How Do Kids Get Their "Cartoon" Fix Today?

[Markxxx]

I don't have kids, so I wouldn't know.

I recall when I was a wee little shaver, we'd have cartoons in the morning from 6:30am to 8am and then after school from 3pm - 5pm there was always cartoons. The afternoons had cartoons as well. This was Chicago so we had Bozo's Circus, which showed cartoons.

Then on Saturday mornings we had the network cartoons.

We had everything from Looney Tunes, Pink Panther, Flintstones, Krazy Kat, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, Bullwinkle & Rocky, Tennessee Tuxedo, Banana Splits, Mr Magoo, Yogi Bear etc etc.

But now there are no cartoons on anymore, except PBS which has Arthur and a few others which are OK but too educational for my adult taste. I mean when are we gonna see Arthur drop an anvil on DW's head? And it's not like she doesn't so deserve this.

But question to parents, do kids just not watch cartoons, or do they watch them on DVDs or is there more on cable I don't get?

Do you think there are more cartoons or less for kids to watch now? I mean when you figure in DVDs, cable and the Internet.

[Covered_In_Bees!]

They probably watch Cartoon Network. Or The Disney Channel. Or maybe ABC Family, but I'm not totally sure they show cartoons.

[cochrane]

Nickelodeon shows a lot of cartoons in the mornings and afternoons. There are also Toon Disney, and NickToons, which are usually on a digital tier of cable channels and not included in the basic package. And there's Boomerang, on which Cartoon Network shows older Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound and which apparently isn't going to be on my cable system in my lifetime.

[squeegee]

But question to parents, do kids just not watch cartoons, or do they watch them on DVDs or is there more on cable I don't get?

Are you kiddin' ? With a DVR and cable, kids can (and sadly do) watch cartoons all day. I think there's about 100 hours right now of cartoons all recorded and available instantly on the set my son watches.

And we're actually in another golden age of cartoons, in my opinion. There's more animated stuff being produced these days, much of it pretty good, than there's ever been. Some of the old stuff (WB) ruled, but a lot of it didn't, and now you can choose what to watch when.

[Jihi]

I'm from a slightly later generation than the OP but I to remember watching cartoons on the networks when I was kid, (80's early 90's), in the mornings before school and the afternoon after I got home. It disappoints me to know that my own traditions aren't being observed anymore.

To reitereate, there are a half dozen cable channels now dedicated to cartoons, (both classic and contemporary), so I imagine that's what most kids avail themselves of. Combined with DVRs, "on demand" options and the ubiquitousness of DVDs I'm sure they're not missing out on anything. If there had been cheap complete season sets of things like Ghostbusters, Ducktales, or Batman when I was a kid I wouldn't have felt deprived.

I don't have children myself but most of my friends do and I know they make extensive use of cheap DVDs and filling up their DVRs with stuff to keep the kids occupied.

[2ply]

Saturday morning cartoons aren't a big deal because kids can watch animated programming24 hours a day on cable channels Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Toon Disney and Nicktoons, and make up a big part of Nickelodeon and Disney Channels's schedules.

Cartoons vanished on the networks in the 90s because Nickelodeon began beating CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox in the ratings on Saturday mornings. This was back when losing to cable was so unheard of that the networks were insulted and said to hell with it. They then found that they can get better ratings by airing weekend editions of their morning news shows in the place of cartoons.

I was part of the generation that migrated from the networks to Nick and Cartoon Network for my cartoon pleasures. Before my family had cable, I would watch Saturday morning cartoons on the networks just because I loved cartoons so much and it was my only option. But then we got cable and Nickelodeon began stuff like Doug and Rugrats wich were so much BETTER than what was on the networks. I mean, I was in elementary school at the time and even I could see than the networks didn't care about the quality of their children's shows. But Nickelodeon had some real amazing standards back then. Warners Brothers were making a lot of really great stuff like Batman and Tiny Toons and Pinky and the Brain for Fox and the WB, but even that all migrated to Cartoon Network a few years ago.

[cochrane]

Don't forget "Spongebob Squarepants" on Nickelodeon, which seems to be the most popular non prime time cartoon ever.

[Drunky Smurf]

Yeah the cartoon channels took over which I don't mind most of the time but damnit I want to watch Saturday morning cartoons on the network channels. They only stopped doing this the last couple of years. Now the only things that are on are an episode or two of Sonic the Hedgehog then several episodes of Degrassi High (or whatever) then one episode of TMNT. And that is on one channel all the others have weekend news. It sucks. It literally was just a couple of years ago where I would get up at 6 and watch cartoons on the networks until noon. These days I watch the BBC on weekend mornings.

[Intergalactic Gladiator]

My kids get their cartoons from PBS and Qubo mostly. Qubo has some decent shows, but it's also got it's share of crap. Qubo is in Chicago on either channel 38-2 or 38-3.

In addition, we have and rent DVDs and watch stuff online at Netflix or wherever else. I love cartoons and I kind of miss the Saturday morning thing, but there are options out there.

[A Monkey With a Gun]

Originally Posted by 2ply

Cartoons vanished on the networks in the 90s because Nickelodeon began beating CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox in the ratings on Saturday mornings.

I remember watching an interview at the time with Nickelodeon's program director. They had just recently changed direction to more animated shows and she looked like the cat who ate the canary. Then she started talking about a new cartoon they had in development but hadn't aired yet. It was about a cartoon sponge that lived on the bottom of the ocean, and her smile just got even bigger. She knew the ratings juggernaut she was about to unleash.

I liked her; the network is a pretty impressive success story.

[mswas]

LOL there are like ten cartoon channels. There are more options for cartoons today by far than there were when I was little.

[mswas]

The best cartoon on TV today IMO. Phineas and Ferb

[mobo85]

Originally Posted by mswas

The best cartoon on TV today IMO. Phineas and Ferb

Oh, I agree. And if you're going to post a song from the Love Handel episode, at least let it be the one they got the Emmy nomination for.

And since it's so dang amusing, have an extra helping of Squirrels in My Pants. And whatever the heck this thing is.

[fiddlesticks]

PBS (or at least a PBS station in Georgia) runs a bunch of cartoons on weekend mornings, as I've learned when I'm home and my going-on four year old nephew is around.

Plus he's probably seen Cars 1000 times. Good thing DVDs don't wear out like VCR tapes used to.

[pancakes3]

there are specifically 3 cartoons that i miss.
1 - animaniacs. brilliant in their humor and wacky enough to keep kiddies interested. enough jokes went WHOOSHING over my head a few years ago to make rewatching it an entirely new experience.

2 - tiny toons. sophisticatedly wacky, if that makes any sense. a nice blend of the more vaudvillian loony toons but with a modern twist. notable bits: plucky duck in music videos of Yakkity Yak and Istanbul (not Constantinople). Awesome dichotomy of evil with Max and Elmira.

3 - The critic. Sensible, real world satire in a cartoon show that doesn't rely on gimmicks, shock value, or cameos for laughs. possibly the only role that i find jon lovitz riotously funny in. it was truly an animated sitcom - much moreso than the simpsons. the arrested development of the cartoon world imo.

all the other stuff is pretty much trash. cheezy 80's action cartoons (thundercats, gi joe, transformers) fading into gross potty 90's cartoons (ren and stimpy, beavis and butthead, rocko's modern life) and giving way to Disney channel's endless stream of teen-in-relatable situation cartoons (phineas and ferb, kimpossible, jake long, etc.)

[mswas]

Originally Posted by mobo85

Oh, I agree. And if you're going to post a song from the Love Handel episode, at least let it be the one they got the Emmy nomination for.

That's a good song, but I thought the rock retrospective one was very clever.

And since it's so dang amusing, have an extra helping of Squirrels in My Pants. And whatever the heck this thing is.

How can I qualify for government grants?

[The Hamster King]

I've been watching cartoons on TV since I was a kid in the 60's and I have to say, both in volume and quality, we're in the middle of a golden age right now. From the 70's through the 90's, most of kid's television was crap (with an occasional gem like Animaniacs or Freakazoid). Now there are a whole slew of hilarious, well-written, ORIGINAL cartoons for kids -- not just recycled theatrical shorts. Phineas and Ferb, Spongebob, Flapjack, Chowder, Fanboy and Chum Chum ... all of these are great shows. And that's not even counting adult-oriented shows on late at night like The Venture Brothers, Metalocalypse, or Robot Chicken.

[McGeek]

I'm with all those who say this is a GREAT age for cartoons. ftr I am 48 and saw some decades with really piss-poor kids shows - e.g., I have NEVER understood the love for scooby-doo. I am thrilled to be able to watch Sponge-Bob, Phineas & Ferb, and my favorite show of all time, animated or otherwise: Futurama. These 3 shows are pretty much the only shows that the whole family agrees on. Our 6-yr-old watches all of these with us, including seeing the Simpsons movie in the theater when she was 4.

[JXJohns]

Dora, Diego, and the Back Yardagains, pretty much rule my family room every afternoon when the little guys get home from daycare, or on the weekends.

[ToeJam]

My two year old cousin has been watching Youtube versions of her fav. songs and such as well since she was around one or so. Her parents know which videos she wants and she just gets her fix there- basically just clips or fav. songs that she's got, but besides that she uses the DVR feature and gets to watch cartoons anytime she wants (So I've gotten to see the Dora X-mas special about 10 times in the last few days while she's visiting).

[Icerigger]

I remember the cartoons on TV. My saturday morning started with Davy & Goliath at 6:45 am right after the test pattern, station start up info (this is TV 12 broadcasting on a frequency of...) and national anthem. Favorites: Skyhawks, Hot Wheels, Speed Buggy.

[Anne Neville]

Do kids still get up early on Saturday morning to watch cartoons?

Originally Posted by pancakes3

2 - tiny toons. sophisticatedly wacky, if that makes any sense. a nice blend of the more vaudvillian loony toons but with a modern twist. notable bits: plucky duck in music videos of Yakkity Yak and Istanbul (not Constantinople). Awesome dichotomy of evil with Max and Elmira.

Season 1 is available on DVD now. The cartoons are still as good as I remember them.

[bouv]

Originally Posted by pancakes3

3 - The critic. Sensible, real world satire in a cartoon show that doesn't rely on gimmicks, shock value, or cameos for laughs. possibly the only role that i find jon lovitz riotously funny in. it was truly an animated sitcom - much moreso than the simpsons. the arrested development of the cartoon world imo.

The Critic was never really a children's cartoon...it was on during prime time, first on ABC and then it moved to Fox for a season. And I don't know how much you're remembering...ok, it didn't rely on shock value or random cameos, but it wasn't in any way just a sitcom that just happened to be animated. It had a LOT of fantastical elements to it. The Simpsons is much more grounded in reality.

The "kid from Easter Island" was in several episodes, and him and his family all had those giant stone heads as their actual heads. One episode had Klingons attending Marty's school, one featured the "Nightmare on Elm Street Preschool" where Freddy Kruger commanded a worm from Hell to devour the children who didn't nap, and so on.

Don't get me wrong, The Critic was a fantastic show that was waaaaaaay ahead of it's time (I mean, look at Family Guy. It does similar jokes (wackiness, lots of things that couldn't happen in the real world,) but The Critic was so much better at working them into the plot and not just doing them as random cut-aways. It's just not a sitcom that was by random chance animated.

[El Nene]

To the OP: Holy mother of crap, Are you kidding!? : ) My current channel lineup lists 13 different channels that show cartoons. Plus we subscribe to netflix so there's an entire line up of new and old cartoons available to watch instantly. Plus our DVD collection of the cartoons I watched when I was a wee lad. In fact, my 7 year old is going through my Tom & Jerry set right now. One more thing, some networks, like Nickelodeon, let you watch episodes of their shows on their website. These punk kids are spoiled today man.

[Malthus]

Originally Posted by JXJohns

Dora, Diego, and the Back Yardagains, pretty much rule my family room every afternoon when the little guys get home from daycare, or on the weekends.

Yup. I'll add: Thomas the Tank Engine (not new but ever-popular among the under-4 crowd) and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I'll add that the only one I can stand is Back Yardigans, because they do some cool klezmer sounding music.

Dora I particularly dislike, because its plot is so very rigid.

[Markxxx]

I didn't realize that there were so many cartoon networks. I can only see three in Chicago NW cable. I haven't had digital cable since 2004, so I guess a lot must've popped up since then

[Chicagojeff]

I tried to interest the kid in THe Flintstones and he laughed heartily at me.. he said it sucked and the background never changed.., he was equally contemptous of Bullwinkle.. and Top cat haha

I absolutely love Boondocks. but this is about the kiddies...

[Jeep's Phoenix]

I don't have kids, but I want to add another vote for Flapjack. The voicework and the quirky plots are really entertaining.

I remember watching Ren & Stimpy on the weekends as a kid...heck, I remember earning the privelege of having my parents' old VCR to hook up to the TV in my room so I could record the show. I was never a big fan of Doug, especially after one of the networks (ABC, maybe?) wrecked it. Rugrats was pretty good, but they hit a super-saturation point with the merchandise, and the show seemed to completely tank around that time.

[Nightingale]

Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse reign supreme at our house, along with a bevy of movies on VHS and DVD. Hubby and I have also introduced the kids to the Looney Tunes Golden Anniversary collection, which they love.

[aceplace57]

I casually turned on the tv early this Saturday morning. I rarely watch network tv on Saturday. I was surprised that ABC,NBC,CBS weren't carrying cartoons. One channel had one of those Daybreak shows on from 7AM to 9. The other channels had paid programming and some local real estate marketing shows.

One network finally showed cartoons from 9 till 11. The other two continued with local real estate crap.

What the heck happened? I remember fondly waking up at 6:45AM every Saturday and watching cartoons from 7AM till 11AM. ABC,NBC,CBS all carried cartoons. This was 1968-1974. I stopped watching after I turned 13.

I feel kind of bad for kids today. Not having even one morning of cartoons must suck.

Heck there's nothing for adults either. Who wants to watch real estate marketing? I've got a house already.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by aceplace57

I feel kind of bad for kids today. Not having even one morning of cartoons must suck.

You voodooed this thread back into existence and then didn't bother to read a single reply? Really?

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Another vote for Fanboy And ChumChum. The simple fact alone that they have a school janitor named "Janitor Poopatine" whom is a parody of Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars, and he has a levitating chair, wears a hooded robe just like Palpatine, speaks like Palpatine and has an episode dedicated to him where Fanboy destroys the "Dump Star" is just brilliant.

The fact that my 8 and 4 year old sons have seen the Star Wars movies and get the reference just makes me laugh.

[aceplace57]

I read the whole thread. I was simply confirming what was on Sat mornings in my region.

Cartoons on cable channels are mostly reruns. The networks used to run new stuff on Saturdays. There were other times I saw the older stuff like Merry Melodies and Tom & Jerry. They ran weekdays 7am till 8am. I'd watch until my bus came for school.