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Last time, I talked about a Nicktoon that was very influential when it came to ’90s Nickelodeon. Not to mention the first Nicktoon to be made into a movie. Which makes it ironic that the next show following that one was the first Nickelodeon movie to ever be made into a Nicktoon. That’s right! This is the theme song of…. #19. “When Pants Attack” – Jimmy Neutron [July 20, 2002] Alright, so we finally get to our first 2000s Nicktoon on my list! I know what I said about Fanboy, but that one started at the end of the decade so I barely count it. Jimmy Neutron, on the other hand, is one of the most quintessential Nicktoons of its decade. Growing up, it was this and two other shows I remember watching a lot on Nick and for damn good reason too! Much like the other two, Jimmy Neutron was responsible for a lot of the meme culture I still enjoy today. So what do you say we take a look at one of those episodes right now? Gotta blast! The episode starts out with Jimmy and Carl trying to test out one of his inventions, which is an emergency escape system that launches Carl into the air with his pants left behind. This reminds Jimmy that he still hasn’t picked up all the pants he has lying on the ground in his room. His mom, Judy, punishes him by not letting him go to the movies with his friends. When she mentions that pants don’t pick themselves up, Jimmy decides to invent a nanochip that allows the pants to pick themselves up so he doesn’t have to. His dad, Hugh, comes in and gives Jimmy a rousing speech on how important it is to pick up pants but he doesn’t need it when the nanochip becomes a success. Thus, his punishment is lifted and he can finally go to the movies with his friends. The next day at school, we get to see some of the other characters on the show, like the very snobby Cindy and Libby, as well as the Ultra Lord fanatic himself, Sheen Estevez. As Jimmy is in class fighting with Cindy over the history of origami, the nanochip in his pants starts going off, making him suddenly move out of control. It starts affecting the pants of Cindy, Carl, and Sheen too, as they all fly off their bodies too. Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen head off to his lab so they can find out what’s going on. Turns out the pants are going all over to control each and every pair of pants there is in Retroville. They set off to downtown and try to stop the situation (with copyrighted music too!) using his patented Pants Eliminator. It works on all the others, except for Jimmy’s, which just reflects the pins back to him. While his is in the House of Blue Pants, it starts growing stronger and starts controlling the other pants inside. Jimmy comes out of Lucky Joe’s Cleaners with a washing machine he’s able to control. He uses the machine’s main functions (starch, iron presses, fabric softener, the works) to stop each and every pair of pants invading the city. When he runs out of weapons to stop his pants, he uses his iconic brain blast to think of a solution based off past events in the episode. With enough static electricity, he’s able to short out the nanochip and save the day! Though as the boys try to head to the movies, Judy scolds him and tells him to pick up all the pants in town. The end. So is this the first Jimmy Neutron episode I would recommend to others? Nah. But it definitely sets up the whole premise of the show. Jimmy has an impractical problem, invents something to solve it, it goes out of control, and he has to fix it before he faces dire consequences. Even as formulaic as it sounds, the show definitely finds a way to make it interesting and funny! That’s not to say that this episode didn’t have its moments too because it definitely did. Some of my favorite highlights include Carl’s “Folding and Hanging” song, Sheen’s incorrect gender Ultra Lord figure and its lines, and last but not least, HUGH NEUTRON. Hugh has some of my favorite lines of the episode, from his inspiring speech about Luke Skywalker and Attila the Hun hanging up their pants to lawn mowing without pants to him interrogating his own pants……is it any wonder why people say he’s the funniest character on the show? So bottom line, this show still ages well! Would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for some great laughs. VERDICT: 8.5/10 (Maybe it’s not groundbreaking enough for me to put it up with Rugrats and Rocko but it is definitely a blast! Of the brain kind.) RANKINGS: Well, that was a pleasant trip to the 2000s! I hope the Wheel is generous enough to give me another show from that decade that I totally heard of and remember watching a lot!