02.06
It’s no secret that Nickelodeon isn’t exactly the most consistent when it comes to their shows’ releases. And with there being more options than ever for just exactly how one procures such series, it’s about time someone actually took the time to keep track of just exactly what series are available and how. This entry will be focusing primarily on the first 24 Nicktoons and their availability in America through 3 sources: DVDs, amazon.com / iTunes downloads (the two essentially overlap when it comes to downloadable media unless stated otherwise), and Netflix.
Within the last ten years, Nickelodeon initially began releasing their Nicktoons to DVD in simple episode compilations, collecting episodes not by chronological season order, but by a general category (ie: friendship, holiday specials, or a particular character in the series). And with exception to Nick’s current popular series Spongebob Squarepants and Avatar: The Last Airbender, the only other series to be available in their entirety on DVD were The Ren and Stimpy Show and Invader Zim, due to having separate distribution companies than other Nicktoons.
It was not until just recently (2008) that Nickelodeon began releasing season sets of their other titles. However, rather than mainstream releases, Nickelodeon has instead chosen to release some of their titles via amazon.com’s “burn on demand” program, which essentially burns the episodes onto discs as they are ordered by the customers. While this has led to some series finally becoming available in their entirety, other series considered to be more “controversial” have only received partial releases, Nickelodeon providing “Best of” releases as an excuse to exclude the undesired episodes. Furthermore, besides the severe lack of any special features in these releases, another con is that the costs for each set (containing an average of 13-20 episodes each) range from $25-$40—much more than anticipated for such lacking releases. Combined with the fact that Nickelodeon has done little to no work in hyping these releases, the company has made it virtually impossible for anyone outside the die-hard fanbase to even be aware of such releases in the first place.
Also jumping on the bandwagon of video downloads, Nickelodeon has made a small amount of their titles available through sources such as amazon.com’s video download service as well as iTunes. For the most part, releases have been the same between these downloads and the amazon.com “burn on demand” releases, the only difference being their price. Considering how the only difference between the releases is the fact that the “burn on demand” DVDs are tangible copies, it makes much more sense for consumers to purchase the cheaper downloadable alternatives.
But if that wasn’t enough, Nickelodeon has also made a majority of their Nicktoons available through the digital rental service of Netflix. Unlike the DVD and digital releases above, Netflix contains complete season releases of Nicktoons that would not have complete season releases otherwise. For example, Rugrats, available only until its second season on amazon.com is available on Netflix up until its fourth season (a full season past what most fans consider the peak of the series). While it remains unknown as to why Netflix’s releases are so vastly different from its other releases, the change is gladly appreciated.
As should be expected by now, a simple chart explaining which series has which type of release would not suffice to fully explain the nonsense that makes up Nickelodeon’s Nicktoons releases. That said, I’ve done my best to make a list of the first 24 Nicktoons, their current availability, and any minor yet excruciatingly crucial changes for each release.
·Doug (8/11/91-12/16/94; 4 seasons)
DVD: Season sets available only through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option. Season 4 is missing the episodes “Doug’s Bum Rap” and “Doug’s Babysitter” due to what can only be described as simple irresponsibility and thus has been given the release title of “Best of Season 4” rather than simply “Season 4.”
amazon/iTunes download: Seasons 1-3 readily available; episodes are also available under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections
Netflix: No episodes available.
·Rugrats (8/11/91-6/8/04; 9 seasons)
DVD: Seasons 1 and 2 available only through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option. Various specials, collections and the movies have also been released as individual DVDs.
amazon/iTunes download: Random episodes (primarily from the first 4 seasons) are available under “Best of” volumes as well as character specific (ie: “Best of Tommy,” “Best of Chuckie”) episodes and under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: Seasons 1-4 readily available
·The Ren & Stimpy Show (8/11/91-11/14/96; 5 seasons)
DVD: Seasons 1-5 plus the show’s follow-up series is available in 4 box sets. However, later releases of the sets have removed what have been considered the “banned” episodes, decreasing the episode’s complete availability significantly.
amazon/iTunes download: Due to its “controversial” episodes, the series is only available in this format in “Best of” releases.
Netflix: The first 36 episodes are available in 3 volumes, more than likely containing the edited versions of the episodes currently available on amazon/iTunes download.
·Rocko’s Modern Life (9/18/93-11/24/96; 4 seasons)
DVD: 3 “volume” releases are available, each containing 12 episodes
amazon/iTunes download: 3 “Best of” releases are available, containing the same episodes from the DVD volumes. Other episodes can be found under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: Season 1 in its entirety is readily available.
·Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (10/29/94-12/6/97; 4 seasons)
DVD: All seasons are readily available through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option.
amazon/iTunes download: All seasons readily available
Netflix: Seasons 1-3 readily available.
·KaBlam! (10/7/96-1/15/2000; 4 seasons)
No episodes available in any format.
·Hey Arnold! (10/7/96-6/8/04; 5 seasons)
DVD: While Seasons 1-5 were initially available through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option, as of late, season 3 has been listed as “currently unavailable.”
amazon/iTunes download: While listings on iTunes show the first 3 seasons readily available, the releases actually group together 13 episodes at a time, calling them “seasons.” With exception to the removal of the Christmas special (moved to, the second season) the listing for season 1 does have the first 13 episodes in order. The following two seasons, however, begin to release the episodes out of order, causing further inconsistencies with the “burn on demand” DVDs. Other episodes can be found under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: Netflix has followed the same numbering system as amazon/iTunes, claiming to have the first 3 seasons available (66 episodes), but actually having the first 39 episodes available split into three 13-episode sets.
·The Angry Beavers (4/19/97-11/11/01; 4 seasons)
DVD: Season 1 is available through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option while seasons 2 and 3 are only available as “best of” releases.
amazon/iTunes download: Random episodes are available under “Best of” volumes as well as under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: The first 49 episodes (seasons 1-3) are available, though are collected differently, with the first 25 episodes listed under season 1 and the following 24 episodes listed under season 2.
·Oh Yeah! Cartoons (7/17/98-5/28/01; 3 seasons)
No episodes available in any format.
·CatDog (9/1/98-8/11/04; 4 seasons)
DVD: Seasons 1-3 are available through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option, with Season 2 split into two separate volumes.
amazon/iTunes download: All episodes are available in season sets, with the season 4 episodes combined with the season 3 release. Other episodes can be found under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: No episodes available.
·The Wild Thornberrys (9/1/98-6/11/04; 5 seasons)
DVD: All seasons are available through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option, with Season 2 split into two volumes and Season 3 split into three volumes.
amazon/iTunes download: Random episodes are available under “Best of” volumes as well as under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: No episodes available.
·Spongebob SquarePants (5/1/99-present; 7 seasons as of late)
DVD: Widely distributed season sets have been keeping up with the series run so far, with seasons 4 onwards being split into two volumes each. Special episodes as well as “Category Specific” (ie: friendship themed, holiday themed) episodes have also received individual DVD releases.
amazon/iTunes download: Complete season sets up until the latest season (7) are available alongside character specific releases.
Netflix: Seasons 1-3 available for instant viewing, with DVD releases of the later seasons also available.
·Rocket Power (8/16/99-6/18/04; 3 seasons)
DVD: Special episode “Island of the Menehune” released in 2004 is the only available part of the series in DVD format at this time. However, other special episodes have been released at that time and have gone out of print since then.
amazon/iTunes download: Random episodes are available under “Best of” volumes as well as under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: No episodes available.
·Pelswick (10/2/00-11/15/02; 2 seasons)
DVD: No episodes available.
amazon/iTunes download: While iTunes does not carry the episodes, amazon.com’s own video download service carries the complete series, split up by season.
Netflix: No episodes available.
·As Told by Ginger (10/25/00-11/19/06; 3 seasons)
DVD: Specials “Far from Home” and “Wedding Frame” are available in individual releases from 2004.
amazon/iTunes download: The complete first season was available for a time on iTunes, but as of late the only episodes from the series are available under Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: No episodes available.
·The Fairly OddParents (3/30/01-present; 7 seasons as of late)
DVD: Seasons 1, 2 and 6 Vol. 1 are available through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option. Various specials and collections have also been released as individual DVDs in the early 2000s.
amazon/iTunes download: Complete season sets up until the latest season (7) are available alongside Nickelodeon’s general “Nick Rewind” collections.
Netflix: The first 40 episodes (technically seasons 1-3, but labeled as seasons 1 and 2) are available for instant viewing, with DVD releases of the later seasons also available.
·Invader Zim (3/30/01-8/19/06; 2 seasons + unaired episodes)
DVD: The complete series was released in 3 volumes with a complete collection following soon after in the early 2000s. Recently, the series has been re-released in two season sets via amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option, though lack the special features contained in the previous release.
amazon/iTunes download: Only the aired episodes are readily available, split into 3 volumes.
Netflix: Only the aired episodes are readily available, under the release title of “Volume 1.”
Action League Now!: The Series (1/1/02-12/31/02; 1 season)
No episodes available in any format.
·ChalkZone (3/22/02-11/21/09;
DVD: No episodes available.
amazon/iTunes download: Only the Christmas Special “When Santas Collide” is available through iTunes under Nickelodeon’s 2007 Holiday Collection.
Netflix: No episodes available.
·The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (7/20/02-11/25/06; 3 seasons)
DVD: “Best of” collections for Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are available through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option. Various specials and collections have also been released as individual DVDs in the early 2000s.
amazon/iTunes download: With exception to “When Pants Attack from season 1, all 3 seasons are readily available alongside a character specific Sheen release.
Netflix: Seasons 1 and 2 are available, organized in the same fashion as the amazon/iTunes releases.
·All Grown Up! (4/12/03-8/17/08; 5 seasons)
DVD: Various specials and collections have been released as individual DVDs in the early 2000s.
amazon/iTunes download: Seasons 1 and 2 (with exception to “Runaraound Susie”) are available. The Christmas Special “The Finster Who Stole Christmas” is available through iTunes under Nickelodeon’s 2006 Holiday Collection.
Netflix: Seasons 1 and 2 are available, organized in the same fashion as the amazon/iTunes releases.
·My Life as a Teenage Robot (8/1/03-5/2/09; 3 seasons)
DVD: No episodes available.
amazon/iTunes download: Season 1 is readily available. The Christmas Special “A Robot for all Seasons” is available through iTunes under Nickelodeon’s 2007 Holiday Collection.
Netflix: No episodes available.
·Danny Phantom (4/3/04-8/24/07; 3 seasons)
DVD: All seasons are available through amazon.com’s “burn on demand” option.
amazon/iTunes download: All seasons readily available.
Netflix: All seasons readily available.
·Avatar: The Last Airbender (2/21/05-7/19/08; 3 seasons)
DVD: Initially released in ordered volume releases followed up with complete season (referred to as “Books”) box sets.
amazon/iTunes download: All seasons readily available.
Netflix: All seasons readily available.
Originally posted on Saturday, January 1, 2011.