The Disappearance of Saturday Morning

ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE ^ | April 30, 2003 | By Gerard Raiti

[pinz-n-needlez]

I'm probably dating myself, but I remember watching My Friend Flicka, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Mighty Mouse. Sky King was the last program of the morning, then we had to start our Saturday chores. :-/

Pinz

[Rushmore Rocks]

Living in Germany in the late forties, I missed the Buster Brown radio show....but I did wear Buster Brown shoes...do you remember those?

A side note. I really believe my experience in post-war Europe helped form the strong patriot that I am today. I have vivid memories of the concentration camps I visited. Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Auschwitz. Scary stuff for the child I was then. The images are with me still. And it still frightens me. At the time, many condemned my parents for taking me to these sites. I am convinced they did a good thing. The experience served to make me love America and our freedom more than most.

[freedumb2003]

>>I can remember "Clutch Cargo," for crying out loud<<

Rocket Robin Hood anyone?

[gcruse]

The show was a direct offshoot of the Buster Brown shoes.
It started out "I'm Buster Brown. I live in a shoe. This is my dog, Tige. Look for him in there, too."

Then the show would start. Sometime later, when Froggy the Gremlin was to make his apperance, they'd say, "Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy" and he'd appear. Having never seen Froggy, I'd pictured him, being a gremlin and all, as something like a gnome or a dwarf. I had no idea he was a frog until that fateful day in 194? when I saw him on TV.

My earliest memories of the War were from hearing my parents talk about it. My father had been on a mine sweeper. Anyway, I thought Hitler and the Devil referred to the same spiritual personification of evil. Had no idea Adolf was a human.

I was raised under the constant threat of nuclear war. We lived in a city with an Air Force base, near the place where nuclear warheads were assembled, and the world's largest source of helium, which made us high on the USSR target list for some reason. 'Duck and Cover' probably influenced me in ways I still don't understand.

[yawningotter]

Looney Toons are funny but too un-PC, so the thought police have to remove the "offending" segments, which sometimes screws up the entire cartoon. I hate it when I am watching a classic and suddenly there is a sloppy edit and the storyline becomes disjointed. I never see anything like a character looking like they are wearing blackface after smoking an exploding cigar, much less the WW2 era depictions of Japanese. On the other hand, maybe someone could convince the censors that Bugs Bunny is PC since he is always cross dressing and kissing guys sarcasm off

[BradyLS]

Hard to believe the leftie fringe has killed yet another element of our culture.

They almost killed in the mid-70's!

I remember watching Star Blazers and G-Force (?) - too militaristic now .

Maybe, but they were great shows. Filmations old Star Trek was actually very well done considering their cast, their budget, and the network-imposed limitations on stories and action. There was a time when, for almost 15 years, NBC would (seemingky) only re-run the same four sanitized episodes of Johnny Quest. Samurai Jack very nearly pulled me back to watching TV again!

[BradyLS]

Boomeraction is good though, Thundarr, the original Jonny Quest, good stuff!

Heh, heh! What's funnay about Thundarr is that he NEVER uses the Sun-Sword on a living creature! Mechanicals and metal only. And the original Johnny Quest ROCKS. They broke the mold immediately after tha one.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

OK, now those guys gave me the creeps.

[BradyLS]

Stop that!

[BradyLS]

...and the terrible camera tricks by Filmation ("Fat Albert"). Gawd, what an awful decade.

I still shudder when I remember the 70's. I do, however, remember Fat Albert fondly. I don't think you can find episodes of that anywhere!

[BradyLS]

Kids today don't know just how good they've got it.

Ain't that the truth. I'd go broke buying the toys that my neice and nephew get for free from business sponsorships at their day-care.

[BradyLS]

Then there was Pixanne, who was a real babe back in the day.

Oh, man! A little off topic, but the woman who played Emmy Jo on New Zoo Revue killed me when I saw her in those white go-go boots in a age-old re-run.

[ladyinred]

I loved Buster Brown shoes! I always begged my parents for them. Of course, I hope they still make them so that it won't date me! :-)

[ladyinred]

Except for the cartoon channel, all that is on anymore are infomericals on Saturday mornings. YUK. NOt that I watch cartoons anymore anyway! :-)

[RadioAstronomer]

SpongeBob SquarePants is a great cartoon! Leaves me in stitches. LOL :-)

I almost NEVER watch TV, however, SpongeBob I will take the time for. :-)

[latina4dubya]

and the 70s also had School House Rock... i was in elementary school/middle school in the mid-70s, and come Monday morning, my friends and i would talk about the latest School House Rock songs more than the cartoons...

[Richard Kimball]

Emmy Jo was a babe.

She and Doug got married, and are still together.

[BradyLS]

OK, now those guys gave me the creeps.

Not sure which was the greater shock: watching Sleezestacks or the denizens of Lidsville. (Charles Nelson Reilly was completing off-color jokes on Match Game during that time, too!)

[BradyLS]

Emmy Jo was a babe. She and Doug got married, and are still together.

Well, that IS good news! I remember thinking: "Doug! Whataya waitin' for?!?"

[BradyLS]

School House Rock was great.

3? Now that's a magic number...