Nickelodeon Yearly Review - 1990: The 90s Begin
After analyzing a year on what I consider to be Nickelodeon’s lowest point on Twitter, I decided to start analyzing every year for the network since 1990. Some of it may be inspired by Pop Arena except that I’m not doing lengthy reviews of tv shows, I’m reviewing Nick shows on their own merits, rather than judging them from a corporate standpoint. Plus I’m only looking over at shows produced by Nick rather than including acquisitions. I will also cover the opening of Nickelodeon Animation Studios.
Hey Dude (4/10)
Ah, this show was important to Nickelodeon’s live-action department. It’s about a fictional ranch Bar None Dude Ranch at a rural place in Arizona (which is actually filmed there). The owner of the ranch is Mr. Ernst, who after getting divorced, quit his New York job to run Bar None Dude Ranch. He has a son named Buddy, who is a skater that feels dissatisfied about moving to a rural place. He had a dog named Cassie but she disappeared after the first season. The teenagers who engage in the ranch antics are Ted, Danny, Melody, and Brad. By the third season, Ted left the ranch is replaced by Jake, Ernst’s nephew. Another character named Kyle joined the cast and when Ted returned, the show developed a love triangle between the two boys and Brad. The only other recurring adult character is Lucy, one of the staff for Bar None. Why is this show important for Nickelodeon, you ask? Well, for the first decade of their existence, they mostly have shows produced at Canada like the show that popularized slime, You Can’t Do That on Television. It wasn’t until the Geraldine Laybourne years that they start producing in-house shows, but they were just unscripted programming like game shows and stuff. Hey Dude is officially the first scripted live-action show produced by Nick themselves, in which they’re still making to this day. Unfortunately, despite how important Hey Dude was for this network, it is not that good of a show. And I’m not saying it’s mediocre because I can’t stand being at a ranch, but it could get unpleasant to watch. I can’t stand Ted whatsoever. He’s not likable for a protagonist and he just came off as an egomaniac. He dragged the whole show down because of his personality. I don’t mind Danny as he’s the superior male teen character, but even he suffered from one negative trait: since he is the only important person of color of the cast (Native American played by a Mexican American), he was subjected to terrible stereotypes about his ethnicity in almost every episode. It does not set the tone for Nick’s diversity for years to come, since they are often praised for being “woke” (I used that word in a positive light). But it’s only their first kidcom, so things will improve from there on. The girls are better written, but even Brad can be as stubborn as Ted sometimes. What’s interesting about Melody is that out of the teen cast members, Christine Taylor was the only one who would still have an acting career to this day. It’s pretty obvious she’s my favorite character on the show. Mr. Ernst and Buddy are okay characters, but not memorable in their own right. I’ve only watched the first couple seasons through Dailymotion before dropping it entirely. I know I can watch the rest of the series through Paramount+, but I have a policy of dropping shows if I can’t stand watching it. There’s not one episode of the show that stood out for me and the best one I saw, it’s still not above a 6/10. Most of the plots are just typical sitcom episodes without a laugh track. The acting is bearable for the most part, but I just wish I could tolerate most of the characters. Kidcoms are guilty pleasures of mine if I wanted to get some good laughs, but there’s rarely anything funny going on, and while there’s some nice moments, it’s hard to enjoy a heartwarming scene if Ted is in a scene. Plus, the whole relationship between him and Brad possibly loving each other is dumb considering they can’t stand each other. And you all know me - the key to making a good content for kids is to make sure the young characters get along. This show’s characters lack chemistry outside of the Ernsts , as they spend most of their time fighting. It’s not a good atmosphere for kids and teens, and it’s definitely going to influence a certain producer to make the characters unlikable in his shows (but we’ll get to that in many years later as we’re still in the 90s). I know people who grew up with this show had fond memories of it, but I can’t for the life of me get into it. When it’s not bothering me, it’s otherwise an uninteresting show. Not being a ranch person is a leading factor, as I don’t think you need 65 episodes for a show about it. If you want to watch the show for your Nick Marathon like me and Pop Arena are doing, feel free to watch it on Paramount+. But I don’t think you’re going to enjoy it. A weak start for the Nickcom, despite being very influential.
Wild and Crazy Kids (8/10)
This is a game show revolving on kids participating in head-to-head physical challenges, such as take-offs on playground games, sports with unusual rules added, or messy games involving pies and slime (staying true to Nickelodeon’s nature). It was hosted by two teen boys and a teen girl. The boys were Omar Gooding and Donnie Jeffcoat. The show had two separate female hosts. Annette Chavez was only in season 1, before being replaced by Jessica Gaynes for the next couple seasons. While not the most popular (or easily accessible, as you’ll have watch all episodes on Dailymotion) game show for the network, I discovered the show a couple years back and I can say I had a lot of fun watching it. It’s basically kids being kids. I bet people who didn’t had a great childhood would have a blast watching this show. The challenges live up to the Wild and crazy in its title. The hosts had a great presentation. Though I personally preferred Annette over Jessica. I do not know why, but Annette’s a tad snarkier than Jessica from what I remembered. I wonder if she left due to creative differences? I still like seasons 2 & 3 just fine, though. Unlike other game shows, it doesn’t end with the winner being rewarded with money. It may be a game show, but it felt more about having fun than answering questions. The show may have ended in 1992, but what’s impressive is the show continued in reruns for nearly 10 years. It remained on NickGAS for a while, but it briefly came back for a short lived revival in 2002, which only lasted 10 episodes.
Sk8TV (6/10)
Sk8TV, as the name states it, is a skateboarding show. It features a young Matthew Lillard and Skatemaster Tate as hosts. A variety show, it contained on-set interviews and off-site action segments of skateboarders describing their extreme hobby and performing them in real life. Some of the skateboarders featured in the show includes Christian Hosoi, Natas Kaupas, Tony Hawk, and many others that would became renowned (though there’s one of which who become infamous). As someone who isn’t big on sports especially on something risky like skateboarding, I still recommend it for people who wants to get into skateboarding, assuming that’s still a relevant sports today. It’s not my favorite, but it’s worth a background noise watch since there’s only 13 episodes. I only seen several episodes, so I won’t remember what I liked and disliked, so this review will just be cut short.
Outta Here
Couldn’t find footage so it won’t be reviewed. Have a review from Pop Arena instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3SaPqlJ5vI
1990 was an okay year, but it’s the not the Nickelodeon everyone knows and loves, for now. Only a few new shows came out this year, and the most important thing to happen for Nick in 1990 was the grand opening of the Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida. For the next decade and a half, it would be used as a production facility for most of Nick’s live-action shows. The animation studio was also formed sometimes this year, and it was known as Games Animation. Their shows didn’t came out until the following year and it will soon be an animation studios for the Nicktoons. While that studio is still alive and running while changing its building a couple times, the Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando have been dead since 2005, as it’s now replaced by a theater for the Blue Man Group. Overall, 1990 is definitely the weakest year for Nick in the 90s, but things are gonna get better from here on.
