As a disclaimer for any haters out there, I am not saying that these were bad shows (except for "Mr. Meaty," I'm not budging on that one). I am simply saying that they were some interesting shows to be watching as kids. I'm sure a lot of parents didn't let kids watch these shows, and I can't honestly remember the rules about my TV time as a kid. But these probably weren't suitable for kids. I'm sure some of these were not originally intended for a younger audience and it's easy to see why. Read on to see why, if you don't already know.
1. "Mr. Meaty"
I kid you not when I say that I still get freaked out by this show. I may just have a thing against puppets, but this Canadian-American show was beyond messed up. Does anyone remember the episode when one of the characters had a tapeworm that would jump out of his mouth, and then another character ate the tapeworm? Seriously, what was this show?
2. "Courage the Cowardly Dog"
I really don't think I need to explain this one. We all know this show was great, but it had the creepiest plots and characters I can remember from my childhood. Don't get me wrong—this show was one of the best out there, but looking back now, I understand why I was so scared after watching this show at night.
3. "Catscratch"
I don't know how many people remember this one, but it was a strange one. This is one of the better ones on the list, but still super weird. I mean, one of the cats is obsessed with a little girl; is that not creepy? One of the cats was a sock, and another was considered some sort of devil!
4. "Evil Con Carne"
Alrighty, if you don't know/remember this show, here's what it was about: some evil guy was blown up by his nemesis, and his body was scattered around the world until some scientist put his brain and stomach into a bear. Yes, a freaking bear. The brain had eyes!
5. "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy"
Two kids have the Grim Reaper as an eternal servant. People were always getting cut up or skinned alive and they have the freaking Grim Reaper as a servant. This show was so grim—pun intended. I don't know why I was ever allowed to watch this show. In fact, I don't think I actually was...
6. "Invader Zim"
To tell you the truth, I don't know much about this show because it freaked me out too much, so pardon my ignorance to you Zim lovers out there. I only remember a Christmas episode song that scared me, but I do know that it was all about an alien trying to take over Earth. This show was dark and the ratings must have been bad since it was cancelled so early.
7. "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack"
This was hands down one of my favorite shows ever, but it was so weird. The kid's mom is a talking whale, and his best friend is a dirty pirate. They spend their time on a harbor looking for a mythical candy island. The show has a strange vibe about it that I can't really place, but if you watch it, you'll understand.
8. "Chowder"
Alright, so the main character is a cat (I think) with an eating problem, there's a character with a mushroom hat, a character who... I don't even know what he is and one who only says the word "radda." Most of the time, I feel like I had no idea what was going on in this show, and I really loved it. But it was definitely a strange one.
9. "The Gumby Show"
I honestly thought I had made up my memories of this show until I saw a video of it on Twitter one day. I know this show ended before I was even a thought in my parents' mind, but good lord, this show was so weird. Maybe I just have a thing against claymation (it truly terrifies me), but that creepy green dude's eyes are so large. His voice was just off for some reason.
10. "Oobi"
If you're not freaked out just by this image, then maybe you're the strange one. This show was for young children to learn basic principles of life, but those unblinking eyes are truly menacing. This is probably a little too young for our generation, but if you had younger siblings or maybe had a parent who babysat, then you probably saw this show once or twice. Good idea, creepy way of teaching lessons.
11. "Catdog"
I'll probably get a lot of hate for this one, but c'mon guys, a catdog? Really? How did they perform any sort of biological need? Who thinks of these things? Did we ever figure out who/what their parents were?
12. "Cow and Chicken"
This was by far one of the weirdest shows out there. A cow and a chicken were brother and sister with humans for parents... What? There was even an episode that was banned because is was heavily filled with innuendos about a lesbian biker gang that would break into peoples' houses and munch on their carpet.
Also, cow's butt is very in-your-face, not very appropriate for a young audience, I feel.