Saturday morning cartoons are no more

I certainly have fond memories of Saturday morning cartoons, but I can think of scores of things I’d rather my kids do instead of staying at home watching TV all day. I am no TV snob — I love me some Star Trek and with the kids have recently watched Doctor Who and the 1980s BBC Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but we are in charge of how much we watch and when. Saturday morning TV was when my sister and I woke up ridiculously early to watch dubbed episodes of Star Blazers, but it’s also when I saw the horrible episodes of Tom & Jerry when they were supposed to be friends. (Ugh!) So there was plenty of mind-numbing crap on, even during the days my nostalgia is supposed to recall fondly. —

After these messages, Saturday morning cartoons will not be right back. At least not the way some of you remember them.

“The Smurfs,” “Scooby Doo,” “The Jetsons,” “Ghostbusters,” “Animaniacs,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and other cartoons of Gen X childhoods aren’t gone, but their dedicated time slot is. So what? kids these days might say. But the nostalgic among us remember a time when cartoons weren’t a la carte — and Saturday mornings were sacred.

This past Saturday, the CW became the last broadcast television network to cut Saturday morning cartoons. The CW is replacing its Saturday cartoon programming, called “The Vortexx,” with “One Magnificent Morning,” a five-hour bloc of non-animated TV geared towards teens and their families. —The Washington Post.