Hope Laborin
@SherryBomez
We all have some sort of childhood memory that links you to a show that you watched as a kid. However, as you get older those memories seem to fade and your childhood become suppressed by your adult or teen life and the responsibilities that come with it. You don’t have as much time to dwell on the past and try to shift through your memories trying to remember a show you used to watch.
Well lucky for you, you don’t have to dwell! This list compiles 20 shows from that time and will jog those memories right back up! However, we will not be doing shows from the 90’s as I’m pretty sure you can find countless articles about 90’s kid nostalgia, instead, we will be covering shows from the early 2000’s, because let’s be honest, there are some pretty good shows from that time and the kids born in 2000 are going to be 17, going on 18, by the end of the month. Make sure to click on the titles of the show if you wish to view their intros for that extra kick of nostalgia!
Avatar Last Airbender came out in 2005 on Nickelodeon/ Nicktoons and aired until 2007. The show follows a boy named Aang, who was found trapped in an iceberg for 100 years by two of his soon to be best friends, Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. He is later revealed to be one of the most important people in the world, the avatar and is one of the last surviving airbenders, after the Fire Nation attacked and killed off the air nomads.
The Fire Nation reasoning? They wanted to kill off the avatar, the only person who could stop them from taking over the world, the only person who can control all four elements, earth, fire, water, and air, the only person who could bring balance to the world.
Because of this Aang is destined to stop them only, one problem, he only knows how to bend air and has to travel with his friends, looking for people who can teach him the ways of each element before the Fire Nation can take over.
Something people might know is that the symbols of the four nations that are written in the map of the avatar world has a literal meaning in Chinese calligraphy. The symbol of water is joined with another that means virtue, for earth it means strong, for fire it means fierce, and for of air it means peaceful.
El Tigre is another show that came out on Nickelodeon/ Nicktoons and aired in 2007 and ended in 2008. It is about a 13 year old boy named Manny Rivera who comes from a line of superpowered ancestors and takes on the alternate persona called El Tigre. This show follows his antics and shenanigans with his best friend Frida as they try to fight crime and cause mischief from time to time.
Because he is young, he has yet to decide on how he will use his powers. He would like to be a hero like his father White Pantera and fight crime, but his grandfather ,Puma Loco, constantly tries to tempt him into the bad side of the law.
Something people might not know is that for the final episode that would decide Manny’s fate, it was the only episode that had two endings and Nickelodeon allowed viewers to vote on if El Tigre was to be a hero or a villain.
Oobi is a show that came out on Nick Jr. (Noggin at the time) in the year 2000 and it aired until 2004. It’s also one that many probably don’t remember unless shown an image of the characters, which is odd considering that you would think someone would remember the name of the show that has hands with eyeballs as it’s characters.
This show was created and played by the writers and puppeteers of Sesame Street and is about a hand puppet named Oobi, who, along with his friends and family, encourages logical thinking and creativity for the shows young viewers.
Mr.Meaty (another show from Nick/ Nicktoons) is a show that came out in 2005 and aired until 2009 and would probably give some kids nightmares, but would most likely entertain some teens, as it was created to be a teen sitcom.
The show follows two young teens named Josh Redgrove and Parker Dinkleman, and their shenanigans through teenhood, manly at their workplace Mr.Meaty located at the Scaunchboro Mall. All of the show’s characters are played by puppets and are pretty unique compared to other shows.
Some trivia people may not know is that, the reason why the show was cancelled was because of a mix of low ratings and criticisms/ complaints from adults and vegetarians who protested the show.
Action league now!! is a kind of an odd show, it aired on Nick from 1995 to 2003 and was a stop motion animated series that used dolls for its characters (like actual dolls, the kinds that you would play with as a kid).
The show is about a group of superheroes named The Flesh, “Who is super strong and super naked!”, ThunderGirl, ”She flies like thunder!”, Stinky Diver, ”A former navy commando with an attitude as bad as his odor!”, and Meltman, “With the power to melt!”. When together they make up the Action League!
Something people may not know is that Action League Now!! is actually spin-off of KaBlam!, which came out in 1996. Also that Flesh is actually a modified Conan the Adventurer doll, ThunderGirl is a Sindy doll head mixed with an unknown doll body and Stinky Diver is a GI-Joe “Shipwreck” action figure with his diving mask on backwards. Who knew playing with dolls could be this weird?
Chowder is a show that came out on Cartoon Network and aired from 2007 to 2010. It’s about a young purple…. possibly cat-bear-rabbit hybrid…. thing, who is a food fanatic and is and apprentice to a chef named Mung Daal, who runs a catering company with his wife Truffles and assistant Schnitzel.
Chowder wants to become a great chef when he grows up, but he’s sort of a scatterbrain and sometimes makes impulsive decisions that often lead to trouble. He is as childish as he is determined and even though he may not know what he is doing from time to time, he always tries to make the best out of his situation.
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack is another show that aired on Cartoon Network and it aired from 2008 to 2010. It follows a young boy named Flapjack who is raised by a talking blue whale (no, not the species blue whale, just a blue whale) named Bubbie and is mentored by a pirated name Captain K’nuckles, who is regularly shown to be obsessed with candy and is usually drinking “maple syrup” from a bottle. Together all three go through life and its mysterious and sometimes horrifying predicaments it puts them through.
Courage The Cowardly Dog aired on Cartoon Network from 2000 to 2002 and is about a dog named Courage who was abandoned as a puppy and adopted by a lady named Muriel and her husband Eustace. He lives in the middle of nowhere and despite his name Courage is quite cowardly and often runs from danger rather than towards it. However, despite this, he always finds it in him to face his fears to protect the ones he loves often confronting the paranormal, the extraterrestrial, and sometimes the flat out evil.
A fun fact about this show is that whenever Courage goes to rescue his owners from peril, a variation of the Mission: Impossible theme is heard playing. This theme will vary with each episode, depending on what musical arrangement is being used in that episode. Also that, series creator John Dilworth placed a big emphasis on audio effects. He wanted to use unconventional fresh music and sounds, in contrast to most shows developing stock material to use throughout their run. Dilworth wanted to put any music or sounds into an episode that emphasized the situation, whether it was tense, exciting, or funny.
Class of 3000 is a show that aired on Cartoon Network from 2006 to 2008 and was about a successful music star named Sunny Bridges who ditches his career after becoming sick of what his music has come down to and is in search of new inspiration. He become a music teacher at Atlanta, Georgia’s Weastly School of Performing Arts. He and his students get into some odd situations, but they always manage to stick together.
Something people probably don’t know is that the show was created by André Benjamin, also known as André 3000, who is best known as being a part of the hip hop duo called the Outkast. He is also the voice of the music teacher, Sunny.
Ben 10 is a show that aired on Cartoon Network from 2005 to 2008 and is about a young boy named Ben Tennyson, who discovers a piece of alien technology called the Omnitrix. Through this technology he can transform into ten different alien species and use their abilities to fight crime and corruption.
Something people might not know is that although Ben is a boy, he is voiced by tara strong, who is female and has voiced many other characters such a Timmy Turner (Fairly Odd Parents), Raven (Teen Titans), and Pinky Pie (My Little Pony) to name a few.
Pinky Dinky Doo is a kids show that aired from 2005 to 2009 on Noggin and is about a seven year old girl named Pinky and her brother four year old brother. They live in the big city and have a pet Guinea pig named Mr. Guinea Pig. Whenever one of them has a problem Pinky gets an idea to tell a story. Through these stories they learn to “think big” and solve their problems.
iCarly is a show that aired on Nick from 2007 to 2012 and is about a young girl named Carly, who lives with her older brother Spencer. She and her friends Sam and Freddie host their own web show called iCarly and together the trio go through life and their wacky adventures. Along they way, they make new friends and enemies and learn the values of friendship and family.
Some trivia for you guys is that each of the four main cast members, Miranda Cosgrove, Jennette McCurdy, Jerry Trainorand Nathan Kress, were all on previous Nickelodeon shows made by Dan Schneider’s. Miranda, Jerry, and Nathan all made their debuts on the show Drake & Josh, while Jennette, was in an episode of Zoey 101.
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy aired on Cartoon Network form 2002 to 2007 and follows the adventures of children named Billy and Mandy after they cheat in a limbo match against the Grim Reaper and enslaves him into an unwanted friendship with them. They use his magical abilities and supernatural powers to venture into supernatural locations or environments, such as the underworld. They also use Grim’s supernatural abilities or ties with beastly characters to achieve goals or desires for themselves, often with ending with some unpredictable and odd results.
Something you may not know is that originally, Maxwell Atoms, the shows creator, wanted Grim to have a British accent and had Jonathan Harris in mind to voice him. However, Greg Eagles auditioned and spoke in a Jamaican accent, Maxwell was impressed and had him retooled.
Invader Zim is a show that aired on Nick from 2001 to 2004 and is about an alien from planet Irk, who is fooled by his leaders to go on a “mission” with his robot Gir to Earth. He tries to fit in disguised as a schoolboy with a skin condition fooling all but one, a boy named Dib Membrane who now spends his time trying to stop Zim from whatever evil plot he has for the earth. However, lucky for both they suck at their jobs and usually get in their own way.
Something you might notice about the show is that, one of the running gags in the show is the frequent use of the word “Doom” and its derivatives. It is on of the most common word in the episodes’ titles, and is spoken by at least one character in most of the episodes themselves, especially in the first episode where it’s uttered about 100 times by four different characters.
Shaun the Sheep is more of a series of shorts rather than a show, but it should still be on this list it aired on Disney from 2012 to 2016 and follows a sheep named shaun who leads his fellow heard members into odd activities and often causes some mayhem along the way. He does this all while the sheepdog named Bitzer is trying to stop them and not get caught by the farmer who owns the barn they live in.
Chalkzone is another show that aired on Nick and it aired from 2002 to 2008. It follows boy named Rudy Tabootie who possesses a magical chalk stick that allows him to make portals and access a place called the Chalkzone, where chalk creations live in a chalk place with chalk neighbors and chalk space. Because of his magical chalk, Rudy hold the ability to manipulate this world through his drawings.Something people might not know about this show is that our main protagonist Rudy was originally meant to 8 years old, but when plans for the shows production came around he was aged up to ten and was given a friend named Penny Sanchez.
American Dragon Jake Long was a show that aired on Disney from 2005 to 2007 and is about teen named Jake Long who inherited the ability to turn into a dragon. While being mentored by his grandfather and using his friends and family for support, he uses these abilities to protect and defend all mythical creatures who live in secret in the human world.
A fun fact about this show is that Eddie Guzelian, the Producer of this show, is a big fan of Eminem and wrote in his blog for the show, that Jake’s little sister was named after Hailie Jade Scott, Eminem’s daughter. He got the idea because while he was creating her character he was listening to one of his albums.
Teen Titans is a T.V series based off the DC comic book characters that go by the same name. The show aired on Cartoon network from 2003 to 2206. The show is about a group of five young heroes, Robin, who is the smart and capable leader of the bunch, Starfire, an alien princess from the planet Tamaran who has the ability of flight, super strength, lasers, and the ability to learn new languages through kissing, Cyborg, who has the power of strength and manipulation of technology, Raven, a girl from a parallel world called Azarath and draws power from dark energy that fuels her psionic powers, and Beast Boy, who has the power to change into almost any animal. Together they are the Teen Titans and protect Jump City from Evil.
Something cool about this show is that the show’s opening credits (sung by the Japanese rocke group Puffy Ami Yumi) featured two versions of the theme song. One was made in English and the other in Japanese. The Japanese version is not a direct translation of the English lyrics however, Beast Boy does sings a translation of the Japanese lyrics in the episode Trouble in Tokyo.
Danny Phantom was a show that aired on Nick/ NickToons from 2004 to 2007. The basic story is best described in the theme song that states:
“ Yo Danny Phantom he was just 14 when his parents built a very strange machine.
Designed to view a world unseen.
When it didn’t quite work his folks they just quit.
Then Danny took a look inside of it.
There was a great big flash every thing just changed.
His molecules got all rearranged.
When he first woke up he had realized he had snow white hair and glowing green eyes.
He could walk through walls,disappear, and fly.
He was much more unique than the other guys and it was then danny knew what he had to do. He had to stop all the ghosts that were comin through.
He’s here to fight for me and you.
He’s gonna catch em all because he’s danny phantom gonna catch em all cuz he’s danny phantom gonna catch em all because he’s Danny Phantom.”
Something people may notice about the show is that the show revolves around names of ghosts or spirits. The high school is called “Casper High” referring to Casper the friendly ghost and high school mascot is a raven, referring to Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem, ‘The Raven’. Also, the town they live in is called Amity Park referring to the Amityville where ghosts/spirits caused a man to kill his family.
Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friend was a show that aired on Cartoon Network from 2004 to 2009 and is about a boy named Mac and his imaginary friend, Bloo. After Mac was forced to “grow up” and let go of his imaginary friend, he brought Bloo to a place called ‘Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends’ run by Madame Foster. This place is a place where Imaginary friends go when kids outgrow them, where they will taken care of until a new child comes and decides to “adopt” them. However, there is one issue, Mac doesn’t want his friend Bloo to be adopted by someone else. Because of this he strikes a deal with Madame Foster and they agree that as long as Mac visits Bloo everyday he is safe from being adopted.
Something interesting about this show is that this was the first Cartoon Network Studios show done in Macromedia Flash this helps small staff produce an entire episode in-house. Also that, throughout the series one the characters, Frankie, who helps run the place, wears a stylized Powerpuff Girls shirt.