Sonia’s wedding at the beginning of 2003 got us hooked on was watching numerous hours of Hey Arnold! I swear it was on Nickelodeon every time we were in our hotel room.
When it first started in the mid Nineties, I was disappointed because the Arnold character was nothing like the original comic strips from Simpsons Illustrated magazine (their long-running comic replaced this publication in 1993). I guess to make the show more “accessible” an ensemble cast was added, standard sitcom scenarios about a grade-school kid were written and then came the biggest change, Arnold spoke. Back in the strips, the main character resembled a modern-day Henry with a more blasé expression on his face.
After watching a string of these, mainly episodes involving Helga (the girl who has a huge crush on Arnold and calls him “football head”), my opinion changed favorably toward it and I was less likely to change the channel.
Now the first three seasons are available via streaming on Netflix. So when Mental Floss had a 12-question quiz, I thought I would nail at least 10. Argh! I got eight. The one asking about the opening theme…I totally disagree on the answer. However, I think this should provide the impetus for Netflix and Viacom (the media barony which owns it) to have the remaining five seasons offered instantly.
A quick piece of trivia. Arnold’s creator Craig Bartlett is Matt Groening’s brother-in-law, he’s married to the real-life Lisa. This probably explains how Hey Arnold! got Dan Castellaneta to be the voice of Grandpa.