In honor of Nick at Nite's 25th Anniversary...

[benjamoon]

This week, Nick at Nite celebrates its 25th Anniversary as a cable network. In 1985, it launched with just a few shows (Dennis the Menace, Donna Reed Show, Route 66, Turkey Television, National Geographic Explorer, and a movie). Since then it has gone through many different looks and shows

You may remember that in 1995, they aired one episode of every show they ever aired for their 10th anniversary and in 2005, they had a 48 hour weekend marathon on TV Land for their 20th anniversary. It doesn't look like anything will be happening this year, so I want to honor it on here. Some have grown disenfranchised with Nick at Nite but there was a time for many of us, that it was the only home for our favorite classics

So... a couple questions:

- When did you watch Nick at Nite throughout its history?
- What are your favorite shows from the network and what favorites did you discover for the first time on Nick at Nite?
- What are you favorite stunts, marathons, commericals, etc?
- Any other thoughts or thoughts on the state of Nick at Nite today?


Here is a rundown of all the shows aired on N@N and the years they were on:

National Geographic Explorer, 1985-1986
Turkey Television, 1985-1987
Dennis the Menace, 1985-1986, 1989-1990
Route 66, 1985-1987
The Donna Reed Show, 1985-1994
My Three Sons, 1985-1991
Mister Ed, 1986-1993
I Spy, 1986-1988
The Smothers Brothers Show, 1986-1989
The Monkees, 1986-1988, 1997
The Ann Sothern Show, 1987-1990
The Bad News Bears, 1987
Mad Movies with the LA Connection, 1987-1989
Car 54 Where Are You?, 1987-1990
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, 1987-1990
Make Room for Daddy, 1988-1991
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp, 1988-1989
Saturday Night Live, 1988-1991
SCTV, 1988-1990
The Patty Duke Show, 1988-1993
Looney Tunes, 1989-1993
Bewitched, 1989-1991, 1994-2000
Lassie, 1989-1990
On the Television, 1989-1991
Green Acres, 1989-1992
Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, 1990-1993
Fernwood 2 Night, 1990-1993
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1990-1995
Dragnet, 1991-1995
Get Smart, 1991-1994
Mork & Mindy, 1991-1995
Hi Honey I'm Home, 1991-1993
Adventures of Superman, 1991-1995
Dick Van Dyke Show, 1991-2000
F Troop, 1991-1995
Lucy Show, 1992-1996
Mary Tyler Moore Show, 1992-2000
Partridge Family, 1993-1994
Bob Newhart Show, 1993-1998
I Love Lucy, 1994-2001
I Dream of Jeannie, 1994-1997
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, 1994-1997, 1999-2000
White Shadow, 1994-1996
Taxi, 1994-2001
Welcome Back Kotter, 1995-1996
Munsters, 1995-1997
Flipper, 1996
That Girl, 1996 (aired regularly on TV Land)
Rhoda, 1996-1998
Phyllis, 1996-1998
Betty White Show, 1996-1998
Odd Couple, 1996-1998
Happy Days, 1996-2000, 2002-2003 (aired regularly on TV Land during 2nd run)
Newhart, 1997-2001
Wonder Years, 1997-2001
Charlie Brown, 1998 (aired regularly on Nickelodeon)
Rugrats, 1998, 2000 (aired regularly on Nickelodeon)
Brady Bunch, 1998-2003
Laverne & Shirley, 1998-2001
Jeffersons, 1999-2002, 2006 (aired regularly on TV Land in 2006)
WKRP in Cincinnati, 1999-2000
All in the Family, 2000-2004
Beverly Hillbillies, 2000-2001
Gilligan's Island, 2000-2001
Andy Griffith Show, 2000-2001 (aired regularly on TV Land)
Facts of Life, 2000-2001
Three's Company, 2000-2004, 2005, 2006 (aired regularly on TV Land in 2005/2006)
Diff'rent Strokes, 2001-2002
Family Ties, 2001-2003
Cheers, 2001-2004
Kids Say the Darndest Things, 2002-2003, 2005
Cosby Show, 2002-Present
Charles in Charge, 2002-2003
Coach, 2002-2003
Perfect Strangers, 2003
Head of the Class, 2003
Wings, 2003-2005
Sanford and Son, 2003 (aired regularly on TV Land)
Roseanne, 2003-2009
Full House, 2003-2009
Who's the Boss?, 2004-2006
Fatherhood, 2004-2005
Fresh Prince of Bel Air, 2004-2009
Murphy Brown, 2005-2008
Jeff Foxworthy Show, 2005-2006
Hi-Jinks, 2005-2007
Mad About You, 2006-2008
A Different World, 2006-2007
Newsradio, 2006
Designing Women, 2006-2008
Growing Pains, 2007
America's Funniest Home Videos, 2007
Home Improvement, 2007-2009
George Lopez Show, 2007-Present
Family Matters, 2008-Present
The Nanny, 2009-Present
Malcolm in the Middle, 2009-Present
Everybody Hates Chris, 2009-Present
Glenn Martin DDS, 2009-Present

[benjamoon]

To answer my own questions:

When did you watch Nick at Nite throughout its history?
-- I started watching Nick at Nite in late 1994 when I was only 8 years old. My mom used to let me stay up late on Friday nights (till 10:00! haha) and I'd watch "I Dream of Jeannie," "Bewitched," "I Love Lucy," and "Mary Tyler Moore" - I also taped some of their other shows like crazy and still have a few of those on tape, which are great to have. I watched it intensely until 2000 and after that, I started only watching more sporadically which I continue to do today. The combination of them straying from their old ways (not necessarily in show selection but in programming style) and the advent of tv shows on DVD made it less of a necessity for me

What are your favorite shows from the network and what favorites did you discover for the first time on Nick at Nite?
-- Almost all of all-time favorite classic shows were introduced to me on Nick at Nite since I'm too young to have seen them the first time around: Mary Tyler Moore, I Love Lucy, Bewitched, Happy Days, Dick Van Dyke Show, Bob Newhart Show, I Dream of Jeannie, Wonder Years, etc

What are you favorite stunts, marathons, commericals, etc?
-- I really miss how Nick at Nite used to approach itself. They had the catchiest jingles and the most creative marathons/commercials. Some of my favorites including "Very Verys" on Sunday nights, the classic TV countdowns (I still have the whole 1996 one on tape), and the 10 year week event (I also have a lot of that on tape including the special "Those Nick at Nite Promos" which had some classic N@N commercials), and BLOCK PARTY SUMMER. Some of my favorite marathons included Chachinated vs. Dechachinated (Happy Days - 1997), Dueling Darrins (Bewitched - 1998), Lotsa Lucy Week (I Love Lucy/Lucy Show/Here's Lucy/Life with Lucy - 1996)

Any other thoughts or thoughts on the state of Nick at Nite today?
-- I don't think Nick at Nite has a bad schedule today, its consistent and the shows blend well together. I just miss the classic commercials, stunts, etc. They used to be SO creative and that hasn't been seen in over 10 years, it's too bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmRdBlindn8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl9gHrmNoDI

[Retro4Life]

I watched Nick at Nite a lot in the mid to late 90's. Back then it still showed programs from the 60's and 70's, and they still did the very creative promos and commercials that made the whole experience seem "new" and fresh even though you were still watching reruns of shows you'd seem many times before.

I loved the annual New Year's Day "Classic TV Countdown"s they used to run and the crazy marathons on Christmas and other holidays. I also liked the way they'd create video promos highlighting obscure actors or situations that were familiar to classic TV sitcom fans; they'd never do that today, I'd wager.

The demise of Nick at Nite is just another example of how something that starts out very creative with a niche audience always gets homogenized, 'safe' and boring once it gets very successful and tries to appeal to a wider audience. That's usually the time I head out, and this case is no exception.

Great memories of those days, though.

[old grouch]

When did I watch Nick at Nite throughout its history? When it first came out until the early 2000's. I haven't watched it in about six years.

What shows did I first discover on Nick at Nite (and love today)?
'The Donna Reed Show'
'My Three Sons' (B&W episodes)
'Mr. Ed'
'Route 66'

Favorite stunts, etc.
Milkman
How to Be Swell
Block Party Summers

Nick at Nite today

[DSfan]

I started watching Nick at Nite in 1997 and, although not as much as before, still watch some of the shows on there today.

In the late 90s, I remember watching I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch, Bewitched, Bob Newhart, Happy Days, Taxi, then Gilligan's Island. Those were the more 'classic' shows that I primarily watched on Nick at Nite. It's crazy because my uncle has tons of VHS tapes where he just stuck the tape in and pressed record for the entire night and so we have from around 97 to 2001 all of the Block Party Summers of most of those shows. I found one in my basement a couple weeks ago with Newhart, Happy Days, etc -from 1998.

Then 2001, that summer 'un-real-a-thon' wins my award for most annoying Nick at Nite decision ever. I remember watching Diff'rent Strokes for the first time that summer and it, along with all the other shows, had those stupid bubbles of fun-facts appearing every 2 seconds and making an annoying noise when they appeared which took my attention away from the show. If only they could have run them during the commercials or as a ticker like on CNN or something...

Since then, I've watched Family Ties, Kids Say The Darndest Things was the summer sensation of 2002 in my family. We watched it every night at 9 and I think it got really high ratings because TNN added it a couple weeks later to their morning lineup at 9AM, if I'm not mistaken.

Also, a bit of Three's Company. Then Fresh Prince (although I wasn't a fan of their nonstop airing of the show for about 3 years it felt like, or WAS lol), Home Improvement, AFV, and now Family Matters.

Nice idea for a thread and too bad it seems like N@N isn't commemorating such an event as their 25th birthday

[tbswatcher]

My Nick at Nite memories:

When did you watch Nick at Nite throughout its history?

I started watching Nick at Nite in Summer 1998 when I was about 6. I would stay up late every night that summer to watch Bewitched, I Love Lucy, Mary Tyler Moore, Happy Days, Brady Bunch and Wonder Years. Then in the Summer of 2000 I started watching All in the Family, Gilligan's Island and Facts of Life along with the other shows I mentioned. Even once Nick at Nite entered its new era of airing newer shows from the 80s, 90s and 2000s I continued to watch. I would watch shows like Family Ties, Cosby Show, Full House and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Around 2006 I stopped watching but began watching again around Spring 2007 when AFV joined. Then that fall I enjoyed more of their new shows like George Lopez and later Family Matters. Currently I enjoy watching Family Matters, Malcolm in the Middle, George Lopez and Everybody Hates Chris on Nick at Nite.

What favorites did you discover for the first time on Nick at Nite?

All the classics since I'm too young to have watched them years ago when they first aired.

What are you favorite stunts, marathons, commericals, etc?

I like the Summer Marathons they do.

Any other thoughts or thoughts on the state of Nick at Nite today?
I think Nick at Nite is still as good as it used to be its just changing to get younger viewers.

[MickeyMac]

I was there from the beginning and loved it as I was growing up. Nick at Nite helped me through some rough times, and I have fond memories when they were showing the classics (shows from the 50's and 60's). I loved the adds, commericals and promos they did back then.


Once they abandoned their classic format they turned to sh*t. Now you couldnt pay me to watch Nick at Nite.

[Mr. Television]

The problem with N@N is not the shows because they are all pretty good but the fact that they are not the classic shows they used to air. Most of their current shows have been on other channels in recent years and some still are. In the Old days they used to air rare shows that you couldn't see anywhere else. That made them special. Now they are just one of the pack.

[retrofan05]

Hi, I'm kind of new to the forums and this post caught my eye because I've been a fan of Nick at Nite for years.

- When did you watch Nick at Nite throughout its history?

I started watching Nick at Nite in the mid 90's. I can't say for sure, but I'm thinking it was probably around '94. I would have been 8.

- What are your favorite shows from the network and what favorites did you discover for the first time on Nick at Nite?

I absolutely loved Nick at Nite in the 90's when I was a kid! I discovered shows such as I Love lucy, The Munsters, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Lucy Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Taxi. I Love Lucy and Bewitched continue to be my favorite classic shows to this day. I don't think I ever really stopped watching Nick at Nite. I may not have been as frequent of a viewer always, but I never stopped watching. Through the years some of the shows I have enjoyed most would be: I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Bewitched, Happy Days, The Facts of Life, The Brady Bunch, The Jeffersons, All in the Family, Cheers, and Three's Company. I enjoy Nick at Nite today because they air shows that I grew up watching. My favorites are Family Matters and The Nanny.

- What are you favorite stunts, marathons, commericals, etc?

Block Party Summer is probably the best memory I have of early Nick at Nite. I remember Bewitched-be Wednesdays, Lucy Tuesdays, and that's about it. If anyone remembers the shows from the other days, I'd love to hear them. The commercials in the 90's were great too. The bluesy, 50's inspired jingles were comforting at a young age and just fun to listen to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl9gHrmNoDI

- Any other thoughts or thoughts on the state of Nick at Nite today?

While I do miss the classic shows sometimes, I can always turn to DVDs or TV Land. Times change and unfortunately we can't expect TV to stay frozen in the past. If we want Nick at Nite to survive, we have to expect that their programming is going to have to change and evolve.

[Mee_Too]

Originally Posted by MickeyMac

I was there from the beginning and loved it as I was growing up. Nick at Nite helped me through some rough times, and I have fond memories when they were showing the classics (shows from the 50's and 60's). I loved the adds, commericals and promos they did back then.


Once they abandoned their classic format they turned to sh*t. Now you couldnt pay me to watch Nick at Nite.

This post pretty well sums up my experiences and opinion of Nick at Nite.

[JT]

- When did you watch Nick at Nite throughout its history?
Regularly from the early/mid-90s until the early/mid-00s. I've watched every now and then since then.

- What are your favorite shows from the network and what favorites did you discover for the first time on Nick at Nite?
Up until about 2001, most shows on NAN were completely new to me. I grew up on I Love Lucy, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Happy Days, Taxi, The Munsters, That Girl, Rhoda, The Odd Couple, and others from that era, and those are still favorites that I like to watch when I get a chance. I'd already seen most of the later shows like The Brady Bunch, All in the Family, Gilligan's Island, Three's Company, Diff'rent Strokes and The Beverly Hillbillies on local stations and TBS, but there was still stuff like The Facts of Life, Laverne & Shirley, Newhart, The Jeffersons, The Wonder Years, Cheers and WKRP that I saw for the first time on NAN. The last group of shows that I saw for the first time on NAN were Head of the Class and Perfect Strangers for the Revenge of the 80s marathon they did.

- What are you favorite stunts, marathons, commericals, etc?
The Casey Kasem countdowns were always great. I also liked their black history month marathons because they dug out stuff like Julia and Room 222 for those. Basically any marathon that included shows from TV Land or just shows that weren't shown anywhere else. I remember a Norman Lear-themed marathon with Maude included. I loved Marathons to the Millennium, where they replayed some of their best week-long marathons from the past. That was the first time I saw Welcome Back Kotter. And of course, Block Party Summer was requisite viewing. It was unheard of to have one show on all night long then.

- Any other thoughts or thoughts on the state of Nick at Nite today?
I don't think it's as bad as some people make it out to be. They can't be expected to play stuff from the 50s-70s anymore. When they first came on in '85 and throughout the 80s and the 90s, they were mostly playing shows that were 20-30 years old, and though their current shows are a little more recent than that, I think they have a consistent vision for right now. I wish there was more variety through the night, more than just family sitcoms, but they keep posting ratings records, so they must be doing something right. They got me hooked on television in general, so I owe them that. I still feel a great deal of comfort in watching the shows they introduced me to. I do think that they've lost a whole lot of their creativity, and I think that's just something that's taken over all of pop culture. There's a need to be subdued and low-key about everything, and those great commercials and stunts and marathons that they came up with 15-20 years ago would be just too corny for the current people in charge.

[sunshinefizzy]

I started to watch N&N when i was 8 or 9. It all started with Brady Bunch and I was addicted. As time went by, I grew to like Wonder Years, Facts of Life, Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, Cheers, and Cosby Show. A funny thing is I couldn't stand Three's Company when it first started airing back in 2000 when I was ten. I didn't become a fan until a year after John's death and I took it heard when he passed. This was back in 2005.

I remember Block Party Summer and Camp Nick at Nite. Damn, they need to bring it back.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by benjamoon

This week, Nick at Nite celebrates its 25th Anniversary as a cable network. In 1985, it launched with just a few shows (Dennis the Menace, Donna Reed Show, Route 66, Turkey Television, National Geographic Explorer, and a movie). Since then it has gone through many different looks and shows

You may remember that in 1995, they aired one episode of every show they ever aired for their 10th anniversary and in 2005, they had a 48 hour weekend marathon on TV Land for their 20th anniversary. It doesn't look like anything will be happening this year, so I want to honor it on here. Some have grown disenfranchised with Nick at Nite but there was a time for many of us, that it was the only home for our favorite classics

So... a couple questions:

- When did you watch Nick at Nite throughout its history?
- What are your favorite shows from the network and what favorites did you discover for the first time on Nick at Nite?
- What are you favorite stunts, marathons, commericals, etc?
- Any other thoughts or thoughts on the state of Nick at Nite today?


Here is a rundown of all the shows aired on N@N and the years they were on:

National Geographic Explorer, 1985-1986
Turkey Television, 1985-1987
Dennis the Menace, 1985-1986, 1989-1990
Route 66, 1985-1987
The Donna Reed Show, 1985-1994
My Three Sons, 1985-1991
Mister Ed, 1986-1993
I Spy, 1986-1988
The Smothers Brothers Show, 1986-1989
The Monkees, 1986-1988, 1997
The Ann Sothern Show, 1987-1990
The Bad News Bears, 1987
Mad Movies with the LA Connection, 1987-1989
Car 54 Where Are You?, 1987-1990
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, 1987-1990
Make Room for Daddy, 1988-1991
Lancelot Link Secret Chimp, 1988-1989
Saturday Night Live, 1988-1991
SCTV, 1988-1990
The Patty Duke Show, 1988-1993
Looney Tunes, 1989-1993
Bewitched, 1989-1991, 1994-2000
Lassie, 1989-1990
On the Television, 1989-1991
Green Acres, 1989-1992
Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, 1990-1993
Fernwood 2 Night, 1990-1993
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1990-1995
Dragnet, 1991-1995
Get Smart, 1991-1994
Mork & Mindy, 1991-1995
Hi Honey I'm Home, 1991-1993
Adventures of Superman, 1991-1995
Dick Van Dyke Show, 1991-2000
F Troop, 1991-1995
Lucy Show, 1992-1996
Mary Tyler Moore Show, 1992-2000
Partridge Family, 1993-1994
Bob Newhart Show, 1993-1998
I Love Lucy, 1994-2001
I Dream of Jeannie, 1994-1997
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, 1994-1997, 1999-2000
White Shadow, 1994-1996
Taxi, 1994-2001
Welcome Back Kotter, 1995-1996
Munsters, 1995-1997
Flipper, 1996
That Girl, 1996 (aired regularly on TV Land)
Rhoda, 1996-1998
Phyllis, 1996-1998
Betty White Show, 1996-1998
Odd Couple, 1996-1998
Happy Days, 1996-2000, 2002-2003 (aired regularly on TV Land during 2nd run)
Newhart, 1997-2001
Wonder Years, 1997-2001
Charlie Brown, 1998 (aired regularly on Nickelodeon)
Rugrats, 1998, 2000 (aired regularly on Nickelodeon)
Brady Bunch, 1998-2003
Laverne & Shirley, 1998-2001
Jeffersons, 1999-2002, 2006 (aired regularly on TV Land in 2006)
WKRP in Cincinnati, 1999-2000
All in the Family, 2000-2004
Beverly Hillbillies, 2000-2001
Gilligan's Island, 2000-2001
Andy Griffith Show, 2000-2001 (aired regularly on TV Land)
Facts of Life, 2000-2001
Three's Company, 2000-2004, 2005, 2006 (aired regularly on TV Land in 2005/2006)
Diff'rent Strokes, 2001-2002
Family Ties, 2001-2003
Cheers, 2001-2004
Kids Say the Darndest Things, 2002-2003, 2005
Cosby Show, 2002-Present
Charles in Charge, 2002-2003
Coach, 2002-2003
Perfect Strangers, 2003
Head of the Class, 2003
Wings, 2003-2005
Sanford and Son, 2003 (aired regularly on TV Land)
Roseanne, 2003-2009
Full House, 2003-2009
Who's the Boss?, 2004-2006
Fatherhood, 2004-2005
Fresh Prince of Bel Air, 2004-2009
Murphy Brown, 2005-2008
Jeff Foxworthy Show, 2005-2006
Hi-Jinks, 2005-2007
Mad About You, 2006-2008
A Different World, 2006-2007
Newsradio, 2006
Designing Women, 2006-2008
Growing Pains, 2007
America's Funniest Home Videos, 2007
Home Improvement, 2007-2009
George Lopez Show, 2007-Present
Family Matters, 2008-Present
The Nanny, 2009-Present
Malcolm in the Middle, 2009-Present
Everybody Hates Chris, 2009-Present
Glenn Martin DDS, 2009-Present

My favorite Time period was from 1999-2002.

[DSfan]

I just wanted to add that one of the most special things about Nick at Nite back in the day was that they were the trendsetter for the TV marathon. Think about it, most sitcoms maybe aired 2 episodes in a row on TBS and the like but it was extremely uncommon for marathons of shows to be airing for 6 or so hours at a time. That was what their sort of charm was to viewers, in my opinion.

Today, CSI on Spike and Golden Girls on Hallmark air in marathons practically everyday just in normal timeslots. 3 hrs of a show in a row today is considered a station's programming but in the late 90s, that constituted a special marathon or event.

Nick at Nite was just that - a special network whose marathons constituted nightly special events for its viewers.

[joan davis fan]

In my collection I actually have the first night of Nick@Nite on tape.

The first commercial on Nick@Nite was for the Pee Wee Herman movie "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" followed by a spot for the long long defunct Kelloggs Cereal that tasted like oranges...OJ's !!!