Comments on: Nickelodeon of Yesteryear (OK, of the 80s)

By: scrapy coco

scrapy coco — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 10:01:51 +0000

I am now 28 years old and i still love to reminise the 90s. Nick@nite,nickolodeon and cartoon network were my fave back then. Remember-the secrete world of alex mack,hey arnold,cow and chicken,clarissa,affraid of the dark,aaah!! Real monsters,bevis and butthead,dextor,johnny bravo,cat dog,kenan and kel,amanda show,and rockos modern life..oh such good memories

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:13:08 +0000

oops, recurring *role* rather…

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:12:38 +0000

I’m surprised that no one remembers that Ted from Hey Dude had a recurring rold as Sabrina’s boyfriend on Sabrina the Teenage Witch! Hahaha I had the biggest crush on that guy…

By: jibbles

jibbles — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 04:12:02 +0000

These are from the 90s, not the 80s…

By: Neil C

Neil C — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:01:15 +0000

Really? Not one of you guys deems the B&W Dennis the Menace or Lassie worthy of a mention? Not even Belle and Sebastian?!

I adored those shows.

About Double Dare: even though the host explained it every single episode, nobody EVER used the money-doubling gamble-tactic the show was named after: the double dare. If the side being asked “didn’t have a clue,” they ‘dared’ the other side to answer. If that side answered, they were stoked. But if they too were clueless, they ‘double dared’ the original side, who then could have ANSWERED FOR TWICE THE MONEY take the ‘physical challenge.’ In other words, if your side was asked a tough question it KNEW THE ANSWER TO, it could dare the other side to answer, and if the other side double dared, your side could then answer for twice the reward. Nobody EVER did this. Well, somebody probably did, but I sure as hell never saw it.

By: Ricardo

Ricardo — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:35:02 +0000

Dude…your examples are from the 90s…get it right yo.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:10:17 +0000

Anyone remember Dangermouse and Count Duckula????

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:38:13 +0000

You have picked all great shows, but none of them were actually from the 1980s!

1980s Nickelodeon Shows:
YCDTOTV
Roundhouse
Today’s Special
Mr. Wizard’s World
Fifteen
Double Dare
A plethora of Japanimation

By: Angie87

Angie87 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:52:06 +0000

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!!!

By: SarahL

SarahL — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:20:03 +0000

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.

By: Ella

Ella — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:52:39 +0000

i remember all of these shows and i was born in 1991…..

By: Dunecat

Dunecat — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:11:22 +0000

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.

By: Cindo

Cindo — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:51:20 +0000

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!

By: cssw1979

cssw1979 — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:40:01 +0000

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!

By: rydog

rydog — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:07:00 +0000

The kid from salute your shorts aka “Donkey Lips” (nick name on the show) is the guy in the dr pepper ad.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:50:08 +0000

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!

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:58:02 +0000

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!

By: rawbert

rawbert — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:49:16 +0000

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.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:44:41 +0000

Nobody mentioned the show “Out of Control” with Dave Coulier (Joey from Full House)

Remember that wacky show?

http://johnnorrisbrown.com/classic-nick/outofcontrol/

By: MrStench

MrStench — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:43:53 +0000

Turkey TV was my favorite. Such a great and random show. Especially the sketches where food screamed in agony when you peeled it.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:38:41 +0000

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.

By: daviddavid

daviddavid — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:13:47 +0000

yes yes… we all like tv. But stop calling the early 90′s the 80′s.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:06:04 +0000

I *loved* Double Dare and Legends of the Hidden Temple.

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

Hooray “old school” Nickelodeon!

By: Moey

Moey — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:38:05 +0000

I was just remembering Salute your Shorts the other day…I love Nick back in the day!

By: nona

nona — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:49:44 +0000

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!

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:36:36 +0000

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.

By: Matt L.

Matt L. — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:24:33 +0000

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.

By: kerrie

kerrie — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:24:25 +0000

I miss Pete & Pete!

By: Ashley

Ashley — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:22:38 +0000

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…

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:50:36 +0000

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

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:49:17 +0000

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.

By: Murphy

Murphy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:39:06 +0000

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.

By: dan

dan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:12:15 +0000

WHAT ABOUT WIENERVILLE?!

By: Rachael

Rachael — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:56:43 +0000

I loved every single one of those shows. This was a great bit of nostalgia.

By: Phil Nelson

Phil Nelson — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:16:07 +0000

I approve of this kind of thing. More of my childhood, please, neatorama.

By: jthroop

jthroop — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:11:24 +0000

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.

By: Harpe

Harpe — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:45:40 +0000

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…

By: tweetybear

tweetybear — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:17:53 +0000

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.

By: meganisamonster

meganisamonster — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:43:31 +0000

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!

By: Kateri

Kateri — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:18:25 +0000

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.

By: RooGrrrl

RooGrrrl — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:12:36 +0000

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.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:00:22 +0000

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.

By: rawbert

rawbert — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:26:34 +0000

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!

By: rawbert

rawbert — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:23:59 +0000

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?

By: unohav_1

unohav_1 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:49:40 +0000

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.

By: Blinkslide

Blinkslide — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:47:27 +0000

Rocko’s Modern Life/Ren & Stimpy were definitely favorites for me. I was born in 88.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:40:36 +0000

Space Cases anyone? Terrible show but I loved it just the same.

By: Ross

Ross — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:48:25 +0000

I didn’t see that anyone mentioned Doug. That has to be included with these classics.

By: Sofar

Sofar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:43:46 +0000

I was born in 1988 and I still remember a lot of these shows. I did like Pete and Pete.

By: kats

kats — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:36:56 +0000

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!