by o there I was, snowed in on a Saturday morning, with a bad case of cabin fever. The one thing that would have made things better would have been to turn on the television and see Wile E. Coyote get hit in the head with an anvil, or see “those meddling kids” solve a mystery, or even see the Banana Splits introduce a really bad Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
As I flipped through the channels that once were saturated with mindless violence and animated clouds of smoke emanating from dragsters or space ships, I was crushed…CRUSHED…to see nothing but infomercials on juice mixers, political panel discussions, and computer-generated imagery (CGI) shows aimed at children that…well, the word I want to use to describe them is inappropriate for a blog.
Is this why society as we know it is falling apart? I have to think that Saturday Morning Cartoons kept the world balanced and happy. Honestly, who DOESN’T appreciate occasionally seeing Bugs Bunny giving the Monster a new hairdo? Has a vacuum of quality Saturday morning entertainment made the world stale and flat?
I kinda think so, kids.
What caused the decline of the Saturday Morning Cartoon? Studies have been done, statistics examined, panels assigned to investigate. Was it the availability of cartoons on VHS, able to be watched anytime? Was it the news programs bullying their way into the Saturday a.m. time slots? The speculation will go on until the end of time…
Me? I KNOW what killed it…SAVED BY THE BELL. Slyly worming its way in-between the Smurfs and Strawberry Shortcake, the live action tween exhibition infiltrated the cartoon buzz (helped along by those wonderful sugary cereals) with its inane dialogue, laughable acting, and dumbing-down of children everywhere WAY more than any cartoon ever did, and sent a GLOBAL GIANT crumbling to the ground.
I say it is time for a REVOLUTION…if the three big networks (well, four now) are FLOODED with letters from people who say they will refuse to watch their station any more unless they bring back Heckle and Jeckle and Thundarr the Barbarian, the suits will be forced to sit up and take notice.
Just look at the young generation…these poor children are deprived, never knowing the true rush of Saturday Morning Cartoons. They are empty, sad little souls. If you have a heart, won’t you please do your part to ensure that, never again, will a generation of children have to do without those wonderful, cheesy commercials about Fruit Roll-Ups and Star Wars toys? 
Can you picture it? A young girl of about four years of age, looking up at you with big brown eyes, and saying, “The Superfriends? I don’t know who they are.”
It truly breaks one’s heart, doesn’t it?
Of course, the Boomerang Network shows all of the old cartoons from the 60s, 70s and 80s all day, every day, and many of them also are easily available on DVD, but it’s the PRINCIPLE of the thing, REALLY
Fred-
Because I am older than you and somewhat a trivia buff on Warner Bros. cartoons, you should know that the “monster” that Bugs Bunny styled has a name. It’s “Gosamer”. Only one word ever spoken when he looks into the audience and shrieks “People!” and runs away.
Jim, that is so cool! I am just not sure if I should think you are really cool and hip for knowing that, or be worried that you have WAY too much free time. Looney Tunes were the bomb!!!