1. SNICK
I'm 24 years old. I'm a reasonably handsome guy with good prospects and a bright future. I have a car and can afford gas. I sort of have a job writing articles for an online publication. Life, by all accounts, is good. All this is to say that Saturday nights should be my time to shine. There are any number of movie theaters, clubs, malls, comedy clubs, concert venues, and sporting events that should be the main focus of the weekend for a young man like myself. Nevertheless, I still long for the days when I spent most Saturday evenings at home in front of the TV. No, I was not a pint-sized hermit, but friends, activities, and social obligations took a backseat to the boob tube. Why? Because every Saturday night from 7:00pm to 9:00pm belonged exclusively to the kids. That was the time when Nickelodeon (the first network for kids) would air their SNICK programming block. You have to understand something. Until SNICK came along, prime time TV was strictly an adult affair. Throughout the week, the adults had just about every night of the week cornered. On Tuesday, it was the comedy block. Wednesday had the hour-long dramas. Thursdays, of course, was Must See TV Thursdays. Fridays had TGIF, which admittedly was a big draw for kids, but was more suited to the family unit. SNICK (Saturday-Night-Nickelodeon) was prime-time programming strictly made for kids. It was strategically; SNICK aired on Saturday nights since that was the one night of the week (discounting Friday when TGIF was on) when kids could stay up as late as they wanted. The powers that be at Nick capitalized on this. From the years of 1992 to 2001 when SNICK was at its peak, kids were presented with a smorgasbord of programming tailored to fit every personality type and demographic. You had your Saturday Night Live-type variety shows (Roundhouse, All-That, The Amanda Show), comedies (Clarissa Explains It All, Kenan and Kel, Cousin Skeeter, Adventures of Pete and Pete), sci-fi shows (The Secret World of Alex Mack, The Journey of Allen Strange, Space Cases, Anamorphs), animated shows (Ren and Stimpy, Rugrats, Kablam), and the kiddie-sized horror anthology show (Are You Afraid of the Dark?). With a slew of awesome entertainment coming to their TVs every Saturday night, kids of the 90's found the courage to wrestle the remote away from their parents (after asking them to order a pizza, of course) and watch awesome TV shows made just for them. When you're a kid, it's empowering when you're treated like a person and not a snot-nosed brat (though you probably are a snot-nosed brat). Nickelodeon, by making TV specifically for kids and not for adults, in a small way made kids feel like they mattered. It's why, till this day, whenever I see an orange couch, I can't help but puff out my chest a little bit and breathe a short sigh for those wonderful days gone by. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHwIC4vUQWE