TV Shows We Loved As Kids That Were Actually Really Creepy

Ah, the carefree days of our youth. A time of innocence, naïveté and watching really creepy TV shows. Although we loved them at the time, looking back there was something a little ... off about a lot of them. Below, find our picks for the most disturbing childhood shows ever.

"Rugrats" (1991-2004)

I lived for "Rugrats" when I was a kid. As soon as Tommy would start tumbling around in his diaper during that intro I was so excited that I failed to notice the size of Tommy's head and other creepy aspects of that show. The parents were particularly creepy. Chuckie's dad was so lonely before Chuckie's birth that he talked to a sock puppet, and everything about Angelica's mom was horrifying. Plus, so many of their dream sequences involved clowns, oversized babies and distorted-looking characters. What was going on there, Nickelodeon? -- Leigh Weingus

"Teletubbies" (1997-2001)

Where do I begin? How about that baby's face in the sun, or the vacuum cleaner named Noo-noo, or tubby custard, or the fact that there are TV screens in the bellies of multi-colored, mythological alien-like species? Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po were a cultural phenomenon in the late '90s, and for good reason ... no one knew what the heck was going on in this show. I still don't know, and to be honest, I guess that's a good thing. But hey, it definitely entertained me as a child, considering I owned a Laa-Laa doll. Eh-oh! -- Leigh Blickley

"Hey Arnold" (1996-2004)

“Hey Arnold,” when you get down to it is an animated series that chronicled the life of a fourth grader with a misshapen head living in the ghetto. (Not exactly kid-friendly material.) There were plenty of adult-references and weird things that went on in each episode of the show like Helga, the school bully, who had a disturbing obsession with the football-headed kid. She carried locks of his hair, collected jars of his toenails and even built a shrine to Arnold in her bedroom, which is definitely not normal behavior for a 10-year-old.

There was also an episode that featured Grandpa Phil’s jaw detaching from his head and one where Arnold’s weird cousin and his friends have their “Children of the Corn” moment. Growing up, we probably missed most of the hidden sexual references – believe me, there are plenty -- and decidedly adult themes but I’m pretty sure that “Headless Cabbie” Halloween episode gave all of us nightmares. -- Jessica Toomer

"Cousin Skeeter" (1998-2001)

Seriously though, someone tell me how Cousin Skeeter was a puppet with a normal human family and nobody said a damn word?! The fact that he's a puppet is never mentioned on the show. Not only that, but this inanimate, stuffed ball of puppet material was a reckless ladies man. Yup, a girl-crazy puppet. Only in the '90s. -- Lauren Zupkus