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82 comments to "Nickelodeon of Yesteryear (OK, of the 80s)"

whantmoore
March 5th, 2008 at 9:18 am
WTF I was talking about these shows with my GF this past weekend the funny thing is the chunky kid from salute your shorts is in diet Dr pepper ad if I am not mistaken the one were he hooks up the car battery to his chest. As far as the other Nick sitcoms I saw the younger pete from pete & pete in my neighborhood. (I live in NYC) And I did love all those corny shows back in the day funny that James Vanderbeek did a episode of clarissa back in the day
uniquethings4you
March 5th, 2008 at 9:18 am
You forgot my favorite… “You Can’t Do That on Television.” Remember, getting ’slimed’ for saying “I Don’t Know”???? Classic, harmless television.
nate derby
March 5th, 2008 at 9:19 am
No mention of Roundhouse?! You’re kidding me!

Good list, otherwise. Brings me back!
Lauren
March 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am
this is my favorite post you guys have done in a while. these were almost all of the shows i watched when i was younger. i, too, had a crush on sam. or at least i wished i had a best friend that was as cool as he was. although being friends with clarissa would have been neat, too.
annierie
March 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I loved those shows. That explains why I’m such a cornball!Thanks for the memories.
ryber3
March 5th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Good list.

You don’t have my personal favs on their though: You Can’t Do That on Television, Mr. Wizard, or Double Dare.
Janet
March 5th, 2008 at 9:31 am
I loved all of these shows! It’s funny because a friend and I were just discussing shows from this era last night after watching a little My So Called Life on DVD.

Does anyone remember the teen soap opera-y type show on Nick (I think)? All I remember is that it had the blonde girl (Daisy) who was on Dead Like Me.
Gneal
March 5th, 2008 at 9:31 am
No one seems to remember the episode of Salute Your Shorts when Donkeylips gets locked in the bathroom and tells the other campers that “there’s a machine in here that sells balloons.”
The things they sneak by.
akmargie
March 5th, 2008 at 9:33 am
My friends and I made a great investment about 3 years back and bought a bootlag DVD of the entire Salute Your Shorts series from eBay. The quailty is crap but man do we have fun making our clueless friends and family watch it.
mindy mindy mindy
March 5th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Thanks for the memories! I’m too a little disappointed that You Can’t Do That On Television is missing and also that show Cut It Out….or my all time favorite The Adventures of Pete and Pete! And I still want to get my aging parents in for some Double Dare!
Pork
March 5th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I loved, loved, LOVED Salute your shorts. My fave was the double-decker where Budnick and Dina fall in lurve. Don’t remember the Donkeylips in the bathroom one but it makes me nostalgic all the same…

Yes, Roundhouse and Pete & Pete need to be on here, especially the latter, which is infamous.
StacyBee
March 5th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I think game shows might have to be a separate post… Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple, GUTS, Figure It Out, What Would You Do… just too many good ones
sal
March 5th, 2008 at 9:56 am
ooooooooooooooooooh I used to watch all of those. My favorite show of all time from then was Pete & Pete. Seasons 1 and 2 made it to dvd but 3 never did.
kitsana_d
March 5th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Oh man, I thought I was alone in loving those shows. Why oh why aren’t they on DVD yet? Salute Your Shorts was one of my favorite shows…
Jeff
March 5th, 2008 at 10:03 am
YES! My fave post since reading neatorama a couple months ago…I agree w/ Stacey Bee, how bout the game shows? P.S…did anyone catch Donkey Lips on a Super Bowl Commercial?
Lara
March 5th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Wow. My friend and I were just talking about these shows, and I actually just bought a “Wild and Crazy Kids” t-shirt off some website. you can also get Camp Anawanna shirts. I might get one of those. 80’s and early 90’s Nick was the coolest thing ever.
And yes, my big sister and I still want to go on Double Dare! (we are 22 and 24)
Mia
March 5th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Ah, the memories. I’m pretty sure that at some point in my angsty pre-teen years, I had a crush on every single guy on each show mentioned here. Sad? Yes.
Lemons
March 5th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I second the Legends of the Hidden Temple vote. That show was awesome, even if nobody could manage to put together the Silver Monkey in reasonable time…
Josch
March 5th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I’m a big proponent for some OG Nick shows like “Today’s Special” and “Pinwheel” - those were my favorite.
Sailor
March 5th, 2008 at 10:28 am
You forgot Roundhouse and You cant do that on television! Great list though!
buu
March 5th, 2008 at 10:30 am
donkeylips has a myspace page thats pretty extensive (if youre into michael ray bauer’s acting career) and for a while he was selling bootleg copies of entire collection (i guess all of 2 seasons) of salute your shorts on dvd.
http://www.myspace.com/donkey_lips
another nerdy notable, ted from hey dude played blossom’s boyfriend on blossom, and in one episode blossom and ted went to a restaurant and who should be their waitress? christine taylor.
it was crazy i swear.
peakmind
March 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am
How about ‘Don’t Just Sit there’? I LOVED that show. Also does anyone rememeber the name of the game show where there were numerous different rooms and the players got a clue and then had to tear the room apart to find a hidden flag? It was my lifelong dream to be on that show!
Tonya
March 5th, 2008 at 10:45 am
I agree with Josch — Today’s Special and Pinwheel were my ultimate favs along with Out of Control, You Can’t Do That on Television, Mr. Wizard and Double Dare. Ahh. Nostalgia.
madie
March 5th, 2008 at 10:57 am
oh no, i was right there with you watching every one of these shows. double dare was awesome too - and we can’t forget mr. wizard (RIP) — and you aren’t the only one to have a crush on sam from clarissa — when i was a kid he was hot hot hot!
crushthemall
March 5th, 2008 at 11:00 am
peakmind, you’re thinking about Fun House, with kids television show host, J.D. Roth.

My big memories of Nickelodeon were Out Of Control (Dave Coulier, anybody? And Diz? Ha!), You Can’t Do That On Television (Alanis Morrissette….and Moose.) and Mr. Wizard’s World. Double Dare?!? Did you know the host of DD has OCD? Can you imagine having any form of OCD and being on that show. I’d implode.

But I was also a HUGE fan of Nick at Nite. The Donna Reed Show, Dobie Gillis, My Three Sons, Leave it to Beaver, Mr. Ed. I’m sure my parents got a kick out the fact that I was in love with the shows they watched when they were kids.

I miss my MTV and my Nickelodeon from the 80’s.
BIGmog
March 5th, 2008 at 11:05 am
@peakmind: You’re thinking of Finder’s Keepers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finders_Keepers_(1987_TV_series)
Nafa
March 5th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Awesome list. I’m still a huge Nick fan from this particular era. These shows are classic. At least there are DVDs for ‘Pete & Pete’ and ‘Clarissa’ but I haven’t seen any more titles come out. Also, a new crop of Nicktoons came out around this time and the early episodes are pretty amazing–’Rugrats’, ‘Ren & Stimpy’, ‘Ahh Real Monsters’, ‘Doug’, and my all time favourite ‘Rocko’s Modern Life’.

Sadly, just a few months after we got the new cable system (and just long enough to get me addicted) they pulled the Nick GAS channel, which featured 24/7 shows like ‘Guts’, ‘Legends Of The Hidden Temple’, ‘Double Dare’, ‘Figure It Out’, etc.
Chris
March 5th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Good lord, man. You’ve forgotten the best thing ever produced by Nick.

Pete and Pete.
Patrick B
March 5th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Not only do I remember these shows, but I remember when Nick was only on during the day and A&E was on at night. Between shows was a mime and one of the shows was about a Sorceror’s Apprentice named Crispen who lived in a modern library and showed films. Ahhh the 70’s!
Rob
March 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
It’s a little wild and little straaaaaange
When you make a home right on the raaaaaange
Start your horse and come a looooong
Cuz ya cant get a ride if you cant hold ooooooon

Singin’…..

LOVED that show.
Also, there was a Salute Your Shorts ep that had Zeke the plumber….that dude used to scare me SH*TLESS when i was a little kid!
Lea
March 5th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
oh my god my childhood! You forgot rugrats!
Howard
March 5th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I recently met, Hardy Rawls, the guy who played the dad on Pete and Pete. He described the show as Malcom in the Middle before Malcom in the Middle, which I think is dead on. He said people come up to him all the time wanting to talk about the show. Also, the music from Pete and Pete was awesome. The band Polaris put out the soundtrack not too long ago.
Brian Lutz
March 5th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Being a child of the 80s, I used to watch all sorts of this stuff. You Can’t Do That on Television was definitely my favorite, but Out of Control, Mr. Wizard and some of the game shows were enjoyable too.
Yum-Yum
March 5th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Am I the only one who remembers Alex Mack?

She was this girl who could turn into liquid or something. Cool show.

Also, Kablam! scared me out of my wits as a kid.
heartsauce
March 5th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Eureka’s Castle, hello? Batly was my hero.

Also… what about Welcome Freshman?

I used to love when they would play that Canadian “The Cat Came Back” short. The sound design was amazing…
heartsauce
March 5th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
BTW I was in love with Alex Mack and her “Secret World”…
gimpy
March 5th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
No one mentioned Nick Arcade yet?
Harpe
March 5th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Alex Mack was a great show. The actress who played Alex was on 3rd rock from the sun and maybe 10 things I hate about you…

One of the guys from Are you afraid of the Dark is now on the canadian weather network I think. He was the one with glasses who I always assumed was the leader of the group.
Justin M
March 5th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
The Tomorrow People FTW!
Jen
March 5th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Great list. I loved Hey, Dude and always wanted to work on a dude ranch.

Welcome, Freshman was classic. And so was RoundHouse… anybody else watch All That too?
kats
March 5th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Danny Cooksey was in Salute your Shorts. He came from Diff’rent Strokes. Then went on to be in Terminator 2 as Edward Furlong’s friend. He was in a band called Bad 4 Good that got some airplay on Headbangers Ball. And, oh dear god, why was I in that fanclub?

I get that damn SYS theme stuck in my head a few times a year.

Great list! Heeeeeeeeeeeey Dude!
Sofar
March 5th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I was born in 1988 and I still remember a lot of these shows. I did like Pete and Pete.
Ross
March 5th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I didn’t see that anyone mentioned Doug. That has to be included with these classics.
Taylor
March 5th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Space Cases anyone? Terrible show but I loved it just the same.
Blinkslide
March 5th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Rocko’s Modern Life/Ren & Stimpy were definitely favorites for me. I was born in 88.
unohav_1
March 5th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Doug! I get that theme song stuck in my head at least once a week.

I can’t believe they no longer show You Can’t Do that on Television, the reason for the whole Nick slime thing. Where do kids nowadays think that came from? Perhaps they could do an updated version?

A LOT of early Nick was Canadian programming, such as YCDTOTV. When I was little in the 80’s our crappy podunk town didn’t carry Nick so I went to my grandparents’ as often as possible to watch Pinwheel. I really enjoyed their animated shorts on the show featuring Canadian and British imports like Paddington Bear, Danger Mouse, Hat Town (could have that name wrong). GOD I wish I could get that on DVD. If I memmer correctly, Neatorama featured a Youtube clip of the Pinwheel theme song a few months back.
rawbert
March 5th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
You forgot to mention how Salute Your Short Alums Dina was a Noxema girl for a couple years(who didn’t have a crush on her?) Michael had a small role in the movie “Pleasantville”. Donkey Lips had a small role in “Dude Where’s My Car?” Telly had a recurring role in “Family Matters” before getting shot for her shoes by gang members in an episode. Pinsky had a recurring role in the show “Boy Meets World”

Also some classic Nickelodeon shows that weren’t touched up upon were “KIDS COURT” I really wanted to get that frigging gabble! “LITTLE KOALA” “NOOZLES” “GRIMMS FAIRY TALES” “DAVID THE GNOME” Does anyone remember these cartoons?

And I totally did not remember Elisha Cuthbert in “Are You Afraid of the Dark”! The special glasses to the other world still freaks me out! Does anyone remember that Jessica Alba was the bitch in Alex Mack?
rawbert
March 5th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Oh yea, I somehow forgot to mention the teen show “FIFTEEN” Hehe, does anyone remember? Ryan Reynolds played Billy! Come on guys, lets all go to the Avalon!
Julie
March 5th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
OMG! I forgot that “Welcome Freshman” even existed until I read these comments. I watched that all the time. And I loved Hey Dude. I still know the entire theme song. I watched Salute your Shorts and Doug every Saturday at my friend’s house. And I think it was every kid’s dream to be on Double Dare with their family. The obstacle course was awesome.
RooGrrrl
March 5th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
For some reason, Are You Afraid of the Dark used to freak me out. Not that the show was particularly scary, but then later, when I was trying to sleep, the storylines would creep back into my head and keep me awake. Honestly, I loved all of those shows. I wished that Nick had done more shows like that. I wanted to be Clarissa so bad. I think, at the time, I kind of hated those shows officially, but ended up watching them all the time since there was nothing else on. Especially Hey Dude. That show sucked, but it sucked me into watching it. Every time I see Mr. Ernst in anything else, I can’t help but see him as Mr. Ernst.
Kateri
March 5th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
this was my afternoon and evening lineup! Loved these shows. There were some other shows too that I remember that not a lot of people do, like Welcome Back Freshman and Roundhouse, and do you remember What Would You Do and Wild and Crazy Kids? And also You Can’t do That on Television! Oh man so many gems.

And that clown scared the crap out of me too.
meganisamonster
March 5th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
does anyone remember that show with jeff the mannequin? today’s special i think it was…he’d come to life at night and there was some lady there plus sam the night watchman and a mouse named muffy? I’d always watch that show either before or after i went to my kindergarten class.

OH! and i think that clown in AYAOTD was named Zeebo. Scary, scary stuff!
tweetybear
March 5th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
OMG. I’m 28 and my husband’s 31 and I’m the only one out of him and my friends that remembers Hey Dude. I didn’t even make the connection to Christine Taylor. I was allowed to watch TV for 30 minutes when I came home from school and I always watched this from 4:30-5.
Harpe
March 5th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Yeah, Today’s special was great.

I also really loved the Edison Twins. It was Canadian though, not sure if it ran on nickelodeon. Solving crime through science…CSI totally ripped it off.

Some are you afraid of the dark eps really freaked me out as a kid. The one where the girl turns out to be an alien with no face whose real parents wanted her back was #&@!ed up to me as a kid. I’m sure I had nightmares that night.

Then again, teddy ruxpin scared the crap outta me to…
jthroop
March 5th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Rawbert: Could “Fifteen” possibly be the show I was referring to in my post above?

Also, loooved “David the Gnome”. I used to watch that at my grandma’s during the summer. And later Alex Mack.

Lea: I think “Rugrats” was a few years later.
Phil Nelson
March 5th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I approve of this kind of thing. More of my childhood, please, neatorama.
Rachael
March 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I loved every single one of those shows. This was a great bit of nostalgia.
dan
March 5th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
WHAT ABOUT WIENERVILLE?!
Murphy
March 5th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Am I the only person that ever watched Turkey TV? It was on late nights (before nick at night) and was just a skit show. Some of the kids from YCDTOTV were on it. The Secret Life of a Food is the only ongoing skit I can remember.
Jenny
March 5th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Well, he may be small potatoes in the typical sense, but Mark Summers was always the prince of Nickelodeon game show hosts. He hosted Family Double Dare and my favorite Nickelodeon show of all time…What Would You Do? (1,2,3, or 4 pies?…..honestly, who’s going to pick anything but 4?)

Now he hosts Unwrapped on the Food Network, another show I love, largely because his voice soothes me.
Jenny
March 5th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Also, Jewel Staite from Serenity was on this one season show called Space Cases and she had Rainbow hair and looked like the girl from Lazytown
Ashley
March 5th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I was a HUGE Welcome Freshman and Fifteen. But I also pretty much was obsessed with any show on NICK! So much so that I applied and was choosen to intern there when I was in college. One of the most AMAZING experiences of my life!

Murphy…I remember Turkey TV. And for some odd reason I remember the Theme Song!

All around the world from Paris to the Taj Mahal Their watching TV everywhere and you can see it all on Turkey Turkey TV…
kerrie
March 5th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I miss Pete & Pete!
Matt L.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Clarissa, Hey Dude, and SYS were all fun shows. Simple themes, good characters, and easy to enjoy.

Ted from Hey Dude was featured on the show “Blossom,” as Blossom’s biyfriend, and tough-guy type, though not bullyish. Melody from the same show is married to Ben Stiller.

Donkeylips from SYS made it onto a few episodes of The Wonder Years.

Al ot of the information on all three shows can be found on Wikipedia.
Kate
March 5th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Space Cases anyone? Completely forgot about that show until I saw Serenity…..

I miss the old Nick. I was ADDICTED to Nick at Nite, though. Ah, when tv after 8pm was innocent….Mary Tyler Moore, why did you leave us?

Roundhouse was also a favorite. It seems to be much more obscure than a lot of the others, because most people I mention it to give me a puzzled stare.
nona
March 5th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Jewel Staite was in an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark, too– she and the Mowry twins are about the most famous anyone from that show has gotten. I think her episode was about a painting that ate her.

And, of course, then she did Space Cases with, uh… well, with the black Power Ranger and a bunch of other people who then fell off the face of the earth.

Good job escaping the gravitational pull of obscurity that is, apparently, being a Nick star, Jewel!
Moey
March 6th, 2008 at 12:38 am
I was just remembering Salute your Shorts the other day…I love Nick back in the day!
Emily
March 6th, 2008 at 1:06 am
I *loved* Double Dare and Legends of the Hidden Temple.

Also, Finders Keepers, Name the Picture, and GUTS.

Hooray “old school” Nickelodeon!
daviddavid
March 6th, 2008 at 3:13 am
yes yes… we all like tv. But stop calling the early 90’s the 80’s.
Nathan
March 6th, 2008 at 10:38 am
What about Kenan and Kel..and the other show called that was sorta setup like SNL called ALL THAT…those were the really great ones..this might be early 90s though.
MrStench
March 6th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Turkey TV was my favorite. Such a great and random show. Especially the sketches where food screamed in agony when you peeled it.
Chris
March 6th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Nobody mentioned the show “Out of Control” with Dave Coulier (Joey from Full House)

Remember that wacky show?

http://johnnorrisbrown.com/classic-nick/outofcontrol/
rawbert
March 8th, 2008 at 12:49 am
jthroop: I couldn’t find your other comment? But yes, I’m glad that I’m not alone in remembering the show “FIFTEEN.” Very classic show, Nickelodeon’s answer to Beverly Hills 90210.
Emily
March 8th, 2008 at 11:58 am
WOW this takes me back…I lived for SNICK!I agree with the Roundhouse and Pete and Pete omissions. Who can forget Iggy Pop as the little neighbor girl’s father(played by Michelle Trachenberg of Buffy)?! As for the question asked by Janet the kid soap opera was 15 and I was total addict!
Kurt
March 8th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Wow. I kind of knew that when I clicked on the link out of my rss reader, there would be a few comments, but this is amazing! I love this post. Post it again in 50 years, and I’ll die happy!
rydog
March 11th, 2008 at 2:07 am
The kid from salute your shorts aka “Donkey Lips” (nick name on the show) is the guy in the dr pepper ad.
cssw1979
April 5th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
The game show where people tore the house apart to find clues was called Finders Keepers!! I also liked Today’s special where the mannequin came to life. Oh and remember the secret life of Alex Mack!
Cindo
May 20th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Rawbert: You totally got my shows! Fifteen was my ultimate fav. with that Ashley girl that talked really quiet! And the Koala show too along with Pinwheel! Man every one of the shows named were awesome. What ever happened to this kind of tv viewing….bring it back man! Thanks for the memories all!
Dunecat
June 12th, 2008 at 1:11 am
WHOA. HOLD ON THERE. Those are not shows of the 80’s. I think the time period you were looking for is the 90’s. I’d hate to see the amazing shows of the 90’s be displayed as 80’s shows.
Ella
July 18th, 2008 at 12:52 am
i remember all of these shows and i was born in 1991…..
SarahL
July 25th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Pinsky from Salute Your Shorts was played by Blake Sennett (I think he went by Blake Soper on the show), who also played Joey the Rat on Boy Meets World and is the guitarist/sometimes singer for the indie band Rilo Kiley. Before Salute Your Shorts he had spots on several TV shows including The Wonder Years, and after SYS had a small stint on 3rd Rock From the Sun and a couple spots on a few other shows.
Angie87
August 10th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
OMG!!!! i love the list but i dont get it when they said that ben stiller’s wife was marcia marcia marcia… but yes i loved Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and GUTS! omg i miss the good old days. i remember being terrified of AYAOTD!!!

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