Why Was Fanboy and Chum Chum So Hated? 

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even when I was a kid I feel like I knew the show wasnt great but I watched it every single time

Fanboy and Chum Chum is one of the shows that don’t make you nostalgic at all, but rather just make you go “oh yeah, it existed”. Nothing exactly memorable to the point where you can reminisce on scenes that stuck with you, but not so forgettable that it’s entirely removed from your childhood

Something I always noticed about the show is that there are literally no background characters, except for a few extra kids in their class to fill out the room. They live in this huge town but whenever they walk around the streets are empty unless there’s another main character there, it’s almost uncanny how empty their environments are

11:26 I like how Mark censored the word "femboy" but not "cum". Incredible move

I remember being really impressed by the stretchy 3d models when it first aired, never saw anything like it before

Never understood why people were mad about Nickelodeon not picking Adventure Time. If it went with Nick it would've lasted 2 seasons max for not making SpongeBob numbers.

In reality, it's a mid show, but I'll never forget all the times I watched it with my dad. He really liked the show, and having him laugh beside me is something that caused the show to be a bit more memorable to me.

Literally the ONLY reason Chum Chum got an ironic Twitter revival was because the creator made Glitch Techs, a show people actually liked at the time

Say what you want about _Fanboy and Chum Chum,_ let's give the show a credit for saving _Adventure Time,_ which later became one of the successful on CN in the first place. If it wasn't for the show, then _Adventure Time_ won't lasted longer in two seasons on Nickelodeon and CN would be still stuck in the live-action era.

I hated this show as a kid. It was just so.. off. It was so strange. Thanks for cherishing us with your content.

Not ashamed to admit I actually enjoyed this show when it was airing, and I still get a good bit of charm out of it today There were four episodes in particular that ALWAYS stuck with me! -Fanboy overfeeding Yo's Tamagotchi pet, they bury the device and it comes back as a psycho zombie -Fanboy switching brains with a robot (this is the one I meme the most about, and my personal favorite) -The (in)famous episode about night morning (midnight), which when remembering it's 12 AM, and people are sleeping usually, it makes sense -Fanboy getting turned into a wooden puppet because of his naughtiness LMAO

This video taught me that, thanks to a childhood of avoiding this show and its reruns like the plague, I had NO idea what Fanboy or Chum Chum sounded like. When LSMark played that clip of Chum Chum talking to compare his voice to the Sonic character's voice, I was legit shocked. He sounds so different than what I had imagined.

my fav continuity bit from the show is from an episode where fanboy, chum chum and kyle try to turn in a false excuse note to their teacher forever but the note had gotten sliced up in a fan and stuck back together with tape, so their names got mushed together into "Fankylechum". One boy from the class happens to be named that and is the one who gets excused, he went on to appear in future episodes where he was refered by that name at least twice.

I'd say it was hated because its obnoxious traits (the intro, the excessive screaming, the toilet humor) stood out the most out of anything the show had And, you know, those things garner hate pretty easily

Funny how the creator of this show eventually went on to make Glitch Tech, a critically praised show.

my guilty pleasure is "the barnyard" but mainly due to one character freddy the ferret! man i love that lunatic

The lack of any parents (aside from Oz's mom) was something about this show I always found fascinating. Like, there's plenty of adults, but no parents. Years ago I headcanonned that the show was set in the future where any and all parents live in some giant space station we never see, and that kids are sent down to Earth to live and fend for themselves.

Robot and Monster is one of the most underrated Nick shows ever produced. It truly deserves a second chance, and I mean that wholeheartedly.

I actually really liked this show as a kid. It felt dumb and pointless at points, but it never failed to entertain me

honestly I'm just happy we are finally over the whole "if the art style is as ugly as possible it makes it funnier!" thing we had in the early 2000's, aka this show, almost naked animals, grizzly tales for grusome kids, fleabag monkey face and I hate to say it but Jimmy neutron at certain times, and no I don't mean the bad CGI that can be forgiven, I mean more the designs of the characters, the animation is at least pretty good on the show it really impressed me as a kid

fanboy and chumchum was the show that made me think i was outgrowing cartoons as a kid. it was good to realize a few years later that i was wrong and the show was actually just that bad

I was always so strangely interested in this show. Not once did I think it was weird. I actually LIKED seeing how insanely weird and outcast-ish it was. I loved the weird and kinda ugly look of the models. Also how hyperactive Fanboy and Chum-Chum were. As a kid, I loved seeing characters who were as hyperactive like me, although highly exaggerated. I only got my ADHD diagnosis at age 18, but this show was my shit as a kid and I now fully understand why.

Fanboy and Chum Chum's 2D artwork is legitimately beautiful and deliciously stylish. Even as a kid it stood out to me.

I absolutely LOVED the show when I was a kid. the fast paced, cartoony, over the top, unrealistic, hyperactive nature of the show made it borderline perfect for me. there were little to no limits most of the time and dang near anything could happen for no rhyme or reason, which I loved and wish more shows would take note of it.

I’m not sure if anyone else is aware of this, but back in 2020 there was a massive resurgence of the fandom of fanboy and chum chum, with emo teenagers unironically loving it and drawing honestly really cute fanart of the characters (plus lots of people shipped fanboy with Kyle), and you can still find it if you scroll back far enough in the tags. Less wholesomly, there was a 20-something woman who drew TONS of nsfw art of the characters and had been doing it for literal years, and still does it to this day I believe.

I personally enjoyed this show very much when I was a child. The memes that come from this are also funny, too.

0:45 such a bop am I right

I think there’s two sides of reactions to this show. Either it’s “an abomination and the worst show to ever appear.” Or “Classic. Nostalgic. Absolutely loved it!”

Back at the Barnyard is the only one of these meme cartoons that I really, really enjoy. It's nothing but an outlet for Steve Oedekerk's shitpost humor and the bad CGI enhances the whole thing. If you like Kung Pow and the Thumb movies, you'll love this show.

I loved when chumchum said "it's chumming time" and chummed all over the place!

0:17 Woah, woah back it up there shanty! Penguins of Madagascar is legitimately fucking great and doesn’t belong in that lineup imo

Growing up, this show always just kind of made me think "I wish I was watching Billy and Mandy."

I honestly love this show as a kid, i kind of felt ashame for liking it when i heard people say It was trash

I swear I always find myself agreeing with you almost 100% of the time. Especially about the cycle of shows being called 'bad' upon release then years later when the kids who watched it grow up it's called underrated... I remember shows like Chowder and Flap Jack were universally hated online when they first aired only for them to be look back at fondly now. Hell, it's happening with Teen Titans GO right now... That show was hated by everyone just a few years ago and now it looks like it's developing a fan base of "You know guys, it's actually good!" This is the never ending cycle of nostalgia...

I feel like the reason it developed a fandom at all was mainly because it was pushed so damn hard. Nick really wanted the show to do well, and the best it did was gain a fandom of people who are like "It's kinda good. I liked it."

this same effect is happening to the other nick show “Bread Winners” im seeing kids flock to it as an “underrated gem” on tiktok god I hated breadwinnies

I remember hating this show but I still watched it a LOT for some reason. I think despite the odd designs, wacky animation, and weird humor, it still scratched some part of my kid brain. I think my favorite character was either fanboy or the magician kid, since I remember liking their scenes the most. I'm considering rewatching a few episodes because my kid brain might've been too harsh on it.

I highly agree with what you said near the end, Lots people act like every piece of media has to be either a 10/10 masterpiece or the worst thing ever created which is baffling to me

Damn you for getting that fucking theme song stuck in my head again lol

4:53 I laughed WAYYY harder than I should've at this clip LMAO the absolute lack of answer in this reaction is fucking golden :'D

i feel like you're so good at covering animation because even when talking about shows you don't really like like this one, you're still able to name a lot you love about them and show respect for the creators. it's really refreshing and nice to see. :)

I remember loving this show as a kid, glad it wasn't 100% unfounded. People treat this show like it committed a heinous warcrime, but it's just harmless (long as you plug your ears whenever Chumchum speaks, that is)

Wonderful video as always, Mark! You just recovered some repressed memories. I remember being a kid and telling my brother Almost Naked Animals was on TV and I got in trouble by mom :’(

I never hated that cartoon, I loved it back in the 2010s and I'd watch it with my sister, it was funny.

This is why I’m less harsh on kids shows these days. As a kid in the early 2000s, I can’t say every cartoon I saw and enjoyed wasn’t trash

FINALLY! LS Mark is covering a REAL Cartoon

this sparked a memory inside me that i definitely didnt want to remember. back in 2020-2021 it had REALLY resurged and had its own fandom, which i was in at the time, and let me tell you, im embarrassed to say i really enjoyed the fandom when it was alive. a bunch of people shipped kyle and fanboy, or another "wizard" named sigmund-- not going any further then that. so this video sparked my embarassing memories of that phase, thanks but also why must you put me through this mental torture

I still can’t get over the fact that nick chose this over adventure time

I have two lasting memories of this show: * The theme song is terrible, and I always muted the TV whenever it was playing (though I've heard some recent-ish instrumental covers that prove it's actually quite catchy without the terrible vocals) * One time my sister was watching iCarly when the network glitched somehow and showed the visuals for an episode of Fanboy and Chum Chum while the iCarly audio continued as normal. It synced up surprisingly well.

Never liked this show as a kid and i still don’t really now, but this video gave me an appreciation for the animation. It is actually pretty impressive

You reminded me of Robot and Monster damn ... Fanboy and ChumChum is literally the one show where i could turn off my brain and still understand a little bit of what is going on it is mindless fun at the end of the day.

I honestly found the show really funny as a kid. I haven’t rewatched it as I’ve gotten older but based on all my memories I always found it entertaining and just a fun kid’s cartoon to watch whenever it was on.

Honestly, I loved this show. It was goofy, not super serious with even its storyline, the animation style was super unique to me. I know it was kinda cringe, but that didn’t stop me from loving it, it was a guilty pleasure. It wasn’t a gem, or a top favorite, but I liked it. It wasn’t underrated, I just think that there were some merits that made it unique and creative. It’s not terrible, but it’s not underrated either. It was just simple, goofy, and had a lot of artistic merits that I admired. Plus, a ton of references to different comics, action movies, the like.

The Robot and Monster renaissance is coming, Mark. Be afraid.

Fanboy and Chum Chum always scratched this particular itch I've always had, and that's watching the antics of childhood friends. Ever since I was a kid, I would always look at people and wonder what their lives were like, especially their childhoods. I adored my own childhood, and I miss it now more than ever. Watching cartoons about the daily lives of childhood friends gives me this warm feeling of nostalgia.

The one great thing that came out of Fanboy and Chum Chum, to my knowledge, was the fan art of one peticular artist. I haven't seen others' fanart of the show, so I can't comment on them. But her's was not only super recognizable from the show, but very well drawn and dare I say, adorable. She gave many of these characters something I didn't think I could see from the show, a soft, warm, gentle side. I always hated the show, but her fanart of the show was great. I'll look for her page again and share some links so everyone could experience them.

A show you should cover is Kid vs Kat. That was a great show; the first season had some rough areas but was very funny and the second season was good. But unfortunately we never got a ending to the show - there was supposed to be a 3rd season which didn’t happen and the second season finale (which is in no way acceptable for concluding a series) became the series finale.

I honestly loved this show as a kid, hell I still think about it from time to time nowadays. Also in terms of their parents, I'm pretty sure that Chum-Chum still has a mom and dad, they were talked about in an episode (I forgot which) where Chum-Chum grew giant after getting upset at something, and it turned out his mom and dad were also giants.

i appreciate the show artistically because it's very clear they designed these characters to look good in both drawing AND 3d. the art itself is charming (and proof that styles don't have to be "pretty" to be good) and it gives me like- wackier psychonauts vibes :D ... also friendly reminder this has the same creator as glitch techs

Your animation skill are getting better every time I watch! WELL DONE!!

Wait, there's a character that's a literal wizard attending this regular school because he was kicked out of his wizarding school? That sounds like a way better premise for a TV show than this! WTF wasn't this show about him instead!?

I honestly always thought this show was funny growing up. More so in an ironic way. It did lead to some killer memes.

This happens with so many shows, it's insane. Even some that aren't even that old. Rise Of The TMNT was DESPISED when it came out but now that its over, people love it (for good reason of course, it's great, but it sucks that it got so much hate back in the day). A lot of it adds up to some networks not advertising their shows at all if they don't immediately get high ratings (*cough* nickelodeon *cough*). A lot of people in the ROTTMNT fandom didn't even know about the shows existence until the movie released since that was produced by Netflix. Heck, one of the reasons the viewship was so poor is because Nickelodeon was constantly changing when and where it was airing and then just..not announcing where and when it would be (especially when it was left to die on Nicktoons). One thing that really sucks is when shows have a rough start and they immediatly get tossed aside. There are so many beloved shows that took a while to get good but now, if you're not doing amazing immediately, time to get cancelled. (Apologies for using a completely different show as an example, it's just easier to talk about a show I'm really interested in and it also just displays how often Nick does this to their shows, both the good and the bad.)

If you never watched this show, you never lived in an rv with 5 other people for 5 years.

For some reason my dad thought this show was called Fatboy and Chum Chum, and wondered why the skinny guy called himself fat... Yeah that's the most intresting thing I can say about the show.

11:31 really glad you brought that up since nowadays every show has to have lore or serialization, even shows like Big City Greens. The over-saturation of these type shows make it hard for the show’s target demographic of kids to follow but not adults, hence why we got the animation community today.

The most enjoyment I got out of the show was that the character Kyle looks like one of my irl friends, that's it

This show came out when I was in the 4th grade. I was the only kid among my classmates who actually enjoyed the show. Now I’m 24 and I see some of my old classmates repost clips from the show that became memes. A few of them admit that they didn’t watch the show but agree that the clip is funny, but there’s been a few where they’ll say that they’ve always loved the show since it came out. I want to believe that they probably loved it in secret when it was releasing and just went a long with the crowd that said it was bad. But honestly I feel like they’re lying 😂 The show was very memorable for me. Any show that had a main character who either loved to create art, read comics, or had an active imagination always related to me because I loved (and still love) those things at that age. I rewatched it as an adult and I could definitely tell that everyone who worked on it was having a fun time.

5:10 this clip shows perfectly why Boog is one of the greatest anime villains of all time/Carl Wheezer universe.

This show, the Garfield show, and Uncle Grandpa were a few highlights from my teenage years. I didn't care for Steven Universe or Gumball after season 1. I was always someone who didn't care what people said and watched what I wanted. As an adult, watching these older cartoons in they're entirety, and being able to share them with friends has been an absolute blast. Great content bud here's a like.

Funnily enough, the only thing I remember from this show is that Tamagotchi + Pet Sematary parody episode; where the duo neglected to take care of a tamagotchi one kid asked them to look after. Aside from that, I can't even understand what this show's about.

Honestly didn’t expect that anyone still remembered Robot and Monster, I swear that show existed for like one summer and then it was never seen again

I grew up watching Fanboy and Chum Chum it is still one of my comfort food for animation it is genuinely good and up there with classics like Robot and Monster.

The Madagascar penguin animated series is actually a banger though.

Fun fact about Chum Chum, her voice actress was also the Khan Makyr in Doom Eternal.

Im a huge fan of both Fanboy and Chum Chum and Robot and Monster. I grew up loving both and recently still finding myself loving the shows just as much, even if there was a lot of nostalgia for both. I think the love of anything is subjective, you can love disney, doesnt mean i have to

Well,the biggest word of the show is Probably: "Terrible...but pretty fun sometimes." *Sometimes

They chose Fanboy and Chum Chum over Adventure Time.

LS Mark seriously needs to make a video on Breadwinners. Seriously, i have like a friend that used to like that show ironically only for his stance on this show progressively turn unironic.

I loved this show. Me and my dad still joke about the name of it all the time.

I actually really liked fanboy and chum chum. I wasn’t the target demographic though. I was already well into my college years when I discovered it and just thought it was a weird and funny show. I expected a lot more shipping between fanboy and the wizard kid and was surprised how hated the show was.

I remember watching like 1 episode as a kid and it taught me what the emotion of hate is

I used to be obsessed with Kyle as a kid, I think he and Rainbow Dash were my first “He’s just like me fr‼️” characters

13:25 oh cool he's talking about me :)

My creative writing teacher loved Fanboy and Chum Chum. He actually sang some of the songs from the show in class sometimes, he was one of my favorite teachers.

Can’t believe someone else also appreciates that song at the beginning of the video from Pac Attack, such a hidden jam. Perfectly edited with the intro commentary too.

I like Robot and monster, i would love to see you do a review of it, never saw Fanboy and chum chum when it came out, though I saw commercials of it all the time back then

Mark I'll have you know that the Garfield show goes harder than my coworkers when I inject them with a syringe that contains a serum that turns their blood into stone automatically.

I loved this show, kick buttowski, and the apparently infamous Robot and Monster. I remember being so destroyed when I found out there wasn’t going to be a season 2 of it. I was obviously bullied in school.

fb&cc is one of my fav shows unironically (i luv it sm)

7:23 it is obnoxious

God i loved this show as a kid. Looking back, what the actual hell..?

Looking back at Fanboy and Chumchum now, I can't say it was a great, entertaining show, but as a kid I used to watch it ALL the time with my sister. I'm not sure what made me like it so much, maybe because I just happened to be into simplistic shows with goofy visuals at the time. Even if I didn't understand it completely, the show had a certain strangeness that made me feel the show was worth watching. Not every show needs to be a full-fledged masterpiece, and I feel like when it came to Fanboy and Chumchum, Nickelodeon made all the right decisions.

there was an unironic twitter fanbase for this show a couple years back. like people were literally kinning kyle and shipping the characters together it was wild

as a member of the exact target demographic of this show at the time of its airing; i can confidently say i enjoyed the show. i can also say that even when i was a kid i knew it wasnt very GOOD, but i still thought it was funny, had some interesting character designs, and made my little ADHD brain satisfied for 21 minutes at a time.

I grew up on Fanboy & Chum Chum so I’ll always love it, definitely one of the more unique shows from my childhood

I remember as a kid thinking that the show was pretty annoying and just kind of bad, but I still liked watching it anyways simply because the animation was really different. It isn't exactly pretty, but it's really cool in its own weird way, and that was enough to keep me moderately interested.

For some reason fanboy and chum chum was a big part of my childhood

I used to believe Fan boy was Larry boy as a human