The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story

source: The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story

I'm guessing this was a political decision. I always thought Amanda bynes was hilarious and loved her brand of comedy. Otherwise - good learning about this beautiful piece of my childhood.

I came of age in the late '80s and early '90s, and in retrospect, I'm not sure there was a single more powerful influence on those formative years than Nickelodeon. Pinwheel and Danger Mouse colored my earliest memories, Double Dare and Mr. Wizard arrived a bit later, Salute Your Shorts and Ren & Stimpy spoke to me as a pre-teen... it seemed that as I grew and matured, so did the network, catering its programming to meet what I wanted or needed at that specific point in my life. Looking back at it here, through a wide-angled lens, I was startled by how much of this material has lingered in my long-term memory banks and still, subtly, feeds my personality today. That's where The Orange Years makes its hay: coasting through a laundry list of beloved short-run TV shows and catchy pre-commercial bumpers, refreshing fond recollections in its audience while serving a dash of backstage skinny to better humanize the men and women behind this little network that could. And that's really what it was, at least in the early days: a boutique cable channel, catering to a very specific market, in an era before that was a proven formula. The peeks behind the curtain are wonderful and inspiring - happy conversations with stars, creators and executives who are still jazzed about the product, twenty years after moving on - but the greater urge to service nearly every original property with some degree of inspection grows tiresome after nearly two hours. Should've been twenty minutes shorter.

If you grew up watching Nickelodeon, you should check this out. Lots of great info on the network I never even knew. Highly recommended!

Greetings again from the darkness. Slime. Perhaps that word conjures images of the 1984 film GHOSTBUSTERS, but for many who were kids in the 1980's and 1990's, slime is synonymous with Nickelodeon, and specifically the network's game show, "Double Dare". This documentary from co-directors Scott Barber and Adam Sweeney traces the history of the still popular network, and visits with those who helped build the foundation. The Nickelodeon network was officially launched in 1979, however the film teaches us how it was inspired by the TV show "Pinwheel", and tested on QUBE, the interactive cable network whose pushbutton controller allowing immediate feedback from viewers was revolutionary. It's difficult to imagine the days when there existed no network dedicated to entertainment for kids, yet the programming challenges faced in those early years are shocking. Nickelodeon was named after the original indoor moving picture theaters from the early 1900's (cost was 5 cents to watch), and the naming of Geraldine Laybourne as President in 1980 marked the beginning of explosive growth for the upstart "First Channel for Kids". Ms. Laybourne is interviewed here, and is worshipped by those who describe her as a progressive thinker and exemplary teacher. Her role in those early years was clearly crucial to the network, although after 16 years, she left to join rival Disney. The founding days are so thoroughly discussed that we learn Pantone 21C is the color used for the familiar orange logo ... simply because orange is a "happy" color. With a goal to "Let kids be kids", it's quite obvious that those involved understood what kids liked and didn't like. NickToons was established in 1991 with three gems: "Rugrats", "Doug", and "Ren & Stimpy". Jim Jinkins was the creator of "Doug" and we learn much about him. In fact, interviews are included from numerous members of the talent roster. Marc Summers, host of "Double Dare", Melissa Joan Hart, star of "Clarissa Explains it All", and Kenan Thompson of "Kenan and Kel", who of course, has gone on to spend many years as a featured player on "Saturday Night Live". These folks reminisce about the early years and how they understood they were changing the landscape of TV for kids. This isn't just about the stars. We learn about the opening of the Nickelodeon Studio in Orlando, and how it became a featured attraction on the Universal Studios tour. We also hear from the writers, producers, and creators, so that we get the full picture of how things came together and then developed. Some names we wouldn't expect to be associated with Nickelodeon include: Iggy Pop, Magic Johnson, Chris Farley, and Coolio. We see how each fit in. We learn about 'middle-age kids', the beginnings of SNICK (with "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"), as well as the initial resistance to merchandising - termed 'exploiting kids'. Of course, all of that changed with Nickelodeon Magazine, "SpongeBob SquarePants" (1999) and "Dora the Explorer" (2000). The magazine and merchandising became a physical manifestation of the network's programming, and of course, a substantial addition to the revenue stream. What's most impressive with the backstory is how those behind the programming were so energized and committed to changing the world of children's TV. There may have been game shows, slime, and Gak, but the real impact resulted from their understanding of kids ... kids that are now adults and admit to growing up watching Nickelodeon. It's a legacy that continues today. Available On Demand beginning November 17, 2020

What a energetic, and joyful journey seeing old friends from my childhood and learning about Nick itself. A must see for anyone who grew up with Nick!

I was so excited when I heard about this movie, as a kid growing up in the late 80's and early 90's Nickelodeon was everything so my expectations were pretty high going in. I am happy to report that this movie did not let me down at all! My wife and I made a date night out of it and man did it take us on a journey. We even stayed up reminiscing about all the stuff we had forgotten for hours after the movie was over. It's all there. The shows and stars you remember. The shows and stars you forgot. The history. The production value. The flow. I was just sad when it was over. I highly recommend this film, I'm going to watch it again with my kids!

The Orange years does a perfect job bringing back to my childhood through the stories of the kids (now adults) who built Nickelodeon. If you're a fan of anything Nickelodeon past or present this is without a doubt a must see.

This documentary was fantastic. As someone who grew up watching and loving Golden Era Nickelodeon in the early 90's, and still holds onto that love to this day in my 30s, this was a fun and informative look into Nickelodeon. The Orange Years covered tons of different ground, and was jam packed with stars that made Nickelodeon what it was, such as Kenan Thompson, Danny Tamberelli, and Geraldine Laybourne. Watching this made me want to break out my old orange Nickelodeon VHS tapes and have my own SNICK night. Orange you glad you've got your Nickelodeon?

It was nice seeing some of the old shows I used to watch and how they started, but after watching this documentary about nickelodeon it's easy to see where they lost sight of what they started out as, way before sponge bob and Dora as stated in the show. When your breakout show is about kids being kids and just having fun and making fun of everything (You can't do that on television) in fact most of what the kids did in that show would not be allowed now, which is why they will never release the series. They also a few great shows after that. But once you start to guide kids thinking you will lose them. I think it started with nick news, they kind of mention it in the show that they had this huge audience now what do we do with them? Once you start manipulating kids into seeing what YOU want them to see and care about and inject political correctness into their shows, you start to lose some of them and before they knew it they were just another corporation that lost touch with its customers. Don't get me wrong they had some good shows in the later years, Josh & Drake, I-Carly and a few others but even those were best in the early episodes because they were much rawer and a little less P.C. but I suppose that happens to every show.