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The tallies have been recorded and the dust has settled in the Disney Region, and though Even Stevens had a remarkable run, Boy Meets World will be representing the network in the Ultimate 90′s TV Show Tournament Final Four. With 76% of the vote, Boy Meets World advanced, vindicating our rankings in a way by surviving as the number one seed. It was sad to see Even Stevens go, but it’s hard to make a case for that show being more influential to the nineties childhood experience. And so truth prevails, as does our tournament, which steamrolls onward into our second, and arguably most competitive, region: The Nickelodeon Region.
Nickelodeon was right next to Disney at this time competing for the attention of every grade schooler in the entire country. It was in the decade of the 1990′s that Nickelodeon not only hit a stride but experienced a sort of enlightened golden age of content on their network. Perhaps the downfall of America – an America where people can name more Twinkie flavors than US Presidents – can be traced back to Nickelodeon’s afternoon line-up, when kids had legitimate reasons to sit by their televisions from 3:30p-8:00p. You just didn’t want to miss anything. We used to even watch the reruns, just because they were so entertaining and it got to be a hassle after awhile to shimmy out of the beanbag chair in search of the remote.
Regardless, the Nickelodeon Region took a long time to be whittled down to just sixteen shows. There were plenty more candidates that deserved a shot at glory, which I’m sure our loyal readers will point out, but fear not because our fourth region is a MISCELLANEOUS region, and any show that gets left out of this bracket will have a shot at playing in the final area of our tournament. This region, probably headlined by Full House and Saved By the Bell!, will also feature shows like Gargoyles and Aladdin, which were left out of our last region. From the Nickelodeon region, the following shows were on the cusp before being nixed from the final 16:
Ren & Stimpy
Kablam
Double Dare
Figure it Out!
As Told By Ginger
Cousin Skeeter
Clarissa Explains it All
The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo
The Secret Life of Alex Mack
So as you can see we tried our best, but there was a lot to sift through just to make a sixteen show region. We maintain, though that our final groupings are as rock solid as they can be under the circumstances, and have the potential to be even more competitive than our previous region. That means the pressure is on our readers even more than last time to not mess things up. No show is safe in this bracket. High seeds are only high because it’s hard justifying them being above other shows, but by no means should they connote the same feelings you’d give to a 15 or 16 seed in the actual NCAA Tournament. Here, for the first time, is a reveal of the Nickelodeon Region in its entirety:
It’s a stacked region, but it’s gonna be a blast to settle this argument one way or another. Each one of these shows premiered in the 1990′s, with Spongebob being the only one that still airs regularly on Nickelodeon. Before rambling on any further, allow me to breakdown each match-up to make life easier for you as a voter. You will have until this FRIDAY, at 8p to decide the first round. God willing, you won’t screw things up this time.
(1) Doug v. (16) Aaah! Real Monsters
Doug may be a little controversial here at #1, as there were at least four shows that could’ve made a case for their inclusion as the best team in the region. But Doug has since become anonymous with Nickelodeon. More than the show itself, the overall vibe and tone of the series has ultimately encapsulated what the network as a whole stands for. It also set the stage for the other shows to come, so there has to be some seniority given in this case. In Doug’s way round one is Aaah! Real Monsters, a TV show about a group of monsters being taught how to scare humans in an “institute” located in a sewer. It’s all a little Monsters, Inc. if you ask me. Real Monsters was a funny, entertaining show, but it’s sometimes dark tone and humor a tad above grade school make it slip to #16. It will be interesting to see if it competes here in round one.
(8) Are You Afraid of the Dark? v. (9) Legends of the Hidden Temple
Another intriguing match-up here at 8/9. Legends of the Hidden Temple marks the first time in our tournament’s tenure that a reality show has made it into the competition, in this case a game show. It was brutal having to pit these two against each other in the first round, but that’s just how competitive this region is going to be. No round is guaranteed. Are You Afraid of the Dark? will be immortalized in my head as being the first Y7 show I ever saw, and I must have been young enough to be wary of that cutoff. The show was terrifying, there are no two ways about it, but that may ultimately turn people off. Equal parts tense was Legends of the Hidden Temple, with the purple parrots and blue barracudas. In the final round of LOTHT, contestants would run around a ruin set looking for treasure, while giant grown men in Mayan costumes chased after them. Nothing scary about that, right?
(4) Rugrats v. (13) The Angry Beavers
Rugrats is the strongest #4 seed you may ever see. It has just as much a claim to #1 as Doug does, but ultimately Angelica annoyed me just enough to move them down a few slots. Rugrats is one of the most successful franchises in Nickelodeon history on a pure financial standpoint. With full length movies, video game adaptations and theme park attractions, Rugrats is a tour-DE-force at number four, and a brick wall for its opponent, The Angry Beavers. You were either a fan of the two weird beavers or you weren’t as a kid. I for one, was not.
(5) All That! v. (12) Rocko’s Modern Life
All That! was a dream for an aspiring child comedian in the nineties. The SNL for kids, All That! helped launch the careers of Kenan Thompson1, Lori Beth Denberg, Nick Cannon and Amanda Bynes. It was a surefire hit in its hay day, and though it sort of tailed off toward the end of its run, when it was good…it was really good. Up against All That is Rocko’s Modern Life, which always seemed like a really popular show on the network but is still, to this day, a series that I personally know zero fans of. Perhaps I am way off base here, but I always got slightly depressed when the Rocko title theme came on. I’d watch it anyway, but I was never a huge fan. We’ll see if Rocko’s fans come out of the wood works to propel it past All That.
(3) Hey! Arnold v. (14) GUTS
Hands down the toughest match-up of round one. Hey Arnold is the sleeper favorite to make it all the way out of the region and into the final four with a date against Boy Meets World. To do that though, Arnold will have to survive a first round nightmare of GUTS, the American Gladiators inspired game show that I wanted to be on so badly I peed my pants as a kid…probably. GUTS was the coolest thing ever created, with the AgroCrag and that one foreign chick in the referee outfit named “Mo”. Hey Arnold had so many classic moments, and should prevail, but GUTS will definitely give a…gutsy…performance2.
(6) CatDog v. (11) The Wild Thornberry’s
The Wild Thornberry’s might prove to be the biggest outrage of this region at #11. I’m sure plenty will be upset about its positioning, but there are just tons of great show in this bracket so someone had to be #11. Up against them is CatDog, which was the delightfully odd show about a cat and dog accidentally transfused together. Plausible? Absolutely not. Entertaining? You better believe it.
(7) Spongebob v. (10) Kenan & Kel
Spongebob is still on TV today, which should tell you a little about how successful its been as a series. Spongebob premiered in the late nineties and has consistently battled for the spot as one of the funnier cartoons on the network. Kenan & Kel, with Good Burger and Orange Soda, was an All That spin-off that had some wings to it, but could’ve been disappointing if you weren’t a big fan of the two to begin with as members on the sketch comedy show. I’ve always maintained Kel was more talented than Kenan, but who knows what he’s doing today3.
(2) Rocket Power v. (15) The Amanda Show
Rocket Power was the ish back in the day. Everybody in my grade school used to boogedy boogedy handshake every chance they got, and the spike in roller blade and hockey equipment sales around the same time was in no small part to this wonderful show. They have a relatively easy go of it in round one against the Amanda Show, which was an All That Spinoff for a person better known now for her unexplainable string of hit and runs. Let’s pray the California cool kids prevail against the evils of irresponsible motor vehicle operation.
Those are the match-ups. As always, you can only pick 8 of the 16 shows in the poll below. To ensure the integrity of the voting, only choose one from each match-up. You have 81 hours. I wish you the best of luck.
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