Both programs feature young adolescents. Both are aimed at the same children's demographic. But the heroes and heroines of Clarissa Explains It All and Victorious are quite different. In Clarissa, which is nearly always set in the title character's house, Clarissa's juggling part-time jobs, longing for a driver's license, or dealing with an annoying sibling, not to mention her mom's tofu-based health parfaits. In short, it's a show about a kid being a kid.

Two decades later, some of Nick's most popular shows paint their kid protagonists with a very different brush. On kid's cable in general, the children play characters who are famous, are seeking some level of fame, strive to be associated with famous people, or are dealing with the hassles of being famous. (Things get especially crazy when one child star starts dating another. See, awkward first loves! They're just regular kids, everyone, really!)

This fame fixation didn't exist back on '90s Nick. Salute Your Shorts followed a rag-tag group of pre-teens at sleepaway camp. Kenan & Kel focused on best friends who were always falling for girls or get-rich-quick schemes. And Hey Dude was about some high schoolers holding summer jobs as ranch hands. Animated series like Doug, Hey Arnold! and later As Told by Ginger were "day-in-the-life" vignettes of average everykids, navigating bullies and embarrassing family members while getting into misadventures with the neighborhood crew. Offbeat shows like The Adventures of Pete & Pete captured the wonder and weirdness of childhood. In one episode, younger Pete goes to the beach to beat up the ocean. It's his older brother Pete's way of knowing the summer's definitely over, and says Little Pete is "not crazy. Just angry—angry that the summer has to end."

The first shot of the opening credits in Victorious? A convertible, top down, cruising down the streets of L.A. The camera zooms in on Tori in the passenger seat (who's definitely ready for her close-up), earbuds in, looking around dreamily at the palm tree-lined landscape. It cuts to various windswept shots of her on stage or on a rooftop, singing into a mic, "You don't have to be afraid to put your dream in action / You're never gonna fade, you'll be the main attraction." A fairly accurate mantra for a good chunk of children's cable programming today. Just look at another of Nick's current hits, iCarly—one of Nickelodeon's flagship titles for the 2000s, entering season six. It's about a tween weblebrity and her insanely popular Internet show. There's also Big Time Rush, a comedy in which four teenage hockey players suddenly become the nation's hot new boy band. Its premiere in 2010 was Nick's highest-rated live-action debut ever. Last year, True Jackson, VP wrapped, in which a teen girl worked as vice president at an haute New York fashion house. Most recently, the new How to Rock sees shunned ex-mean girl Kacey join a rock band that rivals the in-crowd's own musical group. In one episode, Kacey's band attempts to achieve the same level of viral-video fame as the populars, who went on to launch a clothing line. High school—what a drag!