Nickelodeon, one of the pioneers of modern animation seems to have fallen behind, always being outdone by other, and better children's networks. Not only are SpongeBob and Fairly Odd Parents the only shows you'll see on a normal weekday, but their new stuff just flat out sucks. Cashing in on Dreamworks movies with cheap animation and lame jokes (although Penguins of Madagascar was pretty decent), and the Rabbids who haven't been relivant in the Video Game industry for years.
Their 2 new original productions, Sanjay & Craig and Breadwinners are just sad attempts to cash-in on the success Cartoon Network had with Adventure Time and Regular Show. The problem is that they're 4 years too late, the whole "surreal cartoon" craze has largely died out with the exception of Uncle Grandpa (which isn't even a good show), and AT & RS have largely moved past surrealism for surrealism's sake and have developed complex characters, heart-tugging moments, cohesive storytelling, and actual heart & effort put into them, things which Sanjay & Craig and Breadwinners lack. Cartoon Network's most recent show, Steven Universe, mostly throws randomness out the window and focuses more on developing it's characters and setting.
Even the other cartoon channels, Disney XD and The Hub Network run circles arround Nickelodeon. Disney XD has several interesting shows, a ton of Marvel cartoons, Disney Channel pick ups, and a new Star Wars series coming. The Hub needs no introduction by this point, the Hasbro network has reruns of classic Kids' WB! shows, and proved that not only can toy based cartoons have thought and effort behind them, but also proved males can like shows about Ponies, Rainbows, and Unicorns.
Lastly, the only good cartoons currently on Nick, TMNT and Korra, get very poor treatment. Korra hasn't aired on the network in months (maybe even a year) and TMNT only shows up once for a new episode, then its 8 hours of SpongeBob. My point is, is that Nick just isn't trying anymore, you can tell they've given up by airing 12 episodes of SpongeBob every day. As far as cartoons are concerned, Nickelodeon doesn't even exist anymore.
Their 2 new original productions, Sanjay & Craig and Breadwinners are just sad attempts to cash-in on the success Cartoon Network had with Adventure Time and Regular Show. The problem is that they're 4 years too late, the whole "surreal cartoon" craze has largely died out with the exception of Uncle Grandpa (which isn't even a good show), and AT & RS have largely moved past surrealism for surrealism's sake and have developed complex characters, heart-tugging moments, cohesive storytelling, and actual heart & effort put into them, things which Sanjay & Craig and Breadwinners lack. Cartoon Network's most recent show, Steven Universe, mostly throws randomness out the window and focuses more on developing it's characters and setting.
Even the other cartoon channels, Disney XD and The Hub Network run circles arround Nickelodeon. Disney XD has several interesting shows, a ton of Marvel cartoons, Disney Channel pick ups, and a new Star Wars series coming. The Hub needs no introduction by this point, the Hasbro network has reruns of classic Kids' WB! shows, and proved that not only can toy based cartoons have thought and effort behind them, but also proved males can like shows about Ponies, Rainbows, and Unicorns.
Lastly, the only good cartoons currently on Nick, TMNT and Korra, get very poor treatment. Korra hasn't aired on the network in months (maybe even a year) and TMNT only shows up once for a new episode, then its 8 hours of SpongeBob. My point is, is that Nick just isn't trying anymore, you can tell they've given up by airing 12 episodes of SpongeBob every day. As far as cartoons are concerned, Nickelodeon doesn't even exist anymore.