Many people have their favorite nostalgic TV show that was their go-to as a kid. It’s challenging to forget episodes from comedies like Spongebob Squarepants or wholesome programming like Blue’s Clues. The strange creativity of these adventures made them memorable, but not every weird series is remembered as a classic.
Despite their odd plot lines and universes, other shows rapidly faded from fans’ memories. They were either too obscure compared to their rival series or too bizarre to leave a long-lasting impact. In some cases, like with Nickelodeon’s CatDog or Noggin’s Oobi, reminiscing about these wacky characters can be downright jarring. But odds are, audiences have long forgotten that these kids’ shows even existed.
10 Dog with a Blog
Dog with a Blog was a Disney Channel series about as nonsensical as its title suggests. The show revolved around a California family who discovered Stan, their new dog, could read, write, and talk. The comedy was innocent enough, but even though it ran for three seasons, it quickly faded into oblivion.
The primary reason Dog with a Blog couldn’t leave its mark on audiences was the bizarre yet surprisingly uncreative execution of its main concept. With all the possibilities Avery, Tyler, and Chloe could explore with a talking dog, it seemed like a waste to have Stan focus on writing a blog for other talking animals. Even having the kids keep this secret from their parents wasn’t engaging enough to make this weird series worth remembering.
9 LazyTown
Brightly dressed people and unsettling puppets made up the loony world of LazyTown, but this colorful Nickelodeon series still couldn’t stand out as a memorable network classic. After 8-year-old Stephanie moved to LazyTown, she was inspired to help Sportacus’ mission to get residents off their couches and enjoy the outdoors. Along the way, they battled Robby Rotten, who wanted LazyTown’s civilians to stay unmotivated and sluggish.
While LazyTown’s eccentric set pieces and costumes were unique, its conflicting message was too strange and off-putting. The show encouraged the participation of outdoor activities, while simultaneously enticing its audience to stay inside and continue watching its programming. Eventually, the series lost its whimsical charm and faded from viewers’ memories.
8 Rolie Polie Olie
Disney Channel’s Rolie Polie Olie experimented with 3D animation in 1998 by crafting characters with abstract shapes. The story centered on a robot family in the suburbs who engaged with their misshapen world in every episode. While the series was colorful and thoughtful, its outdated animation and unsettling style also made it easy to overlook.
Occasionally there would be a particularly creative episode like Season 5, Episode 8 “The Big Drip,” when a leaky faucet turned the Polie’s house into an indoor pool. Although Rolie Polie Olie had these brief sparks of creativity, its overall bland plot combined with its unusual character designs made it too peculiar to be recognizable years later.
7 Bear in the Big Blue House
The art of puppetry in TV is already challenging, but Bear in the Big Blue House on Playhouse Disney used its mastery of practical effects to create phenomenally weird and wacky illusions. But despite having out-of-the-box characters like Tutter the Mouse and Luna the Moon, this family series was largely forgotten after its four-season run.
Bear’s big blue house was filled with many wonders, including Shadow, a mischievous outline of a girl who would sneak up on the other house members. While the costumes of Bear and his counterparts were detailed and visually pleasing, it was admittedly difficult to derive any message from most of its episodes. Other than its inventive characters, the show didn’t offer much in terms of plot, ultimately demolishing Bear in the Big Blue House’s existence in fans’ minds.
6 Mr. Meaty
Puppets in children’s shows are usually colorful, cute, and playful, but those featured in Mr. Meaty were something straight out of a nightmare. With hideous designs and unpleasant personalities, protagonists Josh and Parker were truly visions that viewers were fortunate to forget.
Nothing about this Nickelodeon show is visually appealing. From the unflattering swollen lips and eyes of the characters to the bland restaurant setting at the Scaunchboro Mall, Mr. Meaty’s look was too unusual to be enjoyable. While the designs of the puppets themselves were impressive, the show consistently cooked up nightmare fuel in every episode. Its overpoweringly grotesque style effectively wiped the show from viewers’ radars, and probably for the best.
5 CatDog
Cats and dogs generally don’t mix, but in Nickelodeon’s CatDog, these two animals got a little too close for comfort. Especially considering the main characters were conjoined from the waist down. In this atypical animated series, Cat and Dog had to navigate sharing a body despite their starkly conflicting personalities.
The disturbing imagery of the characters melded together was burned into audiences’ minds during the show’s four-season run, but CatDog’s designs were ultimately too off-putting to be remembered after its cancelation. Despite the talents of voice actors Jim Cummings and Tom Kenny, the only thing viewers could recall about this forgettable show was the unpleasant question of how CatDog used the bathroom.
4 Yo Gabba Gabba!
Vibrant costumes and family shows go hand in hand, but Nick Jr.’s Yo Gabba Gabba! might have taken that concept too far. With most of its characters consisting of humans in Styrofoam monster costumes, the series was overly odd yet not very impressionable.
The intention of Yo Gabba Gabba! was to encourage little kids to sing and dance with their friends and family. But since the human actors were trapped inside the stiff shells of characters like Broobee and Foofa, this ironically made it very difficult for them to move. The result was a show that felt more like an awkward eyesore than a festive dance party. The limited movements and expressions of the characters were its detriment, as the series is rarely talked about today.
3 Higglytown Heroes
Children’s shows featuring popular toys have been done countless times, but Higglytown Heroes made the unexpected choice to base its characters on Russian nesting dolls. The CGI-animated series on Playhouse Disney originally captivated kids with its bouncy characters and whimsical songs, but those same characters didn’t leave a long-lasting impact.
Although Higglytown Heroes had an array of musical numbers in every episode, its predominantly bland tunes often went in one ear and out the other. Not to mention the ever-present smiles of protagonists Eubie, Wayne, Twinkle, Kip, and their squirrel Fran could get pretty unsettling. This cartoon musical may have been entertaining for younger kids, but it was guaranteed to be forgotten once they grew up.
2 Oobi
Sticking a pair of googly eyes onto someone’s hand may be amusing for a minute, but it’s less so when it’s the entire premise of a TV series. Noggin’s Oobi used exactly this idea to create a world of characters made from human hands. The entire show was exactly as weird as it sounds.
Most of the episodes revolved around the hands interacting with each other, including eating literal finger food together. Perhaps the most abnormal installment was Season 2, Episode 20 “New Friend!” when Oobi meets Freida the Foot. Despite the show’s creativity with its low-budget production, Oobi’s use of human hands and feet was so strange it isn’t surprising that audiences eventually blocked it from their memories.
1 Boobah
Teletubbies was somewhat of a colorful fever dream for those who grew up with it, but its creator, Ragdoll Productions, concocted an even freakier series that few people remember. Boohbahs followed five pudgy, bug-eyed creatures whose only form of communication was a combination of clicks and flatulent noises.
Most of the episodes were nonsensical, as they featured the Boohbahs running around, farting, and showing off their squishy fur. With little room for character development, it made sense Boohbahs only ran for one season. It’s even less of a surprise when children eagerly left the memories of these creepy, magical characters behind in favor of more relatable content.
0 Comments