The original *Rugrats* series ended in 2004.
Nickelodeon’s original run concluded when the final episode aired on August 1, 2004. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, so its broadcast history stretched across 13 years, even though production paused during the mid-1990s.
That pause can cause confusion about the end date. The first production period ended after the early seasons, and the last episodes from that initial batch aired in 1994. New production resumed in 1996 with a different writing staff, leading to later seasons and the show’s eventual conclusion in 2004.
By the finale, *Rugrats* had produced 172 episodes across nine seasons. The franchise did not disappear immediately: the sequel series *All Grown Up!* continued the characters’ stories from 2003 to 2008, while direct-to-video *Rugrats: Tales from the Crib* specials appeared in 2005 and 2006. Those later releases are separate from the original series’ 2004 ending.