Here are some Early 2000's TV Shows You Probably Forgot About
With the boom of the Nostalgiacore raging for the last decade and a half, the 80's and 90's were and are still a driving force of now marketable memory trips. As we get further into the new roaring 20's, one generation has been having a resurgence. The early 2000's and 2010's. So, I wanted to bring you all back to highlighted crimps, peak mtv and that weird transition between dial up and iphone to talk about the long lost tv shows of our childhood.
Sprout
15: Jakers! The Adventures of Piggly Winks- A show about an anthropomorphic pig telling his grandchildren about his life on a farm in Ireland. The show goes back and forth between present America and 1950s Ireland. I remember this show coming on PBS and Sprout. It was a transport from the kid's BBC, and I used to love watching it in between the other shows I watched. Learning that Mailie Flannigan, the voice of Naruto voiced Piggley Winks is mind-blowing to me. This show is really cool for kids, and if the PBS game is still a thing, that was also cool.
14: Make Way for Noddy: This theme song will live in your head forever! Make Way for Noddy, or Noddy!, was PBS Sprout version of Toy Story...sort of, but they kind of know they're toys. It was a strange but cool show for preschoolers. Based on the book series by Enid Blyton, Make Way For Noddy centers around, well, Noddy, as he works as a taxi driver and makes deliveries to his friends and avoid the antagonists Gobbo and Sly. I remember this show pretty well, and this show mesmerized me with the way the 3D animation was set up to look kind of like a clay world but it wasn't exactly one either. I think this show is a good one for kids. It definitely shaped my childhood.
13: Oswald- Oswald is another anthropomorphic show about animals just chilling out and living life. My sister coined this show as the most boring show in the world, but I loved this show. This show was so quaint in its delivery of the characters and pretty much tried to show that kids didn't need a bouncy, flashy, loud show to keep them entertained—Well, maybe its attempt was for naught since the show only lasted one season, but! I will hold on to my opinion that it is a good show for kids whether to test their attention span or to put them to sleep. This show was warm and cozy and underrated.
12: Little Bill-[Elephant in the room aside] this show was really cool. This show was based on the childhood of Bill Cosby and the children's book version retelling Bill Cosby's late son's life. Ennis Cosby was tragically murdered at 18, and the book was created to keep his memory alive. Growing up, I never knew that. In fact, I learned about this while researching for this list, and knowing that now, I really revere this show. Creator aside, I really adore this show for teaching kids difficult lessons that the character Bill learns like overcoming getting into the pool, learning how to stand up to bullies, and gaining confidence. This show was also great for showing the intersectionality of a children's world and meeting people of different creeds. In the show, he's best friends with a white kid, he becomes friends with a kid with cerebral palsy, and his teacher (once voiced by the late Madeline Kahn) is Hispanic. Honestly, peak diversity for early 2000s children's shows. Growing up my mom would call the show 'Non-bratty Caillou (I loved Caillou as a kid), and looking back I would agree. Little Bill is really a good show for kids.
Nicktoons
11: Corneil and Bernie or Watch My Chops- A French transplant over to Nickelodeon then Nicktoons, Corniel and Bernie (Watch My Chops in France) was very reminiscent of Peabody and Sherman and Seth McFarlane's extremely short-lived pilot called Steve and Larry. The premise is almost the same except Bernie, unlike Larry, isn't so stupid that he was held back from kindergarten three times, and Corniel can't build a time machine. This is another show that has a banger theme song. Bernie is a dog sitter for a talking dog called Corniel, a pampered pet owned by owners who don't know he can talk, and Corniel wants to keep it that way so he can keep being the pampered pet he always wanted to be. This comes into trouble when Bernie becomes his pet-sitter because Bernie isn't quite that smart and is ready to put Corniel into the position of trying to show people he can talk which doesn't work. This show was put on Nicktoons for a while before the international rights were revoked. Now it's being streamed from Canada. I recommend watching this pretty underrated show.
10: Glenn Martin D.D.S. - So, I'm cheating a little bit. Technically Glenn Martin DDS was a Nick At Night original, however, I watched it most on Nicktoons so I'm putting it on this list. With that, Glenn Martin DDS was a show of animated insanity and to this day, the thought of the show makes me giggle. Not because it was good but because I can remember the teeth game that was on Nick.com, and I can remember some funny things from the show.
After accidentally burning down the house, dentist, Glenn Martin takes his family (and his daughter's friend) and dog who has an oversized butt on a road trip to strengthen their relationship. This show is probably notorious for its clay animation. It does have an uncanny valley feel to it, but I think that's part of the weird charm to it? This show came out around the time when claymation was starting to be a big thing again with Mr.Meaty, Shaun the Sheep, and Celebrity Deathmatch (Which has the same creator as GMDDS) being a big thing in the early-mid 2000s. I don't quite know what else to say about this show but I will say if you can find the game, go try it. It's fun. If you end up finding the show on youtube or something, let me know what you think especially if it's your first time watching it. It's...an interesting one for sure.
Teen Nick
9: Supah Ninjas- Supah Ninjas was honestly an underrated gem. This show taught me who George Takei is, and I now love him forever. When Mike Fukanaga loses his grandfather he finds out this he is from a long line of ninjas. Mike, along with his best friend Owen and his crush Amanda, have to take down crime with the help of a holographic version of his grandfather played by George Takei. This show was a cool show. This premiered around the time that Kung Fu Panda came out, so I was already in a kick-someones-ass mode. This show was actually really great for its casting. Nickelodeon didn't have a lot of Asian casting in its live-action shows, so I love realizing now how much we got in this show even though it was short-lived. I really wish more people watched this show. I was so bummed it was canceled after two seasons. It was this show and The Troop that caught my heart and crushed it when it was canceled after a few seasons and I really wish it had a longer life.
8: Wendell and Vinnie - Wendell and Vinnie was a show that I think could have worked on a different network. After his brother and sister-in-law die, Vinnie is pushed into taking care of his nephew Wendell, a bright, overachieving, wise beyond-his-years, boy who learns how to become more loose in his approach in life and in turn teaches Vinnie to become more of a parent and more responsible as a human being. I don't remember a lot about this show, but I do remember the tender moments more than the laughs, and for that memory alone I think that's why I think this show should have been on another network. But, from what I remember (I couldn't find this show on Netflix), I don't recall this show being that bad. It's one that is underrated and forgotten, and I don't know if it deserves that. It was put in that weird place post ICarly where the network was trying to figure out Sam and Cat and in the middle of that gave the audience Martin the Martian, Best Player ( a movie starring Jennette McCurdy and Jerry Trainer), and this show, and out of those three, I think this is the best they made. I hope someone can find this show and try it out. I think it's better than what most think.
Unfortunately, I will not be including Toon Disney because all of the tv shows I watched growing up are still talked about today.
Playhouse Disney
5: My Friends Tigger and Pooh- Out of all of the Winnie the Pooh Disney works, My Friends Tigger and Pooh are probably the most ignored, (Although one may argue The Book Of Pooh may win that award, I say, you're probably right, but I grew up with My Friends, not The Book). My Friends Tigger and Pooh, another show that has a banger theme, is about a girl named Darby and her adventures with her friends, Tigger and Pooh, and all of the 100 Acre Woods characters. It's explained that Darby is Christopher Robin's best friend and had an Andy from Toy Story moment where he gave his toys to Darby and so now the kids who watch the show follow Darby instead. He does pop up from time to time, funny enough, I don't remember it. The adventures I remember liking as a kid. They made Darby a sleuth and so the AA Milne characters help Darby with finding the answer to the mysteries of the Hundred Acre Wood. It's definitely made for a kids' audience obviously, but I suppose some parents wouldn't mind watching along. The Christmas special is so sweet and recommend putting it on for your kids.
4: Can You Teach My Alligator Manners? - An interactive animated short, Can You Teach My Alligator Manners was a way to test kids on manners by asking them to help the protagonist Mikey teach his alligator, intelligently named, Al voiced by my favorite voice actor, Rob Paulsen, manners. It only lasted two seasons but I remember it fondly.
Disney Channel:
3: As The Bell Rings - Another Disney short segment that would be aired in between commercial breaks, As the Bell Ring would later be an actual short-lived show starring The Demi Lovato. Seven teens interact with each other in between classes and do what all teens do, gossip, talk about crushes and prom. This show was short-lived and even though it was meh at best, it should be talked about for at least introducing the world to Demi Lovato's post-Barney days.
2: Shorty McShort Shorts - A compilation of shorts aired with plots ranging from a boy band running from their fans after they find out they lipsync to a boy in a mascot school trying to find his product and teaming up with a toilet bowl cleaner product mascot. This show was wild and though I can see why it was canceled, at the very least the boy band should have had a finale and it worked as the series finale.
Cartoon Network (Due to the majority of CN shows still being talked about, there is only one in this section)
1: Duck Dodgers- If you're a Looney Tunes fan, this one is for you. I loved Duck Dodgers and any show that was able to get Tom Jones to sing your theme song for you is a piece of art in my book. Duck Dodgers centers around Daffy and his space cadet, Porky Pig as they save the galaxy from Marvin the Martian and Mars's Queen, Queen Tyr'anee (I snort every time I say that name). This show is a great spinoff to the Daffy Duck Duck Dodgers shorts, and I definitely recommend watching it.
I hope you all enjoyed going through the nostalgic rabbit hole of this blog. Let me know if you remembered any of these shows and enjoyed or hated any of them. Let me know what you remember from your childhood that is underrated. See you all next time!
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