CBS dominated the Saturday morning cartoon landscape in 1965 when it teamed up with newcomer Filmation Associates to reintroduce a new Superman animated series for the first time since the Fleisher Bros Superman from the 1940's. NBC and ABC had to scramble to aquire new cartoon superheroes to stop CBS from running away with the SatAM Crown for the rest of the decade..

But talk about good timing, Total Television Productions hit the jackpot with a surprise hit superhero in 1964 called Underdog. TTV Productions was an expert in telling childrens stories in a way that also delighted adults, making Underdog one of the few characters that thrived in the shadow of "The NEW Adventures of Superman".

I'm still a fan of Underdog because of the quality of the stories. The humor was cheesy in a good-natured way, and characters really had "character" especially the villains. Superhero cartoons live or die by the quality of the villains. Underdog had the "villian thang" covered - in style.

Fast forward to 92, NBC was the first to end their Satuday morning cartoon block in favor of live action programing; just in time as my gerneration was begining to outgrow cartoons.

Growing up in the 90s, watching Saturday morning programming was something I always looked forward to. And Fox Kids was my #1 go-to place. Then of course, there was Garfield and Friends on CBS and other fine shows on ABC.

I took a tip from William Hanna and Joe Barbera, if the goal is to tell a story then live-action is Not superior to animation because animation is Not inferior to other operations. Cartooning is just another method to entertain.

When it comes to superheroes, animation is my first choice. Live-action does a superhero no favors. And I'm always impressed when the end credits to a cartoon hit the screen. Animation is not child's play when it comes to employment. Check out the end credits to The Galaxy Rangers.

I do remember that a lot of the new shows coming out towards the end of the SMC era looked very computer generated; wasn't a fan, didn't like the look of that animation style.

They've replaced Saturday morning cartoons with nature shows, news programs, etc. I don't mind nature shows, but I coulda watched them on PBS.

bklynbren wrote :

I do remember that a lot of the new shows coming out towards the end of the SMC era looked very computer generated; wasn't a fan, didn't like the look of that animation style.

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Yes, I'm selective on character draw styles too. Total Television Productions was criticized for the way the characters were drawn. TTV animation always looked like they weren't really trying. That should have been enough to turn me away but TTV always offered up very interesting characters, especially villains.

Take the plot of King Leonardo & Odie from 1959. King Leonardo is a bumbling, but likeable dimwit. In the eyes of his enemy, Biggie Rat, the King does not deserve to wear the crown and Biggie plans to depose Leonardo and become the new King of Beasts. However, Biggie knows that the other animals will not accept a Rat for their King. So the plan is to place Leonardo's idiot sibling, Itchy Brother, as a fake "figurehead" ruler while Biggie Rat runs the kingdom in the background.

I haven't encountered another children's cartoon with a setup as complex as this one.

Honestly, name anyone else online who will post an episode of Hector Heathcote, the Revolutionary War cartoon from 1961. Yep, I was 4 years old and Hector was the first cartoon every SatAM, starting at 7am on CBS.

The degree to which the Big 3 television networks were criticized for airing cartoons on Saturday mornings by media watchdog organizatins and parent/teacher groups was much more serious than I realized back in the 1970's.

The pressure to replace animation with live-action was tremendous. Networks were desperate for anything that might silence the media critics over Saturday morning cartoons.

For 1974, CBS offered "The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show", a standard half-hour variety show with songs and comedy skits. Full episodes have been recently posted to YouTube.

For me, I don't think Saturday morning has been fun since around 2003. I used to watch Fox Kids and Kids WB every Saturday morning when I was little. When Fox Kids went off the air I watched the Fox Box for a little bit. I remember also watching Toonami's Rising Sun block as well.

All produced amazing shows.

Welcome to September, hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day!

I have something a bit unique to share. Herb Klynn was Production Chief at UPA animation studio in Los Angeles. Both Herb Klynn and his friend Jules Engel had a passion for The Lone Ranger since childhood. These two men created their own production company to revive The Lone Ranger for a new generation. Herb Klynn was especially eager to improve the incidental musical score, lacking in previous productions, to match the majesty of the William Tell Overture.

Development for a new Lone Ranger caught the attention of CBS, with program planners suggesting animation instead of live-action. A cartoon series with dramatic music would be unique as a network offering, and it would coordinate well with the new CBS series, The Wild, Wild West, which premiered in 1965.

The result was television magic! A new Lone Ranger animated series aired Saturday mornings on CBS for 1966, complimented by The Wild, Wild West live-action series as a Saturday evening primetime show for CBS. There was a bit of crossover of stories and characters between the two, but the outstanding feature of the Lone Ranger cartoon was the extreme 2-D flatness of the artwork highlighted by heavy black shadowing similar to comic book art. 

But the star of this show was the music. All incidental back scores were performed by the same orchestra that performed the William Tell Overture theme!

Listen to the voice actor Paul Winchell as the evil Rainmaker. This is top quality work that made The Lone Ranger a standout among Saturday morning cartoons from the 1960's.