Safire MoonRaiyn
New member
How come Saturday Mornings now aren't the way they were in the 1980s and 1990s? How come Saturday morning cartoons aren't as big as the once were on the major networks?
Saturday Morning Cartoons
- Thread starter Safire MoonRaiyn
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Becky_Phoenix
New member
I assume that multiple factors are involved. The rise of 24 hour networks is a big factor, as children can now watch their favorite animated programs just about any time they wish, and the educational / informational mandates placed on Saturday morning blocks certainly hasn?t helped either. I?m sure other users on this forum know more about the situation than I do.
Because we're not in the 80s and 90s anymore. Channels like CN kind of took away the appeal of Saturday mornings, considering some of the shows on, say, CW4Kids, rerun on CN throughout the week. There's no real reason to wake up early on Saturday morning when you can watch the shows any time.
MissMiller
New member
I don't care if they're "big." They just have to be good.
superbolloman
New member
Doesn't ABC have a cartoon block on Saturday mornings?
I think the regular networks don't have the funding to support it now.
I think the regular networks don't have the funding to support it now.
Unknowingly Creative
New member
I would like to believe that news-type programs had an effect on Saturday Mornings. CBS and NBC are the two I can think of.
Also, theory of mine is that the networks didn't want kids sitting in and watching cartoons anymore, probably thinking that kids were getting lazy and/or jumping off the walls with their sugar coated cereals thinking that they could use that energy for something creative. So they devised a plan to use their creative minds to develop a Saturday morning show geared to adults who couldn't watch the weekly morning news shows, and allow them to relax and make a quiche for the upcoming garden party.
But we know that this is a lie! The garden party is nothing more than a plan for adults to come together and plot the downfall of kid kind. The quiche has secret plans within it in order to infiltrate kid's rooms, and search out for our 2x4 technology and use it against us and make...
AN ULTRA GROUNDIFICATION RAY!
So that kids will be immobilized in their rooms with nothing to do, and it's up to us to stop them and the dastardly evildoers behind them.
KIDS NEXT DOOR, BATTLESTATIONS!
Also, theory of mine is that the networks didn't want kids sitting in and watching cartoons anymore, probably thinking that kids were getting lazy and/or jumping off the walls with their sugar coated cereals thinking that they could use that energy for something creative. So they devised a plan to use their creative minds to develop a Saturday morning show geared to adults who couldn't watch the weekly morning news shows, and allow them to relax and make a quiche for the upcoming garden party.
But we know that this is a lie! The garden party is nothing more than a plan for adults to come together and plot the downfall of kid kind. The quiche has secret plans within it in order to infiltrate kid's rooms, and search out for our 2x4 technology and use it against us and make...
AN ULTRA GROUNDIFICATION RAY!
So that kids will be immobilized in their rooms with nothing to do, and it's up to us to stop them and the dastardly evildoers behind them.
KIDS NEXT DOOR, BATTLESTATIONS!
Well, ABC has a block of Disney Channel reruns if that's what you mean.
It's a different world than when we were young. 24-hour cartoon and kids' channels like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Toon Disney and Nicktoons Network changed it. It used to be that Saturday mornings were the premier time to air cartoons, followed by weekday afternoons. Nowadays, you can see kids' shows and cartoons aired at any time of day. You'll also notice that there's more homogeneity in terms of what animation studios have their work shown in a particular line-up. Back in the '80s and '90s, you could get a show by Disney followed by a show by Hanna-Barbera followed by a show by DiC all in the same lineup. Nowadays, you have whole lineups being farmed out to companies like 4Kids (Fox and CW), or DiC (CBS) or Disney just running its Disney Channel reruns on ABC. It was also a very competitive market back then, which is why you got so many one-season shows on Saturday mornings.
It's the sad truth. I hate to see this tradition start to fade away. I always kind of saw it as the kid way of celebrating the weekend. A grown-up may go out and grab a beer with his buddies on Friday night while a kid would settle in with a big bowl of cereal and cartoons on a Saturday morning. It was a time that the kids were allowed to have the TV all to themselves. But, today's kids can't miss what they've never really known. So, it's no big deal for them. Personally, I just try to hold a little bit of the Saturday morning spirit in my heart as best I can.
It's a different world than when we were young. 24-hour cartoon and kids' channels like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Toon Disney and Nicktoons Network changed it. It used to be that Saturday mornings were the premier time to air cartoons, followed by weekday afternoons. Nowadays, you can see kids' shows and cartoons aired at any time of day. You'll also notice that there's more homogeneity in terms of what animation studios have their work shown in a particular line-up. Back in the '80s and '90s, you could get a show by Disney followed by a show by Hanna-Barbera followed by a show by DiC all in the same lineup. Nowadays, you have whole lineups being farmed out to companies like 4Kids (Fox and CW), or DiC (CBS) or Disney just running its Disney Channel reruns on ABC. It was also a very competitive market back then, which is why you got so many one-season shows on Saturday mornings.
It's the sad truth. I hate to see this tradition start to fade away. I always kind of saw it as the kid way of celebrating the weekend. A grown-up may go out and grab a beer with his buddies on Friday night while a kid would settle in with a big bowl of cereal and cartoons on a Saturday morning. It was a time that the kids were allowed to have the TV all to themselves. But, today's kids can't miss what they've never really known. So, it's no big deal for them. Personally, I just try to hold a little bit of the Saturday morning spirit in my heart as best I can.
CBS still has Kewlopolis on Saturday mornings. It's a block of programming aimed mostly at girls, featuring Strawberry Shortcake, Sushi Pack, Care Bears and other stuff including an oddball boys show about fighting dinosaurs, or people who turn into dinosaurs, or something like that. It has Cake, which is live action, but that's a longrunning Saturday morning tradition.
Another thing you have to realize is that it's simply a different media world today than it was years ago. About 6 or seven big corporations control most of the media, and synergy is the name of the game. So things like Disney buying out ABC and deciding it would be cheaper to reair Disney shows on ABC Saturday morning are the norm.
Another thing you have to realize is that it's simply a different media world today than it was years ago. About 6 or seven big corporations control most of the media, and synergy is the name of the game. So things like Disney buying out ABC and deciding it would be cheaper to reair Disney shows on ABC Saturday morning are the norm.
fatpendulum
New member
Didn't NBC have educational 'toons on Saturday mornings?
Didn't they put most Saturday morning cartoons on video/DVD?
Didn't they put most Saturday morning cartoons on video/DVD?
People like to blame cable even though it has been around (and popular) since the `80s. They also like to blame the E/I thing even though there's a bunch of loop holes to it.
Here's the truth.
Big companies took over. Plain and simple. For example, there was once a time when CBS and Nick were two completely different things. Hence, why they both had seperate cartoons. Then, one day, Viacom decided to own both. So what happens? In order to save money, CBS airs repeats of Nick cartoons on Saturday mornings. Kids say, "whats the point" and ratings drop. And that's what happened. Saturday morning was dead. End of story.
Here's the truth.
Big companies took over. Plain and simple. For example, there was once a time when CBS and Nick were two completely different things. Hence, why they both had seperate cartoons. Then, one day, Viacom decided to own both. So what happens? In order to save money, CBS airs repeats of Nick cartoons on Saturday mornings. Kids say, "whats the point" and ratings drop. And that's what happened. Saturday morning was dead. End of story.
Reeses Pieces
New member
Kids and ANYONE can watch cartoons over the web.
Perhaps, but in the `90s (when I grew up) there was TNT Toons and TBS Disaster Zone which were basically the same thing as Cartoon Network today. TNT was like Boomerang, airing old cartoons like Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, and MGM. While TBS was like CN, airing new cartoons like Captain Planet and Jonny Quest.
So what? NickToons wasn't the reason to watch Nick back in the day. In the `80s there was VERY popular shows like You Can't Do that on Television, Mr. Wizard and Double Dare.
Plus in the `90s you had VERY popular kidcoms like Clarissa, Pete & Pete, and Salute Your Shorts. In addition to game shows like Nick Arcade and Get the Picture.
So what? NickToons wasn't the reason to watch Nick back in the day. In the `80s there was VERY popular shows like You Can't Do that on Television, Mr. Wizard and Double Dare.
Plus in the `90s you had VERY popular kidcoms like Clarissa, Pete & Pete, and Salute Your Shorts. In addition to game shows like Nick Arcade and Get the Picture.
What killed Saturday morning cartoons in a nutshell if you ask me:
*Media cosolidation - For instance Disney taking over ABC back in the late 1990s. Before this, you were able to catch a Disney related show on other networks. Take for instance, "The Little Mermaid" airing on CBS or "Gummie Bears" airing on NBC. There used to be a lot more variety in Saturday morning line-ups. Another example is a Looney Toons related program airing on Kids' WB (since both are/were controled by Time-Warner) instead of another network. Before the WB started, it was common place to see Warner Bros. produced shows like "Tazmania", "Tiny Toon Adventures", "Animaniacs", and "Batman: The Animated Series" on FOX for instance.
*24 hour cable channels - Cartoon Network/Boomerrang, Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, Toon Disney, etc. have pretty much oversaturated the market. Thus, Saturday mornings are no longer a premiere like event if cartoons are on the other days of the week, 24/7.
*The FCC - One of the worst things to happen to TV during the 1990s onward was the insitution of the Children's Television Act of 1990. This was followed by the even tighter Telecommuncations Act of 1996. This lead to the installment of the E/I mandate, which pretty much handcuffed networks/stations over what they could schedule in relation to children. This pretty much killed off any thing that could come close to making a profit like an action-adventure cartoon.
The Death of Saturday Morning Television
*Media cosolidation - For instance Disney taking over ABC back in the late 1990s. Before this, you were able to catch a Disney related show on other networks. Take for instance, "The Little Mermaid" airing on CBS or "Gummie Bears" airing on NBC. There used to be a lot more variety in Saturday morning line-ups. Another example is a Looney Toons related program airing on Kids' WB (since both are/were controled by Time-Warner) instead of another network. Before the WB started, it was common place to see Warner Bros. produced shows like "Tazmania", "Tiny Toon Adventures", "Animaniacs", and "Batman: The Animated Series" on FOX for instance.
*24 hour cable channels - Cartoon Network/Boomerrang, Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, Toon Disney, etc. have pretty much oversaturated the market. Thus, Saturday mornings are no longer a premiere like event if cartoons are on the other days of the week, 24/7.
*The FCC - One of the worst things to happen to TV during the 1990s onward was the insitution of the Children's Television Act of 1990. This was followed by the even tighter Telecommuncations Act of 1996. This lead to the installment of the E/I mandate, which pretty much handcuffed networks/stations over what they could schedule in relation to children. This pretty much killed off any thing that could come close to making a profit like an action-adventure cartoon.
The Death of Saturday Morning Television