Invader Zim is a American animated television series created by comic book writer/artist Jhonen Vasquez and aired on Nickelodeon. First broadcast on March 30, 2001 (the same day as The Fairly OddParents), Nickelodeon desired a show aimed at their older viewers. The show never found a time slot that the creators of the program thought suitable and suffered in the ratings.

The show crew requested that Invader Zim be moved to MTV similarly to the way Ren and Stimpy had been, but this never happened. Before two seasons were completed, it was canceled by Nickelodeon, leaving 11 season two episodes and a television movie un-finished. It can currently be seen in reruns on Nicktoons Network, which aired the completed season two in Summer 2006. In Canada, and YTV began airing the series on its Bionix programming block on September 8, 2006.

Invader Zim DVD compilations have been released by Media Blasters. The series has since been translated into several different languages for foreign broadcast.