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For those who grew up in the decade between 1985 and 1995, there was no cooler destination in TV land than Nickelodeon. Free of the artificial constraints of edutainment, the network delivered just what kids wanted: crass, silly shows bathed in torrents of slime. Unlike the safe, sanitized territory of Disney, Nickelodeon’s early days were marked by a grungy, rebellious aesthetic that thrived in the era of latchkey living.
“These were the shows I watched — You Can’t Do That on Television and Double Dare, Salute Your Shorts and Ren & Stimpy,” says Mathew Klickstein, author of Slimed!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age. “In those early days, they were this little DIY startup that was doing some pretty interesting stuff.” Klickstein’s book takes you behind the scenes of the early days, when a small group of television pioneers took a chance on making a kids’ network for actual kids and succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations, creating a generation’s worth of classic content along the way.
Klickstein will read and sign Slimed! at 7 p.m. tonight at Innisfree Poetry Bookstore and Cafe, 1203 13th Street, Suite A, in Boulder. Admission is free; the book is $20. For more information, visit innisfreepoetry.com.
Wed., Oct. 16, 7 p.m., 2013
