The biggest cows for Nickelodeon were Ren and Stimpy, Rugrats, and SpongeBob SquarePants. This is in terms of merchandising. Ren and Stimpy had a decent amount of video games (The Sega ones are good). But the other two were a lot more marketable beyond games. As we are in 2021, the network has plans for those other two. A reboot for Rugrats and two new SpongeBob spin-offs.
The Rugrats reboot comes about as the show will turn 30 in August (Ren and Stimpy as well) It's going to be on Paramount Plus, the streaming app. According to sites like KIRO-7, they are bringing back the original voice actors for the kids. Whether they have the adults, I don't know. Be hard to replace Grandpa Lou since Joe Alaskey passed away in 2016, and that was his second voice actor. Judging by the report and some images, this looks like pre-movie era. That's the best I can guess. Obviously, different animation, but it doesn't look dreadful. Depending on the quality of the writing and humor, I can see some friends I know getting into it.
With SpongeBob, I don't know why they didn't do a spin-off of anything 15 years ago. The first show, Kamp Koral, looks like a really bad idea. The first episode is already out on Paramount Plus, so I can't comment much else. Ten year old SpongeBob wouldn't be much different from the adult version, so I don't grasp doing this. What's also weird is having Sandy on it, retconning the very first batch of episodes. This is a show they could have done as regular episodes of regular SpongeBob.
The next is The Patrick Star Show, which is set to debut in the summer. This one has a decent chance, but like Rugrats, will depend on the quality of the writing and humor. If there was an opportunity to have done this, it would have been around 2003-04. I say that time period, because Patrick wasn't always this complete dimwit and would have his moments of having some form of intelligence like in Boating School with helping SpongeBob get his license. I would have to look at the first episode whenever it does air to see where this goes. If there is some competent writing, it will last a couple years. If not, regular SpongeBob episodes are fine.
Viacom wants families to go to Paramount Plus. A way for some to remember the old Rugrats days and get hyped for the reboot. And a lot of people getting into SpongeBob. They're rolling with the punches. Will the audience accept them?
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