Whether they loved the show or not, nearly every Collegiette who grew up in the early 2000s remembers hearing the infamous theme song about a half-ghost kid when they were watching Nickelodeon. Fourteen-year-old Danny Fenton was the star of his own TV show about growing up with ghost powers. While his legendary catchphrase “I’m going ghost!” and many awesomely cheesy ghost battles with the fictional, notorious rogues gallery were some of the show’s best highlights, the series is also fondly remembered by fans for being one that had charm, relatable characters, and interesting story arcs that touched on complex issues.
“Danny Phantom” first aired in 2004, and was cancelled after three seasons on Aug. 24, 2007. In six months, it’ll have been a decade since this show’s last episode aired, and I’m still just as bitter about it as I was when I was 10. I’m sure that many Collegiettes feel the same, and have reasons of their own why the show should come back. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the cancellation of one of the greatest kid’s shows to ever grace Nickelodeon, here are my top 10 reasons why the channel should correct their mistake and bring “Danny Phantom” back.
1. The theme song tells Danny Phantom’s entire backstory in less than a minute.
While many Nick shows have great theme songs associated with them, none can beat the brilliance that is the opening theme of “Danny Phantom.” Through a mixture of rap and pop, the song tells the story of how Danny Fenton became half-ghost after accidentally turning on his parents’ ghost portal while he was exploring. The opening theme serves its purpose by reminding the audience of Danny’s original story at the start of every episode, plus the song is so darn catchy that it’s been stuck inside every “Phantom” fan’s head over the past decade. What more reason is there to put this nostalgic song back on the air?
2. Danny grows into his powers instead of getting them instantly.
Unlike most superhero-related kids’ shows that give characters powers that they master instantly, the “Danny Phantom” series follows Danny’s struggles to learn to control his ghost powers while simultaneously keeping them a secret from his family members, classmates, and residents of Amity Park. The challenges Danny faces with grasping his identity as a human-ghost hybrid oddly enough make him a relatable character.
Many Collegiettes can similarly identify with struggling to master certain skills, or with having difficulty adapting to situations that had a major impact on their lives. Some of us may even relate to Danny because we’ve had to hide our true selves due to fears about how friends and family would react. Danny’s appeal as a character results from the fact that many can relate to him — and that relatability is really impressive when you remember that the show is about a teenage boy who becomes a half-ghost superhero. Kids today definitely need a TV show with a protagonist that they can personally identify with, and what character does that better than our boy, Danny?
3. It features a realistic and incredible friendship between the main three.
While Danny was the one with the superhuman powers, the show lets you know straight up that none of his achievements in the series would’ve been possible without the help of his best friends, Tucker and Sam. Known by their classmates as the techo-geek and the goth-chick-who-definitely-has-a-crush-on-Danny-Fenton, Tucker and Sam always have Danny’s back regardless of whether he’s in his ghost or human form. No matter the situation, fans can expect Tucker to back Danny up with the latest technology gadgets of the early 2000s and not-so-great girl advice, while Sam will do the same with her own abilities of properly assessing situations and delivering endless amounts of sass and sarcasm. Let’s also not forget the moment in season two when we found out that Sam was the one that persuaded Danny to investigate his parents’ ghost portal, making her responsible for the accident that caused him to become half-ghost. Danny’s friendship with Tucker and Sam sends a great message to audiences that our friends support our efforts to succeed far more than our abilities do. That message and the utterly hilarious relationship that Danny has with Sam and Tucker is enough alone to put “Danny Phantom” back on the air.
4. There are puns. Lots of them.
Okay, so part of the reason why “Danny Phantom” is so nostalgic is because of all the infamously bad puns that Danny would say while he was ghost-fighting. While a lot of these puns are cringe-worthy, some of them are actually really funny and clever (I still can’t get over Danny’s response to Jazz yelling “You’re toast!” with “Oh yeah? You and what toaster?” in one episode — major props to the show’s script writers! Danny’s puns show that a kids’ TV series needs just the right amount of cheesy jokes to be memorable. The show’s puns now have a massive following of their own on the internet, so imagine what will happen if Nickelodeon decides to bring “Danny Phantom” back for a fourth season.
5. Dani would have been adopted by the Fentons in season four.
Speaking of a fourth season, did you know that Dani Phantom, Vlad Plasmius’ former cloned adopted daughter, would have been adopted by the Fentons, and been Jazz and Danny’s sister had there been a season four of “Danny Phantom”? Butch Hartman, the show’s creator, just confirmed this in early February in the Youtube video, “107 Danny Phantom Facts You Should Know.” The fact that this was planned to happen but didn’t due to the show’s cancellation upsets me greatly and gives more support to the cause to bring “Danny Phantom” back. You already have an episode plot idea, Mr. Hartman, so surely you can come up with a few more ideas to produce another season. The “Danny Phantom” fan base is awaiting your response.
6. Vlad’s storyline ends on a cliffhanger.
Since I mentioned Vlad’s former adopted daughter, it’s only fitting to mention his character’s undetermined fate next. Vlad was arguably the main villain of the “Danny Phantom” series as he has the closest ties to Danny due to also being half ghost as a result of his former friendship with Danny’s father. Vlad and Danny’s close connection also results from Vlad’s creepy infatuation with Danny’s mother. Vlad is kind of like an extreme and more malicious version of Severus Snape from Harry Potter; like Snape, Vlad lost his true love to a man that he believes is an idiot and the result drove him to become a bitter and resentful man. Vlad differs from Snape, however, in the sense that Vlad goes to any means to attempt to get what he wants, and he demonstrates this through much of the series in his attempts to convince Maddie and Danny to denounce their family and join him as his wife and son. Neither Maddie nor Danny ever take him up on his offer, and Danny becomes Vlad’s archenemy during the second half of the series. You would think that such a creepy and complex character would get a fitting end on the show, but Vlad’s fate is still up in the air since we last see his ghost-form getting hit by an asteroid. As Vlad’s already half-dead from being half ghost, and since he’s last seen talking about how he’ll be fine resigning himself to floating for eternity in space, fans are still unsure if the asteroid killed him or not. The lack of closure to Vlad’s storyline is inexcusable, and we demand a new series that actually explains what on earth happened to him.
7. The diversity of the Rogues Gallery is awesome.
Speaking of Vlad Plasmius, the villains that Danny fought against in each episode of the series were so diverse that they were essentially the kiddie version of Batman’s rogues gallery. From ghost villains that had complex backstories such as Ember McLain and Desiree, to human villains with control issues such as Freakshow and the Guys in White, “Danny Phantom” had a slew of rogues that differed in power, motive, and skill. All wound up hating the ghost-boy at one point or another, however, the ghost-villains in particular are shown to appeal to Danny in the finale, “Phantom Planet,” when they help him save both the human world and the ghost zone from an impending asteroid. The level of depth in the characters of the villains is something you rarely see in kids shows today, which justifies bringing the series back for another run. Plus, you know we all want to see the Box Ghost attempt to be scary at least one more time.
8. The world needs more of Mr. Lancer’s book exclamations.
In my personal opinion, Mr. Lancer’s book exclamations were comedic gold and one of the most amazing things that ever took place in the series. Even as a kid, I knew that Mr. Lancer was saying book titles in place of swears when he was upset in a given moment, and still today those exclamations never fail to crack me up. I’m sure many of us were inspired to read some of the books that he mentioned just because he yelled them on the show. Props to you, “Danny Phantom” writers, for being clever enough to make us learn about literature through humor. Now, shouldn’t that be something that we can all experience again on television?
9. We also need more of the comedy relief that is Jack Fenton.
Can we all take the time to appreciate the absolute hilarity that Danny’s father, Jack, brought to the show? From him testing out his crazy ghost-hunting equipment that never really works to his constant blathering on about ghosts, this dad is a legend of animated kids’ TV and we all know we’d love to see him on Nickelodeon again as the crazy head of the Fenton family.
10. Sam and Danny finally get together in the last five minutes of the series.
Okay, this is something that still really irks me. I totally get that the writers didn’t want Danny and Sam to get together until the last moments in the series for the purpose of continuity, but to only give us five minutes of Sam and Danny as a couple is an absolute tease. At 10 years old, Sam and Danny were my first ever ship and I was begging for them to get together from day one. To give us only five minutes of them being together after watching the series for four years is an outrage, and myself and other “Danny Phantom” fans demand that the show returns to Nickelodeon to give us more of the story on their relationship, or at least another 5 minutes to make the total time on the matter a nice even number.