you must fix your heart

TIL when Nickelodeon was brand new a central part of its marketing was that it would have no commercials at all because people were already beginning to grow concerned with the idea of advertising to children. Wow we sure as fuck went backwards didn't we.

How does that even work? Genuinely

It was exclusive to cable packages, so the only people who had Nickelodeon were already paying money anyway, and they hoped lots of parents would now buy cable to have this rare offering of ad-free programming for their kids, so, very similar to the role of subscriptions on the modern Internet.

It primarily failed because at the time, they had no original new shows or anything that kids actually liked. The lady actually in charge of Nickelodeon infamously discovered that her own kids were embarrassed by the connection because kids at school got bullied for watching such an uncool baby channel.

This was all in 1977 when the channel was called "pinwheel." It was renamed to Nickelodeon in 79, and finally took off in the mid 80s when I was a baby, but by then it was already airing commercials I think? It wasn't even making its own cartoons (like Rugrats or Ren and Stimpy) until the 90s which is when children finally thought it was awesome and it became a big money maker. By then, all protests against advertising to kids had failed and actual bans on it had lifted.

"Pinwheel" was also the name of Nickelodeon's "flagship" show in those early years, which is best described as "we have Sesame Street at home".

Well, it was and then this happened

The history is a little more complicated than that - with at least two distinct eras of Nickelodeon before Gerry Laybourne's revamping efforts. For the full history, I highly recommend Pop Arena's show Nick Knacks, which looks at every single show to ever air on Nickelodeon (including the weird obscure stuff you may never have heard of) while also putting the shows in their historical context with what decisions were made around the channel and why. Starting here, with the precursor that evolved into Nick - QUBE. I'd post the full playlist, but Tumblr doesn't seem to like Playlists. Just follow on from there to see more - it's a fascinating dive into history, with a ton of early shows being considered lost media and interesting experiments in television in the late-70s/early-80s.

is therapy not working anon?

I’m cocked in for my tumblr shift boss

It’s illegal to bully people with dickslexia so have fun in jail

Twitter users are defending their right to assume Picasso was a renaissance artist. Tiktok users think watching any film made outside the US makes you a snob. “Replace classic lit with YA and fan fiction” discourse is flourishing. I think we’re just living in anti intellectual times.

it's not anti-intellectualism it's anti-snobbery

Let me ask you this: how many “snobs” have you actually met? Because I have met many people who take interest in art history, watch vintage film or films from films from outside the US (which by the way are not all “arthouse” films), or read and cherish historically and culturally significant literature. But I have never met anyone who will treat me like I’m a bad person for watching Mama Mia or just wanting to be entertained once in a while. I have, however, met people who think art history is stupid and pointless and that those who study it deserve to live in poverty, who are xenophobic and dismissive toward any art made outside the US (or western Europe for that matter), or roll their eyes at people who read literature they consider boring because they’ve never given it a try. In fact, most of the people I know who you would consider “snobs” out of projected insecurity are cautious to bring up their interests because they think they’ll be made fun of. Is anti intellectualism “anti elitist?” At times, but it’s the sort of pseudo populism that fits comfortably within contemporary right wing discourse. Have you paid any attention to politics the last decade or so? If you are allergic to culture and new information, fine. Just don’t claim the moral high ground for it.

you could have just asked for her wig instead of snatching it like that

So we all know that Tumblr is US-centric. But to what degree? (and can we skew the results of this poll by posting it at a time where they should be asleep?)

Reblog to increase sample size!

Mitski performing during 'the land is inhospitable and so are we' tour.

me watching old music videos on youtube for three hours straight

a self-esteem guidebook: learning to embrace your imperfect self (1992) - kenneth a. beavers

"exploding you with my mind"

i hate when ppl act like the only reason to not like a "sad" ending is because you can't take it or whatever. personally as a tragedy enjoyer, i hate a poorly written ending. i hate an ending that is just kind of a bummer. i hate an ending that feels mean-spirited to the audience. i hate an ending that's redundant. i love a sad ending that is thematically consistent, poignant, and bespoke to the rest of its narrative.

The fact that Chappell Roan makes nothing but bops really saved her from more people pointing out that "Hit it like rom pom pa pom / get it hot like Papa John" is genuinely one of the stupidest lyrics ever recorded

Chappell is so good at making pop songs that even when she drops an absolute stinker of a bar she can just play it off as camp and no one will think twice and honestly I love that for her it's kind of iconic

People on twitter are always like 'there's still people on tumblr?'... As if Twitter wasn't full of stolen text posts, gifs and art originally posted here

They think that they’re doing an archeological dig but really they’re just walking into our houses picking up random stuff and saying “Wow, what a beautiful post! Shame that the people who made it died a long time ago :(((” While we stare at them from our dinner tables

jokes on you I love Sansa I love Daenerys I love Catelyn I love Arya I love Cersei I love Brienne honestly I love every single female character in asoiaf I’m literally never losing you wish you were me

If you have multiple exes, vote based on your most recent ex or the one you resent most, if any.

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Made the worst brownies ever created just now

Chat where did I go wrong

the reviews are in