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Saturday, February 01, 2014

The Weirding TV: Saturday Morning Cartoons

You've heard it before or you know it firsthand: When people my age were growing-up, we had Saturday Morning Cartoons. It deserves Elite type - it was that big of a deal, it was that important. And not just to children (for the obvious reasons) but to adults, as well.

For children, it meant an entire morning spent sitting in front of the TV, often with a too-big bowl of too-sweet cereal, eyes glued to the TV set. For adults, it meant they got to sleep-in; Saturday mornings, it was understood, belonged to the cartoons, and it was fine to let the TV "babysit."

For us kids, Saturday Morning Cartoons were something special - after all, there were plenty of after-school cartoons on every day. I think part of  it was a sense of "belonging." Many kids played outside after school; some had sports or other, extra-curricular activities to attend; Cub/Girl Scouts were still big in those days, as well; and so on. Everyone watched Saturday Morning Cartoons - neighborhood streets were empty before at least 10am.

The Smurfs, for an example, became a national sensation almost from the moment their show premiered. In fact, my first-grade yearbook has a smurf on the cover because that is what we students chose as our theme. (I doubt you could do that anymore; you'd get sued!)

Sociologically speaking, Saturday Morning Cartoons provided structure. They were something to which every kid looked forward and knew were going to be there. They were an integral part of every child's weekly agenda, every week, without fail.

A lot of correlative points could be uncovered between children's behavior today - including the supposed prevalence of Autism and ADD/ADHD - and the lack of social structure Saturday Morning Cartoons provided just by existing. Even if you were a kid who didn't watch them (total freak), their very existence provided a sort of societal framework - they were a socio-psychological landmark of sorts.

So The Weirding provides you with Saturday Morning Cartoons every week viz Facebook. While the Facebook Page is Adults Only, you decide what to share with your children. Or the children you kidnap. That's the way it should be.

© C Harris Lynn, 2013

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