# Apparently yesterday was the last day that cartoons were aired on Saturday mornings on broadcast TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793 "2014-09-28T18:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/61 "2014-09-29T23:37:39Z")
Huh. I hadn’t thought of Saturday-morning cartoons in donkey’s years. But now that I’m aware of this, how sad. It was definitely a big part of being a child. They started really early in West Texas, I think as early as 6am some years, although like others have pointed out, that was more the local station’s doing. It’s how every weekend started. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/62 "2014-09-30T14:23:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Agreed. The animation was always crappy, but the writing and voice acting were both very good. > > I always thought it interesting that James Blish would take hour-long episodes of _ **TOS** _ and boil them down so that seven or eight would fit into a paperback, while Alan Dean Foster would take three episodes of _ **TAS** _ and expand them to fill paperbacks of the same size. The only one I really recall was the adaptation of Larry Niven’s “The Soft Weapon”, with Spock instead of a Pierson’s Puppeteer kicking the Kzin commander. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/63 "2014-09-30T16:41:33Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Actually, it’s only the kids _whose parents have cable_ who can still watch cartoons when they like; the ones who _don’t_ have cable can’t. We cancelled our DirecTV plan before my son was born 2.5 years ago…he manages to watch all the cartoons he wants (read: all the cartoons we allow him to watch), 100% on-demand, on Amazon/Netflix live streaming on our smart TV, Roku, iPad, etc. We have Hulu as well, but they aren’t big on cartoons. We already had an Amazon Prime account for the free 2-day shipping, so we pay a grand total of about $16/month for all of our streaming needs. It’s not cable or nothing these days, not by a long shot. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/64 "2014-09-30T17:00:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _ **ST: TAS** _ was the only thing I watched on Saturday mornings in the '70s.! > [@MacLir](#): > > The only one I really recall was the adaptation of Larry Niven’s “The Soft Weapon”, with Spock instead of a Pierson’s Puppeteer kicking the Kzin commander. FYI, Star Trek: The Animated Series is on Netflix instant streaming, which is where I saw it recently. It was funny and unexpected for me to see that episode, because I read the story and was familiar with the Niven’s universe, but never knew it was adapted to Star Trek! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/65 "2014-09-30T17:43:41Z")
The cartoons in my area ended with the words, “SOOOOOOUUUUUUULLLLL TRAAAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNN!” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/66 "2014-09-30T18:07:04Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > The only one I really recall was the adaptation of Larry Niven’s “The Soft Weapon”, with Spock instead of a Pierson’s Puppeteer kicking the Kzin commander. The episode that stands out for me is “Yesteryear,” written by Dorothy Fontana. While Kirk and Spock are using the Guardian of Forever to do some research, Spock is wiped out from history and replaced by an Andorian first officer that everybody is familiar with except Kirk and Spock. Spock must use the Guardian to go back to when he was a youth on Vulcan to prevent his earlier self from dying. Mark Lenard guest stars as Spock’s father, Sarek. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/67 "2014-09-30T18:18:32Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I won’t even mention the '80s, when cartoons started to be based on the products they were pushing, had the crappiest possible writing and animation, and subjected little kids to non-stop blaring rock music. No wonder so many adults are all but brain-dead today! Yeah there was some real garbage in there: Pac-man Rubik, the Amazing Cube Shirt Tales - from that magical time when America was enamored with anthropomorphic animals wearing t-shirts Care Bears Pound Puppies I could really go on for a while. But there was good stuff in there too. I remember enjoying The Littles, Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Dungeons and Dragons, Muppet Babies, IIRC Transformers originally only aired on Saturday mornings (where I grew up at least). Here’s a year-by-year lineup for the entire decade: > **[In The 80s - Saturday Morning TV Schedules of the 80s](http://www.inthe80s.com/saturdays.shtml)** > > A saturday morning TV schedule for the 80s, a list of what shows where on TV and at what time they showed in addition to the channel they were on ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/68 "2014-09-30T18:38:49Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Wiki also says he was a forklift operator, and there’s also [video of that.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjOvI0TOx98) 😉 Lol, sneaky video. I still remember that ABC did an “Up Close and Personal” feature on him during the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics that showed him at his day job driving his forklift. Wonder if that’s on youtube somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/69 "2014-09-30T20:06:59Z")
A few words from TV writer [Mark Evanier](http://www.newsfromme.com/2014/09/30/saturday-morning-cartoons-r-p/) on how Saturday morning cartoons worked, why they started to decline, and why they’ve finally vanished altogether. I admit that I, too, am surprised that cartoons on Saturdays mornings were still around, even in limited form, even though they were a regular ritual for me when I was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/70 "2014-09-30T20:08:26Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > It was funny and unexpected for me to see that episode, because I read the story and was familiar with the Niven’s universe, but never knew it was adapted to Star Trek! I was the other way - saw ST:TAS episode first, then when I read Niven I’m all “wait! I’ve seen this somewhere before!” I thought he might have written the episode directly, not had his story “adapted” (that is, crammed in where it doesn’t fit). I also had some fan-based book (pre internet, of course. probably mimeographed) that had the “history” of the Federation. The author tried to fit everything in, so it was really funny having him try to fit The Slaver Weapon in to the timeline. Now there were FOUR Man-Kzin wars to fit in there with the Romulan war, and the Klingon Wars, and World War III, and the “twentieth century brush wars on the Asian continent”, and the Eugenics Wars, plus the development of Warp Drive, the Nomad probe etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. All made to fit in a period of less than 300 years. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/71 "2014-09-30T20:47:04Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I admit that I, too, am surprised that cartoons on Saturdays mornings were still around, even in limited form, even though they were a regular ritual for me when I was growing up. I think Evanier misses an essential point: I loved watching cartoons on Saturday (and Sunday) mornings _precisely because it **was** a ritual_. I didn’t have to go to school, my parents and older brother were still in bed, and for several glorious hours, I had the house all to myself and could crash on the living room floor to watch whatever I wanted and eat all the junk food I wanted. When the adult stuff started coming on after noon, I knew I was free to leave the house and go play Army down by the railroad tracks the rest of the day. And the next time I saw my friends, we would talk about the cartoons we had _all_ seen _at the same time_ and probably re-enact bits of them. Watching cartoons on a laptop at any random time of day, any day of the week, with no shared experiences, is just _not_ the same thing! BTW, does anybody remember \*\*this show \*\*(or its reboot)? I used to watch it on Sunday mornings in Minneapolis even when I was in high school. You could always count on it to have really cool guests, some of which may have gone over the heads of the littler kids (e.g., Evel Knievel, LeRoy Nieman, Olympic athletes, the Jacksons), along with science-y and other educational stuff: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA8iC1niJ4E) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/72 "2014-09-30T20:54:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > BTW, does anybody remember \*\*this show \*\*(or its reboot)? I used to watch it on Sunday mornings in Minneapolis even when I was in high school. You could always count on it to have really cool guests, some of which may have gone over the heads of the littler kids (e.g., Evel Knievel, LeRoy Nieman, Olympic athletes, the Jacksons), along with science-y and other educational stuff: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA8iC1niJ4E](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA8iC1niJ4E) Brownie points if you can still sing the theme song from memory! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793/73 "2014-10-01T12:52:46Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Yeah there was some real garbage in there: > > Pac-man > Rubik, the Amazing Cube > Shirt Tales - from that magical time when America was enamored with anthropomorphic animals wearing t-shirts > Care Bears > Pound Puppies > > I could really go on for a while. But there was good stuff in there too. I remember enjoying The Littles, Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Dungeons and Dragons, Muppet Babies, IIRC Transformers originally only aired on Saturday mornings (where I grew up at least). > > Here’s a year-by-year lineup for the entire decade: > > [In The 80s - Saturday Morning TV Schedules of the 80s](http://www.inthe80s.com/saturdays.shtml) My wife recently got my 3-year old daughter hooked on _Jem_\. (On Netflix if you’re a sadist) I did not need that back in my life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-yesterday-was-the-last-day-that-cartoons-were-aired-on-saturday-mornings-on-broadcast-tv/699793.md?page=3)