Thank you for the wonderful response so far guys. I was really nervous putting this one out not only because it's very different from my usual neck of the woods, but also because it was very personal and close to my heart. Thank you all!

Teletoon YTV Family Treehouse Long ago the 4 channels lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when Cartoon Network attacked.

Fun fact about Martin Mystery. For the Canadian broadcast of the show they would often change the description of the location where the mystery of the episode is set in to move it to a Canadian location. For example that episode you mentioned about the one taken place in Nova Scotia actually took place in Scotland, that’s why the people had Scottish accent’s and the scenery and village looked like it was in Scotland, because it was. For international broadcast’s they showed the original intended location of the episode.

I Remember watching Teletoon retro, they played show's like "The Bugs Bunny and Tweety show", "The Road Runner Show", "The Pink Panther", Etc.

Shoutout to Carlos Bustamante who left YTV after working his ass off for 16 goddamn years Mad respect Carlos, you will be missed

Anyone remember Little Bear?

So class of titans was basically kid friendly Clone high

My body is honestly tingling with nostalgia at every second of this video. Canadian television and history is not very well documented on the internet. You did an incredible job piecing together the childhood of a Canadian in their mid-late 20s. I'm also from Newfoundland, not too far from you.

"Canadians are weird!" -Ed, 1999

You should do more videos like this. Your gaming videos are top tier (been a follower since you were at 10K), but this was an awesome video! Reminds me of when BrutalMoose branched out into food videos. It's something I didn't even know I wanted, but I'd love to see more non-gaming videos on this channel!

james: "How Canadian TV Shaped Me" also james: *"BREAK TV"*

Class of the Titans was my absolute FAVOURITE show. It spawned my obsession with Greek Mythology. As a kid I'd force my mom to take me to the library EVERY single Saturday so I could read about it. And this went on for like 2 years. I swear I read every book on greek mythology that the library had. Most of which were obviously above my reading skill level, but I didn't care. I had to know everything lmao. Spider Riders was my #2. I still rock out to the theme song TO THIS DAY, and I'm 25 now LOL Di-Gata Defenders, 6teen and Totally Spies was also favourites of mine. I never really WATCHED much of Delilah and Julius but MAN I was obsessed with the game on teletoon's website lmao Ironically a few days ago I was talking with a coworker about old cartoons AND SHE SAID HER FAVOURITE USED TO BE ANGELA ANACONDA. I had to just walk away. I couldn't handle that answer lol

Thank you for this video. So much canadian nostalgia

This felt somewhat personal Nitro and man that ending hit the heart strings, these shows aren’t always just shows for us folks, they also remind us of our short time in that short frame of being a child, discovering and growing and a lot of these shows let us be a tourist in our youth once more. Thanks once more Nitro for the superb video, stay Rad.

As a french guy, hearing about Kid Paddle on your channel suprised me a lot and make me really proud ! Kid Paddle comics and animated series was my childhood

This is my absolute favorite video by you. I may not be Canadian, but I deeply appreciate the in-depth look at some shows I had no Idea existed. Plus, your comments on Totally Spies, personally, for me, made me even more comfortable with who I am and what I like. Overall, seeing the nostalgia you have for these Canadian shows and the channels behind them reminds me of my own nostalgia for the more obscure shows broadcast in America, and also reminds me that, although we may have different experiences, we all have that one thing we are personally nostalgic for, and that has shaped us into who we are today. and finally, that ending may seem very sappy to some people, but it makes me emotional every time, because you're absolutely right, and it makes me realize how much what I grew up with effected me, and how I wouldn't be the same without those experiences. All I have to say is, amazing work, and thank you for making such a great video. Props to one of the best KZfaqrs on this site. Much respect to you, Nitro.

Literally just 40 minutes talking about his childhood. The most wholesome thing I've ever seen.

*Im South African & you just opened my eyes to how many hows i grew up watching that were Canadian*

The theme song to Being Ian has been living in my head, rent-free, for well over a decade now.

A lot of these shows came to Australia as well. I have seen some people watching TDI and Stoked even nowadays.

Not Canadian so I didn’t have any nostalgia for any of this but i could seriously feel your love for these shows and no matter how this video performs I want you to know that this is in my opinion the best video you’ve made and I’m insanely thankful for it.

I screamed when you brought up the weekenders! Nobody EVER talks about that show, but it was one of my favourites as a kid! Also, it's just really great to see someone actually speaking positively of Canadian programming. We get such a bad rap in the US...

this literally makes me so nostalgic I'm 18 and a half and i remember when teletoon switched to the new style i thought it was cool as hell but when the detour started it made me feel edgy and i watch bill and Mandy and futurama and feel like i was staying up late and try to hide it from my parents although those only aired at 9 and 9:30 god those are good memories :p

as a quebecker you've just unearth some deep memory from me i'm so glad i watch this video

This was an amazing video, and a big nostalgia trip. Shows like Being Ian, Monster By Mistake, Martin Mystery etc. were amazing and I agree with you, I think I'm very lucky to have grown up with them. What I would give to go back... Haha

Ruby Gloom, Prank Patrol, Sagwa, Totally Spies, Zoboomafoo, I liked Jacob Two-Two and Johnny Test don't @ me, Arthur, Franklin, Atomic Betty, 6teen, Being Ian, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Max and Ruby, My Dad the Rock Star, and Yakkity Yak are some of the shows I remember watching when I was a kid, as well as some live action craft shows I don't recall the name of

This video is amazing! It's so uncommon for reviewers to speak positively about western animation, especially Canadian animation and ESPECIALLY shows from obscure shows from the early 2000s, it's really pleasant to see something like this. I would LOVE to hear you talk more about animation/childhood memories in the future. 🙂

My favourite Canadian show probably Detentionaire. It's kinda sad you didn't talk about it.

Holy crap. This video speaks to me dude. As a Canadian growing up with YTV, Teletoon, CN, etc. I am really happy to hear somebody talk about all the unique bumpers, hosts, voices, and after-dark transitions these channels had. The commercials and PSAs were always very memorable too, and I am SOOO glad you brought up the Canadian House Hippos. That one is and still is one of my favorite things I've viewed on TV. I have no idea what it meant back then, but I just remember seeing it late at night, or when I was home from school. I also remember this one where a kid gets a really cool Pokemon card and it blows away in the wind and he tries running for it but he runs out of breath and it just blows away or something. Interesting yet nostalgic stuff. And Carlos was always such a chill dude. The visual style of the bumpers and uniqueness of the brands will always remain burnt into my memory. Being Ian was always a nice show to just relax, eat some cereal, and watch the crazy events unfold. His brothers were always interesting and funny characters. I always distinctly remember this one scene from an episode where there's a fly in one of their cereal. I don't know why, but it's something that I've always kinda just... Remembered and laughed at haha. Wayside. Oh MAN. I LOVED viewing that show every single time it aired. It's premise and environments always spoke to me on some weird artistic level, and I loved the character's designs, voices, and personalities a ton. I still think about this show to this day. I really love the gazebo episode where Principal Kidswatter thinks a gazebo is a casino. Todd was always a fun protagonist. I thought the three Erics was a hilarious idea, I always loved Myron's ambitions and relationship to Mr. Kidswatter, Mrs. Jewls sending Todd home on the kindergarten bus was always funny to see, and much more. Nelvana is always an iconic as heck logo to me. I always enjoyed watching Babar at my grandparent's house late in the evening on the couches. Maggy and the Ferocious beast was always an interesting show too haha. 6Teen was always a nice show too, I liked viewing it. And Total Drama was an absolute thrill-ride. While I don't like it as much nowadays, the first two seasons were great. Owen is by far my favorite character.

detentionaire was the most intense conspiracy breaking wish-fulfillment I've ever experienced and absolutely not a single person I know remembers that show in the slightest smh

I freakin' loved Spider Riders, Class of Titans, and Being Ian! Dude, this video is freakin' great. Like there is so much goodness here and... gosh damn.

Great video. Martin Mystery and Mystery Hunters were my absolute jam. Also, thank you for mentioning Zixx, I couldn't remember it's name for the longest time

Over here in the US Martin Mystery aired on Nickelodeon while Totally Spies aired on Cartoon Network. So we got our own little YTV/Teletoon weird airing stuff. I enjoyed Totally Spies but Martin was way more my style. I honestly thought the shows were made in France (Because of France 3 being a production company) but didn't care either way because the shows i watched I was enjoying. Also (I know not directly on Canadian programming but just felt mentioning) just want to say Canadians also helped shaped the American programming block for American cartoons here. Because companies like Nelvana got the rights to series like Beyblade, Canada had already dubbed them and the Americans had purchased rights to air them here. Lots of anime dubbed in Canada had gotten broiught here and only by American companies like Funimation secured the rights for dubbing and distribution Also a show like Ed Edd n Eddy (which has HUGE appeal here in America and internet culture today) was spearheaded by created by a Canadian: Danny Antonucci. I wanna say in that a lot of people's comedic timing, and sound effect ques are in part because of that show

30:47 I thought that was you for a second!

As a Saskatchewanian, this video really spoke to me. Being Ian sparked my interest in film production and I recently got accepted to Vancouver Film School :)

Just found this and it was a freaking nostalgia trip man. It has been years since I thought of being Ian and watching YTV

johnny test being a Canadian show because it's animated in Canada means we get credit for tangled the Mickey Mouse shorts, and loud house. To name just a few modern ones. SO many cartoons are outsourced to Canada because of a loophole in a law passed that, without getting into it, basically makes animation very cheap to produce to try and encourage Canadian film production. Mainly just get's used by the US for cheap animation. sooooo if you're gonna blame us Canadians on Jonny test we'd like full and complete credit for those ones then as well thank youuuu.... THAT ASIDE this actually really warmed my heart, I am an animation student and grew up bindge watching so many cartoons I barely remember them all so watching this and recognizing all of them really made me happy! We sure do get a bad rep but I really hope this shows that we had some pretty cool ones too for the people who live outside the country. I honestly forgot how many we had, like remember world of quest and Spliced? and team galaxy? Man, this was quite a ride!

Ed, Edd and Eddy is the first canadian cartoon that comes to mind

UGH the nostalgia! i got to meet carlos once when i auditioned for the next star in high school and i freaked out

OH MY GOD, what a nostalgia trip!! It was so great to be able to remember all these shows! I'll be the first to say that I didn't like Being Ian when I first saw it, but I was probably too young to really understand any of it (I was like 5 or 6). ...man.

Total Drama Island actually has some legacy among American cartoon fans! TDI was one of the earliest non-action cartoons to air in the States that had an on-going story, and was also one of the few non-Toonami shows on Cartoon Network to be given a TV-PG (the second one too if I recall correctly) rating before Advemture Time and Regular Show came around.

Not Canadian, but I remember TDI being the first show that I made sure to follow each new episode as they came out. It was the first show that gripped me with what would happen in the next episode.

I'm not canadian but I'm surprised how many of these shows we had here in South America, either via public TV or Nickelodeon I remember watching literally every show in this list, either to completion or a majority of seasons in Nick, Megavisión (when I was in Chile) or Paravisión (When I lived most of my life in Paraguay) Animax and Magic Kids. I wanna say maybe because they were cheap to license, these weren't extremely high budget channels, but they still aired a biiiig amount of anime and cartoons.

Not named Caleb but from NS and can confirm, me and my friends were unreasonably angry over Martin Mystery.

Massive shout outs to Carlos and Sugar. Still remembered their names after all these years.

Everything you showed in the video I recognize vividly. Ah man... I remember so much about YTV, I recall even going on the website to build my very own sidekick and play various flash games that have sadly since been deceased. I am sad to say YTV today just isn't what it used to be, I even got hyped about the contests they ran that I always wanted to participate in but never had to chance due to limited knowledge and my parent's lack of interest. And as I watched this video, I can't help but thank you for jogging a lot of my memories of all the things I enjoy... I'm in tears as I am typing this on my extended keyboard. Thank you Rad, I'll first finish the video before making something for you on twitter.

I can't help but wonder what it would be like if Being Ian was rebooted for today's world.

holy shit dude, your thumbnail just give THIS Canadian a HUGE nostalgia blast. I'm pretty sure Being Ian is the reason I wanted to get into film making

So many of these shows have the English and French voice actors plaguing my memory at the same time... Such is the curse of a bilingual Canadian....

I wish that Canadian Doctor Who cartoon got off the ground, would have love to have seen that!

i know this video is pretty old at this point, but i just wanna say i love how much of a genuinely positive guy you are. and that applies to pretty much all of your content, but really this just felt like a friend telling me about some stuff they watched growing up. i love that sort of tone man, i'd like to see more videos like this in the future too.

Man, I love this episode!! As an American, I didn't get to know any of these shows, but I'm super interested in Western Animation so learning about all these cartoons I've never heard of was super cool. I'd love to see more stuff like this in the future!

Perfect thing to cheer me up while trying to cope with the SBFP breaking up. Thanks, man. The moment you said you got some Canadian KZfaqrs to talk about their favorite shows I was totally expecting Woolie to be there at the end just to die on camera saying the word Reboot.

Can't believe you didn't mention Storm Hawks, but at least you talked about Being Ian

Sure. They called it Meatballs, but I always heard it as Meat BALLS.

Just seeing the old YTV and Teletoon logos/ bumpers brought back years of nostalgia. We really did have some of the best T.V up here in Canada!

I constantly watched Totally spies as a kid

Surprised by no mention of Flying Rhino Junior High, however, great video full of nostalgia.

Burger chef: "Hey! What'll you have?" Mail man: "My man!" CEO: *snaps fingers* "Yes."

This is awesome. I had no idea you were from Nova Scotia. I’ve never seen a KZfaqr from here. This is awesome you’re TV show recommendations are cool I’ve only seen reboot. High five brother

"...it was huge here in Nova Scotia..." Wow, small world. You don't find many people from here, on here. Appreciate what is a history lesson for my childhood, because it was full of brilliant cartoons. Thanks for the nostalgia trip, from a native.

I'm older than you so I didn't grew up with these but I know for a fact that many of these shows aired here in Sweden which is pretty rad.

I'm an American, but I watched a lot of Qubo growing up--Qubo is an American TV channel that airs some Canadian cartoons. I loved Jacob Two-Two and Janes And The Dragon. Outside of that, I also watched Detentionaire, a school mystery show about a kid who got framed for a year of detention--THAT SHOW KICKS SO MUCH ASS! Such a great unfolding mystery. Who else remembers that show?

This is why my childhood is something I want my children to experience. In Newfoundland, where I grew up. Tech was just hitting the golden age of entertainment, I've had access to all these things yet where I grew up had older customs. Like the national anthem in schools, Sunday School. And our children shows making sure we question everything. Where I grew up, there was so much sovereignty despite being on the lower end of class. There was way more love involved. That's for sure. Edit: Could explain that "give it all attitude" we Canadians have in times of stress. Too many good times to forget man.

This was a really round-about way to explain that you have a thing for giantess girls.

I really liked Martain Mystery as a kid. I remember M.O.M being one of my first animation crushes.

I didn't even know there was a negative sentiment toward Canadian cartoons. It was a golden age of Canadian cartoons when we were young! Thanks for this trip down memory lane, a lot of great shout outs to my old faves.

Hey Nitro! We got STACKS of canadian cartoons in Australia. Canadas approach to story writing and animation was absoloutely amazing. it didn't hold our hands and let us go on adventures

Does anyone remember detentionaire and Storm hawks. There kinda new but there cool as hell.

The great thing about living in Argentina is that here in Latin America we got shows from both the US and Canada. And, as a kid, you couldn't tell the difference so you'd watch it without any judgements. It was all the same for me. I'm so glad to find out A LOT of my favorite shows as a kid were from your country, dude. This video was a blast for the past. I loved Being Ian, What's with Andy, Martin Mystery and Totally Spies. But the show that shaped me the most was Total Drama Island. I was obsessed with that show when I was a teen *(Sorry Alax, but Total Drama was waaaaaaaay better than 6teen!)* I was so obsessed with TDI that I did some research on it back then only to find out it was canadian. Here in Latin America we consume so much american entertainment that we have almost 0 knowledge of your country. So TDI gave me a good image of what Canada was and why it had raunchier humor than your tipical american show. Overall, this was a great video, James. I'd love to see you talk more about Canadian stuff like this because, again, as an argentinian I know almost nothing about your country's entertainment & culture.

me being born in 07 and being a canadian i never even heard of so many of the shows you mentioned. but i found it very cool how canadian tv shaped you. and i just wanna say how i remember watching teletoon at like 7:30 pm and once it hit 8:00 pm seeing the teletoon at night log in freaked me out.

I thought I would never have a name to that one cartoon that came on once when I was six, cut-out mid episode and never showed up again, but now I’m pretty certain it’s Martin Mysteries. What an unexpected Pandora’s box of nostalgia you have opened for me.

I really enjoyed "Fries with that" as a young kid. I still kinda do in an ironic way, but its flaws are definitely more noticeable now that I'm a little older. The manager character Ben is unironically still really enjoyable, though.

If you tried to trigger waves of nostalgia you hit the mark! I'm French but a fair portion of the stuff you showed aired here too.

Being Ian, 6teen, KidPaddle, Di-gata defenders, Martin Mystery.... So much nostalgic feelings....

Wow! I didn't know that many of these cartoons were Canadian. I used to watch many of them here in Mexico and liked them very much, many others I didn't know them but now I'm eager to find and watch them. Thank you for sharing part of your childhood with us, you brought back so many nice memories :'D

Am I the only one that remembers Rupert?

This is the first time I've seen any KZfaqr mention most of these. Also Kid Paddle was a Belgian comic strip not a French one.

This was very entertaining, thank you for introducing these shows to some of us.

I read the Kid Paddle comics alot as a kid so i was excited that there is a show based on it. And it made it more kid friendly

I didn't grow up in Canada, but we had a lot more Canadian shows aired in Europe, than in the US, with us having more variety in kids channels, and also a lot of them being European-Canadian co-productions. What's with Andy was definitely a favorite of mine! Another show I remember giving me a lot of laughs was Planet Sketch. Totally Spies and Braceface was also one I remember watching a lot. And I still consider the first season of Total Drama great, afterwards, I can def feel that they had to tone the show down in order to sell it better internationally. The 2000s Lucky Luke was also a pretty good one, I loved that one's intro and theme, giving it a more action vibe. Out of my head, these are the ones taht popped to my mind.

Skyland is a show I know for a fact aired very briefly on Nicktoons in the states. Glad you gave it a mention, else I'd have completely forgotten it. Martin Mystery was also a real favorite of mine as a kid.

I grew up in Florida, but I have rewatched this many times since you've uploaded. It's so interesting to see someone else nostalgia explained like this, and I love how you represented each channel!

Wow I had no idea how many of these shows in Canada! Yea I grew up in Alberta all my life and watched most of these, but I had no idea these were all Canadian! It’s kinda crazy how much effort the government puts into discerning Canadian media from American media, and we don’t even realize it’s all Canadian. Thanks so much for the video dude, really warmed my heart

Yoooo, this was incredibly nostalgic for me! I'm from Halifax, so it was awesome to see the channels right down to the numbers I remember. Those time slot transitions will stay with me forever, I adored the old YTV ones with all the green, orange, and purple. Also, a million thanks for reminding me of Kid Paddle; I remembered the show but forgot what it was called for yeeears, I was hyped to figure out what it was called again!

As a vanvouverite born in '99, thanks for unlocking a deep and dark part of my brain long forgotten. it was a nice nostalgia blast xD

DUUUUUUUUUDE! SKYLAND!!! I’ve been trying to remember this show for the life of me. 10 years of trying to remember. I finally know it. Thank!

Very late here, but after watching this video, you made me relive some parts of my childhood as a fellow Canadian myself. I grew up watching YTV and the Quebec-French Teletoon (being a Quebec-French speaking Montrealer myself) and I remember seeing pretty much all of the shows you talked about... except those that really did suck. I remember Sugar from The Zone as Chibi-Usa aka Rini from one of the numerous English dubs of Sailor Moon and also from Beyblade G-Revolution. She was such a sweet gal and I'm glad she got to do more voice acting in recent years. Then there's, Bionix, the Friday night anime block on YTV was where I got to discover .hack//SIGN, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, Death Note and the criminally underrated Witch Hunter Robin as well as rediscovering the ever-popular Gundam franchise with Gundam SEED and its sequel SEED Destiny. Those series alone made be jump back into watching anime once again and even brought me back into reading manga after God-knows how long since I first read Dragon Ball lol. Man, a lot of great Canadian shows and co-productions we grew up on both Teletoon and YTV, but yeah over time, they were quickly ignored in favor of American cartoons/live action shows as well as anime. Without ReBoot starting the 3D animation trend for television shows, we wouldn't inspire studios like Pixar and Sony Animation and their their award-winning movies, TV specials and TV spin-off shows. That alone deserves a high praise! As a fellow Canadian, though, I have 1 major gripe when it comes to us in Quebec: why were most of our Canadian cartoons dubbed in France when we have very talented Quebec-French actors for the same job? There were only a small number of them actually dubbed in Quebec, but yeah it's kinda dumb that OUR shit gets dubbed elsewhere. Great video, James! Really enjoyed you making us stroll down this inspiring memory lane!

Oh my gosh! I'm raised and born in Toronto Ontario. So I remember all of these! I remember for Canada day they did like a cross over of all the canadain shows. I actually got a signed autograph card from the ytv cast as a kid, I meet aj and he was super cool. This was the channel i grew up with. Storm Hawks was a personal favorite of mine as was team Galaxy and robot boy. Another favorite of mine that seems not to get as much attention was "Mighty bee". The theme song was kicking.

Oh wow, loved this video! I completely forgot about Kid Paddle and never really hear anyone talk about it, so thanks for reminding me it exists. Probably one of my favourite Canadian-made cartoons is Ruby Gloom. As someone who has had a life long passion for illustration, character design and art style is always one of the big things that grabs me about any cartoon and as a kid who was particularly edgy and pretty much was always grumpy that we didn't have a local Hot Topic, Ruby Gloom really spoke to my soul. I also gotta say, I get extremely nostalgic about Treehouse TV, although that had a (significantly, like sometimes preschooler/toddler) younger target demographic and started in 1997, so I can see why there hasn't been a huge wave of Treehouse nostalgia yet. That being said, Wee 3, Crazy Quilt, Timothy Goes To School, Max and Ruby... all huge parts of my very early childhood.

I'm so greatful that you made this video, I grew up watching all of these shows as a kid. Im a French Canadian and loved both kid paddle the show and the book series. FYI kid paddle also had a "secondary" side series called 'game over', and it's all about the video game character kid plays throughout the series. You really get to appreciate the art style used and how much 2000s vibes you get from them, I totally recommend getting into them if it interests you.

dude when someone mentions YTV and Teletoon I get unlocked memories from my childhood

I watched the Total Drama series RELIGIOUSLY. I thought it was really cool even when it got a lot more weird with season 4. Also season 4 has my two favourite characters in the series Mike and Silent B.

Oh wow 40 minutes! I’m hyped! I grew up in England, and not in the same era as you, so most of this is new to me, but it’s still awesome fun. I love your channel dude.

This was a fantastic trip down memory lane. As a fellow Canadian, I grew up on a lot of these shows and many of them I still revisit (ReBoot remains one of my all time favorites!) Kudos for making this and much love from a fellow canuck! btw, the Prank Patrol episode you mention at 30:31...I was friends with the kid in the episode and that was filmed outside our school! Small world.

You just unlocked a hidden memory when you mentioned skyland

One of the shows i remember really liking that was made by the same people as totally spies and martin mystery was Team Galaxy. But man im really going to be thinking about shows i remember watching as a kid now there's too many! Does anyone remember a cartoon called mona the vampire? Canada definitely had a weird obsession with horror themes in kids programming.

Wait, the villain in the series based of of Greek Mythology is NOT Hades? Finally!

This is forever now, but Jacob Two Two is a show I have been looking for for over 7 years now and you made it happen. I only saw one episode (time trials) and no amount of googling would ever help me find it. Thank you.

As a proud, born and raised Canadian this really tugged at my heart strings. All the shows brought up I remember watching and loving as a kid, and still do to this day (Monster by Mistake is my guilty pleasure). I always remember Saturday mornings waking up to go to my local Bowling League, coming home at around 10am and watching all these cartoons until at least 3pm the same day. As the years went on I changed from Disney Channel to YTV to finally Teletoon and then oddly going back to Disney for about a year (Mostly for the live action stuff, though Proud Family is a favourite of mine). Ultimately My favourites out of the lot were Martin Mysteries, Totally Spies, 6teen, Yvon of the Yukon, and my favourite animated show ever Reboot. Reboot especially was one I never wanted to miss, I to this day still praise it for its genius story telling and the creators ability to make a show that didn't conform to children show standards and instead grew with is audience. The fact I still get chills down my spine seeing Bob get shot into the Web, and Enzo losing the video game, resulting in one of the darkest story lines in children television history is a testament to its genius.