Nickelodeon dropped the ball HARD in the 2010s.

[CassieTheDragon]

• Planet Sheen (10) was an unnecessary cashgrab and T.U.F.F. Puppy (10) was largely mediocre, with many cliches and jokes you've seen a dozen times before. Planet Sheen did very poorly; T.U.F.F. Puppy fared a little better but would also fade into obscurity.
• Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (11) did well, but was a rather mediocre TV spinoff to a beloved film series (at least, the first two movies), and has since fallen into obscurity, especially when compared to the movies.
• Robot and Monster (12) was a complete failure, with only one season of 26 episodes (two of which weren't even aired on TV) and being moved to NickToons shortly after it launched. It too was rather forgettable, and is one of the most obscure Nicktoons.
• Monsters vs. Aliens (13) was an atrocious spinoff to a movie that was already quite divisive to begin with, it was also a failure and went into obscurity. Sanjay and Craig (13) fared slightly better but it wasn't very good. Both shows made no longstanding impact whatsoever and are now completely forgotten.
• Breadwinners (14) was an unfunny waste of time hated by critics and audiences. Again, it was forgotten quickly and now sits in obscurity.
• Pig Goat Banana Cricket (15) was just another generic grossout show, and while Harvey Beaks (15) was well-received, it was shelved quickly by Nickelodeon. Both have since faded into obscurity.
• Bunsen Is A Beast (17) was painfully dull and a huge flop. Almost no one remembers it. Welcome To The Wayne (17) was another flop that no one remembers, although at the time reviews were decent.
• The Adventures of Kid Danger (18) was an awful spinoff of an awful sitcom made by an awful person.
• Also, while it's not from the 2010s itself, The Fairly OddParents (01) was dying a sad, painful death, being on serious decline both in popularity and in quality throughout the early-mid 2010s until being cancelled in 2017.

That's not to say there were no cartoons in the 2010s that weren't good and successful; The Loud House (16) was met with good reviews and is still going to this day (although i've heard the newer seasons were a mixed bag). It spawned a hit spinoff called The Casagrandes (19).

SpongeBob SquarePants (99) also improved greatly during the mid and late 2010s after a serious drop in quality.

The Legend of Korra (12) was well-liked and did well enough, even if it wasn't quite as successful as Avatar. The same goes for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (12), which was also given positive reviews and did even better than Korra, along with Rise of TMNT (18).

But for the most part, the 2010s were a very rough decade for new Nicktoons.

You had awful shows that no one likes, no one remembers and no one watched (like The Adventures of Kid Danger and Monsters vs. Aliens).

You had mediocre shows that no one remembers and no one watched (like Robot and Monster and Pig Goat Banana Cricket).

You even had decent/well-reviewed shows that hardly anyone remembers these days (like Harvey Beaks and Welcome To The Wayne).

 

[Pooky]

• Sanjay and Craig (13) fared slightly better but it wasn't very good... now completely forgotten.

• Harvey Beaks (15) was well-received, it was shelved quickly by Nickelodeon... since faded into obscurity.

I'm not a fan of either (I've never even seen Harvey Beaks), but I do see quite a few defences of these shows (there are quite a few Beaks fans on this forum I believe).

 

[Shiloh Otter]

Robot and Monster is actually great and it is highly unfortunate that Nick treated it as poorly as it did.

also I do not like Harvey Beaks at all, but it has a huge social media fandom that swears it's one of Nick's best ever shows.

 

[Ace]

I think Nick just couldn't figure out what wasn't working with their animated shows and I think part of it was due to Spongebob's success but also part of it was just bad luck and continuing the same trend of trying to recreate Spongebob formula poorly not really understanding why it worked to begin with.

I brought this up in another thread but Nick had far less problems problems getting live action to work. It's that their cartoons were seen as colorful noise for a demographic that grows out of that very quickly. They didn't make much of an effort to make their animated shows feel more mature unlike CN has in the past.

I think a good litmus test of something is the simple asking yourself if you were a growing kid would this be something that you'd feel proud enough to show your schoolyard friends? Something that looks too purile will lose interest especially of the older end of the demographic. I'd hate to say this but even though all these shows aren't bad and I liked Harvey Beaks I can understand why it just didn't appeal to Nick's target demographic.

There's a reason why a lot of the more successful examples of shows either have teenage or even young adult characters or involve kids doing exceptional things (like a kind of kid empowerment angle)

 

[CassieTheDragon]

I'm not a fan of either (I've never even seen Harvey Beaks), but I do see quite a few defences of these shows (there are quite a few Beaks fans on this forum I believe).

I... I mentioned that people liked it. But Nickelodeon (being Nickelodeon) canned it very quickly.

 

[Moe]

Nickelodeon seems went bad with animated shows after 1990s and early 2000s renaissance ended, however some shows are popular like Avatar/Korra, 12' TMNT, The Loud House and Casagrandes.

I'm frowned at Nickelodeon because of their preferred treatment with SpongeBob, used Nicktoons channel as dump ground for cartoon shows didn't receive same rating as SpongeBob and resorted to spamming same shows on their networks that caused me to have unfairly stigmatized and confusion toward to new shows because of horrible decisions made by Nickelodeon, so it wouldn't happen if Nickelodeon make a right and take care of Nicktoon shows.

 

[Pooky]

I... I mentioned that people liked it.

Sure, but you also said they were "completely forgotten", I don't really agree with that because I see quite a lot of affection for both to the current day. Admittedly in very niche places like here and "animation Twitter" but where else is going to be talking about animated kids shows from 8 years ago? We haven't yet hit 2010s nostalgia; I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing Sanjay and Craig T-Shirts in 5-10 years.

 

[Moe]

Sure, but you also said they were "completely forgotten", I don't really agree with that because I see quite a lot of affection for both to the current day. Admittedly in very niche places like here and "animation Twitter" but where else is going to be talking about animated kids shows from 8 years ago? We haven't yet hit 2010s nostalgia; I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing Sanjay and Craig T-Shirts in 5-10 years.

I haven't seen any people wear t-shirts with cartoons from 2000s and 2010s, but as for 1980s and 1990s, yeah, I saw plenty of them.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Sure, but you also said they were "completely forgotten", I don't really agree with that because I see quite a lot of affection for both to the current day. Admittedly in very niche places like here and "animation Twitter" but where else is going to be talking about animated kids shows from 8 years ago? We haven't yet hit 2010s nostalgia; I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing Sanjay and Craig T-Shirts in 5-10 years.

Yeah no way. Sanjay and Craig is no Rugrats. It's no Codename KND either. It's not even as popular as shows like Flapjack or Dragon Tales, and I almost never see anyone wearing t-shirts or clothes with those shows on there, nor bring them up much in cartoon discussion (granted, YMMV).

I hardly see Sanjay and Craig or Harvey Beaks get brought up these days. Granted, these shows are not that old (Sanjay and Craig is 12 years old Harvey Beaks is 9), but the main audience for these shows (born from about 2003ish to 2010ish) are already 14-21 and have shown nostalgia for all sorts of other 2010s shows around the time. I've seen more nostalgia for Bubble Guppies (11) and Doc McStuffins (12) than either of those two shows.

 

[aegisrawks]

Yeah no way. Sanjay and Craig is no Rugrats. It's no Codename KND either. It's not even as popular as shows like Flapjack or Dragon Tales, and I almost never see anyone wearing t-shirts or clothes with those shows on there, nor bring them up much in cartoon discussion (granted, YMMV).

I hardly see Sanjay and Craig or Harvey Beaks get brought up these days. Granted, these shows are not that old (Sanjay and Craig is 12 years old Harvey Beaks is 9), but the main audience for these shows (born from about 2003ish to 2010ish) are already 14-21 and have shown nostalgia for all sorts of other 2010s shows around the time. I've seen more nostalgia for Bubble Guppies (11) and Doc McStuffins (12) than either of those two shows.

"Even as popular as Dragon Tales and Flapjack"


Um, this phrasing makes it seem like people didnt watch Dragon Tales when it was watched by 11 million people. Putting those two together makes it seem like they had equal popularity when this isnt the case. I think you shouldnt use this phrasing because its confusing or contradictory.

I dont like Sanjay and Craig, I think it did the usual 3 million a cartoon did before the ratings downfall but I agree that its very much forgotten. I havent seen much people like it, let along love it. So this part of your post is true and well thought out.

 

[Moe]

"Even as popular as Dragon Tales and Flapjack"


Um, this phrasing makes it seem like people didnt watch Dragon Tales when it was watched by 11 million people. Putting those two together makes it seem like they had equal popularity when this isnt the case. I think you shouldnt use this phrasing because its confusing or contradictory.

I dont like Sanjay and Craig, I think it did the usual 3 million a cartoon did before the ratings downfall but I agree that its very much forgotten. I havent seen much people like it, let along love it. So this part of your post is true and well thought out.

English language is very complicated language to understand.

He said Sanjay and Craig is not popular, unlike Dragon Tales and Flapjack are popular shows.

He said Dragon Tales and Flapjack are popular since Sanjay and Craig is not.

As for me, I don't have much opinion with late Nickelodeon cartoon shows and I don't want to dive into negativity too much that is bad for this forum.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

English language is very complicated language to understand.

He said Sanjay and Craig is not popular, unlike Dragon Tales and Flapjack are popular shows.

He said Dragon Tales and Flapjack are popular since Sanjay and Craig is not.

As for me, I don't have much opinion with late Nickelodeon cartoon shows and I don't want to dive into negativity too much that is bad for this forum.

Neither Dragon Tales nor Flapjack are popular shows, they're more popular than S&J but that doesn't make them all that popular either. I occasionally see them get brought up in cartoon conversation but it's sparse.

Both Dragon Tales and Flapjack were pretty popular at their peak, though; the former was massive in it's time.

 

[CO2crewfanatic]

• Planet Sheen (10) was an unnecessary cashgrab and T.U.F.F. Puppy (10) was largely mediocre, with many cliches and jokes you've seen a dozen times before. Planet Sheen did very poorly; T.U.F.F. Puppy fared a little better but would also fade into obscurity.
• Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (11) did well, but was a rather mediocre TV spinoff to a beloved film series (at least, the first two movies), and has since fallen into obscurity, especially when compared to the movies.
• Robot and Monster (12) was a complete failure, with only one season of 26 episodes (two of which weren't even aired on TV) and being moved to NickToons shortly after it launched. It too was rather forgettable, and is one of the most obscure Nicktoons.
• Monsters vs. Aliens (13) was an atrocious spinoff to a movie that was already quite divisive to begin with, it was also a failure and went into obscurity. Sanjay and Craig (13) fared slightly better but it wasn't very good. Both shows made no longstanding impact whatsoever and are now completely forgotten.
• Breadwinners (14) was an unfunny waste of time hated by critics and audiences. Again, it was forgotten quickly and now sits in obscurity.
• Pig Goat Banana Cricket (15) was just another generic grossout show, and while Harvey Beaks (15) was well-received, it was shelved quickly by Nickelodeon. Both have since faded into obscurity.
• Bunsen Is A Beast (17) was painfully dull and a huge flop. Almost no one remembers it. Welcome To The Wayne (17) was another flop that no one remembers, although at the time reviews were decent.
• The Adventures of Kid Danger (18) was an awful spinoff of an awful sitcom made by an awful person.
• Also, while it's not from the 2010s itself, The Fairly OddParents (01) was dying a sad, painful death, being on serious decline both in popularity and in quality throughout the early-mid 2010s until being cancelled in 2017.

That's not to say there were no cartoons in the 2010s that weren't good and successful; The Loud House (16) was met with good reviews and is still going to this day (although i've heard the newer seasons were a mixed bag). It spawned a hit spinoff called The Casagrandes (19).

SpongeBob SquarePants (99) also improved greatly during the mid and late 2010s after a serious drop in quality.

The Legend of Korra (12) was well-liked and did well enough, even if it wasn't quite as successful as Avatar. The same goes for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (12), which was also given positive reviews and did even better than Korra, along with Rise of TMNT (18).

But for the most part, the 2010s were a very rough decade for new Nicktoons.

You had awful shows that no one likes, no one remembers and no one watched (like The Adventures of Kid Danger and Monsters vs. Aliens).

You had mediocre shows that no one remembers and no one watched (like Robot and Monster and Pig Goat Banana Cricket).

You even had decent/well-reviewed shows that hardly anyone remembers these days (like Harvey Beaks and Welcome To The Wayne).

Man, Harvey Beaks. I haven't even thought about that show in years. From the little I remember, it was alright. And the only reason I know about WTTW existing is because some of the Aqua Team guys were in it.

Nick was a sight for sore eyes by the end of the decade.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Man, Harvey Beaks. I haven't even thought about that show in years. From the little I remember, it was alright. And the only reason I know about WTTW existing is because some of the Aqua Team guys were in it.

Nick was a sight for sore eyes by the end of the decade.

In 10 years when 2010s nostalgia really kicks in, Harvey Beaks (15) will be one of those "oh yeah, that was a thing!" or "wait, remember that show" kind of shows. Sanjay and Craig (13) will be too, for that matter.

 

[Daikun]

I figure I should add some additional perspective to this topic:

The 2010s were a major renaissance for TV animation in general. Disney, Cartoon Network, and even freaking DISCOVERY (which would temporarily rebrand as The Hub at this time) were experimenting with storyboard-driven storytelling that would drive television animation to new heights during this time. Nickelodeon adapted the least to this changing landscape.

The Legend of Korra started out decently enough, but would be relegated to their own website for the final two seasons. Shows like Welcome to the Wayne, Harvey Beaks, and such--new original series that could show potential to rival SpongeBob down the line--would eventually fall into the trap of being dumped on the secondary Nicktoons Network for the remainder of their runs. The Loud House was the only real success story for the network during THIS ENTIRE DECADE.

The Hub had Dan Vs., Littlest Pet Shop, Transformers: Armada, the ever-present MLP:FiM, and many more old and new shows to keep them afloat (even though it was cut short). Cartoon Network had Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball, Steven Universe, Craig of the Creek, OK KO, and several other hits throughout the decade. Disney had a shocking resurgence with Gravity Falls, SVTOE, Wander Over Yonder, Motorcity, Tron: Legacy, Star Wars: Rebels, Big Hero 6, DuckTales... Frankly, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many to list.

In comparison to those other networks, Nickelodeon had only ONE SHOW that became a hit in the 2010s, and it was mainly just the replacement for The Fairly OddParents as the new SpongeBob competitor while they screwed over the rest. Talk about disappointing.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

I figure I should add some additional perspective to this topic:

The 2010s were a major renaissance for TV animation in general. Disney, Cartoon Network, and even freaking DISCOVERY (which would temporarily rebrand as The Hub at this time) were experimenting with storyboard-driven storytelling that would drive television animation to new heights during this time. Nickelodeon adapted the least to this changing landscape.

The Legend of Korra started out decently enough, but would be relegated to their own website for the final two seasons. Shows like Welcome to the Wayne, Harvey Beaks, and such--new original series that could show potential to rival SpongeBob down the line--would eventually fall into the trap of being dumped on the secondary Nicktoons Network for the remainder of their runs. The Loud House was the only real success story for the network during THIS ENTIRE DECADE.

The Hub had Dan Vs., Littlest Pet Shop, Transformers: Armada, the ever-present MLP:FiM, and many more old and new shows to keep them afloat (even though it was cut short). Cartoon Network had Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball, Steven Universe, Craig of the Creek, OK KO, and several other hits throughout the decade. Disney had a shocking resurgence with Gravity Falls, SVTOE, Wander Over Yonder, Motorcity, Tron: Legacy, Star Wars: Rebels, Big Hero 6, DuckTales... Frankly, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many to list.

In comparison to those other networks, Nickelodeon had only ONE SHOW that became a hit in the 2010s, and it was mainly just the replacement for The Fairly OddParents as the new SpongeBob competitor while they screwed over the rest. Talk about disappointing.

I wouldn't consider any of the shows in bold to be big hits; definitely not on the level of Gumball, Regular Show, Star Vs, 2017's DuckTales, My Little Pony FIM, or even some of the PBS shows that were still running in the 2010s, like Wild Kratts or WordGirl (although that show started in 2007). Motorcity and Tron both didn't even last for more than one season. Some of these in bold did last longer, but they weren't/aren't nearly as talked about or as popular as the non-bold shows.

 

[Light Lucario]

I wouldn't consider any of the shows in bold to be big hits; definitely not on the level of Gumball, Regular Show, Star Vs, 2017's DuckTales, My Little Pony FIM, or even some of the PBS shows that were still running in the 2010s, like Wild Kratts or WordGirl (although that show started in 2007). Motorcity and Tron both didn't even last for more than one season. Some of these in bold did last longer, but they weren't/aren't nearly as talked about or as popular as the non-bold shows.

I'd still say that Craig of the Creek is a pretty big hit for Cartoon Network. It has lasted multiple seasons, has a prequel movie and a spin-off preschool series. It may not be as big as some of their other shows, but it certainly isn't unpopular or unsuccessful.

Some of those shows weren't successful or treated horribly by their networks, but I think that the point was that these different channels had a variety of different series, many of which were successful to varying degrees and still are well regarded, during this decade, while Nickelodeon did not.

 

[Moe]

I classified Craig of the Creek as popular show and it does help with diversity on Cartoon Network.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

I'd still say that Craig of the Creek is a pretty big hit for Cartoon Network. It has lasted multiple seasons, has a prequel movie and a spin-off preschool series. It may not be as big as some of their other shows, but it certainly isn't unpopular or unsuccessful.

Some of those shows weren't successful or treated horribly by their networks, but I think that the point was that these different channels had a variety of different series, many of which were successful to varying degrees and still are well regarded, during this decade, while Nickelodeon did not.

CoTC is debatable but the others were definitely not that successful, they were only moderate hits at best. Kind of around the success of Camp Lazlo and certainly not as successful or iconic as the likes of Adventure Time or Gravity Falls.

And sure, Gravity Falls didn't get that many episodes either but it was still super popular back during it's relatively short run, and is still beloved to this day by teens and adults born 2000-2011 (even many people older than that!)

I have no clue why people are overestimating how many people watched The Hub. Outside of MLP FIM (and maybe LPS 2012), their animated programming was not that popular in the grand scheme of things. And LPS wasn't even living in the shadow of Regular Show, let alone MLP.

8 times out of 10 if you brought up something like Dan Vs or Transformers Armada to your average 20-something these days, you'd be left with a blank stare. The Hub IIRC was a network like Boomerang or NickToons where you needed to pay extra for it (on top of basic cable). This definitely hurt it's reach at least by a significant amount.

MLP was, by the distance between Earth and Neptune, the most popular show on The Hub. I'm willing to bet at least half of The Hub's views were just Bronies watching MLP. It was out of this world compared to the popularity of their other shows.

I figure I should add some additional perspective to this topic:

The 2010s were a major renaissance for TV animation in general. Disney, Cartoon Network, and even freaking DISCOVERY (which would temporarily rebrand as The Hub at this time) were experimenting with storyboard-driven storytelling that would drive television animation to new heights during this time. Nickelodeon adapted the least to this changing landscape.

The Legend of Korra started out decently enough, but would be relegated to their own website for the final two seasons. Shows like Welcome to the Wayne, Harvey Beaks, and such--new original series that could show potential to rival SpongeBob down the line--would eventually fall into the trap of being dumped on the secondary Nicktoons Network for the remainder of their runs. The Loud House was the only real success story for the network during THIS ENTIRE DECADE.

The Hub had Dan Vs., Littlest Pet Shop, Transformers: Armada, the ever-present MLP:FiM, and many more old and new shows to keep them afloat (even though it was cut short). Cartoon Network had Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball, Steven Universe, Craig of the Creek, OK KO, and several other hits throughout the decade. Disney had a shocking resurgence with Gravity Falls, SVTOE, Wander Over Yonder, Motorcity, Tron: Legacy, Star Wars: Rebels, Big Hero 6, DuckTales... Frankly, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many to list.

In comparison to those other networks, Nickelodeon had only ONE SHOW that became a hit in the 2010s, and it was mainly just the replacement for The Fairly OddParents as the new SpongeBob competitor while they screwed over the rest. Talk about disappointing.

Also Star Vs had a very divisive finale IIRC

 

[Light Lucario]

CoTC is debatable but the others were definitely not that successful, they were only moderate hits at best. Kind of around the success of Camp Lazlo and certainly not as successful or iconic as the likes of Adventure Time or Gravity Falls.

And sure, Gravity Falls didn't get that many episodes either but it was still super popular back during it's relatively short run, and is still beloved to this day by teens and adults born 2000-2011 (even many people older than that!)

I don't really see how Craig of the Creek's success is debatable. It may not be a huge iconic hit, but it has done pretty well for Cartoon Network.

I think that you're still missing the point here a bit. Even if those other shows were moderate successes at best, they still were for the most part successful enough for their respective networks. Because of how Nickelodeon treats their shows, they didn't really have even that much during this decade.