Nickelodeon Shows Tier List: Every Classic Ranked
We pulled together 33 Nickelodeon shows spanning three decades, from early 90s live-action staples to the animated hits still running today. This covers Nicktoons, sketch comedy, sitcoms, preschool shows and the occasional cult classic that got cancelled too soon.\n\nThe ranking below reflects where fans and critics broadly land after years of forum arguments, nostalgia threads and reviews, with our own call where the consensus splits. Disagree with where something landed? That's half the fun of a tier list. Argue it out yourself.
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SS Tier: The all-timers
Avatar: The Last Airbender
A kids' show that out-writes most adult prestige dramas, with a three-season arc that actually pays off. Zuko's redemption alone gets brought up in animation writing classes at this point. If anyone says cartoons can't do real storytelling, hand them this.
About Avatar: The Last Airbender
An epic animated series about Aang, the last Airbender, learning to master the four elements to stop a war. Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, it's widely regarded as one of the best animated shows ever made, period.
- Premiered
- 2005
- Seasons
- 3
SpongeBob SquarePants
Nearly 30 years in and the early seasons still hold up as some of the funniest TV ever made for any age. 'The Krusty Krab Pizza' and 'Band Geeks' aren't just classic SpongeBob, they're classic comedy writing. The later seasons get rougher, but the legacy is untouchable.
About SpongeBob SquarePants
A sea sponge who lives in a pineapple and works at the Krusty Krab, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. It premiered in 1999 and is still producing new episodes, making it one of the longest-running animated shows on American TV.
- Premiered
- 1999
- Creator
- Stephen Hillenburg
- Setting
- Bikini Bottom
Rugrats
The baby's-eye-view gimmick could have worn thin in an episode, instead it carried a show for a decade plus movies. Angelica alone is one of the best cartoon antagonists Nickelodeon ever built.
About Rugrats
A show about a group of babies who have wild adventures that the adults around them never notice. It ran through most of the 90s and into the 2000s and spawned several theatrical movies.
- Premiered
- 1991
- Main characters
- Tommy, Chuckie, Twins Phil & Lil, Angelica
AA Tier: Bona fide classics
Invader Zim
Jhonen Vasquez's jagged art style and GIR's chaos made this feel unlike anything else on the network at the time. It got cancelled way before it should have, which is exactly why it has such a rabid cult following now.
About Invader Zim
An incompetent alien named Zim is sent to invade Earth, but mostly just annoys his classmate Dib. Created by Jhonen Vasquez, it was cancelled early but became a cult classic.
- Premiered
- 2001
- Creator
- Jhonen Vasquez
Rocko's Modern Life
Sneaky adult jokes aside, this is one of the sharpest satires of suburban adulthood Nickelodeon ever aired. Rocko dealing with the DMV or a nightmare job hits different once you're actually an adult yourself.
About Rocko's Modern Life
An Australian wallaby named Rocko tries to navigate adult life in the weird American suburb of O-Town. Created by Joe Murray, it's known for sneaking in surprisingly adult humor.
- Premiered
- 1993
The Fairly OddParents
Cosmo and Wanda granting monkey's-paw wishes never got old in the early seasons, and Timmy's world building (Crash Nebula, Chip Skylark) added real texture. It ran a bit too long and the later years show it, but peak Fairly OddParents is 2000s Nickelodeon in a nutshell.
About The Fairly OddParents
Timmy Turner gets two fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda, who grant his wishes with predictably chaotic results. Created by Butch Hartman, it became one of the network's signature 2000s cartoons.
- Premiered
- 2001
- Creator
- Butch Hartman
Clarissa Explains It All
Melissa Joan Hart talking straight to camera about teenage life set the template a lot of later Nickelodeon sitcoms would copy. It feels dated now in small ways, but it's genuinely one of the network's foundational shows.
About Clarissa Explains It All
One of Nickelodeon's earliest live-action hits, following Clarissa Darling as she breaks the fourth wall to talk about her teenage life.
- Premiered
- 1991
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
The Midnight Society framing device made every episode feel like an event, and some of those stories (the ghost mirror one, the ventriloquist dummy one) actually scared kids. Rare for a kids' show to commit to real horror and mean it.
About Are You Afraid of the Dark?
An anthology horror show framed around a group of kids called the Midnight Society telling scary stories around a campfire.
- Premiered
- 1990
Kenan & Kel
Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell had genuine chemistry, and the orange soda bit became a catchphrase for a reason. It's silly front to back, but it's the kind of silly that ages well.
About Kenan & Kel
A sitcom about two best friends, Kenan and Kel, and their ridiculous schemes, famous for the catchphrase 'Who loves orange soda?'
- Premiered
- 1996
Danny Phantom
Butch Hartman's other big 2000s hit, and arguably his better one, with a ghost-hunting premise that let the show get surprisingly dark for Nickelodeon. Fans still push for more seasons that never came.
About Danny Phantom
Teenager Danny Fenton gets zapped by his parents' ghost portal and becomes half-ghost, fighting spectral threats while hiding it from his classmates. Created by Butch Hartman.
- Premiered
- 2004
As Told by Ginger
Quieter and more emotionally honest than most of its Nicktoon peers, tackling middle school anxiety and family stuff with real care. Critics loved it, ratings never quite matched the acclaim, which is the story of a lot of underrated shows.
About As Told by Ginger
A quieter, more grounded show about middle schooler Ginger Foutley navigating friendship, family and school drama. Praised for handling real adolescent issues.
- Premiered
- 2000
Doug
Doug Funnie's diary entries and daydreams (hello, Quailman) made for one of the most relatable kids' shows of the early 90s. It later moved to Disney, but Nickelodeon's original run is the one people actually remember fondly.
About Doug
A gentle, diary-style show about a middle schooler named Doug Funnie dealing with everyday life in Bluffington. It actually started on Nickelodeon before moving to Disney.
- Premiered
- 1991
The Legend of Korra
Following Avatar was never going to be easy, and Korra took real risks, tackling fascism, grief and a queer relationship ending the series. Fans are genuinely split on whether it reaches Avatar's heights, but the ambition alone earns it a spot near the top.
About The Legend of Korra
The sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, following Korra as she masters the elements in a more industrialized world. Known for tackling heavier, more mature themes.
- Premiered
- 2012
Drake & Josh
The stepbrother dynamic between Drake Bell and Josh Peck carried a goofy premise into genuinely quotable territory ('Oh, Mama!' isn't going anywhere). It's the live-action 2000s Nickelodeon show people bring up first.
About Drake & Josh
A sitcom about two mismatched stepbrothers sharing a room and getting into constant schemes together. It became one of the network's most quoted live-action shows.
- Premiered
- 2004
iCarly
It predicted the whole YouTube era before YouTube really took off, and Sam and Freddie's bickering gave the show its edge. A sequel series years later shows how much staying power this one actually had.
About iCarly
Carly Shay and her friends run a web show from her loft, blending internet culture with sitcom plots. Created by Dan Schneider, it launched Miranda Cosgrove and Jennette McCurdy to stardom.
- Premiered
- 2007
The Loud House
Eleven kids under one roof sounds exhausting to manage, but the show turns the chaos into genuinely clever plotting, with each Loud sibling getting a distinct personality. It's the rare modern Nicktoon that critics and longtime fans both actually like.
About The Loud House
An animated show about Lincoln Loud, the only boy in a family with ten sisters, praised for its large, distinct cast.
- Premiered
- 2016
BB Tier: Solidly good stuff
The Angry Beavers
Norbert and Daggett's sibling dynamic and the show's willingness to get weirdly surreal gave it a cult following that still holds today. It never got the same mainstream love as its Nicktoon contemporaries, but it's aged better than people expect.
About The Angry Beavers
A show about two beaver brothers, Norbert and Daggett, living together in the woods and getting into surreal situations.
- Premiered
- 1997
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
A genuinely strange premise, monster school in a junkyard, rendered in that distinct Klasky Csupo style. It's more of a cult pick than a mainstream classic, but the people who love it really love it.
About Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
A show following young monsters in training living in a junkyard, learning how to scare humans properly. It came from Klasky Csupo, the studio behind Rugrats.
- Premiered
- 1994
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron
Jimmy's inventions always backfiring was a solid hook, and the movie-to-series pipeline worked out well for Nickelodeon. It's a notch below its 2000s Nicktoon peers mostly because the jokes lean younger.
About The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron
A boy genius builds wild inventions in his backyard lab and usually causes more trouble than he solves. It started as a movie before becoming a full series.
- Premiered
- 2002
CatDog
The premise is objectively bizarre, one body, two heads, opposite personalities, but the show mined it for more laughs than you'd expect. It's a very 90s kind of weird that either clicks for you or doesn't.
About CatDog
A single animal body with a cat head on one end and a dog head on the other, forced to deal with their opposite personalities. One of the odder premises of 90s Nicktoons.
- Premiered
- 1998
All That
Basically SNL for kids, and it worked because it kept cycling in fresh talent across its many seasons. Quality varies wildly by era, which is normal for any long-running sketch show.
About All That
A sketch comedy show often described as a 'kids' SNL,' launching the careers of several future stars. It ran across multiple eras with different casts.
- Premiered
- 1994
The Amanda Show
Amanda Bynes was clearly a star in the making here, and recurring bits like Penelope Taynt still get quoted. It's a little uneven sketch to sketch, but when it hits, it really hits.
About The Amanda Show
A sketch comedy vehicle for Amanda Bynes, spun off from her popularity on All That, full of recurring characters like Penelope Taynt.
- Premiered
- 1999
The Wild Thornberrys
Eliza talking to animals while her family documents wildlife around the world gave the show a nice excuse to teach kids about geography without being preachy about it. Solid, dependable, rarely flashy.
About The Wild Thornberrys
A family of documentary filmmakers travels the world, and daughter Eliza has the secret ability to talk to animals. Another Klasky Csupo production.
- Premiered
- 1998
Victorious
The performing arts school setting gave it an excuse for musical numbers that actually became genuinely popular songs on their own. Ariana Grande's Cat Valentine stole scenes constantly, even when the plots around her were thin.
About Victorious
A show set at a performing arts high school following Tori Vega, giving the cast plenty of excuses for musical numbers. Another Dan Schneider series.
- Premiered
- 2010
Dora the Explorer
Massively influential for a generation of preschoolers, with the direct-address, pause-and-answer format copied by half the preschool shows that came after it. Not really built for anyone over age six, but it did exactly what it set out to do.
About Dora the Explorer
A preschool show following Dora as she solves puzzles and talks directly to the viewer to help her along the way. Became a massive global franchise.
- Premiered
- 2000
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
The fourth-wall-breaking survival guide format made middle school feel manageable, even fun, which is a neat trick for a show aimed at kids dreading it. Charming without ever trying too hard.
About Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
A mockumentary-style show where Ned Bigby gives survival tips for middle school, breaking the fourth wall constantly.
- Premiered
- 2004
Henry Danger
A solid live-action superhero comedy that leaned into slapstick over spectacle, and it ran long enough to spin off its own extended universe. Not groundbreaking, but reliably entertaining.
About Henry Danger
A live-action superhero comedy about a kid who becomes the sidekick to a local hero, mixing slapstick with superhero tropes.
- Premiered
- 2014
CC Tier: Fine, nothing more
The Thundermans
The superhero family premise is fun on paper, and the Phoebe-Max rivalry carries most episodes. It never quite reaches the sharper comedy of the shows it's clearly influenced by.
About The Thundermans
A sitcom about a family of superheroes trying to live a normal suburban life, centered on twins Phoebe and Max.
- Premiered
- 2013
Zoey 101
The boarding school setting was a fresh idea for Nickelodeon at the time, and it made Jamie Lynn Spears a star. The plots lean pretty formulaic once you've seen a handful of episodes.
About Zoey 101
The first coed boarding school show, following Zoey Brooks at Pacific Coast Academy. Notable as one of Jamie Lynn Spears' biggest roles.
- Premiered
- 2005
Blue's Clues
Beloved by parents for being genuinely research-backed and calm compared to louder preschool shows, but it's squarely a show for toddlers, not one with crossover nostalgia appeal for older viewers.
About Blue's Clues
A preschool show where a host solves clues left by an animated blue dog, built around an interactive, repeat-friendly format.
- Premiered
- 1996
Big Time Rush
The boy-band premise worked better as an actual marketing strategy than as consistently good TV, though the real band's songs outlived the show itself in some ways. Fun if you were exactly the target age.
About Big Time Rush
A sitcom about four hockey players from Minnesota who become a boy band in LA, tied to an actual real-world musical group.
- Premiered
- 2009
DD Tier: Mostly for the nostalgia
Back at the Barnyard
Spun off from a movie that wasn't particularly beloved to begin with, and the series never quite shakes that shaky foundation. Otis and friends partying in the barn is fine background noise, nothing more.
About Back at the Barnyard
An animated show about talking farm animals who party and scheme the moment the farmer isn't looking, spun off from the movie Barnyard.
- Premiered
- 2007
Sam & Cat
A spinoff that mostly exists because two popular shows had overlapping stars, and the chemistry never quite reaches what either Sam or Cat had in their original series. It ended under messy circumstances that didn't help its legacy either.
About Sam & Cat
A spinoff combining characters from iCarly and Victorious, following Sam and Cat as mismatched roommates running a babysitting business.
- Premiered
- 2013
How we ranked them
We weighed cultural impact, how well each show holds up today, writing quality, and how fondly it's remembered by the people who grew up on it. Longevity and spinoffs count for something, but a short-lived cult favorite can still outrank a show that ran for years on autopilot. Where fan opinion is genuinely split, we say so and explain which way we leaned.
Think we got it wrong?
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Rank these yourselfFAQ
What is the best Nickelodeon show of all time?
By broad consensus, it's a toss-up between Avatar: The Last Airbender and SpongeBob SquarePants. Avatar wins on storytelling and craft, SpongeBob wins on cultural reach and pure longevity.
What is the most underrated Nickelodeon show?
Invader Zim and As Told by Ginger get brought up constantly as shows that deserved way more episodes than they got before cancellation.
What was the first Nickelodeon original series?
Live-action shows like Clarissa Explains It All and Are You Afraid of the Dark? date back to the early 90s, and the first Nicktoons (Doug, Rugrats, The Ren & Stimpy Show) launched in 1991.
Why isn't The Ren & Stimpy Show on this list?
We kept this list to 33 specific shows for comparison purposes, so some classics fans love didn't make the cut this time.
Is The Legend of Korra better than Avatar: The Last Airbender?
Most fans still rank the original higher for its pacing and ensemble, but Korra has a loyal following that argues its political themes and later seasons hold up just as well.
More rankings
Image credits
- Avatar: The Last AirbenderLogo: Viacom International Inc., Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- SpongeBob SquarePantsLogo: Viacom International Inc., Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- RugratsLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Invader ZimLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Rocko's Modern LifeLogo: Nickelodeon, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- The Fairly OddParentsLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Clarissa Explains It AllLogo: Nickelodeon, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Are You Afraid of the Dark?Logo: Wikipedia · Source
- Kenan & KelLogo: Nickelodeon, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Danny PhantomLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- As Told by GingerLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- DougLogo: Saginaw-hitchhiker, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- The Legend of KorraLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Drake & JoshLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- iCarlyLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- The Loud HouseLogo: Viacom International Inc., Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- The Angry BeaversLogo: nickelodeon, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Aaahh!!! Real MonstersLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- The Adventures of Jimmy NeutronLogo: Thecooldude78, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- CatDogLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- All ThatLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- The Amanda ShowLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- The Wild ThornberrysLogo: Viacom International Inc., Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- VictoriousLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Dora the ExplorerLogo: Universal Studios, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Ned's Declassified School Survival GuideLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Henry DangerLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- The ThundermansLogo: Viacom/Nickelodeon, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Zoey 101Logo: Nickelodeon, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) · Source
- Blue's CluesLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Big Time RushLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Back at the BarnyardLogo: Wikipedia · Source
- Sam & CatLogo: Wikipedia · Source