The Greatest (Animated) Show Ever.

SAMURAI JACK!!! WHOOT!
need I say more?

Batman: The Animated Series.

Futurama and Dragonball Z

Might as well toss in Family Guy. I am well aware most non-americans dislike that show.

Other good ones? Spongebob, Ninja Turtles (the original series, not the new garbage), and where would the world be without the epic fail that be the Zelda Cartoons?

Tough one.

Ren and Stimpy is one of my favorite shows that has ever graced TV. The misadventures of an aggressive no-nonsense Chihuahua named Ren, and his idiot sidekick Stimpy are hilarious, and still can't help but laugh at everything they do. This show was crude, and gross but I loved every moment of this show from cousin Sven, to rubber nipples, Crocko Stimpies, and Magic Nose Goblins!

Unfortunately, John K (the creator) stopped (either left, or was fired--I'm not sure) working on the show after season two, and it does actually show in the last three seasons. I still enjoy those episodes, but they don't live up to seasons one and two.

Wow this is a very very hard choice. There have been some sweet animated shows in my life such as Animaniacs, Freakazoid, and Jackie Chan Adventures. The best ever would have to be the work that makes up the DC Animated Universe which started with Batman TAS and ran through Justice League Unlimited. But since that isn't one show its 7 shows in one continuity I must pick one and I'm going to have to go with Batman Beyond as the greatest animated show ever. But there have been so many good ones that I give a 10/10 to its really a hard choice for me to make.

Originally Posted by Ender

Batman: The Animated Series.

Fact of life.

SAMURAI JACK

Quoted for truth.

Best show ever.

Samurai Jack was a good show, no question, but out of all the shows listed so far, I'm gonna have to go with Batman. It should be relatively self-explanatory.

Batman TAS was an OOT to the cartoon world. It really changed things and shaped the future.

Originally Posted by DK

Unfortunately, John K (the creator) stopped (either left, or was fired--I'm not sure) working on the show after season two, and it does actually show in the last three seasons. I still enjoy those episodes, but they don't live up to seasons one and two.

He was fired. I always say if a creator leaves a show they should just cancel it, since it's normally a death sentence anyway.

Anyway, I'd be loathe not to bring up The Simpsons. It defined pop culture and television families for quite some time in its hayday.

The Batman: The Animated Series has been mentioned and its importance to the children's cartoon world has been established.

If you want to go a little more to the mature audience cartoons, The Boondocks deserves mention as well. Not quite as socially aware and critical as the comic strip, but still very good.

^ Any idea as to why he was fired from his own creation?

Of course, The Simpsons is a given. I've recently been buying the earlier boxsets, and loving the episodes all over again.

The Simpsons isn't nearly as good as it used to be. I don't even tune in that often anymore.

Originally Posted by DK

^ Any idea as to why he was fired from his own creation?

As far as I remember, Kricfalusi said that he was fired because Nickelodeon didn't like the violent tone he took with the show. Animated violence is a pretty big mainstay in kids shows, but Ren and Stimpy did have a rather...bizarre way of portraying it.

I think that a bigger reason was that Kricfalusi was terrible when it came to deadlines. He was (and is) maticulous when it came to putting out a quality product, and I read that he continually missed deadlines because of it. When you're working in television it's all about deadlines, so I think it was more likely he was fired from the project so they wouldn't have him holding it back all the time. He's still a huge stickler for quality, he's blasted Family Guy several times for being poorly made. I'm inclined to agree.