Nickelodeon/Headscratchers


 * Several things about Nickelodeon's Network Decay bug me, but nothing quite like their treatment of their own game shows. First, they give out parts of the set from Legends of the Hidden Temple and Double Dare as prizes on Figure it Out, then they shove it all off to Nick GAS, which eventually trickled down to only showing a scant handful of the myriad game shows they've developed, and then they decide to scrap it and turn it into some stupid network called The N. The hell?
 * Wait, what? As far as I know, The N is completely unrelated to Nickelodeon and was actually created by the decaying of an equally unrelated network devoted to edutainment shows that are actually entertaining. One of us is obviously thinking of something else.
 * The N was originally part of Noggin, a children's network owned by Viacom (which also owns Nickelodeon). Viacom made the decision to give The N its own channel, as opposed to sharing one with Noggin, so they shut down Nick Gas and gave it to them. The N immediately went into Network Decay, having all of its original programming canceled and is now being remade to attract the "tween" demographic, as opposed to the teen and young adult audience it focused on before.
 * The N had actually begun this years before, when it canceled "Radio Free Roscoe" and "O'Grady", its only original comedies, and replaced them with "South of Nowhere", "Instant Star" and other Degrassi-esque soaps. Then they canceled those and replaced them with reality shows and...nothing, really. The network now runs 24/7 but actually runs less programming then it used to do with half the air-time; if you catch an episode of something other than Degrassi or Fresh Prince of Bel-Air count yourself lucky.
 * And now not even Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It pretty much shows Degrassi all day long.
 * Doesn't Nickelodeon target the... (deep, exasperated sigh) "tween" demographic anyway?
 * Originally, it was more of a family channel with an emphasis on the "tween" and preteen demographic; the early morning slots were taken up for the preschoolers, the daily blocks were taken up for the tweens, the late afternoons and evenings (especially during the weekends) were for the older teens, while the nighttime was for the adults. It wasn't until around the turn of the millennium that that demographic narrowed to the tweens, and virtually all of their old content was scrapped; they tried to salvage them by shunting them off to their own channels, but those eventually died or mutated into carbon copies of the "MTV for kids" feel of the new Nick. They didn't even bother to open up the time capsule they had created for the new millennium, like they said they would. Now that is sad.
 * But Nickelodeon's "tween" shows are better than Disney's "tween" shows. Why? In Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, there's an episode where Moze grows to giant size. I'd like to see THAT happening in Hannah Montana.
 * Oh, and The N and Nickelodeon did have one solid connection besides corporate ownership: The Adventures of Pete & Pete, which was rerun on The N in 2003. Oh, and they also ran Sabrina the Teenage Witch reruns at the same time Nickelodeon was doing the same (which was odd since Nick doesn't make it a hobby of airing old Disney sitcoms during the day).
 * Sabrina wasn't a Disney sitcom. Viacom owned the rights to Sabrina at the time, which explains Nick rerunning it.
 * When Nickelodeon took over Camp Snoopy at Mall of America, they rethemed the Screaming Yellow Eagle ride to Danny Phantom while leaving the Ghost Blasters ride untouched, even though that'd make the most sense to retheme...
 * This troper is at least glad that it was still Camp Snoopy during his younger days, and will forever mourn it's death.
 * It bugs me that Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph NEVER show up in those Nicktoons Unite! crossover videogames.
 * Maybe it's because although they're cartoon characters, they aren't as funny looking or colorful as the likes of SpongeBob or Timmy.
 * Not necessarily
 * Don't forget this!
 * It's because Nickelodeon knows that Avatar's target demographic are too smart to buy their games.
 * forget Avatar: The Last Airbender characters, why not Angry Beavers and Aaahh Real Monsters characters?
 * Because their too busy using Video Games to advertise their newer cartoons.
 * But if Nickelodeon actually put in all of the franchises the fans like, their games would actually sell.
 * It bugs me that Nickelodeon showed School of Rock, an independent movie aimed at adults.
 * One obvious reason no one's mentioned yet as to Nick airing School of Rock: Miranda Cosgrove.
 * They also showed Ferris Buellers Day Off. I wouldn't call that movie kid-friendly myself.
 * Obviously, if it has kids in it, it's for kids. What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids??
 * Maybe they think by showing those flicks, they'll catch some of us 80s/90s babies skimming channels looking for nostalgia.
 * The new logo. Why change what's been working for 25 years just because the sextet of logos (Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., Nicktoons Network, Noggin and The N) didn't look right together on a business card? I'm sure the cohesion pleases higher-ups and design enthusiasts, but I'm still no fan of the change.
 * It's not just the business card thing. Apparently, a orange splat which can reshape itself into anything is too hard to streamline.
 * That whole "business card" shtick was just an analogy. They didn't change the logo for that sole reason. Personally, I hated it at first, but I got used to it. It's kinda like the splat logo and the old pinball logo combined.
 * Face, of Nick Jr. fame. No, Nostalgia Filter is not making him any less annoying.
 * Face is kind of a Broken Base, A. People who find him annoying. B. People who found him creepy. Or C. People who like him.
 * Why are there so many specials? Almost every Spongebob and iCarly episode is labeled as special.
 * Does Nick have a thing for Les Yay and Ho Yay?
 * So.. Am I the only one who misses the bumper around Christmas with the Snowman? Not even Nicktoons airs that one. Why not? Nick aired it for several years after many of the shows aired stopped airing.
 * DV Rs/Tivos notwithstanding,does anyone else see the irony of Nick airing the 90s block (Summer 2011 so far) during the twilight hours when those of us who grew up on those shows are likely sleeping b/c we have to work the next day?
 * Teen Nick's ratings for that timeslot have been comparatively through the roof since the block started, so I don't think it's a problem for that many people, especially considering that most of them are college-age and are likely to be up around then anyway. I personally think it's a great way to please the nostalgiacs without keeping the network's "normal" line-up from stagnating.
 * Yeah, I record the blocks every night (it's like going back in time) for the next day after work. I was just acknowledging that the people who remember these shows the best likely aren't college-age/up-all-nighters. I can't wait til they add more shows.
 * Anyone attending college now, at least a four year one, would be 18-21, making them born between 1989-1993, making them eight-to-eleven years old when the 90s ended in 2000, at which point most of Nick's 90s classics were still on. Seeing as eight-to-eleven is Nick's target age range, it makes sense that they're target with The 90s Are All That would be those who were those ages when these shows were on.
 * The infamous "Pinchface" ident from the 90's, why is it called that??