Why are Nickelodeon's live action originals going extinct?

[Stumpos]

As I make the breakdowns on how often Nick aired certain shows, I'm noticing how much live action originals are dwindling in relevance.

Notably, there don't seem to be any major live action hits anymore after Henry Danger and The Thundermans (maybe Nicky Ricky Dicky and Dawn and Game Shakers if we're generous) that are fondly remembered. Most of them only getting 1 or 2 seasons at best now.

Even in airtime, post-2015 had the live action originals' airtime get dialed down with only the Henry Danger franchise getting a solid amount of reruns until by the 2020s, it became "mostly only air when premiering new episodes" type of deal.

And 2024 also marking another sign of live action originals starting to die off, with that year being the first year since Nickelodeon's founding in 1979 that they didn't premiere any live action original. They also canned a lot of their live action shows (the earliest ones still running by then started in 2020) with Danger Force, That Girl Lay Lay, The Really Loud House, and Nick News 2020 ending in that year. The following year also seeing the end of Tyler Perry's Young Dylan. Even the one live action show that premiered in 2025 with The Thundermans Undercover would finish the entirety of its 26 episode order by the end of the year and having no sign of getting a renewal after that. This only leaves NFL Slimetime as Nick's only live action original left, but that only airs seasonally.

And there don't seem to be any upcoming ones set to premiere this year. Even the Victorious sequel Hollywood Arts will be premiering on Netflix first rather than Nickelodeon.

What are your theories on why Nick's live action originals have lost so much relevance and are now on the verge of extinction?

 

[Spacething7474]

I don't know, but I've noticed this is also an issue that's been effecting Disney Channel, but even they've managed to put more shows out than Nick.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Okay let's stop dancing around this fact; the collapse of Nickelodeon's live action run pretty much directly ties into it being revealed a lot of the details behind the rather creepy way Dan Schneider handled a lot of his shows for the Network. Granted a fair amount of that is that the audience in general stopped being there as much (like yeah Henry Danger was obviously a big hit but Game Shakers didn't really hit anywhere near as high and then The Adventures of Kid Danger totally bombed) but is clear once Nickelodeon couldn't really associate with Schneider it did a decent amount of damage to their live action output. Granted the early 2020's still had some and at least made an effort in trying for decent hits as yeah stuff like Young Dylan, That Girl Lay Lay even the live action Loud House series got a fair amount of traction. But I feel any traction those shows had hit a pure bump in the road once the documentary "Quiet On Set" came out to really lay out more then just the creepy ideas but just how a lot of the actors and talent was treated on these kind of series that I feel Nick really wanted to step away from which led to a lot of shows totally drying up.

Honestly I did think this would totally crater both Nick AND Disney since for 2025 seems like all they had were sequel series to already proven hits and not really moving forward with any other sort of projects but yeah seems like Disney at least still trying with their series and hasn't totally sunk. Even if Nickelodeon makes more Thundermans Undercover yeah I don't see any other projects being worked on by them and feels like we may be at an end of the Nick com era since well there are likely standards in how you treat child actors being enforced more now then likely even a couple of years ago that will likely make it hard for them to really make the kinds of series they had before.

 

[Light Lucario]

All of the negative press that they rightfully got after Quiet on Set is probably at least a factor. A lot of their most popular sitcoms came from Dan Schneider and as nostalgic as shows like Drake and Josh and iCarly are, it's hard for people to really enjoy looking back at them knowing just how terrible some of these kids were treated. They associated with Schneider for decades, overlooking a lot of problems because his shows were usually successful. Now that the allegations are out in the open, it probably made people less willing or interested in working with Nickelodeon. Ideally, they would just have much better means of protecting kids and offering them support, but a part of me wouldn't be surprised if Nickelodeon, at least as far as their live action shows go, are more poisonous within the industry right now.

Even without factoring in the Quiet on Set documentary, I think that they just haven't had a huge hit with their live action stuff since Henry Danger. Granted, I haven't watched Nickelodeon in ages, but aside from Henry Danger and maybe Game Shakers, few of their live action shows within the past decade or so have really become huge hits. Maybe the Thundermans count too since they got a revival, but even that never really seemed that big compared to iCarly. There just not be much of an audience for the kind of live action sitcoms that Nickelodeon has been making for the better part of two or three decades.

Disney is also having trouble getting their live action shows to stick, but the same can be said about their animated shows since few are able to get even two seasons, let alone three, these days. It might be a case where Disney is still figuring out how to make their channel still work.

 

[Stumpos]

A lot of their most popular sitcoms came from Dan Schneider

I do wonder then about the popular ones not made by Dan Schneider like:

• Double Dare
• Hey Dude
• Clarissa Explains It All
• Welcome Freshmen
• Fifteen
• Roundhouse
• Nickelodeon Guts
• Legends of the Hidden Temple
• The Secret World of Alex Mack
• The Journey of Allen Strange
• The Brothers Garcia
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
• Big Time Rush
• The Thundermans (you already mentioned it but still)

Notably, those don't seem to have the same dirty Dan problem as Dan Schneider's shows and were still successful.

 

[Light Lucario]

I do wonder then about the popular ones not made by Dan Schneider like:

• Double Dare
• Hey Dude
• Clarissa Explains It All
• Welcome Freshmen
• Fifteen
• Roundhouse
• Nickelodeon Guts
• Legends of the Hidden Temple
• The Secret World of Alex Mack
• The Journey of Allen Strange
• The Brothers Garcia
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
• Big Time Rush
• The Thundermans (you already mentioned it but still)

Notably, those don't seem to have the same dirty Dan problem as Dan Schneider's shows and were still successful.

Out of those series, I think Clarissa Explains It All, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Double Dare, Ned's Declassified and maybe Big Time Rush were pretty successful. I love Alex Mack, but I don't know if it was considered successful at the time and unlike other 90's shows like Clarissa, I don't know if it's well known outside of people who grew up with Nickelodeon in the 90's. Schneider wasn't the only problem with their other sitcoms. He was a symptom of how bad the entertainment industry can be. They were willing to work with him for so long despite the problems he caused because his shows were still huge hits for the channel.

 

[The Overlord]

As I make the breakdowns on how often Nick aired certain shows, I'm noticing how much live action originals are dwindling in relevance.

Notably, there don't seem to be any major live action hits anymore after Henry Danger and The Thundermans (maybe Nicky Ricky Dicky and Dawn and Game Shakers if we're generous) that are fondly remembered. Most of them only getting 1 or 2 seasons at best now.

Even in airtime, post-2015 had the live action originals' airtime get dialed down with only the Henry Danger franchise getting a solid amount of reruns until by the 2020s, it became "mostly only air when premiering new episodes" type of deal.

And 2024 also marking another sign of live action originals starting to die off, with that year being the first year since Nickelodeon's founding in 1979 that they didn't premiere any live action original. They also canned a lot of their live action shows (the earliest ones still running by then started in 2020) with Danger Force, That Girl Lay Lay, The Really Loud House, and Nick News 2020 ending in that year. The following year also seeing the end of Tyler Perry's Young Dylan. Even the one live action show that premiered in 2025 with The Thundermans Undercover would finish the entirety of its 26 episode order by the end of the year and having no sign of getting a renewal after that. This only leaves NFL Slimetime as Nick's only live action original left, but that only airs seasonally.

And there don't seem to be any upcoming ones set to premiere this year. Even the Victorious sequel Hollywood Arts will be premiering on Netflix first rather than Nickelodeon.

What are your theories on why Nick's live action originals have lost so much relevance and are now on the verge of extinction?

According to this video, they have double downed on SpongeBob more than anything else, including the their stable of kid coms:



The reason for this is the target demo doesn't care about these live action shows anymore and the fact that Nick has cut short any animated content that isn't SpongeBob, means they shot themselves in the foot and are making themselves irrelevant to kids.

 

[Stumpos]

With how it is agreed that Quiet on Set exposing just how horrible Dan Schneider was and the child abuse on his shows is what helped cause the live action originals to go into extinction, why did Nick still proceed forward with giving Victorious a sequel show with Hollywood Arts? Sure it's gonna premiere on Netflix, but why did they bother with doing more content based on a show created by Dirty Dan?

Especially with Ned's Declassified in comparison having a revival passed over because of the Skydance merger, despite not having child abuse and Scott Fellows not being a scumbag like Dirty Dan.

 

[Light Lucario]

According to this video, they have double downed on SpongeBob more than anything else, including the their stable of kid coms:



The reason for this is the target demo doesn't care about these live action shows anymore and the fact that Nick has cut short any animated content that isn't SpongeBob, means they shot themselves in the foot and are making themselves irrelevant to kids.

Nickelodeon shooting themselves in the foot has been the case for at least the past couple of decades. Few of their shows, both animated and live action, don't get as much attention as Spongebob does. They usually give their live action shows some time to find an audience, but most of their animated shows aren't so lucky.

With how it is agreed that Quiet on Set exposing just how horrible Dan Schneider was and the child abuse on his shows is what helped cause the live action originals to go into extinction, why did Nick still proceed forward with giving Victorious a sequel show with Hollywood Arts? Sure it's gonna premiere on Netflix, but why did they bother with doing more content based on a show created by Dirty Dan?

Victorious is still one of their more popular sitcoms and people have wanted a revival for awhile. It's the same reason why they went for an iCarly revival. That started before the Quiet on Set documentary came out, but we already knew that at least Jennette McCurdy had a lot of horrible experiences during her time on the show from her book. Schneider will be in the credits most likely because the revival is based on one of his shows, but that's all the involvement he'll have as far as I'm aware.

Especially with Ned's Declassified in comparison having a revival passed over because of the Skydance merger, despite not having child abuse and Scott Fellows not being a scumbag like Dirty Dan.

Ned's Declassified was a popular successful show, but that doesn't necessarily mean that a revival would be successful, or at least the higher ups would want to feel more confident that a project would be worthwhile financially before agreeing to it. Besides that, I think that the cast complaining about not getting a revival and the stories they've mentioned on their podcast might have turned more people off from a revival too.

 

[Stumpos]

Besides that, I think that the cast complaining about not getting a revival and the stories they've mentioned on their podcast might have turned more people off from a revival too.

Wait, what happened on the podcast to turn people off a revival? What did they say?

 

[Light Lucario]

Wait, what happened on the podcast to turn people off a revival? What did they say?

I think it was mostly inappropriate stories the cast said about what they did during the show that probably made people less eager for a Ned's Declassified revival. At the very least, I think that probably would make at least the higher ups less interested in a revival.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Even without factoring in the Quiet on Set documentary, I think that they just haven't had a huge hit with their live action stuff since Henry Danger. Granted, I haven't watched Nickelodeon in ages, but aside from Henry Danger and maybe Game Shakers, few of their live action shows within the past decade or so have really become huge hits.

The Henry Danger spin off Danger Force lasted a few seasons and even had a couple of specials so I assume that did well too and yeah Young Dylan did but those are also projects associated with more well known properties (with young Dylan being a Tyler Perry associated project) so there is at least a bit of branding on those. A lot of others though even if they had success it was flash in the pan only a couple of years/seasons at best sort of success without so far any sort of lasting power or recognition.

I do wonder then about the popular ones not made by Dan Schneider like:

• Double Dare
  Roundhouse
  Nickelodeon Guts
  Legends Of The Hidden Temple

Well those are less sitcoms then game shows or in Roundhouse's case a variety skit esqe show, types of series that yeah Nickelodeon really can't pull off. They have attempted to revive Double Dare a few times but none have really lasted and even Legends of the Hidden Temple's DTV movie didn't really revive any actual interest in the franchise for like another show.

• Hey Dude
• Clarissa Explains It All
• Welcome Freshmen
• Fifteen
• The Secret World of Alex Mack
• The Journey of Allen Strange
• The Brothers Garcia
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
• Big Time Rush

These are all sitcoms (well in Fifteen's case a drama series) that even if they did have a fair amount of success when they aired on the network (some like Alex Mack and Allen Strange I would argue have a more cult esque kind of popularity then a top tier prime popularity) really only lasted as long as they were airing on the channel and haven't really transcended that. Stuff like iCarly or Victorious were yeah at their biggest probably when airing but still have a thumbprint thus why they have video clip collections by official Nick channels on youtube that rack millions of views. Not to mention a lot of these are far earlier series that Nick rates different you wouldn't see having any chance of a revival or comeback... okay I think Big Time Rush is getting a Paramount Plus movie but everything else is part of Nick's past they aren't really looking at it anyway so are treated differently then say the Schneider series that potentially could still appeal to kids today even if they have to rub Schneider's name off them. Speaking of which....

With how it is agreed that Quiet on Set exposing just how horrible Dan Schneider was and the child abuse on his shows is what helped cause the live action originals to go into extinction, why did Nick still proceed forward with giving Victorious a sequel show with Hollywood Arts? Sure it's gonna premiere on Netflix, but why did they bother with doing more content based on a show created by Dirty Dan?

Hollywood Arts is still happening because not only again is Victorious still a name but by making it more a Netflix series and just using the environment and ideas from Victorious they can cash in on it's nostalgia without having to worry about about the offending material around it. The reason Quiet on Set likely put Nick in a panic was because it showed practice and policies with these shows that made it more live action fare in that matter to really create at all. But for as much money and as many series he created that were hits for the Network, Nick probably could have just buried Schneider's reputation and rode on his successes if they were less out in the open. Remember Chris Savino was kicked off Loud House after the first couple of seasons due to a lot of behind the scene complaints but that didn't stop Nick from not only continuing the Loud house but making a spinoff The Casagrandes Savino had nothing to do with, same with movies and the live action flicks and spin off series made because of just how profitable Loud House was. So yeah a creator can be swept under the rug if bury the closet deep enough but if you show busted the house being made was that's what nets you more problems. Thus why a Netflix show (which would be made far differently obviously then Victorious or any of Schneider or live action Nickcoms in general) can get greenlit and have so many current live action Nick shows go limp.

 

[Stumpos]

These are all sitcoms (well in Fifteen's case a drama series) that even if they did have a fair amount of success when they aired on the network (some like Alex Mack and Allen Strange I would argue have a more cult esque kind of popularity then a top tier prime popularity) really only lasted as long as they were airing on the channel and haven't really transcended that. Stuff like iCarly or Victorious were yeah at their biggest probably when airing but still have a thumbprint thus why they have video clip collections by official Nick channels on youtube that rack millions of views. Not to mention a lot of these are far earlier series that Nick rates different you wouldn't see having any chance of a revival or comeback... okay I think Big Time Rush is getting a Paramount Plus movie but everything else is part of Nick's past they aren't really looking at it anyway so are treated differently then say the Schneider series that potentially could still appeal to kids today even if they have to rub Schneider's name off them. Speaking of which....

So, what is it about Dan Schneider's shows that made it so they were able to maintain more long lasting popularity after they ended? Compared to the other popular Nick live action shows that didn't have the same child abuse and were successful when aired, but none keeping that popularity after they ended.

I thought they aired stuff like Clarissa Explains It All, Salute Your Shorts, Hey Dude, Space Cases, Are You Afraid of the Dark, The Secret World of Alex Mack, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, The Journey of Allen Strange, My Brother and Me, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Weinerville, and Welcome Freshmen on that The 90s Are All That and Nick Rewind block, clearly showing some nostalgia there.

Also, I think there was a reboot of The Brothers Garcia called The Garcias.

Looking at that Nick Rewind channel though, seems even among Dan Schneider's shows, iCarly and Victorious are the only ones they really push, with stuff like All That, Drake & Josh, Kenan & Kel, The Amanda Show, and Zoey 101 not given as much. Granted Drake Bell's own legal troubles and Amanda Bynes' personal mental health problems, it's obvious they're never gonna revive Drake & Josh or The Amanda Show even without Dan Schneider. And among the non-Schneider shows, Big Time Rush gets the most presence on that channel. So it seems to just be the big 3 of the early 2010s they're focusing on.

I wonder if this could be due to having some musical artists like Miranda Cosgrove, Victoria Justice, Ariana Grande, and the Big Time Rush band are why iCarly, Victorious, and Big Time Rush are the live action shows they're pushing for nostalgia now.

 

[LinusFan303]

• All TV is contracting. Before the 2023 strikes there was too much TV, that is a fact. There's still a lot but contraction did happen. And also, thanks to allowing bad mergers or companies trying do bad faith mergers now, there's part of the industry that is teetering.
• With Nickelodeon, they cut some live-action during the virus, Disney Channel did too, and pivoted towards more animation. The delays and protocols made what is supposed be a cheaper form of TV a little more expensive and they cut things. That's why All That's revival didn't come back for example. Then the strikes happened and that caused some delays too and they couldn't make new shows and some older shows were effected because ,again, child actors age.
• Quiet on the set, probably had no effect. It wasn't do a bunch of things Nickelodeon/Paramount didn't already know. In theory, you'd hope that they made some changes around the time they fired ole' Dan in 2018. This came out in 2023. Again a few weeks after that aired, the writers' and actors strikes started and lasted up until October so...
• Sitcoms overall are kind of down. They have a hard time on streaming (unless they're old) and the broadcast networks seem to be the last place that still makes them in normal production, and they've reduced them. NBC had just had two sitcoms hit 3rd seasons for the first time in years. That has trickled down in to the cable pay TV market. Plus does the target audience of 6-11 even care?
• After Redstone's (awful) re-merger of CBS corp. and Viacom they spent many years in budget mode as they were making things lean to get ready to sale to any ole person, getting rid of people left and right, scripted live-action was probably low priority for the cable side, remember Comedy Central canned all non Daily Show live-action original programming too and focused to animation. Then the (even more awful) merger with (sure, totally real studio) SkyDance had to take longer, they were kind of stuck for a year. During that time Nickelodeon's head was made to be part runner of the company, and now he's gone. Now they are either rebuilding or don't care because the new owner is too focused on trying to buy another company and destroying CBS News, (and laid off 2,000 people) he's busy.

 

[Light Lucario]

So, what is it about Dan Schneider's shows that made it so they were able to maintain more long lasting popularity after they ended? Compared to the other popular Nick live action shows that didn't have the same child abuse and were successful when aired, but none keeping that popularity after they ended.

I can't say for sure since what is popular can change over time and I don't know what would appeal to their core audience of kids, but arguably I think the humor is a factor. Stuff from All That, Drake and Josh and iCarly can still make me laugh. I'll still see memes from clips or images from Drake and Josh too from time to time. The wacky sitcom humor is one of the main connecting threads between some of Dan Schneider's most successful shows. I don't know if that's the only or biggest factor, but I do think that helps to keep them still connecting with kids even after they finish airing.

I thought they aired stuff like Clarissa Explains It All, Salute Your Shorts, Hey Dude, Space Cases, Are You Afraid of the Dark, The Secret World of Alex Mack, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, The Journey of Allen Strange, My Brother and Me, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Weinerville, and Welcome Freshmen on that The 90s Are All That and Nick Rewind block, clearly showing some nostalgia there.

Also, I think there was a reboot of The Brothers Garcia called The Garcias.

They did air at least some of those shows on their retro blocks and I like a lot of them. I wouldn't say that airing on retro blocks, both of which were on autopilot for ages before being shut down, is a strong indication of how popular they are. People have nostalgia for some of these shows and in some cases, I could see them making revivals. They have made new Are You Afraid of the Dark mini series, so that could return with another mini series. But I think you'd be hard press to find any large demand for Allen Strange, Shelby Woo or My Brother and Me revivals. Just because these shows were successful at the time doesn't mean that there's necessarily a market for them to come back. I remember really liking The Secret World of Alex Mack, but outside of the hardcore 90's kids audience, I don't think it's one of the more well known Nickelodeon shows to the general public.

Looking at that Nick Rewind channel though, seems even among Dan Schneider's shows, iCarly and Victorious are the only ones they really push, with stuff like All That, Drake & Josh, Kenan & Kel, The Amanda Show, and Zoey 101 not given as much. Granted Drake Bell's own legal troubles and Amanda Bynes' personal mental health problems, it's obvious they're never gonna revive Drake & Josh or The Amanda Show even without Dan Schneider. And among the non-Schneider shows, Big Time Rush gets the most presence on that channel. So it seems to just be the big 3 of the early 2010s they're focusing on.

I wonder if this could be due to having some musical artists like Miranda Cosgrove, Victoria Justice, Ariana Grande, and the Big Time Rush band are why iCarly, Victorious, and Big Time Rush are the live action shows they're pushing for nostalgia now.

I don't think that Miranda Cosgrove is that much of a musical artist. She had one album and I don't think she did much music afterwards. Music is a bigger aspect of both Victorious and Big Time Rush by comparison. I don't know if music is a big reason as to why those shows are gaining attention. Victorious was always pretty popular and fans would say it was cancelled too soon. It's also a way for them to jump on Ariana Grande's popularity by showing some of her earlier work. I don't think Big Time Rush's music got as much attention as Victorious' did, but I'm sure that people are nostalgic for some of their songs too.

 

[Stumpos]

I don't think Big Time Rush's music got as much attention as Victorious' did, but I'm sure that people are nostalgic for some of their songs too.

The band did reunite a couple years ago and is going on tour again, so at least they do have some relevance now. It's possible Nick's trying to cash in on that.

 

[Markus]

A few reasons why they seem to move on from live-action:

- Tween and teen audience is barely there thanks to the existence of TikTok where people can dream to be more popular than be a Nickelodeon star. With low ratings this is also why Disney Channel has turned it's age demographic down and started being for animation.

- Quiet on Set documentary aired and not long after they reduced live-action dramatically.

- They want to avoid getting in trouble again because the execs might not know everything on set. For example people touching children and more which I'm not detailing.

 

[JMTV]

A lot of people assume Nick reduce amount of live action content is due to Quiet on Set, which is...mostly true, but that's one part of a much larger problem. I think it's more of a death of a thousand cuts situation.

It's not just Quiet on Set, there's also COVID, the writers and actors strike, streaming and social media, corporate mergers and rapidly changing leadership, cable declining as a whole, the list goes on. There are many many many different things.

 

[PrevueLovesAnimeTV]

I do wonder then about the popular ones not made by Dan Schneider like:

• Double Dare
• Hey Dude
• Clarissa Explains It All
• Welcome Freshmen
• Fifteen
• Roundhouse
• Nickelodeon Guts
• Legends of the Hidden Temple
• The Secret World of Alex Mack
• The Journey of Allen Strange
• The Brothers Garcia
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
• Big Time Rush
• The Thundermans (you already mentioned it but still)

Notably, those don't seem to have the same dirty Dan problem as Dan Schneider's shows and were still successful.

Cailtin's way wasn't dan but rather Fireworks (then a unit of Canwest) and Thomas Lynch (with a Toronto-Halifax Studio (they also produce Live Action in Addition to Animation) and Nick Cannon created a live action series that also aired on Nick in 2015)

 

[Pooky]

As much as animation is struggling in much of the world right now, I think family friendly animation is still a much more engrained and recognised part of children’s entertainment than the kids’ sitcom, I think when a parent “throws something on” for kids it’s more likely to something animated rather than one of these shows. They also don’t travel as well outside of the US for various reasons, and I think they generally have very little crossover appeal outside of their original target audiences. Conversely there’s been a lot of live action entertainment in the last 15 years or so that is nominally aimed at teens or adults but has a lot of crossover appeal to kids, and to some extent there always is.

Maybe I’m wrong about some of this though; the really big hits like Drake & Josh and iCarly were after my time, and to be honest I’ve always slightly looked down on them. Maybe now that the generation that grew up on those are raising their own kids they would like to watch similar shows with them and aren’t really getting the chance.