TVSquad

Herb Scannell, who served as president of Nickolodeon Networks since 1996, recently announced he would be stepping down. Normally I don't get too excited about executive shifts such as these, but Scannell was responsible for giving Nickelodeon the boost it needed, bringing in such humongously popular shows as SpongeBob SquarePants, Blue's Clues, Rugrats, and Dora the Explorer. Scannell also expanded the Nickelodeon brand by adding a new animation studio, launching networks Noggin and The N, and starting Nickelodeon's feature film division. Cyma Zarghami, who has worked for Nickelodeon for the last twenty years and is repsponsible for bringing in live-action "tween" comedies like Drake and Josh and Unfabulous, will take over for Scannell. Animation expert and insider Jerry Beck, who worked with Scannell at Nickelodeon, has a few kind words to say about the man on his blog.