Dexter's Laboratory

Dexter's Laboratory (commonly abbreviated as Dexter's Lab) is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Cartoon Network Studios (also co-produced with Hanna-Barbera from 1996–2001). The show is about a boy named Dexter who has an enormous secret laboratory filled with an endless collection of his inventions. The series premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on April 27, 1996. As of 2006, Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang has also been airing the series.
The series initially debuted on the What A Cartoon! Show as a cartoon short and later became the first of said program to be adapted into its own series. Each 22-minute episode consists of two to three segments (with the exception of the initial series finale). Dexter's Laboratory originally ended in 1998 after 52 episodes, but it was later revived for a TV movie, and, even later, two more seasons featuring a different production team.

The series revolves around Dexter, an eight-year-old genius boy, who has a secret laboratory (which he pronounces with a stress on the second syllable, luh-BOAR-uh-tor-ee) filled with highly advanced equipment hidden behind a bookshelf in his bedroom. Access to this never-ending laboratory is usually achieved by speaking various passwords or by activating hidden switches on his bookcase (such as pulling out a specific book). Dexter is normally in conflict with his ditzy older sister, Dee Dee, who always mysteriously gains access to his lab no matter what he does to try to keep her out. Dee Dee eludes all manner of security and, once inside, delights in playing in the lab, often destroying all of his creations and often by pushing the wrong button(s) on an invention. This is often preceded by Dee Dee asking "Oooooh, what does this button do?", without waiting for an answer. Despite her hyperactive personality, Dee Dee sometimes makes more logical decisions than Dexter, or even gives him helpful advice.

 Dexter, though highly intelligent, often fails at what he has set out to do when he becomes overexcited and makes careless choices. He manages to keep the lab a secret from his clueless, cheerful parents, who amusingly never notice any evidence of the laboratory, even when it was right before their eyes. Despite the fact that almost all of his inventions have highly sophisticated computer and electronic components, the assembly of the devices usually involves tightening a large nut with a wrench and/or pouring green and purple chemical liquids into each other. The final component of most inventions is a hand-held remote control with a large red button and radio antenna.