Top 10 Cringiest Nickelodeon Scenes EVER
#10: Jimmy & Betty’s Dance “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius” (2002-06)
Don’t get us wrong - we loved it when Jimmy and Betty would get together to do something (even though we knew Cindy was the one for him). However, one of their earliest encounters with each other was in the episode “Party at Neutron’s”, and it was kind of...well, rigid and out of date? In the episode “Betty pulls some of the most cliche dance moves in television while Jimmy kind of...shakes his arms about and imitates her moves. We know kids can get weird when they’re crushing on each other, but this was almost unwatchable. It doesn’t help that the kids in the background aren’t too great either. What is this, “Peanuts”?
#9: Questionable Crowds “VicTORIous” (2010-13)
Speaking of unexciting crowds, “VicTORIous” arguably had this problem the worst, which is kind of alarming when your entire show is centered around musical performances. There are various episodes where Victoria Justice and her cohorts are jamming out to their hearts’ content. Unfortunately, that passion is lost a bit when everyone else seems to be making generic gestures and expressions. Really, some of these background characters look as if they really don’t want to be there but are trying really hard to seem excited just so they don’t look like the bad guy. It ends up making the numbers come off more awkward than they should.
#8: Freddie’s Dance Battle “iCarly” (2007-12)
(Don’t worry - this is the last time we’re judging musical stuff on Nickelodeon.) “iCarly” wasn’t any better in the dance department either. Yeah, the show doesn’t really have any dancing aside from the “Random Dancing” segments, but when it came to Freddie, the dorkiness really showed in the episode “iDream of Dance”. Not only was the Michael Jackson knock-off pretty cringey, so was Freddie’s moves. Honestly, we weren’t sure what we were looking at. If we had to guess, some marketing executive came up with it and thought “Yeah, that’s what the kids like, right? New and original dance moves?” Sure, but...better dance moves than this.
#7: “Man’s Best Friend” “The Ren & Stimpy Show” (1991-96)
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In all honesty, “The Ren & Stimpy Show” would shock most people today. However, of all the episodes, “Man’s Best Friend” is the one that had us reeling back the most, and that’s ignoring the horrendous “Adult Cartoon Party” season. What made “Man’s Best Friend” so notorious was the excessive violence featured throughout. Given the intensity shown here and the known problematic working conditions of creator John K., one cannot help but see parallels between “Man’s Best Friend” and the show’s real-world events, and it’s made it much harder to sit through this one.
#6: ...Everything “The Thundermans” (2013-18)
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We could easily pick any cringey moment from the incessant buffet that is “The Thundermans”. The lame punchlines, the terrible writing, the “how you doin’, fellow kids”-esque promos… We just gotta shove it all into one entry, though. It’s all really, really cringey. Don’t believe us? Well, how about the tickle scene from the Season 2 finale, “A Hero is Born”? Or how about the moment in “Come What Mayhem” when Phoebe reveals her new power to Max? Do we even go into the way Max hits on a beach girl in “Thunder in Paradise”? It’s all so bad that we have to wonder if the laughing audience is even real.
#5: Cosmo’s Pregnancy “The Fairly OddParents” (2001-17)
As we sat through the “Fairly Oddbaby” special, we had a sour feeling in our stomachs when we saw Cosmo pregnant. Not that there’s anything wrong with being pregnant, it’s just in how COSMO’s pregnancy was depicted. Yes, the fairy vomit on Timmy bit was funny the first couple of times...but then, they keep going with it and repeating it. The episode especially hasn’t aged well given how the show fell off drastically after this point in its sixteen-year run. And do we even mention how terribly they portray Cosmo and Timmy here? Everything they do and say to each other feels like it comes out of malice and selfishness.
#4: The Belly Rub Dance “iCarly” (2007-12)
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Yes, we had to put “iCarly” on here a second time, and it sort of won’t be the last. “iCarly” featured a plethora of cringey moments, but one that kept coming back for whatever reason was the belly-rubbing dance. First appearing in “iWanna Stay With Spencer”, this was a dance...or something where the characters would make weird noises while rubbing their stomachs. At first it was annoying, but when other characters started doing it in later episodes, it just got weird. Like...uncomfortably weird. Was this supposed to be an “lol they’re so random” moment to relate to the kids?
#3: Squidward’s Misery “SpongeBob SquarePants” (1999-)
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There have been a few jokes in “SpongeBob SquarePants” that are anything but funny. We could easily dissect “One Coarse Meal”, but at least SpongeBob had shown some remorse. This bit from “Are You Happy Now?” was simply tasteless. A severely unhappy Squidward tries to find even small things to get him to smile. One of these moments is when he grabs some rope and throws it onto the ceiling, saying, “Maybe this will help.” Perhaps this would fly over some kids’ heads, but for parents, this was an alarming sight. For “SpongeBob” fans, it was a cringey and cheap shot to try and get laughs.
#2: Drake Puts a Kid in Danger “Drake & Josh” (2004-07)
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In the Season 4 episode “The Storm”, Drake and Josh give a cold open about how life can be unpredictable. Whereas Josh talks about his time at the dentist, Drake talks about how he wound up getting two hundred bucks and going on a date with the dentist’s seventeen-year-old niece. At the time, this was “haha, classic womanizer Drake”, but that was when the onscreen brothers were in their teens. Today, Josh Peck has gone on to be in several shows and movies while Drake has faced trial and was sentenced to prison for child endangerment and sexual assault against a minor. Yeah, this joke is really cringey given what we know today.
#1: Every Joke Involving Feet Anything Made By Schneider’s Bakery
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Actually, much of what we’ve seen from the Schneider’s Bakery shows hasn’t aged well, and yet again, it’s because of what we know today. Show of hands - how many of us found it odd that there were so many feet jokes in many of Nickelodeon’s sitcoms? Sure, they came off as a harmless and strange gag then. Now? Oh, it’s so much worse. In 2018, co-president Dan Schneider was outed by cast and crew over his temper as well as potentially harboring a creepy foot fetish, specifically those of the younger female actors. Other things said about Schneider get conspiratorial from there, but when you look at just how often female characters are showing their feet, the shows get a disturbing shadow cast over them.