Fanon:WHAT IF NBC didn't cancel their children's programming and the first attempt at the Big Nate series aired as planned?

Welcome to the first of a series of "What If" articles inspired by the Fanon:What.. IF? one made by TheKerbalking! I was going to start with scenarios for Big Nate that would cause different outcomes for the arcs, but I decided to start with something that really would cause a massive difference in the real world. Now, remember that this is a "WHAT IF" page. You may add to the page, but do not move it and/or delete anything from this page. The last thing I need is to be accused of being "the next Slickaroo" or something like that. Anyway, enjoy this! - Smith ghast4

History
In 1991, the first year the Big Nate comic was published, Peanuts executive producer Lee Mendelson purchased the option from Lincoln Peirce to make a 2D-animated Big Nate television series for Saturday Morning Cartoons at NBC, who "was paid $5,000 to write a quote-on-quote bible describing the characters and outlining a few story ideas". After this deal was finalized, the chances of the show and other children's programming staying on were slim due to the success of Saved by the Bell. However, a twist has come up for the latter show later that year; it was cancelled. Maybe the Murder Mystery episode was too much for NBC and reviewers to take. This was good news for the animated series that were airing at that time, and for the Big Nate series to finally be able to enter production.

Some of the actors who played characters from Saved by the Bell moved on to the Big Nate series; Dennis Haskins as Mr. Wright, Elizabeth Berkley as Ellen Wright, Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Kenny, Hayley Mills as Mrs. Godfrey. The two main characters, Nate and his friend Francis, were voiced by Dana Hill and Christine Cavanaugh, respectively. The series premiered in September 1992, as part of the improved Saturday Morning animated series lineup. Other characters in the first season included Mr. Rosa, Ms. Clarke, Jenny, and Sheila, and Rusty Sienna (character dropped after his actor Bob Ross' death).

As the show went on, more characters were added to the show, season by season; Coach Calhoun, Ellen's friend Carol, and Teddy in season 2, Gordie in season 4, and Mr. Staples, Mrs. Czerwicki, Mrs. Shipulski, Principal Nichols, and Mr. Eustis in season 5. The show was so successful that Lincoln Peirce stopped the comic strip to work on the show full-time. The voice actress who voiced Nate, Dana Hill slipped into a diabetic coma in May 1996 and suffered a massive paralytic stroke the following month. On July 15, 1996, Hill died at age 32. Her body was cremated following her death. She had done 90% of her voice work for season 5 from January to May 1996, which left a few episodes unfinished and unaired.

Mary Kay Bergman replaced Hill as the voice of Nate, starting with season 6. The sixth season was a special one, as throughout most of the season, he dated Angie, from the multi-episode premiere where Nate was in summer school and met her there one day, to an episode in the second half of the season where Angie dumped Nate to go out with Dan Labreque. Angie appeared at a school dance in the season finale. She would also appear in an episode of season 7, when she ran against Nate for class president.

Once again, more characters were added to the series, season by season, including School Picture Guy in season 7 and Gina in season 8. Dee Bradley Baker provided vocal effects for animal characters such as Spitsy and Pickles. On the night of November 11, 1999, Nate's second voice actress, Mary Kay Bergman shot herself in the head with a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. She was pronounced dead in the hospital at 10:18 p.m. at the age of 38. She had finished her voice work for season 8 shortly before her death.

The series was, in some ways, revamped for season 9 onwards. The animation style has changed, not just in the art, but also from cel animation to digital 2D animation. The cast has changed as well, including Tara Strong as Nate Wright (replacing Bergman), Jason Marsden as Francis Pope (replacing Christine Cavanaugh who announced her intentions to retire, she would die in 2014), and Gary LeRoi Gray as Teddy Ortiz, among many others.

One of the first supporting characters to debut in the revamped series was Artur in season 9. Season 10 was another special season, as throughout most of the season, Nate dated Kelly, from the multi-episode premiere where they met at the soccer camp, to one of the last episodes of the season where they broke up after Nate wrote a break-up note on a detention slip in an attempt to chase after Jenny again. Also debuting in the season 10 premiere is Coach John.

Once again, more characters were added to the series, season by season; Mr. Galvin and Wink Summers in season 11; Chester Budrick and Marcus Goode in season 12; Marge, Vern, and Ted Wright in the season 13 "Wright family reunion" finale; and Chad Applewhite and Peter in season 14.

Production on a theatrical film based on Big Nate began in January 2006, with work done by the animators, cast, and editors throughout the year, with the release scheduled for mid-2007. In the film, when P.S. 38 has mold, the P.S. 38 students move to Jefferson, and compete with Jefferson in a soccer game in hopes of ending the latter's four-year winning streak. Despite a lot of the production having been done, in 2007, due to conflicting schedules with working on season 15 and 16, the theatrical film was scrapped, and the crew would retool it into multiple episodes to start season 17, which meant extra production for the rest of that year. Those episodes were finally released in late 2008 and received the most highly positive reception for the show in 15 years.

The popular children's website poptropica.com has included Big Nate since 2009. The success of the "Jefferson" episodes and the Big Nate portion of Poptropica encouraged Lincoln Peirce to write his own novel series based on Big Nate. The success has also encouraged another revamp for the series from season 19 onwards. The animation style has changed, not just in the art, but also from traditional animation to Flash animation. The cast has changed as well.

Characters first appearing in the novels started to appear in the series, including Kim Cressly and Wayne in season 19, Mrs. Hickson and Sherman in season 23, and Dee Dee Holloway in season 24, the latter season being another special one, as throughout most of the season, Nate dated Trudy, from the multi-episode premiere where she went missing after a rollercoaster ride and Nate spent the summer trying to find her until he literally ran into her at P.S. 38, to one of the last episodes of the season where because Nate kept going to parties and hangouts with Trudy and her friends, missing out on even more special events involving his friends, he eventually broke up with her. Season 25 included a special multi-episode arc where Nate and another girl named Daisy but broke up soon after starting to date, because they felt no love while being with each other. Hynden Walch voiced both the girls Nate dated.

Season 26 was cut short due to Lincoln's Peirce's family matters and working on a brand new book series, Max & the Midknights. As a result, the season ran from September to December 2017 and only consisted of 11 episodes, lacking the usual 26-episode length. The show then ran for two more seasons before an animated Big Nate reboot series was announced by Nickelodeon on February 19, 2020. Nickelodeon's executive vice president of animation production and development, Ramsey Naito, stated that she had wanted to adapt the Big Nate book series into an animated series for a long time. With that, the NBC show ended, with its final episode being a tribute to essential workers in COVID, released in June 2020. The Nickelodeon series was originally planned to premiere in September 2021. However, in December 2021, with the casting, it was announced that it would premiere on Paramount+ in early 2022, later specified as February 17. On March 24, 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.

More info about the Nickelodeon series and predictions here.

1992-2000

 * Dana Hill (1992-1997)/Mary Kay Bergman (1997-2000) as Nate Wright
 * Christine Cavanaugh as Francis Pope
 * Elizabeth Berkley as Ellen Wright
 * Dennis Haskins as Martin Wright and Nate's comic creations
 * Hayley Mills as Mrs. Godfrey
 * Jack Riley as Mr. Rosa
 * Hattie Winston as Ms. Clarke
 * Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Kenny
 * Cheryl Chase as Jenny Jenkins
 * Cree Summer as Sheila Stapleton
 * Bob Ross (1992-1995) as Rusty Sienna
 * Tiffani-Amber Thiessen as Carol
 * Ron Glass as Coach Calhoun
 * Mario Lopez as Teddy Ortiz
 * Jason Marsden as Gordie
 * Tom Kenny as Mr. Staples
 * Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Czerwicki
 * Tress MacNeille as Mrs. Shipulski
 * Keith David as Principal Nichols
 * Jeff Bennett as Mr. Eustis
 * Dionne Quan as Angie
 * Daran Norris as School Picture Guy
 * Carolyn Lawrence as Gina Hemphill-Toms
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Spitsy, Pickles, and other animal characters

2000-2010

 * Tara Strong as Nate Wright
 * Jason Marsden as Francis Pope
 * Gary LeRoi Gray as Teddy Ortiz
 * Grey DeLisle as Ellen Wright
 * Daran Norris as Martin Wright
 * Hynden Walch as Jenny Jenkins
 * Crystal Scales as Sheila Stapleton
 * Carolyn Lawrence as Gina Hemphill-Toms
 * Susanne Blakeslee as Mrs. Godfrey
 * Tom Kenny as Mr. Rosa
 * Vanessa Williams as Ms. Clarke
 * Phil LaMarr as Coach Calhoun
 * Rob Paulsen as Mr. Staples
 * Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Czerwicki
 * Tress MacNeille as Mrs. Shipulski
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Principal Nichols
 * Daran Norris as School Picture Guy
 * Jeff Bennett as Mr. Eustis
 * Josh Keaton as Gordie
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Spitsy, Pickles, and other animal characters
 * Benjamin Diskin as Artur Pashkov
 * Janice Kawaye as Kelly
 * John DiMaggio as Coach John
 * Rodger Bumpass as Mr. Galvin
 * Bill Fagerbakke as Wink Summers
 * Fred Tatasciore as Chester Budrick
 * Ogie Banks as Marcus Goode
 * Wallace Shawn as Vern Wright
 * Julie Kavner as Marge Wright
 * Seth MacFarlane as Ted Wright
 * James Arnold Taylor as Chad Applewhite
 * Eric Bauza as Peter
 * Jack DeSena as Zach
 * Paul Scheer as Mr. Chung
 * Maurice LaMarche as Jefferson Soccer Coach
 * Jessica DiCicco as Annie
 * Scott Menville as Randy Betancourt

2010-2020

 * Ben Schwartz as Nate Wright
 * Danny Pudi as Francis Pope
 * Bobby Moynihan as Teddy Ortiz
 * Catherine Taber as Ellen Wright
 * Brian Stepanek as Martin Wright
 * Wallace Shawn as Vern Wright
 * Julie Kavner as Marge Wright
 * Seth MacFarlane as Ted Wright
 * Freddie Highmore as Artur Pashkov
 * Ashley Johnson as Jenny Jenkins
 * Tiya Sircar as Sheila Stapleton
 * Kate Micucci as Gina Hemphill-Toms
 * Andy Milonakis as Chad Applewhite
 * Kimiko Glenn as Dee Dee Holloway
 * Scott Menville as Randy Betancourt
 * Fred Tatasciore as Chester Budrick, Wayne, and School Picture Guy
 * Kari Wahlgren as Kim Cressly
 * Ogie Banks as Marcus Goode
 * Hynden Walch as Trudy and Daisy
 * Eric Bauza as Peter
 * Susanne Blakeslee as Mrs. Godfrey and Mrs. Czerwicki
 * Tom Kenny as Mr. Rosa
 * Toks Olagundoye as Ms. Clarke
 * Vanessa Marshall as Mrs. "Hickey" Hickson
 * Phil LaMarr as Coach Calhoun
 * John DiMaggio as Coach John
 * Rodger Bumpass as Mr. Galvin
 * Jim Rash as Mr. Staples
 * Misty Lee as Mrs. Shipulski
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Principal Nichols
 * Patton Oswalt as Mr. Eustis
 * Taylor Gray as Gordie
 * Bill Fagerbakke as Wink Summers
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Spitsy, Pickles, Sherman (including internal monologue), and other animal characters