35 Best Cartoon Network Shows of All Time

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Cartoon Network basically raised me. Through the 90s and 2000s it churned out some of the most creative, weird, and rewatchable animation on television, and a lot of it still holds up better than what airs now. This is my running list of the best Cartoon Network shows, the heavy-hitters, the cult favorites, and a few underrated gems, with creator stories and hidden details most “best of” lists skip right past.

A bit of context first. The channel found its feet in the 90s with classics like Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls, then hit a real golden age in the 2000s. If you want to revisit any of these, the Cartoon Network YouTube channel still has clips from most of them.

The Best Cartoon Network Shows I Grew Up On

I have mixed the obvious greats with shows people forget existed. Where I can, I have dropped in a “did you know” worth knowing, because half the fun of these shows is the talent and history hiding behind them.

Evil Con Carne (2003–2004)

An “okay” show that I have a soft spot for. The animation is simple and the jokes do not always land, but it has a goofy charm that wins me over.

  • The villain is Hector Con Carne, reduced to just a brain and a stomach mounted on a muscular robot bear named Boskov
  • It gleefully parodies every supervillain cliche going
  • It started out paired with Billy and Mandy in a block called Grim & Evil

Space Ghost: Coast to Coast

A surreal animated late-night talk show that took a forgotten 1960s Hanna-Barbera hero and made him a host who interviewed real celebrities.

  • Guests ranged from Conan O’Brien and Weird Al to William Shatner and Jim Carrey
  • The humor comes from the awkward, stilted, deliberately broken interviews
  • It feels like nothing else the channel was making at the time
Did you know? Space Ghost Coast to Coast was Cartoon Network’s very first original production, launching in 1994. Its absurd, low-budget, late-night sensibility basically became the blueprint for Adult Swim, which the same team would go on to launch years later.

Megas XLR (2004–2005)

As a teenager obsessed with space and giant robots, this one hit me right in the sweet spot. A slacker gearhead named Coop pilots a massive mech and mostly causes chaos.

  • An affectionate, loud love letter to mecha anime and arcade culture
  • The action is over the top in the best possible way
  • Coop fights aliens while caring far more about his car and snacks
The robot’s secret: Megas has a beat-up muscle car welded right onto its head, because Coop found the giant mech and “customized” it himself. The whole series grew out of a short film the creators entered into a Cartoon Network contest.

Mike, Lu & Og (1999–2001)

 

A show I caught on Boomerang that quietly climbed into my favorites. A city girl gets stranded on a remote island with two very different local kids.

  • Mike is the standout, mostly thanks to her tomboy energy
  • She is voiced by Nika Futterman, who also voiced a string of memorable characters like Luna Loud and Sticks the Badger
  • A solid, easygoing 7 out of 10 for me

Camp Lazlo! (2005–2008)

A summer-camp comedy about a relentlessly upbeat monkey and his bunkmates. It threads the needle of being fun for kids and adults alike.

  • Sharp, fast humor in the spirit of Billy and Mandy
  • A bright, bouncy art style that is instantly recognizable
  • Tom Kenny features in the voice cast
Creator pedigree: Camp Lazlo came from Joe Murray, the same mind behind Nickelodeon’s Rocko’s Modern Life. And the cheerful Lazlo himself is voiced by Tom Kenny, who you know far better as the voice of SpongeBob.

My Gym Partner’s a Monkey (2005–2008)

I adore this one. The premise alone sells it: a boy named Adam Lyon gets enrolled in an all-animal school because a clerk misreads “Lyon” as “Lion.”

  • Every animal classmate is a riff on a familiar school archetype
  • The voice acting nails the personalities of each creature
  • Inventive twists on classic school-day situations
  • Wild animal antics that keep it unpredictable

The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (2008–2010)

A gross, gorgeous, slightly unhinged show about a naive boy, a talking whale named Bubbie, and a washed-up pirate chasing an island made of candy. It is one of the most quietly important shows on this whole list.

  • A grimy, expressive art style unlike anything else on the channel
  • Humor that swings from sweet to genuinely strange
  • Stormalong Harbor is one of the great cartoon settings
The hidden talent factory: Flapjack’s storyboard room may be the most important in modern cartoons. Crew members went on to create Adventure Time (Pendleton Ward), Regular Show (J.G. Quintel), Gravity Falls (Alex Hirsch), and Over the Garden Wall (Patrick McHale). One more bit: Paul Reubens of Pee-wee fame was first cast to voice Flapjack, but never turned up to record, so the creator voiced him instead.

Justice League (2001-2004)

I was barely ten when this aired, and it has only grown on me since. Part of the celebrated DC Animated Universe, it took superheroes seriously without losing the fun.

  • Tackles weighty themes like grief, faith, war, and morality head on
  • Balances those ideas with genuinely thrilling action
  • It led directly into the equally great Justice League Unlimited

Teen Titans Go! (2013–Present)

A divisive one, but the jokes land for me and my family more often than not. We quote it constantly.

  • Rapid-fire gags pitched at both kids and parents
  • Hundreds of episodes, yet each stays distinct and silly
  • The characters are lovable in a totally different way from the original
Did you know? Teen Titans Go is a comedy spin-off of the more serious 2003 Teen Titans, and it brought back the original main voice cast. The characters literally sound the same as before, just a lot goofier.

We Bare Bears (2014–2019)

A warm, modern charmer about three bear brothers trying to fit into the human world. It started as creator Daniel Chong’s webcomic before becoming a series.

  • Grizzly, Panda, and the silent scene-stealer Ice Bear
  • Set in a very online San Francisco Bay Area
  • Voiced by Eric Edelstein, Bobby Moynihan, and Demetri Martin
  • Heartfelt without ever getting saccharine

2 Stupid Dogs

2 Stupid Dogs still makes me laugh with its fast, dumb, perfectly timed humor. My only complaint is how little of it exists.

  • A big and little dog stumbling through simple, hilarious situations
  • It carried a “Secret Squirrel” segment alongside the main show
  • What little was made holds up as a timeless classic

Uncle Grandpa (2013–2017)

Peter Browngardt’s gleefully random series about a magical man who is everyone’s uncle and grandpa at once. It is chaos, and that is the point.

  • Surreal, anything-goes storytelling with a talking tiger rug
  • Pure sugar-rush energy in every episode
  • An acquired taste that fans defend fiercely
A spin-off of a spin-off: Uncle Grandpa started as a one-off short in Cartoon Network’s Cartoonstitute program, then became a character on Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, and only after that earned his own series.

The Looney Tunes Show

Often described as the Looney Tunes version of Seinfeld, and that is exactly its charm. Warner Bros. Animation reimagined Bugs and Daffy as modern roommates.

  • A sitcom-style take on characters built for chaotic shorts
  • Witty, character-driven writing across two seasons
  • Canceled too soon, in my opinion

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends

An undeniable classic and one I hold close. The concept, a home where imaginary friends live once kids outgrow them, is pure magic.

  • An endlessly creative cast of impossible characters
  • Warm, funny, and surprisingly poignant
  • A bright, clean visual style all its own
A studio first: Foster’s was Cartoon Network Studios’ first series animated mainly in Flash, and the animation itself was handled overseas by Boulder Media in Dublin, Ireland. It was also created by Craig McCracken, fresh off The Powerpuff Girls.

Samurai Jack

For my money, the single most beautiful thing Cartoon Network ever produced. A demon named Aku flings a samurai into a dark future, and the journey home is breathtaking.

  • Cinematic, near-wordless storytelling that trusts the visuals
  • Gorgeous, painterly backgrounds you could frame
  • Action choreography that still sets the bar
The 13-year cliffhanger: the original run ended in 2004 without Jack ever beating Aku, leaving fans hanging for over a decade. The story finally got its ending in a darker, more adult final season on Adult Swim in 2017. Aku’s original voice, Mako, had passed away in 2006, so Greg Baldwin stepped in to recreate the role.

Total Drama

A Canadian gem that turned reality-TV competition into cartoon gold. It is a full-on parody of shows like Survivor, complete with confessional interviews.

  • A big, memorable cast you grow weirdly attached to
  • Genuinely funny challenges and eliminations
  • A cult classic that keeps pulling in new fans

Codename: Kids Next Door

A childhood favorite that came out of a viewer-voted pilot showcase. Five kids with number codenames run missions for a global, treehouse-based spy agency.

  • Numbuhs 1 through 5 make up the core team, Sector V
  • Every plot pits kids against the tyranny of adulthood
  • Fun fact worth noting: every single episode title is styled as “Operation:” followed by a four-letter acronym

Chowder

My daughter loves Chowder even more than I do, which is saying something given my soft spot for classic CN. The food-world setting is bursting with imagination.

  • A young apprentice in a chaotic magical kitchen
  • Fluid, inventive animation that earns real admiration
  • Lively voice work that makes every character pop
A hidden detail: look closely and the patterns on the characters’ clothes, the dots, plaids, and stripes, are animated separately and keep shifting around on their own. The show also loved mixing in puppets and stop-motion gags.

I Am Weasel

When I first saw Cow and Chicken I noticed the style instantly, and sure enough the same mind made this one. The Weasel and the hapless Baboon are a perfect comedic pairing.

  • It actually began as a segment within Cow and Chicken before going solo
  • That deceptively “simple” look hides clever writing
  • A standout among late-90s cartoons, not filler

Over the Garden Wall

A genuine masterpiece, top to bottom. Built from a short film developed through Cartoon Network Studios‘ shorts program, it follows two brothers lost in a strange autumn forest.

  • A haunting, beautiful atmosphere unlike anything else here
  • Memorable characters, a creeping mystery, and a real villain in the Beast
  • A score that sounds straight out of an old phonograph
A real milestone: this was the first miniseries Cartoon Network ever made, just ten episodes aired over five nights in 2014. It won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program, and yes, that is Elijah Wood, Frodo himself, voicing Wirt.

Regular Show

A blue jay and a raccoon doing mundane park jobs that constantly spiral into cosmic madness. Creator J.G. Quintel pulled Mordecai and Rigby straight from his CalArts student films.

  • An 80s-soaked sense of humor and a killer soundtrack vibe
  • Small chores that escalate into reality-bending stakes
  • Quintel himself voices Mordecai

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Cartoon Network’s kid-friendly horror, and it absolutely nails the tone. The Grim Reaper, bound to serve two kids after losing a bet, is comedy perfection.

  • Dark humor balanced with genuine childlike fun
  • Mandy may be the most terrifyingly deadpan character in cartoons
  • Endlessly quotable across all ages
Did you know? Billy and Mandy began life as one half of a show called Grim & Evil, sharing the half-hour with Evil Con Carne up near the top of this list. Both came from creator Maxwell Atoms.

Ben 10

A kid finds a watch that turns him into ten different aliens, and a franchise was born. That first season still shines brightest for me, and that theme tune is permanently stuck in my head.

  • A diverse, inventive roster of alien forms to play with
  • Fun for kids, with enough PG-rated edge to keep parents watching too
  • Strong characters anchoring the road-trip adventure
Behind the name: Ben 10 was not created by a single person but by Man of Action, a studio collective of four comic-book writers. The same group later helped shape Marvel’s animated universe.

Clarence (2014–2018)

A gentle, warm-hearted show about an optimistic kid and his two best friends. I love how grounded and real the characters’ home lives feel.

  • Honest about the messy, absurd choices little kids make
  • A diverse cast from genuinely different backgrounds
  • Goofy fun that lands best for the slightly older kid crowd

Ed, Edd n Eddy

Three boys scheming for quarters to buy jawbreakers, and somehow that is endlessly watchable. This was one of the channel’s longest-running originals for good reason.

  • Eddy’s doomed get-rich-quick plots drive every episode
  • The cul-de-sac kids form a perfect ensemble
  • Worth noticing: the wobbling, shimmering outlines are a deliberate homage to classic 1940s and 50s cartoons

Cow and Chicken

David Feiss’s wonderfully strange show about a cow and a chicken who are, somehow, brother and sister. It always stood out to me from the late-90s pack.

  • Bizarre, rubber-limbed humor with a devilish recurring “Red Guy”
  • It debuted alongside the I Am Weasel shorts
  • Part of a legendary stretch when CN aired Dexter’s, Cow and Chicken, and Johnny Bravo back to back
The gag you might have missed: Cow and Chicken’s mom and dad are only ever shown from the waist down. For the entire series, you see their legs and nothing above. As a bonus, a young Seth MacFarlane wrote several early episodes before Family Guy.

The Tom and Jerry Show

A modern, Flash-animated revival of the eternal cat-and-mouse feud. It carries the Hanna and Barbera legacy to a new generation of kids.

  • The classic chase formula, refreshed for today
  • Produced by Warner Bros. with Renegade Animation
  • A comfortable, familiar watch for longtime Tom and Jerry fans

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated

Compared to the straightforward 70s series, this one goes somewhere genuinely ambitious. The gang are back, but the town of Crystal Cove hides far more than usual.

  • Real character depth beneath the monster-of-the-week setup
  • A creeping sense that something bigger is going on
  • The smartest, most rewarding version of the formula
Why fans love this one: unlike every other Scooby-Doo, Mystery Incorporated ran a single dark, serialized mystery across its entire run, with real continuity and a town full of secrets. Many fans call it the best Scooby series for exactly that reason.

The Amazing World of Gumball (2011–2019)

Ben Bocquelet’s wildly inventive show about a blue cat and his fish brother surviving suburban Elmore. The humor is sharp and every character, villains included, gets a laugh.

  • Nicole Waterson is my favorite, all sheer tenacity
  • A cast of clashing art styles that somehow works
  • Genuinely funny for kids and adults at once
A hidden-feature treat: the world of Elmore is built from real photographs, with the hand-drawn and CGI characters layered on top of actual photographed backgrounds. Even better, many side characters were recycled from reject designs the creator had made for old commercials.

Steven Universe (2013–2019)

A modern-day masterpiece, full stop. A boy raised by alien gem warriors slowly learns who he is, and the show grows up alongside him.

  • Impeccable characters and a soundtrack I still revisit
  • Deep, serialized themes of love, identity, and family
  • It feels like Cartoon Network rediscovering its golden-age magic
A real first: Steven Universe was the first Cartoon Network series created solely by a woman, Rebecca Sugar, who had come up writing, storyboarding, and composing songs on Adventure Time.

Adventure Time

I found Adventure Time as a single short on YouTube years before it was a series, and my love for it has only deepened. Pendleton Ward’s tale of Finn and Jake is the rare show that gets richer the longer you watch.

  • Goofy and random on the surface, secretly heartbreaking underneath
  • The Land of Ooo is a post-apocalyptic Earth hiding deep lore
  • It started as a viral short, and Nickelodeon actually passed on it first

The Powerpuff Girls

Always near the very top of my CN list, right alongside Dexter’s. My siblings and I watched these three sugar-and-spice superheroes daily.

  • Three pint-sized sisters saving Townsville before bedtime
  • A perfect blend of cuteness and chaos
  • Tara Strong, E.G. Daily, and Cathy Cavadini bring the girls to life
The origin you didn’t expect: Craig McCracken’s CalArts student short was called Whoopass Stew, and the girls were “The Whoopass Girls.” When Cartoon Network picked it up, they made him swap the name. That same shorts showcase also launched the pilots that became Dexter’s Laboratory and Johnny Bravo, all from CalArts classmates.

Dexter’s Laboratory

Pure nostalgia for me. A boy genius with a secret lab, an accent no one can place, and an older sister determined to wreck everything.

  • Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, who later made Samurai Jack
  • The Dee Dee dynamic powers most of the comedy
  • Beloved side segments like Dial M for Monkey and the Justice Friends

Johnny Bravo

The beefcake who fancies himself the world’s most desirable man, only to get rejected at every turn, never fails to crack me up. He is one of the channel’s foundational 90s “cartoon cartoons.”

  • That Elvis-styled strut and endless self-confidence
  • Snappy slapstick built around one perfect running joke
  • Created by Van Partible from a CalArts short
Did you know? A young Seth MacFarlane, years before Family Guy, worked here as a writer and storyboard artist. He has said he developed his own comedic style on Johnny Bravo more than on any other show from that era.

Courage the Cowardly Dog

Top-notch animation, bizarre plots, and a nervous little dog facing down pure nightmare fuel. It still holds up as one of the strangest, most memorable things CN ever aired.

  • Supernatural, anything-goes episodes packed with eerie creatures
  • From alien ducks to creepy barbers, nothing is off the table
  • A horror-comedy that rivals anything in its era
Where it came from: Courage grew out of a short called The Chicken from Outer Space, which was nominated for an Academy Award. The show’s relentless dread, set in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas, is exactly why so many of us never forgot it.

One thread worth pulling on once you have scrolled this far: an enormous share of these shows trace back to the same small circle of artists. The California Institute of the Arts sent Craig McCracken, Genndy Tartakovsky, and Van Partible into the same shorts showcase, and years later the storyboard room of Flapjack launched Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gravity Falls, and Over the Garden Wall. The best Cartoon Network shows were not lightning striking at random; they were a tight community handing the torch down the line.

That is my list of the best Cartoon Network shows, the legends and the deep cuts alike. Which one defined your childhood, and which underrated pick do you think I left off? Tell me in the comments.