How is Nick Doing?

[Spark Of Spirit]

No matter what it is now, SpongeBob does stick out in modern Nickelodeon, because it's still rooted in 90s Nick. There's a two decade gap in terms of style between SpongeBob and everything else on the network.

Which is ironic because its an image they try desperately to separate themselves from, yet they still unconsciously embrace it by keeping all their eggs in the Spongebob basket- a show that epitomizes '90s Nick humor.

[talonmalon333]

What were peak SpongeBob's ratings like, compared to peak Rugrats ratings?

[Spark Of Spirit]

What were peak SpongeBob's ratings like, compared to peak Rugrats ratings?

Both shows took off around the same point, post-peak, but I would probably say that Spongebob has had the stronger cultural impact of the two.

That said, I don't know how this new Spongebob movie is going to do. If they would have done it earlier I think it might have had more of a chance. If it bombs, it might end up doing to the show what Rugrats Go Wild did to the shows it was based on.

[talonmalon333]

I seem to remember the first SpongeBob movie making less money than people expected it to. In fact, I think the Rugrats movie made more, even though the Rugrats movie was quickly accepted as garbage while people agreed that the SpongeBob movie was enjoyable.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I think the Spongebob movie has had better legs, especially on home releases and television. The Rugrats movies didn't really seem to do much outside of the theater, even if I thought they were fairly okay.

[Avaitor]

Ratingswise? I dunno.

But I do know that Rugrats was pretty much the thing that brought the channel to icon status in a way that YCDTOTV, Double Dare, Ren & Stimpy, etc weren't able to, and that the All Growed Up special is still the highest rated broadcast in the network's history. Meanwhile, SpongeBob did better with an older audience (adults did watch Rugrats, especially around the time that they put repeats on at primetime, but I think most of the ratings from that came from parents who'd watch with their kids) and has obviously been around for longer, so it's doing some things that Rugrats never did.

I think the first 2 Rugrats movies actually did do better than the SpongeBob one, and there was a big deal about how the first one was the first non-Disney animated movie to make $100 mill. But I wouldn't be surprised if the SpongeBob movie has sold better.

[gunswordfist]

I suck at this lol

[talonmalon333]

I think the Spongebob movie has had better legs, especially on home releases and television. The Rugrats movies didn't really seem to do much outside of the theater, even if I thought they were fairly okay.

I do actually remember, after the SpongeBob movie left theaters, randomly seeing that it was airing on Nickelodeon at unexpected times. On the other hand, I really don't remember the Rugrats movie airing much on television.

[Avaitor]

Yeah, they didn't air it much. But I also don't remember too many movies airing on Nick back in the day, actually.

And I have to admit, I never saw Go Wild until they showed all of the movies in a row after that Nicktoons Thanksgiving weekend event (remember those?) a couple of years ago, when they showed episodes of every Nicktoon up to that point. I was like, 16 at that point, but I could tell that I probably wouldn't have liked it if I saw the movie when it originally came out.

[gunswordfist]

No matter what it is now, SpongeBob does stick out in modern Nickelodeon, because it's still rooted in 90s Nick. There's a two decade gap in terms of style between SpongeBob and everything else on the network.

Technically 3 decades (90s, 00,..10s)

[gunswordfist]

I wonder what will happen if the next SpongeBob movie tanks.

*soaring bomb noise*

[Avaitor]

If it bombed, you'd think that the show would be over.

But at the same time, what does Nick have to replace it?

[gunswordfist]

Nothing. I'm saying Nick would be dead if the movie bombs. Ok, I don't really think that but it probably would be bad for them if it did.

[Spark Of Spirit]

If it bombed, you'd think that the show would be over.

But at the same time, what does Nick have to replace it?

Like gunswordfist said, if it bombs, that could simply be it for Nick in the long run. If the kids are over Spongebob, then Nick is entirely clueless and is completely unprepared for what this could mean for them.

When Rugrats fell off, they built up Spongebob which easily slid in to catch the network from any damage. If Spongebob falls, what will be there to catch them this time?

[talonmalon333]

Yeah, they didn't air it much. But I also don't remember too many movies airing on Nick back in the day, actually.

And I have to admit, I never saw Go Wild until they showed all of the movies in a row after that Nicktoons Thanksgiving weekend event (remember those?) a couple of years ago, when they showed episodes of every Nicktoon up to that point. I was like, 16 at that point, but I could tell that I probably wouldn't have liked it if I saw the movie when it originally came out.

I saw the first two movies in theaters (when the first mvie came out, I was a major fan, when the second movie came out, I still liked the series but I wasn't watching it much anymore). I didn't see Rugrats Go Wild and I still haven't.

Also, apparently Rugrats was at the absolute peak of its popularity when the first movie came out, while SpongeBob was in a pretty big slump when its movie came out, which might explain why the Rugrats movie did better in theaters.