Every SNICK Show Ever, Ranked
We ranked every SNICK show ever because #nostalgia.
Image via Nickelodeon
16.
It's so annoying when baby boomers get nostalgic for their time. We get it, you played outside until fireflies came out, your cousin got impaled with Lawn Darts, you liked the show Howdy Doody. When people get nostalgic for their childhood it's cloying, and plain wrong, unless they grew up in a Golden Age.
Being a kid in the '90s was that Golden Age. And if an elder brings up a story about their yo-yo or polio vaccine, remind them, you had SNICK.
Nothing beat Saturday night on Nickelodeon. From 8-10 p.m., you were allowed to stay up past your regular school-night bedtime and enjoy two solid hours of entertainment. Of course, some shows are classics, and others you sat through because what else is a 12-year-old supposed to do on a Saturday night? Here, we rank the shows that made your boring life worth living from 1992-1999.
Hope Schreiber is a freelance writer and remembers when apple was a fruit, kids played outside, and the bubonic plague. She tweets here.
15.KaBlam!
It feels like if KaBlam! was on TV today, a lot of stoners would check it out while under the influence. Of course, stoner television has always had a lot in common with children’s programming. Children and stoners both just want to laugh, despite their short attention span. KaBlam! offered multiple short, and bizarre, cartoons stitched together by two cartoon hosts.
14.Animorphs
Animorphs was a widely popular science fiction series that swept the nation via Scholastic Fairs, and, with that kind of profit from tweens, it was a no-brainer to adapt it for SNICK. It follows five teenagers, and one alien, who can morph into any animal they touch. Which sounds cool, but like, are you honestly going to risk touching a bear just so you can turn into one? We’d be doomed to be house cats and maybe parakeets—sometimes they’re truly terrifying, never trust anything with a beak and no soul.
13.The Journey of Allen Strange
This show was the epitome of the “white savior” plot. First of all, an “alien” comes to town, who's the only black boy on the show, and a white family takes him in. They give him the clever name “Allen,” just a few letters different from alien. Racists. He’s not even allowed to live in the house; he has to live in the attic, because the whities are ashamed of his alien cocoon.
12.Space Cases
Space Cases was cashing in on something every kid from the ‘90s dreamed about: outer space. There’s a reason why everyone wanted to be on Double Dare, and it was really to get the chance to go to Space Camp. (Which, if you’re reading, mom, you’re unforgiven for never sending us.)
The show was about a bunch of outcast students and their two adult guardians/teachers who were aboard an alien spaceship trying to find their way home. It’s probably better remembered for its low budget, where we’re lead to believe that space chairs just have CDs glued to the side of them.
11.Roundhouse
Before All That had its fun in the sun, there was Roundhouse. Each episode would revolve around Anyfamily, made up of the entire cast, facing another everyday problem, like first dates. They’d perform sketches and original songs for a half hour in front of a live audience, with horrifying plastered-on smiles. The skits were so rapid-fire that it seemed like most of the cast was on speed.
10.The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo
The reason most people have no qualms about binge-watching the same episodes of Law and Order: SVU is because they’ve been conditioned to love detective work at an early age. First piece of evidence? The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Actually, that’s the only piece of evidence we have. We’re awful detectives in real life.
Shelby was a teenager who interned at the police station. She would pick up case files and be like, “Yeah, I think I got this,” despite never having proper police training, a license, or a gun. The officers and her grandfather (played by Pat Morita) wished she’d stay out of it, for her own safety, but you know teenagerst—tell them not to do something (drugs, solving crime) and they’re bound to do it.
9.Rugrats
It’s weird to think that a show about a bunch of babies was on SNICK, but here we are. Who doesn’t remember watching Tommy waddle around like a badass, with his plastic screwdriver and escape skills? Chuckee taught us everything we had to know about anxiety issues. Angelica was the OG blond bish, and her mom, Charlotte, looks like Iggy Azalea. Rugrats was really ahead of its time.
8.
But it kind of seemed like the adults in the show were super neglectful, right? Like, every episode was just them parking the babies in a playpen. Maybe read them a book?
7.The Secret World of Alex Mack
Chemical spills have never been so fun. Alex was just a regular girl, walking home from her first day of junior high, when a speeding truck from the chemical plant nearly hit her, spilling chemicals on her instead. She develops telekinesis, can zap electricity from her fingertips, and can melt into a puddle, all because some guy couldn’t be bothered to put a lid on a barrel of highly toxic chemicals.
6.The Ren & Stimpy Show
Without Ren & Stimpy, would there be a South Park or Beavis and Butthead? The Simpsons gets a lot of credit for helping create a satirical cartoon, aimed at entertaining an older audience, but Ren & Stimpy had its share of sexual innuendo and violence. It was really refreshing to watch the show’s dirty humor and not be force-fed an educational program, which eventually led to its cancelation.
5.The Adventures of Pete & Pete
The Adventures of Pete & Pete is probably worth a revisit. The show still has a dedicated fanbase, and it’s often referred to as one of the best children shows ever written. However, when it was on, most people usually got caught up in the fact that two brothers had the exact same name. What kind of family would name their two redheaded boys Pete and Pete? Granted, the mother did have a metal plate in her head that picked up radio signals, but you think someone would step in and be like, “How about Gary?” Or literally any other name besides Pete.
4.Clarissa Explains It All
Clarissa, please come back! There’s so much we still need explained.
Clarissa Explains It All is the high point of ‘90s fashion and television. If you close your eyes you can still hear her best friend climbing up a ladder into her room (on that note, what family allows that?) and see her mix of neon pink and green outfits. Everyone could relate to Clarissa, with her annoying brother, having to battle pimples, and figuring out a training bra. Well, maybe only one half of the population could relate to the latter...
3.Kenan & Kel
Aw, here it goes.
Elementary school was great because making friends was easy. Just ask, “Who loves orange soda?” and you’ve got 15 new best friends explaining that they do, they do, they do. Despite an internet hoax of Kel’s death, and the duo's claims of never working together again (which is more Kenan Thompson’s choice), ‘90s kids can’t help but pray for a Kenan & Kel reunion. This is one bromance we can’t let go.
Kenan, Kel, you’ve been through All That and Good Burger together. How could you give up on this?
2.All That
All That was the kids version of Saturday Night Live. Of course, the “kid friendly” humor isn’t as gut-splitting as it was when you were nine, but you can’t deny laughing uncontrollably at some of the great sketches. Just look back on Lori Beth Denberg’s “Vital Information for Your Everyday Lives,” Kenan Thompson’s Pierre Escargot, and “Ask Ashley” with Amanda Bynes. All That even showcased some of the era's most-talked musical acts on their show, including TLC, Outkast, Britney Spears, and Aaliyah.
1.Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Submitted for the approval of the Complex reader, we present, The Tale of Our Love for Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Okay, so the show isn’t as scary as you recall, but it’s still pretty unnerving. Are You Afraid of the Dark? was the reason for most of our childhood nightmares. Who shows a dead frozen child-ghost looking for a sweater to children? Who shows a terrifying clown following a young boy after he steals his red nose, and the only way to appease him is to give it back and offer a box of cigars? What 10-year-old can get a box of cigars to appease a killer clown?!
What were the lessons that they were trying to convey? Bring a jacket? Steal a box of cigars from your uncle when he’s passed out, just in case you ever need to appease a hobo killer clown? Don’t trust lonely children because they’re probably trying to trap you inside a mirror?
Are You Afraid of the Dark? holds us captive in nostalgia. Maybe it’s because we got over our fears, maybe it’s because it made us feel a little braver for watching it when we were kids, or maybe we still really, really, want to be part of the Midnight Society.
And now that every episode of the show is on YouTube, you can finally pinpoint exactly where your worst fears stemmed from.