We take a look back at Rated K, Nickelodeon's film review show starring real kids. And in this episode, those real kids are going head-to-head with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, two of the most famous film critics of all time. Kind of like sending a toddler out to fight Mike Tyson.

TIL when Nickelodeon was brand new a central part of its marketing was that it would have no commercials at all because people were already beginning to grow concerned with the idea of advertising to children. Wow we sure as fuck went backwards didn't we.

What 21st century Nick Knack are you looking forward to covering the least?

Right now, in this moment, iCarly. A) the post-documentary discourse on this era of the channel has gone toxic, and b) need a lot of time for people to forget about Quinton Review's videos on the topic.

If you could turn into one animal, what would it be?

On, like, a for-the-rest-of-my-life basis? Maybe an owl? I'd be a fool to pass up being a flying animal, and being an owl would probably be pretty chill.

Hey Greg, great work with Nick Knacks, really hope YouTube doesn't crash and burn before you get to The Crystal Maze with Adam Conover.

Really do wish the world would stop burning for all of us, and you eventually get really good luck. (I check the Twitter)

I was just curious, what was your original vision for Pop Arena, and how did you decide to make slight pivots into Nick Knacks (and Samplers) and the occasional book reviews, like Animorphs and Doctor Who.

And what are some strategies you look into when covering television, both in the historical and media criticism angle? Most YouTubers go too long or aren't really as skilled as you in figuring out why Clarissa worked and the significance of Eureka's Castle.

"Pop Arena" has been my personal online brand name since 2003, when I started a website that pitted characters in fights against each other. Think pre-Youtube Death Battles, aka a Pop Culture Arena, hence the name. Basically, Pop Arena is whatever I just happened to be interested in at the time. For a while that was talking about Animorphs, now it's talking about Nickelodeon history. I don't really have a strategy when going into a video. I research as much as I can, and usually an angle will develop. I'll try to latch onto details nobody else really does, so that you have a reason to watch MY Clarissa Explains It All video after you've already watched PushingUpRoses' Clarissa Explains It All video. Beyond that, I just try my best.

For the ask meme: Do you have a favourite review of yours? Either one that was fun to make or research or one you ended up very proud of the result.

(Love your videos btw, they're so empathetic and informative. My brother is currently getting through the Virgin New Adventures and any time he finishes a book we watch your review of that book as a completion treat)

Thank you for the kind words! I'm one of those losers who's much too critical of their own work. The recent Nickelodeon Studios video was the most work I'd put into a video, so I guess that.

Fuck, Mary, Kill

Kang, Koloth and Kor

Fuck Kang, he killed the Albino, he should get his reward. Kill Koloth, you're the Tribbles Klingon, c'mon Marry Kor, he supports trans rights.

favorite horror movie?

Alien (1979) when I'm in the mood for a "oh no, look out" kind of horror, Carnival of Souls (1962) when I want something more unnerving and cerebral.

Inbox me (1) thing you want to know about me.

DO IT PLS

Hey, it's that episode of The Fairly Oddparents that cracked all those eggs! We take look at a cartoon about gender that feels more important today than it did twenty-two years ago.

We take a step back into early Nick Jr, with the final episode of Noozles, a clip show finale. It sure… it sure is a clip show…

We've seen Ren & Stimpy do a meta episode about making cartoons, now let's see what Rocko's Modern Life does with the idea. We take a look at one of the show's best episodes, and what might have motivated it.

Thoughts on "Quiet on Set"

I imagine, being one of Youtube’s “Nickelodeon Content Creators”, you want to know what I thought. QUIET ON SET, the new four-part documentary detailing inappropriate behavior and abuse on the set of Dan Schneider’s various Nickelodeon shows, starts off on its worst foot, with all the earmarks of trashy tabloid journalism. A couple of gossip journalists walk us through events and interject how you’re supposed to feel about them. There’s one moment where Leon Frierson, former ALL THAT cast member, talks about how uncomfortable some of the costuming made him, about how the noses on a nose-themed superhero costume has some unfortunate phallic resemblances, and then we cut to a writer from Buzzfeed going “and then the sneeze gag is basically a cum shot joke!” Frierson never says that. In a later episode, a similar comparison is made to a gag on ZOEY 101, but there it’s actress Alexa Nikolas making that connection from the workplace environment she had found herself in. It’s an authentic observation, where in the earlier example it was outsider sensationalization, playing to the “crusaders” on Twitter and Tiktok where the public side of Schneider drama has mostly lived over the past decade. They bring on Marc Summers, Nickelodeon elder statesman who had virtually no presence in this era of the channel, for all of twelve seconds so that he can watch a clip of a Schneider show and go “oh, wow, they aired that?”

You can imagine how the producers' eyes must have lit up when they learned that Brian Peck, former Nick dialogue coach and convicted sex offender, owned a John Wayne Gacy painting. I mean, yeah, that’s fucked up, but it has virtually nothing to do with anything. It is, however, a perfect “can you believe this” moment that can be clipped and shared on social media for shock value. It’s something that the documentary can ride as a viral moment.

QUIET ON SET was produced for Investigation Discovery, whose bread and butter is schlocky true crime documentaries. Shows like EVIL LIVES HERE and WHO THE (BLEEP) DID I MARRY. Not exactly tasteful television. The channel is owned by Warner Bros Discovery, and was simultaneously released on Max. Warner Bros Discovery owns Cartoon Network. The documentary puts emphasis on Nickelodeon being on the top of the children’s cable game, and often brings up the Disney Channel as Nick’s main competitor. At no point is Cartoon Network mentioned, because, well, nobody wants to say their competitor is doing better than them, and saying you’re doing better than Nickelodeon would defeat the documentary’s narrative. My point is that I do not believe QUIET ON SET comes from a genuine place. It’s cheap schlock shock documentary filmmaking that wants to attract the same crowd who watch serial killer shows for fun. However. It’s also a space where a lot of people who were hurt during this time at Nickelodeon have come forward to tell their stories, and that pretty much nullifies all the gross exploitation elements present in the early parts. When these people start speaking for themselves, the documentary has no choice but to let them speak, and its more garbage instincts fade away. By the time Drake Bell starts telling his story, the gossip journalists all but vanish until the end, and there’s a stronger sensitivity to everything. The topics raised are harrowing. Workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, child abuse, sexism on set, racism on set, and general mispractice paint a meaningful picture of the toxic environment Nickelodeon was allowing at this time. The stories told by AMANDA SHOW writers Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen are infuriating. And then the sexual assault of Drake Bell by Brian Peck. Not an easy watch. It shouldn’t be an easy watch. What a fucking awful thing. It’s heartbreaking to watch. The documentary handles it with an unexpected tact and evenhandedness. It doesn’t excuse Bell’s later behaviors, and it allows Schneider to come off as one of the few adults who handled the situation correctly, even if the rest of the documentary is largely against him. I wish this had been the tone of the entire piece. QUIET ON SET is an important document of a terrible entertainment workplace. It’s a shame they dumped a bunch of trash on top of it. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s one of those things that’s going to be referenced to a lot over the years, and I hope that the people who make children’s television were learn the right lessons from it.

happy ten years, trans bugs!

It only aired on Nickelodeon for a few months, but that counts for our purposes! We take a look at an episode of Martin Mystery! We learn the origins of Martin and Diana's caveman boyfriend, Java! Plus, slime dinosaurs, frog chasing and convoluted mad scientist plots!

Whoo! Episode #100! Today we talk about Nickelodeon's first true mutli-camera sitcom, Clarissa Explains It All, a popular 90s hit that introduced the world to Melissa Joan Hart. We talk about the show's origins with Mitchell Kriegman's artistic early days, the show's grueling filming schedule, and how the show gave Nickelodeon a new blueprint for success.