Tis the season, well once upon a time this was the season for new cartoons to be released on Saturday morning. The Saturday Morning preview shows would usually air the Friday evening before the premier the next morning. These programs would usually be in the form of a variety show and they would create a bit of buzz for me and my friends. Another method of learning about new shows coming out for the season was in comic books. The networks would usually take out full one or two page color ads to hype there new line-ups. I still adore those ads!
We all know how the government basically killed the concept of these once yearly treasures that we would watch every Saturday, so let’s just reminisce about the fun we had. Fun which, on occasion I still recreate from time to time. Yes, I made my 50th trip around the sun in May of 2020 and I still watch cartoons from my childhood. There are newer animated shows which I enjoy too, on a very regular basis. My view habits are not why I sat here to type about… my fond memories of Saturday Mornings are what is prompting me to write this entry today.
Every year we all had a favorite, sometimes two or three. The danger was if there were too many good shows between the three networks, there was a chance that some would overlap. In the early 80’s that wasn’t an issue because I had a Betamax to record another channel, but before we had that ability it was a real “Sophie’s Choice” for me to make each week. Man, I would KILL to have problems as difficult as that now in 2020.
There were the yearly standards of the Loony Tunes, Fat Albert, Scooby Doo, and the Super Friends, alongside the new crop of shows each year. Some shows were fodder that were attempting to cash in on the flavor of the minute, while others were definite gems that had staying power in our memories. Shows such as the Secret of Isis, Thundaar the Barbarian, Godzilla, Web Woman, Flash Gordon, Spider-Woman, Dungeons and Dragons, Janna of the Jungle, just to name a few. The didn’t last long, but they all made an impression upon me, and are all shows that I still watch to this day.
What shows do you remember waiting for each week? What were your favorites? Please let me know in the comments!
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2 comments
Brilliant post! And in my collection I have almost all of those ads you’ve shown 🙂
For us, it was like a religion to get up early Saturday morning, have breakfast while watching cartoons, then go out and play. In the UK we had just about most of the US shows imported. My memories of the best are Spider-Man, Hulk, Batman, mostly superhero stuff come to think of it, but we also had Scooby-Doo and Sesame Street, and adaptations of things like Robinson Crusoe, pirate and swashbuckling stuff, and Godzilla films. Plus, there was the British TV staples like Tiswas, Why Don’t You, and Swap Shop… which often incorporated a cartoon in part of their show.
Basically – we were spoilt no end as kids when it came to Sat morn TV 🙂
Yes! It was akin to a religion, indeed. In the afternoons we had Kung Fu Theater to watch, where I was growing up. Great times.