“Kids” in quotations because sometimes “kids” shows aren’t really just for children, judging by their nuanced jokes.
Could be old, could be new.
I like a lot, two that stand out lately are Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and Star Trek: Prodigy.
Going back a ways, Reboot and Beast Wars. (Reboot, upon relatively recent revisit earlier this year, has a few jokes that I certainly wouldn’t have gotten as a kid nor even as a teen.)
You?
My toddler has become obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog, but it’s been hard to find any age appropriate stuff for him from that franchise. We recently discovered Sonic Boom, which is not only not too violent or scary for him, but is also legitimately funny. A nice surprise, since the only thing I knew about Boom was that the tie-in game was the worst Sonic game since Sonic '06.
I binged most the sonic stuff other than the old cartoon a while ago and most of it was pretty good. Boom was definitely the best though.
Just recently finally finished Adventure Time. The Fiona and Cake series on HBO is great (for adults though).
Gravity Falls and Steven Universe are the first two to pop into my head. Both start out having pretty self contained episodes before opening up to a big story arc. I think Star Wars Rebels gets overlooked even though it has seems to have less filler than Clone Wars did.
My kids are no where near the target demo anymore, but we’ve watch all of Bluey as a family too. The number of times I’ve teared up at that show is ridiculous.
I’m also a fan of the Adventures of Pete and Pete, Rocko’s Modern Life, Invader Zim, and Magus XLR but they all have a heavy dose of nostalgia for me too.
Oh yes, Gravity Falls and (at least the first couple seasons of) Bluey!
I rather liked Prinze as Kanan in Rebels. (Also just enjoyed it in general.)
Clone Wars has an (IIRC official) episode guide I used the last time that was pretty good to get past most of the filler. Last few seasons were amazing for the most part.
Avatar both Aang and Korra, easily some of the best characters and world building for a kids show
Zoids
Teen titans
Lot of the nickelodeon shows around early 2000s SpongeBob, fairy odd parents, jimmy neutron, Danny phantom. They kinda were releasing bangers for awhile
Adventure time I watched as an adult and really enjoyed it
Avatar: The Last Airbender
That nobody ever brings up Centaurworld is a crime.
Yall missed out on and still sleep on it.
To be fair, just because it’s a cartoon doesn’t make it kids media. Centaurworld is not for kids.
I’m surprised that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic hasn’t been mentioned. For me it and ATLA are good for eternal rewatching.
Rick and Morty, Prodigy, Lower Decks, all the Star Wars stuff.
The Owl House, for sure.
Also, Infinity Train comes to mind.
Totally Spies, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, PPG, Courage The Cowardly Dog, Tom & Jerry, Flinstones, Looney Tunes, Masha and Bear, Larva, and many more.
Steven Universe has a really special place in my heart it’s really a show for all ages with the themes it grapples with in many episodes.
My personal favourites are ATLA and The Owl House, I know they were already mentioned though.
Invader Zim (obviously…)
Phineas and Ferb
Powerpuff girls
Adventure Time and Spongebob had a lot of stuff that only adults could catch. Also, a lot of shonen anime deal with mature subject matter.
Definitely SpongeBob! I don’t even think this was intended to be a kids show in the first place. Anyhow, SpongeBob is clearly a teenager or even young adult.
I really liked Adventure Time, too. Probably very much intended to be high quality children’s content, suitable for adults as a side effect.
i’ve tried watching spongebob a few times but couldn’t get into it. could you recommend a specific episode?
No specific episode. I can totally understand that somebody wouldn’t like it. First time I saw it was when my 5yo son was watching it, I found it horrible. Many years later I tried for myself and found it increasingly funny. As ever so often, I’d say the first few seasons are best.
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is goated with the sauce. Love the themes, the artstyle, the soundtrack, the characters… No joke, it made me cry on three occasions on my last watch (my 3rd). It’s all even better when you’re stoned.
She-ra and the Princesses of Power is really good. I like toxic yuri, and characters who just keep digging every time you think they’ve hit rock bottom.
Like others have pointed out, ATLA, Steven Universe, Infinity Train, Gravity Falls and The Owl House are all good, too.
Hello fellow gay person.
