Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Last updated
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
AYAotD logo.png
Genre
Created by
Starring(See list of cast)
Theme music composer
Ending theme"Welcome to the Carnival" by Lilou Bouhier (2019)
Country of origin
  • Canada
  • United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes104 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time
  • 22–25 minutes (1990–2000)
  • 44–45 minutes (2019–22)
Production companies
Original release
Network
ReleaseOctober 31, 1990 (1990-10-31) 
April 20, 1996 (1996-04-20)
ReleaseFebruary 6, 1999 (1999-02-06) 
June 11, 2000 (2000-06-11)
ReleaseOctober 11, 2019 (2019-10-11) 
August 13, 2022 (2022-08-13)

Are You Afraid of the Dark? is an American children's horror anthology television series created by D. J. MacHale and Ned Kandel. The original series aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996; the pilot episode aired respectively on YTV and Nickelodeon in 1990 and 1991. It led to two revival series, with the first airing from 1999 to 2000, and the second airing from 2019 to 2022.

Contents

The original series was distributed worldwide by D. J. MacHale and Ned Kandel and was picked up by Nickelodeon in 1991. [3] MacHale, Kandel, and Nickelodeon teamed up with the Canadian company Cinar (now known as WildBrain), and as a part of the deal the show was filmed primarily in Montreal, Quebec, [4] with some additional filming taking place in Richmond, British Columbia. The production teams were respectively represented by the ACTRA and SCTVQ (Syndicat des techniciens du cinéma et de la vidéo du Québec) labour unions. [lower-alpha 2] It premiered with the episode "The Tale of the Twisted Claw" as a pilot on October 31, 1990, on the Canadian television network YTV.[ citation needed ] The pilot aired on Nickelodeon on October 25, 1991, as a Halloween special. The series premiered the following year on Nickelodeon's SNICK on August 15, 1992, and on Family Channel on September 2, 1992. [6] The series moved from Family Channel to YTV on September 6, 1993. [7] The original series ended on April 20, 1996.

The first revival series, with new directors, writers, and a cast, was produced by Nickelodeon from 1999 to 2000 and also aired on the SNICK block. The only member from the original lineup to return for the first and second seasons of the revival was Tucker (Daniel DeSanto), although Gary (Ross Hull) returned for the concluding show, which notably broke from the show's established format by blurring the line between story and "reality".[ citation needed ]

On November 13, 2017, it was announced that Paramount Players would make a live-action feature film adaptation. However, the film was later removed from Paramount's schedule. On February 14, 2019, it was announced that the series would be revived again for a limited series, [8] which premiered on October 11, 2019. [9] On February 19, 2020, this revival was renewed for a second season, titled Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Curse of the Shadows, which premiered on February 12, 2021, featuring a different cast. [10] [11] [12] In March 2022, the revival was renewed for a third and final season, which premiered on July 30, 2022.

On March 28, 2024, the revival series was removed from Paramount+ as part of a "strategic decision to focus on content with mass global appeal." [13]

Background

Are You Afraid of the Dark? was filmed in Montreal by CINAR and created by producer D. J. MacHale, an American television producer. [14] The show is a co-production between Montreal-based CINAR Films and the U.S. Nickelodeon network. [14] It had its American debut on Nickelodeon in the United States during August, while Canada's Family Channel had the series premiere in September 1992. [15] By 1993, the series had moved from Family Channel to YTV. [14]

Both series of Are You Afraid of the Dark? revolved around a group of teenagers who referred to themselves as "The Midnight Society". Every episode, at a secret location in the woods at night, one member would tell a scary story to the group. The actual story, rather than the telling, was displayed to the television viewer. The story was shown between the group's arrival at the site and their departure.

Each storyteller would begin their story by saying "Submitted for the approval of The Midnight Society, I call this story '(story name)'", at which point they would toss a handful of "midnight dust" (actually Coffee-Mate [16] ) from a leather pouch into a campfire to heighten the flames and produce an eerie white smoke. [17]

MacHale wrote the line "submitted for the approval of" as a nod to The Twilight Zone , in which creator Rod Serling would, after introducing the episode, say "submitted for your approval." The storyteller would continue by announcing its title (The Tale of...). [18] The themes of the stories usually revolve around a variety of paranormal phenomena, such as demons, ghosts, magic, haunted houses, magical curses, aliens, witches, vampires, werewolves, and the like coming into contact with average youths. Usually, the episodes were either filmed in the woods, in abandoned houses, or in public places like schools or libraries. Sources of these tales vary in different ways; many were adaptations of public domain fairy tales and short stories or urban legends. For example, the episode "The Tale of the Twisted Claw" is an adaptation of W. W. Jacobs' short story The Monkey's Paw . [19]

Sometimes, the stories were inspired by a certain event in the life of the storyteller. In the episode "The Tale of the Crimson Clown," for instance, Tucker blackmailed his brother Gary with a poem he had found, which Gary had written for Samantha. Gary then told a story in which a naughty younger brother was punished cruelly for his evil deeds. At the end of the episode, Tucker gave the poem back to his brother. The majority of the horror stories on Are You Afraid of the Dark? had happy endings (or at least endings in which their characters were in decent places), but some of them (albeit a very small number of them) had either bad endings or twist endings like "The Tale of the Lonely Ghost," "The Tale of the Dark Music," "The Tale of the Chameleons," "The Tale of Vampire Town," and "The Tale of the Pinball Wizard."

At the end of most episodes, one character (usually Gary in the first run and Tucker in the second run of the show) would throw a red bucket of water onto the fire, stating, "I declare this meeting of The Midnight Society closed", and the group would leave the campsite, thus ending the storytelling. Sometimes, the story would be related to an event (e.g. in "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark," Kristen, who was afraid of clowns, ran off when Eric put on a clown mask. Then, everyone chased after her). This would cause either Gary or Tucker to hurriedly dump the water on the fire, and The Midnight Society would run off to wherever they go after meetings.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
Original series
1 13August 15, 1992 (1992-08-15)November 14, 1992 (1992-11-14) YTV
Nickelodeon
2 13June 19, 1993 (1993-06-19)October 2, 1993 (1993-10-02)
3 13January 8, 1994 (1994-01-08)April 16, 1994 (1994-04-16)
4 13October 1, 1994 (1994-10-01)January 21, 1995 (1995-01-21)
5 13October 7, 1995 (1995-10-07)April 20, 1996 (1996-04-20)
1999 revival
6 13February 6, 1999 (1999-02-06)May 15, 1999 (1999-05-15)Nickelodeon
Family Channel
7 13April 2, 2000 (2000-04-02)June 11, 2000 (2000-06-11)
2019 revival
Carnival of Doom 3October 11, 2019 (2019-10-11)October 25, 2019 (2019-10-25)Nickelodeon
Curse of the Shadows 6February 12, 2021 (2021-02-12)March 19, 2021 (2021-03-19)
Ghost Island 4July 30, 2022 (2022-07-30)August 13, 2022 (2022-08-13)

Characters and cast

Each member of The Midnight Society from 1991 to 1996 has a distinct personality, and a notable trend in their storytelling. Though not all of their stories have similar styles and plots, in many of the stories, each character carries a unique aspect that reflects the nature of the storyteller, and what they find to be the most important to themselves. [20] In the second generation, the characters derive their stories more from events that happen during the days leading up to the society meetings instead of from their personal interests and views. Many of the later episodes were simply given to a random society member to tell.

RoleActor/ActressYear(s)Notes
The Midnight Society (1991–1996)
Gary Ross Hull [21] 1991–1996Appeared in "The Tale of the Silver Sight", 3 episodes, in 2000.
Betty AnnRaine Pare-Coull1991–1996
Kiki Jodie Resther 1991–1996
Frank MooreJason Alisharan1991–1995
Tucker Daniel DeSanto 1993–1996
Samantha JoAnna Garcia 1993–1996
Kristen Rachel Blanchard 1991–1993
DavidNathaniel Moreau1991–1993
StigCodie Wilbee1995–1996
Eric Jacob Tierney 1991–1992
The Midnight Society (1999–2000)
QuinnKareem Blackwell1999–2000
Megan Elisha Cuthbert [22] 1999–2000
Vange Vanessa Lengies 1999–2000
Tucker Daniel DeSanto 1999–2000
AndyDavid Deveau1999–2000
The Midnight Society (2019)
Rachel Carpenter Lyliana Wray 2019
Gavin CoscarelliSam Ashe Arnold2019
Akiko Yamato Miya Cech 2019
Graham Raimi Jeremy Ray Taylor 2019
Louise Fulci Tamara Smart 2019
The Midnight Society (2021)
Luke McCoy Bryce Gheisar 2021
Hanna RomeroBeatrice Kitsos2021
Gabby Lewis Malia Baker [23] 2021
Jai MalyaArjun Athalye2021
Seth RomeroDominic Mariche2021
Connor StevensParker Queenan2021
The Midnight Society (2022)
Kayla KingTelci Huynh2022
Max MathesonConor Sherry2022
Leo B. StokerLuca Padovan2022
Summer DaCosta Dior Goodjohn 2022
Ferris PoeChance Hurstfield2022

Original

First revival

Several years after the last meeting of The Midnight Society, Tucker returns to reinitialize the meetings, inviting his own circle of friends to reform The Midnight Society.

Second revival

In 2019, a second revival of the show began. The first season is known as "Carnival of Doom", the second season is known as "Curse of the Shadows" and the third season is known as "Ghost Island".

Carnival of Doom

The Midnight Society:

  • Rachel Carpenter: A shy girl who recently moved to the town of Argento. She quickly resigns herself to life as a social outsider, but when some classmates notice her interest in the horror genre, she earns an invite to the mysterious Midnight Society. She suffers from recurring nightmares and uses that to form her first story to submit to the group, The Carnival of Doom. She's named after John Carpenter.
  • Gavin Coscarelli: An outgoing member who lives next door to Rachel and quickly takes an interest in her. He's good friends with Louise and is shown to be fairly popular at school. He's also a vegetarian. He's named after Don Coscarelli.
  • Akiko Yamato: A blunt and pragmatic member of the Midnight Society who enjoys filmmaking and is seen directing her own scary movie throughout the series. Her older brother, Hideo, is a rookie police officer.
  • Graham Raimi: A horror film fanatic who loves gushing about his favorite movies, although he often comes off awkward to his peers. He is also a talented artist and a germaphobe. He sits behind Rachel in class and is the first to pick up on Rachel's horror obsession, eventually inviting her to the group. He's named after Sam Raimi.
  • Louise Fulci: A cheerleader and one of the popular girls at school who holds her reputation dearly. Although she's friends with Gavin, she avoids speaking to the other members of the Midnight Society outside of meetings, particularly Graham, in fear that it will affect her social status. She's named after Lucio Fulci.

Curse of the Shadows

The Midnight Society:

  • Luke McCoy
  • Hanna Romero
  • Gabby Lewis
  • Jai Malya
  • Seth Romero
  • Connor Stevens

Ghost Island

The Midnight Society:

  • Kayla King
  • Max Matheson
  • Leo B. Stoker
  • Summer DaCosta
  • Ferris Poe

Recurring characters

One of the more significant recurring characters was Sardo (Richard Dumont), owner of "Sardo's Magic Mansion" (a magic shop). He would often attempt to sell a character a "prized" item, succeeding almost every single time. He often had items in his shop that contained real properties of magic, yet did not know until it was revealed in the story. One of the most memorable recurring jokes in the series occurred when someone would address him as "Mr. Sardo." He would then get irritated and exclaim: "That's SarDO (Sardôh)! No mister; accent on the doh!"

Another recurring gag is Sardo attempting to sell a series of cheap novelty items before revealing the magical artifact, culminating with fake vomit, asking the protagonists, "Have you seen our vomit?" Additionally, when selling someone an item, he would often ask a rather high price. The main character would mention how much money they had, and Sardo would grab the money saying, "But I'm losing on the deal." Although he rarely got what he wanted, he would often end up helping the characters, often unintentionally. He appeared in Gary's stories, although in the later seasons, he appeared in two of Tucker's [24] [25] and one of David's in the episode "The Tale of The Dark Dragon." [26]

Sardo's character is revived in the second season of the second revival, "Curse of the Shadows." Sardo's son (Ryan Beil) is the owner of "Sardo's Magic Shop". Richard Dumont appears in the finale as Sardo.

Another recurring character was Dr. Vink (Aron Tager). He was a physically imposing man who would often appear as a mad scientist, sorcerer, and the like. When he enters, he introduces himself by saying, "Vink's the name. Dr. Vink." He would also get his name mispronounced, usually something like "Dr. Fink?" When this happened, he would respond "Vink. With a va-va-va!" Often, the protagonist would call him a "nutbag" behind his back, assuming he could not hear him, only to have him reply later, "...and I am not a nutbag".

Unlike Sardo, whose character was set in a magic shop, Dr. Vink had many 'unique endeavors' as he called them, for his stories. These ranged from living deep in the woods conducting strange nature experiments, being a retired filmmaker, owning his own restaurant as head chef and lastly a barbershop. His activities were usually villainous, designed to put the characters in peril and allow him the last laugh. However, in his last appearance, "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure" (which was told by both Frank and Gary), he allied himself with Sardo and the main characters without his usual maliciousness. He appeared in Frank's stories. Aron Tager also played the carnival worker who stands in front of the Funhouse and invites people to go inside in the episode "The Tale of the Laughing in the Dark". [27]

The character of Zeebo the Clown, also played by Tager, who appeared in "The Tale of the Laughing in the Dark" is referenced in several other stories, for example, in the episode "The Tale of the Whispering Walls", two children mention seeing him at a fun park, in the episode "The Tale of the Mystical Mirror", a girl says she will look like Zeebo if she wears too much lipstick, and in the episode "The Tale of the Crimson Clown" in the boys' room a video game called Zeebo's Big House can be seen on the desk with a picture of Zeebo on it as the title character. The video game was also mentioned in the episode "The Tale of Train Magic." Finally, in the episode "The Tale of the Night Shift," the teenage janitor is called Zeebo by his supervisor a few times at the beginning of the episode. [28]

The villain, the "Ghastly Grinner" (star of "The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner"), like Zeebo the Clown, appears in a comic book that "Dark" characters read. In "Tale of the Ghastly Grinner", The Grinner is shown as being the star of a comic book.

Legacy

The show became a weekly staple for children and tweens in the 1990s. Kids “were old enough to stay up but not old enough to stay out, so [they] spent nearly every Saturday night huddled around television sets with friends or siblings, pretending not to be terrified by that week’s tale.” [19] As written by Matt Melis,

“But there’s also a lot to admire in the care that went into trying to frighten us. We saw the protagonists encountering the creepy and supernatural in the same suburban settings we hailed from. They were remarkably vulnerable and insecure kids, too, ones with problems we could relate to; they were new kids, outcasts, rival siblings, and children experiencing rough patches like deaths in the family or parents filing for divorce.” [19]

Said series co-creator D.J. MacHale, “I wanted stories about real kids who were facing challenges that had nothing to do with the supernatural situation they ended up in.” [29] He added, “But I'd like to believe that by depicting kids taking charge of difficult situations, it opened up kid-viewers to the idea that they aren't powerless in their own lives.” [29] The show has also been hailed for its diversity in characters and stories. “I write about kids who find themselves in challenging situations, and ultimately solve the problems themselves ... no matter their sex, race, or age. We wanted to depict a wide variety of stories, characters, and situations. It was all about diversity,” says MacHale. [29] “We didn't play to stereotypes.” [29] The series was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 1996. [29] The show has also been seen as helping to create a generation of feminist horror fans, as it showed kids a world “where girls got to be the imperfect heroes as often as the boys did.” [29] According to MacHale, “in the first season alone, half of the scripts focused on female characters and were written by female writers.” [29]

Home media

VHS releases

Three VHS tapes were released by Sony Wonder. Ghostly Tales, which included the episodes "The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle" and "The Tale of the Frozen Ghost" plus a bonus "Feel the Fear" music video, was released on March 22, 1994; [30] Nightmare Tales, which included the episodes "The Tale of the Final Wish" and "The Tale of the Dream Machine", was released on May 31, 1994; [31] and The Tale of Cutter's Treasure was released on June 13, 1995. [32]

In addition, episodes of the series were included on two compilation tapes of SNICK programming, both of which were released on August 31, 1993; "The Tale of the Lonely Ghost" was included on Nick Snicks Friendship, and "The Tale of the Hungry Hounds" was included on Nick Snicks the Family.[ citation needed ]

DVD releases

Direct Source released all seven seasons of Are You Afraid of the Dark? on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time between 2006 and 2008. These releases featured group shots of the Midnight Society on the front. The first five seasons were released in Canada and the United States, while seasons 1 and 2 of the revival series were released in Canada only. The company also released a joint collection of seasons 1–2/seasons 3–4 as a box set. These releases have been discontinued and are now out-of-print.[ citation needed ]

On April 8, 2013, it was announced that Berkshire Axis Media had acquired the rights to the series (Canada only) and would be re-releasing it. Season 1 was re-released on May 28, 2013. [33] Season 2 was re-released on October 15, 2013. [34]

In Region 2, Revelation Films released the first four seasons on DVD in the UK in 2007/2008. [35] [36]

Nickelodeon also re-released the series on DVD in the US through Amazon.com's CreateSpace service beginning with two random-episode "volumes" released in 2013. However, those releases were canceled and were followed by proper season set releases beginning in 2014. [37] [38] These releases were designed to look like books.

On December 1, 2014, it was announced that Madman Films had acquired the rights to the series in Australia, and would be releasing the series through Via Vision Entertainment. In 2015 Via Vision released seasons 1–3 individually. It was announced on September 22, 2017, that Via Vision Entertainment have no plans to release the remaining seasons of Are You Afraid of the Dark? [39] [40] [41] [42]

Release nameEp #Region 1 (US)Region 1 (Canada)Region 2 (UK)Region 4 (Australia)
Freaky Favorites6December 8, 1999N/AN/AN/A
The Complete 1st Season13June 23, 2014 [43] April 18, 2006
May 28, 2013 (re-release)
N/AFebruary 4, 2015 [40]
The Complete 2nd Season13June 26, 2014 [44] November 28, 2006
October 15, 2013 (re-release)
N/AMarch 11, 2015 [41]
The Complete 3rd Season13September 24, 2014 [45] April 24, 2007N/AApril 10, 2015 [42]
The Complete 4th Season13October 2, 2014 [46] November 13, 2007 [47] N/AN/A
The Complete 5th Season13October 15, 2014 [45] February 26, 2008 [48] N/AN/A
The Complete 6th Season13N/AApril 29, 2008April 29, 2008 [49] N/A
The Complete 7th Season13N/AAugust 19, 2008August 19, 2008 [50] N/A
The Limited Series Event6August 11, 2020 [51] N/AN/AN/A
Curse of the Shadows6August 10, 2021 [52] N/AN/AN/A
Ghost Island4August 1, 2023 [53] N/AN/AN/A
The Complete Series 1 & 226N/AN/AMarch 5, 2007N/A
The Complete Series 3 & 426N/AN/AApril 7, 2008N/A

Online distribution

The first five complete seasons of the series have been released (non-sequentially) across ten volumes in digital format on iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu:

Release nameEp #Release date
Volume 17October 17, 2011 [54]
Volume 27January 30, 2012 [55]
Volume 37April 30, 2012 [56]
Volume 46August 6, 2012 [57]
Volume 56August 20, 2012 [58]
Volume 67October 1, 2012 [59]
Volume 74September 30, 2013 [60]
Volume 88March 24, 2014 [61]
Volume 98March 24, 2014 [62]
Volume 105March 24, 2014 [63]

In September 2016, all seven seasons of the first two series were made available for free on YouTube for non-United States viewers. [64] On November 6, 2017, Season one was released for free on Canada Media Fund's Encore+ YouTube channel. As of 2021, Are You Afraid of the Dark? is available on Paramount+. However, there are some missing episodes: "Tale of the Super Specs", "Tale of the Dark Dragon", "Tale of the Midnight Ride", "Tale of the Dream Girl", "Tale of Quicksilver", "Tale of the Long Ago Locket", "Tale of the Fire Ghost", "Tale of the Closet Keepers", "Tale of the Unfinished Painting", "Tale of the Chameleons", "Tale of C7", and the revival seasons six and seven.

On March 28, 2024, series 8–10 was removed from Paramount+. [65]

Reboot

On February 14, 2019, it was announced that the series itself would be revived for a miniseries to air in October 2019. [8] On June 10, 2019, the cast for the miniseries was announced, with Sam Ashe Arnold as Gavin, Miya Cech as Akiko, Tamara Smart as Louise, Jeremy Ray Taylor as Graham, and Lyliana Wray as Rachel as the New Midnight Society and Rafael Casal as the Carnival of Doom's ringmaster, Mr. Tophat. [66] The miniseries aired on Friday, October 11, 18, and 25, 2019, and was a ratings success. [67] Brandon Routh guest starred in part two. [68]

On February 19, 2020, it was renewed for a second season, titled Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Curse of the Shadows. [10] [69] On October 29, 2020, the casting for a second season was announced with Bryce Gheisar, Arjun Athalye, Beatrice Kitsos, Malia Baker, Dominic Mariche and Parker Queenan as the new Midnight Society. [12] The second season premiered on February 12, 2021. [11]

On March 24, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season, subtitled Ghost Island. Telci Huynh, Conor Sherry, Luca Padovan, Dior Goodjohn and Chance Hurstfield joined the cast as new members of the Midnight Society, while Julian Curtis joined the cast as a hotel manager. [70] The third season premiered on July 30, 2022. [71]

Other media

A music video with the horror-themed dance song "Feel the Fear" was aired on Nickelodeon and included as a bonus feature on VHS tapes. [72] The television series also spawned multiple licensed products. A PC game based on the show titled Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo's Curse was released in 1994. [73] A board game titled Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Game was also released. [74] They also released a series of audio cassettes entitled Are You Afraid of the Dark?: More Tales From The Midnight Society which were narrated and voiced by actors from the show who reprised their respective characters. [75] Perhaps the most prominent of products from the franchise's merchandising was a series of books written by various authors between 1995 and 1998. [76]

On November 13, 2017, it was announced that a film adaptation of the series was in the works at Paramount Players. It writer Gary Dauberman was set to write the screenplay with Matt Kaplan producing and D.J. Caruso directing. [77] [78] The film was scheduled to be released on October 4, 2019. [79] However, on February 27, 2019, Paramount removed the film from their schedule. [80]

On November 16, 2022, a series of novels and graphic novels were announced in a partnership between Abrams Children's Books and Paramount. [81] The first middle grade novel, titled The Tale of the Gravemother and written by Rin Chupeco, was released on June 27, 2023. [82] Horror novelist Danielle Valentine is signed on to write book two. The first graphic novel in the series, titled The Witch's Wings and Other Terrifying Tales, will be written by Tehlor Kay Mejia and illustrated by Justin Hernandez, Alexis Hernandez, Junyi Wu, and Kaylee Rowena, and is planned to be released on October 3, 2023. [83]

On August 24, 2023, an official podcast was announced in a partnership between Audible and Nickelodeon. [84] The podcast, titled Are You Afraid of The Dark? The Official Podcast, was released on September 28, 2023. [85]

Notes

  1. Known as DHX Media for the first season.
  2. These unions are mentioned during the end credits of each episode in the original series. In 2004, the SCTVQ and APVQ (Association des professionnels de la vidéo du Québec), another Quebec union, merged to form the AQTIS (Alliance québécoise des techniciens et techniciennes de l'image et du son or Alliance of Image and Sound Technicians). [5]

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"Reptar on Ice" is the first segment of the 10th episode of the second season of the animated television series Rugrats and the first segment of the 23rd episode overall. The episode was written by Peter Gaffney and directed by Howard E. Baker. The episode originally aired on the television network Nickelodeon on November 15, 1992. "Reptar on Ice" followed the infant main characters, Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil going to an ice show with their parents that follows the love story of the babies' favorite monster, Reptar. There, the babies attempt to return a lizard to the actor, assuming it is his child.

<i>Invader Zim</i> American animated television series

Invader Zim is an American animated science fiction dark comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim, from the planet Irk, and his mission is to conquer Earth and enslave the human race along with his malfunctioning robot servant GIR. He is antagonized by Dib, a young paranormal investigator who is determined to stop Zim from succeeding.

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The first season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from May 1, 1999, to March 3, 2001, and consists of 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The show features the voices of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett, and Lori Alan. Among the first guest stars to appear on the show were Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway voicing the superhero characters of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively.

<i>SpongeBob SquarePants</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from October 20, 2000, to July 26, 2003, and consists of 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg, who also acted as the showrunner.

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Book Two: Earth is the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American animated television series created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon. The series starred Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, Dee Bradley Baker, Mako Iwamatsu and Grey DeLisle as the main character voices.

<i>CatDog</i> American animated comedy television series

CatDog is an American animated television series created by Peter Hannan for Nickelodeon. The series follows the zany hijinks of golden-furred conjoined brothers of different species, with one half of the resultant animal being a cat and the other a dog. Nickelodeon produced the series from Burbank, California. The first episode aired on April 4, 1998, following the 1998 Kids' Choice Awards, before the show officially premiered in October of that year. Similarly, the Season 2 episode "Fetch" was shown in theaters in 1998 before airing on television.

<i>Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated</i> American animated television series

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated is an American animated television series that serves as the eleventh incarnation of the Scooby-Doo media franchise created by Hanna-Barbera, as well as the first that was not originally run on Saturday mornings. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network UK and premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on April 5, 2010, with the next twelve episodes continuing, and the first episode re-airing, on July 12, 2010. The series concluded on April 5, 2013, after two seasons and fifty-two episodes.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, known as Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for its 2017 fifth and final season, is an American animated television series developed by Ciro Nieli, Joshua Sternin, and Jennifer Ventimilia. It is the third animated series in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The series aired on Nickelodeon in the United States from September 28, 2012, to November 12, 2017. It was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and LowBar Productions. Bardel Entertainment handled layout and CG animation services. The series begins with the Turtles emerging from their sewer home for the first time, using their ninjutsu training to fight enemies in present-day New York City.

<i>Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids</i> (TV series) Animated television series based on a book series by Jamie Rix

Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids is a British animated horror television series based on the generic trademarked children's book series of the same name by Jamie Rix. After the first three books were published from 1990 to 1996, Carlton Television adapted the short stories into ten-minute cartoons for ITV, produced by themselves, Honeycomb Animation, and Rix's production company, Elephant Productions. It aired on CITV between January 2000 and October 2006 with six series and 78 episodes, as well as a New Year's Eve special that was over 20 minutes longer than other episodes. The series returned in a new format for Nicktoons with 26 episodes split into two series under the name Grizzly Tales, which aired between May 2011 and November 2012.

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