(And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Sorry, due to blizzards, work, and a Valentine’s Day surprise, I didn’t get this column written in time to run last weekend. Hopefully, the wait will be worth it.)
Welcome back to Saturday Morning Superstars! This week, we will be looking at the 2000s, as the original three networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — continued to shift away from traditional kids’ shows. But in the ’90s, FOX, The WB, and UPN jumped into the Saturday morning game, so young viewers actually had more options than ever.
In the fall of 1991, NBC replaced two hours of its Saturday lineup with the Today Show. In 1997, CBS did the same with CBS News Saturday Morning (later, replacing that with the Early Show). Then, in 2004, ABC ditched a chunk of its Saturday programming in favor of Good Morning America. On the plus side, in the new millennium, NBC actually began airing cartoons again, after dropping them entirely in the ’90s in favor of live-action sitcoms like Saved by the Bell, game shows, and unscripted series.
In the ’00s, CBS dedicated most of its time to Nickelodeon creations like Lazytown, Dora the Explorer, Little Bill, Go Diego Go!, The Backyardigans, Blue’s Clues, The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, All Grown Up, Franklin, and Bob the Builder. (I am not sure if these were new episodes or reruns. I was already an adult at this point.)Â As you can see, not only were these existing shows from Nick, but they were squarely aimed at preschoolers and may have been part of an effort to air a certain amount of educational programming each week, something mandated by the FCC. (Later, CBS switched its lineup from Nick shows to those from PBS.)
Disney purchased ABC in 1995, so in the ’00s, ABC’s lineup was made up entirely of shows from the Disney Channel or Toon Disney. (Just like with CBS, I don’t know if these were new episodes or reruns.)Â Some of the most memorable were Doug, Recess, Kim Possible, The Proud Family, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, The Emperor’s New School, The Replacements, Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens, That’s So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and Hannah Montana.
Kids’ programming on Saturday mornings did continue through the ’00s but ended in the ’10s. There were a number of reasons why, but you may have guessed based on these programs. The shows that were shared with Nickelodeon and Disney Channel weren’t unique. Kids could watch them throughout the week at various times. Saturdays were losing their magic.
But there were still a lot of highlights!
After being absent from TV for almost a decade, Saturday a.m. OG, Scooby-Doo finally returned in a new series, What’s New, Scooby-Doo? which debuted in 2002. That was replaced in 2006 by Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!.
But perhaps the most influential cartoon of the era was Pokémon, which debuted in syndication in 1998 before being added to The WB’s Saturday lineup. It introduced an entire generation to anime with networks adding the likes of Digimon: Digital Monsters, Escaflowne, Medabots, Mon Colle Knights, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy, MegaMan: NT Warrior, Sonic X, Shaman King, Xiaolin Showdown, and Magical DoReMi.
Similar to the Disney and Nick shows on ABC and CBS, Pokémon was also not exclusive to The WB’s Saturday lineup, as it was also airing concurrently on the Cartoon Network. It later aired on Disney XD. The most recent incarnation, Pokémon: Journeys, is available on Netflix.
The sensation of the ’90s, Power Rangers, continued on FOX in multiple forms, starting with Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue (2000), and continuing with Time Force (2001), and Wild Force (2002), at which time Disney acquired the franchise. The second half of Wild Force aired on the Disney-owned ABC. The remaining seasons to air on ABC in the ’00s were Ninja Storm (2003), Dino Thunder (2004), and SPD (2005). After that, the franchise switched over to cable with new episodes airing on ABC Family or Toon Disney, however, the show switched back to ABC for 2009’s RPM and in 2010, ABC began rebroadcasting the original Mighty Morphin season. Since 2011, the subsequent seasons of Power Rangers have aired on Nickelodeon.
I will not write an entire column on the 20-teens, because all of the networks dropped their traditional kids’ lineups and not a lot changed in the few years before that.
FOX scrapped its lineup in 2010, allowing local affiliates to air syndicated programming, which usually meant infomercials. In 2011, ABC axed the Disney shows in favor of educational programs about animals, travel, and cooking — the only format still shown on Saturday mornings on the networks. CBS followed suit, replacing its ‘toons with educational shows in 2013. The CW was the last holdout, but 2013 was the last year it had a traditional kids’ lineup.
As stated, there were a number of reasons why this once-magical tradition died out, which is what I will explore more in-depth next week.
Until then, do you have any fond memories of Saturday morning cartoons or other kids’ programming? Or are you super into animal and travel shows? (Or infomercials?) Feel free to leave a comment below!
