Notes from the Nickelodeon Documentary on Hulu

90s Nostalgia is in big time. I’m a sucker for it too and tonight I tuned in to this 102 minute documentary on Hulu. Turns out The Orange Years the Nickelodeon Story is actually from 2018.

Here’s some fun facts:

Nickelodeon actually started in 1979. At first, there was a show Pinwheel (which I remember being on Nick) and eventually became the first kids network.

You Can’t Do That on Television was a Canadian show that Nickelodeon imported into the U.S.

Hey Dude, Salute Your Shorts, Ren & Stimpy, Rocko’s Modern Life and You Can’t Do That on Television is available to stream on the Paramount+ network (they didn’t actually mention this in the doc but while I was watching I Googled to see where it was available. Clarissa Explains it all is also showing 5 seasons on the Paramount+ network as well as something called FuboTV.

Lil Pete’s real life mom wasn’t crazy about Artie’s outfit when she first saw it (particularly the thin, skintight pants).

Melissa Joan Hart was a big They Might Be Giants fan and so Clarissa had posters in her room and referenced them on the show.

While most cartoons in the 80s were just long commercials for merchandise, Nickelodeon added Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy and Doug without exisiting merchandise…so they just had well written shows that were a hit.

Mark Mothersbaugh, creator of the Rugrats theme music was a member of the band Devo.

Some lucky bastard bought someone’s Aggro Crag trophy from Guts on eBay. He didn’t say how much he paid.