{"id":700,"date":"2009-03-25T07:00:59","date_gmt":"2009-03-25T11:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/?p=700"},"modified":"2009-03-25T00:16:51","modified_gmt":"2009-03-25T04:16:51","slug":"saturday-morning-cartoons-1985-nbc-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/25\/saturday-morning-cartoons-1985-nbc-ad\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday Morning Cartoons – 1985 NBC Ad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday Morning Cartoons… aaaahhhh, a magical weekly event for us growing up.\u00a0 Sadly, the current generation of children will never know the joy of Saturday morning cartoons.\u00a0 They’re spoiled by 24-hour access to cartoons on television and DVD.\u00a0 They don’t understand how limited our cartoon options were back then.\u00a0\u00a0 They’ll never appreciate the excitement and anticipation we felt going to bed on Friday night, knowing that the next morning the television BELONGED TO US!\u00a0 No parental news programs, no cooking shows, and no The Joy of Painting<\/em>.\u00a0 From dawn ’til noon, it was bright colors, zany music, and moral lessons every 30 minutes.\u00a0 It was OUR TIME!<\/p>\n

Below is an advertisement that ran in DC comic books in the fall of 1985.\u00a0 It’s promoting the upcoming fall line-up of Saturday morning cartoons on NBC.\u00a0 Click the image for a larger view.<\/p>\n

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Advertisements like this were common in comic books.\u00a0 You could usually find an ad from each network sometime in the late-summer or early-fall.\u00a0 It was really the only place we got a sneak peek at the upcoming cartoons.\u00a0 I remember pouring over these ads, studying the new cartoons, trying to figure out the time slots for each show, and planning my Saturday mornings accordingly.<\/p>\n

It was the mid-1980’s when the magic of Saturday morning cartoons began to fade.\u00a0 It was a combination of factors that really impacted them: the advent of first-run syndicated cartoons on weekdays (such as GI Joe<\/em> and Transformers<\/em>), the rise of children-targeted cable networks (such as Nickelodeon), the spread of home videos, and the success of Saturday morning live-action programs (such as Saved by the Bell<\/em>).\u00a0 By the early 1990’s, Saturday morning cartoons had lost their special place in most children’s hearts.<\/p>\n

Dear Saturday Morning Cartoons… there are those of us who still remember you, still miss you, and still love you… Sincerely, My Geek-Generation.<\/p>\n

Tell the world about ONCE UPON A GEEK:<\/h3>