General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Big Nate (2022 TV series)

Big Nate is an American CG-animated children's television series produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio for Paramount+, based on the best-selling children's books and comic strip written and drawn by author and cartoonist Lincoln Peirce. The series follows Nate Wright, a precocious 11-year-old, and his best friends as they navigate sixth grade at P.S. 38 with humor and style.¹^•³ It premiered on February 17, 2022, exclusively on Paramount+ in the United States and Canada, with releases in Latin America and later that month in Australia.¹

Key fact	Detail
Premiere	February 17, 2022, on Paramount+ (U.S. and Canada; Latin America and Australia the same month)¹
Source material	The Big Nate children's books and comic strip by Lincoln Peirce, who served as consultant throughout development and production²
Production	Nickelodeon Animation Studio; executive producers Mitch Watson and John Cohen; producer Amy McKenna²
Episodes	26 episodes ordered initially; 52 episodes total across seasons 1A-2C, released 2022-2024, in 22-minute slots²^•³
Lead cast	Ben Giroux as Nate Wright, with Dove Cameron, Rob Delaney, Arnie Pantoja, Charlie Schlatter, Daniel MK Cohen, Bryce Charles, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Carolyn Hennesy¹
Rating	TV-Y7; Common Sense Media rates it appropriate for age 8 and up⁴
Availability	Removed from Paramount+ in March 2024 as part of a purge of children's series, without a formal cancellation announcement⁵

Spoilers

Premise and characters

The series centers on Nate Wright, a sixth grader with what Paramount's press materials describe as a never-ending need to prove his awesomeness to the world. Whether dealing with disasters at home or detention at school, Nate expresses himself through the cartoons he creates.¹ The show uses brand-new original storylines rather than adapting specific book plots, a choice Peirce discussed in interviews as part of making a faithful adaptation of the world of the comic strips and books.⁶

The supporting cast mirrors the franchise's familiar figures: Nate's best friends Teddy Ortiz (Arnie Pantoja), Francis Pope (Daniel MK Cohen), and Chad Applewhite (Charlie Schlatter); his seemingly flawless older sister Ellen (Dove Cameron); his well-meaning single father Martin (Rob Delaney); Dee Dee Holloway (Bryce Charles); Principal Nichols (Kevin Michael Richardson); and Mrs. Godfrey (Carolyn Hennesy).¹^•⁷ The first episode, "The Legend of the Gunting," has Nate on the verge of a fifth detention in one week while showing a new student around school.⁸

Production

Nickelodeon greenlit 26 episodes of the series, announced in December 2021 for a 2022 debut.²^•⁹ Peirce had received offers for film or television adaptations soon after the book series began, and John Cohen pitched the property at a time when TV animation practice was shifting; the production ultimately became CG animation rather than the 2D style of the strip.⁶ The Indian studio Xentrix Studios handled modeling, rigging, surfacing, animation, effects, lighting, and compositing for the 52-episode, 22-minute-per-episode run, with Nickelodeon Animation Studio as client.¹⁰ Peirce said Nickelodeon president Ramsey Ann Naito knew the franchise through her own children, and he noted similarities between himself and the trouble-prone title character.⁷

Release and reception

The first eight episodes were available in the U.S. and Canada at launch, with more to follow.¹ Season 2 premiered on July 7, 2023.¹¹ The series received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Casting for an Animated Program and Outstanding Main Title and Graphics, and Annie Award nominations in 2023 for Best Animated Television/Media Production for Children's Audience and Outstanding Achievement for Writing.¹¹ On IMDb it holds a 6.6/10 rating from about 700 users.¹²

Critical and audience response was mixed. A children's-literature review praised the animation, art style, and most character design while criticizing some voice performances, departures from the strip and books, and the show's use of bathroom humor, concluding that the series had a firm grasp on the basics of the source material but a looser grip on its finer details.¹³ Common Sense Media's kid reviewers described the adaptation as a mixed bag, with some appreciating the humor and others feeling it failed to capture the charm of the books.⁴ The series also spawned a print tie-in, Big Nate: Destined for Awesomeness (Andrews McMeel, August 2022), a graphic novel collecting adaptations of early episodes; Kirkus called the volume, essentially a collection of screenshots, redundant.¹⁴

In March 2024, Paramount+ removed Big Nate from its library along with nine other children's series, including the CG-animated Rugrats reboot; neither show had been formally canceled as of the report, and Big Nate had produced two seasons for the service.⁵

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026