Top 10 Times Nickelodeon Shows Made NO Sense

It isn’t uncommon for “Rugrats” to feature fantastical elements. However, all sense of reality is shattered when watching “The Inside Story,” an episode where the babies travel inside Chuckie to remove a watermelon seed before it causes him to explode. This is where reality and fantasy start to blur… We could accept that the babies managed to shrink their sizes with a lamp, but that’s not how science works. Chalking it up to “playing pretend” doesn’t work either. If that were the case, would that mean they were just screaming and spinning around the room the whole time? No matter how you spin it, “The Inside Story” was just a confusing mess.

While most “Invader Zim” episodes tell standalone stories, the show’s switch to a more linear story arc makes older episodes a bit more confusing. How exactly are we supposed to move on when “The Wettening” ends with Zim flooding the planet? How come “Bolognius Maximus” ends with Zim and Dib turning into meat, yet they’re back to normal in the next episode? What about the time Peepi destroyed half of the city? If Zim had a device that resets Earth’s condition, then it’d make sense, but this floating timeline often feels out of place.

If you’re making a show that’s centered on a character made of felt, it would make sense if a good portion of the cast consisted of puppets. Just look at “The Muppets.” “Cousin Skeeter” failed to do so by having its titular character live in the human world and somehow be related to a human family. What makes this gimmick more uncomfortable is how nobody bothers questioning Skeeter’s birth and just blindly accepts his existence. Had “Cousin Skeeter” followed more in-line with a show like “ALF” and explained why he’s the only puppet in the family, maybe his existence wouldn’t be such a hard pill to swallow.

You gotta admit that the concept of “Danny Phantom” was pretty cool! A boy with ghost powers? That sounds awesome! Although, we can’t help getting a little nit-picky with the “half-human, half-ghost” part. Being a ghost basically means you’re dead, right? So, if that’s the case, then how can someone be a “half-ghost?” You can’t be half-dead and half-alive! That just doesn’t make sense! We appreciate the theme song giving us backstory as to how Danny got his powers, but when you dig into the technicalities, “Danny Phantom” is nonsensical conundrum.

To a young child, “Dora the Explorer” must be a land of wonder and excitement. For a parent, this is a waking nightmare disguised as a cheerful cartoon. Admit it, you’ve asked yourself the same question - where in the heck are Dora’s parents?! How is it that this kid can wander the planet without any parental supervision? Do her parents know their daughter is out on perilous adventures, exploring eerie jungles and yelling at a shady fox? It’s a good thing Boots is an innocent little monkey or Dora could be infected with rabies by now. Or malaria!

Speaking of “lack of parental supervision,” the Midnight Society is just as suspicious as a little girl wandering the jungle with a baby monkey. If you aren’t familiar with “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, the Midnight Society was composed of several kids who would meet up late at night to tell scary stories. Considering the show went on for seven seasons, it bears to ask how these kids managed to stay consistent with their schedule. Did they all flunk out of school or drop out? Were they all homeschooled? How are they finding time to stay out late for hours and still get enough sleep to not make their parents suspicious? Actually, maybe that last one explains why Eric suddenly disappeared…

Credit where credit is due, “CatDog” has tried to satisfy us about the duo’s origins, but it has only created more problems. In the TV movie, “CatDog and the Great Parent Mystery,” we finally learn the identity of CatDog’s parents - a sasquatch and a frog, but these two were merely their adopted parents. Okay, so if we aren’t getting an answer for how CatDog was born, can we at least get an explanation on their anatomy? Like, what happens when one of them eats something? ... On second thought, let’s not go down that road.

Anyone who has watched a handful of episodes has asked this question. We’ve seen other kids like Remy Buxaplenty and a young Denzel Crocker with fairies, but those kids actually had problems. Timmy, on the other hand, gets bullied at school and has a mean babysitter... and that’s pretty much it. His parents love him, he has friends, and he lives in a sizeable home. Is his life REALLY that bad when compared to someone like Chester, who lives in a trailer with his dad and has to worry about his braces all the time? And that’s not even considering the hundreds of times Timmy has broken Da Rules and gotten off scot-free. The kid’s been pretty darn lucky!

Trust us, we could pick apart the absurd logic of “SpongeBob” all day long, from SpongeBob being a kitchen sponge to how a gorilla could survive underwater. Although, the biggest problem isn’t from the characters, but rather their environment. It isn’t rare to see fire burning bright or paper being unaffected by water, and the show even acknowledges this in the episode “Party Pooper Pants.” As Patchy’s party heats up, the pirate wonders if SpongeBob ever got his invitation. The lovable sponge did, but due to the physical traits of water, Patchy’s letter arrived illegible, and SpongeBob proceeds to throw it in a fire. Yep, the show acknowledged its absurdity and didn’t bother explaining itself.

Before we get to our most nonsensical top pick, here are a few Honorable Mentions…

Josh & Mindy’s Relationship
“Drake & Josh” (2004-07)

The Headless Knight
“Kenan & Kel” (1996-2000)

SpongeBob’s Fluctuating Strength
“SpongeBob SquarePants” (1999-)

For a show that’s heavily themed around science, you’d think “Jimmy Neutron” would have all of its bases covered. Nearly every adventure has some rough scientific explanation behind it… except for all those times when they travel to space. Haven’t you noticed that whenever Jimmy and friends are traveling the galaxy they aren’t wearing helmets? Considering other Nicktoons have acknowledged the inability to breathe in space, “Jimmy Neutron’s” negligence made us speechless. While Sheen does ask Jimmy about this, we aren’t able to hear answer thanks to Carl’s singing.