19 Comments:

• I think the networks have pretty much conceded the cartoon category to cable. Older kids - and adults - mostly watch the Cartoon Network. I think any of the older cartoons still hanging around will be found there.
  
  Kids mostly go to Nickolodeon and the Disney channel. And they aren't all cartoons, anymore. Little kids are watching things like the Wiggles - who I thought were the absolute worst, even though their fans have made them billionaire superstars, until I saw the stupid Doodlebops - who, IMHO, should be shot.
  
  Also, although many still are cartoons - like Sponge Bob, who I think is gross, but makes a pretty cool backpack - too many are blatantly educational. Exception: I have to admit to having a soft spot for the Little Einsteins - I mean, they introduce an artist and classical composer each episode, which I think is lovely.
  
  Still, while I think few things are more entertaining than old Roadrunner cartoons, I have been harboring a vague grudge ever since I reached adulthood that we have yet to enjoy a Jetsons lifestyle. I rarely even paid attention to the storylines of those cartoons, I was so enraptured by the gadgets and imagining what the world would be like when I grew up. Huh. I'm still imagining...and waiting. And I don't consider it a valid excuse that the cartoon was set somewhere still in the future and, possibly, on a different planet entirely.
  
  So I don't watch cartoons anymore. But the Jetsons are still to be found on the Cartoon Network.

  By  Rebecca, at 4:55 PM  

• I'm almot embarassed to admit this, but I watch Saturday morning kids TV now. Instead of cartoons it's now little kid drama/comedy shows (kind of like 90210 for preteens). ABC (the only channcel I get rihgt now) has "That's So Raven" (not my favorite really) then "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody" (about two twins who live in a hotel...get it? suite?) and then my absolute favorite because I have a crush on Phil is "Phil from the Future" about a boy and his family who are stranded in the 21st century when their time machine broke. Very good stuff...ok not really. But somehow I don't mind watching them.
  
  I agree though, cartoons are sorely missed. I used to love the Muppet Babies when I was a kid.

  By  betty, at 4:59 PM  

• What?! No more Saturday cartoons?!
  
  Wow.

  By  lucyrain, at 5:18 PM  

• I'm so with Betty. I love Phil of the Future, and trading spaces boys versus girls, and also Darcy's Wild life. Not a single cartoon among them - though I did at one time like Kim Possible. I am actually embarassed to admit, I love my saturday morning kid shows!

  By  Unknown, at 5:21 PM  

• FYI
  http://mag.awn.com/?article_no=1751

  By  Marriah, at 7:25 PM  

• I have no pontifications to offer. I can say tho that, being around just a tad longer than you *creak* I, too, have noticed an even more interesting change.
  Back in the ... well, back, there were few cartoons actually on TV. There was Rocky & Bullwinkle, but that was only 1/2 hour on a Sunday. Of course, there was the after-school program in our hometown (Mr. Shannon's Adventuretime) that ran Kimba (which Disney later ripped off and renamed Simba aka The Lion King), 3 Stooges and some Looney Tunes. Then, the explosion of rock stars becoming cartoon stars (namely, Jackson 5) and ABC figured out cartoons were big bucks. I don't remember who ran Looney Tunes then, but, someone did. Through the 80's, I watched cartoons while I did college schoolwork. Even after I got married, I got up Saturdays to watch cartoons. My daughter was born in 1994 and I re-found Sesame Street (where's Bert & Ernie? WTF is an Elmo?) and Looney Tunes were buried on Nickelodeon.
  Now, I don't know who the heck came up with some of the crap they consider cartoons, but they sure didn't learn from the masters. I'm glad my daughter has found Power Puff Girls, Foster's Imaginary Friends, and Dexter's Lab. They don't compare with Bugs & Daffy (which we can't find anywhere), but, it is better than New Kids Find Skateboards with Talking Lips Challenging to Birds with Guns.

  By  Penguin, at 7:50 PM  

• OK, all of this stuff got me thinking. I also miss Saturday morning cartoons, just as I miss weekday afternoon cartoons. However, increasingly, I can find the stuff I used to watch on Google Video, Cartoon Network, or via Netflix and Ebay. So, I don't think it's the cartoons I miss as much as the ability to watch my favorite shows with friends and family. But if that is the case, the demise of cartoons points to a more systematic phenomenon, namely the invasion of information technology into our lives. The New York Times recently noted that with more advanced technology, almost all entertainment has been reduced to individual consumption instead of collective consumption. We have all been liberated from the need to coordinated schedules to be in the same place at the same time. Thus, the demise of Saturday morning cartoons can be placed in the same category as the demise of summer vacation. IT has not only killed collective entertainment, it has also forced us to improve our cognitive and other skills year-round, and at a younger age. As a result, parents are forced to squeeze more and more parenting into fewer hours with their children (what we now call "quality time") and the inevitable casualty is any idle time whatsoever, whether it be watching cartoons or just sleeping in during the summer. Yes, the speedy world of the Jetsons has arrived, just not in the form of flying cars and talking robots. Instead, people have been forced to act more like machines as everything speeds up. What do machines need? Information and instructions! So, Saturday morning cartoons have been replaced by news and educational programming. Maybe the Matrix movies were onto something after all. I would certainly welcome a Neo to rescue us from our mechanized world, and bring back Saturday morning cartoons.

  By  Marriah, at 8:18 PM  

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  By  Marriah, at 8:18 PM  

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  By  Marriah, at 8:18 PM  

• It's not the Jetsons lifestyle unless there are flying cars and robots. And food machines - Autochefs, or whatever they were called.
  
  You may think these are the same as microwave TV dinners, but they were not. They just weren't. Although I definitely think that the microwave oven and microwave TV dinners were two of the greatest inventions EVAH.
  
  However, they do not make up for the lack of robotic housekeepers and personal rocket blasters.
  
  Also, nothing, I say nothing beats Rocky and Bullwinkle. And the cool thing about it was that it worked on both levels of the audience - kids and adults. So you got to enjoy it while you were little and then, when you were older, you discovered a whole bunch of other funny stuff that had gone right over your head. Plus, Natasha had a very cool wardrobe.

  By  Rebecca, at 9:37 PM  

• I miss those days!! I remember watching cartoon in the late 70's and early 80's. From Lonney Tunes to Superfirends and always ending with Fat Albert!

  By  Seeking Solace, at 9:41 PM  

• If you want Rocky and Bullwinkle, jush go here: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=rocky+and+bullwinkle&hl=en

  By  Marriah, at 9:46 PM  

• I never really got Rocky & Bullwinkle, but I was addicted to Looney Tunes. I also remember the fat albert cartoon with fond memories. Does anyone else confess to watching the smurfs?
  
  Marriah: I think people are lamenting the fact that there are no NEW cartoons of quality, not that they can't watch the old ones.

  By  Arbitrista, at 11:18 PM  

• Whew! Shrinky, I am so glad someone else likes Phil of the Future! I was starting to feel little weird....
  
  And Publius I totally loved Looney Tunes (still remember the theme song we're tiny, we're tooney, we're all a little looney...") and the Smurfs. I loved the Smurfs, but in my school we werent' allowed to watch them because some parents thought they were bad. Something about Smurfette being a slut or about Papa Smurf being a communist....ridiculous. At least my parents didn't care - as long as we were in front of the TV. But I digress.....

  By  betty, at 1:23 AM  

• I looooooooove the Smurfs. And Phil of the Future is ok, but what I really like(d) is Lizzie McGuire. yes, that's where my obsession with the Duff started. And I'm very sad that she's not making that show anymore. :(

  By  Dr. Brazen Hussy, at 10:26 AM  

• I don't know if anyone is still visiting this thread. Publius, why don't your comments have dates attached to them? We sometimes can't cover all the important stuff on the date of your post.
  
  Marriah, thank you for the link. But what I really would like is to have a bunch of episodes in one chunk, rather than each one individually at a couple of bucks a pop. If you ever happen to come across anything like that, please let me know.
  
  Brazen, I really liked Lizzie McGuire, too. I just don't understand why she had to go and change her teeth. She got the same ones as her sister and they made her look even more like her sister - who is not as cute as she is. I. Just. Don't. Get. It.

  By  Rebecca, at 3:12 PM  

• Dates, huh? Does anybody know the coding for that? I'd be glad to add it to my template.

  By  Arbitrista, at 4:03 PM  

• I really liked Lizzie McGuire too - pre-famosity and pre-teeth.
  
  My favorite of this ilk, however, was "Strange days at Blake Holsey High." It kind of looks like you can still watch it on discovery kids. It was a great science-y show with strong female protagonists, and the cutest teacher ever. :)

  By  Unknown, at 4:13 PM  

• I'm sorry, I don't know from code. Blogger gave me the option of choosing what, if any, date format I wanted to use in the comments, so all I had to do was click. Don't worry about it, if it's a hassle, it seems that we all keep checking back anyway.:)

  By  Rebecca, at 5:26 PM  

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