By Ralph Gardner Jr. 

An era may have come to a sad end with the news last week that the CW Network is pulling the plug on its lineup of Saturday morning cartoons.

This is cause for consternation and mourning.

And not because I had a weekly TV date with the CW's "The Vortexx" animation block. But because the network is apparently the last one airing cartoons on Saturday mornings.

This fact makes me grieve for generations of children yet to come, who won't experience the bliss that I did Saturday mornings in the '50s and '60s, knowing I had no obligations other than marathon cartoon watching.

I'd go so far as to say that Saturday morning remains my favorite time of the week because of its pleasant associations with the cartoons of my youth.

The day would start, to the best of my recollection, with "Sunrise Semester" and "The Modern Farmer."

These weren't cartoons. In fact, they were seriously adult programs. But because they were so deadly boring and dreary, they only heightened my hunger for the cartoons shortly to start.

I had a live-in baby sitter who was one of the deepest sleepers of all time. So I'd go into the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of Rice Krispies, with a twist. Instead of milk, I'd use Coca-Cola. She was none the wiser.

Breakfast in hand, I'd return to her bed, turn the black-and-white TV on low--why it was in her room and not mine I can't say--and settle in to watch the day, and Saturday morning's TV lineup, dawning.

In an effort to jog my memory, I've consulted the Internet for the names of my formative cartoons.

But the exercise has left me more confused than ever because I realize that some of my favorite programs--"The Howdy Doody Show" with Buffalo Bob Smith and "Andy's Gang" with actor Andy Devine--weren't cartoons at all.

In that same category was Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, Roy Rogers, and Sky King.

All I know is that "Fury"--maybe it "My Friend Flicka"-- signaled the conclusion of Saturday morning nirvana.

Around 11 a.m., well into my fifth hour of TV and essentially punch drunk, my comatose baby sitter--by now fully awake--would force me and my three younger brothers to go to the park.

Nonetheless, there were cartoons sprinkled in there somewhere: Casper the Friendly Ghost, Mighty Mouse; Rocky and Bullwinkle, Underdog ("There's no need to fear. Underdog is here!") and the Jetsons.

I can't overstate the impact they had on my impressionable brain.

Come to think of it, animation probably made that organ grow in different and bizarre ways than it would had I been doing something constructive with my time, such as playing in the fresh air.

To this day, I'm disappointed that real life hasn't caught up to the future, as the Jetsons lived it.

For example, there were no old buildings on the skyline of whatever metropolis George and Jane Jetson inhabited. Everything was brand new.

Every generation's children has, or rather had, its distinct Saturday-morning cartoon lineup.

One of my daughters told me her favorite shows growing up in the '90s included "Recess" and "Pepper Ann."

I've never heard of "Recess" and "Pepper Ann."

Is that became I'm a bad father? Partially, but probably not completely.

It is more an indication that they were part of her world, where I was an intruder. With one exception: We all watched "Pee-wee's Playhouse" together, as fine a Saturday-morning TV show as ever existed.

However, almost more important than any particular show was the knowledge that you were left alone to create your own morning, to exist in an adult-free zone, absent your parents' autocratic edicts and expectations.

Also, it was a delightfully slothful response to hyper-parenting, or to parenting at all; the TV serving as a Mary Poppins-caliber baby sitter--to hell with hockey practice, soccer leagues, music lessons, chess club, horseback riding.

There was something more than mildly subversive about it all.

It isn't as if cartoons will cease to exist. Apparently, the reason they're vanishing from network TV is because children can find them elsewhere, and any time of the day they want. There are cable networks devoted exclusively to cartoons.

But part of what made them magical was that they existed on an otherwise grown-up network.

Saturday morning was the time of day when children ruled the world. And they got to run it the way children would if parents didn't exist.

By doing whatever the heck they wanted. And all they wanted to do, of course, was watch cartoons. And pour Coke over their Rice Krispies.

ralph.gardner@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Time Warner Charts.
Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Time Warner Charts.