that the 90's was a huge revival and gave a modern spin to Hanna Barbera, Disney, and Warner Bros. cartoons such as Tiny Toon Adventures, Darkwing Duck, Ducktales, Talespin, 2 Stupid Dogs, Pirates of the Dark Water, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Swat Kats, and Freakazoid. Also there were fantastic comic book animated series such as Batman, Superman, X-Men, and Spiderman. So you see, today's shows such as Phineas and Ferb, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, The Regular Show, and Young Justice wouldn't have been possible without the groundbreaking work that the animators from the 90's could do. In a time in which cartoons were nothing more than 30 minute commercials hyping up the latest toy, the 90's set the standard of what a cartoon could do.



Now let's talk about the live action shows. As you've been noticing from the tribute, no two teen series were the same. Each one of them were different and unique. Clarissa Explains it All was not like The Adventures of Pete and Pete. My Brother and Me was not like The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Are You Afraid of the Dark? was not like Salute Your Shorts. Each show had its own identity, setting, and characters to set it apart from the other shows. This is what today's teen shows are missing: they are all one and the same. It's about a group of teenagers who either go to school or at home or just hang out and they do pretty much nothing. The characters are pretty stupid and cliche, there's no plot, and everything just seems unrealistic. I feel like I'm seeing the same show over and over when I change the channel and I see iCarly, Victorious, Austin and Ally, Hannah Montana, The Wizards in Waverly Place, and Big Time Rush. There is absolutely no variety in any of these shows. It's like what D.J. McHale said in our interview with him "I can't tell the difference between the shows on Nick and Disney. I like to call it Disneolodeon". I completely agree.



Another thing that Nickelodeon in the 90's did well were the special events. I mean, don't tell me you didn't want to be in the Nickelodeon Super Toy Run when you were a kid. I mean, you had 5 minutes to get any toy you wanted and you didn't have to pay for it? Yes please! I want to get a Super Nintendo and a Sega Genesis! Sign me up!



Overall, the 90's were indeed a great decade for Nickelodeon. That can never be debated. It was truly a privilege if you were a kid in the 90's.

Now, uncover your eyes and take off your nostalgic rose colored glasses. Here is the major con! While it may be one, it's a really important one.

Cons

The majority of the shows on Nickelodeon have not held up well at all, especially the teen shows. Welcome Freshmen and Fifteen were blantant ripoffs of Saved by the Bell and Degrassi. My Brother and Me and Space Cases are extremely corny and almost unwatchable, Roundhouse was an awful excuse for a improv show having terrible jokes, the majority of the game shows have poorly aged due to their crappy prizes, uncreativity, goofy hosts, cinematography, and idiotic contestants, Cousin Skeeter and 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd were unbelievably bland and boring, and shows such as The Secret World of Alex Mack and The Journey of Allen Strange fell short of what could have been a great show. More than half of the shows Kevin and I reviewed were not recommended to check out, so why do people still talk great about them? Because I think that the people who praise them have not seen them lately. They're so protected of their childhoods that they wish to not see them again due to them watching it as a kid gave them a warm feeling inside. For this reason, people are more than willing to post that the 90's Nickelodeon shows were the best. News flash: more than half of them are not!



I just feel that many of the 20 and 30-year-olds are constantly saying that their childhoods are awesome and to tell you the truth, I'm already getting burned out on it. The reason that our childhoods were great was not only because there were great shows to see, but because our lives were simpler and filled with less responsibility. When we see shows and movies today that are different from the ones we grew up with or being remade, we get angry because we had seen "better" shows when we were kids or fear that they'll change the original source material that we grew up with up. But mostly, we don't want to admit the complete honest truth: we're getting old!



Similar to when the baby boomers were complaining that there were no good quality programs in the 80's compared to the 50's, we are complaining that there are no good quality programs today compared to the 80's and 90's. Well, guess what? The majority of our favorite shows are out on DVD or online. Go watch those if you want to get your nostalgic fix. Problem solved!



Also, last time I checked, there are some great shows on TV right now. If you want to watch a great animated show, watch Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gravity Falls, Phineas and Ferb, Young Justice, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Legend of Korra, and so much more. Not to mention funny sitcoms and TV series like Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Mike and Molly, Girls, Two Broke Girls, 30 Rock, and more. Not to mention the adult animated shows like Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, Robot Chicken, Aqua Union Patrol Squad, and so much more. There are so many great shows today: you just have to be open minded and look around. You'll find a gem that will be just as treasured as some of the shows you grew up with. There are even some Nickelodeon shows from the 2000's that aren't bad. In fact, there are some really good ones!



In concluding this article, I do agree that the 90's were a huge important milestone for Nickelodeon and had a great run with their shows. It was truly the "golden era" for the #1 kids' network. But that was then and this is now. For today's standards, most of the shows have aged poorly and not as good as it once was. It's 2012. Time to look ahead, not look back. You can do so from time to time, but don't stay there. You won't get very far in your life doing so.



That's all for now. Tune in next time as we go into the year 2000 with Double Dare 2000.



Also, it's time to return to the Tim Burton tribute with the 1988 classic Beetlejuice.



Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: The Amanda Show

To conclude 1999, Nickelodeon had released a second spin-off of All That. Due to the popularity of Amanda Bynes during Seasons 3-6 on All That. Dan Schneider, the producer of the show, left All That and created his first show for Nickelodeon. That show starred Amanda Bynes in a sketch comedy/variety show called The Amanda Show which debuted on October 16, 1999.

The show started with a young obsessed girl named Penelope Taint (played by Amanda Bynes) trying to get a chance to meet with Amanda because she's her #1 fan. She does anything in her power to try to get into the studio to see Amanda's show so that she can meet her. But it always doesn't turn out to be well for Penelope as she's always missing her chance to meet Amanda. However, she doesn't give up!



The show then cuts to the intro and Amanda Bynes stepping out on stage greeting the studio audience. Then it cuts to a funny gag with Amanda doing something with her cast members or the audience and then the skits begin. The skits that The Amanda Show was known for were some of the following:

The first skit always starts with a commercial for a weird product. The kids would be bored and then all of a sudden, their problems would be solved with this product. The products were a cereal called Meatloaf Crunch, vegetables that are made of sugar called Sugar Veggies, a e-Bay like website where you sell your gross lunches online for cash called LunchBay.com, a machine that doubles your allowance money, and a popsicle that can make you sick called Sick Popples.


Judge Trudy was a spoof of Judge Judy, It involved a kid who would sue an adult about a simple problem like not doing math homework or cleaning their room to a huge problem like putting glue on their teacher and sticking objects to them to stealing their parents' car and crashing it. Judge Trudy would always side with the kid and give the adults cruel and unusual punishments. She would then end the case and brings out dancing lobsters.

Blockblister was about a family of foreigners who own a video store that contains really bad homemade videos of the owners acting in movies that were popular at the time. The customers would come back and complain about the movie. The owners say that the movie was better and would dance with eggs on hand.

The Girls' Room was about 4 girls who do their talk show in the girls' bathroom. The 4 girls were Amber, who was popular, Sheila, who was tough, Tammy, who's in an exchange student from Tennessee, and Debbie, who was a really dumb girl who likes eggs. While hosting the show, they would cover a topic of what was going on in the school. Then someone would come in and pester them and Sheila would give them swirlies.

Crazy Courtney was about a nerdy girl named Courtney who had large teeth, glasses, a hat, and spoke in incomplete sentences. She would do things that would pester the people around her and she would comeback with the line "Mah-Ha".

Moody's Point was an occuring 15 minute skit that was spoofing on popular teen shows at the time like Dawson's Creek. It involved with a girl named Moody (played by Amanda Bynes) as a exagerrated teen girl who went to high school with her friends. Her father was a clueless man and her mother is lost somewhere on a hot air balloon. Her friends were Brie (played by Lauren Petty), a popular blonde hair girl and Moody's best friend, Misty (played by Molly Orr), an over-the-top emotional girl who's feelings were hurt easily, Spalding (played by Taram Killiam), a boy who has a huge crush on Moody, and Sternum (played by Matthew Botchuis) who was a "bad boy" who says the opposite question whenever someone asks him a question. The final skit ended in a cliffhanger due to the show being cancelled.


Dan Schneider wanted to make a TV series of Moody's Point, but it was never green-lit. Dan Schneider wanted to make a spinoff show based off a spinoff show based off a spinoff show? No way! Don't worry, he'll have many more opportunities to create those kind of shows. Believe me!





There were other cast members of The Amanda Show who would act in the skits alongside Amanda such as John Kassir, Raquel Lee, and Nancy Sullivan. But it wasn't until Season 2 when The Amanda Show gained a huge amount of popularity when two more cast members were included: Drake Bell and Josh Peck.



They would be in skits just as Tony Pajamas, Hillbilly Moment, and Totally Kyle. They became so popular that they would eventually get their own TV series called Drake and Josh, which was the basically the 2000's version of Kenan & Kel. But we'll talk about that another time.



The show lasted for 3 seasons until it was cancelled on September 21, 2002. While we'll cover about Dan Schneider, Nancy Sullivan, Drake Bell, and Josh Peck in another review, some of the other cast members of The Amanda Show went on to do other projects while some faded into obscurity.

Raquel Lee was in other movies and TV shows such as The Poof Point, The Proud Family, The Hugleys, The Bernie Mac Show, Commander in Chief, and A Numbers Game.



John Kassir has done a lot of voice work being in shows such as Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Time Squad, Rocket Power, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Johnny Bravo, Danger Rangers, As Told By Ginger, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and The Looney Tunes Show.



Taram Killiam has been in other movies and TV shows such as Stuck in the Suburbs, Big Fat Liar, Boston Public, Do Over, Roswell, Drake and Josh, Just Married, Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, and My Best Friend's Girl. He's currently a cast member of Saturday Night Live. He's currently married with actress and former model Cobie Smulders and has one daughter.




Amanda Bynes has been in other movies and TV shows such as MadTV, What I Like About You, Big Fat Liar, What a Girl Wants, Love Wrecked, She's the Man, Hairspray, and Easy A. On September 2012, she had announced that she has quit acting and is working on a fashion career. However, as of now, it has come to a halt ever since she was arrested for a hidden run while she was under the influence of alcohol. Her next court case on October 19th.



Overall, while the show wasn't as memorable as All That and more than half of the skits were hit and miss, The Amanda Show was still pretty funny, nonetheless. While All That was described as Saturday Night Live for kids and Kenan & Kel was a modern take on 50's sitcoms, The Amanda Show was sort of like The Carol Burnett Show for kids with a woman host who had many cast members and can star in a million roles and alter-egos. The Amanda Show was certainly filled with a lot of creativitiy and funny skits that are still in my mind years later. It's a shame that The Amanda Show was the last sketch comedy show to air on Nickelodeon. However, it did end quite well with the exception of the cliffhanger to Moody's Point. If you were a fan of shows like All That and Kenan & Kel, check it out sometime.



That concludes all the classic shows on Nickelodeon from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Now that it's October, I'm going back to another tribute that I started back in July, but never got around to finish. That's right, starting next Monday, I'm continuing the Tim Burton tribute. Expect a few surprises on that including a special guest appearance on a new podcast from someone Kevin and I interviewed a few months back and even a very special project that I collaborated with Timdiana!



However, there's one more thing I want to post to conclude the 90's Nickelodeon shows. Something that made me think over the last 6 months when working on this Nickelodeon tribute. Tune in next time as I ask the burning question: Were the 90's Nickelodeon shows as good as many people say it is or are they too brainwashed with nostalgia not seen that most of the shows aren't as good as they once were?

Hope to see you around Old School Lane. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd

As we conclude the Nickelodeon programs of the 90's, let's talk about the last teen series that came out during that era. A very strange concept to a teen series came out on October 16, 1999. That show was 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd.



The show starts off with Eddie McDowd, a mean high school bully who constantly teases people younger and smaller than him. He's a selfish, mean, narcissistic, and tough person who isn't afraid of anything. When a new kid named Justin Taylor (played by Gilberstadt) accidentally spills paint on Eddie, he tortures and beats him up. After school, Eddie walks home to find a homeless man needing help. Eddie refuses to help him and walks away. But then the homeless man turns out to be a man with supernatural powers simply known as The Drifter (played by Richard Moll). For his selfish acts, he turns Eddie into a dog (voiced by Seth Green).



To be a kid again, Eddie has to perform 100 good deeds otherwise, he'll be a dog forever. All of a sudden, a dog catcher puts Eddie into the dog pound. While staying at the dog pound, he sees Justin, the last kid that he picked on. When Eddie sees him, he talks and Justin understood him. With that said, Eddie begs Justin to set him free and help him perform the good deeds that way he can be a kid again. Justin says no at first because he feels that Eddie is getting what he deserves, but then Eddie promises him that if he turns back into a human, he will not tease anyone ever again. Justin agrees and adopts Eddie into their family. The family consists of the mom (played by Katherine MacNeal), the dad (played by William Francis McGuire), and the older, sassier, meaner sister Gwen (played by Morgan Kibby). The only person who knows about Eddie's secret is Justin's best friend Sariffa Chung (played by Brenda Song). She and Justin help Eddie with finding people who need help so that Eddie can perform his good deeds.



In each episode, Justin and Sariffa help Eddie out to get a person who needs help. But somehow Eddie screws it up either making the problem worse or wanting to just be lazy or just being a plain bad dog due to his past life of being a bad kid. But Eddie knows that he doesn't want to be a dog anymore so he gets himself determined and helps the person out with their problem. At the end of every episode, The Drifter would let Eddie know that he has completed the deed and that he has a certain number of them to do. It gives Eddie the strife to not give up and continue on with his good deeds.



However, things also get tough for Justin. There are two new bullies who step in and take Eddie's place as the meanest kids in school: Flaco (played by Josh Hammond) and Spike Ciprano (played by Danny Tamberelli). Oh Danny, you just have to be guest star in practically every single 90's Nick show, don't you? Also, The Drifter starts telling Eddie not to get too close to Justin because after he performs his 100th deed, Justin and his family's memory will get wiped clean and will not remember Eddie at all. For Eddie and Justin, they start getting a good friendship going that they don't want to lose, but they know that they have to sacrifice that friendship in order for Eddie to turn into a human again.



Around the 2nd season, there were some changes that occured on the show. Gwen left to do some foreign exchange program in England. In her place, a British girl named Tori (played by Melanee Murray) came to live in the Taylor household and became a main character throughout the rest of the series. Also, the main theme was change to Baha Men's "Who Left the Dogs Out?",  there was a counter in the beginning of each episode to indicate how many deeds were left for Eddie to do, and Eddie's voice was done by Jason Hervey instead of Seth Green. I guess Seth left to do better projects that being the voice of Eddie.



I don't blame him.

The show lasted for 3 seasons until it was cancelled on April 21, 2002 due to lack of interest and low ratings. In the last episode, Eddie is still a dog who had just completed 40 deeds. I guess he'll remain a dog forever. Oh well.



Some of the actors went on to do different projects after 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd while most of them faded into obscurity.

Morgan Kibby has been in other TV shows such as Judging Amy, Boston Public, and State of Grace. She's currently a indie singer/songwriter appearing in bands such as The Romanovs and M83.



Richard Moll has been in other TV shows and movies such as Smallville, Dumb Luck, Angels with Angels, Cold Case, Assassin's Code, Lake Effects, and DisOrientation.



Josh Hammond has appeared in other TV shows and movies such as Boston Public, Yes, Dear, Undressed, Scorcher, Dawson's Creek, Black Cadillac, Ring of Darkness, CSI: NY, Las Vegas, Living with Fran, Scrubs, and The Tripper.



Brenda Song was in smaller roles in TV shows such as 7th Heaven, Judging Amy, ER, Once and Again, and Bette. Then became a more profitable and prominent actress in the Disney Channel being in TV shows and movies such as The Ultimate Christmas Present, Phil of the Future, Get a Clue, That's So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, Stuck in the Suburbs, College Road Trip, and The Suite Life on Deck. She then left Disney and has been in other movies such as The Social Network and Little Sister.



Seth Green has been in other movies and TV shows such as the Austin Powers trilogy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Greg the Bunny, Party Monster, The Italian Job, Be Cool, The Best Man, Sex Drive, and Old Dogs. He's currently the voice of Chris Griffin in Family Guy and the co-creator of Adult Swim's Robot Chicken. He's married to actress Claire Grant.



Jason Hervey is a producer of many reality TV shows such as I Want to be a Hilton, Scott Baio is 45...and Single, Hogan Knows Best, and co-hosts Confessions of a Teen Idol alongside with Scott Baio. He's currently married to his wife Shannon Hervey.



Overall, the show was both boring and strange. I mean, who thought that a kid turning into a dog would make for a good kid's show. I mean, seriously? What kind of appeal would kids find in a show this odd and stupid? If it would have gone in a serious route, maybe it would've worked. Maybe Eddie would started off taking his dog form to his advantage biting, barking, scratching, and chasing people. Then when he learns that what he was doing was wrong, then he can make up for it with his good deeds around the middle or end of Season 1. But nope, Eddie's personality went 180 when he turned into a dog. In the first episode, we see a glimpse of Eddie as a tough, mean kid who cares about no one but himself. But when he turned into a dog, he's laidback, cool, and somewhat nice. I mean, what? You don't change your personality that quickly! I mean, it's like a completely different person was changed into a dog. Just like Cousin Skeeter, all the main characters are bland and forgettable. The only one who's memorable is Eddie. But even Eddie isn't funny or charming enough to save this show.

Also just like Cousin Skeeter, it's another odd Nickelodeon show that has been hugely forgotten. The only thing that people remember about it was is that it's about a kid who turns into a dog and he does these good deeds in order for him to turn back into human. That's it. If you took Eddie away from this show, you would have a bland, forgettable teen series filled with boring and cliche characters. I don't recommend checking it out.

 

That's all for now. Tune in next time as we review the final show that debuted in the 90's: The Amanda Show.



Also, expect two more articles to conclude the 90's right before I make a big announcement about our next projects.

That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: Rocket Power

Around the late 90's, extreme sports such as skateboarding, surfing, BMX biking, and snowboarding were becoming extremely popular due to the undeniable success of the X-Games. The undeniable king of the vert skateboarding was Tony Hawk who had accomplished the impossible trick, the 900, on July 27, 1999. Even if you never seen the X-Games, you knew from someone or somewhere that skateboarding was all the rage. Before Neversoft released their now iconic skateboarding game based on the king of skateboarding Tony Hawk's Pro Skater a month later, the minds of Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo had created their last Nicktoon in the 90's. That cartoon was known as Rocket Power which debuted on August 7, 1999.



The show took place in California in which three kids would spend their days skateboarding, rollerblading, surfing, or biking. The kids were the siblings Otto and Reggie Rocket and their best friend Maurice "Twister" Rodriquez. When a new kid moves into their neighborhood, they decide to see who it was. It turned out to be a chubby, pale, nerdy kid from Kansas named Sam Dullard. Not too familiar with sports due to him being a technology nerd, the group decided to take him in and teach him how to play street hockey and other sports. Seeing that he has an up-to-date computer, Reggie approaches Sam to help her publish a new sports magazine. When playing street hockey, they learn that Sam is not the most athletic, but he had proved to be an excellent goalie. With Sam's potential to be a good athlete and his technological know-how, Otto, Reggie, and Twister decide to have Sam as a member of their group calling him "Squid", meaning he was the new guy.



We were also introduced to the adults in the show consisting of Otto and Reggie's father Ray "Raymundo" Rocket, a surfer, owner of a skate/surf show and a burger joint called The Shore Shack, Tito Makani, Ray's Hawaiian best friend who helps him run the Shore Shack, Twister's mean older brother Lars, their next door neighbors Violet and Merv Stimpleton, their police officer friend Officer Shirley, and Sam's overprotective mother.

Each episode would have Otto, Reggie, Twister, and Sam partake in an extreme sport pulling off some crazy tricks or learning how to pull off new ones. We would also see our characters go through everyday problems from Otto and Twister getting good grades, Sam trying to learn how to skate and surf alongside his friends, or Reggie trying out for volleyball. For kids who had a love of going outside to skateboard, riding bikes, or surfing, Rocket Power had became a favorite. Just like The Wild Thornberrys, Klasky and Csupo had released a Nicktoon to cash in on the popularity of what kids were into at the time. While Nickelodon's Sk8-TV was the first show to cash in on the skateboarding trend of the 90's, Rocket Power improved on it by tenfold by having surprisingly relatable characters, a real life setting in California, and real colorful animation.



The show lasted for 3 seasons ending its run on July 20, 2004. Overall, I found the show to be pretty okay on its own, but awesome if you're a huge fan of extreme sports in the late 90's. This was a show that looked it was made by extreme sports fan for extreme sports fan. The characters were relatable and at times generic, the animation was colorful, and the lingo, laughable now with terms like "lame-o" and "shoobie", was fitting in the 90's. The diversity of different sports they would play and the encouragement of going outside to play is absolutely refreshing to see with today's kids interesting in video games, TV, and cell phones. Admittedly, Rocket Power hasn't held up very well since the popularity of extreme sports has waned down over the years and a lot of the episodes kind of blend in with one another making some of them forgettable While not up-to-par with Rugrats and Aaahh! Real Monsters, Rocket Power is a show that comes highly recommended if you're a huge fan of extreme sports during the 90's. But for other people, it's probably worth skipping.



That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: SpongeBob SquarePants

Despite shows like The Angry Beavers and The Wild Thornberrys, Nickelodeon hasn't had a huge critical hit in a while. The newer shows weren't up to par with the older shows from the early 90's. The competition of the #1 kids' network was getting tougher and tougher with Cartoon Network, FOX Kids, and Kids WB dishing out top notch cartoons. With that said, Nickelodeon knew they needed a huge hit! On May 1, 1999, one Nicktoon came and became not only a huge hit, but a worldwide phenomenon. That show is none other than SpongeBob SquarePants.



The show takes place under the sea in a underwater town named Bikini Bottom. In it, a young naive yellow sponge named SpongeBob SquarePants lives in a pineapple and works in a fast food joint called The Krusty Krab as a fry cook. He interacts with his friends such as Patrick Star, a very dimwitted star, Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel from Texas who lives in a aquatic dome, Mr. Krabs, his boss at The Krusty Krab who's a real cheapskate and loves money, Pearl, Mr. Krabs' daughter, and Squidward, his neighbor and co-worker who hates SpongeBob and Patrick with a passion.



In each episode, you would see SpongeBob go through many things such as going jellyfishing with Patrick, pestering Squidward, working at The Krusty Krab, playing karate with Sandy, SpongeBob trying to get his driver's license, or SpongeBob being clueless of Plankton's plan of trying to steal the Krusty Krab secret formula to make Krabby patties.

The show was created by Steven Hillenberg. Before he would become a well known animator, he was a marine biologist teacher at the Orange County Ocean Institute around the early 80's. He decided to quit and pursue his second passion: animation. While going to school at the California Institute of the Arts, he created a comic book called The Intertidal Zone in which it takes place underwater with anthropomorphic sea life led by a sea sponge named Bob, which would be a precursor to SpongeBob.

Then around 1993, Hillenburg was hired by Joe Murray, the creator of Rocko's Modern Life, to become a director of the series. In that show, he met the people that would eventually be the main force behind SpongeBob SquarePants. Many of the writers, voice actors, and producers of Rocko's Modern Life such as Dan Povenmire, Martin Olsen, Paul Tibbit, Mr. Lawrence, and Tom Kenny. In the Rocko's Modern Life episode "Fish and Chumps", Hillenberg had met Kenny and saw his amazing talent doing his voice on Heffer and the sea captain.

"When I went in to cast the show, I got all these horrible impersonators of what I wanted. I knew I wanted Tom from the beginning, from working with him. [Beyond him] I had in mind kind of crude imitations of what I wanted", said Hillenberg in a 2009 interview with Comic Riffs.



Also, since the episode mostly focused on anthropomorphic sea creatures, he had decided to go back to his original concept of the comic book he worked on when he was in Cal Arts. When Rocko's Modern Life ended in 1996, Hillenburg hired the majority of the crew from Rocko's Modern Life and had worked on a new cartoon for Nickelodeon.

"I created a bible and a few paintings to explain the characters and their world. To supplement this I sculpted SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward and put them in an aquarium where they were propelled by an air pump. I also recorded a temp theme song on a small tape recorder and mounted it inside a conch shell with a mercury switch, the song would play whenever the shell was lifted to the ear. I was also nude."

He pitched the pilot episode "Help Wanted" to the Nickelodeon execs and they had loved it. However, there were a few changes from the original pilot than the one that would eventually be shown on May 1999. First, SpongeBob's original name was SpongeBoy, but SpongeBoy was the name of a mop product. So Hillenberg changed his name to SpongeBob and the rest was history.



The inspiration of SpongeBob was a mixture between the innocence, naive, optimism, and goofy humor of Jerry Lewis, Stan Laurel, and Pee-wee Herman. Also another thing that SpongeBob was known for was his questionable sexual identity. In the episode "Rock-a-bye Bivalve", SpongeBob and Patrick portray themselves as a couple raising a baby sea scallop. SpongeBob would dress up in dresses and be portrayed as the mom. There were many instances in the show that would address that SpongeBob was possibly gay. But according to Hillenberg, that was not the case.

"Everybody is different, and the show embraces that. The character SpongeBob is an oddball. He's kind of weird, but he's kind of special. I always think of them as being somewhat asexual. Kids aren't stupid, and I think that there are some things written in [other TV] shows that [are] insulting to their intelligence…we set a precedent to write something intelligent. I mean, after all - [kids] ARE sponges! …a lot of the stories come out of the personal experiences I and the other writers had as kids."



Going back to one of SpongeBob's influenced inspirations, the character of Pee-wee Herman was also pronouced and portrayed as asexual, especially in the case of Pee-wee's Playhouse. There are two episodes that increase this hypothesis: "The Cowboy and the Countess" and "Sleepover". In "The Cowboy and the Countess", Cowboy Curtis wants to ask Miss Yvonne on a date, but is too nervous. So Pee-wee has a pretend date with Cowboy Curtis so that Curtis would have the confidence and know-how of dating. In one scene in particular, Curtis almost kisses Pee-wee until Pee-wee said that he had enough. Also, let's not forget about the "Sleepover" episode in which Pee-wee loved a fruit salad so much that he married it. At the time, there were many questions to Pee-wee's sexual character. But as you recall from the 1987 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Pee-wee's Playhouse's main essential reason of its huge popularity was that it taught kids that it was okay to be different.



Same here with SpongeBob, which is why even to this day, he has a huge following with many different types of people. The reason why was because SpongeBob had a quirky personality that had touched the hearts of many. Do we call Bugs Bunny a transvestite because he used to dress up in women's clothing to get himself out of trouble from Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam? No, we don't. Regardless on what you perceive as SpongeBob's sexuality, you have to admit that he is truly an unforgettable character who is extremely versatile in whatever situation he's put on.



Another thing that the show is known for is its music. While not as musical as say Animaniacs or Histeria, SpongeBob SquarePants has had catchy and memorable songs such as "F.U.N", "Ripped Pants", Sandy's song about wanting to go back to Texas, "The Best Day Ever", "Patrick's song" and the main theme song. I even have a Singing Machine Karaoke CD of Nickelodeon songs mostly containing songs from SpongeBob SquarePants. It's almost daunting.

When the show first came out, it wasn't an instant hit until the second season started around 2000. Then the show because a worldwide phenomenon! Ads and merchandise such as toys, CDs, games, food, clothes, bookbags, anything you can think of had SpongeBob's face all over it. It was pretty much everywhere and still to this day, it's one of the most popular programs on Nickelodeon. Today, it's ranked #1 in the most episodes airing, the best Nicktoon ever to grace the network, and one of the most memorable cartoon characters of all time. However, there is a mixed opinion about SpongeBob SquarePants. While in June 2010, he was rated #10 in The Top 100 Characters Over the Last 20 Years according to Entertainment Weekly, he was also ranked #4 in AskMen's Top 10 Most Irratating Cartoon Characters. Just like Pee-wee Herman, you either love SpongeBob or you hate him. There's no in between. My overall opinion is that I love him and the show! Maybe not much as a lot of people, but still I cannot ignore what a huge icon he became.



His presence is so hilarious and endearing! The situations he gets into are hilarious, the jokes are spot on, the timing is great, the characters are memorable, the music is catchy, the concept is unique, and the overall presentation is absolutely something to behold. There have been many imitators and shows inspired by SpongeBob SquarePants such as Coconut Fred, Chowder, and Adventure Time, but nothing is as captivating as SpongeBob is.

The show went to a brief hiatus in 2004 when the third season had ended. What we didn't know at the time was that SpongeBob and his friends would eventually hit the big screen with SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie. But we'll discuss about it another time.



After the movie was released, Hillenburg became an executive producer of the show and gave his position of forerunner to Paul Tibbit. A lot of people have said that the show wasn't the same since then, which I completely agree with. Similar to Rugrats, my favorite seasons of SpongeBob SquarePants are the first three seasons. However, unlike Rugrats, there are a few episodes of SpongeBob that I still laugh and enjoy watching afterwards. It seems incredible that a simple show about a sponge can get the attention of so many people, both kids and adults. Even Hillenburg himself is amazed by SpongeBob's ability to captivate the minds of many people from all over the world.

"I never imagined working on the show to this date and this long. It never was possible to conceive that. . . . I really figured we might get a season and a cult following, and that might be it. I think we all thought the show would be good, but I didn't ever assume it would catch on in a mass audience sort of way … Just seeing all the products out there and complete strangers wearing a drawing of a character that you created … it's both wonderful and strange."



Many people have claimed that SpongeBob SquarePants was the last great Nicktoon to air and the ending of Nickelodeon's golden era. Shows afterwards didn't have the same charm, creativity, and humor that the previous Nickelodeon shows had with Ren and Stimpy, Doug, Rugrats, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Rocko's Modern Life, and The Angry Beavers. Is this true? Well, as we continue on in this tribute, we'll see if people's perceptions are correct. If you aren't a big fan of SpongeBob SquarePants and his crazy antics, that's fine. If you have never heard of SpongeBob before, then you must have been living under a rock for the past 13 years. I highly recommend checking this show out!

That's all for now. Tune in next time as we take a look at Klasky-Csupo's 4th Nicktoon Rocket Power.



Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia