Board 8 > The 100 Dumbest Events In Children's Television History

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yep, another top 100 project which hopefully I'll be able to finish. This time, it's a (mostly) objective ranking of what I think are the 100 dumbest events in the history of American children's television.

This project is inspired by a book I learned about on TVTropes:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/WhatWereTheyThinkingThe100DumbestEventsInTelevisionHistory

The idea for my list came when I was thinking about what moments in the last 20 years (since the book was published) would make the list if the book was updated for 2023, and it evolved into my own ideas for a list based exclusively on children's television, which has had its own share of dumb events over the years.

I'll hopefully be starting this list later this week, maybe as soon as tomorrow! I still have a few more spots to fill, so while I do a bit more research, feel free to discuss what moments you think might make the list. I'll lay down a few ground rules I tried to mostly follow:

-As mentioned before, this will be an American-centric list, as I'm too lazy to research all the dumb children's television events from around the world. Therefore, potential top-10 worthy moments like the Pokemon seizure incident, Jimmy Savile getting away with everything he got away with, and the Xuza Park fire won't be on this list. However, shows that originated overseas but air on American television are fair game, as long as the dumb event had something to do with the show's American airing (therefore, a bad foreign show coming to America could make the list, but a controversy caused by a foreign show exclusively in that show's country of origin would not make the list).

-It involves children's television only, so general audience shows, even if their audience is mostly children, won't count. Therefore, the Flintstones Winston commercial or anything having to do with shows like Full House or Boy Meets World wouldn't make the list. I bend this rule a couple times for certain reasons, however.

-It involves TELEVISION, so events like Janet Waldo being recast for the Jetsons movie or the Jem live action movie producers using clips of the cartoon's fandom to promote their crappy movie also don't count.

So... those are the guidelines for the list! Hopefully at least a few people here enjoy reading it once I start posting it.

This sounds intriguing. Im excited to see what youll put on the list, especially since its 100 things.

Tag, hoping for one of the entries to just be a vague gesture at the entire second half of Star vs. The Forces of Evil.

That time the Tiny Toons get drunk and die in a car accident has got to be in the top 10

Since behind the scenes screw-ups were part of the original list, I hope to see WB-Discovery's recent tax write-offs and cancelations on there.

Tag

I have no idea what to expect but this should be an entertaining list.

Very interested in this! There have been some cancelations I would certainly expect to see here.

NBIceman posted...

Tag, hoping for one of the entries to just be a vague gesture at the entire second half of Star vs. The Forces of Evil.

Hey now.

It's like the last....2/5ths.

Tag.

I am intrigued.

Tagging this baby

Tag

I'm thinking we could see the Spongebob panty raid, and, if it's considered eligible, the time Handy Manny was signal-hijacked with porn.

no idea what to expect but tag

This list sounds chaotic and hard to predict.

Tag.

Tag

I'm curious

Almost guessed that killing off Optimus Prime would be high, but since that was a movie I suppose it doesn't count

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Almost guessed that killing off Optimus Prime would be high, but since that was a movie I suppose it doesn't count

I was actually thinking the same thing since it did technically have an effect on season 3 and 4 but the actual event happened in the movie so seems like a bit of a gray area and was wondering if it'd be included.

I was also gonna guess introduction of Dill in Rugrats but that also happened in a movie.

Tag

#1 should be the obsession with taking shows with periphery demographics, cancelling them, then re-releasing them as babier/chibier/simpler/stupider/cheaper reboots, of which there is many, many examples.

Thanks so much for the positive response to this idea, hopefully I can make a list that lives up to it!

And now, get ready for tales of the most short-sighted meddling executives, showrunners who went totally off the rails, critics with the worst takes you'll ever see, and fans who ruined it for everybody. Without any further ado, let the countdown begin!

-

#100: The Owl House Gets Canceled For "Not Fitting The Disney Brand"

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/1/3/AAAG8cAAEnY5.jpg
Remember, somewhere at Disney there's a guy who's solely responsible for us not getting to see Eda in a swimsuit.

The Owl House proved to be a surprise hit when it launched on The Disney Channel in early 2020, just before COVID-19 took over the world. With its mix of horror and comedy, its fun, quirky characters, and its bold exploration of LGBTQ+ themes, it earned millions of fans all over the world, and seemed destined to become an all-time Disney Channel animation classic. It got renewed for a second season a few months later, but when it came time to re-up for season three, fans noticed that this third and final season would consist of three hour long specials... and that was it. No 20 episode final season like so many other shows had gotten, it would essentially get just six episodes worth of time to tell its final stories and no more. When Dana Terrace was asked why, she said that an executive at the company didn't think the show "fit the Disney brand", and was largely responsible for the shortened third season. Of course, fans didn't buy this excuse, and why should they? This came at a time when, thanks to the launch of Disney+ and the acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the "Disney brand" had expanded more than ever... surely there was a place for The Owl House somewhere amongst Star Wars and Family Guy, right? Well, the truth was a bit more complicated: budget cuts related to the loss of Disney park revenue during the pandemic meant that Disney had to make some tough cuts, and a full third season for The Owl House was one of those things that had to go. With the outpouring of social media and fan support, Disney had plenty of chances to reverse course and give Dana and the crew a fourth season where they could tell some of the stories that fell by the wayside during a shortened season three, but alas, it wasn't to be. It did get a proper finale, albeit a rushed one, so the tragedy of so many shows that didn't even get the luxury of a conclusion wasn't repeated here. Still, one wonders what might've been, and The Owl House's third season getting truncated seems like a real missed opportunity, a case of an executive with a grudge and Disney not knowing what it had. Owl House fans missed out on a lot of fun adventures, and they really didn't have to.

#99: Mr. Rogers (Inadvertently) Flips Off A Crowd Full Of Children

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"I got your Thumbkin right here, buddy!"

Mr. Rogers is, quite obviously, the last person you'd expect to be flipping the bird, but if you've been on the internet for even a short while, you've no doubt seen pictures or .gifs of him doing it, wondering "did he really do that or is that just Photoshop?" Well, I'm here to tell you, he really did it! ...okay, not really. Early in his career, Mr. Rogers was singing the classic nursery rhyme "Where Is Thumbkin?" to a group of kids, and as part of the song, you're supposed to put up a finger to represent each character in the song, with the middle finger representing the "Tall Man". As Mr. Rogers got to that part of the song, he does seem to give a knowing smile and almost laugh, so yes, even though he didn't raise his middle finger with ill intent, he knew EXACTLY what that gesture could be interpreted as. Of course, everybody trusted Mr. Rogers enough to give him the benefit of the doubt, and none of the kids seemed offended, so the gesture was treated as it should've been, as an innocent part of an innocent song. No harm, no foul. Still, we got some absolutely hilarious memes out of it, and 50 years later, anyone who wants to do so can go online and see Mr. Rogers flipping the bird, totally divorced from its context like just about everything else online is these days.

#98: Whenever The Contestant Couldn't Put The Shrine Of The Silver Monkey Together

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/3/6/AAAG8cAAEnZQ.jpg
"Everybody knows how to put the monkey on!"

Legends Of The Hidden Temple is one of the best game shows Nickelodeon ever aired. Combining intense physical challenges with fun historical knowledge, it sees six teams of kids gradually whittled down to one as they compete in various games to earn their chance to run through the Hidden Temple in pursuit of an ancient treasure that will earn them a prize (usually a trip to Space Camp or something). The Temple was full of tests, tricks, and puzzles, and none more famous than the iconic Shrine of the Silver Monkey, in which the contestant must put together a three piece monkey statue to advance to the next room. That's it, just a three piece puzzle. My niece does way more than three piece puzzles, and she's half as old as most of the contestants on this show. ...so why do so many of them have so much trouble solving the damn thing? Don't give me that whole "pressure" and "bright lights" thing, that excuse might fly when someone misses an actuator on the Aggro Crag, but not in the Hidden Temple. Lots of contestants have solved it and solved it quickly, so it's especially egregious when someone fucks it up, and yet there are entire compilations of kids doing just that. Every possible way to fail at the Silver Monkey puzzle, some kid has done. They've messed up the base, or gotten the middle piece turned around, or, in some extremely stupid cases, they've tried to jam the head on the wrong way. So many great temple runs have been ruined by Silver Monkey shame, and even the Legends Of The Hidden Temple movie and the Loud House crossover have poked fun at it. The Shrine of the Silver Monkey has gone down in infamy as the most iconic part of Legends Of The Hidden Temple, and it's both frustrating and hilarious to this day to watch reruns of some poor kid totally stumped by the damn thing.

The SHRIIIIIIIINE of the silver monkey

I can't not say that in my head when I see it. Olmec took pleasure in that challenge.

I figured Owl House getting canceled would be on here. I actually just watched it a couple months ago and it is indeed an emotional and brilliant show. I had some good Disney shows growing up for sure but nothing with the depth that Owl House had. Definitely a shame about that one.

Damn yeah I remember being so frustrated as a kid when they couldn't put the puzzle together! Especially when they were killing it up to then. I actually don't remember too much about the show itself but fucking up the puzzle has stuck with me for sure.

Owl House is a series on my to watch list. Silver Monkey thing is definitely funny.

Never heard of Owl House, but I already like the other two so far enough to justify tagging.

The Owl House is truly one of the best shows of the last decade. Just unbelievable how stupid it's cancelation was, AND how they still managed to pull off such a great end even with their limited episode count.

There was a time when I liked Amphibia more and I still love that show, but they got their full final season and squandered it, which is a shame.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

There was a time when I liked Amphibia more and I still love that show, but they got their full final season and squandered it, which is a shame.

As someone who prefers Amphibia, may I ask why you dont like the final season?

tag

Man I almost guessed that the Owl House cancelation would be on the list

The fact that Disney canceled the show for being too gay and then immediately toted it up as an example of how progressive they are is borderline sickening

Predicting Legend of Korra being taken off the air and exclusively viewable online

Hmm, wondering if I can predict some of these

• Press your luck not being random
• Heroes S2
• Probably some Lost twist

RySenkari posted...

#100: The Owl House Gets Canceled For "Not Fitting The Disney Brand"

We are starting strong.

Obligatory GOT Season 8 reference

Children's Television History

What you dont watch Game of Thrones with the kids?

In that case pretend I made a reference to SLIMER AND THE GHOSTBUSTERS instead

I'm gonna guess Steven Universe's release schedule will be somewhere on this list. Steven Bomb or nothing.

Owl House has been sitting in my backlog for a while, sad to hear it got shafted for the final season.

Also Legends of the Hidden Temple is a classic. I still have a Silver Snakes shirt I bought years ago.

Johnbobb posted...

Predicting Legend of Korra being taken off the air and exclusively viewable online

This is a good one. Nickelodeon's treatment of Korra was so awful, it's baffling they got four seasons out of it.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Whatever the hell Nick did to LoK immediately jumped to mind for me. Im always shocked that show turned out as well as it did.

#97: Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest Producers Claim Jessie Won't Be A Damsel In Distress, She Ends Up A Damsel In Distress On Very First Episode

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/6/6/AAAG8cAAEnbS.jpg
Pictured: A strong female character

When Cartoon Network revived Jonny Quest to be one of the flagship programs on its relatively new (at the time) channel, Turner pulled out all the stops to make The Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest one of the biggest action cartoons of the decade. Millions of dollars were spent on production and promotion, and by all accounts, this would be a damn good looking cartoon. At the same time, Jessie Bannon, daughter of Race Bannon and new companion of Jonny and Hadji, was also being heavily touted as the first major female character in the franchise's history. She'd be tough, she'd be smart, and producers swore up and down in early promotion for the show that she'd be independent, wouldn't need Jonny Quest to save her, and wouldn't end up being a damsel in distress, at least not to the degree that similar characters in other shows were. And actually... they were mostly telling the truth. Jessie did end up being a well developed and mature character, another foil to Jonny in ways that Hadji wasn't, with traits of her dad but also her own unique characteristics to set her apart from the rest of the team. It took a while for her to gain an identity, but she really did emerge as one of the stronger new elements of the show and perhaps the most memorable aspect of The Real Adventures, save for maybe the CGI Questworld (which didn't look great but was okay for mid 90s TV budget CGI). Except... a lot of critics never got the chance to see how good a character Jessie was, because they gave up on her after the show's premiere episode, "The Darkest Fathoms", had her and Dr. Quest captured by pirates and needing to be rescued by Jonny. Sure, Jonny also got captured, but he got to escape on his own, while Jessie had to wait to be saved. Remember, this was the first episode, the character producers touted as independent and not just some damsel, and Jonny had to save her. "The Darkest Fathoms" was actually a pretty good episode, gritty and creepy and a great way to introduce the new show's darker tone, but just the fact that they did the one thing they said they wouldn't do, and it really did give numerous critics a bad first impression of Jessie, and you can see why this ended up on the list. What could they have done instead? Maybe push the episode back a week, air "Escape To Questworld" as the premiere, show off some of that flashy CGI and give Jessie more of a chance to be on equal footing with Jonny. Or, if you really want "The Darkest Fathoms" as your premiere and you anticipate Jessie looking weak, maybe have her and Jonny get captured together and help each other escape? Good way to establish their chemistry early on. But, no... Jessie is a damsel in the premiere, the episode critics will base their opinion of the show on. Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest ultimately did well, though it ended up canceled after two seasons without getting a real finale, and I can't help but wonder if perhaps it could've done just well enough to get season three had it not been for that self-inflicted own goal that put off critics on both the show and Jessie before the premiere even got a chance to air.

Man that show was wild
Had no idea about that aspect of the promotion of it tho.

Olmec was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker

(Just a random way for me to tag this topic)

#96: The Chloe Bourgeois Saga

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/8/4/AAAG8cAAEnbk.jpg
"That's some nice character development you've got there. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it."

Chloe Bourgeois is the school bully on the television show Miraculous Ladybug, and in season one, she lived up to that role quite well. Her selfishness and cruelty led to nearly a dozen of the show's villain transformations, and despite showing a few signs of deeper character traits, she mostly spent the first season as a bully and a baddie... but that didn't stop a good portion of the fandom from rooting for her to change her ways. Why not? Everyone loves a good redemption story, and soon, those fans got their wish when Chloe was revealed as the upcoming holder of the Bee Miraculous, set to join Ladybug and Cat Noir in their fight against villainy. The crowd erupted at this revelation, moreso even than when Alya was revealed as a future Miraculous holder, and soon, the fandom anticipated when she'd make the change. Sure enough, she acquired a Miraculous in season two, and despite some bumps along the road, joined the team fully in the finale... but during season three, this character development was entirely reversed, and Chloe not only lost her powers, but helped Hawkmoth acquire all the Miraculouses. If the story had ended there, this moment wouldn't be on this list. Thomas Astruc's decision to call an audible on Chloe's redemption arc did come off as a bit petty, and you could argue that it made her season two episodes pointless, but ultimately the move didn't hurt the show and Miraculous Ladybug is as popular as ever. And Chloe's fans had every right to be upset... but they took things to a whole different level. Chloe fans absolutely tore into Astruc after season three, insulting and even threatening him on Twitter, accusing him of all sorts of problematic things, and basically just being the most obnoxious fans imaginable. The storm of rage over Chloe's aborted redemption arc continues to this day, and the worst thing about it is that ultimately, regardless of how abrupt and petty Astruc's decision to reverse Chloe's redemption arc was, the fans' behavior afterward ultimately proved him right, and made Chloe fans pariahs in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom. Any chance there might've been of a reversal of the reversal was pretty much squandered through the actions of this group of fans, and what it comes down to in the end is a somewhat dumb decision to abort a popular redemption arc being overwhelmed by some of the most ridiculous fan behavior in recent memory. The whole thing vastly increased the toxicity of the Miraculous Ladybug fandom, and those Chloe fans who remain upset with the decision but who handled things in a more reasonable fashion (reading/writing fanfiction, voicing concerns respectfully), have had to pretty much go silent to avoid being lumped in with the crazy ones.

Some more predictions...

Ren & Stimpy being marketed as a kid's show

Cow & Chicken "Buffalo Gals" episode (this was a real episode that aired on TV and not a Dexter "Rude Removal" situation)

As someone who has been deep into cartoon fandoms before, the Ladybug Fandom scares even me.

One, tag
Two, I still don't know how you managed to cut down to 100 episodes for your last ranking. I've had noooo forward momentum coming up with anything comparable. *i'm not worthy bows before you*

Hot take: I think I like Korra more than the original. Both top tier shows but I dunno I watched Korra when I was like 30 and it really hit me more than the original.

Not familiar with these two other shows though I've seen Miraculous Ladybug featured on Disney+ but never watched any of it. I dunno if I want to after that writeup lol