8. Recess
Series Run: 1997-2001 (65 episodes)
Network: ABC (Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation)
Theme Song: Good but not great, the intro was fun but could be skipped over 3.5/5. Some people are going to be very disappointed that Recess sits only at number eight on this list. I understand that, I watched Recess more than any other cartoon when I was growing up, and the show is undeniably great. But there are just too many great shows from this period, which makes eighth place high praise. Like most boys that were in elementary school when this show came out, I tried to fashion myself after T.J. Detweiler, the clever lead of Recess. Unlike many other cartoon protagonists, T.J. was easy to relate to, he wasn't the jock, he wasn't too smart, he was T.J. the clown/prankster and he had a great group of friends. What made Recess truly great isn't that the show didn't use archetypes, it's that the characters weren't defined by the archetype they were prescribed with. T.J. was also a great friend and group leader, Spinelli the tomboy sometimes liked to be the girly-girl, Vince LeSalle was the fun-loving jock that still dealt with various insecurities, Gretchen the brainiac wasn't a socially awkward dweeb, Gus was a socially awkward dweeb but he was also the glue that kept the group together.And Mikey, sweet Opera-singing (later voiced by the great Robert Goulet!) candy-bar toting Mikey was the best character on a show filled with great characters. Recess was the easiest show to relate to as a kid; it's about the need to be yourself, but with a loving group of close-knit friends. The only way you can be yourself was in the freedom of Recess, a magical time in which you could try to make your own rules (as long as you could get away from Miss Finster). Along with one of the greatest movie spin-offs for a TV show ever (Recess: School's Out), Recess's run as a television show was as much of a formative experience in my childhood as school itself, and its impact was felt amongst pigeon-holed kids everywhere.