What Killed "SNICK" for You?

[TMC1982 0]

SNICK for those who don't recall, was the Saturday night block on Nickelodeon spanning from 1992-2004. It was a key component in what I would otherwise consider to be the "glory days"/golden age of Nickelodeon. SNICK went hand and hand with TGIF on ABC (both were essentially, weekend appointment TV if you were a kid growing up in the '90s).

 

SNICK had shows such as (but not limited to) "Clarissa Explains it All", "Roundhouse", "Ren & Stimpy", "Are You Afraid of the Dark", "The Secret World of Alex Mack", "All That", "Space Cases", "The 100 Deeds of Eddie McDowd", "KaBlam!", "The Journey of Allen Strange", "Kenan & Kel", "The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo", etc.

 

To me, SNICK started to go downhill when they got rid of the big orange couch (which around June of 1999). Believe it or not, the orange couch was the heart and soul of SNICK (and helped create SNICK's identity in the first place).

 

Another thing that hurt the block in my estimation was when Nickelodeon started to drift away from the formula (besides the couch getting tossed aside). SNICK worked best when the block was made up of one live-action sitcom (e.g. "Clarissia..." and "Kenan & Kel"), one Nicktoon (e.g. "Ren & Stimpy" and "Rugrats"), one musical-comedy-variety show (e.g. "Roundhouse" and "All That"), and one wild card show (e.g. "Alex Mack", Space Cases", "Allen Strange", "Eddie McDowd", etc.).

 

Things were only made worst, when Nickelodeon tried to take SNICK into a completely different direction, with the "SNICK House" concept (with Nick Cannon as the host). It seemed like Nickelodeon was trying to copy what MTV was doing at the time with "Total Request Live". What people seemed to forget was that the shows themselves are what made SNICK not celebrity guests or music videos.

 

By the time that the SNICK House had run its course around the summer of 2001, it seemed apparent that Nickelodeon wasn't really trying anymore. There were basically, throwing shows around at random, with the SNICK name attached. At this point, they were using "elevator music" in the background with still photos and "talking bubbles" of the various SNICK stars.

 

By the fall of 2002, SNICK introduced a segment called "The On Air Dare", in which the cast of "All That" would perform acts that resembled does seen on "Fear Factor". Once again (as with the case with the SNICK House), Nickelodeon seemed to be throwing stuff in the air to see if they would stick (instead of simply following the tried and true formula and essence of SNICK in the past).

 

By the fall of 2004, Nick got rid of SNICK completely in favor of a second night of their TEENick block (which with in itself, resembles the SNICK House concept). The problem that I have with TEENick (not just because, the purist in me wishes that Nickelodeon had kept a hold of the SNICK brand) is that a lot of the shows on their schedule are already overexposed (like "iCarly" and "Drake & Josh" for example). Nickelodeon's programming has become awfully homogenized by this time (virtually every note worthy live-action show has to be a tween-oritened sitcom, like those on the Disney Channel at the moment).

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

The Nostalgia Critic's review is worth checking out.

 

Also, as a Canadian, this whole concept is foreign to me.

[BUTT 0]

If you're old enough to remember SNICK when it first started, then the problem with it isn't anything Nickelodeon is or isn't doing. The shows that they air today aren't for you.

[Guest Smues]

What killed SNICK for me was that I got older. I don't remember any programming changes that did it, I just got older and outgrew NICK and SNICK.

[Kinetic 0]

Yeah, obviously. The SNICK concept was just starting to take hold by the time that I deemed it no longer acceptable for me to watch Nickelodeon. I remember really disliking Roundhouse, for some reason.

 

Say, dudes, help me out here: I frequently find myself referencing the old Nickelodeon game show where the contestants actually went inside of popular video games. Alas, I cannot for the life of me remember what this show was called. What was it?

[Guest Smues]

It's gotta be Nick Arcade. I don't remember them going inside popular games, but they did do this made for the show game at the end of the show.

[Kinetic 0]

Fucking Nick Arcade. What a crappy name, no wonder I forgot it.

 

You're absolutely right, though. A little research reveals that time and probably some amount of brain damage have caused me to misremember the show. I do recall thinking that it was pretty weak at the time. On the other hand, Legends of the Hidden Temple lit my fire and then some. I used to watch the shit out of that. Almost every memory that I have from 1993 is somehow tied up with watching that show and eating Little Caesars pizza.

[alfdogg 0]

I remember Nick Arcade, but don't really recall any of the games on the show being "popular", at least not around these parts.

 

I'm not sure if Nick GAS still exists, but they were still showing the old Nick Game shows on that channel (Arcade, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Get the Picture, etc.)

[BUTT 0]

I'm not sure if Nick GAS still exists, but they were still showing the old Nick Game shows on that channel (Arcade, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Get the Picture, etc.)

It doesn't.

[alfdogg 0]

Another one I just remembered

 

 

DO-DO-DO DO YA HAVE IT

[muzz 0]

Legends of the Hidden Temple or any game with a maze/course I thought was incredible.

[bob_barron 0]

Guts was awesome, but Global Guts fucking sucked. Who wants to root for a bunch of foreigners?

[CBright7831 0]

Yeah, obviously. The SNICK concept was just starting to take hold by the time that I deemed it no longer acceptable for me to watch Nickelodeon. I remember really disliking Roundhouse, for some reason.

 

Say, dudes, help me out here: I frequently find myself referencing the old Nickelodeon game show where the contestants actually went inside of popular video games. Alas, I cannot for the life of me remember what this show was called. What was it?

I remember watching Roundhouse and just waiting for it to go off so Ren and Stimpy could come on next. The only thing that I remember about the show (before watching NC's video about it) was the guy who rode the motorized couch with the tv and etc. That could work for me nowadays.

 

And I agree with Venkman - everyone should check out Nostagia Critic's reviews that he did in Jan (aka Nick month). He recently finished it off with a review of Good Burger.

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

I know that it wasn't on snick but what about the guessing game show that Summer Sanders hosted around 1996? I used to watch that all the time because of her. Snick was the best when it had Are You Afraid of the Dark.

[CBright7831 0]

I know that it wasn't on snick but what about the guessing game show that Summer Sanders hosted around 1996? I used to watch that all the time because of her. Snick was the best when it had Are You Afraid of the Dark.

My favorite episode of AYAotD was the episode with Zeebo the clown. Very creepy episode.

 

And the show you're thinking about was called "Figure It Out."

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_It_Out

[haws bah gawd 0]

What killed it for me was when they started throwing seemingly one variety show after another at the wall, to see what they could get to stick. I fucking HATED All That, even from it's conception. Though, oddly enough, I could tolerate Roundhouse. Go figure? Ren and Stimpy, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and Clarissa are what defined Snick to me, but they unfortunately couldn't last forever.

 

My parents and I went to Nickelodeon Studios during our Summer Vacation one year. We got to sit in on a taping of Clarissa Explains it All (the episode where Clarissa and Feguson are home alone, and the power keeps going out), as well as a taping of Nick Arcade. DAMMIT was I bummed when I found out Nick Arcade was just a giant blue screen, and not some mythical living video game like it was presented as on TV. I was only 10 at the time, so give me a break.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I'm not sure if Nick GAS still exists, but they were still showing the old Nick Game shows on that channel (Arcade, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Get the Picture, etc.)

It doesn't.

 

I'm pretty sure it does, just under a new name.

[King Kamala 0]

I grew up is the best answer but to be specific, I stopped watching it regularly around the time Keenan and Kel left All That.

[bob_barron 0]

Wait- Nick Arcade is a blue screen and not a living video game?

[BUTT 0]

We got to sit in on a taping of Clarissa Explains it All (the episode where Clarissa and Feguson are home alone, and the power keeps going out),

I had always wondered if this show was actually taped in front of a crowd, because it seemed to have the most subdued studio audience ever. You'd hear light chuckling from time to time, but it was probably less prominent than on any other sitcom ever made. Go back and watch it on YouTube. It sounded like 15 people standing in the background.

 

I always enjoyed Roundhouse. For whatever reason the thing that sticks out the most was a Speed Racer parody called "Speed Racist." I'm sure it was far more politically correct than it sounds.

[Mike wanna be 0]

I'm not sure if Nick GAS still exists, but they were still showing the old Nick Game shows on that channel (Arcade, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Get the Picture, etc.)

It doesn't.

It does if you have DISH network. Hooray network disputes, it's lasted a year longer than it was supposed to.

 

SNICK: I watched that shit for aaaages. I only stopped because I got too old to guilt my dad into letting me have control of the ancient only-one-channel-at-a-time moving satellite dish on Saturday nights.

[Dr Funkenstein PhD 0]

I'm not sure if Nick GAS still exists, but they were still showing the old Nick Game shows on that channel (Arcade, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Get the Picture, etc.)

It doesn't.

 

 

 

Don't remind me.

 

For those that don't know you're reading the post of a Nickelodeon GUTS Silver Medalist. I've done a lot more with my life since then though.

[bob_barron 0]

Whoa, we meed more details.

[Epic Reine 0]

Are You Afraid of the Dark? is one of my favorite shows ever. I remember watching it as a kid and being scared shitless (it was the last show to air on Snick that evening with a 9:30 timeslot) and thanks to Youtube, I've seen most of the episodes again recently and some hold up incredibly well. I remember Roundhouse but I also remember not understanding it well, I always just thought "Why are these people randomly singing and dancing all the time?". Clarissa wasn't bad but looking at old clips of it, it's aged pretty badly. Ren & Stimpy (the original cartoon, not that shitty remake they did for Spike TV a few years ago) is one of the best cartoons ever, the humor was so sublte.

 

As for me, I stopped watching after they took Keenan and Kel off. I loved K&K and I was pissed when they gave "Action League Now!" it's own spin-off. The sketch was funny on Kablaam because it was like 3 minutes long. It certainly did not warrant it's own half hour show.

[Just John 0]

I went to a GUTS taping when I was about 8 or 9. I loved all those Nickelodion game shows. I watched Legends of the Hidden Temple, GUTS, Family Double Dare, etc well after I out-grew the rest of the channel.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Too old for SNICK but not for wrestling? Interesting crowd we have here at TSM.

[bob_barron 0]

Too old for SNICK but not for wrestling? Interesting crowd we have here at TSM.

 

Two totally different things, especially considering how WWE became more adulted oriented in the late 90s.

 

[muzz 0]

Kenan and Kel would still entertain me, even in my twenties. Ditto with Pete and Pete.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

As for me, I stopped watching after they took Keenan and Kel off. I loved K&K and I was pissed when they gave "Action League Now!" it's own spin-off. The sketch was funny on Kablaam because it was like 3 minutes long. It certainly did not warrant it's own half hour show.

 

See, it's weird, I always hear that it got its own spinoff and yet I can only ever remember it getting a thirty-minute long special. And usually I can remember stuff from channels like Nickelodeon from 10 years ago bizarrely well (even for shows I didn't actually care for, like that "100 Deeds of Eddie McDowd" thing). But then, according to Wiki it only had eleven episodes as a spinoff so maybe that's why.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

Are You Afraid of the Dark? is one of my favorite shows ever. I remember watching it as a kid and being scared shitless (it was the last show to air on Snick that evening with a 9:30 timeslot) and thanks to Youtube, I've seen most of the episodes again recently and some hold up incredibly well.

 

I remember the intro being much scarier than the actual show ever was.