Welcome to the second installment of Saturday Morning Superstars, an ongoing weekly column that pays tribute to the lost institution of Saturday morning cartoons. Last week, I discussed the fact that placing children’s programming on Saturday mornings was actually a tradition carried over from radio. During the 1950s, most of this material was recycled from movie theaters — both live-action and animated shorts, matinee serials, and movies including westerns and other things that appealed to kids.
At this time, the three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC (the only three on television) didn’t dictate what was aired on Saturday mornings, allowing local affiliates to determine their own lineups. Gradually more and more original programs were added and the networks began to determine what was carried. By 1966, the three had full rosters of children’s programming on Saturday mornings, combining both new shows and reruns.
In the fall of 1966, ABC offered Porky Pig, King Kong, The Beatles, The New Casper Cartoon Show, Milton the Monster, Bugs Bunny, Magilla Gorilla, Hoppity Hooper, and the live-action American Bandstand.
CBS’ lineup consisted of Mighty Heroes, Underdog, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, Space Ghost and Dino-Boy, The New Adventures of Superman, The Lone Ranger (animated series), Road Runner, The Beagles, and Tom & Jerry.
NBC had the lightest lineup and the one that consisted of the most recycled material — The Super 6, Atom Ant, The Flintstones, The Space Kidettes, Secret Squirrel, The Jetsons, and Cool McCool.
As you can see, a lot of old-school favorites mingled with new fare. Perhaps most exciting was CBS’ lineup, which featured new Hanna-Barbera superhero shows — the lighter Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, and the more serious Space Ghost. And from new studio, Filmation, came The New Adventures of Superman, thus named to differentiate it from the live-action primetime series The Adventures of Superman, which had starred George Reeves, and had run from 1952-58.
These shows were major hits, leading to an onslaught of superhero/action-adventure series the following year. Some were straight, while others were humorous. In fall 1967, ABC added The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Journey to the Center of the Earth, King Kong, and George of the Jungle.
NBC kept Super 6, and added Super President, Samson and Goliath, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, and The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show.
As for CBS, who’d scored with superhero shows in 1966, that network went all-in on the genre with The Herculoids, Shazzan!, and Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor. Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles and Space Ghost stuck around, and The New Adventures of Superman expanded to The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. CBS capped off the morning with reruns of the former primetime series Jonny Quest.
The networks also began airing cartoons on Sundays, although these were reruns.
As popular as the superhero shows were — and how beloved many of them still are today — they didn’t last long. Parents groups like Action for Children’s Television (ACT) found them too violent and within just a few seasons, they had all been taken off the air, but not before The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure became The Batman/Superman Hour in 1968.
In addition to vanquishing superheroes, ACT also took down any show it considered to be a commercial. In this case, the Federal Communications Commission got involved and actually made “30-minute commercials” illegal, specifically a cartoon based on Mattel’s Hot Wheels which aired on ABC, and Linus the Lionhearted, which starred a mascot for General Mills cereals, which initially aired on CBS and then switched to ABC. (Also impacted was a live-action syndicated series Romper Room, which had a toy line, but it was not canceled. The promotions for the toys were just scaled back. That series didn’t air on Saturday mornings.) This regulation was completely thrown out in the early ’80s allowing for the likes of GI Joe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, etc.
Without its superhero shows, CBS quickly found a very successful replacement that also came from the world of comics — Filmation’s The Archie Show, which debuted in 1968. Based on the characters published by Archie Comics, the series was a musical. One single, “Sugar, Sugar” became a mainstream #1 hit and was followed by several others. Thanks to the success of The Archies’ music, the show garnered primetime ratings on Saturday morning — a rare feat! Musical segments from the cartoon were even broadcast on The Ed Sullivan Show, and live musicians were hired to perform as the band in real concerts. Though its format and name changed regularly, an Archie cartoon from Filmation aired each season on CBS until 1978.
Another musical series debuted in 1968 on NBC, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, an anthology that mixed animation with live-action. Like The Archie Show, this series incorporated Beatles-influenced bubblegum pop, this time performed by adult actors in large puppet-like costumes — Fleegle (dog), Bingo (ape), Drooper (lions), and Snorky (elephant). In addition to the live-action segments, the Banana Splits appeared in cartoon shorts, and the show also included other cartoons that rotated through its run.
By 1969, superheroes had completely vanished from Saturday mornings, although there were still a few action cartoons like The Adventures of Gulliver and Fantastic Voyage. (Some superhero shows still aired in reruns on Sundays, but nothing new was being produced.)
After finding a breakout hit in 1968 with The Archie Show, CBS scored again with possibly the biggest smash in Saturday morning history — Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? While Scooby-Doo involved mysteries and “monsters,” it was not considered too violent or scary for kids because it balanced those elements out with loads of humor.
Produced by Hanna-Barbera, Scooby-Doo instantly became the king of Saturday mornings, and some version of the show aired continuously until 1991. After a hiatus in the ’90s, the characters and concepts have been revived in new series, and in animated and live-action movies.
Hanna-Barbara cannibalized the format of Scooby-Doo — teens solving mysteries, usually with a comedic sidekick of some sort — repeatedly with The Funky Phantom, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, Speed Buggy, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, Josie and the Pussycats, Jeanie, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Clue Club, Jabberjaw, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Bufford and the Galloping Ghost, and The New Schmoo. Needless to say, Scooby-Doo is very likely the most influential Saturday morning cartoon of all time.
1969 saw the introduction of another influential series, the live-action H.R. Pufnstuf. Like The Banana Splits, it featured actors in large puppet-type costumes. The series was created by Sid and Marty Krofft and was the first of many enduringly popular Saturday morning series to hail from the brothers, all of which were live-action — The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Land of the Lost, The Lost Saucer, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, and Wonderbug. Many of these aired for years (although some in reruns), and a few have also been reinvented in new versions.
H.R. Pufnstuf was a hit with kids, but like Scooby-Doo, attracted an older audience because of perceived influence from the drug culture. Even the name Pufnstuf (“puffin’ stuff”) seems like a clear reference to marijuana, although the Kroffts have repeatedly denied that over the years.
Within a few short years, the institution of Saturday morning kids’ programming had been firmly established and underwent some massive alterations in tone and style. But despite the changes, kids were hooked and would remain so for decades to come.
Be sure and check back each week for another look at this tradition including in-depth looks at the shows that made such fond memories for millions.
