Saturday Morning Cartoons

What adult can't remember as a kid waking up early on a Saturday to watch their favorite cartoons? For me Saturdays will always have a special place in my heart. It is the only day that I would wake up on my own, which drove my parents crazy because they would have to literally drag me out of bed for school. Well I have come to day to tell you about my first Saturday lineup of cartoons...So grab a comfy pillow,A seat by the fire and some hot chocolate and travel back in time with me to Aug 28, 1993....


I remember it all started the previous evening . It was Friday night and I was in a good mood because the week was over and I didn't have to think about school for a precious 48 hours. There was a storm that weekend and I remember the pit patter of the rain on the patio roof outside...it sounded better than Beethoven. Over dinner my father told me he had to work the next day and that his pal from work needed to leave his kids over our house while they were gone. I do not remeber how I reacted to this at the time but I am sure it was less than enthusiastic. But before the events of that epic following day I must relate the power outage that night...



I loved when the power went out.Especially at night.It forced you to use your imagination, no t.v. or radio, no distractions. Me and my brother decided it would fun to play a little game. We both had keychain flashlights and we would start off in different parts of the house and try to sneek up on each other and who ever sissied out and turned on their light lost. For me rainy nights, especially with no power and being cooped up indoors usually meant trouble.We would have a decathalon of events everything from turning the front room into Fort Knox using pillows and blankets to having taped flashlights onto our rc cars and having a midnight demolition derby. Though by far my favorite thing was playing Tetris on my Gameboy while eating Handi Snacks and drinking Jolt Cola all in the safety of my impenetrable couch fort. Well after all that sugar I did fall asleep and that brings me to My first Saturday moring cartoon session...


Let me begin by saying that previous to this day I had never expeirenced saturday morning cartoons. I always planned on waking up but never did and would always catch the endinds of either Darkwing Duck or The Tick. But that day I was woken up early, around 7 am on account of having to meet my dads friends kids. I remember them vaguely. One was a boy about my age and his littler sister. They both had really black hair and his sister must have been really shy or mute, she didn't pipe a word. I remember turing on the T.V. and there only informercials on. I had about 45 minutes till the cartoons came on and those kids were pretty dull. However I had one thing no midly insane boy could resist, a Optimus Prime transformer playset...


Well after 40 minutes of intense fighting between Optimus Prime and G.I. Joe I convinced my new friend that G.I. Joe was no match for Optimus' twin laser cannons so we put the figures away and turned on the T.V....


I remembered I was watching the Adams Family show and a commercial came on saying that the first ever episode of Might Morphin Power Rangers was next. I nearly spontaneously combusted from excitement. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Saturday morning cartoons let me give you a brief history lesson; Saturday morning cartoons first showed up in the early 1970's thanks to huge popularity from show like the Flinstones and the Jetsons and a little show called Scuby Doo. Now in my era there seemed to be a big battle between Fox and Abc in the saturday moring slot. Fox had great shows like Eek! The Cat and Bobby's world so they had my attention. Saturdays were when the big broadcasting compaines brought out their Big guns, no re runs or sub par shows. Every episode was new. If you didn't see those shows you would be lost on monday at recess when all the kids were talking about the latest episode of X-men. But back to the story. There were commercials for weeks talking about the Power Rangers and showing clips from the show it was awe inspiring. There weren't hardly any other kids shows with real people in them so this was big. Now let me tell you about my emotions as I watched the First Episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers...

I hardly paid any attention to the show I was watching and the when Power Rangers came on I was on Cloud Nine. I will never forget that awesome Guitar riff and then Zordon telling Alpha 5 " Ritas escaped, recruit a team of teenagers with ATTITUDE!" it was great. I remember Jason was my hero until Tommy came and took the lead as the Green Ranger. I might also add from that day on I developed quite a crush on the Pink Ranger Kimberly. It was only a half hour but it was a turning point for me. From that day on I would sleep downstairs in the living room next to the TV on friday nights so I could wake up and watch the Fox box and not miss a single episode...


Well I hope you all enjoyed my stroll down memory lane. Saturday Mornings cartoons have sort of dwindled since my youth. I think with networks like Nick and Cartoon Network there was really no more need for Saturday morning cartoons anymore. Its sad in its own way. One more piece of my youth thats now only a memory. I thank you for your time and hope to write again. Till then,


Mr. Nostalgia.