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The Six Ages Of Nickelodeon: A Historical Analysis
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tmc...@gmail.com
Jun 28, 2020, 5:40:17 AM6/28/20
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https://www.reddit.com/r/nickelodeon/comments/gx4lzk/the_six_ages_of_nickelodeon_a_historical_analysis/
The Stone Age (December 1, 1977 – October 6, 1986)
Primary demographic target: Generation X
The Stone Age is the first era of Nickelodeon, and includes the year and a half it spent as the network Pinwheel. While Nickelodeon aired a lot of acquisitions during this time, it aired a lot of original programming during this era as well, including the show that gave Nickelodeon its original name, Pinwheel, and shows like Mr. Wizard's World and Out Of Control, which are some of the more memorable shows of this era. As implied by the name I gave this era, it took place before most Nickelodeon fans were even born, and few shows that people would even remember as “classic Nickelodeon” aired during this time. Of course, the most famous show of this era was a little Canadian variety show called You Can't Do That On Television, which gave Nick its iconic slime, and a lot of its original character as well, establishing the foundation for the eras to come. The Stone Age was all about survival for the network as it established itself in the brand new medium of cable. Nickelodeon's primary focus during this time was building a foundation, which would be necessary to allow for everything that would come afterward.
The Golden Age (October 6, 1986 – April 16, 1994)
Primary demographic target: Generation X/Xennials/Early Millennials
And here we've arrived at the classic Golden Age of Nickelodeon, the legendary era that many older people here remember and younger people discuss in nostalgic hushed whispers. In my opinion, Nickelodeon's Golden Age began with the debut of Double Dare, the game show that pretty much set the tone for what “classic Nickelodeon” would end up being like. Irreverent, messy, funny, and exciting, Double Dare was Nickelodeon's first original game show, and this era would see a lot of them: the vast majority of Nickelodeon game shows debuted during this era, including Nick Arcade and Legends Of The Hidden Temple. This era would also see the debut of classic live action comedies like Hey Dude, Welcome Freshmen, Salute Your Shorts, and Clarissa Explains It All, and would also see the debut of two iconic Nick institutions: Nicktoons and SNICK, which debuted in 1991 and 1992 respectively. The network's primary focus of the Golden Age would be establishing an identity, and the huge variety of original programming that came to the network would help Nickelodeon succeed quite well in that goal. Nearly everything that people love and remember about classic Nickelodeon was established during this era, which is why I consider it the Golden Age of the network.
The Silver Age (April 16, 1994 – October 16, 1999)
Primary demographic target: Core Millennials
There are many people who consider my cutoff for the Silver Age a bit early, and those people might well lump this entire period in with the “Golden Age”. That's fine, as I feel there's just as much Nickelodeon nostalgia emanating from this period as there is from the preceding eight years. However, I feel there are key differences between this era and the previous one that establish it as separate, at least in my opinion. I began the Silver Age as the debut of All That, an extremely important show in Nickelodeon's history for several reasons. It established Nickelodeon's relationship with Dan Schneider, and was also the network's first successful original variety show (You Can't Do That On Television was an acquisition, and Roundhouse, while beloved and ahead of its time, was a bit of a ratings flop). I also feel that it was one of the first Nickelodeon shows to embrace outside pop culture, with its theme song performed by TLC, regular musical guests ala Saturday Night Live, and a more pop culture-influenced style in general compared to the network's earlier fare. It was also one of the first shows to permanently break the original SNICK lineup, and generally established a changed tone for the network as a whole. While Nickelodeon still had the irreverence and attitude of the Golden Age, it now had an additional focus: entering the mainstream. Shows like Hey Arnold, Kenan and Kel, Space Cases, The Secret World Of Alex Mack, and The Mystery Files Of Shelby Woo were all memorable shows of this era, and arguably every bit as good as the shows that preceded them, while the dominant show of this era, Rugrats, was a late bloomer from the Golden Age that prospered after the last of the Gen Xers and Xennials who'd fueled the network's earlier success stepped aside and Millennials became Nick's dominant demographic (and had finally grown old enough to get Rugrats' more subtle humor). The Silver Age saw Nickelodeon finally step out into the wider world with events like The Big Help, while the Kids' Choice Awards (which existed during the Golden Age as the network's most prominent pop culture crossover event) became a massive event. But while Nickelodeon held onto its Golden Age identity, the wider world was having a larger and larger influence on Nickelodeon as a whole. The last big debut of the Silver Age was Spongebob Squarepants, and when the era ended a few months later, nobody knew just how big a show that would become...
The Bronze Age (October 16, 1999 – July 19, 2008)
Primary demographic target: Late Millennials/Early Zoomers
October 16, 1999 is another major day in Nickelodeon history, which is why I established the Bronze Age cutoff here. It saw the debut of two new shows, The Amanda Show (important) and 100 Deeds For Eddie McDowd (not so much). It also saw the end of SNICK as we know it, as it would become The SNICK House, and it's also the day that I consider to be the end of “classic Nickelodeon”, the day when outside pop culture influences finally became a majority of Nickelodeon's identity. That's not to say that Nickelodeon didn't maintain its own identity during this era: indeed, I believe the story of the Bronze Age is Nickelodeon's efforts to keep a separate identity from its two main rivals of the time, the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, and I feel that it was successful in that endeavor, even as the main focus of Bronze Age Nickelodeon was adapting to trends. The Bronze Age would be dominated by Spongebob Squarepants, a show initially universally beloved, with its first seasons ranking among the most critically and nostalgically acclaimed programming the network has ever produced, while later seasons would be mired in controversy. The early Bronze Age saw Nickelodeon continue to push the envelope with shows like As Told By Ginger, Pelswick, and especially Invader Zim, perhaps the network's edgiest show since Rocko's Modern Life or even Ren And Stimpy. When you throw in the anime-inspired Constant Payne, which was scuttled by disputes with its creator and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and the 1999-2002 era becomes one of the biggest “what if?” questions in the history of kids' television. What if As Told By Ginger had been allowed to pursue its LGBT storyline with Ginger/Courtney? What if Pelswick and especially Invader Zim had been pushed harder by the network? What if Constant Payne had aired at all? The two biggest stories of the Bronze Age, besides Spongebob Squarepants, are the rise of Dan Schneider and the success of Avatar: The Last Airbender, both of which can be partially explained by Nickelodeon attempting to follow the trend of kidcoms established by Disney and the trend of action/anime cartoons established by Cartoon Network, and both of which produced some of the network's greatest success stories. The era began with a Dan Schneider show, The Amanda Show, and continued with shows like Drake And Josh and Zoey 101, both of which also achieved considerable success. iCarly even debuted during this era, though it's better remembered as Nickelodeon's biggest Iron Age success. And then there's Avatar, which might just be Nickelodeon's greatest show of all time. I've established the cutoff for the end of the Bronze Age at the Avatar finale, as I feel that once Avatar went away, Nickelodeon transitioned to a new era, an era in which it stopped trying to adapt to trends and simply started following them.
The Iron Age (July 19, 2008 – May 2, 2016)
Primary demographic target: Core Zoomers
Many believe The Iron Age to be Nickelodeon's creative nadir, and in a way, it was, as this was a time when Nickelodeon fell headlong into pursuing the success of its rivals, in particular the Disney Channel, which had become a cable tour de force due largely to the success of musical comedy shows and movies such as Hannah Montana and High School Musical. In doing so, the network's primary focus became riding the wave, but fortunately for Nickelodeon, it picked a very high wave to ride, as this was the time of “peak cable”, in which the ratings of numerous cable shows grew to astronomical heights. Though Spongebob Squarepants remained extremely popular (and was one of those shows whose ratings swelled considerably during this period), the defining show of this era was iCarly. Dan Schneider's show combined the growing trend of online content creation with the star power-driven formula that had made Disney Channel's kidcoms such a huge success, and in doing so created an absolute monster of a show. Love it or hate it, iCarly became one of the most successful shows in the history of cable, hitting ten million weekly viewers at its peak. It also crested during a time of massive fandom involvement in television shows, taking advantage of the fandom trends that had started during the late 1990s and continued through the 2000s. The success of iCarly made Dan Schneider nearly untouchable, and he followed up this hit with Victorious, followed by a crossover show, Sam and Cat. However, kidcoms weren't the only thing driving the network's success at the time. Nickelodeon still had plenty of animated shows, with The Mighty B, T.U.F.F. Puppy, and Sanjay And Craig showing occasional flashes of promise. There was also a resurgence of animated action shows during this time: The Legend Of Korra started out quite strong in the ratings, though scheduling missteps by Nickelodeon would lead to a sharp decline after the first season. The 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles revival would also prove to be a moderate success. However, most longtime fans of the network don't remember the Iron Age very fondly. It's seen as a time of tremendous success for Nickelodeon, but also one of tremendous failure, with the collapse of Sam And Cat toward the end of this era proving a sign of troubling things to come. Nickelodeon had ridden the trendy wave to tremendous success, but in many ways, that wave had carried them straight into the rocks.
The Current Age (May 2, 2016 – Present)
Primary demographic target: Core Zoomers/Late Zoomers/Early Alphas
And now we arrive at the current age of Nickelodeon, which I establish as having begun the day The Loud House debuted. The Loud House is an interesting throwback for Nickelodeon: Hey Arnold on Pixi Sticks, with a bit of Archie Comics wackiness thrown in. Most notably, it's Nickelodeon's most successful non-Dan Schneider show since Avatar: The Last Airbender, and its success may have in fact given the network an out from relying on Schneider's shows, as they would cut him loose a year or two after its debut (the rise of JoJo Siwa probably also helped: a self-driven live action personality not reliant on having her own show to be successful). The Loud House has a real nostalgic feel reminiscent of the network's Silver Age hits, and helped establish what I consider the network's focus during this current era: making the old new. Look at all the revivals/comebacks we've seen in the last few years: Hey Arnold (The Jungle Movie), All That, Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, Double Dare, and a live action Legends Of The Hidden Temple movie (along with a bizarre Loud House crossover special). Rugrats is coming back too. All those kids who watched the network during the Golden and Silver Ages now have kids of their own, and want to be able to watch the network with their kids. While Nickelodeon is still continuing to follow the trends of the Bronze and Iron Ages (pushing JoJo Siwa like Vince McMahon pushed Brock Lesnar in 2002), it's attempted to adapt those trends around the classic Nickelodeon identity. This era is still up in the air: whether it's known as the Rust Age, the Platinum Age, or something else has yet to be seen, and while most fans probably wouldn't consider the current era a renaissance, it's a definite departure from the Iron Age, and a sign that the network is quite aware of the current trends in television: streaming-focused, with less viewers overall, a more self-aware focus that, while remaining focused on the primary audience of kids, takes other demographics into consideration, and recognizes the vastly increased competition from many other entertainment sources. The Current Age of Nickelodeon seems to me like another era of transition, something akin to a neo-Silver Age, but I can't quite say what Nickelodeon is transitioning to.
The Stone Age (December 1, 1977 – October 6, 1986)
Primary demographic target: Generation X
The Stone Age is the first era of Nickelodeon, and includes the year and a half it spent as the network Pinwheel. While Nickelodeon aired a lot of acquisitions during this time, it aired a lot of original programming during this era as well, including the show that gave Nickelodeon its original name, Pinwheel, and shows like Mr. Wizard's World and Out Of Control, which are some of the more memorable shows of this era. As implied by the name I gave this era, it took place before most Nickelodeon fans were even born, and few shows that people would even remember as “classic Nickelodeon” aired during this time. Of course, the most famous show of this era was a little Canadian variety show called You Can't Do That On Television, which gave Nick its iconic slime, and a lot of its original character as well, establishing the foundation for the eras to come. The Stone Age was all about survival for the network as it established itself in the brand new medium of cable. Nickelodeon's primary focus during this time was building a foundation, which would be necessary to allow for everything that would come afterward.
The Golden Age (October 6, 1986 – April 16, 1994)
Primary demographic target: Generation X/Xennials/Early Millennials
And here we've arrived at the classic Golden Age of Nickelodeon, the legendary era that many older people here remember and younger people discuss in nostalgic hushed whispers. In my opinion, Nickelodeon's Golden Age began with the debut of Double Dare, the game show that pretty much set the tone for what “classic Nickelodeon” would end up being like. Irreverent, messy, funny, and exciting, Double Dare was Nickelodeon's first original game show, and this era would see a lot of them: the vast majority of Nickelodeon game shows debuted during this era, including Nick Arcade and Legends Of The Hidden Temple. This era would also see the debut of classic live action comedies like Hey Dude, Welcome Freshmen, Salute Your Shorts, and Clarissa Explains It All, and would also see the debut of two iconic Nick institutions: Nicktoons and SNICK, which debuted in 1991 and 1992 respectively. The network's primary focus of the Golden Age would be establishing an identity, and the huge variety of original programming that came to the network would help Nickelodeon succeed quite well in that goal. Nearly everything that people love and remember about classic Nickelodeon was established during this era, which is why I consider it the Golden Age of the network.
The Silver Age (April 16, 1994 – October 16, 1999)
Primary demographic target: Core Millennials
There are many people who consider my cutoff for the Silver Age a bit early, and those people might well lump this entire period in with the “Golden Age”. That's fine, as I feel there's just as much Nickelodeon nostalgia emanating from this period as there is from the preceding eight years. However, I feel there are key differences between this era and the previous one that establish it as separate, at least in my opinion. I began the Silver Age as the debut of All That, an extremely important show in Nickelodeon's history for several reasons. It established Nickelodeon's relationship with Dan Schneider, and was also the network's first successful original variety show (You Can't Do That On Television was an acquisition, and Roundhouse, while beloved and ahead of its time, was a bit of a ratings flop). I also feel that it was one of the first Nickelodeon shows to embrace outside pop culture, with its theme song performed by TLC, regular musical guests ala Saturday Night Live, and a more pop culture-influenced style in general compared to the network's earlier fare. It was also one of the first shows to permanently break the original SNICK lineup, and generally established a changed tone for the network as a whole. While Nickelodeon still had the irreverence and attitude of the Golden Age, it now had an additional focus: entering the mainstream. Shows like Hey Arnold, Kenan and Kel, Space Cases, The Secret World Of Alex Mack, and The Mystery Files Of Shelby Woo were all memorable shows of this era, and arguably every bit as good as the shows that preceded them, while the dominant show of this era, Rugrats, was a late bloomer from the Golden Age that prospered after the last of the Gen Xers and Xennials who'd fueled the network's earlier success stepped aside and Millennials became Nick's dominant demographic (and had finally grown old enough to get Rugrats' more subtle humor). The Silver Age saw Nickelodeon finally step out into the wider world with events like The Big Help, while the Kids' Choice Awards (which existed during the Golden Age as the network's most prominent pop culture crossover event) became a massive event. But while Nickelodeon held onto its Golden Age identity, the wider world was having a larger and larger influence on Nickelodeon as a whole. The last big debut of the Silver Age was Spongebob Squarepants, and when the era ended a few months later, nobody knew just how big a show that would become...
The Bronze Age (October 16, 1999 – July 19, 2008)
Primary demographic target: Late Millennials/Early Zoomers
October 16, 1999 is another major day in Nickelodeon history, which is why I established the Bronze Age cutoff here. It saw the debut of two new shows, The Amanda Show (important) and 100 Deeds For Eddie McDowd (not so much). It also saw the end of SNICK as we know it, as it would become The SNICK House, and it's also the day that I consider to be the end of “classic Nickelodeon”, the day when outside pop culture influences finally became a majority of Nickelodeon's identity. That's not to say that Nickelodeon didn't maintain its own identity during this era: indeed, I believe the story of the Bronze Age is Nickelodeon's efforts to keep a separate identity from its two main rivals of the time, the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, and I feel that it was successful in that endeavor, even as the main focus of Bronze Age Nickelodeon was adapting to trends. The Bronze Age would be dominated by Spongebob Squarepants, a show initially universally beloved, with its first seasons ranking among the most critically and nostalgically acclaimed programming the network has ever produced, while later seasons would be mired in controversy. The early Bronze Age saw Nickelodeon continue to push the envelope with shows like As Told By Ginger, Pelswick, and especially Invader Zim, perhaps the network's edgiest show since Rocko's Modern Life or even Ren And Stimpy. When you throw in the anime-inspired Constant Payne, which was scuttled by disputes with its creator and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and the 1999-2002 era becomes one of the biggest “what if?” questions in the history of kids' television. What if As Told By Ginger had been allowed to pursue its LGBT storyline with Ginger/Courtney? What if Pelswick and especially Invader Zim had been pushed harder by the network? What if Constant Payne had aired at all? The two biggest stories of the Bronze Age, besides Spongebob Squarepants, are the rise of Dan Schneider and the success of Avatar: The Last Airbender, both of which can be partially explained by Nickelodeon attempting to follow the trend of kidcoms established by Disney and the trend of action/anime cartoons established by Cartoon Network, and both of which produced some of the network's greatest success stories. The era began with a Dan Schneider show, The Amanda Show, and continued with shows like Drake And Josh and Zoey 101, both of which also achieved considerable success. iCarly even debuted during this era, though it's better remembered as Nickelodeon's biggest Iron Age success. And then there's Avatar, which might just be Nickelodeon's greatest show of all time. I've established the cutoff for the end of the Bronze Age at the Avatar finale, as I feel that once Avatar went away, Nickelodeon transitioned to a new era, an era in which it stopped trying to adapt to trends and simply started following them.
The Iron Age (July 19, 2008 – May 2, 2016)
Primary demographic target: Core Zoomers
Many believe The Iron Age to be Nickelodeon's creative nadir, and in a way, it was, as this was a time when Nickelodeon fell headlong into pursuing the success of its rivals, in particular the Disney Channel, which had become a cable tour de force due largely to the success of musical comedy shows and movies such as Hannah Montana and High School Musical. In doing so, the network's primary focus became riding the wave, but fortunately for Nickelodeon, it picked a very high wave to ride, as this was the time of “peak cable”, in which the ratings of numerous cable shows grew to astronomical heights. Though Spongebob Squarepants remained extremely popular (and was one of those shows whose ratings swelled considerably during this period), the defining show of this era was iCarly. Dan Schneider's show combined the growing trend of online content creation with the star power-driven formula that had made Disney Channel's kidcoms such a huge success, and in doing so created an absolute monster of a show. Love it or hate it, iCarly became one of the most successful shows in the history of cable, hitting ten million weekly viewers at its peak. It also crested during a time of massive fandom involvement in television shows, taking advantage of the fandom trends that had started during the late 1990s and continued through the 2000s. The success of iCarly made Dan Schneider nearly untouchable, and he followed up this hit with Victorious, followed by a crossover show, Sam and Cat. However, kidcoms weren't the only thing driving the network's success at the time. Nickelodeon still had plenty of animated shows, with The Mighty B, T.U.F.F. Puppy, and Sanjay And Craig showing occasional flashes of promise. There was also a resurgence of animated action shows during this time: The Legend Of Korra started out quite strong in the ratings, though scheduling missteps by Nickelodeon would lead to a sharp decline after the first season. The 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles revival would also prove to be a moderate success. However, most longtime fans of the network don't remember the Iron Age very fondly. It's seen as a time of tremendous success for Nickelodeon, but also one of tremendous failure, with the collapse of Sam And Cat toward the end of this era proving a sign of troubling things to come. Nickelodeon had ridden the trendy wave to tremendous success, but in many ways, that wave had carried them straight into the rocks.
The Current Age (May 2, 2016 – Present)
Primary demographic target: Core Zoomers/Late Zoomers/Early Alphas
And now we arrive at the current age of Nickelodeon, which I establish as having begun the day The Loud House debuted. The Loud House is an interesting throwback for Nickelodeon: Hey Arnold on Pixi Sticks, with a bit of Archie Comics wackiness thrown in. Most notably, it's Nickelodeon's most successful non-Dan Schneider show since Avatar: The Last Airbender, and its success may have in fact given the network an out from relying on Schneider's shows, as they would cut him loose a year or two after its debut (the rise of JoJo Siwa probably also helped: a self-driven live action personality not reliant on having her own show to be successful). The Loud House has a real nostalgic feel reminiscent of the network's Silver Age hits, and helped establish what I consider the network's focus during this current era: making the old new. Look at all the revivals/comebacks we've seen in the last few years: Hey Arnold (The Jungle Movie), All That, Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, Double Dare, and a live action Legends Of The Hidden Temple movie (along with a bizarre Loud House crossover special). Rugrats is coming back too. All those kids who watched the network during the Golden and Silver Ages now have kids of their own, and want to be able to watch the network with their kids. While Nickelodeon is still continuing to follow the trends of the Bronze and Iron Ages (pushing JoJo Siwa like Vince McMahon pushed Brock Lesnar in 2002), it's attempted to adapt those trends around the classic Nickelodeon identity. This era is still up in the air: whether it's known as the Rust Age, the Platinum Age, or something else has yet to be seen, and while most fans probably wouldn't consider the current era a renaissance, it's a definite departure from the Iron Age, and a sign that the network is quite aware of the current trends in television: streaming-focused, with less viewers overall, a more self-aware focus that, while remaining focused on the primary audience of kids, takes other demographics into consideration, and recognizes the vastly increased competition from many other entertainment sources. The Current Age of Nickelodeon seems to me like another era of transition, something akin to a neo-Silver Age, but I can't quite say what Nickelodeon is transitioning to.
steph...@videotron.ca
Jul 12, 2020, 6:09:01 PM7/12/20
to
On Sunday, 28 June 2020 05:40:17 UTC-4, tmc...@gmail.com wrote:
> https://www.reddit.com/r/nickelodeon/comments/gx4lzk/the_six_ages_of_nickelodeon_a_historical_analysis/
>
> The Stone Age (December 1, 1977 – October 6, 1986)
>
>
During the stone age of Nickelodeon, there was also other foreign shows then the network aired like Belle & Sebastian, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Danger Mouse and Count Duckula. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GphNpgPDoa8
> https://www.reddit.com/r/nickelodeon/comments/gx4lzk/the_six_ages_of_nickelodeon_a_historical_analysis/
>
> The Stone Age (December 1, 1977 – October 6, 1986)
>
>
I'm surprised then that article didn't mentionned Fairly Oddparents, Jimmy Neutron and Danny Phantom.
greenschool...@outlook.com
Jul 18, 2020, 4:13:18 PM7/18/20
to
This might be in preparation for when they decide to move on from SpongeBob SquarePants & other cartoons but IDK
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