Have you ever thought to yourself...

No...Nick these days has completely dumbed itself down. The shows are so elementary and one-note that every time I watch them, I find myself asking, "is this serious?"

I recently found out one of my friends owns season 1 & 2 of Pete & Pete on DVD. We spent the past weekend watching them and I was absolutely astounded and how good that show was. It was quirky, offbeat, smart, and witty. There were small innuendoes that you wouldn't understand as a pre-teen and epic guest stars (iggy pop from 'iggy pop and stooges', the lead singer from the B52's) that you never appreciated until years later. The episodes actually stimulated your brain rather than making it to where you didn't need to use any brain cells to comprehend them and all you need to do is blankly stare at the tv screen.

My young cousins (ranging in age from 2-12) watch Nickelodeon and Disney a lot these days. Sometimes when I happen to be babysitting them, I'll have the displeasure of seeing an episode of Zoey 101 or The Fairly Oddparents. All I have to say is "WHAT CRAP!" The Fairly Odd Parents is nothing but obnoxious and screeching dialogue with crude humor and Zoey 101 is nauseating. When I have children one day I refuse to show them ANYTHING like these shows. I'll show them old school Nick (i.e.- Doug, Rugrats (the original episodes, none of the new ones), Pete & Pete (my all time fav), Clarissa Explains It All, Hey Dude, Salute Your Shorts, etc.

The 90s were the undisputed best time period EVER. Maybe my opinion is biased since I was born in '88 and grew up in the 90s, but seriously..I get depressed when I see the mindless sh*t that comes on TV these days.

RIP Old School Nickelodeon (1989-1999)

The fact that those of us who grew up in the 1990s are now adults probably does explain a lot of the reason why many of us think current kids shows suck. However, I think there was a level of intelligence and creativity in the 1990s shows that you don't see today. I mean Doug, Rocko, Ren and Stimpy, Pete and Pete, You Can't Do that On Television, etc had mature enough elements and themes in them that they wouldn't insult your intelligence. Nick Toons and shows weren't the only example of great cartoons of the nineties as you had Animaniacs and its spinoff Pinky and the Brain (good show until they added Elmira)Batman, and Superman on the WB. Disney gave you Talespin and Ducktales. Really all these shows were witty, edgy, and could be enjoyed in some ways by a 7-10 year old and thoroughly enjoyed by a 20-25 year old in other ways.

Most of the kids shows today are braindead, dull, and pointless.

I totally agree.
I loove shows like Doug, KABLAM!, Lizzie McGuire, and all the other shows I grew up with, but I can't stand shows like Hannah Montana and JONAS!
I think we're all just biased with the shows we grew up with.
I'm always reading comments from people saying "REMEMBER THE SHOWS LIKE SALUTE YOUR SHORTS AND ROCKO'S MODERN LIFE?! I CAN'T STAND SHOWS THAT THEY HAVE ON TODAY LIKE SPONGEBOB! THEY'RE SO STUPID! INVADER ZIM WAS A GOOD SHOW BUT THEY CANCELLED THAT CUZ THEY'RE STUPID!"

Invader Zim was pretty much a show for adults with adult humor and suchh, so of course you're gonna like it.
You're not gonna have little kids watching and enjoying that stuff.
And probably the only reason why you like alot of the older shows is because they're the shows you grew up with. I'm pretty sure the kids who watch iCarly and all the other shows you hate, will 10 yrs from now be hating on the shows then too.

Leave these shows alone because they're not made for you. Don't compare the shows today to the shows from yesterday because they're made for different people of different times.

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I've never really understood the passion with which some people hate on and pity the children of today. Sure, I loved my nick shows too, but a childhood hardly revolves around tv. Well... maybe for some it does... but that's not how it should be. People are supposed to have positive memories of their childhoods that revolve around more than technology. Isn't that what so many of us hate about today's children anyway? Their cell phones and such? Maybe we like it that our shows were so great we identify so much of our childhood with them, and it isn't necessarily a bad thing... but to condemn a new generation of kids for not having the same memories is just ridiculous.

U~O
#133

The problem with that is many of the old shows on Nickelodeon so many 90's kids are so fond of, including Doug, weren't really aimed at kids. As a kid, I never truly grasped the wit and humor in Doug because I took everything I saw on TV so seriously. If it wasn't completely spelled out for me, I didn't appreciate it.

I watch Doug now and find myself in awe of the brilliant humor Jim Jinkins came up with during the Nickelodeon run. He was in a zone.