I was the same way, I looked up the history of Nickelodeon in middle school as well since I was already fascinated by the 80s (still am to this day tbh).
@@MadameSomnambule man I kinda wish I knew what it was like to live in the 80s it might of been really cool instead of the tech world and the people can do what they want world today
The DTMF tones (or quick phone dialing, as you call it) were made by the channel station to notify local cable operators of the beginning and ending of commercial sections, so the local cable operators could insert their local ads with good timing.
I can definitely relate to that. Growing up in the 90's if you didn't record a show chances are you weren't going to see it again unless they did reruns. The internet has helped me dig up shows and such that I never thought I'd see again.
Silver Ball era is unmatched for promo music. Some great hummable catchiness here and some rockin' coolness there. Even the more familiar and beloved "Nick Nick Nickelodeon" from later just doesn't hold a candle for me.
Also, how underappreciated is this forgotten little period? Yes it was ages ago...fewer people watched. But I've seen interview of former Nick programming people kind of dumping on this era, including Silver Ball logo itself! BS! There was a solid variety of programming considering the low-budget situation (because of good resources used to fill the schedule). So much creativity in the advertising. They appealed to the child imagination, as well as intellectually nourishing them. Yes the 'shine' and corporate energy wasn't there, but there was real substance. They went too far in advancing the 'hip'/trendy factor later on. (And as fun as some of it was, look what it all led to.) I suppose it's a business, ultimately. Still, in hindsight it seems like a cool little secret to have been in the comparatively smaller TV-viewing population, who watched early Nick. What they had in those few years was never replicated, really.
@@janesmith7676 growing up with Nickelodeon in the 90's, I'll admit the silver ball era had better music in the bumpers. Sure people are more nostalgic for 90's Nickelodeon. However the Silver Ball era was something unique.
@@Oldfogey82 That's right! And with Nick going on the big 4-5 next year, i think it's time for Silver Ball to make a shiny but energetic comeback................WITH A TRANSFORMERS TWIST TO IT! 😉
However the “silver ball era” wasn’t very commercially successful at all. Nickelodeon in the 1970s-early 80s was considered the “boring TV channel”. Kids were even bullied for watching Nickelodeon around that time. Nickelodeon was loosing over $10million (consider that this was the early 80s). Hence why they hired 2 guys to help them rebrand to reach a wider audience. They desperately needed that rebrand to succeed.
IDK @@snowylove2002 the Silver Ball era was more of Nick's 1st step of evolving from a wannabe PBS kids channel into the legend that we've known and love today, plus Fred and Alan didn't came to Nick until 1985 and that's when the Orange splat era began so you've gotta give props where prop is due Silver the colorful pinball help took Nick into a level that no other network let alone another children's television network can't do.
Come along (Come along!) we can find, a world of magic (Come along! come along!) come along, we can make, the world your friend! Silver ball in the air! See it glow everywhere! Nickelodeonroundroundandroundherewego! Nickelodeon!
I don't really know why Nickelodeon never takes a look back to this era, they always remember there very first Nicktoons and their golden era from the early 90's on their social media or the channel itself.
@@alaanncitoo it’s because the network was consistently last place in cable ratings during this era; yeah the logo has lots of charm, but most of the network’s programming back just plain sucked. it wouldn’t be until viacom yoinked mtv in 1985, which nick just so happened to be scooped up alongside, that the network would see a radical new direction and, subsequently, start the long road of eventually reaching the number 1 spot in cable ratings 10 years later.
I'm old enough to remember the silver ball Nickelodeon logo. My family got cable in 1981, and it opened my mind to a whole new world of television programming.
Imagine if this ball gets in Nick All-Star Brawl, as either a playable character or a boss. Actually, why not both? I want playing as the Ball to feel like you're playing as a boss.
The hour the closedown happened and what followed next depended on the year. In 1981-83, Nickelodeon would sign off at 9 PM with nothing except the obvious scramble following immediately. In 1984, however, Nick would sign off at around 4 or 5 PM, with the Arts & Entertainment Network (A&E) coming after a few instants. The latter happened due to limited cable bandwidth, so Nickelodeon and A&E needed to share the same frequency. All before Nick at Nite was created in 1985, which served as Nick's primetime block (and independent cable channel, much akin to Adult Swim in Cartoon Network's case). But, well, it's a LONG STORY, not gonna lie. Anyways, it's really interesting to see how Nickelodeon signed off his transmissions back then.
@@ragnakak seriously? It's the law done for RU-vid to protect children from such videos that aren't for them. It's been applied from 3 years now. I can't believe you don't have any idea about that.
Music: 0:00 On The Church 0:32 I'm Ready 0:53 Let's Go 1:08 Fountain Splashing 1:24 Go To Beach 1:45 From The Park 2:17 Rocket Fly 2:37 Every Country 2:58 From The Mall 3:11 Having Fun 3:17 On The Jungle 3:51 Playing On Bedroom 4:02 On The Arcade 4:20 Playing Football 4:51 City Dance 5:24 Disco 5:38 Dawn To Morning 5:49 Cartoon Music 5:59 Bedtime Story 6:09 Singing From City
I have not seen these bumpers since I was a kid in 1984. I can’t believe I still remember some of them. The pinball table weirded me out because of how the ball moved. Looking back, I think they did the editor reversed and replayed some footage to lengthen what they had to fit the music.
merik2001 You know those AREN'T the Twin Towers.......................right? Not even close. Don't remember the name, but they're two famous office towers located in L.A.--I've seen footage of them in several movies. Get a clue already.
The last bumper is the one I remember most from way back when. Now at 51 years old, I can’t help but wax nostalgic as times were so much simpler then compared to now. Did any of us really know what we had?
I really liked the more whimsical silverball promo stuff over the orange splat era. But I can see why it was changed with the re-branding of the channel.
Me too , only in a perfect word but unfortunately the network was losing $10 million and had to go though a major facelift to survive and become the empire we know today
@@jwilliams7554 Well with Nick reaching the big 4-5 this year maybe it can; like this! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qDtbklRS3Vk.htmlsi=ckkDolfYZTDsx6Wz
Look around, you can find a world of magic, Look around, you can make the world your freind, silver ball, (Silver ball in the air) in the air, see it glow (See it glow everywhere!) everywhere, Nickelo, Nickelo, Nickelo, here we go, Nickelooooooooooodeon!
Some of the live-action shorts here are basically ahead of their time. Late 80s/early 90s commercials were awash with radical biking/skateboarding and screeching guitars
It was ALOT more educational, so it may not have been your cup of tea looking at it though the eyes of someone who didn't live through it. Sure, it had silly stuff like You Can't Do That On Television and Danger Mouse and some really weird show called The Tomorrow People from England (think a poor man's Doctor Who). Outside of Pinwheel which was aimed directly at toddlers like Seseme Street, most of the early Nickelodeon shows had some educational value (be it science or the arts) but for pre-teens to teenagers. There was even an afternoon show called Livewire that was aimed at the high-school ages were they would have live phone-in topics from the young public like "Bullying" or "Making Friends In a New School" etc. The Nickelodeon many of us remember here is nothing like the Nickelodeon you may remember. It's not a bad thing but was wildly different in it's infancy.
they are called dtmf signals. It was very common in the 80s and 90s on cable tv that noise was to let local advertising put their ads in timeslots close to their area. this obviously wasn’t in regular local tv because it was called local tv
Can anyone recall if this 6:11 was the actual ending sign off during the end of the silver ball era not long before Nick at nite started? I was a huge danger mouse fan when I was 4-5 so I remember watching Nickelodeon sign off every night at 8 est. This would’ve been late 84 and early 85 And for some reason I remember this closing being slightly different. I vaguely remember a version without the male lead singer and the closing theme music with less horns. I do remember the silver balls floating around in space but that could’ve been a little different as well. And the version seen on RU-vid is perhaps an earlier version. But there’s no where I can confirm this. We’re talking almost 40 years ago
This really brings back memories. I loved to see the Nickelodeon "Silver Ball" with that rocking tune for Nickelodeon back in the early eighties. I wish for nostalgia sake that Nick would, at least for a short time anyway, bring it back.
Look around, you can find a world of magic, look around, you can make the world you friend, silver ball, (silver ball) In the air (in the air ) see it glow (see it glow everywhere) everywhere , nickelo, live along, nickelo, live along, nickolodeon!
it a sad shame they ditch the silver ball in the mid 80's. it such an iconic logo and they replace it with the lame ass orange logo. I'm all for simple and etc but still, they could have giving the silver ball another year or two to shine before retiring it
