Who Remembers Saturday Morning Cartoons?

Who remembers Saturday morning cartoons?  I remember them, but I’m not really sure when they actually died out.  I would imagine it was pretty close to the time that stations like Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and others, started broadcasting their programs pretty much 24/7. 

In my house, it was a contest.  Whoever got up the earliest got dibs on the only TV we had in the house.  Having a TV in our room, or even have an extra TV, was pretty much just unheard of.  So that meant first come, first served.  It also meant first come, first served for the giant box of sugary cereal that had been sitting patiently in the cupboard since about Wednesday or so.  We weren’t allowed to have it until Saturday.

I usually poured a giant bowl for myself and it usually overflowed once the milk was added.  The cereal box became a picture of deformity, because the first at the cereal also got dibs on the crappy prize that was hidden somewhere within the depths of the crunchy sugar bombs, and it was usually on the bottom.

There were seven of us competing, well, six really, my oldest brother decided he enjoyed sleep a  lot more than Saturday morning cartoons.

It’s a time-honored tradition that my children will never know because now cartoons are available right at their fingertips thanks to on-demand and Netflix.

Here are some of my favorites that you can actually still find on Boomerang and maybe even on Youtube.

Underdog – and his girlfriend Polly.  Cheaply made, but I loved it.

Grape Ape – A giant purple goril-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-aaaa.   Along with his friend Beagley, they would get into all kinds of shenanigans.

Superfriends – One of my all time favorites.  How can  you beat a crew of superheroes working together?

The Smurfs – Little blue things being constantly pursued by Gargamel the evil wizard.

Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour – Plenty of violence, but we turned out ok.

Along with the cartoons, there were some great live action shows from Sid and Marty Kroft like:

Sigmund and the Seamonsters

Land of the Lost

HR Puffnstuff

What were some of your favorites growing up?  Can you still see them somewhere today?