The 1990s were a great time for mainstream weirdness, especially in children’s television.
Modern kids' shows like “Adventure Time,” “Uncle Grandpa” and even the ubiquitous “Spongebob Squarepants” all owe a deep debt to the territory forged by kids’ entertainment in the ’90s. The aforementioned shows, with their often contextless doses of post-internet “anything goes” weirdness wouldn’t be the same without them.
With cable TV no longer in its infancy and new channels aimed at increasingly specific demographics, it was natural that a channel aimed squarely at kids would take shape in the late ’80s. The Disney Channel did its thing with its typical brand of magic, but it was Nickelodeon that pushed boundaries and trod new ground in children’s programming.
In the ’90s, Nickelodeon hit its stride and left other networks scrambling for similar programming of their own. This era of the network is well documented in “The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story.” Nickelodeon has continued to have its share of hits over the years, but it seems they’ve largely followed Disney’s path, relying on live-action tween sitcoms since. They’re certainly not taking the number of risks with oddball shows they once did.
Popular consciousness seems to remember ’90s Nickelodeon shows like “Rugrats” and “Spongebob Squarepants” most prominently, and rightly so, but Nickelodeon’s programming went much further. “Ren and Stimpy” was part of the initial wave of “Nicktoons” that debuted on the network and, when compared to its peers, “Ren and Stimpy” pushed the envelope the hardest. It’s frankly shocking even today that the show was aired on kids’ television and far less shocking that it also was aired on MTV at the time.
Chihuahua Ren frequently verbally and physically abused Stimpy the cat, and the show’s premises not only featured gross-out humor, it was the central premise of episodes like “Ren’s Toothache” and “The Cat That Laid the Golden Hairball.” Watch at your own risk (or, like me, in utter amusement).
Nickelodeon, the network that made a name for itself dumping slime on people, didn’t always look to make viewers uncomfortable. A few years before “Ren and Stimpy,” game show “Double Dare” debuted and went on to be a network staple. Host Marc Summers made gooey green stuff and all other manner of grossness palatable for almost any viewer. “Double Dare” featured a traditional game show quiz section, but, as would become standard with other Nickelodeon game shows like “Nick Arcade” and “Legends of the Hidden Temple,” the real fun was had during the physical challenges – and from its Slip ’n Slides, giant prop noses and kiddie pools filled with glop, no contestant walked away clean.
Even puppets made their way into regular Nick programming with “Weinerville,” a show set on a large stage that blended both full puppets and puppets that used a human actor’s head (almost always host and creator Marc Weiner), but a much smaller puppet for the lower body. The show was so popular, it went from airing weekly to airing every weekday. There also were multiple “Weinerville” holiday and event specials. The weird wasn’t lurking in the corners on Nickelodeon. It was front and center.
Not to be outdone, the major networks and the fledgling FOX and UPN (which later merged with The WB to become The CW) went after their own left-field options. Cartoons were all over the map, from the video game adaptation “Earthworm Jim” (Kids WB) to kid-friendly horror anthology “Tales from the Cryptkeeper” (ABC), to the early CGI of “Reboot” (ABC) and even stop motion with “Bump in the Night” (ABC). Disney took some nontraditional stabs at kids’ cartoons with the syndicated “Gargoyles” and “The Mighty Ducks” (which featured not kids, like the film, but actual hockey-playing ducks).
“Animaniacs” and offshoot “Pinky and the Brain” contained their share of zany weirdness mixed with sly pop culture references and catchy songs, but Warner Bros. animation hit peak weird with “Freakazoid” (Kids WB). Co-created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, who together were the major forces behind the iconic “Batman: The Animated Series,” “Freakazoid” is an intensely smart, yet silly, parody of superhero tropes. A young teen is given superpowers through a freak computer accident caused by his cat. Similar to “Animaniacs” in tone, it’s notable for sporting a voice cast for the ages and making frequent use of the term “poo gas.”
Mulder and Scully may be the iconic ’90s paranormal investigators, but the series “Eerie, Indiana” (NBC) gave kids a version of their own. Starring ’90s teen heartthrob Devon Sawa as a boy whose family had just moved to the titular town, it centers on the cornucopia of weird phenomena that constantly pop up. The show’s pilot features a family that never ages because they sleep in Tupperware-like plastic containers the mother sells door to door and via in-home sales parties, just as Tupperware originally was sold. The sense of mystery in “Eerie, Indiana’s” is leavened with just enough danger and wonder that it plays like a mix of “Twin Peaks” and “The Twilight Zone” for younger audiences. Modern audiences will recognize its influence on the stellar Disney animated show “Gravity Falls.”
“The Adventures of Pete and Pete,” however, is the era’s crowning achievement. The Nickelodeon show featured twin redheaded brothers with the same name in the fictional New England town of Wellsville. The term “quirky” applies to the world of Wellsville, but the core of the show is one of kids’ television’s most realistic.
Most young adult (i.e. tween) entertainment focuses primarily on young love, friends and grown-ups getting in the way of such things. “Pete and Pete” included these things, but it was never the sole focus. Episodes often gave as much time to the brothers’ parents and other adults in their orbit as they struggled to guide the boys into responsible adulthood and deal with their hijinks. Sure, their dad was your average bumbling pops, but his heart was bigger and he was willing to admit his mistakes. The show also tackled the pains of growing up, of being bullied and becoming the bully, surviving hard-nosed teachers and other typical teen show plots, but added elements like a neighborhood superhero, a rock band disappearing from a garage, a classmate who’s really an alien, evil garbagemen, an ice cream truck salesman with a hidden identity — the list of standout plots and characters goes on.
“Pete and Pete” never got lost in the weeds of weird, though. Its greatest achievement was retaining a sense of communal, existential wonder. The Petes, their parents and their closest friends never fail to find understanding amid the loss, struggles and personal slights.
That’s what the weirder side of ’90s kids' TV really achieved. Most entertainment media wrap things up simplistically. But everyone knows things don’t always work out, not everyone will fit in and sometimes things don’t make sense.
The best kids’ programming of this era acknowledges these uncomfortable truths while demonstrating the value in community and being yourself. As “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” reminded us when the neighborhood superhero went missing: “Don’t give up hope.”
Thompson, VHS.D, holds a doctorate of cult media in pop culture from University of Maine at Castle Rock. He delivers lectures on movies and other pop culture topics under the moniker Professor VHS. Thompson is on Instagram as @professorvhs and can be reached via email at lcvrecordswap@gmail.com.
