Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age by Matthew Klickstein | Audiobook Review

SLIMED! An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age tells the surprisingly complex, wonderfully nostalgic, and impressively compelling story of how Nickelodeon -- the First Kids' Network -- began as a DIY startup in the late 70s, and forged ahead through the early eighties with a tiny band of young artists and filmmakers who would go on to change everything about cable television, television in general, animation, and children's entertainment, proving just what can be done if the indie spirit is kept alive in the corporate world of contemporary media... All from those who made it happen!

Why Did I Listen To This Book?

I am the sort of reader who loves non-fiction books about things I have experienced. I love listening to books that fill me with nostalgia for my childhood. When I came across Slimed!: An Oral History Of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age by Matthew Klickstein in the Audible store I knew that I had to have it immediately. The fact that Nick Podehl, best narrator ever, was the reader for this book was just icing on the cake. Within days of purchase, I began listening to this audiobook about Nickelodeon’s history. Nostalgia does not even begin to cover my emotions while reading and listening to this book.

What’s Slimed! About?

Really, the title says it all, Slimed is an oral history of Nickelodeon’s golden age. There’s no surprise here. The book starts with Nickelodeon’s origins and then goes forth with stories from the actors, actresses, and people who worked for Nickelodeon. Essentially, if like me, when you weren’t reading you were watching Nickelodeon and can picture Stick Stickley, Face, Roger Klotz, Phil and Lil, Ferguseon, the Midnight Society, sing the Log song, and remember the episode of Hey Dude where the girl puts vaseline on her teeth for the talent show/pageant, you will get what this book is all about. It’s those people who made our childhood looking back and remembering the magic. They talk about catching lightning in a bottle. It’s kind of super amazing, y’all. There’s nothing more awesome to me than looking back and realizing that I’ve had this great common shared childhood experience with so many people and that I am not the only one who was obsessed with Nickelodeon.

What Did I Learn?

SO MUCH. But really:

• There was Ren And Stimpy drama, like a lot of it.
• Danny Tamborelli is kind of the greatest, also a lot of the extras on Pete and Pete were people that he recruited.
• A lot went into the design of the bedroom in Clarissa Explains It All, the checkerboard paint was done with intention.
• Not only were kids auditioned for Nick, but so were parents. The current actors would scope out the parents to make sure they weren’t those awful sort of stage parents.
• Nickelodeon was a pioneer in diversity.
• There was pushback on Grandpa Boris and Grandma Minka from Rugrats as the JDL found them offensive.
• Nickelodeon’s original aim was programming aimed specifically for kids, not advertisers. This has not been the case for awhile now. That’s why it’s programming sucks now.
• Mr. Wizard received a standing ovation at a science teacher’s convention and also inspired Billy Nye the Science Guy.
• As a favor, Ben Stiller once obtained Hey Dude episodes from a studio prior to them being on DVD to tease/entertain his wife Christine Taylor.
• Melissa Joan Hart is actually really cool.
• The green slime was made a number of different ways.
• The cast of Welcome Freshmen was largely Canadian.

How’s The Narration?

As flawless as Nick Podehl typically is, I think that I would have preferred it if each person providing the oral history narrated their own part. I think that would have made this a much more amazing listen. Granted, as that could likely not happen, I think that Nick Podehl did a fine job narrating. I have zero complaints about his voice. I also don’t have complaints about this audiobook. FYI, it’s produced by Brilliance Audio and is awesome. The end.

Who Would I Recommend Slimed! To?

I think that if you are a pop culture aficionado you will love this book. If, like me, as soon as you got home from school you turned on Nickelodeon and desperately wanted Nick to take over your school, started recycling because of the Big Help, wanted to turn into silver goo, thought Shelby Woo was the ish, and would get nightmares from Are You Afraid Of The Dark, you need to read this book. Also, if you’ve always wanted an orange couch and would totally spend Saturday nights watching Snick, you need to listen to Slimed!: An Oral History Of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age by Matthew Klickstein. It will seriously bring you back to childhood, but also make you sad that you can’t go back and that time passes all too quickly.

Sum It Up With A GIF:

Wow, I miss this logo and those days. Excuse me, I’ve got a bit of nostalgia and remembering in my eye.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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