Saturday, September 27, 2014

Discussion/Review of Slimed! An Oral of Nickelodeon's Golden Age by Mathew Klickstein

In honor of the 1 year anniversary of Slimed! An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age's debut, Patricia gives a discussion on the book. Is it still worth checking out? How well does it hold up?


Sunday, September 21, 2014

Nickelodeon's Ratings Results In An All Time Low

Around a few weeks ago, Nickelodeon received their results on the newest ratings and unfortunately, it does not look good for this network. The newest live action shows that debuted not too long ago such as Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn and Dan Schneider's newest program Henry Danger  started with less than 2 million viewers. Shows that are getting new seasons such as The Haunted Hathaways, Awesomeness TV, and The Thundermans are not doing well either gaining at least 1.5 million viewers. Even worse, TMNT, the only good Nicktoon on the air, received a very pitiful 1.3 million viewers after coming back from its brief hiatus when Nickelodeon was promoting the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie produced by Michael Bay. OVerall, Nickelodeon has gained about 1 million viewers, which cannot compete against The Disney Channel and Adult Swim's ratings of 1.14 million viewers. While Cartoon Network is in third place in ratings with 900,000 views, shows such as Steven Universe and Teen Titans Go!  are the top 10 rated shows with children 2-11. Disney has seven shows at the top 10 run, while Nickelodeon has none. To learn more about this, check out the article right here

This isn't the first time that Nickelodeon has dropped in ratings this low. A few years back, Nickelodeon had lost 1/3 of its viewers and had lost its spot as the #1 kid's network after holding that position for over 20 years. Nowadays, the Disney Channel holds this spot as crazy as that may sound. Actually, not really. Disney has been doing very well lately with great shows such as Phineas and Ferb and Gravity Falls. As for Cartoon Network, besides Steven Universe and Teen Titans Go!, they also have the hugely popular Adventure Time, Regular Show, Clarence, The Amazing World of Gumball, and more. Plus, the Hub has My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dan vs., Littlest Pet Shop, and reruns of classic 80's and 90's shows such as Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, and more for nostalgic adults and a new generation of kids who never saw it the first time. From the looks of things, it seems that Nickelodeon has became more irrelevant now that these other channels are sporting these critically acclaimed programs. 

Nickelodeon has had made numerous mistakes over the years, more recently being taking out The Legend of Korra out of their main lineup due to low ratings and put it on their website. Going back to TMNT, they have already featured the most recent episode on their website before they aired it. Hell, the 2nd season finale was already posted on their website just yesterday. And Nickelodeon is wondering on why TMNT is low on ratings. It's because they already saw it on your website, you incompetent idiots. Why would they bother watching it on TV again? Don't be surprised if Nickelodeon decides to feature Season 3 online because ratings isn't what they expected. Nickelodeon has been on their rut for almost a decade and it seems that they're going to continue going down because they haven't learned their lesson. They've debuted shows that no one likes and no one cares about, their lineup of constant comedy with the same concepts have became redundant, they've kept creators of programs that have been around for so long such as Butch Hartman and Dan Schneider that their ideas are tired and stale, they do Internet fads that will later become outdated in a few years, and their main focus has been little kids as oppose to a wider audience like they used to back 30 years ago. When Disney and Cartoon Network were on their slumps a few years back, they at least got out of it by releasing shows that didn't dumb down their audience. 

Nickelodeon hasn't learned that lesson at all and continue to lose more viewers and ratings. If they continue as this rate, Nickelodeon will be no more. As much as I want to see them struggling and eventually crumble and fall due to not listening to the people who have stuck with them since they were children, I have a little bit of hope that Nickelodeon will change. Not much, but a little bit. I know that deep down inside, they will change for the better. Back in the early 80's, Nickelodeon has hugely overshadowed by other networks such as CBS, NBC, and ABC with their acquired programs and has deeply in debt. Then they started again from scratch and became the innovative channel we grew up with in the 80's and 90's. It seems that history is repeating itself again. Let's hope they start again from scratch and rise again, otherwise they'll be a relic in the past. 


This post is brought to you by the website For Entertainment's Sake. I became one of their main bloggers for the site posting mostly Nickelodeon stuff. They also have a great new podcast called Who Loves Orange Podcasts? Please check out their stuff right here.

-Patricia

Friday, September 19, 2014

Top 5 Rejected Nickelodeon Shows or Pilots That Should Never Be Made

Last week, I did a top 5 list on the rejected Nickelodeon shows or pilots that I discussed on Nicksmissal with the Re-Open Nickelodeon Studios admins. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out right here. Now it's time to conclude this list with the top 5 shows or pilots that I'm glad never came out.

5. Stewy the Dog Boy

Around the 90's, KaBlam was hugely overshadowed with other Nicktoons at the time and has now gained a cult following with its shorts. One of the shorts, Action League Now!, eventually became a TV series which became absolutely worthless since it was just a rerun of the shorts and no new episodes. You may recall on this on my top 10 worst spinoff series list. Well, KaBlam was planning on releasing another spinoff series around the same time in the form of Stewy the Dog Boy. It was about a dog who disguised himself as a kid so he can attend school. If this plot sounds familiar, it's the same as a Disney Channel program called Teacher's Pet.



Stewy the Dog Boy and Teacher's Pet were made around the same time so Nickelodeon cancelled the series and Teacher's Pet came out around September 2000. Looking at both of the programs, I found both of them to be very underwhelming. Since slice of life cartoons were prominent around the late 90's for both Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel with shows such as Hey Arnold!, Recess, Filmore, Pepper Ann, The Weekenders, and Disney's version of Doug, Stewy the Dog Boy would have just blended with the crowd and probably would have been forgotten. It would have came out in 1999, the same year that SpongeBob SquarePants debuted. I don't think Stewy the Dog Boy would have competed against SpongeBob since KaBlam! was pretty much forgotten after it ended its run around 2000. Nickelodeon was smart for not releasing Stewy the Dog Boy as a series.

To watch the Stewy the Dog Boy pilot, watch the video here. To hear in more details about Stewy the Dog Boy, watch the video here.


4. Flip Flops

Back in 2009, TeenNick vice president Nick Cannon started a new developmental studio called The Chairman's Lab where creators can create new shows. One of the shows that almost came out to TeenNick was a web series called Flip Flops. It was about two girls named Kat and Molly living their everyday lives going to school, hanging out with their friends, and get involved in wacky scenarios. However, The Chairman's Lab was shut down and any programs that were going to made was discontinued. Flip Flops was the only show I found out that actually had episodes. Watching Flip Flops and my opinion on it was that it was okay. Nothing too great, but nothing horrible compared to the current live programs that are in Nickelodeon today. While Flip Flops would have been the first live action show since Just Jordan that doesn't have celebrities, singers, actresses, or anything unrealistic that pretty much all the live action shows have nowadays, the show wouldn't have been special and would've blended with the crowd. Plus, Nickelodeon would later on release other shows based on the internet such as Awesomeness TV and Breadwinners.



To watch Flip Flops, click the link here. To learn more about Flip Flops, click on the video here.

3. Crash Nebula

I mentioned this pilot on my list of the top 10 worst Nickelodeon spinoffs ever, so I won't go too much into detail. Butch Hartman became very popular around the 2000's with shows such as The Fairly Oddparents and Danny Phantom. Around 2004, he made an episode of The Fairly Oddparents that focused on the superhero Crash Nebula's origins as a teenage boy named Sprig Speevak. It would have came out around the same time as Danny Phantom and since the concepts were pretty similar, Crash Nebula would have been redundant. Plus, after T.U.F.F. Puppy debuted, the viewers then realized how tired Hartman was after seeing how lackluster and disappointing the show was. More details about that show another time. So, I'm glad Nickelodeon rejected this spinoff. However, it's a shame that they're still milking Hartman dry. Speaking of which, we'll get to that in the next number.

To watch Crash Nebula, click the link here.To learn more details about Crash Nebula, watch the video here.


2. Moody's Point

Again, I mentioned about this spinoff series in my top 10 worst Nickelodeon spinoffs list. But my God, doing more research and learning more facts about this spinoff was very interesting. It was a followup to a skit that featured on The Amanda Show back in 1999 that spoofed off Dawson's Creek. Dan Schneider wanted to make a spinoff of Moody's Point shortly after The Amanda Show was cancelled. However, Nickelodeon rejected it and Schneider instead made Drake & Josh. Had Moody's Point came out instead of Drake & Josh, it would have gone in two ways. It would have succeeded and go in a completely different direction with other shows that spun off Moody's Point and Drake & Josh wouldn't have existed. Or it would have failed miserably and Dan Schneider's career would have been over. Remember, Dan Schneider was known as a producer for All That and Kenan & Kel, so The Amanda Show was his very first creation. Since The Amanda Show was cancelled a few years after it debuted, if he would have released Moody's Point and it would have failed, his career for Nickelodeon would have been most likely over. Moody's Point would have came out at the wrong time since live action shows that featured female protagonists such as Taina and Caitlin's Way were not popular. Nickelodeon were focusing on teenage boys and SNICK was waning down from popularity around the 2000's. However, Drake & Josh came out instead and cemented his status as the current king of live action shows. In fact...

To learn more about Moody's Point, click on the link here. To learn more detail about Moody's Point, watch the video here.



1. Gibby

Oh yeah, you know it. The most recent rejected Nickelodeon show is my #1 program from Nickelodeon that I'm glad never came out. Why? Because as stated in the last number, Dan Schneider is the king of live action shows on Nickelodeon, but he hasn't had a huge hit in over a decade. Sure, you can argue that Zoey 101, iCarly, and Victorious has their fans, but most of the people hate these programs, myself included. You already know how I feel about Schneider and Zoey 101 and iCarly from my reviews. As for Victorious and Sam & Cat, I'll review them in the future. But let's just say, they got progressively worse and worse as time went on. Like Butch Hartman, Dan Schneider has been pumping out shows left and right for Nickelodeon and his humor has really worn off. After iCarly ended its run, Schneider planned on two spinoff shows, one of them which based on the minor character Gibby Gibson.



Long story short, Sam & Cat debuted and Gibby was pushed into the sideline. Sam & Cat has recently been cancelled due to numerous controversial notes and Gibby was cancelled. Nowadays, Dan Schneider has another show called Henry Danger, which that show is already redundant and unnecessary since Nickelodeon already has a superhero program called The Thundermans. Gibby would have been an awful idea since the character was really annoying in iCarly and having a show based on him would have been awful. The plot was about Gibby working at a recreational center teaching 4 loser teenagers to be cool. What?! Gibby was the fat, geeky kid who was known for taking off his shirt, so what does he know about being "cool"? Does that make any sense? Nope! But Nickelodeon is still relying on Dan Schneider making all these uninspired shows with the same rehashed formula that were featured from his previous programs. It's time that Dan Schneider either takes a hiatus or comes up with some new ideas. If not, Nickelodeon will eventually run out of ideas. According to recent news, the live action shows and Nicktoons are having their lowest ratings in a while with each program having 1.5 million viewers. What's the program that has the highest ratings? Steven Universe from Cartoon Network. That's just sad. Nickeodeon, while I'm thankful that you never released these programs, you need new ideas or else you'll be crushed by the competition.



To learn more about Gibby, click on the link here. To learn more details about Gibby, click on the video here.



Which of these pilots or programs from Nickelodeon that you're glad never came out? Post in the comments down below.

Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia








Sunday, September 14, 2014

Marc Summers Pleads Nickelodeon For Him to Host a Reboot of Double Dare and Nickelodeon's Response

On October 6, 1986 (that's roughly 5 months after I was born), the groundbreaking and influential kids' game show simply known as Double Dare debuted on TV hosted by the one and only Marc Summers. For those too young to remember, the game show was about two teams consisting of two kids competing against one another answering questions to get the highest score to go into the Obstacle Course where they would try to win numerous prizes. Marc Summers would then ask a question to one of the teams and if they didn't know the answer, they could dare the other team for double the money. If none of them knew the answer, they would take The Physical Challenge. The Physical Challenge and Obstacle Course were some of the main highlights of the show since it consisted of the craziest, slimest, and messiest games ever! Every kid I knew growing up wanted to be in Double Dare and still do after almost 30 years later. 


But the main highlight that people still remember fondly to this day is Marc Summers. Marc Summers, alongside assistant Robin Marella and announcer John Harvey, had amazing chemistry, hilarious antics, a charming personality, and a serious, yet playful demeanor that shined whenever he interacted with the contestants, live studio audience, and the viewers who saw it on TV. Even still to this day, no other game show host from Nickelodeon could match Marc's charisma or charm and people still regard him as the best game show host Nickelodeon has ever had. 


Now that we gotten our brief history of Double Dare out of the way, now time for news. Recently, on The Huffington Post, Marc Summers is interested in rebooting Double Dare for a new generation at Nickelodeon.

"Here's the deal. I would love to do some form or fashion of it. Let's just say that right now ... the people who run the Nickelodeon network and I don't necessarily see eye to eye," Summers told host Josh Zepps. "I've been trying to make nice to those people, but they refuse to talk to me."I think they think I'm way too old to do it. I still have the energy and I think I could, So I'm putting a call out to the folks at Nick: return the phone calls, have a discussion."

To learn more about it, click on the link here. I'm very mixed about this possibility of a supposed reboot to Double Dare. On the one hand, I agree that the only person who I can see host Double Dare is Marc Summers. I don't agree with Nickelodeon saying that he's too old to host the show. Some of the most iconic actors and actresses have kept their roles at their senior years. Fred Rogers from Mister Roger's Neighborhood was 72 years old when he retired from the show. Bob Keeshan was 57 years old when he retired as Captain Kangaroo. So the whole speculation that Marc Summers is too old to host Double Dare is ridiculous. He's been a great host and executive producer at the Food Network shows Unwrapped, Dinner Impossible, Restaurant Impossible, and Rewrapped.  On his spare time, he does Double Dare games for college students and even drunk versions of the game called Dunkle Dare, sometimes alongside Robin and/or Harvey. He may be older, but he hasn't lost his touch.


With that said, this isn't the first time that Double Dare has been revived for a new generation. Almost 15 years ago, Double Dare 2000 debuted to gravitate towards the kids who never saw Double Dare the first time. However, it was critically panned by many viewers with it not being as good as the original. Eventually the show was cancelled after a few months due to poor ratings. While Jason Harris was a decent host, he was no Marc Summers. Plus, they added in a new segment called "The Triple Dare Challenge" which makes the Physical Challenge more difficult, yet if it succeeds, the team would get triple the points. This was one of the worst things they added into Double Dare 2000 that was not needed. Other than that, this revival played it way too safe being exactly the same as the original. With that, Double Dare 2000 has pretty much faded into obscurity with the original Double Dare still remembered in fondness. 


That got me thinking. If Marc Summers plans on rebooting Double Dare, what new things will he add to make the new generation intrigued? My main problem with Double Dare 2000 was that it was the same as the original. I don't think doing the same thing with having Marc Summers back is the answer. Ok, yes, it's what everyone wanted in the first place, but there has to be some new ideas implemented into this reboot to attract the people who didn't grow up with Double Dare. Maybe some new challenges, new questions, new prizes, maybe a celebrity guest here and there, and bringing back Robin and Harvey for a couple of episodes. Knowing Marc, I know he can make it work.

Here's the sad and ironic part, a few days after Marc Summers made his plea to no avail, Nickelodeon is planning with the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team to do a "90's Are All That" tribute at the stadium by having Kel Mitchell do the first pitch and have random spectators compete in a Double Dare game. To know more about this, click on the article here

Nick Jerseys.jpg

Nickelodeon hasn't acknowledge Double Dare in a very long time, not even when it celebrated its 25th anniversary a few years ago. It's such a shame. Besides You Can't Do That on Television, Double Dare was the show that put Nickelodeon on the map. It was the very reason why kids tuned into Nickelodeon other than any other channel. It would be nice if the network would acknowledge it as oppose to ignore it and bring it back in some way, shape, or form when they feel like it. Knowing Nickelodeon, they will miss on another good opportunity to bring viewers again and they'll continue to stay in their rut. Marc Summers deserves better than this and I'm glad he has moved on.

This post is brought to you by the website For Entertainment's Sake. I became one of their main bloggers for the site posting mostly Nickelodeon stuff. They also have a great new podcast called Who Loves Orange Podcasts? Please check out their stuff right here

-Patricia