i bet they didn’t even notice that nate is actually a really good chess player. it’s a small detail, but it’s one of the only things he’s able to be good at

Nickelodeon's Big Nate really lived up the traditions of "hidden adult jokes in kids cartoons" all thanks to the popularity through memes.

As someone who reads the comics and novels a lot, I can say Nate is very very out of character in the show and yet in-character in other ways. It's rather fascinating to compare the two.

The show doesn't look bad, but as someone who loved reading big nate as a kid I can't see myself getting into the show, but it's something my little brother would like since he's not familiar with big nate

Whenever I see this show, I’m immediately reminded of the Garfield Show (the CGI show, not the original 80s one). The plots are way more extravagant and crazy and the comedy is definitely more in your face and slapsticky rather than the more laid-back, sarcastic style of the comics. Overall, not the worst show, but the people are going to get the most out of it are kids who will grow up watching this and get oddly nostalgic of it 10 years later.

Chester would honestly fit very well in the show, as his violent antics were already over the top. I remember in one comic he stuck Nate's entire body minus his head in a soda bottle

The show did a really good job adapting the characters, but there are clear flaws about the show tho

Finally someone who gets Big Nate. I always related to Nate- which was especially rare with male protagonists because I was a girl-  because I constantly got in trouble for doodling in class and being a total chatterbox. And I was also envious of how real Nate’s friend group seemed. Even as a kid I could grasp the concept of Nate typically over exaggerating Mrs. Godfrey’s “evilness” and Nate’s better qualities like how he would always stick up for his friends. And Nate may have not been entirely studious but he wasn’t god awful at school. He’s a master at chess, and when he able to be artistic with his assignments he tended to do great on them. This show just doesn’t seem to understand how all the characters relationships mesh together.

4:01 Hell nah he predicted 2026 💀

How do you mess up Principal Nicolas? He's one of the most chill adults at the school. He only gets mad at Nate when absolutely necessary.

Watching this makes me realize how really well written Big Nate was

“Bad adaptation, good show.”
You know, there’s another animated show that can be described like this: Wayside.

Edit: Well, this comment sure aged well.

As someone who became a fan of the strips (not really the novels I only have a few), I gotta say it’s easier to take in the show if you treat it as like an alternate timeline/ universe, I still enjoy the show and I very much like the moments where in the background shots there’s moments of the trio just being stupid and hanging out but if you compare it to the actual strips/novel versions it’s pretty infuriating how the show interpreted the characters. I actually had more of a problem with DeeDee, she’s is a theater kid who is very passionate in acting and her arts, yes, but the way the show portrayed her is that she is capable of doing EVERYTHING that comes her way and that’s not it. Students and teachers cant tolerate her because she’s way too into acting and is over dramatic when she doesn’t need to be. She’s like the emotional standpoint of problems, but the way the show made her is that she is just good at everything and is more capable than the trio.

I also really despise the way they went about writing Francis, Francis has nerdy traits but he is not the stereotypical nerd in the strips or novels, he can catch up to Nate and Teddy and isn’t physically incapable or weak, he literally partakes sports alongside Teddy and Nate to show this. The reason why I like Francis so much as a character because he managed to break the nerd stereotype but still keep it? Yes, he keeps this trivia book wherever he goes, knows the most useless information just because he thinks it’s fun learning it, and is just more logical/academically smart. But he literally joins in on banter and shows a more snarky/sarcastic side where he isn’t afraid to put his input in situations Nate comes up with. The trio is the literal definition of a friend group that consists of stupid middle school boys, and that’s how they’re supposed to be and Peirce did such a good job at showing that? To see Francis’ character butchered to pieces like this and see him fall into the “I’m scared of everything and I get nauseous at things that make me nervous” was such a disappointment to see.

But other than characters falling into tropes and feeling out of character the show is generally funny and I’m glad that Peirce is able to have some input into the show’s writing as well that’s fun to see

The only negative to the animation is the eyes. Unless they are wearing glasses, it looks really off for how the characters have googly eyes, and I prefer the plain pupils of the original.

Big Nate was probably the best "middle school" type book series from when I was growing up - even as a little kid I remember seeing that big Nate was quite a few steps above literally everything else I could get my hands on to read and I'm glad somebody has finally gone more in depth on why the novels were so great. With that said - I don't care how funny and witty the show is, or how well it executes It's animation or "new" personalities - It's still an adaptation. I'm so tired of people wanting to write their own stories and characters using pre-existing stuff, instead of making a new IP - they have to morph an old one into their own personal vision. Just make your own show - instead of changing virtually every character to fit your needs. It's an ADAPTATION, so write it like one instead of changing everything because you couldn't afford to pitch your own original show with all of your own characters. Great vid by the way, very on point :)

The fucking “OW MY STERNUM” made me fucking die laughing the first time I heard it, the voice actor actually killed it with that

The Big Nate novels are some of the best storytelling and heartwarming I've seen in a kids' novel.

About the plot where Nate became a writer: there was a plot in the comics where he wanted to write a romance novel because he heard they make a lot of money. It could have been a good reference

Nate in the TV Show is actually more faithful to the comics, where he was more of an absent-minded idiot and an active nuisance.

The novel books actually made Nate much more chill. In the novels, he is the straight-man who makes jokes at other's expense rather than the idiot. And he is more unlucky rather than an active troublemaker.

I really liked big nate as a kid, moreso than diary of a wimpy kid. I think it was my first time experiencing and understanding complex characters. Nate was somewhat of a trouble maker and wasn't always great in school, but i will forever remember the scene where nate gathered all his friends to defend chad from getting bullied, or when deedee started out as the annoying drama girl and ended up being a good friend to nate. Having a character being bad at one thing and good at another blew my little 10-year-old mind. Love the series and love this video!