Weekday Afternoon TV Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of My Afternoon TV Retrospect. In this part I'll be sharing my personal Weekday Afternoon TV experience. And for the grand finale,I'll be listing the shows that aired on these Weekday Afternoon blocks..

And now, it's showtime.

When I was a kid,I used to watch Weekday Afternoon TV almost daily. I don't remember much about which block I watched first,It was either the WB's block or The USA's Cartoon Express. I remember I didn't watch Fox's block until mid '87,because I remember watching Thundercats on that Network. I guess it was both the WB and the USA Networks.

I recall watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the WB during the 80's..but thats all I remember about the block during that time..at least during the afternoons. The USA Network Cartoon Express I think I watched more,because I remember watching more shows from that block during that time. Shows like: He-Man,The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm show,and Others.

In '88 is when I really started to get into the Weekday Afternoon Blocks. I was tuned into Fox's block almost every afternoon,watching shows like Thundercats,Alvin and the Chipmunks,Heathcliff,and Inspector Gadget. In '89,I got into the Super Mario Bros.Super Show. From then on I've became a big fan of Fox's block. I didn't watch the USA Networks Block anymore,mainly because I forgot it still existed and I didn't watch the Disney Afternoon until after it moved to the WB.

Before then,I didn't watch the WB much,in fact I didn't at all. Come 1990,I was switching between The Disney Afternoon and Fox's block. Though by '91 I was mostly watching Fox. 1 show I will never forget from the Fox block is Peter Pan and The Pirates. I don't remember what I liked about it,but I do remember it well. I watched Tiny Toon Adventures when they began airing. Beetlejuice and Tom and Jerry's Kids as well.

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was my first real exposure to the Tokusatsu/Super Sentai Genre. I watched that every chance I got. I loved watching Animaniacs and thought that Bobby's World had charm.

When,The Disney afternoon Moved to UPN,I didn't watch it that much. In Fact,the only time I ever watched UPN was on Sunday Mornings. I never found myself watching Cartoon Network's Pre-Toonami blocks much either.

I started watching WB more in '96. The shows i watched before the Kids WB weekday block aired were Samurai Pizza Cats,Mega Man,and Sailor Moon. After the non-WB shows were over, I'd switch between WB and Fox.

Though,in '97,I didn't watch them as much. When the clock struck 4,I switched to Cartoon Network to watch Toonami.Toonami was one special block. It also introduced me to The World of Anime. I really loved that block and watched it religiously. I have a ton of fond memories with Toonami. In '98, it became my favorite Weekday Afternoon block. I was annoyed when Toonami moved to Saturday nights,though I still watched it...at least for a few more years.

I watched Miguzi a bit,but not much. In 2002,With Fox Kids gone and Kids WB's weekday block dead,I became a watcher of ABC Family's block. And until 2002/2003,I switched between that block and Toonami. Though,this wasn't my 1st experience with the ABC Family block. I used to watch it every now and then in the early 90's when it was The Family Channel.

In the 90's I also watched Nick in The Afternoon,though I didn't watch it that much. In fact,The only thing memorable about that block was Stick Stickly. When The Weekday Afternoon Blocks became defunct in the mid to late 2000's,I stuck to playing video games.

However,In 2010 I began watching the Hub Network and I liked it. I always tuned into it's weekday afternoon block[which would later be known as huboom] and loved every minute of it. Sadly,in 2013,the block was canned due to executive meddling. I can Never Ever forgive Discovery Communications for doing this. And now that The Hub Network is Discovery Family,The Action Cartoon Block can Never return.

Thanks Discovery Communications for being such blatant Assholes. I hope you all get killed in the streets.

Well that wraps it up for this section. Weekday Afternoon TV was a great time in my life. After a painful day at school,I always looked forward to watching my favorite Weekday Afternoon shows.

So here's to Weekday Afternoon TV. May it return for future generations to enjoy.

And now here's that list of shows i was talking about. ===============================================================
USA Network:

Yogi's Gang
Scooby-Doo
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show
Captain Caveman
Wacky Races
Yogi's Treasure Hunt
Laugh-o-Lympcs
Dyno-Mutt
Superfriends
He-Man
She-Ra
Filmation's Ghostbusters
Smurfs
Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling
Mr.T
G.I.Joe:A Real American Hero
The Transformers
The Real Ghostbusters
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Pac-Man
Jem
Voltron
Alvin and the Chipmunks
M.A.S.K.
Garfield and Friends[?]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fox [pre-fox kids]:
Heathcliff
Inspector Gadget
The Real Ghostbusters
Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Super Mario Bros.Super Show
Club Mario
The DJ Cat Show
Silverhawks
Thundercats
Ducktales
Chip 'n Dales Rescue Rangers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fox [fox kids network/fox kids]:

Peter Pan and The Pirates
Beetlejuice
Tom and Jerry's Kids
Tiny Toon Adventures
Batman:The Animated Series
Power Rangers[1st saban era]
Animaniacs
X-Men
Spider-Man:The Animated Series
Casper[the 90's show]
Big Bad Beetleborgs
Masked Rider
Ninja Turtles:The Next Mutation
Bobby's World
Digimon[first 3 seasons]
Eek The Cat
Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego
The Tick
Taz-Mania
NASCAR Racers
Godzilla
The Big Guy and Rusty
Transformers: Robots in Disguise (the anime)
Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog
The Adventures of Batman and Robin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WB [non-disney or wb]:

Dennis The Menace
Samurai Pizza Cats
Sailor Moon[the dic dub]
Mega Man
Biker Mice From Mars
Garfield and Friends{?]
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
G.I.Joe [dic series]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WB [disney afternoon]:

Ducktales
Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers
Talespin
Darkwing Duck
Goof Troop
Bonkers
The Gummi Bears
Timon and Pumbaa
Aladdin
Gargoyles
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WB [kids wb]:

Looney Tunes
Animaniacs
Freakazoid
Tiny Toon Adventures
Histeria
Road Rovers
Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
Pinky and the Brain
Dragon Ball Z[for a short time]
Sailor Moon[for a short time]
Teen Titans[for a short time]
Men and Black:The Series
Superman:The Animated Series
Batman:The Animated Series
The Adventures of Batman and Robin
The Batman/Superman Adventures
Mucha Lucha
Pokemon [the 4kids seasons]
Yu-Gi-Oh
Jackie Chan Adventures
Mega Man:NT Warrior
Batman Beyond
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nickelodeon [nick in the afternoon]:

Various Nickelodeon Shows from 1991-1998.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPN [disney afternoon]:

Hercules:The Series
Gargoyles
The Mighty Ducks
Quack Pack
Snookums and Meat
Darkwing Duck
Timon and Pumbaa
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Family Channel/Fox Family/ABC Family:

Heroes on Hotwheels
The New Adventures of Speed Racer
Pro-Stars
Wish Kid
The Super Mario Bros.Super Show
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros.3
The New Super Mario World
Captain N
Popeye
Flint the Time Detective
Mega Man
Monster Rancher
Totally Spies
Power Rangers[the 1st saban era]
Power Rangers [disney era]
Digimon[the first 4 seasons]
Spider-Man:The Animated Series,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cartoon Network[pre-toonami]:

Captain Planet
Johnny Quest,
The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest
Superfriends
Space Ghost
Birdman
Galaxy Trio
The Herculoids
Fantastic 4[hannah-barbera]
Swat Kats
Dyno-Mutt

G-Force
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cartoon Network [toonami]

Note: I'm only listing the Shows that aired during the block's afternoon run.

Thundercats
Voltron
The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest
Superfriends
Sailor Moon
Dragon Ball Z
Reboot. I really loved that show.
Transformers Beast Wars
Gundam Wing
Robotech
Ronin Warriors
Tenchi Muyo
Tenchi Universe
Tenchi In Tokyo
Mobile Suit Gundam
Gundam 08 MS Team
Outlaw Star
Dragon Ball
Big O
Rurouni Kenshin
Cyborg 009
Card Captors
Hamtaro
Zoids
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Transformers Armada
SD Gundam
Batman Beyond
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cartoon Network [Miguzi]:

Totaly Spies
Code Lyoko
Hamtaro
Teen Titans 
Pokemon
Life and Times of Juniper Lee
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2k3)
Ben 10
Mucha Lucha
The Winx Club
Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Xiaolin Showdown
Krypto The Superdog

Mega Man NT Warrior.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hub Network [pre-huboom and huboom]:

Deltora Quest
Men in Black: The Series
Batman Beyond
Transformers Prime
G.I.Joe Renegades
Superman:The Animated Series
Batman:The Animated Series
The Aquabats Super Show
Dan.Vs.
==============================================
Well that's all. I really hoped you enjoyed this retrospect of Weekday Afternoon TV.

RIP - Classic Weekday Afternoon TV. 1960's-2000's.
 

The Cartoon Chronicles: Cartoon Network:

Before it's total ruination in the 2006,Cartoon Network was a network that I cherished watching. My Story with the Pre-snyder CN began in 1996,It was summer and I remember there was nothing to watch,so I tuned into Cartoon Network. and I liked what I saw. It wouldn't take long for this gem (now shit) of a network to become my absolute favorite. 

Now before that time i was an advid Nickelodeon and Disney Channel watcher (mostly nick),but Nick moved into the number 2 slot and I almost completely forgotten about the Disney Channel. Cartoon Network was great back in the day. It was all cartoons all of the time,sure it had some lame stuff,but every network airs lame stuff. And thankfully the lame was overpowered by the cool.

Anyway back to my story,some of the shows that I remember watching during the Summer of '96 were: The Challenge of the Superfriends,Yogi Bear,Alvin and the Chipmunks,and the What-A-Cartoon! Show. I also watched Captain Planet and the Planeteers (go planet!),The Centurions (power extreme!),and Thundarr. I also enjoyed watching Looney Tunes. Sometime later (in 1997),I began watching Cartoon Networks 3 original series,Dexters Lab,Johnny Bravo,and Cow and Chicken. I also began watching Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Cartoon Planet.

I had such a great time watching Cartoon Network. However,the best was yet to come. In the summer of 97,I got into Toonami,the greatest block on Cartoon Network. As well as Cartoon Cartoon fridays. I was hooked on those blocks until their crapification in the 2k years. It was because of Toonami,that I became a fan of Anime and the art style. I watched that block religiously ever since i started watching it. I still remember the initial line-up.  Thundrcats,Voltron,and the Real Adventures of Johnny Quest. Thundercats and Voltron I tapped (along with sailor moon,when it was on the USA network. but that's a story for another time).

I wasn't a 'Real Adventures of Johnny Quest' fan until 1998. That's why I didn't tape it. Moltar was the host of Toonami during that time and I soon became a fan of his. Another thing I recall from the 'Moltar' Years of Toonami were the DC superhero shorts from the 50's,60's,and early 70's. And when Sailor Moon began airing on Toonami,I was thrilled. I even taped a few eps.

Cartoon Cartoon Fridays also gave me plesent memories. I explained that in my last edition of Cartoon Chronicles,so I'm not going to talk about it here.

Another great thing about CN,were The bumpers and station ID's,they were were very fun to watch. as were the promos. I also watched Adult Swim the first 3 years it was on (before it became a toxic pool). I mostly watched it for the Anime. I even taped some.

In 2005,Cartoon Network fell out of favor with me,though I still watched it from time to time. I mostly watched Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. CN went from being my #1 Network to being my #3. I began disliking it in '06 and ignored it all together in '07. Today I hate CN and what it's become.

I will always have fond memories of what Cartoon Network once was. It was dear to me,but perverted executive meddeling turned me against it.

This has been another edition of The Cartoon Chronicles. 

The Cartoon Chronicles: Cartoon Cartoon Fridays

Welcome to another edition of Cartoon Chronicles. Where I Chronicle my experiences with Cartoons,whether they be a Block,a Network,or a Single Show.

Today's episode will be about The Cartoon Network Block Cartoon Cartoon Fridays. Don't worry,An episode about Cartoon Network is in the future.

Anyway,In the summer of 1997,I was on the family computer in the living room one day,while listening to the television. I had Cartoon Network on. When the premiere advertisement for Cartoon Cartoon Fridays came on,I stopped what I was doing and watched it.

Immediately,I was glad. I was a fan of the Cartoon Network's original Animated shows to begin with,so this block was something welcome. When the big night came (it was at 7:00pm,i believe),I sat down and watched it.

One of my favorite things about CCF was the guest cartoon hosts. each one brought something different to the table. Their antics between shows were the most entertaining part of the block.

I watched it every night when it was on and was officially part of my Friday Night routine. Some of my favorite shows on the block were: Johnny Bravo,I.M. Weasel,The Powerpuff Girls,Dexter's Lab,and Samurai Jack.

That is until around the 2K years,when the 2 humans (tommy and tara)took over as hosts. during that time,I started watching less and less of the block and by then I found another Friday night routine. And on top of that most of the newer Cartoon Cartoons at that time were mediocre at best.

As years passed so did CCF. Fried Dynamite replaced it and friday nights on Cartoon Network became one sick joke. I miss CCF and will never forget the good times I had watching it.

Sorry if this edition of Cartoon Chronicles seems very short,but I can't remember any interesting events in my life reguarding CCF. Sorry. Maybe I should've saved this for the potential Cartoon Network episode.

Anyway,that's gonna do it for this edition of Cartoon Chronicles. Hope you enjoyed and Stay Gold.

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