It feels that way largely because it did. Gerry Laybourne was the president of Nick from the mid 80’s to 1996 and she prioritized having a lot of variety in the programming so that almost any kid could have that one show that appealed to them.
A few years after Laybourne left the programming became a lot more homogenized and more risk averse. I think largely because of how huge Nick became in Viacom’s portfolio it was run a lot more corporate than it had been when it was a up and coming project compared to something like MTV
Came here to talk about Geraldine layourne as well!
She is quietly one of the most influential people on our generation.
She was also responsible for the transformation of Disney kids TV also and generally the "lowbrow-isation" of the kids content to make it more appealing to kids, and less structured around what adults wanted kids to see.
The Orange Years documentary on Hulu covers this pretty well. It's easy to be experimental when you're fresh and don't have much to lose. Once you become profitable, the only thing that matters is to maintain profitability
Yes and I feel extremely lucky to have been part of the 90s Nickelodeon generation, long before that yellow sponge took over. They definitely had a HUGE variety of programs. And not solely just for children. My mom even laughed pretty hard at All That in 1997. She said it was like SNL for kids. And my dad laughed at Rocko and Angry Beavers. Even the bumpers actually had character and were super clever/creative. Like the dog trying to catch the spinning bone on the tennis court, the setting sun with the comet during Christmas, the Christmas wreath, the sleeping boy with that gorgeous watercolor animation, NICKISEVERYDAAAAAAAYY, that bumper that shows all the planets … I know we’re way out of the target age group but today’s Nick/SPONGELODEON is a *huge* joke. Even 15-20 years ago it had a little more variety and they still had the Splat logo.
I would argue that Disney Channel in the 90s did. It had a huge library of cartoons, live action, all-ages entertainment, even 3rd party stuff. They showed movies like the 1970s Hobbit and Gremlins. They showed Yogi Bear. All of this on top of classic Disney cartoons & animated movies, the muppets, disney afternoon shows, live action sitcoms, 1950s shows, british shows, preschool stuff, etc.. Lots of creative bumpers and music videos inbetween programming. Then in 1998 Disney Channel rebranded heavily, purging most of this in favor of tween sitcoms.
Nickelodeon's edge over Disney at the time though was that it felt like "the first network for kids". It had a real cultural identity and meta to it, and a lot of its shows had more edge than what Disney was showing. Cartoon Network would eventually eclipse both Nick and Disney (in terms of network quality) by the turn of the Millennium though.
I can remember watching Ghostbusters on Disney, BUT, I can also remember alot of the nighttime programming being boring. This was also before the Family Channel and such.
Of course not! It's on YouTube though. But it's not great quality at times.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6fJmjt84zZgq-3Rk6L9ORba7JQF3raV4&si=rk-Dp1JJlcIFrNRh
Yep! Pretty bad. I've also purchased bootleg DVDs hoping the quality would be really good, but it was just a rip of these 🤣 (notice the user name of the person that posted them? Pretty cool)
Oh! I think I found super good quality ones on maybe Daily Motion?? It was from a Reddit post. The videos were from a Near Years Eve party that was hosted by Ben and Jewel, which was also super cool. I'll try to find it.
Yeah, I feel it did. This was before Disney Channel and Cartoon Network focused on original programming and still showed a lot of stuff they already had the licenses for
I mean as I remember there were pretty much just 2 networks but yeah they had more variety than Disney. Then Cartoon Network but it was only animation, and stuff like fox and WB had Kids blocks but weren't really kids channels
I loved Dennis the Menace when I was a kid and hoped it was on whenever I was staying at someone’s house with cable. It’s in black and white. Didn’t even notice
It definitely did as did most cable networks back then. Also remember The Family Channel/Fox Family? It was an awesome cable network with tons of cartoons (like Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man, Horrid Harry, Garfield, 3 Friends and Jerry), reruns of westerns, sitcoms and dramas, live action teen shows (like Big Wolf on Campus, Zack Files and So Little Time), reruns of Fox Kids shows (like Digimon, Bobby’s World, Goosebumps and Casper) and anime like Monster Rancher. It went downhill when Disney bought it and later got rid of all the cartoons and anime (RIP Jericho) and turned into a generic network of sitcom reruns and soap operas for young adults.
I think I remember nick and post cereal partnering. Post would put 3d glasses in their boxes and, for a week, you got to watch 3d episodes of a block of shows and the jingle was (hey/Mac/hey/Mac/kablam/rats/wu)
Being: hey Arnold, secret world of Alex Mack, kablam, rugrats and obviously, the mystery files of the wu tang clan.
It feels that way largely because it did. Gerry Laybourne was the president of Nick from the mid 80’s to 1996 and she prioritized having a lot of variety in the programming so that almost any kid could have that one show that appealed to them. A few years after Laybourne left the programming became a lot more homogenized and more risk averse. I think largely because of how huge Nick became in Viacom’s portfolio it was run a lot more corporate than it had been when it was a up and coming project compared to something like MTV
Came here to talk about Geraldine layourne as well! She is quietly one of the most influential people on our generation. She was also responsible for the transformation of Disney kids TV also and generally the "lowbrow-isation" of the kids content to make it more appealing to kids, and less structured around what adults wanted kids to see.
The Orange Years documentary on Hulu covers this pretty well. It's easy to be experimental when you're fresh and don't have much to lose. Once you become profitable, the only thing that matters is to maintain profitability
Yep this happened to virtually all of the 80s and early 90s cable nets
Network tv, too. Fox drastically changed once it got the NFL.
I especially loved, and cannot find, the dad from Clarissa Explains It All doing spoken word poetry during commercial breaks
Ooooh if you or anyone finds these PLEASE send me a link
I still need to see how “Fifteen” all played out.
I miss Nick News it felt comforting watching a new segment that was geared towards teens
Made us feel like adults but with the news on info we actually cared about
Thank Geraldine Laybourne for that.
Yes and I feel extremely lucky to have been part of the 90s Nickelodeon generation, long before that yellow sponge took over. They definitely had a HUGE variety of programs. And not solely just for children. My mom even laughed pretty hard at All That in 1997. She said it was like SNL for kids. And my dad laughed at Rocko and Angry Beavers. Even the bumpers actually had character and were super clever/creative. Like the dog trying to catch the spinning bone on the tennis court, the setting sun with the comet during Christmas, the Christmas wreath, the sleeping boy with that gorgeous watercolor animation, NICKISEVERYDAAAAAAAYY, that bumper that shows all the planets … I know we’re way out of the target age group but today’s Nick/SPONGELODEON is a *huge* joke. Even 15-20 years ago it had a little more variety and they still had the Splat logo.
Nick and Disney were the best in the 90s. Fox also had some good kids shows. I think cro was one of them. Bobby's world too
It was the only network for kids. So yeah.
I would argue that Disney Channel in the 90s did. It had a huge library of cartoons, live action, all-ages entertainment, even 3rd party stuff. They showed movies like the 1970s Hobbit and Gremlins. They showed Yogi Bear. All of this on top of classic Disney cartoons & animated movies, the muppets, disney afternoon shows, live action sitcoms, 1950s shows, british shows, preschool stuff, etc.. Lots of creative bumpers and music videos inbetween programming. Then in 1998 Disney Channel rebranded heavily, purging most of this in favor of tween sitcoms. Nickelodeon's edge over Disney at the time though was that it felt like "the first network for kids". It had a real cultural identity and meta to it, and a lot of its shows had more edge than what Disney was showing. Cartoon Network would eventually eclipse both Nick and Disney (in terms of network quality) by the turn of the Millennium though.
I can remember watching Ghostbusters on Disney, BUT, I can also remember alot of the nighttime programming being boring. This was also before the Family Channel and such.
The stuff at night on Disney was my favorite. I loved the old Zorro and Davey Crockett shows.
4-5 year old me LOVED Zorro. I remember Young Sherlock Holmes also, Young Charlie Chaplain, Mark Twain and Me.
The Wonderful World of Disney animal documentaries were cool too.
I also remember they would just show random old Disney park documentaries.
I still think about that Disney show in the 90's called, Flash Forward. It was so good!
AND THEY DONT PUT IT ON Disney+ 😫
Of course not! It's on YouTube though. But it's not great quality at times. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6fJmjt84zZgq-3Rk6L9ORba7JQF3raV4&si=rk-Dp1JJlcIFrNRh
OMG I Found it!! https://archive.org/details/flash.-forward.-1-x-01 Still grainy, but overall looks a ton better!
Ahhh Thank you!!!!
Yep! Pretty bad. I've also purchased bootleg DVDs hoping the quality would be really good, but it was just a rip of these 🤣 (notice the user name of the person that posted them? Pretty cool) Oh! I think I found super good quality ones on maybe Daily Motion?? It was from a Reddit post. The videos were from a Near Years Eve party that was hosted by Ben and Jewel, which was also super cool. I'll try to find it.
I'm pretty sure that's where I first heard the phrase "stab dull pencils in my eyes," which I still use today.
Nickelodeon easily had the best network for kids. So much variety! Oh, and SLIME!!!!!!
Yeah, I feel it did. This was before Disney Channel and Cartoon Network focused on original programming and still showed a lot of stuff they already had the licenses for
I agree!
No hate to SpongeBob. But I feel like that’s a definite line of the end of the Orange Years.
Generation X Nickelodeon was before streaming and airing shows in marathons, so yes. Nickelodeon best years were the 80s and 90s.
Is it just me or does it feel like the most presents get exchanged on Christmas?
I mean as I remember there were pretty much just 2 networks but yeah they had more variety than Disney. Then Cartoon Network but it was only animation, and stuff like fox and WB had Kids blocks but weren't really kids channels
They are the reason I knew who was running for president in the 90s. They actually made election news fun for kids
You may want to look up the recent documentary “Quiet On The Set”.
Hey Dude FTW! 🙌
I loved Dennis the Menace when I was a kid and hoped it was on whenever I was staying at someone’s house with cable. It’s in black and white. Didn’t even notice
It definitely did as did most cable networks back then. Also remember The Family Channel/Fox Family? It was an awesome cable network with tons of cartoons (like Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man, Horrid Harry, Garfield, 3 Friends and Jerry), reruns of westerns, sitcoms and dramas, live action teen shows (like Big Wolf on Campus, Zack Files and So Little Time), reruns of Fox Kids shows (like Digimon, Bobby’s World, Goosebumps and Casper) and anime like Monster Rancher. It went downhill when Disney bought it and later got rid of all the cartoons and anime (RIP Jericho) and turned into a generic network of sitcom reruns and soap operas for young adults.
 The Adventures of Pete and Pete!!
I think I remember nick and post cereal partnering. Post would put 3d glasses in their boxes and, for a week, you got to watch 3d episodes of a block of shows and the jingle was (hey/Mac/hey/Mac/kablam/rats/wu) Being: hey Arnold, secret world of Alex Mack, kablam, rugrats and obviously, the mystery files of the wu tang clan.
[удалено]
Dude, go away. Not the post for this, leave
yeah we all saw the doc, dipshit killer post