50 Fun Facts About 90s Nickelodeon

Which phrase got cast members drenched in green slime on the sketch show You Can't Do That on Television?

"I don't know" was the trigger, and it became the show's trademark gag. Saying "water" earned a cold soaking instead, and the Canadian series is credited with introducing Nickelodeon's green slime.

What breed of dog is Ren Höek, the short-tempered half of The Ren & Stimpy Show?

Chihuahua is right: Ren was inspired by an Elliott Erwitt photograph of a sweatered dog standing at a woman's feet. His dimwitted pal Stimpy is a Manx cat.

Rocko, who moves from Australia to O-Town in Rocko's Modern Life, is which kind of animal?

Wallaby it is: creator Joe Murray dreamed up Rocko after meeting one at a Bay Area zoo that seemed oblivious to the chaos around it.

How does best friend Sam usually arrive in the heroine's bedroom on Clarissa Explains It All?

Up a ladder and through the second-story window, announced by a guitar chord and a "Hi, Sam". The creator said the entrance got Sam into scenes faster.

Which drink does Kel Kimble crave so much on Kenan & Kel that he chants about loving it?

Orange soda is Kel's obsession, and he always declares his love for it in the third person. One episode reveals the habit has turned his insides bright orange.

What do the campfire storytellers on Are You Afraid of the Dark? call their secret club?

The Midnight Society opened every tale by tossing "midnight dust" on the fire to make it flare. The dust was really Coffee-Mate creamer.

After a chemical-truck accident, what can the heroine of The Secret World of Alex Mack turn herself into?

A puddle of liquid is her signature trick, alongside telekinesis and zapping electricity from her fingertips. All of it came from a soaking in the experimental chemical GC-161.

Winners at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards take home a trophy shaped like which object?

A blimp has been the prize since 1990, and the hollow figurine doubles as a working kaleidoscope. Its outline was one of the network's logo shapes for years.

Which Rugrats baby keeps a plastic toy screwdriver handy for escaping the crib and getting into places?

Tommy is only one year old but leads the other babies. The screwdriver outlasted his diapers: as a preteen in the spin-off All Grown Up! he still carries it on his keychain.

Which actress played Clarissa Darling, speaking straight to the camera on Clarissa Explains It All?

Melissa Joan Hart landed the part in 1991 and even recorded two albums in character. Her next title role was the lead in Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

What is the name of the giant stone head at the temple gate on Legends of the Hidden Temple?

Olmec knew the secrets behind every treasure in his temple and told the story behind each episode's quest. He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, who doubled as the game show's announcer.

Which 1997 film grew out of an All That sketch starring Kel Mitchell as the dim-witted Ed?

Good Burger sent fast-food cashier Ed to the big screen beside Kenan Thompson, who played his co-worker Dexter. Together they stumble on a rival restaurant's evil plot.

What is the name of Doug Funnie's talented pet dog, who follows him nearly everywhere?

Porkchop is a bull terrier voiced by Fred Newman, the performer who also voiced Doug's best friend Skeeter and created the cartoon's a cappella soundtrack.

Nickelodeon's production base opened in 1990 as a working attraction inside which Orlando theme park?

Universal Studios Florida housed the network's soundstages from 1990 to 2005, with a Slime Geyser out front. The deal obliged Nickelodeon to promote the park on air 1,000 times a year.

Which host urged Double Dare teams to answer the question or take the physical challenge?

Marc Summers hosted Double Dare from 1986 to 1993. He later discovered that he had obsessive-compulsive disorder, after years in charge of a famously messy game show.

Which spoiled three-year-old on Rugrats bullies and manipulates the babies for her own gain?

Angelica Pickles exists because co-creator Paul Germain felt the cartoon needed a bully. He based her on a girl bully from his own childhood.

Which Hey Arnold! classmate bullies Arnold to hide the fact that she is in love with him?

Helga Pataki nearly got her own series. The Patakis, an attempted spin-off, would have followed her as a teenager who writes Arnold letters that she never sends.

What was the fifth and final event of Nickelodeon GUTS called in the show's first two seasons?

The Aggro Crag was a fabricated mountain that three players raced to climb, and each champion took home a glowing piece of it. The third season renamed it the Mega Crag.

What secret gift does Eliza receive on The Wild Thornberrys after freeing a trapped shaman?

Talking to animals lets Eliza chat with Darwin, the family's pet chimpanzee. The shaman who granted the power had been masquerading as a warthog caught in a trap.

Which green dinosaur from the world of Rugrats was designed as a deliberate spoof of Godzilla?

Reptar resembled his inspiration so closely that Toho, the studio behind Godzilla, filed a lawsuit against the cartoon's producers in 2002.

At which fictional sleepaway camp do the campers of Salute Your Shorts spend their days?

Camp Anawanna takes its name from a reluctant camper's protest, "I don't want to". The opening theme is a mock alma mater written for the camp.

Which All That cast member got her own Nickelodeon sketch series in 1999, playing Judge Trudy?

Amanda Bynes was spotted by Nickelodeon scouts while doing stand-up at the Laugh Factory aged 10. Her spin-off, The Amanda Show, also featured Drake Bell and Josh Peck.

Which piece of furniture served as the mascot of SNICK, Nickelodeon's Saturday night programming block?

A couch starred in SNICK's promos, popping up everywhere from cartoon living rooms to real streets. When it retired in 1999 it was given to a viewer, stuffed with $25,000 and 6,000 cookies.

Which Nick Jr. series has its host hunt for objects marked with a puppy's paw prints?

Blue's Clues ended each hunt in the Thinking Chair, where original host Steve Burns sat down to solve the puzzle. He left in 2002 and Donovan Patton took over as Joe.

In Hey Arnold!, who raises Arnold in the Sunset Arms boarding house?

His grandparents, Phil and Gertrude, own the boarding house. Grandpa Phil is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, who is best known as the voice of Homer Simpson.

Which classmate does Doug Funnie spend many episodes trying to impress on the Nickelodeon cartoon Doug?

Patti Mayonnaise was voiced by Constance Shulman, who fittingly appeared in a series of Kraft mayonnaise commercials in the early 1990s.

Which chart-topping girl group recorded the theme song for the Nickelodeon sketch comedy All That?

TLC recorded both the opening and the outro theme. The two tracks were released on All That: The Album, the show's own soundtrack.

Which fictional rock band, forever on another reunion tour, is Doug Funnie's favourite group?

The Beets are a play on the Beatles, and their members are drawn as caricatures of Ringo Starr and Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant. The endless reunion tours poke fun at the Who.

Which rapper performed Aw, Here It Goes!, the theme song of the sitcom Kenan & Kel?

Coolio recorded Aw, Here It Goes! as a music video that served as the sitcom's opening sequence across all four of its seasons.

Which Aaahh!!! Real Monsters student carries his own eyeballs around in his hands?

Krumm has eyeballs that are not attached to his body, and a running gag sees him lose them. His most valuable scaring tool is something else: an overwhelming armpit stench.

Which Olympic champion swimmer hosted the Nickelodeon panel game Figure It Out in the late 1990s?

Summer Sanders became an Olympic champion in 1992 and hosted Figure It Out from 1997 to 1999. Nickelodeon went on to name her "commissioner" of its Nick GAS games channel.

Which three-piece statue did contestants assemble inside its own shrine on Legends of the Hidden Temple?

The Silver Monkey had its shrine among the temple's twelve themed rooms, which also included the Throne Room, the Observatory and the Heart Room.

Which 1996 film starring Michelle Trachtenberg was the first made under the Nickelodeon Movies banner?

Harriet the Spy was also Trachtenberg's major film debut. She recalled that shooting began on her ninth birthday.

Hey Dude, the Nickelodeon sitcom about teenage staff on the Bar None ranch, was set in which US state?

Arizona it was: the sitcom was taped on location at the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch in Tucson. In the story, a New York City accountant buys the ranch to escape his high-pressure job.

Heffer, the steer on Rocko's Modern Life, was adopted by a family of which predators?

Wolves took Heffer in, though they originally intended to eat him. He ended up with their family name too: Wolfe.

Which former NBC News journalist hosted Nick News, Nickelodeon's newsmagazine launched in 1992?

Linda Ellerbee fronted Nick News for its whole original run, from 1992 to 2015. The programme won a Peabody Award in 1994, and she received a personal one four years later.

Which star hosted the Kids' Choice Awards every year from 1996 through 2003?

Rosie O'Donnell hosted eight ceremonies in a row. She shared the first of them, in 1996, with a returning host from the year before, Whitney Houston.

Which rock musician voiced Donnie, the gibberish-speaking feral boy on The Wild Thornberrys?

Flea, the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, gave Donnie his babble. A four-part TV film later revealed that the boy had been raised by an orangutan in Borneo.

Christine Cavanaugh, the first voice of Chuckie on Rugrats, also voiced which title character of a 1995 film?

Babe the pig shared Cavanaugh's voice with Chuckie and with the boy genius of Dexter's Laboratory. She passed on the sequel when contract talks fell through, and a Rugrats co-star took over.

Which animation studio made Rugrats, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and The Wild Thornberrys for Nickelodeon?

Klasky Csupo also animated the first three seasons of The Simpsons, where one of its colourists came up with the family's yellow skin and Marge's blue hair.

What is the name of the tattoo on Little Pete's forearm in The Adventures of Pete & Pete?

Petunia shows a woman in a red dress, and Little Pete makes her "dance" by flexing his forearm. She even receives her own credit in the opening sequence.

Which future Hollywood star played the heroine's first school rival on The Secret World of Alex Mack?

Jessica Alba played a bully, also named Jessica, before leaving for other projects. A later DVD set still gave her top billing, although she appears in only a few episodes.

Which veteran actor played the teenage sleuth's innkeeper grandfather on The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo?

Pat Morita, forever Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid, played Mike Woo. He liked to remind Shelby that they were "innkeepers with brooms", not detectives with badges.

What kind of animal was Elvis, the pet kept in a kiddie sandbox on Clarissa Explains It All?

An alligator named Elvis was the heroine's pet in the first season. By season two she explains that her parents sent him back to Florida when he grew too big.

Which self-styled strongest man in the world is Little Pete's hero on The Adventures of Pete & Pete?

Artie was played by Toby Huss, who announced the hero with the catchphrase "I am Artie, the strongest man... in the world!"

Omar Gooding co-hosted which Nickelodeon game show of playground games for large teams in matching shirts?

Wild & Crazy Kids built its contests from playground favourites and sports with unusual rules. From its third season, the show had its own word for slime: "blap".

On Legends of the Hidden Temple, what did all six teams have to cross in the opening round?

The moat was a narrow swimming pool, crossed a different way each episode. Only the first four teams to get both players over and ring a gong went through.

What are the names of the two bachelor brothers at the centre of The Angry Beavers?

Norbert and Daggett left their parents' home to live as bachelors in an Oregon forest. Norbert is the elder of the pair, by four minutes.

At which Bikini Bottom restaurant does SpongeBob SquarePants work as a fry cook?

The Krusty Krab is owned by the greedy Mr. Krabs, a father figure to his fry cook. Its unsuccessful rival, the Chum Bucket, sits right across the street.

Kenan & Kel follows two high-school friends and their get-rich-quick schemes in which US city?

Chicago was home turf for Kel Mitchell, who had acted in amateur theatre there before All That. The sitcom was only his second professional acting job.