17 Jokes And Lines From ‘90s Nickelodeon Cartoons I Didn’t Get Until I Rewatched Them As An Adult

If you grew up in the '90s and watched Nickelodeon — particularly Nicktoons — you probably know there was some bizarre stuff going on in the writers' rooms.

Nickelodeon / Via giphy.com

It's wild how many kid-unfriendly jokes made it into these shows, most of which no kid would even understand.

Nickelodeon / Via giphy.com

Here are 17 of them:

Rugrats

1.Grandpa Boris calling up Dr. Kevorkian

Unable to bear another second of Stu's home movies in the Season 3 episode "Home Movies," Grandpa Boris makes a phone call to someone he addresses as Dr. Kevorkian — as in the doctor who famously supported euthanizing humans.

2.Grandpa Lou's dirty movies

When tasked with babysitting in the Season 2 episode "Grandpa's Date," Grandpa Lou decides to hit up the video store, returning with some kid-friendly fare for Tommy and Chuckie, as well as what's clearly an adult movie for "after [they] go to bed."

3.The dead USPS worker

This moment from Season 1 episode "Special Delivery" didn't register at all to my sweet summer child mind, but the first time I rewatched the show as an adult, I was horrified. Tommy clearly is, too, when he realizes he's moments away from joining a DEAD USPS WORKER in a pile of rejected mail.

4.Robert Mapplethorpe vs. Normal Rockwell

I'd heard of Norman Rockwell when I was a kid, but had no idea who the Mapplethorpe Charlotte mentioned in the Season 3 episode "Mommy's Little Assets" was until I was well into my 20s. For anyone else unfamiliar, he was a photographer whose work included an examination of NYC BDSM culture among gay men in the late '60s to early '70s.

5.The Clarence Thomas hearings

Later in the same episode, Charlotte mentions Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who Anita Hill accused of sexual harassment in the early '90s.

6.Howard's Playboy magazine

As Lil goes through her dad's drawer in the Season 3 episode "Twins' Pique," we see what's clearly a Playboy — centerfold and all — flying through the air.

Rocko's Modern Life

7.Playslug Magazine

Rugrats wasn't the only Nicktoon to make a Playboy joke. In this Season 1 episode of Rocko's Modern Life, "Carnival Knowledge," the slug working the merry-go-round at the carnival is reading a "Playslug" with a bikini-clad slug on the cover.

8.Rocko's new job

This moment from the Season 1 episode "Canned," which not-so-subtly implied Rocko was working as a phone sex operator, was another wild one that I certainly didn't pick up for years.

9.Spunky's mop

Season 1 really was just full of these moments. Here we see Spunky in what appears to be post-coital bliss with a mop. The Mop and Shine is a nice touch.

10.The censor bar at the beach

This one from the Season 1 episode "Sand in Your Navel" really flew over my head, mostly because I didn't know what the word "censor" meant when I was 6 — plus, Rocko didn't normally wear pants so it didn't occur to me he had anything to hide.

Doug

11.Judy's handkerchief advice

In the Season 4 episode "Doug & Patti Sittin' in a Tree," Judy is giving Doug advice on how to dress for his first date with Patti, and she tells him to wear a handkerchief, but not "on the left." According to the "handkerchief code," wearing one in your left pocket is meant to signify that you're a bottom.

12.Doug ❤️s Head

In the Season 3 Episode "Doug and Patti P.I.," there's a blink-and-you'll miss it moment where Doug appears to be holding a small slip of paper that says "I ❤️ HEAD."

As it turns out, Doug is actually holding one of Mr. Dink's bumper stickers that says "I ❤️ HEADCHEESE," but considering the shot had to be animated frame-by-frame, it would have been easy for the animators not to include the one in question.

Hey Arnold!

13.Miriam and her smoothies

Boy, did Miriam love her smoothies. This was a running joke throughout all five seasons of Hey Arnold! that really isn't funny once you're old enough to realize that she wasn't just using fruit, ice, and hot sauce.

14.Phil's war story

In the Season 4 episode "Veterans Day," while Grandpa Phil and Mr. Johanssen take Arnold and Gerald on a roadtrip, Phil begins to talk about a sexy encounter he had with a farmer's daughter during World War II. Mr. Johanssen stops him before he gets to anything good, but it's easy to see where it was going.

15.Helga's trembling girlhood

It still amazes me that they got away with this line. In the Season 4 episode “Helga's Parrot,” Helga writes a poem that includes the line “Arnold, you make my girlhood tremble,” which has me convinced Helga grew up to write saucy romance novels.

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

16.The Gromble's sex ed lesson

If you've ever wondered how monster babies are made, it's covered in Season 1 of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, in “Attack of the Blobs.” The episode opens with the Gromble giving what's clearly supposed to be a sex ed lesson on reproduction.

17.And Ickis forming a blob with himself

Immediately after the lesson, Ickis decides to try out some of what he learned, much to the dismay of a passing monster who appears horrified by what seems to be the monster version of indecent exposure.

What other jokes from '90s Nicktoons flew over your head when you were a kid? Sound off in the comments!