SNICK: The Pinnacle of Nickelodeon's Golden Age

0:00 [Music] it's saturday night nickelodeon and nick's nick's august 15th the date is saturday august 15 1992. at 8 p.m cable network nickelodeon premier snick a two-hour programming block featuring some of the network's most popular shows anchored by the presence of the aptly named big orange couch the block sets out to pioneer new territory a broadcast space for children and young teens on saturday nights this concept is a gamble as the television industry has ubiquitously dismissed the notion of saturday primetime programming for kids while nickelodeon suspects meager success for its new creation snick will go on to do far more than anyone could have anticipated

0:45 completely revolutionizing the landscape of entertainment [Music] nickelodeon had never been shy to challenge cultural norms founded in 1977 as pinwheel the first network devoted solely to children's programming began its 40-plus year run in a sesame street milieu the channel's name was taken from its first program to air a puppet series created by vivian horner a former employee of children's television workshop in 1979 the network's name was changed to nickelodeon coinciding with its national launch while pinwheel the

1:31 program remained an integral part of the schedule for the first half of the 80s the network mostly consisted of acquired educational programming and was facing an uphill battle to win over its intended audience while canadian sketch series you can't do that on television prove to connect with viewers by 1984 nickelodeon's ratings were floundering and the network was barely turning a profit in those days it was on 13 hours a day and it was essentially sort of good for you and it wasn't really aimed at kids in those days it was really aimed at parents it was very much of what we call the green vegetable ears it's good for you so eat it but no kid really liked it the future looked grim and the idea of abandoning children's programming altogether was considered however executive geraldine layborn who

2:18 had joined the company in 1980 as a program manager had a unique vision for what the network could become it was really geraldine layborn who stood up and said like no like i i want to take a chance here at really creating what could be a very valuable and popular channels for kids i think we create something very different in the mode of what mtv has done you know in in creating a branded destination for kids that would really be loved the company got behind the concept and brought on promotional gurus fred siebert and alan goodman the duo who had successfully put mtv on the map in the early 80s by creating an iconic promotional campaign i want my mtv producer scott webb joined

3:03 the company around this time in the on-air promotions department and the team devised their strategy for nickelodeon's rebranding i was brought in to nickelodeon at that time as they were really kind of thinking through the set of informing ideas that would make nickelodeon kind of what it is a brand new orange colored splat logo was born and a fresh marketing approach was employed which included short promotional videos during commercial breaks these on-air bumpers varied in content and tone but all shared a common thread of continuity they attempted to create the visual manifestation of childhood imagination as diverse and unbridled as it might be we've put out lots of messages for years you

3:50 know in our on-air promotion packaging um this idea of us versus them and this you know these ideas of the you know that we understand how tough it is to be a kid in a grown-up world and that we think kids are amazing and creative and deserve innovation as the network had almost no original programming at this point these bumpers were the sole way of communicating the attitude and atmosphere that nickelodeon was striving for layborn oversaw the expansion of nick's schedule from 13 to 24 hours a day with the introduction of nick at night in 1985 which aired from 8 pm to 5 a.m every night and featured classic tv series from the 1950s and 60s laybourne was officially named the head of the network in 1989 and under her direction nickelodeon's

4:37 ratings shot through the roof propelling the network into becoming a recognizable and powerful brand amongst children game shows like double dare and wild and crazy kids helped nick diversify its schedule while live action series like hey dude and clarisse explains it all were also hits the latter dispelling the myth that young boys wouldn't watch a series with a female lead the network was also experimenting with programming blocks beyond nick at night like camp nickelodeon which aired every day at 5 pm during the summer of 1990. in 1991 nick debuted its first three original animated series rugrats doug and ren and stimpy the cartoon series dubbed nicktoons all proved successful with ren and stimpy in particular entering the zeitgeist in a big way

5:23 armed with an impressive roster of original series there was still one void in the market that executives had their sights on in mid 1992 layborn proclaimed to the press quote last year we challenged the wisdom that said kids won't watch animated characters that they aren't familiar with we created ren and stimpy and the kids loved them now we're out to expose the myth that there is no audience for kids in teen programming on saturday nights saturday night television had become the lowest rated night of the week with only 52 percent of households tuning in conventional wisdom was that younger people would be out of the house on saturday nights thus programming was almost exclusively aimed towards viewers 50 and up sitcoms like the golden girls an empty nest permeated the schedule and abc president bob iger had even

6:10 publicly floated the idea of his network abandoning saturday nights entirely if revenue was not up to par layborn and nickelodeon saw this as an opportunity the network had long employed a strategy based on a simple premise when they zig we zag if conventional wisdom said one thing nickelodeon would challenge it and use innovation to prove otherwise snick short for saturday night nickelodeon would be the latest in a series of decisions to live up to this strategy laborn felt that the networks were making an oversight by assuming that kids weren't watching tv on saturday nights explaining that quote the kids are there but they're not being served while snick would attempt to appeal to children of all ages there was one particular age group that nickelodeon had their sights on teenagers or tweens for short those who

6:58 felt too old to be considered children but too young to be teenagers the demo had long been ignored by broadcasters as they were considered too elusive to reach nickelodeon however took up the challenge lesborn ultimately believed that the network had the potential to double its ratings on saturday nights and set up a tonally diverse schedule to ensure success nick was seen as a strategy to create a weekly programming event that could really feel like a destination because the programming was really nickelodeon's very best it was original and um we put it all together in this one place in this very packaged way the block would be nickelodeon's first

7:44 venture into the post 8pm world a time slot previously reserved for nick at night snick would begin at 8 pm on saturday nights with the sitcom clarissa explains it all which was one of the network's highest rated series followed at 8 30 by roundhouse a new variety sketch series from creator buddy sheffield the former head writer for fox's sketch series in living color at 9 00 pm was ren and stimpy which also continued to air sunday mornings and at 9 30 p.m was a new anthology series entitled are you afraid of the dark the network's first foray into traditional horror lay born was quoted as saying conventional wisdom in tv is that the way to scare kids is through blood and guts we're going to scare kids the old fashioned way through good old-fashioned storytelling with the first season including an adaptation of wwe jacob's

8:31 classic short story the monkeys paw network executive jeffrey darby explained quote there's no flow there which was done on purpose we didn't want to go sitcom to sitcom and then cartoon to cartoon we actually wanted to mix it up the block had a solid roster of series on its hands but snick wasn't just about shows scott webb now the network's official creative director was assigned with creating bumpers for the block we created the big orange couch and we did a lot of kind of live action high concept shooting for the packaging of that block and we spent more in both the packaging and the promotion of that block than we had ever created before

9:18 webb said that the motif was inspired by an old photography book entitled the red couch a portrait of america and bumpers would spotlight the big orange couch in various locales seemingly traveling all over the country and world this was done to present snick as not just another programming block but as a movement a communal experience for young viewers the messaging was to kids that you know you can stay up late that we can create programming that's sophisticated for you that we understand you that it's different than what the other guys do that it's creator driven and it's idea driven you know by these ideas that sort of inform the greater nickelodeon whole snick didn't exactly set the world on fire upon its premiere receiving only a modest audience in its

10:05 first two weeks ranging from 750 000 to 900 000 viewers however word of mouth was quickly spreading and the earnest block would ultimately grow to transform the face of entertainment forever cut to august of 1993 snick celebrates its first anniversary with a double dose of melissa joan hart as the new episode of are you afraid of the dark premieres guest starring the clarissa star and the network as a whole has much to celebrate snick now boasts a 6.4 rating in the 6 to 11 demographic beating every other network on tv and doubling abc's numbers through snick nickelodeon had wagered that kids would watch tv on saturday nights if they were specifically catered to and the gamble was paying off in spades

10:50 as a coronation snick received two vhs releases in late 1993 immortalizing the block and further widening its audience to those who didn't necessarily have cable nick snick's friendship featured episodes of snick series with friendship themes while nick snicks the family offered selections centered around family themes by 1994 the block's original schedule was beginning to break apart flores explains it all wrapped its fifth and final season in october as star melissa joan hart was 18 and producers decided to spin her character off for a cbs pilot in its place snick premiered the secret world of alex mack a science fiction series about a 13 year old girl who is exposed to a top secret chemical and develops strange powers and abilities in january of 1995

11:37 all that made its snick debut following roundhouse's removal from the block like roundhouse all that was a sketch-based variety series but featured a younger cast and a format more similar to saturday night live complete with popular musical guests each week the series became a smash hit and would in time overshadow the entire snick block with many of its cast members becoming household names but in the meantime snick would continue its mission with a pointed message for creators and producers we want you to be that kid who comes up with those crazy ideas we're not looking to be a television network that's trying to put you into a box we want you to surprise us with the ideas that you would come up with if you were playful like being a kid in

12:24 november of 1995 snick debuted snick snacks a product of nickelodeon's newly formed creative lab it's snick snacks short sweet viewing treats made by nick different every snake and never before seen by human eyes till now snick snacks were a short form series each around three minutes long created with the intention of later being developed into full-length series the presentation followed the precedent set by the adventures of pete and pete which had begun its run on nickelodeon as shorts and had progressed into a full weekly series bouncing between snick and sunday nights throughout its three season run series under the snick snack umbrella included inside eddie johnson and as our school bus turns all airing in the 9pm hour before ren and stimpy

13:09 over three years in snick was flourishing but nickelodeon would soon experience fundamental shake-ups and snick would not come out unscathed 1996 would bring about big changes to nickelodeon as a whole in february geraldine layborn stepped down as the head of the network opting to become president of disney abc cable networks laborn had taken nickelodeon from a fledgling pbs wannabe to an eight billion dollar a year powerhouse with numerous blockbuster series that were profitable franchises in their own right jerry layborn was such a valuable leader i mean it's it's she's like a kind of a steve jobs in that she had the

13:55 vision and the trust and the kind of internal compass to be able to navigate risky choices and and and business choices that help nickelodeon stay true to its identity and also grow its business her motto to us was that you know if it's if it's good for kids it'll be good for business and that is it sounds so simplistic but it's a really ballsy statement lay borne's second in command herb scannell took the reins and continued to push the network ahead snick received a visual overhaul with new bumpers and theme music but the tone remained essentially the same with new sci-fi series space cases replacing the recently canceled wren and

14:41 stimpy the block blockade served its purpose in redefining conventional wisdom about saturday night viewership and nickelodeon was now ready to take the concept one step further in october of 96 nickelodeon inflated its schedule into the 8 p.m hours sundays through friday pushing nick at night to an 8 30 start time and testing the limits of children's viewing habits historically 8 p.m to 9 p.m was considered the family hour on television as broadcasters had a habit of scheduling sitcoms and dramas that were family friendly however by the mid 90s this practice was waning as networks were airing more adult oriented fare in the time slot

15:27 in line with the zigzag approach nick saw a void in the marketplace and went for it premiering new nicktoon hey arnold at 8pm to white acclaim and alternatively airing episodes of alex mack and kablam at 8pm on other nights of the week the new approach paid off and by 1998 nickelodeon was leading all other cable networks in two to 11 viewers from 8 pm to 8 30. meanwhile back on saturday nights snick continued to dominate with new and diverse series like keenan and kell featuring the two breakout all that cast members the network understood that a prime time block appealing to kids had the potential to go far beyond saturday nights thus nicolozone was born airing from 8 pm to 9 pm sunday through friday the block was hosted by a cgi

16:13 personality called oh it featured new series like cousin skeeter animorphs and the wild thornberries as well as new episodes of existing shows many of which had aired during the snick block the only significant departure from the snick formula was the allowance of viewer participation as the audience was encouraged to call in or vote in online polls which would be featured during the block giving the presentation an interactive element considering the winning streak that the network was on it comes as no surprise that nicolozone was a huge hit helping nickelodeon draw in more kid viewers during the 8pm hour than any other network by 1999 nickelodeon was a tour de force in television and president herb's scannell had nearly doubled the network's revenue in his three-year tenure expanding its empire into feature films

16:59 magazines websites and high-volume licensing ventures however the network's central goal of kids first that geraldine laborn had lived by was beginning to crumble as hey arnold creator craig bartlett put it while herb was running things it just grew more and more corporate and less like you had a personal touch herb's nick was still a great place to be but each year it got bigger and more out of control while laborn was reportedly hesitant to indulge too much in merchandising and consumerism for fear they would lose the trust of viewers herbs canal had a much more competitive approach to running the network with one former executive lamenting to the new york times that schnell was setting unrealistically steep financial goals in any case nickelodeon was thriving and as the new millennium approached

17:45 the flagship snick block would undergo a monumental transformation that would ultimately lead to its downfall the october 9 1999 edition of snick would be the final curtain call for the block that viewers had become familiar with and the following saturday snick house premiered the rebooted block featured host nick cannon emceeing a party-like atmosphere from what was purported to be a hollywood hills mansion the block showcased an in-house dj dj vice celebrity guests musical performances from popular acts and a segment entitled nick click picks which borrowed from nicolozone in giving viewers the opportunity to vote in online polls that influenced the content shown snick house was a 180 degree turn from

18:30 its predecessor plugging into pop culture and demonstrating an awareness of tween culture that existed outside of nickelodeon rather than attempt to create the content that would influence the tween culture the new block acted as a curator of this culture co-opting and benefiting from new trends like the abundance of teen pop artists that were inundating the music scene the shift that took place in in stick house is more the production department that creates shows beginning to take more of a role in creating programming to use those you know interstitial opportunities for developing talents and platforming programming and using you know live-action

19:16 production to be able to do that which is a little different than what we did in on-air promotion so it was really shifting to other parts of the company that we're growing while snick house was a considerable departure for snick its schedule remained relatively unchanged showcasing a diverse mix of series for young primetime viewers though the block now had two sketch comedy series as all that's amanda bynes had spun off her talents into her own series entitled the amanda show another new series fantasy comedy 100 deeds for eddie mcdowed also debuted and the two shows were credited for helping nickelodeon rank number one in november sweep ratings snick house continued into the new millennium and ushered in new series like caitlyn's way with no intent of slowing down

20:02 nickelodeon made the call once again to expand its schedule slashing an hour from nick at night on friday nights in favor of airing kid-oriented content until 10 pm this came as a response to abc dropping its iconic tgif lineup on friday nights which had premiered in 1989 and featured hits like full house family matters and boy meets world the iconic broadcaster had switched gears and was presenting a working comedy night instead airing adult-oriented shows like norm and two guys and a girl thus abandoning the family audience and leaving yet another void for nick to fill by early 2001 snick house had run its course and was phased out with a reupholstered big orange couch making its debut but the immersive nature of the block's

20:47 early days was long gone only blink and you miss it interstitials formatted this new incarnation and the signature bumpers and station ids that had made nickelodeon so special were beginning to disappear altogether and this is a classic way that i think networks die or lose their soul is in giving up the opportunities that they had before to have a conversation and a relationship with the audience nickelodeon made tons of money now you know take that time away from on your promos we don't it doesn't make us any money in fact we spend money doing that stuff let's do let's spend less and give some of that over to advertising time and and bit by bit whether it's you know mtv

21:33 or nickelodeon or cartoon network it starts to not even feel like the same thing anymore scott webb would depart nickelodeon around this time as he saw the writing on the wall for his role within the growing corporation it was one of the things that became increasingly difficult for me as as a creative director you know is to continue to kind of champion doing things that didn't necessarily make the company money but that created real love and value and i think one of my lessons and beliefs that i've taken with me out of that too is that success really comes in three parts loved rich and famous

22:19 and you know one of the things that happens is that people start to look at a you know a business that's growing and doing well it's like we're making so much money doing what we're doing like let's figure out ways that we can make more money and nobody there's there's nobody in the company who's usually like looking at like how can we be more loved or how can we be more famous those things don't seem that tangible or valuable you know when you start making a billion dollars off of spongebob and dora and blues clues the culture of nickelodeon had changed considerably since its game-changing rebrand in the mid-80s and soon a new block would premiere that would undercut snick and result in its complete disillusion team nick debuted in march of 2001

23:05 airing every sunday from 6 p.m to 8 30 p.m the goal was to give tween viewers a night of their own as nickelodeon had become the highest rated network amongst this demographic the new block would feature programming like caitlyn's way as told by ginger and tyena with the block utilizing many elements like nick's video picks that had been developed for the snick house era team nick catered to older tweens while snick continued to target the lower end of the age group but the latter was about to go through several existential changes in attempts to stay relevant march of 2001 featured a special snick prime time edition of the popular slime time live series and april featured the snick premiere of the brothers garcia a family comedy beginning its second season but any renewed enthusiasm into the

23:52 block would be short-lived in summer of 2001 snick was quietly discontinued replaced with saturday night nick flicks the new block featured multiple episodes of nicktoons packaged together to create a continuous movie but while snick was gone it wasn't forgotten and the block would eventually make its return in january of 2002. the new snick featured a brand new logo and bumpers complete with a signature elevator music soundtrack the seventh season of all that kicked off the block with a revamped cast coming back from a year hiatus a new season of snick favorite the amanda show was launched as well as a new season of tyena which had been a hit for team nick in its first season rounding out the night was the nick cannon show a semi-scripted reality style comedy series starring the

24:38 well-known nickelodeon veteran the block was certainly closer to the original incarnation of snick than its predecessors but it veered into more homogenized territory with its programming snick was now comprised of four live-action comedy series a far cry from the early days in which the block was hailed for its tonal diversity additionally none of the show's stars were new to the network as snick viewers were now subject to the same types of content they had seen many times over nick's programming overall was becoming more and more standardized as by mid-2000 their live action fair consisted almost exclusively of comedies and of the 10 nicktoons in production nearly half were produced by klasky chupo the production company behind rugrats the geraldine labor and era philosophy

25:23 of every series being unique and unusual was dead in the ground and the zigzag strategy was completely abandoned with the network now pumping out familiar and safe content once jerry left there was nobody who had the same degree of vision and trust as as she did i think herb scannell really tried but he was not the kind of leader that she was this would have been the logical end for snick it was a decade old its original viewer base had long outgrown the network and nickelodeon's content direction had become completely antithetical to snick's original mission

26:09 however as often is the case the corporate power structure would not allow snyk to die when it should have instead snick would brave through one more rebranding which would shock viewers and leave a bad taste in the mouths of many literally snick's new season in the fall of 2002 seemed ordinary enough all that in the nick cannon show returned for new seasons the amanda show would continue to air despite being out of production and favorite cousin skeeter would make it snick premiere oddly being counted as new episodes in spite of the fact that the series had wrapped its three season run the year prior but exponentially more odd was the inclusion of a new feature that encapsulated the block entitled snicks on air dare each week three cast members from

26:56 various snick shows were placed in holding tubes with one eventually being chosen to participate in a fear factor style gross out stunt ranging from bathing with worms eating 1000 toenails or drinking a gallon of human sweat nickelodeon had long been known for its signature slime element which had originated in the early days on you can't do that on television and become an integral part of the network's identity the game show double dare frequently featured obstacle courses that recreated bodily functions and shows like ren and stimpy often employ toilet humor and although many of snyk's on-air dare stunts were likely faked the concept of gross out humor was taken further than ever before on the network the segment proved popular enough to continue airing for over

27:41 two years until early 2005 concluding with an episode featuring the cast of the new teen knicks series zoe 101 the sunday night block had completely overshadowed snick becoming the breeding ground for nearly all of nickelodeon's new live-action series and snick had become a wasteland of reruns with little promotion once again in early 2005 snick was quietly discontinued replaced in some cases with the second night of teen nick but otherwise simply being referred to as saturday night nickelodeon nickelodeon had fulfilled its destiny during the snick era a once upon coming network fighting tooth and nail to find a loyal audience through innovative and groundbreaking programming had become less about challenging conventions and more about embracing them

28:26 the idea of programming to kids during prime time was now commonplace and this time slot was an integral part of their schedule seven days a week while nick may have been early to recognize and cater to the tween this demo was now a well-known cash cow with networks film studios and merchandisers reaping in billions of dollars off the age group the evolution of snick can tell us a lot about the life cycle of a corporation in the beginning we see a passionate group of ambitious rabble rousers trying their best to create a unique product by going against the grain they succeed as ingenuity wins out with the most creative employees being rewarded and big ideas being embraced wholeheartedly however with great success there comes a turning point where profit motive exceeds the desire for innovation

29:12 infinite growth becomes the goal rather than creativity as choices become safer and safer rather than giving consumers what they want the focus shifts to making consumers want what's being produced and by the end everything that was unique and special about the product is gone as the rebel has now become the very establishment it fought so hard against with snick it's best to focus on the early incarnations and what made it so special to begin with it's a lot of things coming together from really like top-notch creative packaging of nickelodeon's very best original programming and in busting through from being just a daytime kids network to being more of something that felt

29:58 like it could have real value and meaning to the audience in a prime time block so i i think it really is a pinnacle in many ways of nickelodeon it's a maturing and a beautiful culmination of all the parts of nickelodeon from the people and the culture and the programming and it just all kind of came together there if you'd like to see more videos like this hit the like and subscribe buttons i'm channel surfer and until next time thanks for watching [Music]

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