Following news that Hey! Arnold, Rocko’s Modern Life, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and Invader Zim are getting their own TV movies, we felt like other Nickelodeon shows should get the same treatment, too. After all, if Nicktoons is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a case of nostalgia, it should go all out (and even include the live-action titles).
In honor of the slate of Nick shows that are getting their own films, we compiled a list of shows that should get one, too. Take note that we only included titles that have never had a TV movie, so we took out the shows that already got one, like As Told By Ginger, Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys, and more.
Check out our list below:
7. Figure It Out
Figure It Out is a game show where a group of celebrity panelists try to guess a guest’s special talent or unique achievement. By special talent we mean burping Christmas songs, popping the world’s largest bag of popcorn, and growing his own foot fungus. It’s a strange yet entertaining show, and it pioneered the slime we see in the Kid’s Choice Awards.
Proposed Storyline: A kid who has a strange talent (let’s say he can grow his own foot fungus) is mocked by his school. He is recruited by a special school that allows kids to hone their unique skills. Plus points if the producers can get show host Summer Sanders to be the headmistress. The kid adjusts to life in the school, until a mad scientist threatens to take over the world with slime. The kid and his schoolmates must gather to stop the scientist.
6. Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters follows three friends Ickis, Krumm, and Oblina, who live in a dump and study in a school where they learn to scare humans. At the same time, they deal with teenage issues like friendship, love, and family.
Proposed Storyline: The people they used to scare are no longer afraid of monsters. Headmaster Gromble feels that they are no longer relevant, so he proposes that they return to the place where they came from (great way to introduce an origin story). Ickis, Krumm, and Oblina take it upon themselves to subtly prove to the world that monsters exist and that they should be afraid. The three will harness the power of social media.
5. CatDog
I wonder what the creators were smoking when they created the show CatDog. As the title suggests, it’s a show about conjoined brothers, one half of which is a cat, and the other, a dog. The show follows their misadventures as polar opposites. Cat is a highly-cultured and grumpy feline, while Dog is a cool and laidback canine. Hilarity ensues.
Proposed Storyline: A planned separation (“CatDog’s End”) pushes through after Cat is fed up with Dog’s antics. Cat lives a cultured life and enjoys time alone, but realizes that he is not truly himself without Dog.
4. Clarissa Explains It All
For many teenage girls (and boys) in the ’90s, they relied on Clarissa Darling to explain it all to them. The sitcom starred Melissa Joan Hart as the titular Clarissa, who breaks the fourth wall and narrates her life as a teenager dealing with school, boys, adolescence, and an annoying brother.
Proposed Storyline: Clarissa is now an adult (like most of the viewers of the show when it ran), and must explain how to do this thing called #adulting.
3. KaBlam!
KaBlam! is a sketch show featuring cartoons with different characters, storylines, and even drawing styles. The show is hosted by Henry and June, two characters in a comic book who introduce each segment. There’s “Sniz & Fondue,” which follows two ferret roommates; “Action League Now,” about a group of action figure superheroes; “Life with Loopy,” about the adventures of a young girl named Loopy; the claymation “Prometheus and Bob,” which shows the interaction between an alien and a caveman; and “The Offbeats,” about a group of unpopular kids and their rivals, known as The Populars.
Proposed Storyline: Print is dying, and the characters must get together to save the comic book industry.
2. The Ren & Stimpy Show
Ren & Stimpy was one of the weirdest shows on Nick. It follows the adventures of Ren, a neurotic chihuahua, and Stimpy, a good-natured cat. The show was known for its off-color humor, violence, adult jokes, and sexual innuendo. Of course, most of these jokes flew right past me as a kid, but I do remember loving that one episode where Stimpy went looking for his missing fart. What fun it would be to see the duo back in action as an adult! It was announced last year that a film was in the works, but was eventually turned down.
Proposed Storyline: Whatever crazy content the creators can come up with.
1. Global Guts
One of the biggest TV shows of my childhood was Global Guts, a reality show that pits young contestants from around the world in extreme versions of sports like tennis, dodgeball, surfing, and skiing. The games culminated in a climb to the Super Aggro Crag, a mountain filled with challenges. It was a kids version of the Olympic Games, but the producers went all out in creating each episode.
Proposed Storyline: A dictator turns the world into a dystopian fantasy. A group of rebels recruit athletically-inclined kids from around the world and are trained in a boot camp. Their goal is to defeat the dictator, who hides in a palace at the top of the Super Aggro Crag.
What other Nick shows do you think should get a TV movie? Share your thoughts below!
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