Nothing defines the ’90s kid experience more than Nickelodeon. The first cable-TV channel aimed directly at kids, Nickelodeon blazed a trail on American TV, and in the 1990s and 2000s, the network went through a massive renaissance, broadcasting some of the most popular kids’ shows of all time. And a viral tweet has sparked debate over which Nickelodeon shows are the best.
Popular Twitter account UberFacts posted a graphic showing a grid of classic Nickelodeon shows, including Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hey Arnold, Invader Zim, and SpongeBob SquarePants. The picture asked a simple question, “You can only keep three.”
Obviously, people dived into the thread to give their opinions, and the image quickly racked up over 3,000 quote retweets and over 2000 likes. Some people found it hard to pick. One user said that “Avatar, Hey Arnold, & S1-S3 of Spongebob were Great during childhood but became EVEN Better in Adulthood WITHOUT Nostalgia Goggles/Bias.”
Some replies noted that the graphic was missing many popular shows. Including one user who noted that the picture doesn’t feature Dexter’s Laboratory or Courage the Cowardly Dog. Summing this decision up with a simple “No thanks.”
One of the most picked shows from the list is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Many users dived into the thread to praise the popular show, with one user exclaiming that: “Avatar was the only one of the group that had a plot. Props for the continued story.” While another user replies by saying that “the story of Avatar is top notch.”
Many users are making sure to include the legendary SpongeBob SquarePants in their lists, including one well-liked tweet that picked SpongeBob SquarePants along with Avatar: The Last Airbender and Rugrats.
Of course, with any discussion of SpongeBob SquarePants comes debates over when the show was at its peak and people arguing if the newer episodes are as good as the classic ones. One user replied to the list by saying that those picking SpongeBob SquarePants should “make sure to specify “Prime SpongeBob.”
Another user sums the thread up by saying that: “SpongeBob is the most iconic animated kids show of all time,” which tracks based on the sheer number of people including it in their lists.
The mix of eras featured in the image heavily affected the results. One user sums it up by saying: “It’s basically, “how old are you…” before picking “Doug, Rocko’s Modern Life, and Rugrats.”
However, one of the most popular replies comes from the official NickRewind account, which notes that the image Uberfacts used is very similar to a meme they posted in early March. This reply quickly racked up many likes and retweets. Making it clear that, while Nickelodeon is popular, there is nothing the internet loves more than a good smackdown.