Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life and Invader Zim are all returning to life on Nickelodeon, but there could be more of your favorite shows returning to life.
At Nickelodeon's Splat panel at ATX TV Festival, Chis Viscardi, the co-creator of The Adventures of Pete and Pete and current senior vice president of production and development, and animation at Nickelodeon Group, revealed there are more projects in the works of classic kid-friendly shows.
What goes into selecting the beloved properties to revive?
"I'd say there are two things. The first is that it has to be a property that we inherently has something to it tonally and comedically, character-wise and story-wise that can work for today's audience," Viscardi said. "Because for a lot of these properties, time has passed. It's a different era, so we need to make sure that we feel there's enough there…The second thing is, we would only bring back properties if the creator of the original series wanted to come back."
"We feel it's really important to honor who made the show and who started the show, so we've had that opportunity," he said citing Rocko, Hey Arnold! and Invader Zim. But wait, there's more. "And a few others I can't talk about now," he said. "It's been a great process to work with them."
Viscardi said one of his favorite parts of his job is calling the creators out of the blue, like when he called Rocko's Modern Life creator Joe Murray. "I said would you be interested in making a Rocko's special. There was a long pause and he said, ‘Does anybody form Nickelodeon know you're calling me?'"
"It's been a wonderful opportunity and gift to see those creators come back and bring those animated worlds back to life," he said.
What other Nickelodeon shows do you want to see come back?