text: Shortly after the premiere of its first season, Dexter's Laboratory was hailed as one of the best new series on Cartoon Network by Ted Cox of the Daily Herald. In the lead up to its second season, Dexter's Laboratory was called the most imaginative series on Cartoon Network by Nancy McAlister of The Florida Times-Union. Although McAlister critiqued the gender stereotyping of Dexter's parents, she acknowledged that she was only applying such scrutiny to the series because Dexter's Laboratory had helped convince her that "viewers should take animated programming seriously".
  In 1997, Bill Ward of the Star Tribune named Dexter's Laboratory to his Critic's Choice list, recommending it for the "young of all ages". In a 2012 top 10 list by Entertainment Weekly, Dexter's Laboratory was ranked as the fourth best Cartoon Network series. In 2009, Dexter's Laboratory was named 72nd best animated series by IGN, whose editors remarked, "Aimed at and immediately accessible to children, Dexter's Laboratory was part of a new generation of animated series that played on two levels, simultaneously fun for both kids and adults." In his 2015 book Animation: A World History Volume III: Contemporary Times, Giannalberto Bendazzi called Dexter's Laboratory "visually and verbally innovative". He considered the series to be a groundbreaking work of pop art, likening its visual style to both street art and the designs of Takashi Murakami.