The Nickelodeon Article

Introduction​

This article is all about the American cable television network Nickelodeon and a variety of topics associated with it.

This network's focus is on a variety of children's programming, with various shows throughout its history including You Can't Do That on Television, Hey Dude, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, All That, Kenan & Kel, Double Dare, GUTS, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and of course the Nicktoons; the Nicktoons are a variety of animated comedies that are aimed at children and also appeal to adults. This is in direct contrast with the Nick Jr. block, which is exclusively marketed for young children; and the Nick at Nite block, which is marketed only for adults.

In this article, Nickelodeon's programming takes on a variety of ideas, many of which already exist, and these ideas are expanded greatly in comparison with current history, resulting in a vast entertainment and pop culture empire for Nickelodeon. Such an empire will be bigger and greater than the one existing in the current version of history.

Biography of Tony Marini​

Introduction​

Tony Marini is an invention of mine who in this revised history is a key figure in helping Nickelodeon to develop into a phenomenon with a solid legacy lasting to this day.

Biography​

Tony Marini is an American television executive, and the husband of Patricia “Patty” Massi Marini, daughter of Nick Massi, bass guitarist for Italian-American rock band the Four Seasons.

Anthony Francis Marini was born on April 13, 1954 in Newark, New Jersey to Joseph Anthony Marini (born September 30, 1926) and Susan Florence Marini (nee Gabrieli) (born March 16, 1928), an Italian-American family.

Baseball was an early interest for Tony, and he first met his future wife, Patty Massi, at a local amateur kids’ baseball game his parents brought him to in April 1964. Patty was playing on a team consisting mostly of boys, which she had joined in May 1959 soon after turning 4 due to her reputation as a roughed-up tomboy. Later that year, her father Nick permanently joined the band that would become known as the Four Seasons.

Since they first met, Tony and Patty had become frequent companions, growing increasingly in love. They were engaged on May 12, 1968, when Tony was 14 and Patty had just turned 13. They both got permission from their parents to get married, in part because both sets of parents had married as teenagers. They were married on March 2, 1969, and went on to have four children.

Meanwhile, Tony still managed to graduate from high school and college. He was a bright student and graduated from high school in 1970 at 16. He graduated from college summa cum laude in 1974. Tony and Patty were very rich, so they could very easily afford to have Patty tutored at home, and to have a babysitter look after their kids while they were not home.

After graduating from college, Tony moved with his family to New York, New York in June 1974. During the fall of that year, he started working for PBS through its Manhattan branch. He initially had hands-on experience with PBS through numerous internships he took throughout his college career. (During these internships, Tony was very influential in helping PBS make decisions in television production of the network’s children’s television series, as well as in other areas, and his input was taken seriously every time.) While at PBS, he was partially responsible for the idea to produce a 1980 documentary film celebrating 20 years of high success for the Four Seasons. This television film, which premiered on PBS on Friday night, May 2, 1980, featured, among other media, footage and interviews from the members of the Four Seasons (Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi, and Joe Russo) and people associated with them (including Herbie Mandel and Bob Crewe); this covered chronological biographies of the key people in the Four Seasons, a chronological history of the band, and highlighted how the Four Seasons became one of the most popular and successful rock bands in history. The TV film was so successful that it was released to VHS on June 24, 1980. Following the VHS release, noteworthy nonfiction books were beginning to be published about the rock band, starting with Four-ever, which was first released into retail stores across America in August 1980. Four-ever chronicles biographical information about the Four Seasons, as well as data about their albums and singles and other nostalgia spotlighting the rock band. This movement, continuing into the present day, culminated in the establishment of the Four Seasons Museum at the band’s home turf of Newark in 1985. Thus, Marini had played a major role in immortalizing the Four Seasons as a pop culture and rock band phenomenon, with the band’s legacy rivaling those of other rock music icons such as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.

Despite his success with working for PBS, Tony Marini quit PBS on October 2, 1981 and transferred over to the cable network Nickelodeon three days later. Tony announced such a decision the previous month and joined Nickelodeon in honor of his father-in-law, as well as being on a mission to become famous in his own right.

From his arrival at Nickelodeon in 1981 on, Tony has been very influential in many decisions made by Nickelodeon’s chief personnel. He played a large role in popularizing the network and its innovative, original television programs during the early 1980s. Nickelodeon’s original programs of the 1980s were live action and consisted of game shows and other programs of non-animated genres.

Marini made a stunning political prediction during the summer of 1984, during a time when Nickelodeon was a fledgling cable TV network. He predicted that President Reagan would be reelected by a landslide even greater than the one in his initial election in 1980, in which Reagan beat President Carter badly, carrying 49 out of 50 states and receiving over 66.7% of the popular vote. In addition to this, Marini predicted that Reagan would win all 62 counties of New York State; five of these counties make up the five boroughs of New York City, including Manhattan, the headquarters of Nickelodeon and Marini’s residence. Carter had won Manhattan as well as the Bronx in 1980, both by under a 4-percentage-point margin. To add to this, Marini predicted Reagan would win all 50 states, a feat never accomplished before by any US presidential candidate. (President Carter won Rhode Island by a very narrow margin in 1980, largely by winning Providence county by a 6-point margin.) In the last part of his prediction, Marini claimed that the President’s opponent, Democrat Walter Mondale, would only win a handful of divisions in the entire United States, including the District of Columbia, which had 3 electoral votes.

In the aftermath of the 1984 election, Marini’s general predictions were determined to be true. Reagan won over 73.2% of the popular vote, and all 50 states, winning 535 out of the total of 538 electoral votes. The divisions Mondale (who won close to 25.6% of the popular vote overall) won included the District of Columbia (and the three remaining electoral votes), four counties in Minnesota, three in Kentucky, two in Alabama, and one each in Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia. All boroughs in Alaska, all parishes in Louisiana, and all counties in each of the remaining 40 states (including New York) were won by President Reagan. The results of the 1984 election had come out almost exactly like Tony Marini had predicted, and as a result, his reputation as a well-trusted Nickelodeon staff member was solidified even more, and he quickly became the most respected of the entire Nickelodeon personnel.

Marini further advanced the network’s growth and expansion through his help in promoting original game shows, starting with Double Dare (1986), and later, original animated series (“Nicktoons”). In 1988, upon Marini’s suggestion, Nickelodeon teamed up with Paramount Pictures and formed Nickelodeon Movies. The studios partnered to produce numerous films based on Nickelodeon properties. These included You Can’t Do That on Film, released on July 4, 1990, and based on the popular comedy television series You Can’t Do That on Television; as well as Hey Dude: The Movie (released July 3, 1991) and Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Movie (released October 23, 1992), based on the popular series Hey Dude and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, respectively. The success of these films led to more hits, including All That: The Movie (released July 2, 1997) and Kenan & Kel: The Movie (released July 1, 1998), based on the popular series All That and Kenan & Kel, respectively.

The Simpsons made its television debut at the end of 1989, quickly advancing to great popularity and critical acclaim, and the following year, Nickelodeon decided to create animated series of their own. Tony Marini helped along the way with the organization of these series, starting with the first three, Doug, Rugrats, and The Ren & Stimpy Show; all three of these premiered on the same day, August 11, 1991.

Although Nickelodeon had a reputation of co-producing several films with Paramount Pictures by the time the first batch of Nicktoons were hugely popular, the Paramount/Nickelodeon Movies partnership did not yield an animated film until the release of the first Rugrats movie in July 1993. This movie was a blockbuster, and was followed by many other animated blockbusters, including the first Ren & Stimpy movie, released in November 1993, and the first Doug movie, released in July 1994.

Marini was instrumental not only in getting these films based on Nicktoons produced and released, but also in suggesting a new, innovative style that was very far-removed from styles, methods, and techniques that were used by (and characteristic of) Disney. This style, which comprised of elements that captured the spirit of the Nicktoon it was based on, instead of implementing the Disneyesque genre of animated musical, was first used in the 1993 Rugrats film and appealed to adults as well as children. This movie style helped these animated films perform exponentially better at the box office than many other non-Disney animated films of the era, and was a standard utilized in virtually every Nicktoon movie, the two exceptions being the third and fourth Rugrats films, released in November 1998 and November 2000, respectively. These two films were produced and released after Paul Germain departed, with several other key writers, from Rugrats, and were treated with a Disneyesque influence (especially the third). Whereas the third film was nevertheless a massive box-office success (though not as huge as the first and second films), the fourth film was a relatively minor hit. Thereafter, the executives at Nickelodeon, including Tony Marini, made a quiet, unofficial pledge not to make another film like the third and fourth Rugrats films.

Between 1982 and 1992, in large part due to Tony’s efforts, Nickelodeon developed into one of the top-ranked cable networks on television. Nickelodeon experienced another ratings boost after Sesame Street experienced a major ratings drop on PBS late in 1992. Tony Marini had been appointed the general manager of the network during the previous year. During the 1992-1993 television season, the Cartoon Network, which made its first broadcast October 1, 1992, quickly rose to become hugely popular among television viewers. In January 1993, by decision of Nickelodeon executives under Tony’s guidance, Nickelodeon sold the rights to many of their non-original animated series in their programming to the Cartoon Network. These included most notably the Looney Tunes, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Underdog, and Tiny Toon Adventures. Such series got higher ratings on the Cartoon Network than on Nickelodeon, and they gradually got completely removed from Nickelodeon’s programming schedules (i.e. Rocky and Bullwinkle and Underdog were dropped in 1994, the Looney Tunes in 1995, and Tiny Toon Adventures in 1998). In 1997, due to his extended services to Nickelodeon, Tony was promoted to executive vice president of the network.

On January 10, 2003, Nickelodeon president Herb Scannell resigned from his position, making Tony Marini the new president. In 2009, a suggestion developed that the network should change its signature splat logo. Tony and his son Joey (who had also joined Nickelodeon) were strongly opposed to such a change, calling it completely unnecessary, especially because the network was still enormously popular. They also warned other executives that longtime Nickelodeon fans would indeed harshly criticize such a change if it were implemented. After long discussion and debate, the suggestion of a logo change was discarded.

Tony Marini stepped down from being president of Nickelodeon on January 16, 2016, and was succeeded by Cyma Zarghami, who learned a lot from him and his experiences working at the network. Although no longer the Nickelodeon president, Marini still has a high-ranking position with the network as a chairman.

Notes on Nickelodeon Movies​

• Some of Nickelodeon's live-action films, such as You Can't Do That on Film (1990) and All That: The Movie (1997), naturally lack a core plot, being based on TV sketch comedies. Instead, films of this nature have a greater-than-normal variety of sketches, a variety large enough to constitute a feature-length film. Compare this to the Jackass film series of the current version of history, the films of which are like extended versions of the Jackass TV series. In contrast to the Jackass franchise's adult reality slapstick comedy genre, Nick films such as You Can't Do That on Film and All That: The Movie serve as pioneers in the sketch comedy film genre.
• A vast majority of Nickelodeon's animated films based on Nicktoons will by no means be musicals. Instead, they will be drawn out through extended plots, humorous scenes appealing to both children and adults, hit recordings of popular bands and recording artists (sort of in the vein of current-history DreamWorks movies such as the Shrek film franchise and other animated movies such as Minions), and other elements that are in line with the network's innovative programming. After all, as I remember from the preview of a documentary on Nickelodeon, the network was founded as the antithesis of Disney among other core elements such as being primarily a children's cable TV network. Since Disney is well-known for its animated musicals, it is naturally only fair that Nickelodeon consistently goes against the Disney animated musical formula when producing animated films of its own.
  • There are only two exceptions to this rule: the third and fourth (somewhat an exception) Rugrats films, released in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Nickelodeon executives, including Tony Marini, let such things slide due partially to the widespread idea that Rugrats was "old-hat" by 1998, having been a massive hit since its debut in 1991. But it was especially due to the departure of Paul Germain and much of Rugrats' original writing staff in 1997. After these departures, Rugrats would become a "kiddie" show, and the show's ratings would drop and be in a state of slow decline, which would only speed up in the aftermath of the third and fourth films, where Dil Pickles and Kimi Finster were introduced, respectively.
    • Rugrats would regularly reign as the most-watched show on Nick for nearly a decade, from October 1991 (surpassing Family Double Dare) to December 1999 (being surpassed by SpongeBob SquarePants). In between this period, Rugrats would only have one brief hiatus during its eight years of being #1 on Nick: during three consecutive weeks in March 1993, Rugrats is surpassed in ratings by The Ren & Stimpy Show; this is during a time when all three Nicktoons existing on-air were fiercely competing with each other.

Double Dare​

Airdates (first run)​

October 6, 1986 - February 8, 1997

Series​

• Double Dare (1986-1995)
• Super Sloppy Double Dare (1987-1990)
• Family Double Dare (1988; 1990-1997)

Notes​

• Host: Marc Summers
• Announcer: (John) Harvey

Miscellaneous Note​

• The original Double Dare emerged as the highest-rated Nickelodeon series in the week of April 6th to April 12th, 1987, and it remained that way until the week of April 8th to April 14th, 1991, when its position was replaced by the family version (Family Double Dare). Family Double Dare remained the #1 series on Nickelodeon from April 1991 until the week of October 14th to October 20th, 1991, when its position was replaced by Rugrats, an original Nickelodeon animated series (Nicktoon).

Rugrats​

Quick Facts​

• Initial Run: August 11, 1991 - August 1, 2004
• Broadcast History (Nickelodeon): August 11, 1991 - November 25, 2007 (1991-1998 episodes until November 30, 2008)
• Creator: Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo, Paul Germain
• Number Of Seasons: 13
• Number Of Episodes: 296
• Number Of Adapted Theatrical Films: 4 (1993, 1995, 1998, 2000)
• General Merchandising Period: October 1991 - December 2004
• Video Game Release Period: 1992 - 2001
• Peak Position on Nickelodeon: #1 (October 14, 1991 - March 7, 1993; March 29, 1993 - December 19, 1999)
• Heyday: October 1991 - February 2002
• General Popularity: August 1991 - December 2004
• Award: Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards winner for Best Animated Series (8x) (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999)
• Honor: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1999
• Rank In Most-Watched Nicktoons of All Time: #3

Revised History​

Rugrats is a popular American animated television series. It is one of the first three Nicktoons, all of them premiering August 11, 1991 on Nickelodeon (the other two being Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show). Rugrats became an instant hit along with Doug and Ren & Stimpy, as well as becoming the highest-rated Nickelodeon animated series by two weeks after its premiere. It replaced Family Double Dare as Nickelodeon’s highest-rated show by October 20, 1991. Rugrats was briefly surpassed as the highest-rated Nickelodeon series by The Ren & Stimpy Show from March 8th to March 28th, 1993. In July of that year, Rugrats solidified its position as Nick’s highest-rated show with the release of the first feature film based on the series (to be mentioned further down), whereas before it was relatively close in ratings and popularity with the other Nicktoons, as well as other innovative Nickelodeon programs. The show further solidified such a position by the summer of 1995, with the release of a second feature film. In 1997, Paul Germain (a key producer for Rugrats) left production for the show to focus on Disney’s Recess, which premiered in 1998. After Rugrats’ eighth season began in August 1998, the new episodes were not well-received and criticized by hardcore fans of the show; nevertheless, it maintained its huge popularity for several months afterward. The first Rugrats movie was released on July 9, 1993. A second movie was released on June 30, 1995. A third movie was released on November 20, 1998. The fourth (and final) movie was released on November 17, 2000. Ten years of the show’s success were celebrated in “All Growed Up” (2001), which was seen by over 8 million viewers at its premiere, making it popular enough to spawn a spin-off series, All Grown Up. Although the first three Rugrats movies were phenomenally successful, ratings for the show began to decline when Dil Pickles, who was introduced in the third movie and was the baby brother of the show’s main protagonist Tommy Pickles, appeared on the show in January 1999. From that point on, the show was bombarded with criticism from many longtime fans who declared that Rugrats jumped the shark, contributing to its decline in popularity. The show was surpassed in ratings and popularity by SpongeBob SquarePants, which premiered as a series July 17, 1999, around Christmas 1999. Rugrats was temporarily replaced by Hey Arnold! as the second highest rated Nickelodeon series in mid-March 2000, and this lasted until mid-April. After the fourth movie finished its run in theaters in early 2001, it made around $52,000,000 domestically, which was less than double its budget (of around $28,000,000). And with the show’s ratings falling, Nickelodeon executives denied production for a fifth Rugrats movie. By early 2002, the show’s popularity had fallen to relatively above average ratings. Nevertheless, the show maintained a certain level of popularity, especially with children aged 2 to 12, until it ended on August 1, 2004. And it remained successful in reruns until it was taken off Nickelodeon’s regular programming. The newer episodes (1998-2004) of the show aired alongside the older ones (1991-1998) until November 25, 2007; the older episodes aired on Nickelodeon until November 30, 2008. The Christmas special from 2002 aired on Nickelodeon from then until Christmas 2007. The one from 1992 aired from then until 2009. That same year, the Cartoon Network, under new ownership, bought a large percentage of the rights to all Nicktoons ranging by their premiere dates from Doug to Avatar. Most of these Nicktoons, including Rugrats, subsequently began airing on Cartoon Network. Between 1991 and 2004, Rugrats aired 296 episodes spanning 13 seasons. Altogether, the show has sold over 20 billion dollars in merchandise.

Seasons and Episode Count​

• Season 1 (1991-1992): 20 episodes
• Season 2 (1992-1993): 26 episodes
• Season 3 (1993-1994): 26 episodes
• Season 4 (1994-1995): 26 episodes
• Season 5 (1995-1996): 26 episodes
• Season 6 (1996-1997): 26 episodes
• Season 7 (1997-1998): 26 episodes
• Subtotal (1991-1998): 176 episodes
• Season 8 (1998-1999): 20 episodes
• Season 9 (1999-2000): 20 episodes
• Season 10 (2000-2001): 20 episodes
• Season 11 (2001-2002): 20 episodes
• Season 12 (2002-2003): 20 episodes
• Season 13 (2003-2004): 20 episodes
• Total: 296 episodes

Theatrical Films​

The Rugrats Movie​

• Release Date: July 9, 1993
• Gross (USA): over $190,000,000 (by November 1993)
• Gross (World): over $441,000,000
• Notes
  • This is not the same movie as the one released in 1998, as can be seen in the current version of history. Consequently, Dil Pickles remains unintroduced to viewers until 1998, so the first two Rugrats movies do not have Dil in the cast.
  • I’m not 100% sure what the first Rugrats movie in 1993 will be called, but I think it’s a safe bet that it will be titled The Rugrats Movie.

The Rugrats Movie 2​

• Release Date: June 30, 1995
• Gross (USA): over $170,000,000 (by November 1995)
• Gross (World): over $395,000,000
• Note
  • This is not the same movie as the one released in 2000 in the current version of history, titled Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. So, in a similar fashion to Dil Pickles, Kimi Finster remains unintroduced until 2000.

The Rugrats Movie 3​

• Release Date: November 20, 1998
• Gross (USA): over $100,000,000 (by April 1999)
• Gross (World): over $232,000,000
• Note
  • This is the same movie as the 1998 Rugrats film, which is simply titled The Rugrats Movie in the current version of history. This remains the first media title where Dil Pickles is seen, but it is the third Rugrats movie in the new version of history.

The Rugrats Movie 4​

• Release Date: November 17, 2000
• Gross (USA): over $52,000,000 (by April 2001)
• Gross (World): over $146,000,000
• Notes
  • This is the same movie as the 2000 Rugrats film, which is titled Rugrats in Paris: The Movie in the current version of history. This is the movie where Kimi Finster makes her debut, but in the new version of history, this is obviously the fourth Rugrats movie rather than the second.
  • As is mentioned in the revised history of Rugrats seen above, there will be no fifth Rugrats movie serving as a sequel to the vacation adventure in Paris. So, that means there’s no equivalent to Rugrats Go Wild in the new version of history in the year 2003.

The Ren & Stimpy Show​

Quick Facts​

• Initial Run: August 11, 1991 - July 12, 1998
• Broadcast History (Nickelodeon): August 11, 1991 - November 26, 2006
• Creator: John Kricfalusi
• Number Of Seasons: 7
• Number Of Episodes: 176
• Number Of Adapted Theatrical Films: 2 (1993, 1996)
• General Merchandising Period: October 1991 - August 1998
• Video Game Release Period: 1992 - 1998
• Peak Position on Nickelodeon (top): #1 (March 8 - 28, 1993)
• Peak Position on Nickelodeon (general): #2 (October 28, 1991 - March 7, 1993; March 29, 1993 - March 16, 1997)
• Heyday: October 1991 - August 1998
• General Popularity: August 1991 - August 1998
• Rank In Most-Watched Nicktoons of All Time: #4

Revised History​

The Ren & Stimpy Show is a popular American animated television series. It is one of the first three Nicktoons, all of them premiering August 11, 1991 on Nickelodeon (the other two being Doug and Rugrats). Ren & Stimpy became an instant hit along with Doug and Rugrats, and it became Nickelodeon’s 2nd highest-rated show by November 3, 1991, surpassing Family Double Dare and trailing only Rugrats for the top spot. Ren & Stimpy was Rugrats' biggest rival for years in terms of popularity. The show briefly surpassed Rugrats as the highest-rated Nickelodeon series from March 8th to March 28th, 1993.

Miscellaneous Notes​

• After history is changed, creator John Kricfalusi is never fired from The Ren & Stimpy Show. Throughout the series' run from 1991 to 1998, The Ren & Stimpy Show remains produced by Kricfalusi's production company, Spumco. Kricfalusi cooperates with key Nickelodeon staff/personnel, including leading employee Tony Marini, who knows how to negotiate with the show's creator and helps to allow him virtual control over his creation, while Kricfalusi is still obligated to abide by Nickelodeon’s standards in not crossing the line. In addition, Marini plays a key role in keeping Kricfalusi as the showrunner and keeping him busy with the first Ren & Stimpy movie as of April 1992; the first Ren & Stimpy feature film would hit movie theaters in November 1993.
• The second Ren & Stimpy movie begins production in December 1994 and is released to theaters in July 1996.
• As a result of the high success of The Ren & Stimpy Show, John Kricfalusi creates another Nicktoon, which premieres September 2, 1995. This currently unnamed Nicktoon, also produced by Spumco, would be the 6th of its kind, after Doug (1991), Rugrats (1991), Ren & Stimpy (1991), Rocko's Modern Life (1993), and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1994). This show lasts 4 seasons and ends on July 3, 1999, having aired 104 episodes.

Seasons and Episode Count​

• Season 1 (1991-1992): 20 episodes
• Season 2 (1992-1993): 26 episodes
• Season 3 (1993-1994): 26 episodes
• Season 4 (1994-1995): 26 episodes
• Season 5 (1995-1996): 26 episodes
• Season 6 (1996-1997): 26 episodes
• Season 7 (1997-1998): 26 episodes
• Total: 176 episodes

Theatrical Films​

The Ren & Stimpy Movie​

• Release Date: November 19, 1993
• Gross (USA): over $175,000,000 (by April 1994)
• Gross (World): over $406,000,000

The Ren & Stimpy Movie 2​

• Release Date: July 3, 1996
• Gross (USA): over $155,000,000 (by November 1996)
• Gross (World): over $359,000,000

Doug​

Quick Facts​

• Initial Run: August 11, 1991 - July 12, 1998
• Broadcast History (Nickelodeon): August 11, 1991 - November 26, 2006
• Creator: Jim Jinkins
• Number Of Seasons: 7
• Number Of Episodes: 176
• Number Of Adapted Theatrical Films: 2 (1994, 1996)
• General Merchandising Period: October 1991 - August 1998
• Video Game Release Period: 1992 - 1998
• Peak Position on Nickelodeon (general): #3 (November 25, 1991 - March 2, 1997)
• Heyday: November 1991 - August 1998
• General Popularity: August 1991 - August 1998
• Rank In Most-Watched Nicktoons of All Time: #5

Revised History​

Doug is a popular American animated television series. It is one of the first three Nicktoons, all of them premiering August 11, 1991 on Nickelodeon (the other two being Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show). Doug became an instant hit along with Rugrats and Ren & Stimpy, and it became Nickelodeon’s 3rd highest-rated show by December 1, 1991, surpassing Family Double Dare and trailing Rugrats and Ren & Stimpy for the top spot. In terms of popularity, Doug was the biggest rival of Rugrats and Ren & Stimpy for years.

Miscellaneous Notes​

• After history is changed, Doug is obviously a huge success. As a result of this, in contrast with the current version of history, Doug is renewed for new seasons and episodes airing on Nickelodeon well beyond 1994. In fact, it doesn’t end its run until July 1998. Therefore, Jim Jinkins doesn’t have to end Doug’s run on Nickelodeon prematurely and move into a contract with Disney for the show’s continuation. Thus, in the next version of history, there will be no such thing as a Doug series from Disney!
• The first Doug movie begins production in December 1992 and is released to theaters in July 1994. The second movie begins production in April 1995 and hits movie theaters in November 1996.
• As a result of the high success of Doug, Jim Jinkins creates another Nicktoon, which premieres on August 23, 1997. This currently unnamed Nicktoon is produced by Jumbo Pictures, which also produced Doug, and ends after 4 seasons on July 7, 2001, having aired 104 episodes.

Seasons and Episode Count​

• Season 1 (1991-1992): 20 episodes
• Season 2 (1992-1993): 26 episodes
• Season 3 (1993-1994): 26 episodes
• Season 4 (1994-1995): 26 episodes
• Season 5 (1995-1996): 26 episodes
• Season 6 (1996-1997): 26 episodes
• Season 7 (1997-1998): 26 episodes
• Total: 176 episodes

Theatrical Films​

Doug’s First Movie​

• Release Date: July 8, 1994
• Gross (USA): over $160,000,000 (by November 1994)
• Gross (World): over $371,000,000

Doug’s Second Movie​

• Release Date: November 22, 1996
• Gross (USA): over $140,000,000 (by April 1997)
• Gross (World): over $324,000,000

Rocko’s Modern Life​

Quick Facts​

• Initial Run: September 18, 1993 - July 12, 1998
• Broadcast History (Nickelodeon): September 18, 1993 - November 26, 2006
• Creator: Joe Murray
• Number Of Seasons: 5
• Number Of Episodes: 130
• Number Of Adapted Theatrical Films: 1 (1995)
• General Merchandising Period: October 1993 - August 1998
• Video Game Release Period: 1994 - 1998
• Peak Position on Nickelodeon: #4 (December 20, 1993 – February 16, 1997)
• Heyday: December 1993 - August 1998
• General Popularity: September 1993 - August 1998
• Rank In Most-Watched Nicktoons of All Time: #7

Revised History​

Rocko’s Modern Life is a popular American animated television series. It is the 4th Nicktoon, premiering September 18, 1993 on Nickelodeon. Rocko’s Modern Life was an instant hit, and it became Nickelodeon’s 4th highest-rated show by December 1993, trailing Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, and Doug.

One of the show’s writers, Stephen Hillenburg, went on to create SpongeBob SquarePants, the titular character of which traced its origins back to the 1980s. Hillenburg commenced production on SpongeBob in 1996, making its first appearance in movie theaters in the summer of 1997, alongside All That: The Movie, which played after this first SpongeBob pilot episode. The SpongeBob pilot episode series aired both in theaters and on TV between 1997 and 1999 before becoming a full series on July 17, 1999.

SpongeBob SquarePants will be covered in an amendment to this article later.

Miscellaneous Note​

• The first Rocko movie begins production in April 1994 and is released to theaters in November 1995.

Seasons and Episode Count​

• Season 1 (1993-1994): 26 episodes
• Season 2 (1994-1995): 26 episodes
• Season 3 (1995-1996): 26 episodes
• Season 4 (1996-1997): 26 episodes
• Season 5 (1997-1998): 26 episodes
• Total: 130 episodes

Theatrical Film​

Rocko’s Modern Life: The Movie​

• Release Date: November 17, 1995
• Gross (USA): over $140,000,000 (by April 1996)
• Gross (World): over $324,000,000

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters​

Quick Facts​

• Initial Run: October 29, 1994 - July 12, 1998
• Broadcast History (Nickelodeon): October 29, 1994 - November 26, 2006
• Creator: Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo, Paul Germain
• Number Of Seasons: 4
• Number Of Episodes: 130
• Number Of Adapted Theatrical Films: 1 (1997)
• General Merchandising Period: November 1994 - August 1998
• Video Game Release Period: 1995 - 1998
• Peak Position on Nickelodeon: #5 (December 19, 1994 - February 9, 1997)
• Heyday: December 1994 - August 1998
• General Popularity: October 1994 - August 1998
• Rank In Most-Watched Nicktoons of All Time: #8

Revised History​

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters is a popular American animated television series. It is the 5th Nicktoon, premiering October 29, 1994 on Nickelodeon. Aaahh!!! Real Monsters was an instant hit, and it became Nickelodeon’s 5th highest-rated show by December 1994, trailing Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, Doug, and Rocko’s Modern Life.

Notes​

• This show was produced by the same studio as Rugrats, Klasky-Csupo, and created by the same people who created Rugrats: Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo, and Paul Germain.
• Aaahh!!! Real Monsters can be contrasted with Rocko’s Modern Life because the latter’s comedy was primarily influenced by Ren & Stimpy, while the former’s comedy was naturally primarily influenced by Rugrats.
• Real Monsters was originally slated to premiere at the end of October 1993, over a month after the premiere of Rocko. And the creator of Ren & Stimpy, John Kricfalusi, was set to premiere another of his creations in a Nicktoon afterwards, in the fall of 1994. But due to budgetary issues on the part of Klasky-Csupo related to the time, effort, and energy put into the first Rugrats movie, released in July 1993, the studio had to put off the production of Real Monsters by a year (minus the pilot episode). Thus, the show premiered in 1994 instead. And so, Kricfalusi’s new cartoon show didn't premiere on Nickelodeon until 1995.
• The Real Monsters movie begins production in March 1996, and is released to theaters in October 1997.

Seasons and Episode Count​

• Season 1 (1994-1995): 26 episodes
• Season 2 (1995-1996): 39 episodes
• Season 3 (1996-1997): 39 episodes
• Season 4 (1997-1998): 26 episodes
• Total: 130 episodes

Theatrical Film​

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: The Movie​

• Release Date: October 24, 1997
• Gross (USA): over $130,000,000 (by April 1998)
• Gross (World): over $300,000,000

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