The Death Of Saturday Morning Cartoons

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kitterdafoxy

kitterdafoxy

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...this has been said for the past decade, but now we can say with absolute certainty that Saturday morning cartoons are completely dead. They have been slowly dying since the late 90's, but there were a few gems amongst the wealth of cheaply animated flash or CGI cartoons. But inevitably there would come a day when the flash cartoons, CGI imports, and streaming services would completely kill Saturday morning cartoons, that day has come. While Saturday morning cartoons may still exist in some countries (Australia and England are still going strong last I knew), in america they have widely been wiped out. Just 20 years ago, children would wake up at 7:00am, run downstairs and get some soda and chips, and then sit for hours on end watching mindless TV until the 12:00pm news came on. Nowadays they sleep till 12:00pm, grab some kale chips or whatever the hell kids eat, and stare at a small screen and watch youtube and play freemium games until their phones run out of charge and quit working. If this is where the american population is heading, I am truly scared for our future, I'm not even joking around.
 
kitterdafoxy said:
...this has been said for the past decade, but now we can say with absolute certainty that Saturday morning cartoons are completely dead. They have been slowly dying since the late 90's, but there were a few gems amongst the wealth of cheaply animated flash or CGI cartoons. But inevitably there would come a day when the flash cartoons, CGI imports, and streaming services would completely kill Saturday morning cartoons, that day has come. While Saturday morning cartoons may still exist in some countries (Australia and England are still going strong last I knew), in america they have widely been wiped out. Just 20 years ago, children would wake up at 7:00am, run downstairs and get some soda and chips, and then sit for hours on end watching mindless TV until the 12:00pm news came on. Nowadays they sleep till 12:00pm, grab some kale chips or whatever the hell kids eat, and stare at a small screen and watch youtube and play freemium games until their phones run out of charge and quit working. If this is where the american population is heading, I am truly scared for our future, I'm not even joking around.
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That seems like sortof a generational stereotype. Just because kids of this generation are not growing up with Saturday morning cartoons does not mean society is going to deteriorate to a point of mass chaos. If you look at it from a different perspective, when you were a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons, there was probably someone from an older generation looking at you and thinking the exact same thing. Every generation is going to evolve and change whether we like it or not.
 
Times change. Some things are lost, some things are gained.

Television as we know it is, in my opinion, on its way out. From an objective standpoint, the internet provides a much better way to distribute media, and being able to specifically pick what you want to watch rather than be tied to some schedule seems a no-brainier. The bandwidth is there, the hardware is cheap, the only reason cable TV is still a thing is that there is a huge industry with a vested interest in holding off progress in this area as long as possible. Big media has been doing everything in their power to crush this new model, but it's a losing battle and at this point it's just a matter of time. The same companies who have been trying to crush netflix for years are now spinning up their own competing services because they see it coming.

The question becomes, is this a good thing? As a geek, I generally think so. As a distribution platform, the internet is much more accessible. Television is controlled by a relatively small group of people, whereas anyone can post anything on the internet.

The only thing I'll miss is the lazy experience of watching "whatever's on". The internet really doesn't replicate that experience yet. You can't just turn it on, sit back, and absorb whatever happens to be on some broadly grouped theme channel. You can't really do that with cable now as it's 90% crap, but I really miss that experience from growing up. You could put on comedy or history or discovery and it would probably be something interesting (now you just get reality TV dreck for all 3). Maybe some day some internet based service will provide something similar. No reason they couldn't, I just don't think anyone has yet.
 
It is sad but the poster above me has a good point. When I was a kid my mom hated the fact that I watched cartoons, she said it was all mindless crap.

So each generation has and always will think the next generation is going downhill.

BUT

One thing that does bother me is the fact that childhood is slowly being weened out and maybe that's what the op is refering to.

Take nickelodeon for example like 90% is geared toward teenagers, shows like 16 and pregnant are paying teenagers to basically publicize the loss of their childhoods and while that show has caused a reduction in teen pregnancy rates since it aired (they did studies) that doesn't make me any more comfortable about it.

Kids who actually act like children are being forced onto hardcore medications to calm them down an I worked as a birthday party clown for a while and one of the worst things I noticed was most parents inability to interact with their children on a childish level.

We've forgotten how to be kids and because of that kids are trying to grow up too fast.

That bothers me more that the loss of cartoons. The loss of Saturday morning cartoons is a symptom of the problem.
 
I never really woke up on Saturdays to watch the shows because I never was an early bird. I always got up late around 9 or 10. But these days we have channels that show kids shows 24/7 so Saturday morning shows are useless IMO. Now channels are playing preschool shows now late in the day instead of morning.

My mom told me when she was a kid, TV would go off air at night but now today it's on 24/7. I wonder if anyone ever had anything to say about that? ;)
 
"telivision 24/7??? That's gosh darn rediculous!!! What do they think we are a bunch if lazy good for nothing commies? Do they think we ain't got nothing better to do in the eavining than sit around and watch the telivision? No! Night time is family time I tell ya! And for sleeping!

Martha can you belive this?"

"yes dear its rediculous."

"why back in my day we wouldn't have stood for this! There woulda been riots! People marching quietly through the street to them there telivision offices and demanding, DEMANDING I tell ya that this travesty be stopped! This world is falling to prices Martha."

"yes dear"

"soon we won't even have teachers, just a telivision in every classroom. No more doctors eaither just telivisions. What is happening to this country Martha?"

"I don't know dear."

"communist. It's the commies I tell ya. "



(this is how I imagine most of those coversations went when tv went 24/7)
 
Calico said:
My mom told me when she was a kid, TV would go off air at night but now today it's on 24/7. I wonder if anyone ever had anything to say about that? ;)
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I was always a late owl too, and I definitely remember a time where a lot of channels would go to color bars after around 1am (probably midnight the channels were being broadcast from). Some would just run infomercials.

Now that I think of it, infomercials arn't the thing they used to be. There are dedicated channels for them, but it's not like "the old days" where past a certain time just about every channel ran them. Where does one find out about knives that cut through exhaust pipes and pyramid marketing schemes.. oh wait *checks email spam*.. ah progress!
 
BoundCoder's first post has presented my view better than I ever could.

On a sleepless night or really pre-dawn hours, I looked thru the satellite TV guide and found a wasteland of endless informercials and 'shows' not worth watching. Those very few shows that I would consider, have been hacked up so badly to insert even more commercials, that they have lost any of their entertainment value.

The same media companies that are trying to hold on to this distribution method, are squeezing the life out of it and killing it. I can't wait for the return or maybe I should say, the re-invention of entertainment.
 
Penny said:
It is sad but the poster above me has a good point. When I was a kid my mom hated the fact that I watched cartoons, she said it was all mindless crap.

So each generation has and always will think the next generation is going downhill.

BUT

One thing that does bother me is the fact that childhood is slowly being weened out and maybe that's what the op is refering to.

Take nickelodeon for example like 90% is geared toward teenagers, shows like 16 and pregnant are paying teenagers to basically publicize the loss of their childhoods and while that show has caused a reduction in teen pregnancy rates since it aired (they did studies) that doesn't make me any more comfortable about it.

Kids who actually act like children are being forced onto hardcore medications to calm them down an I worked as a birthday party clown for a while and one of the worst things I noticed was most parents inability to interact with their children on a childish level.

We've forgotten how to be kids and because of that kids are trying to grow up too fast.

That bothers me more that the loss of cartoons. The loss of Saturday morning cartoons is a symptom of the problem.
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Yep, just what I ment, my generation (1990's) was the last decade where 7 year olds didn't want boyfriends, 8 year olds weren't playing FPS's, and nobody was in a hurry to grow up.
 
I'm from the same decade and I actually knew quite a few girls who wanted boyfriends and little boys were still violent lol but it seems to have gotten worse.

When I was a kid (I hate being THAT guy) but when I was a kid, riddlin wasn't so over prescribed, kids played outside a hell of a lot more and more often then not the kid in my building that actually had a sega earned it over the summer doin chores and we would all pitch in our allowance to buy games that we shared custody of to play it together.

When I was a kid I was outside riding my bike or going on adventures ( I got lost a few times but I found some cool stuff like the magic shop no one knew was in town)

Maybe that's why ADD was so unheard of when I was young, because kids were running off there energy rather than sittin in front of video games all day.

But things are changing.

I know quite a few parents who refuse to by non age appropriate games for their kids and even more who actually limit game and tv time and force their kids to go outside.

I saw a woman the othe day outside playing tag with her kids and that was nice to see.

Things like leap frog have made it possible for kids I learn while enjoying a game and I wish I had that when I was little.

It's kind of normal for each generation to think that there's was the good old days but if you think about it when the next generation of kids comes around its going to be this generation making the same complaints and observations that we are making now.

Our childhood was great and to us it was magical and as much as I freaking hate Justin beiber and 12 year olds ruinin voice chat on call of duty, for them this time is somehow just as magical and that's worth a chuckle at least.
 
Penny said:
I'm from the same decade and I actually knew quite a few girls who wanted boyfriends and little boys were still violent lol but it seems to have gotten worse.

When I was a kid (I hate being THAT guy) but when I was a kid, riddlin wasn't so over prescribed, kids played outside a hell of a lot more and more often then not the kid in my building that actually had a sega earned it over the summer doin chores and we would all pitch in our allowance to buy games that we shared custody of to play it together.

When I was a kid I was outside riding my bike or going on adventures ( I got lost a few times but I found some cool stuff like the magic shop no one knew was in town)

Maybe that's why ADD was so unheard of when I was young, because kids were running off there energy rather than sittin in front of video games all day.

But things are changing.

I know quite a few parents who refuse to by non age appropriate games for their kids and even more who actually limit game and tv time and force their kids to go outside.

I saw a woman the othe day outside playing tag with her kids and that was nice to see.

Things like leap frog have made it possible for kids I learn while enjoying a game and I wish I had that when I was little.

It's kind of normal for each generation to think that there's was the good old days but if you think about it when the next generation of kids comes around its going to be this generation making the same complaints and observations that we are making now.

Our childhood was great and to us it was magical and as much as I freaking hate Justin beiber and 12 year olds ruinin voice chat on call of duty, for them this time is somehow just as magical and that's worth a chuckle at least.
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Awesome way of putting it. Bravo!!! *applause*
 
I don't think it has anything to do with the popularity or quality of cartoons - it's just a reflection of the fact that services like Netflix, Prime Instant Video, On Demand TV/Catch-up services and DVD Boxsets offer people an easier and more popular way to watch their favourite cartoons, by providing them in bulk, and at any time you want them; as opposed to a single episode, on a fixed Saturday morning slot.

I suspect we'll see a similar decline for Late Night Talk Shows. People are now accustomed to enjoying the content they want, when they want. That naturally means that the 'certain shows at certain times' model of traditional TV programming is dying out.
 
cut the cord, don't let broadcast tv enslave you, binge on netflix instead! Also some things have improved since I was a kid, like bike helmets and safety, and people are starting to understand sports where you use your head like a battling ram are not good for the brain. Some people may hate it, some people hate helmets and try to claim hey when I was a kid we didn't need no helmets, I always tell them to google kid falls off bike and dies, there is a very long list, serious injury is very easy to do.
 
Sanch said:
I don't think it has anything to do with the popularity or quality of cartoons - it's just a reflection of the fact that services like Netflix, Prime Instant Video, On Demand TV/Catch-up services and DVD Boxsets offer people an easier and more popular way to watch their favourite cartoons, by providing them in bulk, and at any time you want them; as opposed to a single episode, on a fixed Saturday morning slot.

I suspect we'll see a similar decline for Late Night Talk Shows. People are now accustomed to enjoying the content they want, when they want. That naturally means that the 'certain shows at certain times' model of traditional TV programming is dying out.
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I Agree, in 5 years time, talk shows may become an oddity similar to Saturday morning cartoons, hell, in the U.S.A. late night talk shows are nothing but mindless jokes that rely heavily on Twitter. The last great late night comedian Jay Leno retired nearly two years ago, I highly suspect The Tonight Show, a show that started with the the great Johnny Carson in 1962, will be dead before its 60th anniversary celebration.
 
kitterdafoxy said:
I Agree, in 5 years time, talk shows may become an oddity similar to Saturday morning cartoons, hell, in the U.S.A. late night talk shows are nothing but mindless jokes that rely heavily on Twitter. The last great late night comedian Jay Leno retired nearly two years ago, I highly suspect The Tonight Show, a show that started with the the great Johnny Carson in 1962, will be dead before its 60th anniversary celebration.
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I think shows like Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson etc., will continue to exist, or else something in the same mould will, but the idea of early morning TV for kids, late night TV for adults is being rendered obsolete by the way our viewing habits are changing.
 
Sanch said:
I think shows like Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson etc., will continue to exist, or else something in the same mould will, but the idea of early morning TV for kids, late night TV for adults is being rendered obsolete by the way our viewing habits are changing.
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Yes, in some way late night television will always exist, but I highly doubt that The Tonight Show will last much longer if they keep relying upon Social Media. Social Media will likely fall out of style like AOL, MySpace, And GeoCities, I have no idea why, but every so often something new pops up and kills something else, kind of like FaceBook killed off MySpace. All it will take is something new and improved to kill of Twitter and FaceBook, and that new and improved thing might not always fit into The Tonight Show.
 
Great thread! I was a child of the 60's and that was the golden age of the classic cartoons. Bugs Bunny, Baby Huey (yay!) Woodie the Woodpecker, Casper the Ghost on and on... It was great! Just plain entertainment for children. No educational value no moral message no social training. Just plain FUN. Now what's left of saturday morning for kids ( and yes saturday morning WAS all about kids) is a bunch of tasteless crap churned out by a bunch of lame do gooders. Watch any of it and you'll see the social education being pushed in your face.:smile1: God how I loved watching Wiley Coyote getting an anvil in the head...
 
My grandchildren watch a ton of cartoon all the time, but they get them on their Ipads. They are 4 and 6 years old, and yes, have their own Ipads....sigh. But there are plenty of cartoons on TV. I have Direct TV and they are all in a cluster around 290, etc. They're also on PBS, shows like Dinosaur Train, Peg plus Cat, etc.

For some historical perspective. I was born at the end of 1947 and my adoptive parents were one of the first people to get glorious fuzzy, black and white TV. I would get up early on Saturday morning, like 7 a.m. while my parents slept in, and watch cartoons on the four or five channels which we were able to get. The first set of cartoons were old, silent cartoons which had a musical sound track. You may have seen some on horror movies as they were weird and often scary. Koko the Clown was one such series, drawn my Max Fleischer.

After that came cartoons like the original Woody the Woodpecker and Heckle and Jeckle. A little later came kid's shows like Circus Boy and Andy's Gang. This was early television and it was glorious for a 4 and 5 year old kid.

I've thought about dumping Direct TV and going internet, but like Penny said (was it Penny?), I like the idea of knowing what is currently playing on the major networks and not having to do a lot of work to watch shows that I know will run in order, week after week. Perhaps I need an ordered world, only found on television, where there is still some predictability in its continuing occurrence.
 
Penny said:
I'm from the same decade and I actually knew quite a few girls who wanted boyfriends and little boys were still violent lol but it seems to have gotten worse.

When I was a kid (I hate being THAT guy) but when I was a kid, riddlin wasn't so over prescribed, kids played outside a hell of a lot more and more often then not the kid in my building that actually had a sega earned it over the summer doin chores and we would all pitch in our allowance to buy games that we shared custody of to play it together.

When I was a kid I was outside riding my bike or going on adventures ( I got lost a few times but I found some cool stuff like the magic shop no one knew was in town)

Maybe that's why ADD was so unheard of when I was young, because kids were running off there energy rather than sittin in front of video games all day.

But things are changing.

I know quite a few parents who refuse to by non age appropriate games for their kids and even more who actually limit game and tv time and force their kids to go outside.

I saw a woman the othe day outside playing tag with her kids and that was nice to see.

Things like leap frog have made it possible for kids I learn while enjoying a game and I wish I had that when I was little.

It's kind of normal for each generation to think that there's was the good old days but if you think about it when the next generation of kids comes around its going to be this generation making the same complaints and observations that we are making now.

Our childhood was great and to us it was magical and as much as I freaking hate Justin beiber and 12 year olds ruinin voice chat on call of duty, for them this time is somehow just as magical and that's worth a chuckle at least.
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You're 29 ad you say ADD was unheard of. I am your age and I was diagnosed with it as a kid in the mid nineties so it was heard of. Also ADHD was a common thing in the 90's I hear, today it is now autism. I wonder what the next condition will be ten years later. It's 2015 and we have been out of the other decade for five years now and society still hasn't moved on from autism after it had gotten popular in the 2000's. I wonder how long it took in the 2000's for society to move on from ADHD to autism. I hear in the 80's it was AIDS and then it was ADHD in the 90's.


I think more kids have ADHD these days because schools have limited recess now or took it away and kids are expected to sit for longer periods of time and listening to the teacher talk and their brains are not developed enough to handle that so they fidget and don't pay attention. Kids need downtime to relax their brains and need to burn off some energy or else they will get tense and start fidgeting and not be able to focus. But is it really ADHD? Is that a wonder why some kids "grow out of it"? Then the sad thing is we drug these children when all we have to do is let them burn off some energy and stop expecting them to be mini adults and the "symptoms" will just go away but instead we drug them.
 
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