Nickelodeon gave us no shortage of running gags. For this list, we’ll be looking at the funniest and most memorable recurring jokes and catchphrases from our favorite Nicktoons and live-action series from the First Kids’ Network.
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00:00 If I hear "Beware" one more time, I'll...
00:02 "Beware!"
00:03 ...sigh and put down my sandwich.
00:05 Welcome to Ms. Mojo,
00:07 and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 Nickelodeon TV show running gags.
00:12 "Hmm."
00:13 "No, sir. I didn't like it."
00:15 For this list, we'll be looking at the funniest and most memorable recurring jokes and catchphrases
00:20 from our favorite Nicktoons and live-action series from the First Kids Network.
00:25 If you've never sampled these gags before, expect spoilers ahead.
00:29 Which jokes were you happy to see over and over?
00:32 Let us know in the comments.
00:34 Number 20.
00:36 Birdbrain's henchman, Tough Puppy.
00:38 It's so hard to find good help these days, and nobody knows this better than Birdbrain.
00:43 "This is your evil genius boss, Birdbrain!"
00:46 "Who?"
00:47 "Birdbrain!"
00:48 "Who?"
00:48 "I think we've formed a real bond. Zippy, let's see if we get actual sentences out of the other guy."
00:53 Almost every episode he stars in sees him at his wits' end,
00:57 what with his vast number of incompetent henchmen.
01:00 A day working with these lackeys turns into a "who's on first" thanks to their weird names
01:05 or one-word responses causing confusion among the ranks.
01:08 Arguably the best offenders are Owl and Bat, who can only say "who" or "where."
01:14 "With this contraption in my possession, I'll finally be able to fly!"
01:18 "Who?"
01:19 "Me!"
01:20 "Where?"
01:20 "In the air!"
01:21 While the misunderstandings are funny for us, it's driving poor Birdbrain up the wall.
01:26 It's almost as bad as him not being able to fly.
01:29 Still, maybe he shouldn't put "weird name" as a requirement on his applications.
01:34 "Is anyone else seeing a lot of similar-looking tough agents?"
01:37 "Who?"
01:38 "I withdraw the question."
01:40 Number 19.
01:41 "I hate my life."
01:42 Rocko's Modern Life.
01:44 You think your life is bad?
01:46 Well, it could be worse.
01:47 You could be Ed Bighead, a miserable old toad who hates his neighbor
01:51 and is constantly belittled by his co-workers.
01:54 "You're fired!"
01:56 "Get away from me!"
01:58 "I hate my life."
02:01 Above all else, he's often subjected to painful, humiliating punishments,
02:06 mostly as a result of karma catching up to him.
02:08 Whenever he's knocked down a few pegs, Ed vocalizes his misery by simply muttering,
02:13 "I hate my life."
02:16 We should feel bad for Mr. Bighead, but he deserves it most of the time,
02:20 especially when he's been antagonizing Rocko.
02:22 Plus, can you honestly say that seeing him get his comeuppance isn't hilarious?
02:27 "I hate my life."
02:33 Number 18.
02:34 Mr. Lancer's exclamations.
02:36 Danny Phantom.
02:37 Do you ever get so surprised that you shout some random strange exclamation?
02:41 "I'll be dick!"
02:44 Mr. Lancer, the strict teacher at Casper High,
02:47 takes this habit to hysterical new heights.
02:50 Whenever something catches him off guard,
02:52 he screams out the title of a famous work of literature.
02:55 "Paradise Lost!"
02:57 From Paradise Lost to Lord of the Flies, Clan of the Cave Bear,
03:01 and even Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,
03:04 no book is too famous or too obscure for Mr. Lancer's vocabulary.
03:08 "Freud and Prejudice!"
03:10 Most of the books referenced have some relevance
03:12 to whatever situation Lancer finds himself mixed up in,
03:15 which makes the name drop even funnier and more fitting.
03:19 "Cask of Amontillado! Let me out! Let me out!"
03:23 Number 17.
03:25 Gordy and the Weasel.
03:26 Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.
03:29 Gordy may be the laziest middle school janitor ever,
03:32 but there's one thing that gets him out of bed every morning—
03:35 his never-ending quest to catch the weasel.
03:38 "Is that a weasel?"
03:38 Every day, Gordy tries some new harebrained scheme
03:46 to try and catch the slippery vermin.
03:48 Unfortunately for him, he's always met with failure,
03:51 either due to his own incompetence,
03:54 or maybe that the weasel is smarter than people give it credit for.
03:57 Either way, it's become the longest-lasting and funniest rivalry in Ned's Declassified
04:02 that feels fresh out of a Looney Tunes short.
04:04 Fortunately, this game of cat and mouse comes to a satisfying conclusion in the finale,
04:13 but not in the way you'd expect.
04:15 "Awww!"
04:17 "Awww!"
04:20 "It's a girl weasel! Who knew?"
04:23 Number 16.
04:25 I Don't Know.
04:26 You Can't Do That on Television.
04:28 Nickelodeon has become infamously recognized for dousing its guests and alumni
04:33 in the iconic green slime.
04:35 But where did the slime first come from?
04:38 It actually dates back to the 1980s sketch comedy show,
04:41 You Can't Do That on Television.
04:43 "Do you really think they could find a way to slime us?"
04:45 "I don't know."
04:47 Whenever anyone said the three magic words,
04:53 "I don't know," or anything similar,
04:56 they'd find themselves being drenched by the sticky green goop.
04:59 Similarly, when someone accidentally mentions water,
05:02 they get splashed by a downpour of H2O.
05:05 Since then, slime has become a mainstay and symbol for the company.
05:09 Every now and then, the infamous trigger phrase re-emerges in other Nick shows,
05:13 ready to soak any other poor sap who utters it.
05:16 "Hey Danny, what do you say when you just get so frustrated
05:19 you can't think of a question?"
05:20 "Oh, you mean, I don't know!"
05:23 "Yes, that's what he says!"
05:24 [Audience cheering]
05:26 "Oh, yeah!"
05:28 Number 15.
05:30 Very Expensive.
05:31 Doug.
05:32 Almost every day, Doug's eccentric neighbor, Mr. Bud Dink,
05:36 can be seen with some wacky new invention or gizmo.
05:39 Knowing Mr. Dink, that can only mean it was
05:42 "Very expensive!"
05:43 Every time he shows off his latest acquisition,
05:46 he always makes sure to emphasize under his breath how costly it was.
05:50 After a while, you start to wonder how Mr. Dink can afford all these doohickeys
05:54 if they're so overpriced.
05:56 But over time, you learn to just go with it
05:58 as it guarantees some great hijinks from our favorite neighbor.
06:01 "Taste-begone tongue protector!
06:04 A few drops on your tongue and you won't taste a thing!
06:06 [Laughs]
06:07 Guaranteed, very expensive!"
06:09 Plus, it's that much better when the trope is subverted
06:12 and Dink buys something that doesn't drain his wallet.
06:15 "It's the latest thing in video techno fun!
06:18 [Laughs]
06:18 And to my surprise, it's very inexpensive!"
06:22 Number 14.
06:23 Carlos and his helmet.
06:24 Big Time Rush.
06:26 The lives of Big Time Rush are wild, unpredictable,
06:29 and chock-full of hilarity.
06:31 But there's one thing we know for certain.
06:33 Carlos is rarely seen without his iconic hockey helmet.
06:37 "Now, hand it over."
06:38 [Screaming]
06:43 "Okay, Kelly, you are now on helmet duty all week!"
06:46 No one knows why he's so attached to this piece of headwear.
06:51 Is it because of his love of hockey, or is he just that eccentric?
06:55 Most likely, it's for his own protection,
06:56 given how many hijinks the dogs get into on a daily basis.
07:00 Whatever the case, many have tried to get rid of the helmet
07:03 and all have failed, because the two are basically inseparable.
07:07 The helmet makes Carlos happy, and that's all that matters.
07:10 Even if he does take it too far sometimes.
07:14 "We're going counterclockwise.
07:15 Okay?
07:16 Moment!
07:18 Do you have any threes?"
07:20 Number 13.
07:21 My car.
07:22 The Penguins of Madagascar.
07:24 With the Penguins' high-risk line of work,
07:26 there are bound to be a few casualties every now and then.
07:29 [Explosion]
07:30 "My car!"
07:32 Arguably one of the biggest victims of the Penguins' missions
07:35 is some poor guy who gets his car destroyed offscreen.
07:38 When it happens, all we hear is a very stressed out,
07:42 "My car!"
07:42 We hope that guy is heavily insured,
07:45 because his car keeps getting caught in the crossfire
07:47 of whatever our favorite flightless commandos are undertaking.
07:51 While it's rough for him, the gag is nothing short of comedy gold,
07:55 as his cries become the series' own Wilhelm scream.
07:58 "Wow!
07:58 Some guys call!"
08:01 Number 12.
08:02 The girls' bathroom.
08:04 Ned's declassified school survival guide.
08:06 "I was five!
08:07 It was kindergarten!"
08:09 In kindergarten, a frantic Ned Bigby made the fatal mistake
08:12 of accidentally running into the girls' bathroom,
08:15 the ultimate taboo of the schoolyard.
08:18 Even if it was just an accident,
08:20 Ned's blunder ended up haunting him all the way to middle school,
08:23 constantly reminding him of his embarrassing mix-up,
08:27 usually thanks to bullies and hecklers.
08:29 What's even worse is that he somehow ends up making the same mistake again,
08:34 repeatedly running into the girls' room.
08:36 "How many times did you get stuck in the girls' room?"
08:38 "Once.
08:40 Twice."
08:42 However, Ned's first embarrassing incident did carry with it a silver lining.
08:47 It inspired him to create the guide to helping fellow students survive middle school,
08:51 and with any luck, save them from sharing his humiliation.
08:55 "It's watering, you can barely see, and you ran into the girls' bathroom!"
08:59 Number 11.
09:05 Boobs.
09:05 Drake and Josh.
09:06 "Sit in here.
09:07 In here.
09:09 Not there, you boob.
09:11 Here."
09:11 These two titular stepbrothers might not always see eye to eye,
09:16 but one thing they can agree on is that their little sister Megan is a pain in the neck.
09:21 "Don't call me a boob."
09:22 "Sorry, boob."
09:24 For her part, Megan thinks the two are nothing but a pair of boobs,
09:28 so much so that she'll frequently refer to them as such.
09:31 "You nervous?
09:32 What if they think you're a boob?
09:33 I do."
09:34 To be fair, with the way Drake and Josh constantly botch things,
09:40 it's an appropriate nickname, but she'll throw it at the boys on any given occasion.
09:45 "Boobs!"
09:45 Sometimes the two are legitimately boobing it up,
09:51 other times she just seemingly wants to put them down for no particular reason.
09:55 It seems unnecessary, but trust us,
09:58 the name-calling is not the worst thing Megan does to her brothers.
10:02 "They're with their own cooking show."
10:03 "What's it called?
10:04 The Iron Boob?"
10:05 Number 10.
10:06 I'm okay, Hey Arnold.
10:08 "I'm okay."
10:11 Life's pretty tough for Eugene Horowitz.
10:13 Constantly getting injured by bizarre forces left and right,
10:17 he's ostracized as the fourth grade jinx.
10:20 It's kind of sad, but almost every time he ends up taking his lumps,
10:24 which happens a lot,
10:26 he follows it up simply with,
10:27 "I'm okay," adding humor to it all.
10:30 "Eugene, that's a stomp some!"
10:32 "I'm okay."
10:34 It's an age-old comedy trope where something incredibly painful happens to a character,
10:40 and they just utter those two little words and everything's right with the world again.
10:44 Unlucky as he is, Eugene has made it his catchphrase.
10:48 "I'm okay!"
10:50 Even though he's a walking disaster,
10:52 it's always endearing to see Eugene keep an upbeat attitude,
10:55 brush himself off, and keep moving forward.
10:58 Right into his next accident, most likely.
11:01 "I'm not okay."
11:04 Number 9.
11:05 Cat's brother, Victorious.
11:07 "One time, my brother was in a parade,
11:09 but he was inappropriate, so the parade people called the police,
11:12 and now he's not allowed to be in parades."
11:14 We all know that Cat Valentine is an oddball,
11:17 but every now and then she has a story to tell about someone even stranger than her,
11:22 her own brother.
11:23 "So Cat, is there some reason your brother replaced a seatbelt with a rope?"
11:27 Every tale and every mention of her brother paints him as a totally deranged weirdo,
11:32 engaging in some rather bizarre and dangerous activity,
11:35 like driving around with a trunk full of fake feet,
11:38 or antagonizing a clown on a bus until the latter shot him.
11:42 The list goes on.
11:44 "Why?"
11:44 "Because my brother kept poking him and saying,
11:46 'What you gonna do about it, clown? Huh?'"
11:49 While we never see Cat's brother on screen,
11:52 an episode of Henry Danger heavily implies that her brother is the villainous Frankini,
11:56 played by Ariana Grande's real-life brother.
11:59 It's a stretch, but based on Cat's stories,
12:02 who says he's not one step away from super villainy?
12:05 "Um, my brother locked me in the closet,
12:07 so I'm really bored and I just want to know what you guys are doing."
12:09 "Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
12:12 "That's so disrespectful."
12:13 Number 8.
12:14 Luna's song references,
12:16 The Loud House.
12:17 "Shores, huh? What are they good for?"
12:20 "Absolutely nothing!"
12:22 We all know that Luna Loud lives for the music,
12:25 so much so that it's become a second language to her in an almost literal sense.
12:29 "You say goodbye, and I say hello."
12:33 Every now and then,
12:34 Luna speaks in lyrics taken from classic songs,
12:37 from AC/DC to The Rolling Stones,
12:39 from The Beatles to Aerosmith.
12:41 Seriously, name a well-known musical act,
12:43 and there's a chance that Luna has mentioned them.
12:46 "I know it's only rock and roll, but I like it."
12:50 Not only is it a nice treat for music lovers,
12:52 but the shout-outs are also usually cleverly handled
12:55 in whatever context they're being applied,
12:58 even those that get lost in translation.
13:00 "But now some jerks want to pave paradise and..."
13:02 "Bit up a parking lot?"
13:04 Of course, every now and then,
13:05 the Loudest Loud Sister will reference a song
13:07 even she regrets mentioning.
13:10 "Yo, loud!"
13:12 "Ah! Come on, Luna!
13:13 What are you thinking?"
13:14 Number 7.
13:15 Uh, Internet?
13:17 The Fairly OddParents.
13:18 "Cool!"
13:23 "Kill a crash shoot, dude!"
13:25 "Yes! Where ever did you get it?"
13:27 "Internet."
13:29 Almost every episode of The Fairly OddParents
13:31 has a running gag of its own,
13:33 but this joke managed to pop up repeatedly
13:35 during the show's first few seasons.
13:37 One of the perks of having fairy godparents
13:40 is being able to wish for almost anything
13:42 you set your mind to.
13:43 "Where'd you get all this stuff?"
13:44 "Internet."
13:45 "Uh, inheritance?"
13:47 "I inherited the Internet!"
13:49 However, someone is usually around to question
13:52 where Timmy got his suspicious new goodies or powers.
13:56 His usual response is to simply say,
13:58 "Uh, Internet?"
14:00 "Where did you get heat vision?"
14:02 "Internet?"
14:03 It's not that hard to believe.
14:05 You can find anything off the Internet,
14:07 and everyone around him,
14:09 especially his parents,
14:10 are gullible enough to believe it.
14:12 No matter how ridiculous the wish is.
14:15 That being said,
14:16 he really should be more careful
14:18 about hiding his new toys.
14:20 "Young man, where did you get all these nice things?"
14:23 "Internet?"
14:25 Number 6.
14:26 Who loves orange soda?
14:28 Kenan and Kel
14:29 "Who loves orange soda?"
14:31 "Kel loves orange soda!"
14:34 Who loves orange soda?
14:36 Kel loves orange soda.
14:38 He does, he does, he does!
14:40 So much so that whenever the carbonated treasure gets involved,
14:44 he just has to express his love for it
14:46 in the form of his iconic catchphrase.
14:48 "Kel, who loves orange soda?"
14:52 "Kel loves orange soda!"
14:57 Unfortunately, his obsession with the bubbly drink
14:59 isn't exactly healthy,
15:01 especially when others try to bribe
15:03 or take advantage of cravings.
15:05 But hey, no one can deny that it inspired
15:07 one of the most iconic Nickelodeon quotes of the 90s.
15:11 "Say orange!"
15:12 "Orange!"
15:14 "Say soda!"
15:15 "Soda!"
15:16 There have been others on the show
15:18 to recite his famous song,
15:19 but they don't have the same passionate flavor
15:22 in their words that Kel has,
15:23 or go to the lengths he will for a bottle.
15:26 "We want a million dollars in unmarked bills,
15:28 a million in marked bills!"
15:30 "A car!"
15:31 "A car!"
15:32 "Orange soda!"
15:34 Number 5.
15:35 Arnold's last name.
15:36 Hey Arnold.
15:37 For the longest time,
15:39 we knew almost everything about Arnold's life
15:41 except one thing.
15:42 "Oh, how I long to match Arnold's stride,
15:45 run with him as one,
15:46 break the tape at the finish line of life
15:48 as Mrs. Arnold.
15:49 Wait, what is his last name?"
15:53 It's perhaps the biggest mystery of them all.
15:55 What was his last name?
15:57 Arnold's missing last name became a recurring gag
16:00 throughout the series.
16:01 Any opportunity given to reveal his surname
16:03 was conveniently blocked off.
16:05 "I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs."
16:08 "Pookie, I told you to go easy on the frijoles."
16:13 "Oh, sorry."
16:14 Even the original series finale teased us with this,
16:17 and it looked like we may never solve the mystery.
16:20 But several years later in the Jungle Movie reunion,
16:23 we finally got some clarity.
16:25 Arnold's full name is,
16:27 drumroll please,
16:28 "Arnold Schwartman."
16:33 So, all along,
16:34 Grandpa Phil's nickname for him was a cleverly hidden hint
16:38 at the football head's real last name,
16:40 and we never even knew it?
16:41 Well played, Nickelodeon.
16:43 Number four,
16:45 "Dinkleberg."
16:46 The fairly odd parents.
16:48 Timmy's dad is usually a blissfully ignorant dunce,
16:51 but there's one person on earth who gets his blood boiling,
16:54 his next door neighbor, Dinkleberg.
16:56 "My hedges curse you, Dinkleberg."
17:01 To Mr. Turner, he's the epitome of evil itself.
17:05 In reality, Dinkleberg is probably the nicest neighbor on the planet,
17:09 certainly better than the Turners deserve.
17:12 And yet, Timmy's dad never hesitates to blame him,
17:15 loudly curse him,
17:16 or even just grumble his name whenever he can.
17:19 At this point, his hatred for his neighbor has become a popular online meme.
17:24 Something gone wrong today?
17:26 "Dinkleberg."
17:27 "Wahey, looking good, Turner."
17:31 "Dinkleberg."
17:32 Well, if this video does poorly,
17:34 we know exactly who to blame.
17:36 Number three,
17:38 "Setting Stuff on Fire."
17:40 iCarly.
17:40 "I know everything that goes on around here."
17:43 We all know that Spencer Shay is an amazing sculptor,
17:48 but a handyman he is not.
17:51 Whenever he tries to fix something,
17:53 the object in question usually winds up catching fire.
17:56 Heck, sometimes all Spencer has to do is touch something
18:00 to make it go up in smoke.
18:01 What really sells the joke is that most of the time,
18:04 the object in question isn't even flammable.
18:07 And yet, Spencer's miraculous touch sets it ablaze.
18:10 One time he managed to inexplicably turn a fire extinguisher into a flamethrower.
18:16 "And calmly squeeze this metal..."
18:18 Spencer's spontaneous fires leave the fire department feeling burnt out.
18:24 Pun intended.
18:25 "Uh, Chief Donker..."
18:28 "Don't talk to me!"
18:29 Number two,
18:30 "My Cabbages."
18:31 "Avatar The Last Airbender."
18:33 "My cabbages!"
18:35 Life in the Earth Kingdom isn't easy for this poor street merchant.
18:39 He's just minding his own business,
18:41 trying to sell his beloved cabbages,
18:43 when suddenly someone,
18:45 most likely either the Avatar's party or the Earth Kingdom guard,
18:48 comes along and smashes into his vendor stand,
18:51 destroying his precious vegetables.
18:53 "Ahh! My cabbages!"
18:59 When he isn't getting mixed up with Avatar trouble,
19:02 his cart will either get demolished or ransacked by oversized beasts.
19:06 It ends up getting so bad,
19:08 we don't even see him for the rest of the series after book two.
19:12 It's safe to say that this wasn't the right line of work for him.
19:15 However, his luck turns around several years later
19:18 when he becomes the founder of Cabbage Corp.
19:20 Though some things never change.
19:22 "No! Not my Cabbage Corp!"
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19:41 Number 1.
19:43 "My Leg"
19:44 SpongeBob SquarePants
19:51 Whenever pandemonium breaks out in Bikini Bottom,
19:54 or just an excessive amount of cartoony violence occurs,
19:57 you're sure to hear the archived recording of "My Leg" by Fred the Fish.
20:01 There have been variations of this line.
20:03 But the context is always the same.
20:10 Pure hilarious pain.
20:12 While the original recording was used less in the later years,
20:19 the joke was kept alive via a full episode centered around the line.
20:23 Paying homage to what is essentially the Wilhelm scream of Nickelodeon.
20:27 And one of their funniest recurring gags to date.
20:30 "My leg!"
20:31 "My leg!"
20:35 "My leg!"
20:38 The joke is so iconic that it even managed to sneak its way
20:41 into an episode of fellow Nicktoon, "CatDog".
20:48 Do you agree with our picks?
20:49 Check out this other recent clip from MsMojo.
20:52 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
20:57 [Music]