I’m a busy person; therefore, short programming is my best friend. Lately, I’ve been re-watching "Hey Arnold." It was one of my favorite shows as a child, but I don’t watch it purely out of nostalgia. Actually, my adult brain likes it even more than my kid one, because I now realize how multifaceted it actually is. The storylines have complex and realistic patterns and the characters are round and relatable. They aren’t ridiculously gorgeous and talented individuals with shallow problems; they are actual human beings with problems that are sometimes shallow, but often run deeper. This is more than I can say for much of the programming that is aired today.

First of all, there’s Helga. I could write books on her. She’s someone who obliterates gender norms with her dominant attitude, strong uni-brow, affinity for pink and poetic nature. At first glance, she’s an unattractive bully with an obsessive love for Arnold, the main character. However, the Helga-centric episodes make it clear that she’s more than that. Her mother is a depressed alcoholic who, because of these illnesses, often neglects her. Her father is verbally abusive and does not use her name; instead, he calls her “Girl” or “Olga” (her “perfect” older sister). Due to the fact that Helga has never had a stable relationship with another human being, she has a wholehearted fear of rejection and never feels like she is good enough. So, she acts like her father and bullies others into submission to protect herself. On several occasions she tries to tell Arnold how she feels, but she cannot bring herself to be vulnerable and risk rejection and embarrassment. She is also a wildly creative poet who seems to be exhaustively well read for nine and often soliloquizes her feelings for Arnold. In short: she’s a person that a kid can actually relate to.

Actually, almost every character is complex enough for someone to relate to. For instance, there’s Arnold. His even-tempered reason is the glue that holds his world together, even as he struggles to understand his place in it. He genuinely believes in the good of others, but is not above reacting irrationally and sometimes cruelly to what life gives him.

There’s also Harold, the 13 year old fourth grader with an eating disorder; Pigeon Man, a socially isolated person who symbolically commits suicide; Phoebe, an introverted girl obsessed with perfection and unable to live up to it; Lila, the ever-so-sweet girl with the heart of a consummate manipulator and a fear of rejection to rival Helga’s own; Curly, a bipolar boy; and many more. These characters are real people with their own lessons to learn and to teach. They make mistakes and perform their roles within their complex environments.

Their family situations also demonstrate a host of diversity. Arnold lives with his delightfully eccentric grandparents and their boarders, as his parents are presumed dead. Phoebe has a Japanese father and a Caucasian mother, and they all share her mother’s last name. Gerald has a nuclear family unit that is stable and loving. Patty’s parents are little people. No two families on this show are alike, because no two families in reality are alike.

It is also realistic in that the plot lines do not always have a happy ending and the lessons are sometimes convoluted. For instance, in the episode “Helga and the Nanny,” Helga (surprise) gets a nanny who showers her with stable structure and discipline. Of course, she can’t allow anyone to get that close to her or to control her, so Helga gets her fired for “stealing” Bob’s special belt. It does not end happily. Helga does not confess and get her nanny back. Instead, she gets a postcard from her nanny saying that she expects that everything is the same with Helga. And it is. Clearly, the lesson is (at least in part) that Helga has to let people in in order for her life to improve. This sets up a later episode in which Helga is sent to therapy and, despite her best efforts, opens up and comes to terms with her feelings for Arnold.

Many of today’s shows try to keep the story-line simple, surface, and about stock characters that children can find funny or idolize, rather than relate to. While these shows are fun to watch, this practice is damaging because kids need more than to just be entertained. They need to be shown that they don’t have to be anyone else in order to be worthwhile. They need something to help them feel less alone and to teach them realistic and valuable lessons.

Clearly, "Hey Arnold" is a work of art and its characters should still be developing. I realize that big television companies like Nickelodeon are not going to keep a show that fails to generate a certain number of viewers per interim; however, they took out a show that had actual substance and importance and replaced it with crap. There is nothing inherently wrong with crap and it does have its place, but it is not as helpful in teaching kids about life or, well, anything.

Craig Bartlett, the creator, actually wanted to not only have a series ending movie in which Arnold finds his parents, but also a spin-off series called "The Patakis," based on Helga’s teenage years. Unfortunately, Nickelodeon execs didn’t like the series idea, presumably because it was “too dark.” This is one of my biggest television-based regrets. I want more Helga. I want to see how she and Arnold end up together. (They do; it’s been confirmed by Bartlett.)

Unfortunately, the only hope that we have for more "Hey Arnold" is "The Jungle Movie." There is suggestion that this movie is happening, but it could always use more fan support. If you would like to see this epic "Hey Arnold"conclusion, go tohttp://www.thepetitionsite.com/313/623/108/opruth-green-light-hey-arnold-the-jungle-movie/and put your name on the petition and/or send polite letters to 231 W Olive Ave, Burbank, CA 91502.