movies/tv The end of Saturday morning cartoons.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

I just found out today that cartoons won't be airing on Saturday mornings anymore. I heard it on the radio, and decided to look it up online, and sure enough, I came across articles like this one: http://www.mtv.com/news/1953575/saturday-morning-cartoons/

 

I figured this would be a good topic for discussion. How do you feel about this recent news? What were some of your favorite cartoons? Personally, most of my tv watching growing up happened after school, but I can't say I never watched tv on weekends. In any case, I don't agree with the shutting down of Saturday morning cartoon blocks, but I guess I can see the reasoning behind it, if cartoons aren't bringing in enough viewers. Feel free to weigh in on the matter.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

It is just another evolution as tv attempts to stay relevant and economic. While I may be saddened at the loss of something so classic in the american culture that making reference to it became a trope in children's movies it is just the modernization of the media.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

The two main reasons behind ending the Saturday morning era were the regulatory restrictions of the E/I requirement and influence of interest groups over network TV, and the economic reasons: the fact that cable networks had risen to take the audience share, audiences were splintering between different platforms, and all three of the major kids' networks currently have or have had common ownership with the broadcast networks (which meant broadcasting the shows on two different channels would be cannibalizing on their own company's ratings). You could arguably also combine this with Big Media's reluctance to embrace the Internet as an extension of the viewing experience.

 

Thus, it no longer made commercial sense for the networks to invest in the Saturday morning format and budgets were cut as a result.

 

In a way, the cartoons of today do in some way carry on the tradition by having their premieres on Saturday mornings, but the switch to cable has had both positive and negative effects on the quality of cartoons.

 

For one, they do have more creative freedom, so more unique styles are visible through the cartoons on cable. However, the fact that the audiences are now even more segregated from the original "family" demographic on age and gender lines meant a resurgence in cartoons that pandered to the lowest common denominators of their demographics (like most of the stuff on Nickelodeon, whose parent company interestingly put up that article). The Hub was the closest thing there was to reviving that focus on shows the whole family could enjoy, but unfortunately poor programming decisions and lofty expectations led to Hasbro giving up much too soon on the venture.

 

The format is evolving. Saturday morning cartoons themselves killed off the theatrical cartoon short. Logically, the next big thing should be Internet originals, but at the moment it would be a major feat to pull off the same kind of success you would get from a cable or Saturday morning cartoon on many of the Internet channels currently available, unless Netflix and Amazon were more willing to invest in the kind of cartoons people would actually want to watch, and not commercialized, pandering crap like Turbo F.A.S.T.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Wind Chaser

[silvadel 1,393]

Schoolhouse Rock.  There was a time when that was the only place to see cartoons.

[King Sejong 859]

   'Tis a sad day, the end of an epoch, I am glad to have enjoyed Saturday morning cartoons, I am glad to have enjoyed weekday afternoon cartoons, I have such fond memories of such entertaining media, I will cherish forever, and I am grateful to share these memories with others my age too. Nothing lasts forever, I hope the internet can give us a new median to enjoy what we lost on television, I watch MST3K on the internet, I have the DVD's too, on one hand I am hopeful that we can enter a new phase in entertainment and information via the internet, where we can watch what we chose to watch, not some condescending, corporate nonsense like Dora the Explorer or anything Disney produces, there could be a new epoch of internet shows, animated and live action, I am glad to see the Nostalgia Critic, and others on Channel Awesome, although I will miss Saturday morning cartoons, I have hope that we will see a renaissance in media, outside the rubbish greedy corporations feed us, in order to buy their hollow promises.

[Megas 27,752]

Saturday Morning cartoons were the only thing that could make a 5-year-old Megas wake up early on weekends, even in high school I'd still wake up early to see if they were showing anything I liked(I liked the 4kids dub of Yu Gi Oh, sue me)

 

The 5 year old in me is weeping right now

[Magnum Flare 553]

So, what does it mean for MLP? Can the show schedule be changed completely? I hope not. Saturday morning is the best time for morning shows actually.

[Dattebayo 2,850]

Hnng

Muh nostalgia

 

I will look for whoever did this

I will find them

And I will scare them pretty good

[deadprofile 1,122]

I actually don't see this as a problem....Kids no longer watch TV on Saturdays, and those that do use Netflix or some other on demand thinger. There are video games and tablet games and just overall, the Tv is being replaced....Why else would TV being going out of their way to make movie-esque shows, with extreme budgets that hasn't much been seen in TV before? Why else would there be so much change overall in how TV is presenting itself (I mean just look at the 30 years of MTV), this topic just shows that they want to keep making money. Kids aren't watching tv as much as they used to, just look at the shows coming out now...they aren't very diverse or numerous as they were back in the 80s-90s....It's the adults watching TV for the most part, and if they are the ones bringing in the $$$ then those are the people in which will gear their marketing towards.

 

Plus I don't watch TV (so I really don't care) FIM is only gemstone of western animation I have seen in the past few years (and I found that through the internet). Most cartoons today are utter garbage, trying to follow in the steps of stupid humor as Spongebob created or be utter preschool fodder (although, there are gemstones among the preschool shows too)....