The Cartoon Chronicles: Saturday Morning Cartoons

This is a new segment chronicling my experiences with Cartoons,whether they be a Block,a Network,or a Single Show.

To kick things off,I'm gonna start with Saturday Morning Cartoons.

Saturday Morning Cartoons were a great part of my life. I watched SatAM Cartoons all of the time,I rarely missed my dose of Saturday AM goodness and if I did happen to miss it,my uncle always managed to tape some of the shows (mostly from the cbs block).

Anyway,when I was young(sounding like an old man here,lol!) There were initially 3 SatAM blocks to choose from. Each of the 3 big networks carried a fun block. Though,back then,I was advid NBC and CBS SatAM watcher...back when they had Real Saturday Morning blocks. I kinda ignored ABC for the most part. And when Fox started their block,I kinda ignored for the most part as well.

Some of the shows I watched on CBS were: Garfield and Friends(still love this show),Fat Albert(hey!hey!hey!),Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (a few times),Wild C.A.T.S.(watched a few times as well),Muppet Babies(used to love this one),Where's Waldo(a fun show),CBS Storybreak(didn't get into this much),Aladdin(fun show),The Little Mermaid(sometimes),and of course Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (best show on the block! cowabunga!).

I also watched Beakman's World,PeeWee's Playhouse,and Hey Vern! It's Earnest! Of course,these 3 weren't cartoons,but they were still entertaining nonetheless.

For NBC,I remember watching: Alvin and the Chipmunks (decent show still),Pro-Stars(only 4 times,though i re-watched it when it began running on abc family when it was the family channel),Camp Candy(corney but enjoyable. r.i.p. john candy),The Adventures of Super Mario 3(still a favorite to this day),The New Super Mario World (entertaining,but a downgrade from the other mario cartoons),Ed Grimley(watched this a handful of times),Mr.T (i pitty da foo'),and of course Captain N (decent show that I thought was awesome.).

I also watched some non-animated stuff like Saved By The Bell,Hang Time,and Calafornia Dreams. They were fun to watch..and they still are.

In 1992,when NBC ditched their animated shows(though in their defense,some of the live-action stuff was pretty decent). I started paying more attention to Fox and ABC. CBS started airing Disney Cartoons,Fox Kids was starting to gain populatity,and ABC was starting getting good. They too started airing Disney Cartoons...as well as the Hannah-Barbera and Looney Toons stuff,which they have been doing since the begining.

Anyway,ABC got even better a year later with the debut of an awesome batch of cartoons. Cartoons such as: Sonic The Hedgehog: The Animated Series (aka Sonic SatAM. this show got me heavely into abc's block),Tales from the Crypt Keeper(a lighthearted version of the semi-hit horror series),Bump in the Night(a weird,but entertaining show),Cro(the dude who played doogie houser's best friend voiced the title character),and of course Reboot(a show with a pretty cool concept).

And Yes,I watched them All. I even watched School House Rock when It was on.

The Fox Kids SatAM block wasn't laking in entertainment either in 1992. They had: Batman:The Animated Series(aka the greatest batman tv show ever),Tiny Toon Adventures(amusing show),Beetlejuice(funny show,too bad the voices sucked),Tom and Jerry's Kid's(a decent show that i used to watch quite a bit),Bobby's World(a fun show),and Eek The Kat (one of the few canadian-american collab shows i liked).

I watched Fox and ABC religiously.In fact,because of this I found myself watching CBS and NBC even less. I stopped watching both in 1994. But could you blame me,ABC and Fox were awesome.

In 1994,Fox Kids got even better with shows such as: X-Men(never cared much for this show back then,though i do now),Spider-Man(loved this show),The 2nd season of Power Rangers(not live action,but still something i watched),and The Tick (spooon!)

Yup in 1994,Fox Kids became the Kings of Saturday Mornings. However their dominance would be challanged one year later by the mostly awesome KidsWB. Even though '94 was the year of Fox kids,ABC still had some cool shows up it's SatAM sleeve. Besides newer seasons of their cool shows,we also had C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa.

So in 1994,Fox was my main sourse for SatAM Entertainment..though i often times flipped the channel to ABC if Fox was airing an episode of a show that I didn't care for.

Well in 1995,when KidsWB debut,I had completely forgotten about NBC and CBS and often times ignored ABC. My focus was soley on Fox Kids and KidsWB. Kids WB's shows,for the most part,aired nothing but awesome cartoons made by Warner Brothers.

Both blocks had been an important part of my youth,though I watched Fox Kids more and when ABC's Block became 'One Saturday Morning',I watched that a lot as well. This block aired mostly Disney Cartoons. Some of the cool shows this block had were: Pepper Ann(one of my faves),Disney's Doug(good,but nick's version was a bit better),Recess(fun show),Mighty Ducks(ducks rock!),Quack Pack(90's version of ducktales),Fillmore(a decent show about high school kids that are detectives),The Weekenders(another really fun show),Mickey's Mouse Works(a fun show that brought mickey and co into the 90's.),House of Mouse(love the fact that all of the disney toons interact with one another),and Squigglevision(one of the few non-disney shows. it was a funny show).

OSM also had some live action segments like Manny The Uncanny. They also had this weird-ass segment called Mrs. Munger's Class. It had talking yearbook pictures..weird.

On a side note,after the SatAM goodness was done,I stay tuned to(or went back to)Fox for WWE Superstars. What Joyus Times.

Anyway,As years past,Saturday Morning entertainment went from Great to Mediocre. And it all started when 4Kids Entertainment Entered the Picture. During that time ABC's block was getting bad and the KidsWB block was getting mediocre. Though,it Did become my New primary sorse for SatAM Entertainment. And just for kicks,I tuned into the Fox Box (4kids block) to see what was going on.

In 2003,I started to watch the Fox Box more mainly because most of the new shows (new at that time)on KidsWB were kinda bad. Plus Fox Box was airing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2k3.

Oh,and I Only tuned in to ABC for Power Rangers and Kim Possible,but thats all. Anyway,througout 2004,I was alternating between Fox Box and Kids WB. Later on in the year,Fox Box became 4Kids TV and things started getting bad...so bad that i went back to KidsWB. Only a small handfull of shows were watchable on the 4Kids block. Thankfully,KidsWB was getting a little better...not that much though.

In 2005,Everything got worse. KidsWB started airing,and soon favoring,Canadian crap. ABC Kids(abc's block) was also getting worse and soon the Only good show was Power Rangers. Plus,4Kids' Mediocraty seemed everlasting. It wasn't long until Saturday Mornings Died.

However,things were going fine for ABC Family. They kept me enterertained until the "Kids" block was canned back in 2006. A shame I didn't pay much attention to this block in it's early years...at least the SatAM edition of it. :(

Anyway,rewinding a bit to 1999 and Toonami:The Rising Sun. I rarely watched it,as the programing was just the Toonami line-up rearranged and put on Saturday Mornings.The block didn't last long.

Also,The USA Network had a Weekend Block called 'Action Xtreme Team',but I only watched it on Sundays. I'll talk about it another time.

In 2008,Beakmen's world would air after that aweful 4KidsTV Block. Sadly it was canned almost a year later. When KidsWB became CW 4Kids very few shows were good. Spectacular Spider-Man,Yu-Gi-Oh!,and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight were the Only shows worth watching.

After watching Kamen Rider Dragon Knight,I tuned into ABC for Power Rangers RPM (the final official disney power rangers series).

In 2009,I only watched the Yu-Gi-Oh! Animes and thats all...that and Turtles Forever. Sadly,Kamen Rider Dragon Night was canned (before the final 2 episodes..baka 4kids)and Spectacular-Spider Man was nowhere to be seen.

Last year,I only watched CW 4Kids(now know as toonzai) for the Yu-Gi-Oh! shows,but thats it. Today,I no longer pay attention to the God Awefulness that is Toonzai.

Oh,and ABC's block has gotten Way Worse. It's now a small block of Educational Shows for Babies. Ugh!

I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't miss my Saturday Morning Programming(especially the cartoons). Unfortunatly,4Krap's block is the ONLY SatAM Block out their. And it's Terrible. Saturday Mornings Shoudn't be Anime Dominated. Anime isn't even for Saturday Mornings to begin with.

Screw You To Hell 4Krap Entertainment!!!

As for ABC,NBC,CBS,Fox,and The WB (know known as the CW): I'll never forget the great things you gave to,not only me,but Millions of Americans.Before you went to hell,you guys were the Masters of Saturday Morning Entertainment! Thanks for the fond memories!

Well that just about wraps it up for this edition of The Cartoon Chronicles. Tell me what you all think? And if you want you can share your own SatAM Menmories. Like to here them.

Stay Gold,
Stefan