Things I Don’t Like About Television, Episode 26: Nickelodeon

Basically what the network is all about now.

Nickelodeon is a network I found by accident as a child. When I first tuned in, I was enthralled by some of the shows that were on the network. These shows mainly starred kids (!) and there were games shows like Double Dare (!). I remember shows like You Can’t Do That on Television and Clarissa Explains It All. Nickelodeon would eventually air its own cartoons and Hey Arnold! was one of my favorites. In the mid-1990’s, Snick (Saturday Night Nick) was born and there were a number of awesome shows aired initially. The network had variety and at times it was painful to see it turn over to Nick at Nite after Nickelodeon’s allotted hours for the day.

I can’t say that I really care to watch the network today. It also has more than one sister network and I can say the same about them. In fact, the programmers at Nickelodeon networks act like they have been huffing paint thinner since early adolescence. Just take a look at the schedule. It’s abhorrent.

First and foremost, I have to talk about the show that has overrun the network proper for a decade.