What ever happened to Saturday morning TV? Come on. We ’80s and ’90s kids remember. We woke up early on Saturday morning, ate our cold cereal, and spent hours in front of the TV. Or, perhaps, we skipped breakfast altogether, knowing that our time spent in front of Saturday morning TV was worth it. Food? Nah. We were hard core.
While the argument of “children these days” has certainly been made more than once (or even a few thousand times) one cannot deny the pleasures that used to grace our tube-televisions back then were nothing short of amazing. Who can forget the advent of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” on Saturday morning TV? The three chipmunks? The ones that may not look quite as cool as the computerized ones now but were still a hell of a lot funnier?
What about “Dennis the Menace,” “He-Man,” “Ghostbusters,” and “Kidd Video?” “The Smurfs,” who were a reckless blue? Or the superstar “Jem,” who made Saturday morning TV truly outrageous? And I will never, no never, forget the show that had all the kids laughing, rooting for the underdog, and swooning at the characters — and the one that got me out of bed on those Saturday mornings when I was a tween: “Saved By The Bell.” Where have the days of Zack and Kelly, or of Screech and Lisa, gone?
They must be hiding somewhere with my pre-divorce, pre-grad school skin tone.
Saturday morning TV is a thing of the long-lost past
I know they have kid shows that are more appealing to most kids these days — I mean, let’s be honest. The cell phone that even Zack Morris uses is a complete brick, and soooooo not an iPhone, right? But I can’t help but think we had something special in those shows that made them so memorable and made Saturday morning TV a “thing” — the weekly party with our imaginary friends before we ran outside to spend hours playing with the real ones. While there are shows now that I certainly wouldn’t call terrible that are popular with the younger set, there is still no special morning dedicated to enjoy them.
I can imagine myself screeching this at my grandchildren while they play with their TV-carrying robots: “DVR? Ha! We didn’t have that. If you wanted to watch your favorite show, you had to be there. And no going back and finding it on YouTube, Hulu, or Netflix either. Dammit, my phone didn’t have a TV! It was plugged into the friggin’ wall!”
R.I.P. Saturday morning TV. You were an amazing part in the upbringing of so many. And no matter what kind of shows they create, or crazy new devices that are used to watch them on, Saturday morning TV will always, in my mind, reign as the ultimate joy of my early childhood.
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Yep, so true… The days of Speedy Gonzalez, Bugs Bunny, Tweety bird, Foghorn Leghorn, Roadrunner, and Daffy Duck are gone… I remember when the Beatles cartoon was on Saturday morning… There was Penelope Pitstop, the original Johnny Quest, and even a Star Trek cartoon… Further back I remember Tom & Jerry… But ultimately at 5 am, early dawn – was the Lone Ranger and the Cisco Kid serials… What glorious memories… No regrets… My folks always kicked us out of the house by 10 am regardless…