1/2: Best/Worst Holiday Special
All eps that are only aired around certain holidays are up for the nod
3: Most Overrated Episode
"Helga on the Couch", Hey Arnold!: Some people at Toonzone Forums see this ep as a waste of time because Helga's behavior wasn't toned down, as one would have expected from Helga's visits to the counselor. Heck, there wasn't even a single subsequent reference to visiting the counselor.
"Race Across New Zealand", Rocket Power: It won last year's Best Episode honors, and with the common dislike of RP, there's bound to be someone who will disagree.
"SpongeBob BC", SpongeBob: A submission by Nickdisk's titular poster.
"Plankton's Army", SpongeBob
"SpongeBob Meets The Strangler", SpongeBob: All the SB eps were preceded by SB marathons, in Nick's attempt to make the ep seem more important than it really is.
4: Most Tasteless Episode
"Phoebe's Little Problem", Hey Arnold!: Phoebe. Farting. Not really befitting of the first story of the final ep (to US viewers), is it?
"Stimpy's First Fart", Ren and Stimpy: Yep. More farting.
"Karate Choppers", SpongeBob: Karate, karate, karate... is that all there is? Yes, that's all there is.
The "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" eps, SpongeBob: To quote a Nickdisk poster with a rather unimaginative screenname ("nickelodeon"???): "Some of them are boring."
"That's Life", FOP: The one with the dead hamster. To quote Nickdisk's titular poster: "It makes me feel sick when i watch it."
"Most Horrible Xmas", Zim
"Dark Harvest", Zim: The one with the stolen organs.
5: Best Parent(s) or Parental Figure(s)
Chazz, Rugrats/All Grown Up!
Ray, Rocket Power
Stu and Didi, Rugrats/All Grown Up!
Phil and Pookie, Hey Arnold!
Lois, Ginger
Cosmo and Wanda, FOP
Nigel and Marianne, Thornberrys
Wakeman, MLaaTR
Hugh and Judy, JN
Jack and Maddie, Danny Phanton
6: Worst Parent(s) or Parental Figure(s)
Timmy's parents, FOP
Bob and Miriam, HA!
7: Biggest Surprise
(Note that you'll have to highlight the entries to read my explanation... spoiler protection)
"Power Play", Rocket Power: The story seems destined to end with the Rocket gang playing NHL pros in an exhibition game... instead, they lose to Ocean Bluffs. At home. With said game on the line.
"Island of the Menehune", Rocket Power: It's not in the episode itself, but in the subtext of what had been established earlier, many fans were expecting this telefilm to show Ray and Breezy (see Most Underused Character nominees from last year) getting married... instead, we have Ray setting up his later marriage with Noelani in this one.
"Gerald vs. Jamie O", Hey Arnold!: Another case of earlier established subtext providing the surprise, as Michelle Lamoreaux (not one of the better regular HA! writers, I'll give her that) neither shows Phoebe or makes any mention of Gerald's crush on her, while he's on another crush.
"No Hope For Courtney", As Told By Ginger: Believe it or not, the death of Carl's teacher was actually tacked on to the end of the ep, as a result of the death of the voice actress.
"Arnold Betrays Iggy", Hey Arnold!: Hard to believe that a "happy" show like HA! would have not just one, but two, downer endings in a half hour, but they pulled it off, especially with Arnold's pajama humiliation. (The other story: "Helga and the Nanny".)
"Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker", FOP: So after tons of hilarious references to decades past, it turns out that Timmy Turner, the goody-two-shoes, was responsible for his future teacher's obsession with fairy godparents? Weird, and sounds good enough for this category...
"Plankton's Army", SBSP: Which would be more surprising? The fact that the show finally reveals what goes into a Krabby Patty, or the fact that plankton (like, well, Plankton) goes into one? Either way, they're both in the story.
Danny Phantom, as a whole: Who would have guessed that this show would have (gasp) actual character development? And who would have guessed that Danny's big sister would find out about his dirty laundry, much less in the 9th ep ("My Brother's Keeper")?
"Grandpa's Packard", HA!: Five words: Jolly Olly Man in drag.
"Interview With A Campfire", AGU!: One word: Bean. What, you thought it was the part with Susie relegated to a supporting role in the musical? ;)
"Thief Encounter", AGU!: 12 years of being a goody two shoes... and then Tommy steals things? Eh?
"The Finster Who Stole Christmas", AGU!: Five words: Where the heck is Angelica? I mean, she caused so much trouble in the two Rugrats Xmas specials, and here she's nowhere to be seen.
8: Best Hairstyle
Arnold
Gerald
Nadine
Jimmy
Helga
Ginger
Eliza
9: Outstanding Hairstyle Change
Ginger (Ginger, a good portion of "Foutleys on Ice": straigtened out, dyed streak)
Lil (All Grown Up!, "Bad Aptitude" onwards: similar to Ginger's re-do)
Kimi (same time as Lil: three bunches to two "floating" pigtails)
Eliza (TWT, the last 5 TV eps: pigtails to letting hair down)
Cindy (JN, the TV eps: two pigtails to one big pigtail)
10: The Marshall and Lance Memorial Award for Biggest Quitter
Doug and Skeeter, Doug, the one with the go-kart race
Helga, HA!, "Phoebe Takes The Fall"
Reggie, RP, "Rainy Days and Sundaes"
Susie, AGU!, "Runaround Susie"
Otto, Sam and Twister, RP, "The Big Day"
11: The "Path Not Taken" Award
These shows ended with a plot development that (for the most part) will not be taken further. Shame.
Debbie/Eliza bonding, Thornberrys: Deborah went from blaming Eliza for her break-up with her boyfriend (does it count if they never even met?) to keeping her secret under wraps. As Nigel once said, the grueling sisters war might be over, but with just 5 eps with this new development, it's too little to really appreciate it.
Lois' marriage, Ginger: KC went straight from that wedding to Ginger all grown up and ended the show, so we won't get to see Ginger adjusting to life with a new dad.
Ray's marriage, RP: Leave it to KC to end shows on characters getting re-married. They ended Duckman with a wedding 'hanger, and then they did it with Lois. This year, RP seems to have come to a stop after just one ep with the new mom. And don't forget "New Girl On The Block" Carla...
Arnold's map, HA!: In 2000, the road ahead looked bright for Arnold, with a proper cinema film, and a spinoff (ensuing from the cinema film) in the works. But by 2002, those plans had been both rejected, so Arnold's map is the last we'll most likely be seeing of Football Head (even though it's meant to lead into the proper cinema film).
12: The "Not Much Luck With Pets" Award
Last year we had the "Best Pet" award. This year, people who don't seem to have much luck with pets.
Eugene, HA!, "Eugene's Pet": Well, it's like shooting fish in a barrel (or rather, hitting fish with a mace ;) ).
Rocko, the one with the turtle: You can see where I'm going with this, right?
Chuckie, Rugrats, "I Remember Melville": And I hope you remember this Humanitas-nominated story.
Ms. O'Keats, All Grown Up!, "Chuckie's In Love": At least the others got to actually, y'know, enjoy their pets. However, if her poem is to be believed, this teacher's puppy was history before they even had a history.
13: The Golden Apple for Best Teacher
Mr. Simmons, HA!
Ms. Slovak, HA!
Ms. O'Keats, AGU!
Mr. Beaker, AGU!
Conroy Blanc, RP
Madame Zorski, ATBG
Mrs. Gordon, ATBG
Winifred Fowl, JN
14: The Rotten Apple for Worst Teacher
Denzel Crocker, FOP
Ms. Bitters, Zim
Horace Wilter, ChalkZone
Mr. Lancer, DP
15: Outstanding Sibling Rivalry
Doug/Judy, Doug
Twister/Lars, RP
Vicky/Tootie, FOP
Stu/Drew, Rugrats/AGU!
Gerald/Timberly/Jamie O, HA!
Helga/Olga, HA!
16: Most Painful Backstab
Dodie and Macie, Ginger, "Wicked Game": Now Miranda and Mipsy trying to break up Ginger/Darren I can understand, but Dodie and Macie? This is her best friends we're talking here...
Gerald, HA!, "Arnold's Valentine": Not that it actually mattered to the plot (like the rest), but something didn't rub Gideon (the guy who submitted the idea at the newsgroup) right about Tall Hair Boy taking out Cecile the French girl for a hamburger by pretending to be Arnold (while Football Head was busy settling a score with a certain blonde who claimed to be Cecile).
Patrick, SBSP, "I'm With Stupid": Hey, when Gideon submitted the idea, he also included this entry. Dunno why, but it looks good...
Tommy, AGU!, "It's Cupid, Stupid": Tommy (and perhaps Chuckie) might disagree with the inclusion of this (Gideon definitely does), but apropos the whole Nicole flap, Chuckie said to Tommy: "The only mistake I can see is the one I've been making for the last nine years. You know, thinking you were my friend!" Ouch... "Dang" is an understatement, folks.
Tommy again, AGU!, "Truth or Consequences": For the sake of a great student film, he was willing to submit footage of his friends being jerks. Think about that.
Tommy yet again, AGU!, "Tweenage Tycoons": Overworking Dil to get money to buy concert tickets may have worked out for them in the end... but it shouldn't have.
17/18: Best/Worst Episode of 2004
All those premiered between the cutoff for last year's awards (December 16, 2003) and this year's cutoff are eligible
19: Best Moment of 2004
The kiss, "Eliza Unplugged", Thornberrys: It took 16 months (!) for Nick US to finally show the episode, but it was worth it.
The Valentine's Dance, "It's Cupid, Stupid", All Grown Up!: Our favorite couples. Dancing. Need I say more?
The party, "Lucky 13", All Grown Up!: Again, need I say more?
Noelani saves Ray and co., "Island of the Menehune", RP: That must have impressed Ray so much that he decided to marry her...
The Daniel Stark run-in, "The Big Day", RP: Let's just say RP fans were waiting for this as much as the wedding itself.
The flash forward, "The Wedding Frame", ATBG: It's on DVD only, but worth a look.
20: Biggest Disappointment of 2004
Betty kisses Jimmy, JN, "Out, Darn Spotlight": JN gets a raw deal on ruining his school's play (when he really didn't ruin it), and Jimmy/Cindy shippers get a raw deal out of this one.
Where's the wedding?, RP, "The Big Day": Otto and co gave up so much (read: a shot at a week with Shaun White) for this... wouldn't it have been nice for us to actually see more of what they gave it all up for (read: the exchange of vows)?
New MLaaTR season pushed back: Nick and their website go through the trouble to promote a new ep of MLaaTR to start the new season... and then they go ahead and push it back to 2005. Didn't those jerkwads already learn their lesson from the "Eliza Unplugged" debacle of 2003?
Helga gets just one scene and Gerald gets none, HA!, "Phoebe's Little Problem": Phoebe's best friend in the whole world, and she doesn't even tryto fix the titular problem? And the guy with a crush on Phoebe isn't even in it? That it's a Lamoreaux ep (read: the type of ep where Arnold usually ends up fixing problems) only makes these even worse.
The bit with the time capsule, ATBG, "No Turning Back": Jimmy/Cindy shippers weren't the only ones let down... whatever Carl/Noelle shippers there were out there will have certainly been disappointed at this one.
Where's Ginger?: Nick removed it from the main Nick schedule in the fall, meaning that Nicktoons TV was the only place to watch it (the Thanksgiving show even premiered there). Plus, the release of the "Wedding Frame" DVD before any of the eps in high-school have aired kind of puts things out of whack.
21: Best Guest of 2004
Cancer survivor Daniel Stark as himself, Rocket Power, "The Big Day"
Shaun White as himself, same ep
Mommi Makani, same ep plus "Island of the Menehune"
Tim Allen as game show host, Jimmy Neutron, "Win, Lose, and Ka-Boom!"
Alyssa Milano as game show contestant April, same ep
Alec Baldwin as elder Timmy Turner, FOP, "Channel Chasers"
Homeless girl Carla, Rocket Power, "New Girl On The Block"
Lil Romeo as Lil Q, All Grown Up!, "It's Cupid, Stupid"
Bean, AGU!, "Interview with a Campfire"
Hey Arnold!: 20 nominations in 13 categories
All Grown Up!: 18 nominations (3 shared with Rugrats) in 10 categories
Rocket Power: 16 nominations in 10 categories
Ginger: 11 nominations in 9 categories
SpongeBob: 7 nominations in 4 categories
Jimmy Neutron: 7 nominations in 6 categories
OddParents: 7 nominations in 7 categories each
Thornberrys: 5 nominations in 5 categories each
Rugrats: 4 nominations (3 shared with AGU!) in 3 categories
Danny Phantom: 3 nominations in 3 categories
Zim: 3 nominations in 2 categories
MLAATR and Doug: 2 nominations in 2 categories
R&S, Rocko, and Chalkzone: 1 nomination in 1 category each