Children’s television programs are simply not the same anymore. The days of “The Angry Beavers” and “Hey Arnold!” have been replaced by “Hannah Montana” and “Wizards of Waverly Place.” So on that note, let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the top ten kids television shows of all time (or at least of the ones that I remember.)
10. “SpongeBob SquarePants:” I am probably going to get harassment for this one, but this is actually a really good show. In fact, this show began airing when I was getting out of the whole “cartoon phase,” yet I still liked to watch it. The animation is excellent, and the premise of the show is creative, which allows for many different storylines. The most creative part of the show is that it takes place underwater. The writers can come up with endless ideas for Spongebob’s next adventure. I know I’m not the only one who loves this show because it’s the only show on my list that is still on TV today.
9. “Pokémon”: A lot of people felt that the characters of this show had no personality, but I distinctly remember that Brock had the personality of a rock, Misty had the personality of sandpaper, and Ash had the personality of wood. Despite the lack of exciting characters and meaningful storylines, the animation was always interesting to watch. Also, the most successful handheld videogame line was created from this show.
8. “All That”: This show has been referred to as the “Saturday Night Live” for kids. It was the show that jumpstarted the careers of the favorite child actors and comedians of the ’90s: Amanda Bynes, Nick Cannon, Gabriel Iglesias, Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson.
7. “The Angry Beavers”: This show is the extreme definition of sibling rivalry. Leave it to Nickelodeon writers to come up with the insane idea of two beaver brothers fighting to the death and still think that it is funny. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this show, but even I have to admit the idea was a little disgusting. This was one of the last shows on TV that never made any attempt whatsoever to be educational, but it was such a hit that it stayed on the air for four years.
6. “Doug”: This was the only show that could name its characters Patty Mayonnaise and Skeeter and get away with it. It taught us that the joys of imagination can be a good way to escape real problems. The animation was pretty poor and the theme song was kind of annoying, but it was still a great show that exemplified that substance is more important than appearance.
5. “Rugrats”: This was a show about babies…ADVENTURE, HO! Despite what sounds like a boring concept for a TV show, “Rugrats” turned out to be an adventure for all ages. Once you watch a show where a group of talking babies visit the moon and play football with a bottle of chocolate milk, you are immediately hooked.
4. “Rocko’s Modern Life”: This show was as addictive as a drug. It was weird, exciting, and extremely fast-paced. Every single minute of watching this show was filled with hysterical laughter. The jokes were strange and made little sense but were somehow always funny. It is because the show made so little sense that it was great. It was like an inside joke that every child was in on.
3. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”: Looking back this is probably one of the dumbest ideas ever. I mean, look at its name. It sounds more like a “Saturday Night Live” parody than an actual show. But this show combined what every young boy likes—animals and extreme violence (but not in a cruel way like Michael Vick did it). Throw in some stupid, outdated words like “dude” and “radical” and you have yourself a hit television program. I don’t know who came up with this show or how they did it, but I have a feeling that it had something to do with narcotics.
2. “Hey Arnold!”: This show simply amazes me. Not because of how good of a show it was, but for how memorable it was. The strange thing about this show is that if you bring up an episode, people know exactly what you are talking about. Whether it is one of their many Halloween episodes or that episode with the homeless superhero named Monkey Man, every story was exciting and is still remembered to this day by kids of the ‘90s. I think that it was the way the show took small problems like trying to get off of school and made them seem like big problems. That made “Hey Arnold!” extremely relatable to kids.
1. “Animaniacs”: I LOVE THIS SHOW! I remember watching this show every day as a kid, because it came on right after Pokémon. The show had three main characters named Wakko, Yakko and Dot. I even remember the many minor characters, like Pinky and the Brain who were so popular they later got their own TV show. ”Animaniacs” had a nonstop flurry of jokes, awesome animation, and great songs in every episode. The show was even educational at times. For example, there was a state capital song and a president song. Usually I hate it when a show tries to be educational but it somehow worked on “Animaniacs,” just like everything else on the show.
If you haven’t seen or heard of these shows then you should check them out. I am still entertained by them, so they are all worth watching.
Ryan Lina can be reached for comment at [email protected]