Category Archives: Children’s Television
Slimed Teaches You Nickelodeon’s History
As a huge fan of 90s Nickelodeon, I was excited to read the new book Slimed: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age, written by Matthew Klickstein. The book details the ups and downs of Nickelodeon from the 1980s and 1990s. It covers everything from starting the first kids network in 1979 to creating original programming.
One thing that surprised me is that the book chapters are in interview form rather than like a biography. The titles of each chapter represent the question that are answered by many former Nickelodeon cast and crew; some of which include actors Melissa Joan Hart, Kenan Thompson, and Michelle Trachtenberg as well as creators Craig Bartlett (Hey Arnold), Jim Jinkins (Doug), and D.J. MacHale (Are You Afraid of the Dark?). Since I associate Nickelodeon as a network for children, some “colorful” language in the book took me by surprise.
Weinervillle Chanukah Special
We know there’s only a few nights of Chanukah left, but it’s never too late to post the rare television special dedicated solely to Chanukah. Enjoy Nickelodeon’s Weinerville’s bizarre Chanukah special that prominently features Marc’s puppet Boney and a creepy Antiochus.
Happy Chanukah!
Best Music Performances at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards
The Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards air tomorrow at 8pm. Let’s be honest, no one over the age of 13 cares about them anymore, but that’s not the point. When we were in the target audience, the KCAs were awesome.
Simple Plan
In 2005, Simple Plan performed their single “Shut Up!” As though that wasn’t enough, Pierre Bouvier announced that they were going to perform a new song. You probably already know where this is going.
Cool TV Video of the Day: British Kid’s Show with Not-So-Innocent Innuendo
Rainbow was a children’s show that aired on ITV from 1972 to 1992. It lasted 15 series/seasons for a total of over 1,000 episodes.
Of course, being part of a long running children’s show, the cast and crew felt the need to let loose once in a while. They probably didn’t expect was that their naughty Christmas tape sketch would go on to YouTube infamy.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Arnold Schwarzenegger on “Wild and Crazy Kids”
I hate to have two old Nickelodeon videos in a short time span, but when I remembered this video I couldn’t resist. The hosts of Wild and Crazy Kids, Omar Gooding, Donnie Jeffcoat, and Jessica Gaynes, help Arnold Schwarzenegger promote the Great American Workout. This makes it even more unbelievable that California elected this man governor. Also, why is Hans and Franz from Saturday Night Live on a kids show?
Cool TV Video of the Day: Weinerville
Now that I’m an adult, I realize that 90s Nickelodeon shows were weird. While we can all look back and agree that Double Dare‘s Sundae Slide was odd, Weinerville manages to be even stranger than even the most outlandish Double Dare stunt.
Weinerville at its core was a bizarre puppet show. It featured things, such as a puppet who was manipulated by a hand in his head and human heads on puppet bodies. Also, there was the Golden Hot Dog, which was a prize for the winner of a stunt the participants performed while “Weinerized.” “Weinerizing” just meant that people were turned into puppets. Sixty-two episodes were filmed from 1993 and 1994; although, the show was rerun until 1997.
The following video is an episode that misses the classic cartoon shorts, such as Popeye the Sailor and Betty Boop, that were shuffled throughout the series’ run.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Oscar the Grouch Was Orange?
During the 1969 season of Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch was orange. Orange Oscar only lasted one season before he became the green Oscar we all know and love. The clip below shows an orange Oscar singing “I Love Trash.”
If you want to know why Oscar’s color changed, there are numerous explanations, such as he would not be such a light color if he lived in garbage or the puppet was not comfortable. My favorite explanation is a variation on the former and comes from the YouTube comments section.
Weekly TV Update: August 27
NBC’s Utah affliate KSL refuses to carry The New Normal.
Last Thursday, Jerry Nelson died at 78 years old. He was the voice of the Count on Sesame Street.
Dancing With the Stars viewers have chosen Sabrina Bryan to be the 13th contestant on that show’s all-star season.
Anthony Bourdain, host of the Travel Channel’s No Reservations, will take his show to CNN after its upcoming season is over.
The former voice of Dora the Explorer, Caitlin Sanchez, attempts to sue Nickelodeon again because she says her lawyer committed fraud. In the original lawsuit, Sanchez claims she was fired for hitting puberty.
DirecTV and Viacom Reach an Agreement
DirecTV customers will get back the 17 Viacom channels that they lost during the 10-day standoff between the two companies. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, the deal gives DirecTV subscribers the ability to see Viacom programming on various electronic devices via the DirecTV Everywhere platform. It also includes an option for DirecTV to carry Viacom’s premium movie channel EPIX.
Wait! What's A Dial? 