Interview: Mathew Klickstein, Author of "Slimed: An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age"

The Future of Nickelodeon What are you hoping will happen as a result of this book? The usual things. I hope the book sells very well and really gets out to the public. I worked ridiculously hard on it and sacrificed much to get it finished on time and in a way that would imbue a quality I believe will come out to the readers. I didn't want it to just be a disparate series of lashed together quotes, as I had found is the case with some other oral histories. I want people to be able to read it and really follow the narrative, catch what's going on, be there with the "characters" telling their stories of how they made these incredible shows under similar low-money/time/resource circumstances as the manner in which the book was written (something that really did keep me going throughout, by the way: If they could do it, so could I). I hope the people who I interviewed and whose stories I am relaying here are pleased with my work, satisfied with the way it's been put together, and don't see too many chinks in the story of their channel/shows. Lastly, and of course, I really REALLY hope this allows me to do similar work in the future. But, we'll see... Do you still watch Nick to this day? I don't watch contemporary TV anymore. Haven't for years. I know some people say that and then will tell you about having seen a recent episode of American Idol or Lost or whatever it might be, but I just stopped almost entirely when I started high school. I just watch movies and read books (as far as media/entertainment is considered). I'll watch some OLD TV shows like Jack Benny/George Burns/Classic Simpsons, etc. through box sets and whatnot, but not very frequently. What do you think about Nickelodeon today, as opposed to the Golden Age? I don't know much about it aside from what I've heard from those in the Golden Age, and for the most part, their views are pretty negative. But, that's to be expected. You build something and put everything into it and then you're gone and years later it becomes something else (from what I gather). Some people I talked to still produce/write for Nick and have better things to say, but I don't think there's any question that something like iCarly or whatever may be on now just can't have the same power of Pete & Pete or Double Dare. How could it? NOTHING does anymore, which is one of the reasons if I do watch TV, it's old stuff in box sets or VHS tapes or whatever. If there was one note you could give the heads of Nickelodeon today, in order to better run the network like it used to be , what would you tell them? Again, I don't know enough -- personally -- about what's going on now to have that kind of audacity. But, from what I understand, I'd say it's an easy solution. "Read my book. It's all in there." Luckily, from what I've heard from at least one top exec over there now, they're all eagerly anticipating it. Thanks again to Mr. Klickstein for his interview! Slimed! An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age is scheduled for release this Fall , via Penguin Books' Plume imprint. In the meantime, join Mr. Klickstein's Facebook group, as it contains photos, stories, and eventually passages from the book you'll find only there.