Hello, everyone. CrystBalfast here of the Mermaid Princess RP Guild!
Here is a PSA about the characters explaining about Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Orlando
Nickelodoen Studios is an attraction & production building from 1990 to 2005 which stood the Test of Time Pretty Well until its closure as its home to Various Nickelodeon Games such as Double Dare, What Would You Do, Get the Picture, GUTS, Nick Arcade, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Figure It Out, You're On & more.
This section is also outside the main IC for the guild.
PSA OOC Time: 2-19-2023 to 5-12-2023
PSA Segments: = Nick Studios 1. 4 Year Preamble 2. 1988 = Rental Leases 3. 1990 = Grand Opening 4. 1991 = Game Lab 5. 1992 = Time Capsule 6. 1993 = Over Expansion 7. 1994 = Resource Crisis 8. 1995 = Nicktoons Takeover 9. 1996 = Rock Bottom 10. 1997 = Nickelodeon's Sunset 11. 1998 = Third Rate Operation 12. 1999 = Childhood's End 13. 2000 = The Return of Double Dare 14. 2001 = The Collapse 15. 2002 = The Decline of Nickelodeon Studios 16. 2003 = The Game Farm 17. 2004 = The Final Judgement 18. 2005 = The (sort of) End of Nickelodeon Studios 19. 2008 = Alas, Poor Extreme Arena 20. 2011 = Somewhat Apologetic Nicktoons 21. The Aftermath
In Progress Visits:
Completed Visits:
Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2023 5:09 pm
Sorin Midnight Mountain Prince (Machinist) "I hope to give you dancing lessons soon enough."
In the Player's Room, we see Prince Sorin and Arrietty watching a time lapse of Nick Studios creation from 1990 Hello. I'm Prince Sorin from the Mermaid Princess RP Guild and this is Arrietty as a human girl from the same RP.
What you are seeing is the Childhood Intersection of a Reality we live in as there is a place where Little People on your TV become Real & Network Television becomes a Tourist Trap that's a Wonderland of Childlike Fun & Entertainment.
It's a Dream Vacation for Kids & Adults of All Ages that everyone longs of having even after its collapse decades later...
While its first few years was considered the post Double Dare's Success Rate, it would be the birthplace of several Children's Games on Nickelodeon and even Teenage Sitcoms like 15 & Welcome Freshmen.
This is the Story of the Rise and Fall of Nickelodeon Studios. Sorin said to Arrietty and the Viewers
Arrietty Borrower/Fae "Sure ,love to Explore with you !"
[Location, Area] ~"Prince Sorin, it all sounds so wonderful ,please do continue, all new an d interesting, *the Rise and Fall of Nickelodeon* can't wait mrgreen"thinks little Arietty heart~
Sorin Midnight Mountain Prince (Machinist) "I hope to give you dancing lessons soon enough."
Sure, Arrietty. Mr. Narrator, if you would.
Part 1: 4 Year Preamble Narrator: The Year was 1984. During the Video Game Crash of 1983 & 1984, Cy Schneider, the first president of Nickelodeon, resigned after complications rose in MTV Networks. This spelled the Beginning of the End for Nickelodeon's First Era, The Edutainment Era. Geraldine Laybourne took over as an Intern President then as a Full Term Channel President which she did a lot to pick up the pieces turning the Channel from a PBS Competitor to a Channel of Child Empowerment that's fun for All Ages. After Nickelodeon's Second Attempt of a Sketch Comedy Show, being Turkey Television, they decided to Fine Tune the next show until it was what everyone wanted by workshopping its content. So, in Laybourne asked four people to her boardroom meeting and they came up with Game Changer of a show which became Double Dare in 1986 along with its Syndication to Fox Network that lead to its Overnight Success. The Narrator recapped to Sorin and Arrietty
Arrietty Borrower/Fae "Sure ,love to Explore with you !"
[Location, Area] ~"It does sound fun this *Double Dare, and Nickelodeon went through big changes, 3nodding also 1986 must have been a good year3nodding"thinks of their over nigh success~
Sorin Midnight Mountain Prince (Machinist) "I hope to give you dancing lessons soon enough."
Part 2: Rental Leases 1988-1990 Narrator: In 1988, Studio Space was something needed to be desired as the Channel left its Warner Communications in Columbus, Ohio Origins. Most Studio spaces was reserved for what was affordable. To name a Few shows, = Pinwheel was taped at Matrix Studios in NYC... = You Can't Do That On Television was taped at CJOH Television... = Against the Odds was taped in LA... = Mr. Wizard's World was taped at Calagry = Out of Control was taped at the Valley Productions Center This Decentralizated original content production for Nickelodeon during the Edutainment Era. The Closest thing Nickelodeon had was the PBS Station WHYY Public Television Station as it was there that Double Dare was taped which became an Overnight Success & that Public Television Space was used for other Games recorded there such as Finders Keepers & Think Fast as it felt like they rented that lease of Real Estate.
By the late 1980s, leasing a Studio Lot Space would not be a big issue but it was a swing right into a fence so to speak.
As in Reality, Nickelodeon forwarded their concepts to MCA Universal as the Kids Choice Awards was taped at Universal Hollywood.
By Halloween 1988, MCA & Nickelodeon cut a deal as while the Orlando Park would have Sound Stages whether or not they would be active would be unknown since Universal would still operate in Hollywood.
With Nickelodeon at the helm, some sound stages would be active. For the Universal Park, they made Rides based on the Movie Worlds of Jaws, King Kong, ET, Back to the Future which is what you would see at Universal to name a few... Even Nickelodeon IPs would be shown at the park since not every child can handle the Jaws Ride or the Murder She Wrote show.
Nickelodeon signed a 13 year agreement with MCA Universal on Thanksgiving 1988 where they took over a production center sound stage which turned out to be Stages 18-19 along with a Rehearsal Stage & Admin Offices where shows would be produced 10 Hours per day, 7 days a week.
Nickelodeon would run the place while MCA Universal Ran their tours through it and was announced in February 1989, 9 Months before The Little Mermaid from Disney changed everything...
After that, construction began where the exterior would be designed by Byron Talyor who was the Art Director for Finders Keepers and Super Sloppy Double Dare while the Interior Design was handled by Don St. Mars who was an Art Director for Advertisement Agencies during the 1980s. However, several changes were made throughout its production as Nickelodeon had less control of the Construction where the Final Plans were approved by MCA Universal where they wanted a functional studio space scaled to its source such as Double Dare.
But Nickelodeon's Expansion Plans had them save a lot of money as this was encouraging them to do larger scale productions and one such concept that MCA Universal did was Cross Marketing Advertisements & Promotions where Nickelodeon would promote Universal Orlando at least 1,000 times a year which also appeared as the Grand Prize on Nickelodeon Game Shows at the time even then ones being filmed at Universal Studios & even every show that's taped there would have this end cue card... The Narrator continued to Sorin and Arrietty
= Notable Mentions Super Sloppy Double Dare Think Fast Make the Grade Outta Here Eureeka's Castle Fifteen Nick Arcade What Would You Do Get the Picture GUTS Global GUTS Legends of the Hidden Temple Clarissa Explains it all Welcome Freshmen Super Special Double Dare Family Double Dare All Star Challenge Tournament My Brother & Me Figure It Out Mystery Files of Shelby Woo All That You're On Double Dare 2000 Noah Knows Best Slime Time Live Game Farm
Narrator: Nickelodeon used this as Self-Promotion through a process called Matrix Marketing.
This is where different products would promote each other that creates a web of consumer ware influence through different types for Nickelodeon... 1 The Nickelodeon Channel 2. Nickelodeon Road Shows = This started in 1984 with Pinwheel but became common with Double Dare = A Venture between Nickelodeon & BMG Music 3. Nickelodeon Club 4. Nick Knack Gift Packs of the Nickelodeon Club 5. Nickelodeon Magazines = Which got a Monthly Subscription in 1993 6. Licenses 7. Promotions 8. Lifestyle Catalogs 9. Nickelodeon Studios
All this combined lead to a road map where people watch Nickelodeon, see a Road Show, Sign up for a Nickelodeon Club for Pizza & Ice Cream, buy Nickelodeon Magazines, Joining the Nickelodeon Club through magazines, Nick Knack Gift Packs with Referrals, wearing merchandise from the catalogs & Visiting the Nickelodeon Studios to watch their shows, buy the shirts as seen in their catalogs where you get the Gift Packs where they give away as well which all lead to Nickelodeon's Matrix Processing. Unlike NY or California, Orlando is still a right to work state where not a single Nickelodeon Production is required to hire through unions and that was a good thing too. However, the problem with doing so is that it would lead to overextending and such passion projects would sink the Nickelodeon Studios Attraction, causing them to head for Oblivion where as to coin the Phase, "Pride will be your downfall." Considering when one's ambitions would get away from that person, so to speak.
While the Park was not fully completed, most of the Construction was completed to start filming Super Sloppy Double Dare in April 1989. Think Fast's Lackey Era was taped there in January 1990 & in that same month a News Conference was held there was well with Nickelodeon's Management & their Batley Puppet too where Laybourne quoted, "The Next Decade will be 90s Nickelodeon."
Arietty Borrower/Fae "Sure ,love to Explore with you !"
[Location, Area] ~" I have read , very interesting ty, who would of thought matrix Marketing, it does not surprise me =)"thinks Arietty. ty Mister Narrator as she tries to absorb this, early morning~
Sorin Midnight Mountain Prince (Machinist) "I hope to give you dancing lessons soon enough."
Part 3: 1990 Grand Opening Delays Narrator: After several Delays, Universal Orlando cut its Filmstrip Ribbon, completing the ingratiation in June 1990. But its first day didn't go according to plan, as power outages resulted in extended delays at the attractions and rides such as Jaws. The Back to the Future Ride, however was not yet completed. The Only Rides that DID work were ET & Hanna-Barbera. Refunds were issued as it was a poor first showing during its Grand Opening. But you can't tell if you were watching Nickelodeon as it showed a 3 Hour Premiere with Hosts from Double Dare, Total Panic, Think Fast & stars from the Hey Dude Sitcom.
Don't Just Sit There also promoted the Rides & Attractions including King Kong vs. Nickelodeon.
Guest Stars included the Cast of You Can't Do That on Television and Pop Idol Performances on the Double Dare Stage. And Yes, Steven Spielberg got slimed too! However, its famous Slime Geyser didn't reach operational status until Halloween 1990. During that time, Super Sloppy Double Dare, Family Double Dare, Make the Grade, Eureeka's Castle, Total Panic & Outta Here were taped there since an attraction filming something 364 Days a Year can be tiring.
Most Games were filmed 3-5 in a Day, Sitcoms took 4 Days to produce as there was going to be some periods of time that there was nothing to tape there, so you would need to wing it doing "Camera Blocking".
This also resulted in 25 Pilot Episodes being taped there as well in 1992 such as the Kids Court 92 Series.
Tickets were purchased from the Guest Relations Offices at the Main Entrance to the park, where you can also audition to be on a Nickelodeon Show. From that point, it was a walk to Production Central and on the left was Nickelodeon Way which had the Futuristic World of Hanna-Barbera Simulator & the Nickelodeon Studios where its Geyser went off every 10 Minutes. The Studio Tour had the audition rooms and upstairs contained the Windowed Walkways past the Control Rooms, the Costume Trailers & Kitchens. After the Tour, there were Feedback Kisoks which asked for Demographic Feedback. The Bathroom also had Nickelodeon Studios Toilet Paper, Green Slime Soap, Toilets that made cartoon sounds. The Tour Lasted for 40 Minutes & it was a fun experience for its time. The Narrator said
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 5:41 am
Arietty Borrower/Fae "Sure ,love to Explore with you !"
[Location, Area] ~" TY, telling us about the de;ay 1990. It must have been fun going a a tour would have loved to experience that ^^"thinks replies Arietty~
Sorin Midnight Mountain Prince (Machinist) "I hope to give you dancing lessons soon enough."
Part 4: 1991 Fine Tuning & the Game Labs Narrator: By 1991, Scott Davis, a VP for Viacom was selected by Laybourne to handle Nickelodeon Studios as its Manager to Fine Tune the Attraction since 1991 would be a Big Year for Nickelodeon such as the Launch of the Nicktoons being Rugrats, Doug, and Ren & Stimpy. With Original Animation underway, Nick Studios was put on the back burner early as it had no animation production quality but it was not without its Sitcoms like Clarissa Explains it all which introduced the world to Sabrina the Teenage Witch Star to be Melissa Joan Hart.
Get the Picture which brought Mike O'Malley to Nickelodeon & that game was a Successor to Finders Keepers with Hidden Pictures rather than Hidden Objects, but we'll talk about that later.
What Would You Do, another participation show which continues the Total Panic Formula in its Third Incarnation, but I'll get to talking about that eventually. But its worth mentioning that What Would You Do was designed for the Universal Orlando Experience. Nick Studios had potential to work for a number of reasons due to its High Quality Shows being taped there as it had cost reduction and cross promotional efforts.
Each Set had to be designed to be presentable as an environment of welcoming.
One addition in 1991 was the Game Lab which ran for 15-30 Minutes with an audience of 250 where Nickelodeon can test out its Games & Challenges that would be used later on. The Game Lab had revision and set changes over the years, such as a TV Monitor, shows of Past & Present Signs were added, New Games and Nicktoon Shows were integrated.
While Nickelodeon aired its games, their tickets sold out very quickly. Even Pre-Internet Era people would have to wait to get to see a Double Dare Taping.
Game Lab was pretty fun and to see people getting slimed. So I would Consider adding an OOC Game Lab Function to the OOC Section of the RP Guild when I can do that. That means it would be a Proving Ground for Testing OOC Carnival Games and even OOC Game Pilots. The Narrator said
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 6:43 am
Arietty Borrower/Fae "Sure ,love to Explore with you !"
[Fine Tuning, Game Labs ] ~"oh the Nick Toons yay! and Sabrina the teenage Witch, fun =) and of course, I cna see you making Nick Lab OOC themed games lol"thinks Arietty , 1991 was a big year xd~
Sorin Midnight Mountain Prince (Machinist) "I hope to give you dancing lessons soon enough."
Part 5: 1992 Tragedy of the Time Capsule Narrator: By Chirstmas 1991, Nickelodeon added Park Mascots such as Ren & Stimpy then by 1992, meet and greet characters from Nick Jr & Nicktoon Shows appeared such as Doug, Pork Chop, Batley, Magellan & Eureeka, Rocko, Spunky, Chuckie & Angelica, there was also the Doowopasaurus from the Nickelodeon Bumpers & Idents.
By Spring of 1992, the Nickelodoen Time Capsule was buried at Nickelodeon Studios, the event was hosted by Mike O'Malley. 30 Items were chosen by Nickelodeon Viewers that was to be opened 50 Years Later by 2042. These Items included... = Newspapers = Back to the Future/Home Alone Movies on VHS = Game Boy = Music CDs = Sneakers = Jar of Slime (Since in a Back to the Future Skit, they would predict no more slime) = Joey Lawrence Hats = Books such as the World Atlas 1992 = An issue of Nickelodeon magazine = A Nicktoons T-shirt featuring Ren & Stimpy = A piece of the Berlin Wall = A Barbie doll = Pencils = A skateboard = A baseball = Twinkies (Which would age and decay past the sell by date) = A stick of bubble gum, though no one seems to know which kind.
= Photos of things too big (or alive) to fit inside, including bicycles, planes, trains, cars, politicians and celebrities.
= A videotape, which was a recording of the live ceremony, shot by a girl named Vicky who stood onstage to operate the Kid Cam.
and The camera recording the tape; this appears to have been unplanned. Mike O'Malley and Joey Lawrence both looked baffled about how to remove the tape from the camera, so the whole setup was tossed in at the last minute. The Narrator said as he showed the burial clip
Narrator: The Sad Truth is while the Time Capsule Ceremony engaged people about the Current State of the World & Hopes for the Future, it did not remain at Universal Orlando for long as it was moved after Nick Studios' Fall. More on that later. But in the meantime, the Awareness would be addressed in the next decade.
The Shows that were brought to Nick Studios was Nick Arcade which used Chromakey Technology to put people inside a Video Game & GUTS which took up an entire sound stage for a Sports Competition under the Guise of The Extreme Arena. But again, I'll talk about those later when the time comes.
Other than that, 1992 saw Nickelodeon become a large Media Producer which contained 20% Production in the Orlando District which is 6 shows at a given time where employment was at 200 & 400 at Peek Performance. However, by the late 1990s, Nickelodeon's Overexpanding would lead them into deep trouble.
But in the meantime, Universal celebrated its success rate as June 29 became "Nickelodeon Kids Day" for Orlando where Nickelodeon took control with 8 Children in Key Locations such as Honorary Mayor, Fire Chief & Police Chief & even the City Hall got slimed.
Nickelodeon Studios for its first 3 years in life cemented its reputation as their Child Empowerment Image but like everything in life, Nickelodeon was completely unaware that fate was about to hurl a spitball in their direction. In other words, they would soon learn about the dire consequences of over expanding. The Narrator continued
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 7:40 am
Arietty Borrower/Fae "Sure ,love to Explore with you !"
[Location, Area] ~"Oh my they sure went through transitions, and mascots, wee! fun,3nodding and the time capsule, intriguing to say the least, 1992 was another big year, and consequences oh my, I am listening =)"thinks Arietty ~
Sorin Midnight Mountain Prince (Machinist) "I hope to give you dancing lessons soon enough."
Part 6: 1993 = Expansion Narrator: Spring 1993 saw the Children's World Council Event where 56 Children from Around the World joined together to preserve the planet and create a plan to be presented to Washington DC which would lay the Foundation to The Big Help in 1994 but a Pilot Called "Planet for the Planet" was taped that featured Al Gore during the Clinton Era.
Nickelodeon Continued to Push the Envelope by expanding their studio space with new cosmetics, video game kiosks where park visitors can sample SEGA & Nintendo games for Nick Arcade. Tour Buses also got a Nickelodeon Makeover & the Shows kept growing larger and larger like its off an assembly line to answer each and every need.
Legends of the Hidden Temple was introduced which got harder for the 2 years that followed it. But again, I will talk about that later.
The over expanding of a Crowed Space caused Nickelodeon to rent More Sound Stages so as the Supply would meet its Demand. But to do that, some shows were out where they had to be moved to the CBS Studio Center in Hollywood as Roundhouse was the first one to go as it was a sign of things Yet to Come and not in a good way either.
However, if there's fractures in a project, then its important to mend it as quickly as possible before the damages get out of hand, Nickelodeon Studios did NOT do that since they expanded as fast as they please. Progress maybe Progress and Progress can grow up to a point where you need to draw the line at an industry venture & slow down so that there's time to fix any problems that arise before its out of control too fast.
Like the Story of The Lorax, where an industrialist over expanded until there was nothing left & everything fell into ruin due to the destruction caused by corporate greed. That's the downside to working Full Tilt and Over Expanding at the same time. The Narrator continued as he started to mention the Cause of Nick Studios' Collapse.
