The 25 best Nickelodeon shows

Double Dare was one of Nickelodeon’s first original programming successes and the defining game show for the network. That’ll happen when different variations have aired from 1986 through 2019, with gaps in the mix there, of course. Hosted indelibly by Marc Summers, Double Dare was full of chaotic, messy games and ended with an obstacle course that seems like it would be fun, even as an adult.

For those who grew up on Nick in the ‘80s and ‘90s, a different show may spring to mind first, but all things considered, SpongeBob is the defining Nickelodeon show. Also, even if you were a teen or adult when the show debuted in 1999, there’s a decent chance you watched and enjoyed it (perhaps under conducive circumstances). Airing off-and-on for 25 years, the goofy, semi-absurdist cartoon has become a piece of cultural iconography. SpongeBob is on Nick’s Mt. Rushmore to be sure.

Hey, speaking of the kids of the ‘80s and ‘90s, maybe Clarissa Darling is your defining Nick character. She definitely was a fashion icon for many. Melissa Joan Hart’s Clarissa was cool. Ferguson was lame. Sam came in through Clarissa’s window. The show was solidly funny and clever, which is not the case with a lot of sitcoms aimed toward kids.

Essentially, Nick’s answer to Saturday Night Live, like all sketch shows, All That was hit or miss. There were plenty of hits over the years, though. We specifically want to shout out Lori Beth Denberg, who served as something of a Phil Hartman-style straight role for the silly characters to bounce off of (and she helmed the show’s version of “Weekend Update” as well). Of course, Nick mined future stars from “All That,” including…

Kenan Thompson has become sketch comedy royalty. He’s the longest-serving Saturday Night Live cast member of all time. Kenan has gotten a couple of sitcom chances, including Nick’s Kenan & Kel. Now, for kids, Kel Mitchell was the funny one. His performance was BROAD, though entertaining. Going back as an adult, Thompson’s comedy chops are apparent.

New millennium shows on Nick (and Disney) largely suffer from a very specific style of “kid acting” that infiltrated the landscape. It’s the reason why That ‘90s Show stunk. We aren’t saying iCarly was immune to that, but it would have been unfair to simply avoid every live-action sitcom Nick did after 2000. This was the most successful of those shows, even getting a Carly’s All Grown Up reboot. Even in our reboot-loving world, you don’t get that chance without something of substance there.

It’s probably a hot take, but of the turn-of-the-millennium Nicktoons, we’ll take The Fairly Oddparents over SpongeBob. Sure, it isn’t as distinct, but it’s funnier, and the writing pops. Some talented comedy writers have worked for kids’ cartoons! The Fairly Oddparents also features some quality voice acting. Shout out to Daran Norris, not just for his turn as Cosmo, but as Mr. Turner.

Think Fast is the most underrated of the Nick game shows. It only aired two seasons in 1989 and 1990 (spanning two decades!), so it was before the network really took off. The show moves at a mile a minute and brims with kinetic energy. Both hosts were good, but with all due respect to Skip Lackey, Michael Carrington was a truly high-quality game show host.

Personally, this is our pick for the best Nicktoon of all time. Rocko’s Modern Life had some of the gross-out humor of Ren & Stimpy, but it wasn’t as needlessly, aggressively gross. Also, it was actually funny. Rocko, the stylish wallaby, and company, lived in a weird, absurdist world and provided the right level of edgy for kids then.

Before All That, there was Roundhouse. The sketch show was a staple of the early Snick lineups. That makes sense, given the cast was a smidge older. Some of them (gasp!) were even in their twenties! If you were a little young for Roundhouse at the time, give the show another shot now that you’re an adult. It’s pretty clever and features some really talented folks.

In a world of absurdist, frenetic cartoons, Hey Arnold! was a little more lowkey. Arnold lives with his grandparents in tenement housing. The show is a nice mix of kid antics and the eccentric residents of Arnold’s building. A particular shoutout to Helga Pataki, a true tragicomic character.

Kids need mystery procedurals, too! The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo was Nick’s foray into that realm, though episodes were only a half-hour long. Shelby is an intern for the police department who, naturally, can’t help but do the amateur sleuth thing. Her grandfather is played by Pat Morita! The show even stuck around long enough to change filming locations (and thus settings) for the fourth and final season. The new "Boston” setting (they really shot in Montreal) didn’t keep the show going, but for a mystery show aimed at kids, Shelby Woo is viable.

Of all the Nickelodeon game shows, this is the one we most wanted to be on. Not just to get one of those sweet shirts, either (Orange Iguanas, if we have our choice). Also, this was the rare game show co-hosted by an Olmec head statue. The first couple of rounds were solid enough, but obviously, the gem of the show was the run through the temple. Temple guards. Silver monkey. The whole works.

This is another live-action sitcom from the new millennium, but this one is a family sitcom. It’s not unlike a live-action The Incredibles, but that’s a concept you can kind of tweak and get away with. A family with superhero powers tries to live a nondescript life in Hiddenville, and of course, there is a talking rabbit. Giving the show a family dynamic and casting a couple of adult actors to rely on helped The Thundermans, which got a follow-up movie in 2024.

This is the only one of the three original Nicktoons on our list. Doug was the everyman (everyboy?) surrounded by eccentrics and oddballs. Those characters can be fun — sister Judy, best friend Skeeter Valentine, or neighbor Mr. Drink. Doug also has Walter Mitty-esque flights of fancy, helping to give Doug a flourish of panache. Also, we only recognize the Nick years. The Disney Channel era showed Skunky Beaumont and, therefore, does not count.

Mike O’Malley was a Nickelodeon staple, but Guts is the show he will be remembered for. The athleticism-based game show features a lot of cool contests (and also probably kept the bungee-cord business rolling in dough). Moira Quirk was there to go to and give the show’s competition a bit of “authenticity,” at least for kids. Oh, and then there is the Crag. If Guts was Nick’s variation on American Gladiators, the Crag was its Eliminator, but the branding and aesthetics were much better.

Avatar served a different audience of kids (and seemingly many adults) than most Nick cartoons. It’s a drama, a fantasy show for the lovers of stuff like anime and Lord of the Rings. You know, world-building and all that. The show was critically acclaimed and won an Emmy and a Peabody. Of course, the success of The Last Airbender did lead to that terrible M. Night Shyamalan movie, but we won’t hold that against it.

Salute Your Shorts knew how to create a vibe, at least. It wasn’t the best-written show, but it has stuck with us. Nicknames like “Ug," “Donkeylips,” and “Sponge” help. We remember Zeke the Plumber and the "Capture the Flag" episode. Shot single camera on location, Salute Your Shorts was like being at summer camp. Also, would you believe it only aired for two seasons and 26 episodes? Nick milked that show in reruns!

If you liked spooky stuff as a kid, you had two go-to options. There were Goosebumps, of course, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? Another Snick staple, episodes featured the Midnight Society telling scary stories that would be dramatized. It was a kid-friendly version of Tales from the Crypt, basically. As an adult, the stories don’t scare me, but they definitely terrified me as a kid.

Okay, so when you’re an adult, and you realize how Nick Arcade got kids “into” those video games, the show loses a bit of its magic (no, we didn’t think kids were actually in video games, but we couldn’t figure out how it was done). Even so, the show was a boon for fans of game shows and video games, and there were a lot of those kids in the ‘90s. The whole thing felt high-tech at the time, and now it has a retro-cool feel.

The Angry Beavers is kind of like The Odd Couple, but with brothers. Well, brothers who are beavers. Dag and Norb move out of their parents’ house to live on their own. The show had a fun look and the right level of absurdity. Mismatched pair comedies are a dime a dozen, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun.

Invader Zim seems to be a cult favorite adored by younger millennials. It only ran for 27 episodes, but shows that only get 27 episodes don’t get comic book adaptations and Netflix films if there isn’t a passionate fan base. Zim is notable for Nick, as he is an antihero. He’s an alien who comes to Earth to take it over and fails with humorous results.

Double Dare hit, so Nickelodeon kept going to the game show well. Finders Keepers, like Think Fast, did not last long, running seasons on the network in 1987 and 1988, but it went all-in in terms of set design. With all due respect to the hidden picture rounds, which you could at least play along with, the room-searching rounds stuck out. Teams of two kids had to find hidden objects in messy rooms of different designs, and it seemed awesome. Still kind of does.

If you were a kid who watched The Secret World of Alex Mack for its 78 episodes, you may have assumed Larisa Oleynik had future stardom coming her way. Not quite, but she has one indelible role in Alex Mack. The sci-fi dramedy focuses on a girl who gets secret powers due to a chemical spill, and so now she has to live her life and avoid being found by the chemical company that is looking for her.

We end here because The Adventures of Pete & Pete is the best Nickelodeon show. It’s one of the best kids’ shows of all time, one you can still enjoy as an adult. It’s basically just a cool sitcom that focuses on a couple of brothers named Pete. The show looks great, has killer music, and features just the right level of oddness. Most sitcoms aren’t as good as Pete & Pete, and no show has a better theme song.