Nick, nick, nick, nick, na-nick, nick, nick, Nickelodeon. If you can sing along to that jingle, then you're definitely in for a major treat as we take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of the best after-school shows from Nickelodeon. There's no doubt that Nickelodeon was the network of many of our childhoods, serving as the main source of entertainment after a hard day at school. Let's be real — learning about quadrilaterals and parallelograms back in the day could totally wear a kid out. And sometimes when all you wanted to do was just kick back with a big glass of apple juice and catch up on all of your favorite shows, you could simply turn to Nickelodeon and literally forget about all of your worries — no seriously, it was that easy.
There were just so many reasons to love television back in the '90s and early 2000s — it was so simple. I mean, of course, there weren't like a million channels to choose from, and things weren't "on-demand" and readily available to watch whenever and however you pleased. But somehow, things seemed way more exciting when we literally had to catch things in real time. There were so many ways that Nick would save the day. And as proof, here's a list of the best after-school shows from the iconic network.
1. Rugrats
Who didn't love these tiny animated tots and their daily adventures? Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, and Angelica were certainly a barrel of laughs with their vivid imaginations and wild adventures. The show was certainly a fan-favorite, winning several awards during its 13-year stint.
2. Clarissa Explains It All
Melissa Joan Hart as Clarissa Darling was totally relatable in this coming-of-age teen sitcom. The highly popular series which aired from 1991-1994 would later become the precursor to Nickelodeon's spin-off channel, TeenNick.
3. All That
This improv-based comedy sketch program catapulted the careers of many actors and comedians that we know today such as: Kenan Thompson, Amanda Bynes, and Nick Cannon. The variety program was pretty much Saturday Night Live for the youth and it was certainly hilarious. Fun side note: In later years, the theme song was performed by the all-female, singing group, TLC.
4. The Fairly OddParents
This highly popular animated series follows the life of Timmy Turner as he's granted all of his many wishes at the flick of a wand from his fairy godparents. First airing in 1998, TFO is still in production and has ultimately become Nickelodeon's second longest running program, behind SpongeBob SquarePants.
5. Drake & Josh
Who could ever forget about Drake and Josh and their yin and yang relationship as stepbrothers? Josh was so adorable and mild-mannered, while Drake, on the other hand, was really popular and cool, but could be sort jerk. After the series concluded, the duo would go on to star two movies that were a spin-off of the popular show.
6. The Amanda Show
This spin-off of the sketch comedy show, All That, featured Amanda Bynes and many other actors, including Josh Peck and Drake Bell performing is various skits throughout each episode. Many of their reenactments were hilarious spoofs of pop culture topics.
7. CatDog
Let me see... Where do I begin with CatDog ? It was quite interesting — to say the least. Like, it was literally an animated cat and dog whose bodies were somehow fused together. And despite the conjoined duo's completely opposite personalities, they are the best of friends. Yep, I'm serious, and, as weird as it may sound — it was funny. Don't judge.
8. Doug
Doug Funnie was just one of those characters that you can't help but feel for. He seemed to be having such a difficult time dealing with his adolescence every step of the way. And although he was animated, I think we could all relate to Doug's apparent insecurities at some point or another, which is what made his character so great.
9. Kenan & Kel
Another spin-off of the popular sketch comedy, All That, Kenan & Kel focused on the lives of two best friends and their mischievous lives as high school students growing up in Chicago, Illinois. Kel's offbeat goofiness played well to Keenan's more logical senses, making the pair a dynamic duo on screen. K&K would later spin-off into a made for TV movie. The pair would also star in Good Burger together, reprising their roles from another sketch from All That.
10. Figure It Out
I don't know about you, but I love a good game show, and Figure It Out was certainly one the those must-see challenges back in the late '90s. I also, embarrassingly, loved anything that involved slime back then, so the "Super Slime Action" was one of my absolute faves.
11. Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
Come on, who didn't love monsters as a kid? Like they were scary, but watching them on TV, somehow made them a little less scary. Plus, it was just entertaining to watch these young monsters attend school just to learn how to scare humans — which was literally like, the least scary thing ever.
Can you remember the good old days of rushing home from school to catch your favorite after-school show on Nickelodeon? It feels like just yesterday.
