80's Saturday Mornings

[Knightsong]

Anyone here old enough to remember all the major networks having Saturday morning cartoon line-ups. They used to be a big deal. About a week before they started they'd have a Friday night special telling you about all the new cartoons, plus the returning ones. I'm kind of baffled why the networks stopped doing it; I guess 24 hour kids channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network made them think they had lost their audience or something.

I was just remembering all the crazy shows that used to be on, it seemed that anything could have its own cartoon. It didn't matter if it was a toy, or a puzzle, or a game, or even a video game. There were tons of them, I wanted to watch them all. They had shows like Rubik the Amazing Cub, Pac-Man and Friends, Captain N The Game Master, Space Ace, Dragon's Lair, Hulk Hogan's Rockin' Wrestling, the list can and does go on forever.

I think my two favorite shows from the Saturday morning line-up, however, was Dungeons & Dragons and Mighty Orbots. I've mentioned here before my love for the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, but Might Orbots was really good too. The show only lasted a season (Not sure if all the episodes even aired) due to I believe Tonka suing them for likeness to the emerging GoBots franchise. Orbots had more to do with Voltron, than anything GoBots, but I guess they lost. The show was about a young scientist who created five sentient robots and they would fight against the agents of Xana (If i remember correctly). The five robots could change into a giant robot, and the young scientist with his robot assistant would pilot a vessel inside them and help control them during the fight. It was a great show for its time and the animation was very similar in style to Galaxy Rangers, kind of anime inspired for certain. I'm embedding the opening credits to the show so you can see what I'm talking about.

Do you have a favorite Saturday morning cartoon?

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[RainyDayMan]

"Captain N: The Game Master" was one that enthralled me the most. I was a Nintendo Nut, so I would write Fan-Fiction of it with me in it. Was I obsessed? Yes, I think so. I remember Qubert or however its spelled and the Pac-Man Show. I also remember the Rubik's Cube Cartoon and the Laser Tag Show. My second favourite would be "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." I had every single Action Figure they made. I even bought the Technodrome when I saved up my Money.

[Knightsong]

I loved Captain N too. They released a nice collectors DVD of the entire thing not too long ago. Turtles was awesome too, was a huge fan. Had lots of the videos.

[Kaleohano]

Sadly, my childhood was not spent in this country. i grew up with shows like Asterix und Obelix, and Lucky Luke (A show about a cowboy in America, that ironically does not show in the states).

[threewolves]

Loved the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoons. Trying to remember the ones I really loved on Saturday mornings. D&D was definitely one of them. Dragons Lair was fun, actually just got back from playing it on a friends Arcade cabinet he just got.

I remember more the cartoons I would watch as soon as I got home from school. Voltron, Thunder Cats, He Man, GI Joe, Robotech and the like.

[Knightsong]

So what was your favorite from your country?

[Kaleohano]

So what was your favorite from your country?

Lucky Luke all day

[RainyDayMan]

Who remembers the Wacky Races in Space? I forgot what it was called, but there was a handsome Man and white Cat/Dog/Animal in a white Car, and he turned into an evil Dick Dastardly-type Character with a Muttley-like Sidekick with black Fur.

There was a scaredy-cat Bear in it too. I forgot what it was called. I also loved the "Star Trek" Cartoon, "Dungeons and Dragons", "Ghostbusters", "Garbage-Pail Kids", "Rainbow Brite", "Strawberry Shortcake", and a Host of others. Remember "Camp Candy" with Jon Candy? "Back to the Future" with Christopher Loyd and that Guy with Parkinson's? Or him in "Teen Wolf?" How about "Gravedale High" with Rick Moranis? Or "Galaxy High?" I loved those.

[Knightsong]

I remember all of those. I miss shows based on toys; I know a lot of people complained they were just a series of half an hour commercials, but I remember them fondly. For a while it seemed there wasn't a toy that didn't have its own TV show. There were also some shows that had nothing to do with the source material at all like Pole Position. They took a simple racing game and turned it into a fairly cool show with intelligent cars. Had a nice Sci-Fi edge. Laser Tag was another show that seemed to go off the rails, it wasn't very popular. I don't remember much about it, but it had a weak premise. It seems like the only thing that is remotely like this is the endless stream of Lego sets and TV series. Lego was neat at first, but I'm really getting tired of all the cutesy stuff.

[RainyDayMan]

I remember all of those. I miss shows based on toys; I know a lot of people complained they were just a series of half an hour commercials, but I remember them fondly. For a while it seemed there wasn't a toy that didn't have its own TV show. There were also some shows that had nothing to do with the source material at all like Pole Position. They took a simple racing game and turned it into a fairly cool show with intelligent cars. Had a nice Sci-Fi edge. Laser Tag was another show that seemed to go off the rails, it wasn't very popular. I don't remember much about it, but it had a weak premise. It seems like the only thing that is remotely like this is the endless stream of Lego sets and TV series. Lego was neat at first, but I'm really getting tired of all the cutesy stuff.

I liked "Laser Tag!" I enjoyed it a lot.

[Knightsong]

And you have every right to, just didn't do anything for me. lol It's funny going back and looking at how many cartoons there were.

[RainyDayMan]

And you have every right to, just didn't do anything for me. lol It's funny going back and looking at how many cartoons there were.

I know, right! Now we have Networks that are Cartoons all Day long! Remember Pee-Wee's Playhouse? Looking back, it was disturbing. Cowboy Curtis was Lawrence Fishburne, and the old Sea Captain was Phil Hartman.