Friday, October 3, 2008

FFA: Saturday Morning Cartoons


Friday Free for All Topic of the Week: Saturday Morning Cartoons

My memories of the joy that was Saturday morning cartoons illustrate the true difference between kids and adults. When I was a kid, not only did I not sleep in on Saturdays, but I would get up even earlier than a weekday just so that I could camp out in front of the TV for a couple of unhindered hours before my mom made us do our chores.

I always associate watching Saturday morning cartoons with my brother Cody (who is only a year younger than I am). We were the only ones who actually chose to get up at an obscene hour like 6:00 in the morning on Saturdays. Okay, I take that back. My dad did, too, but it was to go play basketball, and he's kind of crazy, so that really doesn’t count. My older sisters were teenagers (the lure of the Saturday morning cartoon had lost its magic) and had come to appreciate the value of sleep, and our youngest brother TJ was too little during the golden age of the Saturday morning cartoons.

And seriously, you can’t tell me that cartoons were better back then. They weren’t. They were just as crappy as they are now, and we totally didn’t care. I mean, I hate those Tom and Jerry cartoons or the Roadrunner now because they are so violent, and that really bugs me. Seriously, I wouldn’t let my kids watch them. But I didn’t seem to have a problem with them back then.

Here’s a list of other crappy cartoons that my brother and I loved to watch:

  • He-Man (and the Masters of the Universe!)
  • She -Ra (or was she just a character in He-Man? I forget.)
  • Jem and the Holograms
  • Thunder Cats (seriously, what kind of creepy show was that? Yeah, it was a favorite.)
  • Smurfs
  • Transformers
  • The Bugs Bunny and Friends
  • G.I. Joe

Now my feelings on Saturday morning cartoons have changed, but they are no less appreciated. Ellis and I discovered when our oldest daughter was about 3, that we could train her to head down to the family room when she woke up on Saturdays rather than wake up her tired parents who just wanted to sleep in that ONE day (is that asking too much?) We’d make sure the TV channel was set on PBS and showed her how to turn it on when she got up in the morning. Then we’d get up an hour later or so, and you know, give her some food or something. It was a win-win situation.

Life really hasn’t been as good since we stopped getting cable . . .

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh, Jami. 'She-Ra: Princess of Power' was totally its own show!

Jami said...

Yes, of course it was! I'm so embarrassed.

Jami said...
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Jenni said...

Violent? Oh, dear. It's a good thing you have girls.

Seriously, though, am I the only girl on the planet that didn't watch Jem and the Holograms?

Jami said...

Jen, I knew I was going to get crap from you about my violence remark. It's true, though. All they do is hit each other with hammers and shoot each other in the face. It's bizarre, and not something I noticed until I watched it again as an adult. But okay, yeah, it's also true that I only have girls, so that probably explains a lot.

But seriously, where were you for Jem and the Holgrams??

Lisa said...
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Lisa said...
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Jenni said...

Crap? Oh, I don't think I gave you crap...I was trying to be so restrained. :-)

But then, that's what we do at our house....y'know...hit each other with hammers and shoot each other in the face. Heck, that's my a discipline strategy.

Where was I with Jem? I think I was watching WWF and A-Team.

Jenni said...

Oh. My. Gosh. I'm retarded.

One too many hits with the hammer.

Jami said...

Oh, Jen, I am laughing so hard at your comments (both deleted and otherwise . . .which were still sent to my email). I was trying to figure out why Lisa was giving me crap.

And I could tell you were holding back . . . I know you. And now I know to stay away from you during home improvement projects.

Laurie said...

Okay... all the deleted comments made me LAUGH OUT LOUD. What the? ... I love it!

Now, as for the roadrunner being voilent. Okay, maybe. But it's also HILARIOUS! I love that show! And Rocky & Bullwinkle (you know, the one where the bad guy was eternally tying the innocent maiden to the train tracks?) - loved that one, too. Clearly, I have 4 brothers and violent cartoons don't phase me one little bit.

PS - Thundercats so RULED. Man, I loved that show! You can call me creepy all you want, but I so wanted to BE a Thundercat when I grew up.

Lees Everything Homemade said...

I read Jen's blog about the cartoons and then watched the clip. My first response, as Elmer sings "Kill the Wabbit" and begins jamming a spear down the hole, was how people nowadays might have a problem with the violence. So, as you can imagine, I got a pretty good laugh over your comment about violent cartoons!

Laura F said...

Totally with you on the violence, Jami... we picked up a couple of the dollar dvds at walgreens when Erick was little - I think they were old looney tunes and the less famous ones that used to be shown between bugs bunny clips, and the things are chasing each other around with knives and baking each other for dinner in the oven... I had the same sense of shock! This coming from someone who allows "The Simpsons" in our home as long as itchy and scratchy get fast forwarded. I had no idea! It's funny how we change (become old farts) so subtly.

And I totally send my kids in to watch saturday morning cartoons. Qubo. And I used to listen from my bedroom to Erick sliding the kitchen stool over to the cupboard to help himself to his own breakfast. If there wasn't a crash, I'd stay in bed. How bad is that? It turned out well, now at six he just feeds his sisters, too.

Flynnur said...

Hm, at the risk of having my comment tossed to the heap of "deleted excrement," I will add my two bits about cartoon violence. I'm pro! Well, at least I'm not anti. Not entirely. (Okay, so perhaps you detect a bit of devil's advocate here...) Although I will say that even as a child I always had a distaste for the aforementioned offenders, namely Bugs & Co. (Roadrunner, Tasmanian Devil, etc.) due to their senseless and hostile antics. Even as a boy (Topic for another day: Do we culturally brand boys as being naturally more prone to violence??), their irresponsible conduct never encouraged me to take up knife-throwing, dynamite-blasting, or barbell-dropping-from-clifftops.

As long as we're on our soapboxes, why the double standard against violence, but in favor of unabashed commercialism?! To wit: Ms. Jem and her motley brigade of Holograms were nothing more than a campy cadre of corporate shills circa 1986. "Hi, I'm Jem, I'm cute and adorable and have rocking pink hair. In addition to my hotness, I sing like a rock star, too [debatable], and therefore I am your role model of sexy, empowered feminism. Now go and convince your parents to buy my toys, accessories, books, records, videos, etc. etc. etc."

Sure, Jem and her Hs were in good company (i.e., He (Man)/She (Ra)) earning massive revenues for their corporate makers at the expense of unwitting children everywhere. At least He-Man Master of the Universe (ha!) ended each program by teaching children a moral to the story.

You see - not all 80s Saturday morning cartoons were so crappy.