Saturday-morning cartoon

"Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre was a tradition from broadly the mid-1960s to mid-2010s; over time its popularity declined, in the face of changing cultural norms, increased competition from formats available at all times, and heavier media regulations.{{cite book |title=Kids' TV Grows Up: The Path from Howdy Doody to SpongeBob |last=Holz |first=Jo |publisher=McFarland |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4766-6874-1 |location=Jefferson, NC |pages=73–171}}{{cite web |url=https://www.awn.com/animationworld/disappearance-saturday-morning |title=The Disappearance of Saturday Morning |last=Raiti |first=Gerard |website=Animation World Network |date=April 30, 2003 |access-date=2024-03-20}}{{cite web |url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2021/05/the-rise-and-fall-of-saturday-morning-cartoons/ |title=The Rise and Fall of Saturday Morning Cartoons |last=Moss |first=Charles |website=The Saturday Evening Post |date=May 20, 2021 |access-date=2024-03-20}} In the last years of the genre's existence, Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were primarily created and aired on major networks to meet "educational and informational" (E/I) requirements. Minor television networks, in addition to the non-commercial PBS in some markets, continued to air animated programming on Saturday and Sunday while partially meeting those mandates.{{cite news |title=Pied Piper Of Cable Beguiles Rivals' Children |work=The New York Times |date=October 29, 1996 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/29/arts/pied-piper-of-cable-beguiles-rivals-children.html?scp=49&sq=Felix%20the%20Cat&st=cse |access-date=August 21, 2010 |last=Mifflin |first=Lawrie}}{{cite journal |author=Carlsson-Paige |first=Nancy |last2=Levin |first2=Diane E. |date=30 April 1990 |title=Mutant Ninja Turtles, Profits, and Children |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1990/0430/elevin.html |journal=The Christian Science Monitor}}

In the United States, the generally accepted times for these and other children's programs to air on Saturday mornings were from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone. Until the late 1970s, American networks also had a schedule of children's programming on Sunday mornings, though most programs at this time were repeats of Saturday-morning shows that were already out of production.{{cite web |last=McFarland |first=Melanie |date=September 14, 2002 |title=Saturday-morning TV gets ready to rumble |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20020914/kidshows14/saturday-morning-tv-gets-ready-to-rumble |access-date=June 9, 2014 |work=The Seattle Times}}{{cite web |title=It's Saturday Morning, Dude, Time for TV |work=The New York Times |date=January 5, 1997 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/05/tv/it-s-saturday-morning-dude-time-for-tv.html?scp=6&sq=Beetlejuice%20cartoon&st=cse |access-date=August 12, 2010 |first=Neil |last=Strauss}} In some markets, some shows were pre-empted in favor of syndicated or other types of local programming.{{cite magazine |title=Television: trouble in toontown |magazine=Time |date=November 25, 1996 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985595,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029213422/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985595,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 29, 2010 |access-date=August 12, 2010}}

History

{{See also|Children's programming on NBC|Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company|Children's programming on CBS}}

Beginning in the mid-1960s, the Saturday-morning timeslot would feature a great deal of series appropriate for children, although most of these were reruns of animated series originally broadcast in prime time and adventure series made in the 1950s, as well as telecasts of older cartoons made for movie theaters.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger/32306881/ |title=Saturday Morning Television Programs |newspaper=The Clarion-Ledger |date=December 5, 1964 |page=13 |access-date=2024-06-23}} Later in the decade, the slot would be dominated by superhero and action cartoon series, influenced by the success of Space Ghost.{{cite news |date=1968-04-06 |title=Saturday morning television programs, including Space Ghost and similar cartoons. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-eagle-sat-am-1968/147673261/ |access-date=2024-06-23 |newspaper=The Wichita Eagle |page=20}}{{cite book |title=The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity |date=October 30, 1989 |last=Sennett |first=Ted |publisher=Studio |pages= |isbn=978-0670829781}} These were heavily criticized by parents for their violence.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle/125892430/ |title=Protests Rise over TV Cartoons |newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle |date=December 3, 1967 |page=184 |access-date=2024-06-23}}

By 1972, most action programming had been removed from the Saturday-morning slot, following pressure from parents' lobbying groups such as the Action for Children's Television (ACT).{{Cite news |last=Gent |first=George |date=1972-01-13 |title=Networks Say They Eliminated Most Violent Children's Shows |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/13/archives/networks-say-they-eliminated-most-violent-childrens-shows.html |access-date=2022-08-24 |issn=0362-4331}} These groups voiced concerns about the presentation of commercialism, violence, anti-social attitudes and stereotypes in Saturday-morning cartoons. By the 1970s, these groups exercised enough influence, especially with the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), that the television networks felt compelled to impose more stringent content rules for the animation houses.{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419101063/pg_3/?tag=content;col1 |title=Saturday-Morning Cartoons |access-date=July 30, 2022 |encyclopedia=St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture |first=Paul |last=Pogue |year=2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710144540/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419101063/pg_3/?tag=content;col1 |archive-date=July 10, 2012}}{{cite web |title=Toy-based TV: effects on children debated |work=The New York Times |date=February 3, 1986 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/03/arts/toy-based-tv-effects-on-children-debated.html |access-date=August 10, 2010 |first=Peter |last=Boyer}}{{cite web |title=CONTROVERSY ABOUT TOYS, TV VIOLENCE |work=The New York Times |date=December 12, 1985 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/12/garden/controversy-about-toys-tv-violence.html |access-date=August 10, 2010 |first=Glenn |last=Collins}} In 1978, the Federal Trade Commission was openly considering a ban on all advertising during television programming targeting preschoolers, and severe restrictions on other children's program advertising, both of which would have effectively killed off the format; the commission ultimately dropped the proposal.{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Les |date=March 19, 1978 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/09/archives/tv-cartoons-face-dim-future-girding-for-change-contracts-can-be.html |title=TV cartoons face dim future |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=April 26, 2015}}

The networks were encouraged to create educational spots that endeavored to use animation and/or live-action for enriching content,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-act-impact-on-satu/134525541/ |title=Children's TV: Little by Little it's Getting Better |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |date=September 29, 1974 |page=448 |access-date=2024-06-23}} including the Schoolhouse Rock! series on ABC which became a fondly-remembered television classic, while CBS had the long-running children's oriented news series, In the News. In Canada concurrently, the National Film Board of Canada produced a roughly equivalent domestic series called, Canada Vignettes, although they were intended to be aired throughout the usual broadcast day. With the 1970s came a wave of animated versions of popular live-action prime time series as well, mainly with the voices of the original casts, such as Star Trek: The Animated Series, as well as imitations of the highly successful Scooby-Doo{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tribune-upi-article-fall-1974-saturd/136599802/ |title=TV Kiddie Shows Abound |newspaper=The Tribune |date=April 14, 1974 |page=22 |access-date=2024-06-23}} combining teen characters and talking animals with supernatural mystery stories.

By 1982, under President Ronald Reagan, the FCC had loosened programming and advertising regulations,{{cite news |last=Mauro |first=Tony |date=1982-01-12 |title=Rules Died after Reagan elected |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/statesman-journal/109373830/ |access-date=2024-06-23 |newspaper=Statesman Journal |page=15}} leading to the era of "half-hour toy commercials", starting with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and continuing with such series as The Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. These were heavily criticized by ACT, but were nevertheless successful.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/80956797/ |title=30-minute Commercials |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=June 7, 1987 |page=98 |access-date=2024-06-23}} As well, several more lighthearted series appeared, popularized by Hanna-Barbera’s The Smurfs and Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-youcanfindgoodshow/26397067/ |title=You can find good shows for kids Saturday morning |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=September 28, 1985 |page=45 |access-date=2024-06-23}} These included series based on popular video games, such as Saturday Supercade.{{cite news |last=Hastings |first=Julianna |date=1983-09-06 |title=What's new for kids on TV Saturday morning |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-saturday-morning/77952056/ |access-date=2024-06-23 |newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle |page=14}}

Action series performed better than most lighter fare because they could target an older audience, a distinction made crucially important with the introduction of the people meter in the mid-1980s. ABC, after noticing a sharp decline in its ratings when the meter was introduced, reasoned that its block was focused on preschool-aged children with shows such as The Care Bears Family and The Little Clowns of Happytown, and that such young children did not have the fine motor skills to operate the people meters. In 1988, ABC responded by commissioning new series based on legacy properties that would appeal to nostalgia and to a whole family audience, including reviving the Scooby-Doo franchise with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo{{Cite web |title=Tom Ruegger Is Back! |url=http://platypuscomix.com/people/ruegger2.html |access-date=2011-05-15 |website=Platypuscomix.net}}{{cite news | last = Roush | first = Matt | date = September 8, 1988 | title = On ABC: Portrait of Scooby as a young dog | url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/306108370 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230602/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/doc/306108370.html | newspaper = USA Today | page = 3D | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | id = {{ProQuest|306108370}} | url-status = live | via = ProQuest Archiver}} and commissioning The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh from The Walt Disney Company, both series being major successes.{{cite news |last=Winfrey |first=Lee |date=September 16, 1988 |title=ABC hoping Pooh can pull more than honey out a jar |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19880916&id=CqgeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6729,251354 |work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal |publisher=Knight Ridder |page=A9 |via=Google News Archive}} CBS likewise focused its content on established properties, bringing the comic strip Garfield (which had produced a number of successful specials already) to Saturday morning with what would become the long-running Garfield and Friends and pairing the show with live-action children's series hosted by fictional characters originally created for adult audiences, Pee-wee Herman (Pee-Wee's Playhouse) and Ernest P. Worrell (Hey Vern, It's Ernest!).{{cite news |date=June 21, 1988 |title=Here's what's coming for the kids this fall |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zuhVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6954%2C4914499 |newspaper=The Register-Guard (Oregon) |page=7A |via=Google News Archive |series=HIGHLIGHTS}}

=Decline=

Despite increased competition from cable television networks (such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney Channel),{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-75761403.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106075359/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-75761403.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 6, 2013 |title=Nick Retains Saturday Crown |work=Broadcasting & Cable |date=June 18, 2001 |access-date=October 30, 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2002/tv/news/kid-skeds-tread-on-joint-strategy-1117873477/ |title=Kid skeds tread on joint strategy |last=Bernstein |first=Paula |date=September 29, 2002 |work=Variety |access-date=July 14, 2018 |language=en-US}} Saturday-morning and weekday cartoon blocks continued to remain popular in the 1990s. Examples included Disney's Disney Afternoon in syndication, Fox's Fox Kids, UPN's UPN Kids, CBS's CBS Saturday, The WB's Kids' WB, and Amazin' Adventures (later Bohbot Kids Network) in syndication.

From 1992 however, the "Big Three" traditional major networks and their affiliates began replacing their Saturday-morning animated programming with weekend editions of their morning news programs,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-idaho-statesman-channel-7-to-offer-w/146427313/ |title=Channel 7 to offer weekend morning newscasts |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |date=March 17, 1992 |page=27 |access-date=2024-06-24}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-kelo-expands-morning-show/122112469/ |title=KELO expands morning show, KDLT adds "In Focus" |newspaper=Argus Leader |date=August 30, 1997 |page=9 |access-date=2024-06-24}}{{cite news |url=http://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-call/141519961/ |title=Saturday Morning television guide |newspaper=The Morning Call |date=October 17, 2004 |page=160 |access-date=2024-06-24}} and live-action teen-oriented series.{{cite news |last=McFarlin |first=Jim |date=1992-09-19 |title=Merrie Melodies and More! NBC replaces cartoons with fare for teens |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-news-merriemelodiesandmor/7285447/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |newspaper=The Journal News |page=15}} Multiple factors contributed to the change, among them an increasingly competitive market fueled by the multi-channel transition,{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/business/media/25kidstv.html?_r=1 |title=Fox Ends Saturday-Morning Cartoons |work=The New York Times |date=November 25, 2008 |access-date=October 2, 2009}}{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2002/tv/news/kid-skeds-tread-on-joint-strategy-1117873477/ |title=Kid skeds tread on joint strategy |last=Bernstein |first=Paula |date=September 29, 2002 |work=Variety |access-date=July 14, 2018 |language=en-US}} a boom in first-run syndicated content{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/19/business/the-media-business-nbc-considers-scrapping-saturday-cartoons.html |title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; NBC Considers Scrapping Saturday Cartoons |last=Boyer |first=Peter |work=The New York Times |date=September 19, 1988 |access-date=September 10, 2013}} and the introduction of home video and video games; increasing restrictions on advertising and educational content mandates;{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Gail |date=September 30, 2014 |title=Saturday morning cartoons are no more |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/30/saturday-morning-cartoons-are-no-more/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150926160202/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/30/saturday-morning-cartoons-are-no-more/ |archive-date=2015-09-26 |access-date=October 2, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} and broader cultural changes stemming from an increase in no-fault divorces and the end of the post-World War II baby boom.{{cite web |last=Reito |first=Gerald |title=The Disappearance of Saturday Morning |url=http://www.awn.com/articles/disappearance-saturday-morning |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114200425/https://www.awn.com/animationworld/disappearance-saturday-morning |archive-date=2014-01-14 |access-date=October 2, 2009 |work=Animation World Network}}{{cite news |last=Harmetz |first=Aljean |date=June 7, 1988 |title=Kids Like Tube, But Tune Out Networks |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/06/07/kids-like-tube-but-tune-out-networks/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |agency=New York Times News Service}}

Attempting to pair the newscasts with the remaining cartoons was largely unsuccessful because the two program formats drew widely different audiences that did not lend themselves to leading in and out of each other, leading to viewership oddities (such as NBC's children's block having an average viewership age of over 40 years old);{{Cite web |url=https://variety.com/2003/tv/news/adults-discover-kiddie-programs-1117880923/ |title=Adults 'Discover' kiddie programs |date=23 February 2003}}{{cite web |last=Robb |first=David |date=June 20, 2016 |title=Preteen Saturday Morning Kids Shows Abandoned By Broadcast Networks |url=https://deadline.com/2016/06/kids-tv-shows-saturday-mornings-fcc-loophole-advertising-1201774658/ |access-date=June 26, 2016 |website=Deadline Hollywood}} by the late 2010s, all of the major American networks had shifted to live-action documentary programming, ostensibly targeted at teenagers to meet the educational mandates but less likely to cause a clash with the newscasts as the programming was genericized as much as possible to resemble reality television programming for general audiences found on most cable networks (or in the case of Dr. Chris: Pet Vet, general reality programming from overseas re-edited to comply with American mandates). This documentary programming also benefited from having less restrictive rules for advertising compared to programming targeted to children.

Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were largely discontinued in Canada by 2002. In the United States, The CW continued to air non-E/I cartoons as late as 2014; among the "Big Three" traditional major networks, the final non-E/I cartoon to date (Kim Possible) was last aired in 2006.

Legacy

This era continues to be satirized and/or spoofed in popular culture. The tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits was released in 1995, featuring covers of Saturday-morning cartoon themes from the 1960s and 1970s as performed by alternative rock artists.{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r229385}}{{Cite magazine |last=Stegall |first=Tim |date=May 1996 |title=Music Reviews |magazine=Alternative Press |volume=10 |issue=94 |pages=88–89}} The Netflix animated series Saturday Morning All Star Hits! parodies the mid-1980s to early 1990s era of Saturday-morning animation, such as Thundercats, Care Bears, ProStars, and Denver, the Last Dinosaur.{{Cite web |last=Radulovic |first=Petrana |date=2021-12-10 |title=Kyle Mooney’s Netflix show Saturday Morning All Star Hits! is a specific nostalgia rush |url=https://www.polygon.com/22826878/saturday-morning-all-star-hits-netflix-impression |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}} The science fiction animated series Futurama also spoofed 1970s and 1980s Saturday-morning cartoons in the episode "Saturday Morning Fun Pit".{{Cite web |first=Max |last=Nicholson |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/18/futurama-saturday-morning-fun-pit-review |title=Futurama: "Saturday Morning Fun Pit" Review |date=July 18, 2013 |website=IGN |publisher=j2 Global |location=San Francisco, California |language=en-US |access-date=December 22, 2016}}

References

External links

{{cite web |url=http://www.awn.com/articles/disappearance-saturday-morning |title=The Disappearance of Saturday Morning |last=Raiti |first=Gerard |publisher=Animation World Network |date=April 30, 2003 |access-date=January 10, 2016}}
[http://tviv.org/Saturday_Morning_1967_Grid_(USA) Saturday-morning grid of 1967, year of debut of Fantastic Four and Spider-Man]
[http://www.tvparty.com/sat.html TV Party presents the schedules and program profiles for every series the networks broadcast on Saturday Mornings from the mid-Sixties all through the Seventies.]
[http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3409002175/saturday-morning-cartoons.html St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture: Saturday Morning Cartoons]
{{cite web |url=http://www.current.org/1994/06/goal-ready-learn-engage-kids-parents |title=Goal for Ready to Learn: engage kids and parents |last=Everhart |first=Karen |publisher=Current.org |date=June 6, 1994 |access-date=January 10, 2016}}

Category:1960s neologisms

Category:Children's television in the United States

Category:History of animation

History of children's television programming in the United States

Category:Nostalgia television in the United States

Category:Saturday mass media

Category:Television terminology

Category:Youth culture in the United States

Category:Surrealism