If I asked you to rank the top 5 tv shows of the 2010s, what would you say? There is Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Wire, The Sopranos, or perhaps one of the big four from the Schurniverse. Odds are, one of those would make it into your top 5.

What if asked you to rate the top 5 shows of your childhood? Quite a bit more variance there, huh?  Let’s see how many of you agree with the (objective) Top 10 shows from our childhood.

10. Anything from the Disney Channel – I’ll admit that I was not a huge fan of these shows growing up but don’t doubt that many of you were huge Even Stevens stans. What about That’s so Raven, The Suite Life, or Lizzie McGuire? These are just a few of the staples that Disney churned out like an assembly line back in the early 2000’s. Since I never watched them I can’t say much about them separately, but I will include them since you’d all get mad if I didn’t.

9. Dexter’s Laboratory – Classic Cartoon Network show that never shows us the parents faces. What was up with that by the way? I did some digging and found that it was usually done to keep the kids shows focused on the kids. I guess that makes sense. As a science nerd myself, I loved seeing what contraptions Dexter would come up with, and how his sister Didi would try and wreck it. (Omlette Du Fromage, anyone)

8. Rugrats – These adventurous toddlers helped us all get in touch with our imaginations. For the Jewish folks around here, Rugrats Hannukah and Passover episodes were all time. Especially on those orange VHS tapes.

7. Hey Arnold – This kid had the coolest bedroom ever and you’re lying if you don’t agree with me. Football Head was right there with us as we went through our elementary and middle school years, introducing us to love (even if it was an unhealthy obsession Helga had with him), and the other challenges of growing up.

6. Courage the Cowardly Dog – Definitely one of those messed up shows looking back. Serious nightmare fuel with some of those evil spirits. Despite all of that, we loved watching Courage play charades with his elderly owners in order to keep them safe.

5. The educational shows – (Bill Nye, Magic School Bus, Reading Rainbow, Zoboomafoo) Roll out that tv cart and dim the lights, it’s tv day in the classroom! Maybe our teacher was hungover and didn’t feel like teaching but that didn’t matter because we had Big Bill, Ms. Frizzle, and Lavar Burton to give us all endless learning and fun.

4. Ed, Edd, and Eddy – This cul de sac had a little bit of everything. The kid who’s best friend is a plank of wood, Eddy’s moneymaking schemes involving jawbreakers, Ed’s stupidity, and more. This also was the last hand drawn cartoon to air on Cartoon Network.

3. Rocket Power – Did we all go through a phase where skating was the coolest thing ever? These left coast kids, their surf shop owner dad, and grillmaster uncle Tito were my go to after school watch. They taught us all the coolest slang (where my shoobies at?), and the sickest handshakes while ripping it up with Tony Hawk.

2. All That/ The Amanda Show – The kid version of SNL and the kid version of the Tonight Show. What could be better? These shows launched the careers of Drake and Josh, Keenan and Kel, Amanda Bynes(until the mental breakdown) and so many more. Who can forget Judge Trudy and Everyday French with Pierre Escargot?

1 Spongebob Squarepants – Need I say more? The show is still on the air today and a powerful member of meme culture. It has to be the most successful cartoon property of the early 2000s, right? There’s been like 3 movies made. Such an amazing cast of characters who we could all relate to and several classic moments including: Im Dirty Dan, Hooplah, the Krusty Crab Pizza, the fry cook games, and more.

If I forgot your favorite show, it was probably just not as good as any of these but if you feel compelled to let me know, I will happily hear your case.

Until next time…