Patreon: / channelserfer The definitive history of SNICK, Nickelodeon's iconic Saturday night programming block that defied conventions and transformed the entertainment industry. Twitter: / channelserfer1 Instagram: / channelserfer
The more I watch videos about these old programming blocks from the 90's the more I realize I basically grew up in the golden age of television for kids. Everything about tv in the 90's was amazing as a kid. There's absolutely nothing like it anymore.
It's weird...as kids we had great entertainment, as adults we have great entertainment. I'm hoping when we are old we will have great entertainment as well! Hahaha
@@andrewgrove1691 omg YES! I REMEMBER ROUNDHOUSE! they used to sell orange vhs tapes of various snick lineups.. I vividly remember one I watched over and over again. It had the episode of are you afraid of the dark where the little girl was trapped in the mirror. ☺️🖤🖤
Afraid of the Dark was my fav, me and my sister would sneak downstairs to watch SNICK on our big tv, (we didnt have tv's in our rooms) and being spooked by AYAOTD was so much fun.
As a child of the 90s, SNICK will forever hold a special place in my heart. Every Saturday we'd all sit in the living room and watch, Clarissa, Roundhouse or Pete&Pete, Ren and Stimpy was so effed up but I didn't understand how much until I got older, and Are You Afraid... Used to scare the hell out of me! It really was destination viewing unlike anything else on TV for kids my age. The nostalgia hits deep on this one.
@tonyztyles8330 what an odd thing to say. Did you say that about every other poster on this topic? You make it sound like it's interfering with my life lol
Nickelodeon and MTV back then were like candy for your eyes and ears. I love those old Nickelodeon bumpers more than I could ever explain. Great video man.
I'm grateful to be a 90's kid. We arguably had some of the best, and creatively diverse content of any decade. There was always something on TV worth watching.
As a 90s kid, I can tell you this was one of my favorite times in my life. My dad used to watch are you afraid of the dark with me as we used to watch reruns of twilight zone and 3 stooges. All the programs, even the meh ones were great looking back. Kids today will never know the simple joys of these broadcast blocks and getting together with a pizza, some soda and your N64 watching these shows and having fun nights. I miss the 90s.
Shout out to Geraldine Laybourne for having the vision and the cojones to start cultivating Nickelodeon into the channel we grew to love in the 90s. For anyone more interested in this, there’s like a 2-hour documentary on Hulu about the ascension of Nickelodeon.
This was really well done. I loved hearing that Nickelodeon was ran by a bunch of experimental artheads, passionate about what they were creating. Even Scott Webb understanding that those bumps created an immersive experience. That’s why those networks were incredible to experience as a child.
Adult swim used that off the bat to create their early following. 92-99 was nuts for Nickelodeon. Then SH drops SpongeBob right at the end of the end of the 90s. U couldn’t tell them shit. They just mismanaged so many finances and did dumb stuff like the hotel in Orlando.
Same! This is truly the strongest age of the channel.. Gerry L. was/is a treasure she was responsible for its come up and it fizzled shortly after she left. Figure It Out and Angry Beavers (both came out in 97) were the last of this "golden" age of Nick.
Nothing beat Nick in the 80s and 90s. I loved Mr Wizard’s world, double dare and YCDTOT in the 80s. Then in the 90s we got round house, Ren & Stimpy (which was very racy at the time), Doug, Saulte your shorts, etc.
I was a huge Nick kid. Born in 91’ I was able to enjoy some of the best shows the network had to offer in the mid 90s to early 2000s. What I would do to go back and relive those years in front of the TV.
Living in the era, even the day shows, Hey Arnold and Rugrats...coupled with all other shows, pokemon, power rangers, dbz... add the 90s music and movies to it.. nothing was like it. Blessed to be a kid during that time
Snick was my favorite TV as a kid. Staying up to watch it made me feel like a "big kid", and I loved this idea that this was a special time just for kids like me. I was also really into Nick's branding and events. It really felt a whole ecosystem that I could really belong in.
Teens might be out having fun on Saturday nights, but kids? If they aren't staying over at a friends' house, they're at home. I know when I was a kid most Saturday nights were spent watching SNICK. Even sometimes when visiting a friend or having one over, just because it was fun to watch with friends. Heck, even if we spent the night playing video games, the Nintendo or Sega was turned off for Ren & Stimpy and Are You Afraid of the Dark
I think that's why the executives at other networks were so out of touch here, Nick was the only channel recognizing that childhood had changed in the 90s. Parents were way more protective thanks to fraudulent media sensationalism, kids were not going out on their own anymore. Ironically it got into full swing with Doug and Rugrats, shows about... kids who have way more independence and autonomy than the norm for their age. But that's just what 90s kids wanted, that thrill of IMAGINING an interesting life, and becoming a cool teen SOMEDAY, but for now staying at home, safe, inside. Where all the entertainment is, and the bugs and heat and bullies aren't. Then we became teenagers and malls died and cars started dying too quickly for you to like, inherit a car from your parents who then got a new one, so.. we didn't get to be cool teens ._. but by then we had the internet, so we had our own thing going I guess then they killed that. couldn't let us have shit.
@@KairuHakubi I feel that, 100%. But also, the internet was awesome back then and now it's decidedly not, IMO. I mean yeah, the tech is better so people can make great video essays like this one and I appreciate that, but there eventually would have been about a hundred different RU-vids by now if there wasn't a tendency toward consolidation in seeking profit. And then the cool video stores died and streaming replaced, but streaming was pretty good for a while and now it's dying too. I dunno. I guess I've finally hit the point we were all warned about.
@@furiousapplesack oh we hit that point ages ago, they were just propping it up and hiding it. We hit it the moment every company started focusing on mobile phones and 'apps' instead of PCs and websites. And the issue with youtube is A) google are criminals bordering on supervillains and B) all other video sites have always blown chunks. they never loaded well or displayed right. and now they're dead.
I remember almost all of snick except that last rebrand. I don’t remember that last line up. I guess kids like myself turned into the noggin channel and gravitated towards degrassi, instant star, radio free roscoe, south of nowhere amount others. But man, what a golden age snick was. Stayed up with my older brothers and allowed to hang out and be like them for a night.
Yes!!!! I sort of switched from that to The-N. It was was geared toward teenagers. I STILL listen to the Instant Star soundtrack today. If only they had pivoted more toward half and half... the gal who left shouldn't have left. It basically was the end of that channel without her.
Haha! Only rich people had that channel in my area. The rest of us had basic cable with a few extras. I remember being excited when we first had 60 channels!
This is an awesome video and I appreciate all the hard work that went into it. SNICK was just pure awesomeness as a kid in the 90's. I feel the real golden era for Nick was 90-94...Double Dare, What Would You Do, Nick Arcade, Wild & Crazy Kids, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Salute Your Shorts, Hey Dude, and of course, SNICK. My favorite by far is Are You Afraid of the Dark, quite possibly one of the best kids programming in all of history.
I agree. I think Nickelodeon started falling off around 99 but by 2002-2003 it got worst since it became more corporate and we didn't have those bumper ads like we used to. Ironically looking back I can appreciate some shows from Nickelodeon during the early 2000s from 2004-2008 but nothing beats the golden era of Nickelodeon from the early 90s.
@@AmariMarvelous Late 90s is definitely when Nick started losing it's reign on top. Especially with CN on the rise and producing more mature and innovative content.
What a wonderful video. You really tapped into something that I felt as a kid - that by watching Snick I was joining a community somehow. In an age before the internet, this felt magical.
I wonder what Nick would have become if it hadn't strayed from the formula and didn't focus on flipping everything for money. I wonder what that beautiful 90s vibe would look like today.
Today? I mean, broadcast TV still would have died. But could it have maintained its quality throughout the 2000s and into the early 10s? absolutely. All it takes is doing what makes money instead of doing something stupid and 'safe' that guaranteed loses money, but at least you know how much. and then trying to manipulate the audience into liking it anyway.
It was pretty much all downhill after SpongeBob. That became THEIR GREATEST ORIGINAL HIT and their greatest source of revenue from merchandising and such (I think I read somewhere that out of the entire Turner Cable/Viacom broadcasting empire that Nickelodeon operates under, SpongeBob ALONE rakes in $1-2 billion in revenue EACH YEAR). Pretty much every original cartoon they made AFTER SpongeBob FAILED (mostly because they were DOGSHIT like Fanboy and Chum Chum) and the rare ones that WERE GOOD (like Avatar) got quickly pushed out of the way cuz they weren’t bringing in “SpongeBob numbers.” If you turn on Nickelodeon TODAY at just about any given hour, there’s like a 70% chance it’s a rerun of a SpongeBob episode.
SNICK was da' bomb in the '90s! I will forever remember the big orange couch. I recently found your channel, and I'm really enjoying your videos. I loved this video and the depth of your research. I've been watching the series Nick Knacks on the YT channel poparena, and your video is a nice companion piece to it. Both are like a time machine, taking me back through my childhood.
I loved SNICK when I was a kid. I watched for a few years, then moved on to TNT Monstervision. I never knew there was a Snick House... It doesn't look like I missed too much, lol. Man... Good memories.
Holy smokes someone else remembers MonsterVision! You have no idea how many people don’t remember MonsterVision but I used to watch it back to back with SNICK all the time. It was kind of sad when SNICK was over but I’m glad I got to watch MonsterVision afterwards.
I'm extremely grateful for this video! SNICK truly represented the golden age of children's television. As a child, Saturday nights were all about SNICK. I eagerly anticipated it throughout the week because of the incredible variety it offered, from animated shows to spooky adventures. I have fond memories of spending entire summers watching Rugrats, Hey Dude, Salute Your Shorts, Real Monsters, Alex Mack, Clarissa, and Are You Afraid of the Dark (perhaps not in that exact order, as it spanned several years). With the luxury of summer break, staying up late watching TV felt like a precious gift, although I didn't fully realize it at the time. SNICK also brought joy during various holidays with specials like SNICK or Treat and a Merry SNICK Christmas. I am immensely grateful to have been part of the generation that witnessed the birth of television programming specifically designed for kids. Going to the movies, visiting Blockbuster on a Friday night, playing video games, devouring pop tarts and bagel bites, and having sleepovers while watching SNICK were the absolute best. Those memories are etched in my mind forever. As I entered my tween and teen years, my interests naturally shifted towards shows tailored to my age group. I gravitated towards programs like Goosebumps, My So-Called Life, Daria, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Clueless (the TV series), as well as The-N network with shows like Instant Star. Looking back, I believe that if Nickelodeon had adopted a half-and-half programming approach, balancing tween drama with younger-oriented shows, it could have thrived. We, the kids who grew up watching SNICK, were growing older, but the programming didn't grow with us. It turned into a diluted version of MTV, featuring Nick Cannon's content and leaning too heavily towards reality TV, which didn't quite align with our tastes at the time. It would have made more sense if they had shifted towards young adult shows. The-N struck the perfect balance with a lineup that catered to young adults while still incorporating music videos. I discovered many musical artists through that network. We all yearn for a simpler time. It's hard to imagine growing up with iPads at the age of two or having instant access to streaming services like Netflix. The thrill of anticipating a TV lineup has vanished, replaced by the era of digital television. Do kids today look forward to watching Netflix on Saturdays? They can watch it anytime and anywhere now. The dynamics have completely shifted. When my niece was five-year-old she was watching RU-vid and subscribing to family vlogs... it felt quite surreal. TV used to be a big deal in our lives, something we looked forward to with excitement. I still remember the anticipation building up as we eagerly waited for the annual airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was a whole year's wait just to watch that special show. Back then, we had to rely on VHS tapes to record our favorite programs, and it wasn't until high school that DVDs became more popular. But things have changed a lot with technology. Nowadays, we can instantly access a wide variety of shows and movies whenever we want. While it's convenient, it does make me wonder what today's kids will feel nostalgic about in the future. With iPads and streaming services like Netflix, it's hard to develop a strong attachment to something that hasn't really changed over time. Streaming is here to stay, unless something major happens to shake things up. Looking back, we were part of the generation that witnessed significant technological advancements. We went from not having internet access to dealing with slow dial-up connections, and now we enjoy wifi. It's pretty amazing to think about how much technology has evolved and how it has shaped our experiences.
There is so much I love about the way TV was when I was a kid... The content TRULY was made for both kids AND adults... I think families really were brought together this way, and you never see that anymore... But I also like how, back in the '90s, there were a lot of kids that may not have looked completely perfect and polished and 100% flawless.... Now that's all you see, its all about being tanned, fit, bright colored clothing, lots of make-up.... You didn't used to have it like that back in the '90s
I heard that the mom of the blonde girl on Salute Your Shorts was like "hey is it okay if my kid gets braces? is she still gonna be able to be on the show?" and they're like uhh yeah, fix your kid's teeth. we want people who look real.
Great times back in 1993, always looked forward to snick on Saturdays. When All That came out it really shook things up, me and all my friends tried to break dance like Kel Mitchell in the bumper videos.
I had no idea those golden years were really only 5 or 6 years long. It makes sense though. I was almost 7 when SNICK premiered in 92. I remember wanting to watch the first Are You Afraid of the Dark and convincing my parents it was okay. I loved it, and for those several years I was hooked on the whole channel. Doug, Rugrats, Clarissa, Pete and Pete, Hey Dude, Salute Your Shorts, frigging STICK STICKLY! My massive crush on Harriet the Spy. It all felt like it lasted so long, but I was a kid, and 4 years is a long time, especially then. I remember the programing change in 96 also, and it was when I started to get off the Nick train. I was 10 and things were changing as I got older. I tolerated some of the newer cartoons, learned to love Hey Arnold and Agh Real Monsters, All That and Kenan and Kell were my jam and I was glad Round House was gone cause I never got it, I thought it was dumb. Then as the late 90s came along I actually oddly gravitated back towards Disney in the afternoons because they had shows like So Weird and The Famous Jet Jackson (rip). I guess I owe Geraldine Laybourne a thank you for my childhood haha! It was a good time.
Man, that is so true. It seemed like so much longer. Almost, like Snick was always a part of my childhood. I look back on it almost like Stone Cold Steve Austin in the WWF. It's crazy to think he was really only on top for about 4 years as well.
@@preachcaleb I wonder how my dad felt growing up on the beatles, some of his earliest memories, and then one day when he was 14, they broke up. that must have messed with him. This thing that has always been around, and keeps getting better, now it's gone and all their solo work is _just okay._
You sound like me! Same age - I was there for that first are you afraid of the dark - I specifically remember it was the taxi driver in the woods episode where he asked "what can you put in a barrel to make it lighter". First Rocco I believe I saw on SNICK and it was heffer as a mall cop. Loved it. Also remember seeing a pilot for hey Arnold before a movie - it may have been Harriet the spy. I had my mom take me to see that after I had a dream one night that I was in the cast of the movie. But just like you - I fell out of it maybe due to age, but also I wasn't in love with the newer shows: Alex Mack, CatDog. In that era I checked out and don't remember at all SNICK becoming some LA house party. I must have never went back. Can't remember what I watched between 1999 and 2002. I know I was into Sat morning cartoons for a while - like the new Doug, static shock, batman beyond. And at 12 in 2000 I was all about Pokemon craze. Around 15 I got into DBZ and watched more cartoon network, and eventually adult swim in HS. Followed up by some MTV but around 19 cable tv kinda ended for me. Id still watch adult swim when I could. Looking back some of these shows were a part of my life I'll never forget and we may be the last generation to experience that excitement.
In three second snippets of Are You Afraid of The Dark scenes, I have now been confronted with things I didn’t even realize have still terrified me. And here I was just thinking I was going to learn about SNICK.
So glad I was the demographic in the 90s for the glory days of Nickelodeon. I will always miss it. The 90s were truly the most creative time for the arts
One of my favorite blocks ever! I miss SNICK and I really felt like when they put shows like Are You Afraid Of The Dark and The Adventures Of Pete & Pete they hit their stride. We had SNICK and MonsterVision on Saturday nights and it made the night feel more fun. Nickelodeon would I think be one of the smartest networks if they were to bring back SNICK. Ty again for the retrospective and keep up the awesome work please!
If you showed up to school on Monday and didn’t watch that weekend’s Snick or TGiF lineup in the 90s, you had NOTHING to talk about. This was before on demand/DVRs so I would even occasionally record Snick on VHS tape if I knew I wasn’t gonna be home on Saturday night. 90s Snick was before the internet was widespread so it was the closest thing we had to a communal event since you knew all of your friends and every other kid your age throughout the country was also watching.
As a 90s kid i loved my childhood! It is important as a parent to make my children’s childhood as special as mine was. I would play 90s cartoons for them and my oldest would often ask me to tell him about my childhood and all the cartoons i used to watch when i was little. He is so captivated by the shows and my childhood.
Snick was something we all looked forward to as kids in the 90's. In retrospect it is incredible to see how special these things were. The world has lost this type of anticipation that stuff like Snick created
I didn't have cable when I was a kid, but both sets of grandparents did. Nickelodeon and MTV were like the forbidden fruit for me. Every time I visited them, I wanted to watch, I couldn't get enough. They had Disney Channel too, but I wasn't interested in that. Nickelodeon was the rebel alliance and Disney was the galactic empire. Funny enough, the rebels DID turn into the empire. I still treasure Nick for what it did for me in the 90s. I always will
I love being a 90s kid. This video had me in my feels for real. I miss so much just watching this whole block every Saturday night. I remember looking forward to SNICK Every weekend. Shoot there's so much I miss about being a kid in the 90s 😭
Great video. Growing up as the target demographic for this the real downfall of the programming block was Toonami and Adult Swim. The programming slipped in quality bad right when Cartoon Network grabbed us Millenial boys by the throat with DBZ, which then was greatly expanded on with a block of more serious story driven anime, and soon after western animated comedy.
My initial love for Nickelodeon came through watching You Can't Do that On Television. Years later, there was Legends of the Hidden Temple, and at the climax, there was All That and the incomparable Kenan and Kel Show.
Wouldn't be surprised if SNICKhouse (and NickelOzone) was a charitable attempt to compete with Zoog Disney by making it "cooler". And it worked for me as a kid. I think Lizzie Mcguire and EvenStevens were my "end point" with Disney channel but I watched Nick for a VERY long time after.
Not just that but given Viacom runs both MTV and Nickelodeon, I get the feeling Snick House was also a kid friendly version of TRL given how popular that was at the time. I don't remember much of the rebrand as I was slowly drifting more towards Cartoon Network thanks to Toonami and the Cartoon Cartoon blocks.
Thanks for this wonderful trip down memory lane!!! My generation was lucky enough to experience the glory days of Nickelodeon & the Snick block! Those were the days man!!! The Nickelodeon of today is an absolute stranger. I don't recognize it at all.
Thanks so much for this. Really interesting. Could never put my finger on what started to change when I used to watch, but now realize: it was probably removing the fun little bumpers. What a great part of my childhood :)
Wow I just got chills seeing that nickelodeon magazine commercial. I had it recorded on a VHS tape so I've seen it countless times. The nostalgia is insane. I never even had nick magazine lol
This was a really great video. It does a solid job of showing the history of Snick. I don't know when I first started watching the block since I was pretty little during its golden era, but I do have fond memories of most of the shows on its earlier lineup like Clarssia Explains It All, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, All That and The Secret World of Alex Mack. The bumpers were a big part of the block's identity. While I remember liking the block even with some of its changes in its later years, losing those classic bumpers did make it feel less unique as a block.
Loved Snick growing up, and Nickelodeon in general. Such great, imaginative programming. This brought back so many great memories, and answered some questions about it’s origins and what ultimately happened to it. Grew out of it around ‘98, and when I turned it on years later, was virtually unrecognizable. Love your encapsulation of what happens to a company. I think it’s a great representation of what has happened to the music industry, and entertainment in general. The corporatization of the arts. Great work! 👍🏼
Thanks for putting together this remarkable retrospective. I was born in '87, so I was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy Nickelodeon when it was at the height of it's powers. Right around 1999 when Snick House came along, that's when I started to check out on the network even as a kid. It just wasn't the same anymore, and really hasn't been the same since. As a former consumer all those years ago, I can stay that the people in charge of Nick during the 90's really did put out some quality programming for kids that had a flavor of innovation instead of stagnation.
That's when I stopped watching too but then SpongeBob came along and restored any semblance of good 90s tv (contrary to popular belief, SpongeBob is technically a 90s show with its first episode airing in '99) HEE HEEEEEEE
As a lifetime night owl I appreciated Snick and cartoon network for playing cartoons late at night. I'm old enough to remember watching nick at nite when the cartoons went off. I watched a lot of I love Lucy back in the day.
Loved this video. Definitely brought me back to my adolescent years and helped me realize I didn't only lose interest in Nickelodeon because I was getting older, but because the channel and I were both changing. Also... I'd love any information that could be provided about the background music used for this video. It was simple but also really hit on nostalgia in it's own way. Thanks.
Sometimes I feel like I left the channel but also it kind of left me too around 1998. A lot of the good shows ended anddidn't get suitable replacements. The creativity took a dive, and I moved onto other things.
"The channel and I were both changing" I've never thought about that perspective until now and you're so right! It wasn't just the channel that was changing ❤
The way you lined up the girl saying mtv at the same time Scott webb was saying it was such a cool editing touch. Subscribed immediately for that kind of fun detail.
I tried to tell people! When the streaming boom was happening last decade. Nick had an opportunity to capitalize with their entire library from the start all in one called, “More Nick.”
Snick was the next step in Nick's history/legacy. But what Nick REALLY needed by the late 90's to compete with Kids' WB, Fox Kids, and Toonami was establishing an Action Block.
@@KairuHakubi YESSSSS !!! FACTS ! The creators started working together in the 90's, and a more action oriented block was a BETTER fit for the Avatar Franchise. Either they shoulda turned the second half of Snick into an action block, turn Teen Nick into an action block, or create a Teen Snick. The late 90's was the PERFECT opportunity for this.
