Special Report

50 Most Loved Kids' Shows of All Time

Michael B. Sauter

Published: March 22, 2018 9:55 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 2:09 am

Almost since the earliest days of television there has been been programming specifically aimed at children, both to entertain and educate.

Children represent a large, impressionable audience with a great deal of free time, and these facts have led advertisers and producers to bank heavily on the demographic. The result has been countless timeless kids shows over the decades.

Since the early of television programming, children were entertained by pioneering shows like “Howdy Doody” and “Captain Kangaroo,” which paved the way for many children’s shows. If it was through purely entertaining programs like “Scooby Doo” and “Looney Tunes” or more educational shows such as “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and “Sesame Street,” kids remained glued to the TV throughout the decades.

The 90s-era Nickelodeon programs were no different and continued to help build the imaginations of young people who are now adults. The characters, plots, gags, and theme songs of these programs often remain burned in our memory long after other — arguably more important — memories fade.

For the current generation of young people, modern hits like “Adventure Time” and “Steven Universe” will likely fill the same place in their hearts.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the ratings of hundreds of television programs throughout history directed at children to identify the 50 most-loved kids’ shows of all time. Every reader is likely to have never heard of some of these, while others on this list they will probably never forget.

We ranked all programs based on their average user rating on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). We considered all shows listed on IMDB with a “Family” tag, as well as all programs listed by the website commonsense.com tagged as appropriate for children eight and under. To make the list, the show needed to have received at least 3,000 ratings on IMDB.

Click here to see the most popular kids’ shows of all time.

Source: Courtesy of CanWest Global Communications

50. Malcolm in the Middle
> Release year: 2000
> Genre: Comedy, Family
> Starring: Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, Justin Berfield

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Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

49. Phineas and Ferb
> Release year: 2007
> Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy
> Starring: Vincent Martella, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ashley Tisdale

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation

48. Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
> Release year: 2010
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Frank Welker, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

47. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
> Release year: 2012
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Sean Astin, Rob Paulsen, Greg Cipes

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Source: Courtesy of Filmwelt

46. The Transformers
> Release year: 1984
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Frank Welker, Peter Cullen, Corey Burton

Source: Courtesy of Image Entertainment

45. Voltron: Defender of the Universe
> Release year: 1984
> Genre: Animation, Family, Sci-Fi
> Starring: Jack Angel, Michael Bell, Peter Cullen

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Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

44. The Magic School Bus
> Release year: 1994
> Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
> Starring: Lily Tomlin, Daniel DeSanto, Erica Luttrell

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

43. Rocko’s Modern Life
> Release year: 1993
> Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Carlos Alazraqui, Tom Kenny, Charlie Adler

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

42. Boy Meets World
> Release year: 1993
> Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
> Starring: Ben Savage, Rider Strong, William Daniels

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Source: Courtesy of Paramount Television

41. SpongeBob SquarePants
> Release year: 1999
> Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Tom Kenny, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television

40. We Bare Bears
> Release year: 2014
> Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Eric Edelstein, Demetri Martin, Bobby Moynihan

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Source: Courtesy of Turner Content Solutions

39. The Amazing World of Gumball
> Release year: 2011
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Jacob Hopkins, Terrell Ransom Jr., Dan Russell

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Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Television

38. Gargoyles
> Release year: 1994
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Keith David, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Jeff Bennett

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

37. Dragons: Riders of Berk
> Release year: 2012
> Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
> Starring: America Ferrera, Jay Baruchel, T.J. Miller

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Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Television

36. DuckTales
> Release year: 1987
> Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
> Starring: Alan Young, Russi Taylor, Terence McGovern

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

35. Green Lantern: The Animated Series
> Release year: 2011
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Josh Keaton, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jason Spisak

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Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

34. The Spectacular Spider-Man
> Release year: 2008
> Genre: N/A
> Starring: Josh Keaton , Lacey Chabert , Joshua LeBar

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

33. Star vs. the Forces of Evil
> Release year: 2015
> Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
> Starring: Eden Sher, Adam McArthur, Grey DeLisle

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

32. Sesame Street
> Release year: 1969
> Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney

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Source: Courtesy of CanWest Global Communications

31. Superman
> Release year: 1996
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Tim Daly, Joseph Bologna, Dana Delany

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

30. TRON: Uprising
> Release year: 2012
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Elijah Wood, Tricia Helfer, Bruce Boxleitner

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Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution

29. The Wonder Years
> Release year: 1988
> Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
> Starring: Fred Savage, Dan Lauria, Daniel Stern

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

28. The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
> Release year: 2010
> Genre: Animation, Action, Family
> Starring: Eric Loomis, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Brian Bloom

Source: Courtesy of Cartoon Network Studios

27. Courage the Cowardly Dog
> Release year: 1999
> Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Marty Grabstein, Thea White, Peter Fernandez

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Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Company, The

26. Spider-Man
> Release year: 1994
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Christopher Daniel Barnes, Sara Ballantine, Edward Asner

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Television

25. Anne of Avonlea
> Release year: 1987
> Genre: Drama, Family, Romance
> Starring: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Marilyn Lightstone

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Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

24. The Adventures of Tintin
> Release year: 1991
> Genre: Animation, Adventure, Crime
> Starring: Colin O’Meara, Thierry Wermuth, Christian Pellissier

Source: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox Television

23. Life with Louie
> Release year: 1995
> Genre: Animation, Family, Comedy
> Starring: Louie Anderson, Edie McClurg, Justin Shenkarow

Source: Courtesy of British Broadcasting Corporation

22. Shaun the Sheep
> Release year: 2007
> Genre: N/A
> Starring: Justin Fletcher , John Sparkes , Richard Webber

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Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television

21. Steven Universe
> Release year: 2013
> Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy
> Starring: Zach Callison, Deedee Magno, Michaela Dietz

Source: Courtesy of Sullivan Entertainment

20. Anne of Green Gables
> Release year: 1985
> Genre: Drama, Family
> Starring: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth

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Source: Courtesy of Sonar Entertainment

19. The 10th Kingdom
> Release year: 2000
> Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Scott Cohen, Dianne Wiest

Source: Courtesy of ITC Entertainment

18. The Muppet Show
> Release year: 1976
> Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Richard Hunt

Source: Courtesy of Nickelodeon

17. Invader ZIM
> Release year: 2001
> Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Andy Berman, Richard Steven Horvitz, Rikki Simons

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Source: Courtesy of Nickelodeon Network

16. Salute Your Shorts
> Release year: 1991
> Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
> Starring: Trevor Eyster, Danny Cooksey, Michael Bower

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

15. Bill Nye, the Science Guy
> Release year: 1993
> Genre: Documentary, Comedy, Family
> Starring: Bill Nye, Pat Cashman, Jaffar Smith

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Source: Courtesy of Toonami Jetstream

14. Megas XLR
> Release year: 2004
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: David DeLuise, Wendee Lee, Steve Blum

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Distribution

13. The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour
> Release year: 1985
> Genre: Animation, Family, Comedy
> Starring: Mel Blanc, June Foray

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

12. Trollhunters
> Release year: 2016
> Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
> Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Anton Yelchin, Lexi Medrano

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Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

11. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
> Release year: 1968
> Genre: Family, Fantasy, Music
> Starring: Fred Rogers, Betty Aberlin, David Newell

Source: Courtesy of Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution

10. X-Men
> Release year: 1992
> Genre: Animation, Action, Family
> Starring: Cedric Smith, Cathal J. Dodd, Lenore Zann

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Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television

9. Adventure Time
> Release year: 2010
> Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
> Starring: Jeremy Shada, John DiMaggio, Tom Kenny

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Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

8. The Legend of Korra
> Release year: 2012
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Janet Varney, P.J. Byrne, David Faustino

Source: Courtesy of YTV

7. Justice League
> Release year: 2001
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Carl Lumbly, Phil LaMarr, Michael Rosenbaum

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Source: Courtesy of CanWest Global Communications

6. The New Batman Adventures
> Release year: 1997
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Kevin Conroy, Tara Strong, Mathew Valencia

Source: Courtesy of Disney Channel

5. Avonlea
> Release year: 1990
> Genre: Drama, Adventure, Family
> Starring: Zachary Bennett, Lally Cadeau, Mag Ruffman

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Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

4. Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron
> Release year: 1993
> Genre: Animation, Action, Family
> Starring: Barry Gordon, Charlie Adler, Gary Owens

Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

3. Gravity Falls
> Release year: 2012
> Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
> Starring: Jason Ritter, Alex Hirsch, Kristen Schaal

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Family Entertainment

2. Batman: The Animated Series
> Release year: 1992
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Kevin Conroy, Loren Lester, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

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Source: Courtesy of No Distributor Found

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender
> Release year: 2003
> Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
> Starring: Dee Bradley Baker, Zach Tyler, Mae Whitman