From 1996 to 2000, children and teens alike watched Nickelodeon’s Kenan and Kel concoct hare-brained schemes, while Kel harbored an undying affection for a particular carbonated beverage.
Students in college today watched this show and others on Nick in the ’90s, including “All That,” “The Adventures of Pete & Pete,” “The Amanda Show,” “Clarissa Explains it All,” “Rocket Power,” “Rugrats” and “Salute Your Shorts.”
Due to popular demand and more than 9 million Facebook fans of ‘90s Nick shows, the network will launch a programming block, dubbed “The ’90s Are All That!,” on TeenNick, beginning this fall and running from midnight to 2 a.m.
“There is an entire generation of young people who literally grew up on these great 1990s series, and many of them have been vocal about wanting to see and experience these shows again,” Keith Dawkins, senior vice president, general manager of Nicktoons and TeenNick, said in a press release.
These shows are being aimed at 20-somethings — the largest part of the population with disposable incomes, which advertisers love, said David Painter, instructor of the UF course TV & American Society.
“I think they’ll be extremely popular,” Painter said.
Ashley-Marie Bodor, a Santa Fe College sophomore, said she used to enjoy “All That,” “The Amanda Show,” “Kenan & Kel” and “Rugrats.”
“I like the fact that the ‘Rugrats’ never aged,” she said.
Although she would like to see Tommy and Chuckie on an adventure together again, she said she wouldn’t pay for it, as many of the shows are available online and on Netflix.
However, Painter said, whether airing via TeenNick or streaming online, Nickelodeon will still make money because it won’t have to pay for syndication rights.
“Like Nick at Nite, it’s very inexpensive because they already own the shows,” Painter said.
Jackie Moon, a UF civil engineering senior, doesn’t have the TeenNick channel, and she said she wouldn’t pay to add it just to watch childhood shows again.
She said she’s watched shows from her youth on the Disney Channel, but they aren’t entertaining to her now that she’s an adult.
“‘Clarissa Explains It All’ was the only show my sister and I agreed on as kids,” Moon said.
Moon most remembers the “Secret Spot” episode of “Rocket Power,” where “shoobies,” tourists sporting shoes on the beach, invade and kick sand into potato salad.
It is normal for generations to reminisce about their childhood, Painter said.
”It’s a feeling of nostalgia,” he said.
