The Secret Saturdays (2008 - 2010)

an American animated television series created by Canadian cartoonist Jay Stephens (creator of the Emmy-winning cartoon Tutenstein) for Cartoon Network. It debuted on October 3, 2008, in the United States. The series follows the adventures of the Saturdays, a family of cryptozoologists that work to keep the truth about cryptids from getting out, in order to protect both the human race and the creatures themselves. The Saturdays travel the Earth searching for cryptids to study and battling twisted villains like the megalomaniac V.V. Argost. The series is influenced by the style of 1960s-era Hanna-Barbera action series (such as Jonny Quest) and is combined with Jay Stephens' own personal interest in cryptozoology. The show finished its run on January 30, 2010. It aired reruns on Boomerang on December 5, 2011, until June 1, 2014.The Saturdays appear in Ben 10: Omniverse episode "T.G.I.S." teaming up with Ben Tennyson and Rook Blonko in stopping the villain Dr. Animo who has revived the Saturdays' archenemy V.V. Argost. The episode confirms The Secret Saturdays and Ben 10 share the same reality (Ben 10 references have previously appeared in a few Secret Saturdays episodes).When Stephens first pitched the show, it was called Cryptids, after the undiscovered scientific monsters. It involved a team of globe-trotting cryptozoologists that were uniquely qualified for the job because they were once cryptids themselves. Okapi, Komodo, and Megamouth, along with their 9-year-old human mascot, Francis, served as a sort of anti-detective team. They scooted across land, sea, and air in what Stephens called a Campercopter and their goal was to preserve the mystery of the Earth's strangest creatures before they were exposed by humans or destroyed by the cryptids' nemesis, Monsieur Dodo. This version got him nowhere with many networks, though they all did show interest for some time.

Months later, the show was picked up by Cartoon Network, due to the network wanting more action shows