WEBVTT - Episode 19: Nickelodeon 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:13.320 Hello, Hello, Hello, and welcome to another edition of Nerdificent. 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:15.760 I am one half of your host, Danny Fernandez, and 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.600 sitting across from me, it's your boy if you anyway, 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.760 as always looking fresh, and today we are joined up 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:26.599 top by some of y'all's favorite guests. I would say 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:29.760 he was on our most listened to episode of Nerdificent 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.239 so far m CU episode if you haven't checked that out. 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.720 As a history of the m c U, we have 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.760 the host of the Nickelodeon Animation podcast as well as 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.720 animation investigation on Nerdiced, Mr Hector Navarro. Thank you guys 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:45.479 so much for having any to be back. And I 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:47.360 feel like there should be a round of applause, but 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.120 there can we like, we can we can add that in. 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.400 That's okay. That em CU chat was fun. Yeah, it 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.080 was two hours. It was I got messages. People were like, man, 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.680 when you were talking about Captain America, Man, I was crying. Awesome, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.760 great and we did our job. Yeah, I mean it 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.080 was so I think I tweeted this. But you're someone 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.680 that has this encyclopedic knowledge of comic books and yet 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.360 you don't gate keep at all. You just want everyone 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.840 to enjoy the fandom, whereas like other people, especially men 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:18.640 that have the level of history and knowledge of comic 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.840 books and and nerd lore, I guess that you do, 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.119 they often try to gate keep it from people and like, oh, 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:26.759 you didn't know this, and you don't do that at all. 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.760 You just want everyone to enjoy it and whatever you know, 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.280 capacity that they do, whether they enjoyed as much as 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:34.520 you do or they're just casual fans, that doesn't bother 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.640 you at all. Have you guys seen Ready Player one? No? Not? 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.840 Did you guys? Do you guys read the book now Future? 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:43.280 You're not missing a whole heck of a lot. I 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.880 love me some Stevie Spielberg, But like that movie deals 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:51.040 with how in the future, and it's probably true today 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:56.280 that like geeky knowledge is power, geeky knowledge is like currency, 0:01:56.600 --> 0:01:58.280 and sort of the more you have, the higher your 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:01.920 status is. And I feel like it's fun to do 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:06.520 that stuff in certain regard, in certain circles. If you're 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:09.840 with your buddies, if you know that your friend knows 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.480 the thing, and then here she messes up and you 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:14.080 call them on a you know what I mean, in 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:16.160 a fun way to just like rag on them or whatever, 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:20.919 like that's fine. I get the appeal of of feeling 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:25.760 like you are um deserved of a fandom or deserved 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.079 to like have a place at the table because you've 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:30.520 invested time and you love a thing. That's how I 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.960 feel about cartoons and comic books. And for me, I 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:38.160 channel that by doing research. I channel that as somebody 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.080 who when I get into a thing, like I brought 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:42.800 my Nicktoons book because of what we're talking about today, 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:44.440 and you and I got it when it came out. 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:47.680 I got it before I started doing the Nickelodeon Animation 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:49.880 podcast a couple of years ago, and and hosting this 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.560 new show for notice, and I went to school for animation. 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:54.480 But if I get into a thing, if I like 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:57.519 a thing, I will do the research and and get 0:02:57.520 --> 0:02:59.560 into it on my own. I just watched a new 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.680 mission of Possible movie. I started watching the original nineteen 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:06.280 six mission Impossible TV show on my own. It does 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.120 not hold up, but I'm having a good time, and 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:12.320 it's like and I take that challenge, and I love 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.120 that feeling of like, Okay, if I love a thing, 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.760 I want to learn as much as possible about the 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:21.400 thing so that I can, you know, know every know 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.079 it from every sort of angle and understand it. And 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:26.640 if it's something that is easily critiqued, if something that 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.320 needs improvement, and most fandoms do. Most things that people 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:34.280 love are problematic in some way, some more than others. 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.520 That's okay because if you know what's wrong with them, 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:39.360 even from those other angles, and you can still sort 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.160 of talk about them and talk about what you love 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.360 about them, it makes them stronger, do you know what 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.400 I mean? Like, if people are like, like, let's talk 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.920 about superheroes. I think Batman is better than Superman, I'm like, 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.640 let's have this conversation, like I want to. I want 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:53.520 to talk about Superman. I want to talk about Spiderman. 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:54.880 I want to talk about what is good and bad 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:59.640 about these things. So I would say to people listening 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:02.400 that it is absolutely bad to gate keep, but it 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:04.839 is not bad to just research and love a thing 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:08.080 and learn all about the thing and become an expert 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:09.800 in that thing if you want, and then if you 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:13.400 have that, share that expertise and then curate things for people. 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:15.360 Like I just said the Mission Impossible TV show, you 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:17.120 guys aren't missing much if you don't watch that, you guys, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:18.880 aren't missing much if you don't watch Ready Player one, 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:21.080 but I will tell you to watch you know, this movie, 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.160 this movie, this movie, or this cartoon show. As we're 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:25.160 talking about the history of Nickelodeon, I'll be sure to 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:29.160 be like this cartoon show in particular, Special Cat Cat Dog. 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.680 You can probably skip it. It's okay, it's how dare you? 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:34.880 But you know, if you're not, if you haven't seen 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.480 Avatar the Last Airbender, if you haven't seen Hey Arnold, 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:40.800 like you're you're missing out on some real special stuff. 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.640 So yeah, I mean, and it's it is funny because 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:48.480 I feel like Nickelodeon is one of those brands, one 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:53.080 of those companies that really not only screams nineties, but 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.160 also it's kind of lived on beyond it. Like it's funny. 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.440 I think about this a lot. I feel like online 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.839 you're seeing a lot of SpongeBob memes as of late, 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:05.240 and a lot of these new SoundCloud rappers they're they're 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.360 referencing SpongeBob, Like one song I was listening to referenced 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:15.000 doodle Bob. And it's funny because to think at their age, 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.600 because a lot of these guys are, you know, twenty 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:21.600 one and younger, and that was the cartoon when they 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.440 were growing up, Like that was the one I remember 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:28.000 when they premiered the pilot of SpongeBob after the Kid's 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:30.880 Choice Awards. I remember seeing the first episode. So to 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:36.360 know the longevity of shows like SpongeBob and to see 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:38.280 how it has such an effect that it is like 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:42.640 the cartoon of the younger generation that they can make 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:44.760 so many references to. That's what I love about a 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.360 lot of this stuff, tun especially SpongeBob. SpongeBob is really 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:49.839 unique in that, Like I'll give you an example. There's 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:52.920 a show that's on uh that's a fairly recent show 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.240 called The Loudhouse where originally the creator's idea was to 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.320 make a show about a boy bunny and his like 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:03.599 ten sister bunnies that were all family of bunnies. And 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.160 when he was developing the show, one of the executives 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.640 at Nickelodeon was like, consider making them human. And that 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.160 was the best advice that this person got, because as 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:13.280 soon as they turned it into a show about an 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.760 actual human family, they were able to connect to it more. 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.480 They're able to do this and this and this, and 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:20.120 that's great, but there's also something to a character like 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.600 SpongeBob SquarePants who harkens back to a character like Bugs 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.040 Bunny or Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse or all these 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:31.880 classic characters that technically don't have any ethnicity. Technically, kids 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.200 of many, many, many different backgrounds can like attach themselves too. 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:37.640 And I've seen this and we talked about this with 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:40.200 Goofy and a Goofy movie. How a Goofy movie from 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.400 is like the blackest Disney movie that Disney ever made 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.880 and there's no humans in it it, yet it still 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:49.359 has these things that are like that speak to what 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:52.359 it is like to be a young Black American probably 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.280 And I'm a I'm a young Mexican American, so I'm 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.120 I'm kind of you know, I'm I'm talking about this 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:00.120 from the outside perspective, but I know that like SpongeBob up, 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.200 especially in SpongeBob memes, and people have talked about this, like, 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.960 how is it that that, uh, like black youth has 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.640 latched onto what SpongeBob is. And there's been articles where 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.000 people have talked about this and they've asked young people 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.400 and they're like, well, that's because SpongeBob is black and 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.520 you know, they'll see like their background or their ethnicity 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:20.600 on these characters that again don't have when and other 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:22.160 people will be like, like when I was a kid, 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:25.640 I was like, no, Goku's Mexican because I'm watching you 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:29.480 watch watched it though I watched it. I watched it 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:31.320 and it was Dragon Ball set that and here was 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:33.720 this character that had brown eyes and black hair and 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.720 messy hair, and I'm like, this is a Mexican. Like, yeah, 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:44.480 his wife's name was Cheech. Yeah, it all makes makes sense, 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:46.440 you know, and people make that joke. But today, but 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.080 like there's something to that that. Like, for years, Star 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.520 Wars did not have a Mexican character unless you counted 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.160 Chewy Chewbacca, who was this silent, hairy guy that was 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:57.880 good with fixing up a car. Like that's Chewy. Everybody 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:01.520 had a cousin Chewy. So so go back to SpongeBob SquarePants, 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:05.200 you go back to um, you know, uh, like Ren 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.520 and Stimpy and and other characters from like other cartoons 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:11.240 that we grew up with, especially the Looney Tunes, especially 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:13.800 those classic ones like Tom and Jerry. Like a lot 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:15.200 if you go back and watch a lot of those 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.160 actual shorts and stuff, too, Like they'll be moments where 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:21.160 they'll have Tom from Tom and Jerry like play like 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.800 a bass like a cello, and you're like they're doing 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.400 jazz music and you're like, whoa is Tom Black. It's like, 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.480 you know, like as Daffy Duck Black, like this really 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:32.720 interesting things that are happening. And all we had was 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:38.079 speedy Gonzalez. That's all we had and horrible stereotype, but 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.600 not really because he was fast. The stereotype was his cousin, 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:45.040 Slowpoke Rodriguez. That was the speedy All Mexicans love speedy. 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.640 Speedy is great. Bad, but I've diverted the conversation. No, no, 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.439 it's fine because he said let's go back, and you're right, 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:53.080 we should go back. I think we should go back 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:56.840 all the way to December one, nine seven, when Nickelodeon 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:00.600 launched as pin Wheel, a channel developed by Vivian Corner. 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:04.240 Prior to Nickelodeon's creation, most preschooler programs were very limited 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.480 because they could only tune into their favorite shows on 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:10.440 Saturday mornings. On the other hand, that only had Saturday 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.439 morning to watch their favorite shows, but weekdays too because 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:16.120 they can watch sesame streets for preschoolers and grown ups 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.960 in Columbus, Ohio, they had a new television system called 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:23.400 cube qu b E. Yeah. Did you actually know actor 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:27.360 that Nickelodeon started back in I didn't. I knew. I 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.480 thought it started in the nineties. Yea, yeah, because because 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:35.240 Nickelodeon as we know it today started with Nicktoons, started 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:38.679 with you know, the cable channel that aired three cartoons ships. 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:40.559 It was the big three, the Big three which were 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:44.320 Rent and Stimpy Doug and Rugrass. And in doing my 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.320 research as a young person in two now, like I 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.439 did learn like, oh yeah, Nickelodeon was a thing, and 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:51.920 a lot of people remember, but I don't remember. Nickelodeon 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.240 was a channel called pin Wheel before was Nickelodeon, and 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.800 Nickelodeon was around since the eighties, and it was kind 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:01.400 of like a preschool sort of a kids programming channel 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.679 and uh but it's nuts. But again, to me, Nickelodeon 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:08.080 was always the cartoons, and then they sort of branched 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:09.760 off and did other stuff, which we'll talk about later, 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:11.760 things like Nick at Night and I'll you know, live 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.320 action programming and all that stuff. But for me, it 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:19.280 did it did begin with the three original Nicktoons. Well, 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:24.200 actually Nick at Night came before those three, so so 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:26.480 like if he was saying, they launched pin Wheel and 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:30.120 then pin Wheel on April first, nineteen seventy nine, Pinwell 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:36.200 relaunched as Nickelodeon. So then in Nickelodeon started showing advertisements. 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:40.800 On October eighth, they introduced their famous splat logo, and 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:45.600 then on July one, Nick at Night was launched and 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.280 Nick became a twenty four hour service, which is true. Yeah, 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.880 that's actually I remember now, Um, you know, even in 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:55.320 the nineties watching the cartoons and then I could stay 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.560 up and watch Nick at Night, like maybe an episode 0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:59.360 or something. Do you remember some of the lineup for 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:01.400 Nick at Night? I mean by the time I had 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:03.840 because here's the thing, I did not have cable when 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.680 Nickelodeon first premiered. I was a poor little boy. I 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:08.400 was one of these things where I didn't get cable 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.880 until later, until like the mid to late ninety nineties. 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.240 So by the time I got Nickelodeon and Nick at Knight, 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:19.480 they were already doing stuff. Like maybe maybe I'm thinking 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:21.080 it was too early, but I feel like even like 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.640 Fresh Prince of bel Air was on there at Nick 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.160 at Knight at one point. But I remember stuff like 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:30.120 I Love Lucy was on there. Yes, that was the first. 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:32.400 That's what I remember. I got lucky because my dad 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.080 was the manager of our apartment complex and for some 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.520 reason that meant that he got free cable from the company, 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:42.120 and so I remember what in and the first thing 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:44.440 that will pop on was I Dream of Genie and 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:48.560 then I and so sometimes I would like actually watching. 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:50.920 That's kind of how I got introduced to those older 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.920 shows was because I usually checked out as soon as 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:55.560 as soon as Nick and Night came on the sort 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:57.560 of reruns of live action stuff because I was I 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:00.720 was obsessed with cartoons. That was usually my indicae. It's like, okay, 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:02.240 it's time to go to bed. But I do remember 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:05.840 later when they would get sitcoms like like Fresh, Prince 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.760 of bel Air and other like really good sitcoms from House. 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:10.720 I believe all that stuff was on Nick and I 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:13.840 was like, oh, this is cool. Yeah, yeah, no it was, 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:17.160 but it was great because yeah, those are the huge staples. 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:21.200 And I think what's great is out of the three 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.760 shows that launch, you know, rug Rats, Doug and The 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.000 Ren and Stempy Show, I feel like the Ren and 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:30.960 Stimpy show, well there's nothing like the other two, but 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:34.920 also like Doug. I mean, there are some similarities between 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.719 Doug and Rugrats, but even Doug versus rug Rats, those 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.280 were super different shows. Also, I feel like those were 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:43.200 based off of kind of like their viewership. You have 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:48.079 your very young viewers. So August eleven is when Rugrats, 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.480 Doug and Ren and Stempy first premiered, so you have 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.960 by then I was three, I think, so, so you 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:57.640 have your three to five year olds, you know, or 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.439 your elementary school kids. They're going to watch or resonate 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.280 the most with Rugrats. You have your middle schoolers who 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.000 even though I watched Doug, but probably middle schoolers, high 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.040 schoolers you know, are going to resonate with Doug. And 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:09.680 then you have the Rent and Stempy show, which is 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:12.880 like your high schoolers you know, and and older are 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:14.800 going to resonate with that. So I think they kind 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:18.000 of did it smart, very smart. I mean, go I'm 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.880 going back to the beginning of Nickelodeon, even before the 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:22.800 Three Nicktoons premiered, I know that there was a story 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:24.960 about how like in the mid to late eighties when 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.920 they were trying to figure out the branding of the network. 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.840 They brought in people from MTV that had recently sort 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.880 of like solidified, like like I want my MTV like, 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.640 they designed the logo, like they turned MTV into what 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.000 it was, and they brought Nickelodeon from the lowest in 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.200 the ratings to the top. And one of the things 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.800 they apparently did is they held focus groups with kids, 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:47.720 and a thing that they learned was like, you cannot 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.880 put on a show the kids think is for babies, 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.760 and anything that a kid, no matter what age they are, 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:57.600 if anything is like if if a if a child 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.160 one year younger than them watches a thing, that the 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.320 show is for babies. Do you see what I'm saying? 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:03.719 So like a six year old will be next to 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:05.040 a five year old, and if the five year old 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:06.640 likes the thing, the six year olds like this shows 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:08.719 for babies, I don't want to watch this anymore. So 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:13.599 those kinds of thinking, we're going into the choosing and 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:15.520 the picking and choosing of like what shows they were 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:18.120 going to make it as cartoon shows, And that kind 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:22.400 of explains how Rugrats came to be. Because Rugrats I 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:24.480 love because it was a show that I would get 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.360 sucked into even though it was literally about babies. And 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.440 as a child, I do remember that there were times 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:31.440 where I was like, wait is this for like Todd, 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:33.200 like should not be watching this? But it sucked me 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.920 and because it was like ugly, beautiful and crude. And 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.960 the humor was the humor doctor doctor lipshits was the 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:43.680 was the child psychiatrist that they were always listening to, 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.400 had all this innuendo and all these jokes. And Angelica's mom, 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.840 Angelica's was an alcoholic right then her and then her 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.800 always yelling at Jonathan, her assistant, and then Angelica herself 0:14:55.840 --> 0:15:00.120 just being a diva brat, and then um Stu and Lou. 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:04.600 They had a lot of like adult humor between them. Um. Yeah. 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:07.360 But it's like it's like when you think, why would 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:09.200 Because here's the thing I was thinking about this on 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.640 the drive over. When you say names of brands, when 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.560 you say names of like studios or TV channels that 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.520 you recognize as a kid, When I say things like Disney, 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:23.360 Warner Brothers, Looney Tunes, Hannah Barbera, Nintendo, you can kind 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:26.840 of visualize what all these things sort of are, you know, Muppets, 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.720 Jim Henson, Sesame Street, uh, and if I say Nickelodeon, 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:32.840 you kind of know what that is too. Even though 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:35.440 from the very beginning to people at Nickelodeon sing we're saying, 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:39.120 we have no specific house style, you know, they they 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:40.840 sort of approach each one of their shows that they 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:42.680 green light is like, we don't know where we're looking 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.320 for until we see it, kind of They're usually You're 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.160 usually isn't mandates of like, well, you know, we're looking 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.320 for an action show, we're looking for a comedy show. 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.480 Usually there isn't the very creator driven and eventually the 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:56.160 process at Nickelodeon, as far as I know kind of 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:59.000 from an outsider looking in, I mean I interned there 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.160 for a summer and I and I sort of worked 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:04.600 there when I was doing the Nickelodeon Animation podcast, is 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.760 that they would have certain artists and creators working on 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:09.880 one show and then they have an opportunity to pitch 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:13.000 stuff later. The creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, Steve Hillenberg, he 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:15.520 worked on Rocco's Modern Life, The creator of Avatar, The 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:17.480 Last Airbender and then the Legend of Cora. One of 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.520 the creators Brian Kanitzko, he worked on Invader zim So 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:22.360 it's this thing where like these artists are encouraged to 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.560 like go home and work on stuff, and if they 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:26.560 have stuff, to go and pitch it and so so 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.240 it's like there's no Nickelodeon style, and yet there is. 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.400 And those first three cartoons you can look at I 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:36.040 think basically every Nicktoon except for a couple here and there, 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.800 one of them kind of being avatar, and you can 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.680 point to seeds being planted in either Ren and Stimpy, 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:44.520 Doug or rug Rats, you know what I mean. And 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.920 Rugrats especially is like I mean, Ren, Stimpy is but 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.760 all of them, especially Doug later influenced Hey Arnold and 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.240 things like as told by Ginger and all, you know, 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:54.520 all those kinds of things. But Rugrats was like that 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:58.200 classkey chupo style. That ugliness, that crudeness like that was 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:00.200 so appealing to us as kids, and it was out 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.600 of Disney beautiful stuff. It goes against with this type 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:05.040 of stuff you learned in art school. If you're trying 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:09.440 to design appealing characters, they're not appealing yet they are. Well. 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:14.199 What's also so interesting is everything about that show was 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.640 pretty disruptive. If you think of the theme song, where 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:21.199 it was like done done, Done done. Doo doom doom 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.760 doom doom, Like it's not an actual melody. It's almost 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.879 if you it's like uncomfortable, but as kids we've grown 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:32.800 to love it. And you bring up the music to 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:34.840 like Doug kind of similar. It had a very like 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.080 doe do Do Do Do Do Do Do do dode. 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.320 It was nice, but it was all mouth sounds, which 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:42.960 was weird and cool than you. And then Brent and 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:48.320 Stimpy was like like very disruptive and very loud, loud, 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.919 and it just set the stage for like these shows 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.560 had way different styles than the things that you're so 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:55.480 funny that you bring up that Doug kind of laid 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:57.879 the groundwork for Hey Arnold because Doug, I felt like 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:00.760 Doug that whole series is kind of like really smooth, 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.560 and that's how Hey Arnold is as well, and kind 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:09.760 of this like non confrontational character that's really intelligent and shy. 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:11.480 I was always mad at Doug when I was a 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:13.560 kid because I was like he never does homework. I 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:15.240 was like, I'm in middle school and I get homework. 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:16.840 I have to go home and work on this crap 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:18.359 and I can't go and just like hang out and 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.680 go to concerts, and Doug like, this show is unrealistic 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:25.800 because he never had home. Yeah, the what was the 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:30.480 name of his band, the beat Beat beat Sets was 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:32.879 the name of like the famous band. Yeah, and I forget, 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.320 what does more allowance you? Like, I can do this. 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.760 I was mad at Dug for a completely different reason 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.160 because I was like, why hasn't he just like clocked 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:44.480 Roger clocks? Like, I was like, I was team body 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:48.040 that dude very early on, Like Skeeter was never any backup, 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:50.959 you know, he was just there. Um. And that was 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:54.120 like the first kind of rendition of like race without race, 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:58.080 because yeah, the characters on Doug didn't really they were 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:01.800 just different colors. But everyone's like Skeeter's black, and Skeeter's 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:06.280 dad was so like just the coding in the design 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:08.720 of Skeeter's dad, I was like, oh no, this is 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.200 straight up a black dad. I'm looking at a bunch 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:14.080 of different characters right now from the from the show 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.600 and like Patty Mane like, yeah, they weren't supposed to 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.359 have skin tones, but Doug Funny just happens to be 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:22.960 light Peach and his parents how to be sort of tanned. 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.199 And then you have characters like Skeeter who were like 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:28.520 blue but everybody, like you said, if he like every 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:31.760 everyone was like like Skeeter's black. Roger was like a 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.199 rich white kid. Eventually he became rich. It was like 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.400 a poor like bully kid. He was like a white kid. 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.920 He reminds me of Sid from Toy Story. Patty Maynaise 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.400 was like like a tanned skin, you know, maybe like 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:45.840 probably she was probably white because you had a very 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:47.720 like kind of a Southern accent. I don't know if 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:49.440 I don't remember if she was a new kid or whatever. 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:52.440 But but this show was the sweetest show and as 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:54.439 a kids, it was sometimes difficult for me to connect 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:56.320 to it. But I did love the show because it 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.119 did actually teach me lessons and years later when I 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:01.520 actually got to meet the creator, Jim Jenkins, he's one 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:03.640