http://www.npr.org/2014/09/29/352538416/thats-all-folks-saturday-morning-cartoons-bid-farewell
So the last network to air Saturday morning cartoons - the CW - has ended damn and to think a decade ago I was watching kidswb, the foxbox, abc Saturdays etc...

Wow. That's a shame. I loved Saturday morning cartoons and now they are no longer here. Why do they have to disappear? Even though we still have Nickelodeon, cartoon network, and Disney channel, two of them barely air cartoons on their channel. I wish we still had more cartoons on a lot of channels. Unfortunately, that won't happen anymore.

Why do they have to disappear?


Because we are living in 2014. Linear TV is old-fashioned and video-on-demand is what people tend to prefer today. Nobody needs a fixed schedule for TV shows anymore.

Wow. That's a shame. I loved Saturday morning cartoons and now they are no longer here. Why do they have to disappear? Even though we still have Nickelodeon, cartoon network, and Disney channel, two of them barely air cartoons on their channel. I wish we still had more cartoons on a lot of channels. Unfortunately, that won't happen anymore.


I remember back in the 80's Saturday Morning Cartoons is what I watched every weekend.

I remember back in the 80's Saturday Morning Cartoons is what I watched every weekend.


So did I, and there were also the after school cartoons.

Bye Bye childhood!  :\'(  :\'(

Because we are living in 2014. Linear TV is old-fashioned and video-on-demand is what people tend to prefer today. Nobody needs a fixed schedule for TV shows anymore.
I can understand that. however, not all shows are on VOD. For example, todays programs are on VOD, Netflix, YouTube, Cox OnDemand and Hulu. On the contrary, if you wanted to watch 70s, 80s, 90s or even 2000s TV shows again, you wont be able to find most of them, especially ones you might like. There are channels that do re-run old shows. The only problem is they mostly run at a certain time. For instance, Fresh Prince comes on TBS. however, it only comes on the morning. Another example, if you wanted to watch 90s nicktoons again, you would have to download them or watch the 90s are all that block.


I remember back in the 80's Saturday Morning Cartoons is what I watched every weekend.
So did I. Except for me, I watched them in the 90s and 2000s.

wow.... I remember my dad, brother and I would get up early on Saturday morning to catch the bugs bunny and tweetie show... shame its all going away

I can understand that. however, not all shows are on VOD. For example, todays programs are on VOD, Netflix, YouTube, Cox OnDemand and Hulu. On the contrary, if you wanted to watch 70s, 80s, 90s or even 2000s TV shows again, you wont be able to find most of them, especially ones you might like.


I think you can find most things on-line or you just buy the DVD or blu-ray disk. At least that's how my 7-year-old nephew watches cartoons and stuff today. I don't think he follows a strict TV schedule like I did as a kid. It's just not necessary anymore.

To me, I divide the Saturday Morning Cartoon eras into the following:

Stone Age: 1950s-early 1960s The major networks hadn't yet supplied a block, but in addition to repackaged theatrical shorts airing on local stations such as Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, and Disney (often with the generic word "Cartoons" on the TV Guide), often not just on Saturday morning along with early for-TV shows such as Captain Video, Howdy Doody, Captain Kangaroo, and later Rocky & Bullwinkle and Yogi Bear. It was a very experimental time for television, so it honestly depended on the market you were in.

Golden Age: c. 1964-1970 By the mid-1960s, the three major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC) all have a dedicated programming block toward children on Saturday Morning. Lots of different series come and go: The Beatles, George of the Jungle, Johnny Quest, Batman, Underdog, The New Adventures of Superman, Mighty Mouse, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You, The Archie Show, and The Banana Splits. There were also repackaging of other shows originally aired in syndication or primetime, such as The Jetsons, The Alvin Show, and Top Cat.

Dork Age: 1971-1980 Unfortunately, the 1970s led less in the way of good new cartoons, with all of those Scooby-Doo knockoffs and a temporary shift toward more live-action programming. Many veteran franchises come across lackluster productions, such as The All-New Popeye Hour, The New Adventures of Batman, Yogi's Space Race, and The New Tom & Jerry/Grape Show. But Scooby-Doo copycats? Well, Goober and the Ghost Chasers and The Amazing Chan and the Clan-Clan are the worst of 'em all. There are still a few good shows out there, such as Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Scooby-Doo continued to be great, at least until Scrappy showed up in 1979. Lots of shows are pleasantly corny though with some good humor/writing, making many '70s toons "illustrated radio". ABC's Schoolhouse Rock shorts add an educational component.

Silver Age: 1981-1990 The 1980s was the "toy infomercial" decade that lead to a surge in toy sales. However, that effect was more generally felt in syndication as opposed to Saturday morning. It is a mix of good and bad, with some shows subject to poor animation and others due to bad writing. Good shows include Muppet Babies, Garfield & Friends, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, The Karate Kid, Kidd Video, Fraggle Rock, Captain N and the Game Master, and The Real Ghostbusters. But there were many bad shows such as an animated adaption of Punky Brewster, Shirt Tales, Gilligan's Planet, Pryor's Place, Popeye and Son, The Flinstone Kids, and My Pet Monster. This era begins with The Smurfs in 1981, bringing a renewed popularity for a variety of new shows, and ends with the FCC's E/I Mandate in 1990 brought this era to an end.

Bronze Age: 1991-2002 While the shift toward more educational programming was quite a blow that resulted in a gradual decline in offerings on the traditional "Big 3" networks, new networks such as FOX and the WB provided many '90s kids something else to enjoy. NBC was the first to abandon traditional Saturday Morning in 1992, while many CBS affiliates pre-empted due to E/I regulations in favor of local programming. You can't deny FOX Kids and Kids WB though, even as competition from syndication and cable continues to eat the share. This era ends in 2002 when ABC's One Saturday Morning becomes ABC Kids and Fox Kids becomes FoxBox, and IMO this is the last time that Saturday Morning was truly a relevant source, given that early Internet didn't have streaming video and on-demand wasn't yet widely available. A primary source of '90s childhood nostalgia, and its a shame since it was popular to watch a Nicktoon on Sunday, a weekday morning airing of Animaniacs on Monday, a Disney Afternoon show on Tuesday, a Cartoon Network original on Wednesday, and of course many SatAM shows on Saturday; there was just so much variety out there as it was a wonderful time to be a kid. Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Tiny Toon Adventures, Sonic the Hedgehog, Taz-Mania, X-Men, Pokemon, Digimon, Sabrina the Animated Series, Transformers: Beast Machines, and more.

Copper/Waning Age: 2002-2009 Most of the 2000s was a transitional time as by then, with NBC bringing toons back but in a smaller schedule and appealing to preschoolers, and CBS soon went in that direction, though it did produce a Care Bears revival. ABC gradually phases out cartoons in favor of live action (That's So Raven, Hannah Montana) and the CW provides one last gasp for hope with some good new shows, and FoxBox becomes 4kids TV (the 2003 Ninja Turtles, Sonic X, and Yu-Gi-Oh are '00s touchstones). CG animation gradually becomes more prevalent. But ratings are getting low as cable and later DVRing arrives, and the quality isn't as good as it was during the Bronze Age.

Dying Age: 2009-2014: Unfortunately, new avenues of distribution has made Saturday Morning a mere shadow of itself, with many proclaming the programming block "dead". Yes, a few shows still exist on Saturday morning for mainly preschoolers, but infomercials, news, and other local programming dominate the airwaves nowadays.

So did I, and there were also the after school cartoons.


I remember those times.

wow.... I remember my dad, brother and I would get up early on Saturday morning to catch the bugs bunny and tweetie show... shame its all going away


There's DVD or you can watch them on YouTube.

I always saw the 80s as the peak of Saturday Morning Cartoons.

To me, I divide the Saturday Morning Cartoon eras into the following:

Stone Age: 1950s-early 1960s The major networks hadn't yet supplied a block, but in addition to repackaged theatrical shorts airing on local stations such as Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, and Disney (often with the generic word "Cartoons" on the TV Guide), often not just on Saturday morning along with early for-TV shows such as Captain Video, Howdy Doody, Captain Kangaroo, and later Rocky & Bullwinkle and Yogi Bear. It was a very experimental time for television, so it honestly depended on the market you were in.

Golden Age: c. 1964-1970 By the mid-1960s, the three major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC) all have a dedicated programming block toward children on Saturday Morning. Lots of different series come and go: The Beatles, George of the Jungle, Johnny Quest, Batman, Underdog, The New Adventures of Superman, Mighty Mouse, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You, The Archie Show, and The Banana Splits. There were also repackaging of other shows originally aired in syndication or primetime, such as The Jetsons, The Alvin Show, and Top Cat.

Dork Age: 1971-1980 Unfortunately, the 1970s led less in the way of good new cartoons, with all of those Scooby-Doo knockoffs and a temporary shift toward more live-action programming. Many veteran franchises come across lackluster productions, such as The All-New Popeye Hour, The New Adventures of Batman, Yogi's Space Race, and The New Tom & Jerry/Grape Show. But Scooby-Doo copycats? Well, Goober and the Ghost Chasers and The Amazing Chan and the Clan-Clan are the worst of 'em all. There are still a few good shows out there, such as Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Scooby-Doo continued to be great, at least until Scrappy showed up in 1979. Lots of shows are pleasantly corny though with some good humor/writing, making many '70s toons "illustrated radio". ABC's Schoolhouse Rock shorts add an educational component.

Silver Age: 1981-1990 The 1980s was the "toy infomercial" decade that lead to a surge in toy sales. However, that effect was more generally felt in syndication as opposed to Saturday morning. It is a mix of good and bad, with some shows subject to poor animation and others due to bad writing. Good shows include Muppet Babies, Garfield & Friends, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, The Karate Kid, Kidd Video, Fraggle Rock, Captain N and the Game Master, and The Real Ghostbusters. But there were many bad shows such as an animated adaption of Punky Brewster, Shirt Tales, Gilligan's Planet, Pryor's Place, Popeye and Son, The Flinstone Kids, and My Pet Monster. This era begins with The Smurfs in 1981, bringing a renewed popularity for a variety of new shows, and ends with the FCC's E/I Mandate in 1990 brought this era to an end.

Bronze Age: 1991-2002 While the shift toward more educational programming was quite a blow that resulted in a gradual decline in offerings on the traditional "Big 3" networks, new networks such as FOX and the WB provided many '90s kids something else to enjoy. NBC was the first to abandon traditional Saturday Morning in 1992, while many CBS affiliates pre-empted due to E/I regulations in favor of local programming. You can't deny FOX Kids and Kids WB though, even as competition from syndication and cable continues to eat the share. This era ends in 2002 when ABC's One Saturday Morning becomes ABC Kids and Fox Kids becomes FoxBox, and IMO this is the last time that Saturday Morning was truly a relevant source, given that early Internet didn't have streaming video and on-demand wasn't yet widely available. A primary source of '90s childhood nostalgia, and its a shame since it was popular to watch a Nicktoon on Sunday, a weekday morning airing of Animaniacs on Monday, a Disney Afternoon show on Tuesday, a Cartoon Network original on Wednesday, and of course many SatAM shows on Saturday; there was just so much variety out there as it was a wonderful time to be a kid. Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Tiny Toon Adventures, Sonic the Hedgehog, Taz-Mania, X-Men, Pokemon, Digimon, Sabrina the Animated Series, Transformers: Beast Machines, and more.

Copper/Waning Age: 2002-2009 Most of the 2000s was a transitional time as by then, with NBC bringing toons back but in a smaller schedule and appealing to preschoolers, and CBS soon went in that direction, though it did produce a Care Bears revival. ABC gradually phases out cartoons in favor of live action (That's So Raven, Hannah Montana) and the CW provides one last gasp for hope with some good new shows, and FoxBox becomes 4kids TV (the 2003 Ninja Turtles, Sonic X, and Yu-Gi-Oh are '00s touchstones). CG animation gradually becomes more prevalent. But ratings are getting low as cable and later DVRing arrives, and the quality isn't as good as it was during the Bronze Age.

Dying Age: 2009-2014: Unfortunately, new avenues of distribution has made Saturday Morning a mere shadow of itself, with many proclaming the programming block "dead". Yes, a few shows still exist on Saturday morning for mainly preschoolers, but infomercials, news, and other local programming dominate the airwaves nowadays.


I'd say that all of this is spot on, but I specifically wanted to comment on the '91-'02 "Bronze Age", as that's the one I experienced first hand.

As you alluded to, the '90s were a really interesting time for Saturday morning cartoons in that, despite the fact that there were ever increasing ways to watch kids shows on cable whenever you wanted to, the Saturday morning block was still considered prime real estate for cartoons. While it's true that NBC dropped it's Saturday cartoon lineup in 1992, CBS, ABC, and Fox (as well as Kids WB later on) all still showed between four and six hours of kids content on Saturday mornings up through the late '90s. Looking back now, it's obvious that "One Saturday Morning" on ABC was sort of like the last gasp for the relevancy of Saturday cartoon blocks on network television, particularly from a cultural standpoint. The late '90s were, as far as I can tell, the last time when Saturday morning cartoons were "appointment viewing" for the average kid.

On a side note, the Children's Television Act of 1990 (which issued the broadcast E/I regulations) had very little impact on Saturday morning cartoons for the first two-thirds of the '90s because it quite poorly enforced by the FCC (including rather infamous examples of networks cheating the system by declaring re-runs of the "Jerry Springer Show" as "educational programming"). The FCC strengthened it's regulations to combat this over the course of 1996-97, and I think it's little coincidence that Saturday morning cartoons began to show noticeable decline over the following five years. Of course, the continued rise of cable didn't help either.

Saturday Morning cartoons ended in the 90s.  That stuff that aired in the 2000s was junk

I'd say that all of this is spot on, but I specifically wanted to comment on the '91-'02 "Bronze Age", as that's the one I experienced first hand.

As you alluded to, the '90s were a really interesting time for Saturday morning cartoons in that, despite the fact that there were ever increasing ways to watch kids shows on cable whenever you wanted to, the Saturday morning block was still considered prime real estate for cartoons. While it's true that NBC dropped it's Saturday cartoon lineup in 1992, CBS, ABC, and Fox (as well as Kids WB later on) all still showed between four and six hours of kids content on Saturday mornings up through the late '90s. Looking back now, it's obvious that "One Saturday Morning" on ABC was sort of like the last gasp for the relevancy of Saturday cartoon blocks on network television, particularly from a cultural standpoint. The late '90s were, as far as I can tell, the last time when Saturday morning cartoons were "appointment viewing" for the average kid.

On a side note, the Children's Television Act of 1990 (which issued the broadcast E/I regulations) had very little impact on Saturday morning cartoons for the first two-thirds of the '90s because it quite poorly enforced by the FCC (including rather infamous examples of networks cheating the system by declaring re-runs of the "Jerry Springer Show" as "educational programming"). The FCC strengthened it's regulations to combat this over the course of 1996-97, and I think it's little coincidence that Saturday morning cartoons began to show noticeable decline over the following five years. Of course, the continued rise of cable didn't help either.


This plus the rise of Live action sitcoms like Saved by The Bell also contributed to this downfall

This plus the rise of Live action sitcoms like Saved by The Bell also contributed to this downfall

I don't know about that, I mean there should be some variety. Taking away Saturday morning cartoons altogether is just breaking tradition!  >:(

I don't know about that, I mean there should be some variety. Taking away Saturday morning cartoons altogether is just breaking tradition!  >:(



I remember eating my favorite sugared cereal and sitting by the TV watching cartoons.

I remember eating my favorite sugared cereal and sitting by the TV watching cartoons.

I remember many times having a friend spend the night and we'd watch One Saturday Morning when we were awake.

These guys are what killed Saturday morning cartoons:

https://mylittlebexi.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/saved-by-the-bell.jpg

Teens and their younger brothers would much rather gaze at Kelly Kapowski then watch The Real Ghostbusters.

I remember many times having a friend spend the night and we'd watch One Saturday Morning when we were awake.


what cartoon were you watching?

These guys are what killed Saturday morning cartoons:

https://mylittlebexi.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/saved-by-the-bell.jpg

Teens and their younger brothers would much rather gaze at Kelly Kapowski then watch The Real Ghostbusters.


How do you know for sure that they were the ones that killed off Saturday morning cartoons?

How do you know for sure that they were the ones that killed off Saturday morning cartoons?


After SBTB became popular at the start of the 1991-1992 season, NBC replaced their Saturday morning cartoons with a host of Saved By The Bell clones.

After SBTB became popular at the start of the 1991-1992 season, NBC replaced their Saturday morning cartoons with a host of Saved By The Bell clones.


like Saved By The Bell: The New Class.

like Saved By The Bell: The New Class.


Yes, California Dreams, Running the Halls, The New Class and every TNBC show replaced NBC Saturday morning cartoons.

Also Saturday mornings can't survive on reruns alone.  They have to come up with some new and exciting ideas or those shows will become stale and predictable.  :(

Also Saturday mornings can't survive on reruns alone.  They have to come up with some new and exciting ideas or those shows will become stale and predictable.  :(



I always liked new material they always came up with every Saturday.

Now there's really no point in my asking my mother to get those channels, WPIX New York, and KTLA Los Angeles, back? :p

Now there's really no point in my asking my mother to get those channels, WPIX New York, and KTLA Los Angeles, back? :p


Why would you want them back?

Why would you want them back?


Cable company took them off of our standard channel lineup and put them in as pay channels.  :P Along with WSBK Boston and WGN America.  :P

Cable company took them off of our standard channel lineup and put them in as pay channels.  :P Along with WSBK Boston and WGN America.  :P


I think it's happened with us at Time Warner Cable, just about almost every channel has to be a "pay channel". ::)

We're with Cogeco Digital Cable up here in Cobourg so any of the specialty channels we have to pay extra for them.  :)

We're with Cogeco Digital Cable up here in Cobourg so any of the specialty channels we have to pay extra for them.  :)


How much are your pay channels?

How much are your pay channels?


It depends on what channels you want.

"This is what the Saturday morning cartoon lineup looked like 45 years ago"

http://metv.com/stories/this-is-what-saturday-mornings-looked-like-45-years-ago

"This is what the Saturday morning cartoon lineup looked like 45 years ago"

http://metv.com/stories/this-is-what-saturday-mornings-looked-like-45-years-ago


That was so amazing, cartoons back then were so much better and had more variety.

That's sad. There's still My Little Pony at 11AM Saturdays, although not quite the "Saturday morning" I was used to when I set my Power Rangers alarm to 7AM.

I used to wake every Saturday morning to watch cartoons, but that spark is gone now. Companies like Litton Entertainment shouldn't ruin Saturday Mornings, but rather keep up the tradition for future generations.

I used to wake every Saturday morning to watch cartoons, but that spark is gone now. Companies like Litton Entertainment shouldn't ruin Saturday Mornings, but rather keep up the tradition for future generations.



I used to wake up on Saturday Morning to watch my 80's cartoons.

I used to wake up on Saturday Morning to watch my 80's cartoons.


Me too. 

I remember there would be three hour blocks and over time it became four.

That's sad. There's still My Little Pony at 11AM Saturdays, although not quite the "Saturday morning" I was used to when I set my Power Rangers alarm to 7AM.


It is unfortunate to see Saturday morning cartoons go, honestly. I know that in this age of instant, on-demand video and dozens of kids channels that the concept of having dedicated Saturday morning blocks of new cartoons is very antiquated, but I have really hated the see the "tradition" of SMCs go by wayside in recent years. If you think about it, Boomers, Xers, and Millennials all grew up with the concept of eating cereal in front of the TV for five hours on Saturday's being a childhood institution. It was something that pretty much every kid born from the 1950's-1990's looked forward to all school week long.

Saturday mornings really used to be something magical. I have many fond childhood memories of staying over at my grandparents house on Friday nights, and having my grandmother wake me up early so I could catch new episodes of Sonic SatAM, then following it down with a chaser of Garfield and TMNT. Plus you had MMPR, Animaniacs and Bobby's World on Fox, and awesome Disney stuff like Darkwing Duck and Timon & Pumbaa on ABC. Man, those were the days. 8)

I know NewYorkEagle will disagree, but most of the Internet seems to think Saturday morning cartoons truly "died" around ~2005-2008, when Flash, CGI, and tweencoms took over.

I know NewYorkEagle will disagree, but most of the Internet seems to think Saturday morning cartoons truly "died" around ~2005-2008, when Flash, CGI, and tweencoms took over.


I didn't care a lot about Saturday morning cartoons. I watched a lot of crap from Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Discovery Kids, HBO Family, etc. It wasn't necessary for me to watch them earlier on Saturday mornings.

To me Saturday Morning Cartoons died as soon as cable became huge. Heck there were Saturday Morning cartoons that'd appear on Cable channels. Decline for them can be dated back to 1990.

To me Saturday Morning Cartoons died as soon as cable became huge. Heck there were Saturday Morning cartoons that'd appear on Cable channels. Decline for them can be dated back to 1990.


You know... I agree with this. The early 90s were like the deathbed for true Saturday Morning cartoons. After the proliferation of cable shows in the mid-late 90s, I suppose kids didn't care for waking up at 7am on Saturdays, as they used to before 1990.

You know... I agree with this. The early 90s were like the deathbed for true Saturday Morning cartoons. After the proliferation of cable shows in the mid-late 90s, I suppose kids didn't care for waking up at 7am on Saturdays, as they used to before 1990.


Yeah, no real point in waking up at 7am. You could miss your favorite show, but it'll end up playing again later on anyways. Golden Age of Saturday Morning Cartoons can be said to be from the 1960s-1980s. I don't mean Golden Age in terms of quality, but rather in success and popularity. Gonna quote a Wiki here.

The decline of the timeslot somewhat began in the early 1990s for a variety of reasons, including:

- The rise of first-run syndicated animated programs, which usually had a greater artistic freedom and looser standards than those that were mandated by a network. These programs included G.I. Joe, The Transformers, Voltron, ThunderCats, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Ducktales, the first two seasons of Tiny Toon Adventures, and the first three seasons of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

- Increasing regulation of children's programming content, including the Federal Communication Commission's introduction of the E/I mandate in 1990 and later made more explicit in 1996. This required all broadcast networks to air "educational and informational" children's programs for at least three hours a week. Concurrent with this, the Federal Trade Commission outlawed the advertising of both premium-rate telephone numbers and tie-in merchandise during children's hours. Both of these factors limited creative options and cut off large revenue sources for children's programs on network television, and would overrun Saturday morning cartoons.

- The rise of cable television networks such as the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, which provided appealing animated entertainment throughout the week at nearly all hours, making Saturday morning timeslots far less important to viewers and advertisers. Cable channels have the additional advantage of being beyond FCC content regulations and do not have to abide by educational or advertising regulations. Currently, there are at least ten channels specializing in children's programming.

- The increased availability of home video services (both hard-copy and later through the Internet), which, just like cable, allowed children to watch their favorite cartoons at any given time.

- The gradual legalization of no-fault divorce in the United States over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, which prompted a spike in divorces and a desire for parents to make more productive use of time with their children

By 1990 things were already changing for the Saturday Morning Blocks.


If we're talking about the last time Saturday Morning Cartoons were good I'd say the late '90s-early '00s. During that time there shows such as:
- Shaman King
- Pokemon
- Digimon
- House of Mouse./Mickey Mouse Works
- Pepper Ann
- Buzz Light Year of Star Command
- TMNT 2003
- Static Shock
- Batman Beyond
- Weekenders
- Lloyd In Space
- Recess
- Teen Titans
- Jackie Chan Adventures
- Yu Gi Oh
- Beyblade
- Sherlock Holmes in the 22 Century
- Archie's Werid Mysteries
- Medabots, Monster Rancher
- X-Men Evolution
- What's New Scooby Doo
- Megaman NT Warrior
- Xiaolin Showdown
And a few more. But not everyone likes these cartoons (I did, but I don't speak for everyone). And even though these started as Saturday Morning Cartoons they eventually made their way to cable channels.

Yeah, no real point in waking up at 7am. You could miss your favorite show, but it'll end up playing again later on anyways. Golden Age of Saturday Morning Cartoons can be said to be from the 1960s-1980s. I don't mean Golden Age in terms of quality, but rather in success and popularity. Gonna quote a Wiki here.
By 1990 things were already changing for the Saturday Morning Blocks.


Yeah, even 90s kids wouldn't even know how special Saturday Mornings were if they grew up with crap on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.

Well, you guys have really forced my hand here. Usually, I try as hard as I can to avoid being that annoying guy who types obscenely long effort-posts about how great the '90s were, but I really feel as if you've left me with no other choice than to defend the honor of '90s Saturday mornings. ;)

Yes, it's true that there were some signs as early the 1980's when the cable revolution began that traditional Saturday morning cartoons were waning, but, as someone who did wake up at 7 AM every Saturday until around 1999, I can personally attest that SMCs did remain a big deal throughout the 1990's. These are the reasons, as I see them...

1. More limited cable availability. Contrary to popular belief, cable TV was still a luxury in some parts of the country even into the '90s. My parents didn't get cable at all until 1994, meaning that the broadcast networks were my only means of watching new cartoons until after my seventh birthday. I had other friends that got cable even later than I did. Even after '94, Cartoon Network and The Disney Channel did not become available to us until 1997.

2. The Networks still had the lion's share of new animated series. Yes, Nickelodeon had Nicktoons, but CN didn't have "Cartoon Cartoons" until the late '90s, and Disney was still largely a premium channel. In the early-to-mid '90s, most of the biggest kids shows still aired on broadcast first. TMNT was on CBS, MMPR was on Fox, as were Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, and so on. It wasn't really until the late '90s that cable actually got to the point where it had the majority of "must see" new kids shows over broadcast, and you still had One Saturday Morning on ABC, which was a big deal at the time.

3. First-run syndication was an issue, but, remember, if you wanted to see new episodes of syndicated shows like TMNT and Tiny Toons you still had to watch them on Saturday mornings first, and that was a big deal because it could be years before more recent seasons began to show up in reruns.

4. Yes, the Children's Television Act was passed in 1990, but it really had very little effect on broadcast networks at first because the standards called for in the bill were not properly enforced. Often, in the early and mid '90s, networks would skirt the rules regarding the E/I educational mandate by taking reruns of talk shows like Jerry Springer and Geraldo and listing them as "educational content". They did this unabated until 1996, when the FCC began a push to crack down on network abuses. That's another reason why the late '90s were the real beginning of the broadcast cartoon decline.

5. The impact of VHS on SMCs was mitigated somewhat by the same thing I said earlier about first-run syndication. Even though you could buy cartoons on tape and watch them, it was still generally content from older seasons of the show. Most animation studios would wait about a year or two after a cartoon's original airing before releasing them on VHS.

4. Yes, the Children's Television Act was passed in 1990, but it really had very little effect on broadcast networks at first because the standards called for in the bill were not properly enforced. Often, in the early and mid '90s, networks would skirt the rules regarding the E/I educational mandate by taking reruns of talk shows like Jerry Springer and Geraldo and listing them as "educational content". They did this unabated until 1996, when the FCC began a push to crack down on network abuses. That's another reason why the late '90s were the real beginning of the broadcast cartoon decline.


With that being said, this also makes me realize why Cartoon Network was huge at its peak throughout the millennial era, because while Nickelodeon had already been around with kids television shows 24 hours since the beginning of the 90's?, Cartoon Network was the first 24 hour cartoon channel in the history of society which nobody had experienced before at the time, and when Saturday Morning cartoons really declined throughout the late 90's, by then Cartoon Network already had a lot of original programming and blocks as the 24 hour cartoon channel for everybody to see. Throughout the 2000's, more and more 24 hour cartoon and kids stations became available on more people's cable. By late 2002, almost everybody had Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney Channel to watch 24/7, while many also had Toon Disney and Nicktoons channel by then. Saturday Morning cartoons became more and more pointless. Even by the first half of the 2000's, many of the shows that were on the Kids WB or ABC Kids lineups could be seen on 24 hour channels like Cartoon Network or Disney Channel/Toon Disney itself.

Yeah I don't remember Saturday mornings being a huge part of my childhood as mach!ne_he@d described. They were there and I liked my Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sonic X, Kirby Right Back At Ya etc. But my main viewing block was always Monday to Thursday after school, and again Mon-Thurs 8PM at night (Dragonball Z  :D :D).

I barely watched any TV on the weekends or on Fridays. Saturday morning was the exception.

Yeah I don't remember Saturday mornings being a huge part of my childhood as mach!ne_he@d described. They were there and I liked my Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sonic X, Kirby Right Back At Ya etc. But my main viewing block was always Monday to Thursday after school, and again Mon-Thurs 8PM at night (Dragonball Z  :D :D).

I barely watched any TV on the weekends or on Fridays. Saturday morning was the exception.


Me neither, I remember Kids WB, but most of my childhood memories of watching kid shows were on 24 hour networks which were better. I'd rather prefer Cartoon Network or Toon Disney/Jetix when it was around 24/7 than Kids WB on Saturdays only. ABC Kids was almost pointless since it was basically Disney Channel + a few action on Saturday mornings, and like I said before, by the 2000's even half of the shows on the Saturday morning lineups were on the 24 hour kid channels itself.

There were some Saturday mornings where I accidentally forget to get up and turn it on or stay in my bed too long. As a kid knowing that Fridays nights you'd have no school or church on Saturday mornings it was so easy to just sleep in all day and forget what went on throughout the morning. Heck, sometimes I'd turn to another kid channel to watch on Saturday mornings rather than Kids WB. Kids WB throughout my childhood was mostly a once or twice a month thing. It would be rare if I caught the block from the beginning when it came on right at 8am, usually it be around 9am or 9:30am when I catch it on.

Me neither, I remember Kids WB, but most of my childhood memories of watching kid shows were on 24 hour networks which were better. I'd rather prefer Cartoon Network or Toon Disney/Jetix when it was around 24/7 than Kids WB on Saturdays only. ABC Kids was almost pointless since it was basically Disney Channel + a few action on Saturday mornings, and like I said before, by the 2000's even half of the shows on the Saturday morning lineups were on the 24 hour kid channels itself.

There were some Saturday mornings where I accidentally forget to get up and turn it on or stay in my bed too long. As a kid knowing that Fridays nights you'd have no school or church on Saturday mornings it was so easy to just sleep in all day and forget what went on throughout the morning. Heck, sometimes I'd turn to another kid channel to watch on Saturday mornings rather than Kids WB. Kids WB throughout my childhood was mostly a once or twice a month thing. It would be rare if I caught the block from the beginning when it came on right at 8am, usually it be around 9am or 9:30am when I catch it on.



Yeah, Saturday morning cartoons were pretty much on life support by the turn of the millennium. At that point, the center of gravity for kids television had already shifted heavily to cable. By 2000, the weekday Toonami block on CN was a much bigger deal for the all-important 6-11 demographic than anything being aired on ABC or Fox (NBC and CBS had basically thrown in the towel by that point).

1997, I think, was a big turning point for SMCs. That's when the FCC really began to crack down in a big way on broadcast networks over the E/I educational requirements. CBS all but abandoned their traditional Saturday morning line-up during the 1998-99 season, basically following NBC's lead by adding a two hour "Saturday edition" of The Early Show, then shoveling out another few hours of edutainment fare like Franklin. ABC and Fox were still big players at the time, but by 1999 they were getting extremely stiff competition from Nick, CN, Kids WB!, Fox Family, Disney and so on. The writing was pretty much on the wall by the time Y2K hit.

To me Saturday Morning Cartoons died as soon as cable became huge. Heck there were Saturday Morning cartoons that'd appear on Cable channels. Decline for them can be dated back to 1990.


I miss those days on a Saturday morning when we could sit by the TV in the early to mid 1980's and watch our cartoons.

I know I use to watch Pokemon

Well, you guys have really forced my hand here. Usually, I try as hard as I can to avoid being that annoying guy who types obscenely long effort-posts about how great the '90s were, but I really feel as if you've left me with no other choice than to defend the honor of '90s Saturday mornings. ;)

Yes, it's true that there were some signs as early the 1980's when the cable revolution began that traditional Saturday morning cartoons were waning, but, as someone who did wake up at 7 AM every Saturday until around 1999, I can personally attest that SMCs did remain a big deal throughout the 1990's. These are the reasons, as I see them...

1. More limited cable availability. Contrary to popular belief, cable TV was still a luxury in some parts of the country even into the '90s. My parents didn't get cable at all until 1994, meaning that the broadcast networks were my only means of watching new cartoons until after my seventh birthday. I had other friends that got cable even later than I did. Even after '94, Cartoon Network and The Disney Channel did not become available to us until 1997.

2. The Networks still had the lion's share of new animated series. Yes, Nickelodeon had Nicktoons, but CN didn't have "Cartoon Cartoons" until the late '90s, and Disney was still largely a premium channel. In the early-to-mid '90s, most of the biggest kids shows still aired on broadcast first. TMNT was on CBS, MMPR was on Fox, as were Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, and so on. It wasn't really until the late '90s that cable actually got to the point where it had the majority of "must see" new kids shows over broadcast, and you still had One Saturday Morning on ABC, which was a big deal at the time.

3. First-run syndication was an issue, but, remember, if you wanted to see new episodes of syndicated shows like TMNT and Tiny Toons you still had to watch them on Saturday mornings first, and that was a big deal because it could be years before more recent seasons began to show up in reruns.

4. Yes, the Children's Television Act was passed in 1990, but it really had very little effect on broadcast networks at first because the standards called for in the bill were not properly enforced. Often, in the early and mid '90s, networks would skirt the rules regarding the E/I educational mandate by taking reruns of talk shows like Jerry Springer and Geraldo and listing them as "educational content". They did this unabated until 1996, when the FCC began a push to crack down on network abuses. That's another reason why the late '90s were the real beginning of the broadcast cartoon decline.

5. The impact of VHS on SMCs was mitigated somewhat by the same thing I said earlier about first-run syndication. Even though you could buy cartoons on tape and watch them, it was still generally content from older seasons of the show. Most animation studios would wait about a year or two after a cartoon's original airing before releasing them on VHS.


;D ;D I don't think anyone's saying the 90s  Saturday Morning Cartoons are bad (most cartoons before the 90s are actually terrible, except a few classics), just that they're comparatively not as relevant as in the previous decades.

That said, that was still an interesting read on the history of SMCs in the 90s. Thanks.  :)

I don't think Saturday Morning Cartoons are bad. Just that they started to become less popular in the 1990s compared to the 1960s-1980s.