Nightmare Ned is a short-lived animated television show which ran from April 19, 1997 to August 9, 1997 on ABC as part of their "Animal Brodcasting Company" block. Developed alongside an eponymous video game of the same name developed by Creative Capers Entertainment and Window Painters Ltd.,[3] the show focuses on the life of Ned Needlemeyer (voiced by Courtland Mead), a 10-year-old boy that deals with his daily problems through dark, quirky nightmares. The show ran over budget, and was cancelled after only 12 episodes were produced[4], one episode short behind The Wuzzles, The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show and Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer, making it the shortest Disney Television Animation show with the least amount of episodes.
The show had Donovan Cook as its producer and director. Cook previously created Hanna-Barbera's 2 Stupid Dogs.[5]
Ned Needlemeyer: The show's protagonist. He is a 10-year-old boy who deals with his troubles through his nightmares. Voiced by Courtland Mead.
Ed Needlemeyer: Ned's father. He constantly tries to help Ned with his problems, but this does not occur often. Voiced by Brad Garrett.
Sarah Needlemeyer: Ned's mother. She is the only one in the family who tries to understand Ned's nightmares. Voiced by Victoria Jackson.
Amy Needlemeyer: Ned's baby sister. Voiced by Kath Soucie.
Conrad and Vernon: Two bullies who constantly pick on Ned. They are named after Conrad Vernon, who served as one of the storyboard artists of the show. Conrad is voiced by Jeff Bennett, while Vernon is voiced by Rob Paulsen.
Absolutely no footage of this show existed until 2012 when YouTuber TVSeriespot uploaded the first half of episodes 1 and 5, both halves of episodes 2-9 and 11 and the second half of episodes 6-8. The rest of the show remained lost until 2016 when YouTubers Forest Man, Knordob and Slowpoke 85 uploaded more episodes. Forest Man uploaded episodes 4 and 12, Slowpoke 85 uploaded the second halves of episodes 1 and 7 and Knordob uploaded episode 3, episode 10 and the second half of episode 2. The first minute of "Tooth or Consequences" was lost until YouTuber That Weirdo That Makes Videos uploaded the full episode in December 2020. On August 12th, 2023, a user named NCA62 uploaded the complete series onto the Internet Archive, using the PAL masters.
The show premiered on Courtland Mead's 10th birthday.
The only appearance of this show on Disney Channel was in a 1998 UK bumper.
This show reran in Canada in the 2000s on The Family Network. This is the last time the show was ever seen on television.
