What Was The Best Channel Growing Up? (feat. Shantell)

When we were kids we all knew about the big three. Disney channel, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. Three channels that had three completely different shows and styles but, which one was the best?

Nickelodeon

I feel like Nick is the old head of this list. Nickelodeon had the 90s on lock with shows like Rugrats, Aaaah!!! Real Monsters, The Ren and Stimpy Show, All That, CatDog, and Hey Arnold. Nick had a strong run in the early 2000s too with some of their most iconic shows coming from this era. We got Spongebob Squarepants, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and The Fairly Odd Parents. After this run, Nick started to fall off, and shows like Fanboy and Chum Chum and Mr. Meaty were the result of that, sadly. On top of that, some of our favorite shows like Spongebob and The Fairly Odd Parents started to lose steam. Nick struck gold again with the help of producer, Dan Schneider as they began making sitcoms from 2004-2013. Schneider is the man behind Drake and Josh, iCarly, Zoey 101, and Victorious. I feel like this is worth saying, but Dan Schneider is a weirdo. All of his shows have UNDERAGE girls showing their feet constantly, like this guy has a fetish. This guy is a creep. There’s tons of evidence and articles of him “oversexulizing” kids. You should look it up.

Disney Channel (by Shantell)

I had to take over this one because Bryan just can’t give Disney Channel the respect that it deserves! Disney Channel was one of my all time favorite channels as a kid. Whenever I was bored, I would always turn on Hannah Montana, Suite Life on Deck, Sonny with a Chance, Good Luck Charlie, Wizards of Waverly Place, or Shake It Up. They were always on my TV every Sunday night when there were new episodes. Disney Channel is responsible for several widely known franchises like the iconic High School Musical, The Cheetah Girls and the entire Hannah Montana franchise. Aside from these big franchises, Disney’s DCOMs date all the way back to the 80s. Some of their most popular DCOMS include, Halloweentown, The Even Stevens Movie, Jump In!, Camp Rock, and Twitches, to name a few. Some of Disney Channel’s most popular shows during the early 2000s include Kim Possible, Lizzie McGuire, Phil of the Future and Even Stevens. Bryan says Disney Channel was for girls, and it’s true in a sense, it did gravitate towards a more female audience as the years went by. That’s why the less popular sister channel, Disney XD was created. Disney XD featured the mildly successful and short lived shows, Pair of Kings, Zeke and Luther, and I’m in the Band. Disney had created its first Black family sitcom when That’s So Raven came out. It dealt with important topics like racism and body image. Let alone the fact that Raven was that girl, okay? This, along with their first animated Black family sitcom, The Proud Family were both very successful. I can’t speak for the Disney Channel shows now, but my era was popping and Disney channel was definitely the best channel, to me, growing up.

Cartoon Network

When it comes to animation, I think CN has the most diverse and creative shows. With shows like Codename: Kids Next Door, Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Class of 3000. Shantell wants me to tell you guys that CN is my favorite. Something I’ve always liked is that CN was experimental. Some of the shows, on paper, are super weird and Cartoon Network turned them into a classic series. CN is like the SoundCloud of TV. One thing that has always stuck with me is that CN had a lot of action cartoons like Ben 10. When I was a kid I was obsessed with superheroes and stuff like that and shows like that definitely enabled my obsession. A lot of people like Seth MacFarlane got their start on this network. CN truly was for everyone because they also had Adult Swim. Adult Swim offers animation aimed towards...adults. Adult Swim’s original productions include The Eric Andre Show, Robot Chicken, and Rick and Morty. I feel like I could always turn on CN and never get bored, I know I’m being biased but I don’t care.

If you think we forgot to mention something, leave a comment! If you agree with something we said, leave a like! Follow Shantell on Instagram @lovee.shanny