Some of the Nickelodeon stars from the '90s and early 2000s have gone on to great success
as adults... while others have struggled to keep their careers going at all.
Let's take a look at which ones continued to shine, and which ones just fizzled out.
From 1991 to 1994, Melissa Joan Hart was giving teenagers everywhere the low-down on how to
make it through adolescence, all from the comfort of her bedroom, on Clarissa Explains
It All.
The series made her the first-ever female lead on the network, and surely paved the
way for shows like iCarly and Victorious.
Clarissa was cancelled after five seasons because, at the age of 17, the network believed
Hart was too old to appeal to Nick's target audience.
But in 1996, after a brief stint at New York University, she found herself another smash
hit with Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, which lasted seven seasons.
Hart went on to pursue some short-lived business ventures outside of entertainment, like opening
a candy store and operating the King of Harts fashion line.
She also ended up having another impressive silver screen run from 2010 to 2015 with the
sitcom Melissa & Joey, where she starred opposite fellow '90s star Joey Lawrence.
Hart will soon be back in the family-friendly TV game with the Netflix sitcom No Good Nick,
in which she plays a mom who unwittingly lets a teenage con artist into her home.
Since his Nickelodeon days, Kenan Thompson has made a name for himself all on his own,
but there was a time that fans probably wouldn't recognize that name if it wasn't paired with
his former partner in crime.
In the '90s, you couldn't get Kenan without Kel or vice versa.
Just take a look at Good Burger and, of course, Kenan & Kel.
And we can't forget to mention that Thompson cut his teeth as a main cast member on All
That for five seasons, playing such memorable characters as Superdude and Pierre Escargot.
After his Nick days, Thompson went on to guest-star on shows like Psych, The Steve Harvey Show,
and Felicity.
But since 2003, his defining gig has been his record-shattering time on Saturday Night
Live.
He's the longest-running cast member of the iconic sketch comedy series, having started
his 16th season in the fall of 2018.
He doesn't plan on making that record any easier to break anytime soon.
Speaking with Deadline in 2018, he said,
"If it was possible I'd stay forever and just retire as the one guy that never left, basically."
As if that's not impressive enough, he also holds the record for most celebrity impressions
on the show.
It's good to see that Kenan is still all that.
The dynamic duo of Kenan & Kel may no be longer glued at the hip in real life, but they remain
inseparable in our memories.
Kel Mitchell was part of the original All That cast that ruled Nickelodeon from 1994
to 1999.
One of his most iconic roles was Ed, the dim-witted fast food worker in the "Good Burger" sketches
and its 1997 movie adaptation.
Outside of their regular gigs, Mitchell guest-starred alongside Thompson on Sister, Sister, The
Steve Harvey Show, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
In 2003, Mitchell auditioned for a spot on SNL only to be beaten out by his old pal.
He's gone on to have a few small guest-starring roles here and there, although he's largely
stuck to his Nickelodeon roots and voice work in recent years.
Aside from co-starring in Nick's 2015 show Game Shakers, his most recent high-profile
appearance was a 2015 Tonight Show episode along with Kenan for a "Good Burger" reunion
sketch.
Nickelodeon's Golden Era wouldn't have been complete without Alex Mack, everyone's favorite
girl-next-door who just happened to have superpowers.
When Clarissa Explains It All completed its run in 1994, Melissa Joan Hart passed the
proverbial crown of reigning Nick teen queen to Larisa Oleynik.
The Secret World of Alex Mack was pretty much the Clarissa and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
mash-up we never knew we needed.
Nickelodeon was just the beginning for Oleynik, who achieved teen idol status with roles in
The Baby-Sitters Club and 10 Things I Hate About You.
Oleynik has remained a small screen regular into the 2010s with a lengthy list of guest-starring
roles under her belt.
She is easily recognizable to Pretty Little Liars fans as the woman who causes baby mama
drama for Ezra Fitz.
And prestige TV viewers know her from her handful of appearances on Mad Men.
She may have surrendered her powers after Alex Mack wrapped in 1998, but we think she's
still pretty super.
Are You Afraid of the Dark? was a wake-up call for '90s tweens everywhere who realized
that they were, in fact, afraid of the dark.
The ringleader of the whole operation was Gary, the founder of the Midnight Society,
played by a young Ross Hull.
The show terrified kids everywhere from 1991 to 1996, but fortunately for Hull, all those
scary stories don't appear to have scarred him for life.
In 2004, Hull began a career at The Weather Network in Ontario, Canada.
After taking on various anchoring gigs, he settled down as a meteorologist for Global
Toronto.
But he hasn't shaken the acting bug completely.
During a January 2019 Reddit AMA, he said that he's "still open" to taking on new roles,
but his "main focus is meteorology."
Regardless of how that all pans out, if he's half as good at delivering the weather as
he was at telling scary stories, he's got a long and successful career ahead of him.
Every young star is waiting to catch a big break that will lift them from obscurity.
For Meagan Good, that break was playing Nina Jones on Cousin Skeeter.
The show only ran for three seasons, but that was pretty good considering the main character
was a puppet.
Although Cousin Skeeter was short-lived, Good's career hasn't been.
In the early 2000s, she appeared on such shows as Raising Dad and My Wife and Kids.
She then went on to earn a bit of a "scream queen" reputation due to her work in multiple
horror films like Saw V, One Missed Call, and The Unborn.
And she's continuing to make a name for herself in Hollywood with appearances in major movies
like Think Like a Man and Anchorman 2 and a starring role on the Fox series Minority
Report.
If you watched Nickelodeon at all in the '90s, you know it was almost impossible to avoid
seeing Danny Tamberelli.
He was a regular on All That and Figure It Out and, of course, The Adventures of Pete
& Pete cemented his place as the the network's unofficial poster child.
"No comment, grungebag!"
Although it's been over 20 years since Pete & Pete wrapped, Tamberelli's most famous role
is still Little Pete.
Aside from some voice work, a few commercials, and his appearance in the 2002 indie film
Igby Goes Down, he's mostly left the big screen behind in favor of the stage.
Since 2006, he's been a bassist and vocalist in the alternative group Jounce.
He's also the co-creator of the sketch comedy group ManBoobs.
And in case you weren't already feeling nostalgic enough, in 2013 Tamberelli and his Pete & Pete
co-star, Mike Maronna, reunited to create a podcast aptly called The Adventures of Danny
& Mike.
Of all the All That cast members over the years, Josh Server hung around the longest,
appearing in six seasons.
With such a strong comedy background, it's a bit of a surprise his career hasn't gone
on to new, even more hilarious ventures, but in 2007, he took an extended break.
Speaking with Bustle in 2014, Server said,
"I've been finding my way back to it in smaller doses the last couple of years, but recently
I've really made a commitment to go all out and really start doing it at a high level
and things are really starting to happen."
Some of his most notable credits have continued to be under the Nickelodeon umbrella, with
appearances on Sam & Cat in 2014 and Double Dare in 2018.
He was also in a handful of episodes of the Amazon series Good Girls Revolt.
However, the biggest splash he's made since then has been his 2016 Instagram reveal that
under all that funny, he's pretty ripped, too.
Hollywood usually has use for dudes with shredded abs, right?
It's hard to think about '90s Nick without remembering the beloved comedy series Hey
Dude, set on the fictional "Bar None Dude Ranch."
The show made an entire generation of teens want to trade in their baseball caps for cowboy
hats.
At the center of all of this western wonder was Melody Hanson, played by Christine Taylor.
When the show wrapped after 65 episodes, she left the ranch in the dust and set her sights
on the big screen.
Taylor became a familiar face around Hollywood, taking on memorable roles like Marcia Brady
in The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel.
She's also nabbed spots in box office hits like Zoolander and made several TV guest appearances
over the years.
In 2000, Taylor married fellow comedy star Ben Stiller, creating a Hollywood power couple
that would enjoy one of the industry's longest running marriages, until their separation
in May 2017.
Since then, Taylor has gone on to appear in a couple episodes of the Netflix series Insatiable.
Prior to launching her TV career, Jamie Lynn Spears' main claim to fame was that she was
the baby sister of pop icon Britney Spears.
After spending a couple of seasons on All That, the younger Spears was ready to grow
her own fan base as Zoey Brooks on Zoey 101.
In 2007, it was revealed that the then 16-year-old actress was pregnant.
Her hit show wrapped shortly after, because according to Zoey 101 creator Dan Schneider,
it had come to a natural end after four seasons.
With that ultimately came the end of Spears' acting career.
Following the birth of her daughter in 2008, Spears switched her focus from acting to music.
She provided backing vocals for her sister's 2013 album Britney Jean, and she's released
several singles of her own, including "How Could I Want More," which debuted at number
29 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs.
She's even performed some of her songs at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
She welcomed a second daughter in April 2018, but don't think that means she'll be too busy
to get back in the booth.
According to her Instagram bio, she's "a mom who makes music."
Rock on, mama!
All That launched much of the comedic talent we see in Hollywood today, including a certain
Mr. Nick Cannon.
While many of his fellow All That alums continued acting, Cannon set his sights on hosting from
the very beginning.
First up was The Nick Cannon Show from 2002-2003 which consisted of Cannon "taking over" various
situations.
Although the show was cancelled due to low ratings, the young star wasn't discouraged.
Since his Nick days, Cannon has gone one to host Wild 'N Out, a sketch comedy and improv
series on MTV, and, of course, America's Got Talent.
But Nickelodeon is clearly still, perhaps eternally, where Cannon's heart is.
Forbes revealed in 2017 that not only did he serve as the chairman of TeenNick for Nickelodeon,
but also that the network gave him his first official writing gig when he was 17 years
old.
In terms of his personal life, Cannon famously married Mariah Carey in 2008, but the couple
filed for divorce in 2015.
However, Cannon told People Magazine in 2018 that the two remain amicable and they put
their twins Moroccan and Monroe above all else.
In 2019, Cannon emceed another hit series as host of Fox's The Masked Singer.
As various disguised celebrities sang their hearts out, Cannon was right there to help
the judges and audience figure out just who was underneath those masks.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have just witnessed greatness."
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