Netflix's recent release of two one-off specials from Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life and Invader Zim brought with it a huge wave of nostalgia for the '90s kids.
When I hit play on Static Cling and hearing the intro notes to Rocko, sung by Fred Schneider and his crew from the B-52's, I was immediately taken back to a time of school bus rides, Pokemon on Gameboy, and Saturday morning cartoons.
After seeing two of my favorite childhood shows get a Netflix special in 2019, I started thinking of other Nickelodeon shows I'd like to see get the same treatment.
Aaahhh! Real Monsters
Likely a huge influence on developing my love of Halloween, Aaahh! Real Monsters is a show that follows three young monsters, Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm. The three get into hijinks each episode by completing their school assignments which all revolve around scaring human kids. Aaahhh! Real Monsters ran for four seasons from 1994 to 1997.
Legends of the Hidden Temple
These days, everyone is familiar with American Ninja Warrior, Ultimate Beastmaster, Wipeout!, and other such race-against-the-clock gymnastics competitions. Really, the question is, where would these shows be if it weren't for Legends of the Hidden Temple (ok, calm down American Gladiator fans, it wasn't the first show ever to do this format, but it was the first I remember seeing growing up). Legends of the Hidden Temple tasked young athletic teens in a series of competitions, both mental and physical, in an Indiana Jones-esque set. Legends of the Hidden Temple ran for 160 episodes across four seasons from 1992 to 1995.
Rocket Power
From the creators of Rugrats comes a show about four rad kids living in Southern California, Rocket Power. Growing up on the east coast of the U.S., I had no real concept of what life was like in SoCal. Turning the TV on every day and watching these four friends skateboard, rollerblade, surf, and throw around slang like "catching oxygen" and "maximum aeration" painted a picture of a life of fun and relaxation. Granted, I never learned how to skateboard or surf, but I like to think that if the opportunity presented itself and I was in SoCal during the days of Rocket Power, I might shred a juicy lip on a board in front of some shoobies.
...I better just stick to writing.
Rocket Power aired from 1999-2004 with its 71 episodes.
The Ren & Stimpy Show
You can't talk about classic '90s cartoons without talking about The Ren & Stimpy Show. The wacky, irreverent, and crude comedy starring a cat named Stimpy and a chihuahua named Ren, is the embodiment of '90s humor. Ren & Stimpy, along with Beavis and Butthead and South Park, made up the trifecta of edgy middle school humor in my class. These shows were all super vulgar and way too mature for the kids who were watching it - so of course, we wanted to watch it even more. Looking back on Ren & Stimpy, it is interesting to see how mundane the jokes and humor are in comparison to today's TV shows. Ren & Stimpy ran from 1991 to 1995, ran on syndication for several years after, then had a brief stint as a reboot under the name Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon in 2003.
The Angry Beavers
On a similar vein as Ren and Stimpy, The Angry Beavers was a show that really pushed the limit on what my parents allowed me to watch. The show followed two brothers, Dagget and Norbert Beaver, who lived on their own as roommates in a house-shaped-dam. The Angry Beavers was created by Mitch Schauer, who had previously worked on Ren and Stimpy, as well as Rocko's Modern Life. It is no surprise to see the influence those shows had on Schauer and the beavers. The Angry Beavers had 62 episodes across four seasons, airing from 1997 to 2001.
If you had told me five years ago that there would be a new special of Rocko and a new special of Invader Zim, I would be excited but in disbelief. These shows all rely heavily on culture and themes from the '90s. Wacky, edgy, irreverent, and groundbreaking, Nickelodeon pushed the envelope on kids' television. Would all of these shows hold up in 2019 in a new Netflix special? Probably not. Would I want each of these to get their own 2019 Netflix special? Abso-freakin'-lutely.
