Here’s what happens when you sit down to create a list of the 100 greatest kids' tv shows: In little time you realize just how many amazing children’s shows there are and wonder how you’ll be able to fit everything in — the classics, the educational favorites, the animated adventures, the wild and wacky forgotten gems. This is a fun problem to have — and says a lot about children’s television in general.

Great kid's TV shows don’t just entertain our children. They inform them, subtly, or sometimes, hit them over the head with a message. They stick in the imagination, but not in an obnoxious way. Yes, many children’s shows are products, but the best ones don’t feel like pure consumption. Redeeming social value is good. Some educational value is great. But these things alone aren’t why adults watch TV, and this is also true of kids. So, we tried to think of not just great kids shows that are good for kids, but also great to watch.

Our final list is, we think, a winner. Some shows are for very small kids. Others are for tweens. All of them are what we think are good shows first, and good kids shows, second. With all of these criteria in mind, we also aimed to have fun with this list. It’s not remotely objective, nor is it biased. We hope you enjoy reading — or that at the very least it makes you go, Oh yeah, remember Thundarr the Barbarian?!