For half a century, Saturday morning children's programming (Saturday Morning Cartoons as a shorthand… even if they weren’t always cartoons) were an American institution. Countless series came and went for only one season. Or perhaps a season and a half. But even short-lived shows like Speed Buggy and Hong Kong Phooey lived on in reruns and marked their territory on pop-culture. Other shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Real Ghostbusters, The Smurfs, Pokémon, X-Men and dozens of others were appointment television for tots, tykes, grammar school pupils, a few fringe tweens and teenagers with the drapes closed in their TV rooms.
Needs and times change, and so did television as a medium. Cable TV waged a war of attrition on the old networks. Eventually the need to wake up at a specific time to cartoons and children's programming was eliminated thanks to 24 hour networks such as Cartoon Network. Slowly but surely, the big networks ABC, NBC and CBS put the final skewer in their long-enduring Saturday morning lineups. ABC rebounded with ABC Kids and the other edgy networks Fox and the WB (later the CW) held on with Fox Kids, 4Kids TV, Kids WB, the CW4Kids but eventually the only game left in town was the CW Vortexx which eventually petered out unceremoniously with a wayward episode of Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal in 2014.
And though they are obsolete as a format -- even more obsolete thanks to the buffet of streaming services -- , I can't help but feel a great orange glow of nostalgia for Saturday Morning Cartoons. Some of my earliest memories of watching TV and getting excited about what's playing on the boob tube come from the red sky episodes of Ninja Turtles on CBS or new episodes of Power Rangers. The Twisted Tales of Felix ignited my life-long interest in the character.
Thankfully, some of the major right's holders have listened and are bringing back the spirit of Saturday mornings with a modern twist. To promote the upcoming release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife the official Ghostbusters YouTube channel has been uploading episodes of the Ghostbusters animated series: The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters one episode at a time on Saturday mornings to recreate the experience. Newer fans can get excited for the show, the same way 80's and 90's kids did, while older viewers can time travel back to the Reagan years.
Hasbro has also followed suit by employing a similar strategy uploading episodes of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Re-versioned) and Power Rangers Dino Thunder to the official Power Rangers YouTube page on Saturday mornings. Power Rangers Dino Thunder was a legacy season that made several references to the older days and remains a fan favorite.
What do you think of this strategy? What other series would you like to see released this way? What were some of your favorite Saturday morning programs? Let us know in the comments below! Be sure to check out the video links above and below!
