With 172 episodes produced over the course of nearly 13 years, Rugrats was the longest-running Nicktoon until SpongeBob SquarePants surpassed both benchmarks when it aired its 173rd episode on February 27, 2012.
The thing is, Rugrats was great when I was 4. But I still consistently burst out laughing when watching Spongebob, at least classic Spongebob, now. Its jokes are smarter and the episodes are infinitely re-watchable.
