2. Hey Arnold!
Series Run: 1996-2004 (100 episodes)
Network: Nickelodeon
Theme Song: Like the show, catchy and fun and it only grows on you with time, 5/5. Created by Craig Bartlett, who worked on Pee-wee's Playhouse, Hey Arnold! has so many devoted followers that Tumblr is going to have to create a whole new website just to contain them. Set in Hillwood, an amalgamation of big cities in the Pacific Northwest and Brooklyn, Hey Arnold! features a diverse cast of characters not typically found in contemporary cartoons. The show occasionally dealt with extreme or fantastical stories, but it was at its best when it focused on realistic depictions of childhood, with an interesting layer of the story being that Gerald (Arnold's best friend) and Arnold are both raised by war veterans. They are the children of American history who use stories to magnify their own histories. When Arnold and Gerald go to a middle school dance in the first season, it is a momentous and significant occasion, and that's exactly what it would have felt like if I were invited to a dance by the cool older girls. When the gang gets stuck on a subway, the claustrophobia that sets in feels real, and their fear is honest in a way most comedy shows don't try to acknowledge (children's or otherwise). An important side note, it's not a skirt it's a button-up shirt that's too long to fit under Arnold's sweater. And that's all I have to say about that. But enough about Arnold and his male friends, the real star of the show is definitely Helga Pataki, a harsh female character that hides her undying love for Arnold. It's hard to feel sympathetic for a person that builds a gum-based shrine to our football-headed protagonist, but it's a testament to this show that she is the most dynamic and interesting character. Although her borderline pathological obsession with Arnold makes her insane, she
feels like a real person. Her various quirks are occasionally scary but her redeeming qualities turn her tics into the charming characteristics of a girl who is desperately in love with a boy in a way most nine year old boys are secretly and desperately in love with a girl. But it would be a shame not to acknowledge some of the other great characters: Grandpa Phil is the surprisingly energetic old man that Arnold lives with, Grandma Gertrude is his wise wife, Big Bob Pataki is Helga's father and a funny beeper salesman, Miriam is Helga's drunk mother, Phoebe is Helga's intelligent best friend and Gerald's love interest, and Sid, Stinky, and Eugene round out their group of friends while having their own unique quirks. Hey Arnold! will stand the test of time because it's a show that's honest about what it feels like to be a kid, hopelessly in love and looking for adventure.