Rugrats, Doug or Ren and Stimpy - Which out of the 3 original Nicktoons dropped in quality the most?

[OmegaAlpha23]

People say that Doug dropped when it moved from Nickelodeon to ABC, with the addition of Cleopatra,, unnecessary changes and the loss of Billy West, people say Rugrats went downhill after it was revived without creator Paul Germain and started making the babies less cerebral and adding loads of new characters and people say Ren and Stimpy jumped the shark when it was revived for a limited time on Spike TV and made to be more raunchy, exaggerating Ren's worst traits, padding out run time, repetition of jokes and being too offensive for it's own good. But which out of the three original Nicktoons do you think tanked the most?

 

[ShadowBlinky]

People say that Doug dropped when it moved from Nickelodeon to ABC, with the addition of Cleopatra,, unnecessary changes and the loss of Billy West, people say Rugrats went downhill after it was revived without creator Paul Germain and started making the babies less cerebral and adding loads of new characters and people say Ren and Stimpy jumped the shark when it was revived for a limited time on Spike TV and made to be more raunchy, exaggerating Ren's worst traits, padding out run time, repetition of jokes and being too offensive for it's own good. But which out of the three original Nicktoons do you think tanked the most?

Which do YOU think? Because it's obvious to me (and most likely to just about everyone else).

 

[jjc927]

I would say Ren and Stimpy, although I don't count Adult Party Cartoon within my answer. Seasons 4 and 5 were much less funny than the John K seasons and season 3. John K's creativity and attention to detail were definitely missing from the later seasons.

Disney Doug wasn't as good as Nick Doug and losing Billy West hurt it, but I never thought the Disney Doug was bad. It has some really good episodes, especially in the first season and the finale. I think the worst thing they did was making Roger rich.

Rugrats definitely dropped after Kimi and Kira come in but I don't think quite as much as Ren and Stimpy without John K

 

[OmegaAlpha23]

Which do YOU think? Because it's obvious to me (and most likely to just about everyone else).

It's easy to say Ren and Stimpy, but there are people on the opposite ends of the spectrum. I'm interested to see what their opinion is.

 

[Fone Bone]

Ren and Stimpy. The show DID decline after John Kricfalusi was fired the first time, but it merely became mediocre. Adult Party Cartoon was an outright abomination.

 

[Daikun]

I think it would be obvious that Ren & Stimpy fell the hardest for the reasons mentioned above.

A more debatable question would be, "Which one deserves second place?"

 

[MegasMilo379]

Since I'm in the minority who really likes Rugrats after Paul Germain left; and Disney's Doug after Billy West left,
I can easily say Ren & Stimpy lost the plot more -- for reasons already stated above by other members I'm pretty much piggybacking on here.
Although I couldn't handle much about Seasons 4 and 5 at all when I was younger.

 

[Zanneck]

I hate Ren & Stimpy and can't believe I ever enjoyed it so much as a kid. Definitely that.

Doug was just boring as all get out and definitely got worse once Disney got their hands on it.

Rugrats was OK, up until Dil was born.

Yeah - I don't miss any of these shows at all, but R&S is definitely the worst and the one to suffer the most in terms of quality decline, if I must adhere to that - despite there being no quality there for me, whatsoever.

 

[OmegaAlpha23]

I agree with Fone Bone. The Games episodes were mediocre but the Adult Party Cartoon episodes were unwatchable and one of the worst cartoon remakes ever made.

 

[RDG]

I agree with Fone Bone. The Games episodes were mediocre but the Adult Party Cartoon episodes were unwatchable and one of the worst cartoon remakes ever made.

and since John K. is in even MORE trouble than he was back then, that's justified

 

[LinusFan303]

I wasn't a fan of Ren and Stimpy so I can't really say though, factoring in that show for Spike then that's bad quality dropping.

Doug was an alright series , I can see why it's not everyone's taste though, when it went to Disney it was changed alot but not bad.

Rugrats did drop in quality after the first movie, but it kind of got more bland not awful unwatchable it did seem they added characters and didn't know what to do with them. (All Grown up gave Dil a personality at least. )

 

[MegasMilo379]

and since John K. is in even MORE trouble than he was back then, that's justified

That should go without saying, but yeah.

 

[Mandouga]

Ren and Stimpy, all right, but it was actually self-inflicted (i.e., it happened before John K. got fired). I've got three words for everyone:

"Son of Stimpy"

Basically, he decided to use his own creation in order to prove a point about "fake pathos", and how he feels movies rely too much on what he sees as cheap theatrical/mood tricks, and not enough on character interaction, or the acting of the actors themselves. He felt it wasn't that hard to do (focus on cheap theatrical/mood tricks, I mean)...and he "didn't have to shoot anyone's mom, either" (i.e., he cites Bambi as an example of "fake pathos"). In order to prove this point, he intentionally came up with (what he himself admits is) the stupidest, most idiotic plot line he could think of, which I won't mention here, since anyone who's seen it knows what's going on; really, it's that stupid. In fact, you could say he pulled something out of his you-know-what. In any case, I will say that this one episode blatantly implies that Stimpy is literally that stupid*. In the process, he ended up subverting his own creation, which, ironically was meant to be subversive in the first place, and all so he could make an episode that was both unfunny-on-purpose, and which ended up being completely idiotic even by the show's standards (of which, there aren't...many, but still), all so he could prove the point I just mentioned. As a result (regardless of whether people knew it or not), he ended up dragging everyone down his destructive path, or, to put it another way, he ended up drowning everyone in his tears of indignance...probably the tears that Stimpy shedded over "losing" his...er, "son" (there, you see?). Nobody came to see something like this. Nobody asked for it. Despite what some people might like to think, gross out toilet humor is more likely to turn people off of a show or movie, than it is to make them want to watch more. Not everyone likes that sort of thing, you know.

Long story short, John K. himself is why the show declined in quality. When he decided that using his show to express his own personal indignance towards drama in Hollywood movies was more important than making a good animated comedy show, that was when it declined in quality.

*Or as Walter Peck would say, "grotesquely stupid".

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I think Ren & Stimpy fell the hardest if you include the Adult Party episodes. In second place I’m going to say Rugrats. They added too many unnecessary characters (seriously, why give the baby of the bunch a baby brother?). Also the plots became stale. Doug is in third place because I never thought it was that good.

 

[Fone Bone]

I think Ren & Stimpy fell the hardest if you include the Adult Party episodes. In second place I’m going to say Rugrats. They added too many unnecessary characters (seriously, why give the baby of the bunch a baby brother?). Also the plots became stale. Doug is in third place because I never thought it was that good.

Doug definitely has less far to fall from, that's for sure.

 

[At Abbi's]

Okay, first is The Ren and Stimpy Show lost their quality during the production of Man's Best Friend. John K always wanted the show to be edgy and it feature a scene but I can't get into a detail. The executives were disgust how bad the episode is and John got fired from Nickelodeon. I do or haven't seen the rest of the series (I only sawed the few episodes) but it drawn new viewers and the older audience stop because they're not as funny as it was and Nickelodeon tried to be more kid-friendly beyond the gross out humor. The show's production is more complicated than most Nicktoons at the time (Including Rocko's Modern Life) and about Adult Party Cartoon, yeah....... It's pretty bad...... I can't talk about that.

And about Doug, I never get into the show. But the downhill begins when the creator of the show had expired contract from Nickelodeon, this was originally going to end the series, but he got a opportunity for Disney to revived the show to drawn the new viewers and it is the perfect fit for ABC Saturday Morning block. But the quality went declined when it's was during the production of Doug's First Movie, to complete with Nickelodeon's The Rugrats Movie. Unfortunately it made $19 million at the box office. But seriously Disney, why you call this a "box office success" even it's not close to The Lion King. (Sorry, I love Disney but sometimes they make mistakes.) Anyways, it got cancelled 3 months later after the movie's released. Maybe the show declined due to the formula and value were missing from Nickelodeon and it make different plot lines.

And lastly out of all, Rugrats. Rugrats started something simple, it's the baby's point of view in life when nobody were around and they do going to adventures by using the imagination. It was the rarest concept we see on TV, even today (Even when I sawed The Crack on YouTube, I thought the concept was just as original as Rugrats.) Anyways, The cancellation led to Klasky Csupo having freedom opportunities with Duckman and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters were both airing to get away from Rugrats. But it's all thanks to the left over specials were massive success, Nickelodeon started milking Rugrats as they renewed for season 4. Sadly, despite Rugrats still have the art style, Klasky Csupo begin losing the quality of animation it all started the ending of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters with "Rookie Monsters." Rugrats was back on track and it gain more popularity, more merchandise and became of king of Nicktoons at the time, everything was going great, until Rugrats lost their value when Dil was born in The Rugrats Movie, many people dislike Dil because he has no personality and all he ever does is to make droll and gross-out jokes thinking it's funny. I think that's where the show isn't point of view anymore. The best to describe the decline of the quality because of the new writers and adding new characters to the show. Even the spin offs are mediocre with mix to negative reviews from the critics and beloved die heart fans who grow up original.

 

[Rabbitearsblog]

I was never a fan of Ren and Stimpy in the first place, so I can't really comment on this show.

However, of the two Nicktoons that went downhill (Rugrats or Doug), I would have to say that Rugrats was hit harder than Doug. I will admit that the Disney episodes of Doug weren't as memorable as the Nickelodeon episodes, but they were still somewhat watchable. However, in the case with Rugrats, like everyone else pointed out, the show went downhill when Dil was introduced and that was the point that I stopped watching the show since the show had gotten too bland by that point.

 

[OmegaAlpha23]

However, of the two Nicktoons that went downhill (Rugrats or Doug), I would have to say that Rugrats was hit harder than Doug. I will admit that the Disney episodes of Doug weren't as memorable as the Nickelodeon episodes, but they were still somewhat watchable. However, in the case with Rugrats, like everyone else pointed out, the show went downhill when Dil was introduced and that was the point that I stopped watching the show since the show had gotten too bland by that point.

Yeah. Rugrats became like The Simpsons and SpongeBob of getting boring and just running out of ideas. By then I was watching Hey Arnold.