The Nickelodeon Show That Was Destined to Disappear
Roundhouse was one of the four original shows that launched SNICK in 1992 — but while Clarissa Explains It All, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Ren & Stimpy became Nickelodeon classics, Roundhouse slowly faded into obscurity.
And that’s strange, because this show was unlike anything else on kids’ television.
Part sketch comedy, part musical, part hip-hop showcase, part after-school special, Roundhouse tackled everything from first dates and peer pressure to divorce and gang violence — all through rapid-fire comedy, original songs, elaborate dance numbers, and complete early-’90s chaos.
So how did one of SNICK’s original shows become so forgotten?
In this video, we go back to the beginning of Saturday Night Nickelodeon, explore how Roundhouse was created, meet the ridiculously talented cast and crew behind it, look at its connection to All That, and examine the ratings struggles, high production costs, and reported behind-the-scenes tension that may have helped push the show out of Nickelodeon history.
Was Roundhouse simply too weird to survive? Or was it one of the boldest experiments Nickelodeon ever made?
Let me know in the comments: Did you watch Roundhouse when it originally aired? And what do you remember most — the theme song, the dancing, the strange sketches, or just the feeling that you may have dreamed the entire thing?
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@bverde123
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
The photo at 14:40 is Lou Diamond Phillips, not Dominic Lucero
@jeffp.7598
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I watched this show like crazy as a kid. Had forgotten all about it til! Now.
@blackmagician7645
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I checked Shellby Woo out when revisting Space Cases. It was alright.
@blackmagician7645
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I peeped in on this show with one of the many free tv/movies apps You Tube ad recommendations gave me. And Round House show is like a rapid fire skit variety show that never let's up it's transitioning pace. I can see why younger youths in the day with short attention spands would be so drawn to it. 😊
@legacyteam5581
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Take me back to 92!
@CrossTrekking
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
This show was everything to me for a while. I looked forward to it every week. It seemed nobody else remembered!
@Mereana_Mordegard_Glesgorv
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Didn't the show runner end up mailing their own eyes to YouTube Headquarters after watching some strange video online?
@draughtoflethe
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I loved this show so much! The nostalgia is hitting me really hard. I can still sing the whole theme song. It's such a shame that Nickelodeon has basically buried it; even at the time it first ended, I had the sense that the network was doing it dirty… maybe that was just my disappointment about it essentially vanishing.
Reprise the theme song, and roll the credits!
@Chewie1138
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I can still sing the sign off song word for word. SNICK was my Must-See TV.
@VictoryXR
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I remember when this premiered… and I LOVED IT. The theme is still one of my vocal stims.
@suzanne.morales
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I was 7-10 when this aired. I semi remember this. The best part was the chair. You hit the nail on the head. RH was made so All That could run. I absolutely LOVED All That
@alexanderalexander3147
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Oh my lawd!!!! You made me remember my bad report card!
@dyskelia
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
The theme song they used to sing lives rent free in my mind.
@idlewanderlustJSF
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Roundhouse was my favorite. It was so dynamic, flowing, and alive.
@ajaicoleman430
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I used to own the only couple of VHS tapes ever released for this show!
@Clintondmb
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Roundhouse was a da rite of mine. The great outfits and dance numbers were so cool.
@TheEdgeOfChairs
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I hated this show so much
@kendrickjohnson7134
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Omg. I had all but forgotten about this show. WOW.
@imshinycaptain
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I LOVED Snick but I just could not get into Roundhouse, which is weird because usually I'm into this sort of thing… but maybe I was less sophisticated at seven. XD
@DanPantzig
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I watched Snick because I was 11/12 when it started, and I'd watch ANYTHING on Nickelodeon. Roundhouse, however, always struck me as corny and lame. The music was too theatery, and now I guess I know why!
@paisan8766
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
All That (the original run, especially) is exponentially better
@Luckyduckincorporated
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Dude. I loved Roundhouse! This show may have contributed to my personality being what it is.
@toddwarring9782
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Reprise the theme song and roll the credits!!!! (This was so much better than All That)
@Bianca_M_2.0
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
23:11 I first discovered this show here on YouTube! It is available in the full 2 hour block episodes that are up from different people who recorded on VHS.
@ProtovoxMedia
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
OG Roundhouse fan here, thanks for the callback
@notsusan
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
13:05 I have loved Sailor Moon for 30 years and I have never seen her sing in an episode though??
@voldem0rt
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Whenever my life gets me so down,
I know I can go down,
To where the music and the fun never ends.
As long as that music keeps playing,
You know what I'm saying,
I know that I can find a friend,
Down at the Roundhouse
@queas
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Completely forgot about this show until I saw the title! Just for the record, that clip of Ren and Stimpy, at five minutes in is not from the initial Ren and Stimpy run that aired on Snick, but from the later, less critically acclaimed (because it kind of sucked) Adult Party Cartoon run. John K might have wanted to draw that for kids, but wasn't able to show it to anyone until much later, on a different channel for a completely different intended audience.
@ΙντιματεΛαβγριντθ
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
4:58 can someone pls help
@notsusan
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I would have put it as a theater kid version of In Living Color for kids more than SNL.
@kathryncumberland
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
They said they'd link the Are You Afraid of the Dark episode in the description, but I don't see it 😕 I mean, I could obviously search it faster than it's taking me to write this comment, but just sayin'… 🤷♀️
@Normaschthewanderer
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
Because it was spending a lot of money to make a show that looked cheap to make.
@migzydrift
July 5, 2026 at 5:39 am
I came off the assembly line in 1981. Nick was the shit! 👏🏆🥞🥳
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