Saturday Morning Cartoons

As always this has not been proof read.

Saturday morning cartoons were what I lived for. Starting and 7:00 a.m. and ending at noon.  Yes, all five hours of cartoon bliss. Saturday morning was when kids ruled the television because all three channels were broadcasting nothing but programming designed for us.

All the networks had a “New Saturday Morning Line-up Preview Show” which would be shown on a Friday night in late summer or early fall. This was the big night,  It was the kids equivalent of the new model year vehicles being showcased at the local dealerships. Each network promoted the new line-up of shows for weeks in advance and the excitement would build.

You and your friends would make plans for the big event. Would you be spending the night at their house or would they be spending the night at yours? What kind of snacks would be having?  Should we set up our sleeping bags by the TV or what? So many things to plan and so little time.

When the big night finally arrived nothing could move us away from the T.V. for those precious 60 to 90 minutes. After the preview we couldn’t wait for the morning to  arrive so we could see each new show in  entirety. We had it all planned out. From 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 we’ll watch X from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. will watch Y and so on.

You could count on Saturday morning starting with the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour. This was one of the only constants in the Saturday line-up over the years. After that the rest of the Saturday morning cartoon line-up including shows such as the following: The Land of the Lost,  New Flintstones with teenage Pebbles, Bam Bam, and Bad luck Schleprock. Others included: Jabber Jaw, Space Ghost, Hong Kong Phooey, Scooby Doo, Josie and the Pussycats, Superfriends, The Hair Bear Bunch,  and on and on. I look back at the Sid and Marty Kroft shows, H.R. Pufinstuff and Sigmund the Seamonster, and wonder if they were stoned when they created them.

At 11:30 we knew that another Saturday morning was winding down. The last cartoon of the morning was usually a real dude that wouldn’t last the entire season. There was disappointment when the last cartoon was over but we always had next week to look forward too!