Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘Monday Memos’ we are going to talk about something that I think we can all relate to. Now I know that you all remember getting up early on Saturday mornings and watching your favorite cartoons (this was probably the only time any of us ever voluntary woke up early). So with the recent trend of popular shows receiving spin-offs/continuations (such as ‘Digimon’, ‘Boy Meets World’, and ‘Full House’), I thought that this would be a good time to talk about a few cartoons that also deserve a spin-off/continuation. For the sake of time, I only chose 5 shows for this list (even though there are SOOO many more), so if y’all have any suggestions please comment below. Ok, are you ready? Let’s go!
5) DuckTales:
Ok honestly how could you not like this show? I mean it’s about the awesome adventures that Scrooge McDuck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie (haha those names always crack me up) go on. This show is based off of the ‘Uncle Scrooge’ comics, and featured really awesome villains and additional characters such as Donald Duck. Now technically ‘DuckTails’ has already gotten two spin-offs (‘Darkwing Duck’ and ‘Quack Pack’), but these spin-offs featured some of the characters from ‘DuckTails’, not all of the characters. It’s also been 19 years since ‘Quack Pack’ (the last spin-off) aired, so I think it’s time for the ducks to return. I mean the ‘DuckTails’ theme song along should be enough proof of this show’s awesomeness.
4) Rocket Power
Ok now this is a show that I’m surprised hasn’t already gotten a spin-off. This show had an awesome mix of fun, life lessons, and kids doing awesome extreme sports. Anybody who watched ‘Rocket Power’ definitely wanted to be just like Otto and his friends (the characters on the show just in case you didn’t know). Another thing that really made this show awesome was the fact that we finally got a really cool female character in Reggie (Otto’s sister). Of course she dealt with boy/friend problems just like any girl, but she could also beat a lot of the guy characters on the show, and proved that being a tomboy can be very cool. Exciting adventures, cool characters, and awesome extreme sports, remind me again why this show hasn’t gotten a spin-off?
3) Hey Arnold!
Ok now you gotta love ‘Hey Arnold!’. What I liked best about this show is that the characters were super relatable, and seemed like real kids so the plot lines of the show were believable. Whether you were cool like Gerald, slightly crazy but actually misunderstood like Helga, or completely average like Arnold, you found a character that could represent you on the show. Even though we love shows that have cool, crazy characters, in awesome situations, it definitely shows talent and courage for a network to make a show that’s just about regular kids dealing with regular life stuff. With not a lot of cartoons like this currently on air, it seems like the perfect time to shout out ‘Hey Arnold!’.
2) Animaniacs
Now this was a show that was wacky, fun, and a little weird at times, but honestly we loved every minute of it! This show was about three siblings named Yakko, Wakko, and Dot who were fictional 1930s cartoon stars, who were locked away in the Warner Bros. water tower until they escaped in the 1990s. Once the three escape they wreck havoc on the Warner Bros. lot. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot got into really hilarious situations by interacting with “studio employees” and other cartoon characters on the lot. What I liked most about this show is it had a cool mix of wacky humor, pop culture references, and more mature jokes that we probably didn’t get as kids. This show has had spin-offs but it was so unique that I think it deserves to entertain us again.
1) Recess
Lastly, but definitely not least, we have ‘Recess’ (aka the show about the BFFs you wished you had). This show was about a group of 6 fourth graders, who had adventures and dealt with life problems during everyone’s favorite time of the day…recess! The characters playground is a mini-world environment that has the stereotypical cliques, and a “government” complete with unwritten laws, and even a king. This was another show that had a wide range of characters that just about everyone could relate to. Whether you fit in more with T.J. the class clown, Spinelli the tomboy, Gretchen the nerd, or even Randall the snitch, you’ll definitely see yourself within this series. Even though ‘Recess’ had a few movies after the show ended, we only got to see the characters make it to the 5th grade. I say we need at least 1 more season so they can go to 6th grade, and then move on to middle school.