Tag Archives: Clarissa Explains it All

Oct 10 2012
3 Comments
Fox, The Mindy Project

does the mindy project intro sound familar?

The answer is yes. Yes, it does sound familiar.

I’m sure others have noticed that Mindy Kaling‘s new (and hilarious) show has an intro that is incredibly similar to the one for Clarissa Explains it All. However, it’s one thing to hear the Mindy Project’s intro and hop back a decade or two (more recently if you got into that The 90s Are All That hoopla) in your mind to recall what it sounded like when Melissa Joan Hart and those sweet graphics that danced around the screen for 50ish seconds, and quite another to have both in one convenient location. You’re welcome.

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Aug 16 2011
3 Comments
nostalgia, TV

teen nick’s ‘the 90s are all that’….the buzz that came and went

Just like all the other twentysomethings who properly appreciate nostalgia, I was SUPER pumped for the return of my favorite Nick shows. Were Clarissa’s outfits as fashionably 90s as I’d recalled? Would I still be afraid of the dark? Was Doug still as awkward as Judy was a pretentious hipster?

So I programmed my DVR  and waited patiently until the next day when I would watch while working. And it was fun. I realized Keenan and Kel wasn’t as funny the second time around, and All That didn’t really do it for me anymore. Fortunately, Clarissa and Doug held up to my prepubescent standards.

But still, I need more. I think my current lukewarm reaction mirrors those of my peers. Sure, we like the shows they have on now, but of all the old Nick programming these are not the ones we REALLY want to see. They need to throw Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Hey Dude, the Secret World of Alex Mack and Salute Your Shorts in the mix, now. Those are the shows that people sit and “hey remember that episode when…” about obsessively with their friends. Those are the ones that separate the cool kids who watched them, from those that didn’t.

Another show I’d like to see back is Hey Arnold!, which didn’t really hit me until reading Hey Arnold!: Five Reasons It’s Worthy of a Nick Comeback. My favorite part from this article: “As my brother so plainly put it, Arnold was such a great character because “he had swag.” I’d try to put it more… poetically, but it’s just the truth. After so many neurotic, loud, crazy cartoon characters on TV — SpongeBob, I’m looking at you — Arnold was a breath of fresh air. He was always unruffled.” I was so busy remembering the interracial love affair that was Gerald and Phoebe, and Arnold’s little hat that I forgot all the other quirky things about this show.

Aside from a name change (‘the 90s are All That‘ grates me and I wish it was a less obvious ploy for our collective attention), hopefully the programming team at Teen Nick, or whoever is in charge of such decisions, starts adding different shows. Until then, I will make due with fond memories and repeats of repeats of Clarissa Explains it All.

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