A decade ago, kids eagerly woke up early on Saturday mornings (7-8 o'clock early). They grabbed a bowl of cereal (preferably something with a lot of sugar) and sat down on their couches excited to see new episodes of their favorite cartoons. Even teenagers had a few shows to look forward to. TV was broken down into 30 minute slots. ABC, FOX, the WB, and NBC all offered a variety of Saturday morning programming, and we had to make difficult decisions about what to watch and when. Series such as Looney Tunes, Animaniacs, Batman, Spiderman, and even the Power Rangers offered pure entertainment. These shows were smart, funny, and a perfect way to relax after a week of school work.
Kids aren't as excited for Saturday morning TV anymore. Besides the steady decline of quality American television series, networks are putting less new programming on Saturday mornings. You can always catch an episode of the tenth (or so) Power Rangers spin-off, but you'll find a lot of reruns (especially of the Disney variety).
Switch over to cable, to Nickelodeon's Saturday morning schedule, and Spongebob Squarepants is on for at least an hour. Prepare for dumb-downed humor and annoying nasal voices…Reruns are likely too, since like other networks, Nickelodeon doesn't save the good stuff for Saturday mornings anymore. Disney and Nickelodeon both air new programming during the week now. Saturday morning TV has become Rerun Land.
But I don't want to talk about reruns. I want to discuss the decline in children's television--and not the education stuff. Just entertainment.
The 1990s brought back Looney Tunes and introduced a few new Warner Brothers cartoons. We had Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, but also Wacko, Yakko, and Dot on the Animaniacs. Tweety and Sylvester had their own show and so did Pinky and the Brain. Simple and pleasant animation, bright colors, witty characters, and a full orchestra produced all the music.
I realize a lot of 90s kids' show were violent. Elmer Fudd carried a rifle and shot Daffy Duck. Wile E. Coyote suffered all sort of injuries from falling Acme anvils, and Wacko regularly swung his giant wooden mallet. Somehow, though, that violence didn't stick. Daffy always pieced himself back together and Wile E. always popped up after flattening to the ground.
Maybe kids got the message that violence wasn't permanent, or maybe they were detached enough from the shows they watched to know it wasn't real. They knew cartoon characters couldn't be hurt but people definitely could.
Either way, humor and storylines balanced out the violence well enough that it wasn't a major issue. The result: Saturday morning cartoons were something children, teens, and adults could all enjoy. The slapstick humor in Animaniacs made kids giggle while adults picked up on the pop culture references. Batman had the superhero appeal for kids and the mature, developed storylines for adults. Can we still say that about current shows geared toward kids? Look at most of Disney's and Nickelodeon's programming, and your answer will be a forceful No. Even if you're able to tolerate an episode or two, by the end of the week you'll be sick of the trite storylines, the flat characterization, and the similarities among all the shows.
Come Saturday, you won't want to wake up to that kind of stale programming. You'll want a break from weekday series, something different and unique to kick off your weekend. I'm sorry, but you won't find it unless you invest in 90s cartoons DVD sets.
