The Rise and Fall of Saturday Morning Cartoons

Saturday morning cartoons came along because kids get up early on Saturday, while Mom and Dad want to sleep in after working all week long. In 1949, the networks identified 10AM as the peak viewing hour for children, but we were up much earlier because the school day started early, and Mom and Dad certainly didn't want to let kids sleep in or else Monday would be a problem. I recall watching Mighty Mouse, Johnny Quest, Fireball XL5, Top Cat, and other bygone 'toons, but the best were the Looney Tunes shorts that were produced for the theater, and the subversive wit of Rocky and Bullwinkle. My brother and I watched all morning, up until American Bandstand came on at noon on one channel, and Shock Theater on the other. Then I headed for the theater to watch a relatively new movie. That was in the 1960s. By the 1990s, Saturday morning cartoons began to fade as the TV business changed. Weird History explains what happened, and why no one really cared.