"Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a broad peak from the mid-1960s through the mid-2000s; over time it declined, in the face of changing cultural norms, increased competition from formats available at all times, and heavier regulations. In the last two decades of the genre's existence, Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were primarily created and aired to meet regulations on children's television programming in the United States, or E/I. Minor television networks, in addition to the non-commercial PBS in some markets, continue to air animated programming on Saturday and Sunday while partially meeting those mandates.
The Disney Afternoon, sometimes abbreviated as TDA, was a created-for-syndication two-hour programming block of animated television series. It was produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and distributed through its syndication affiliate Buena Vista Television. Each show from the block has aired reruns on Disney Channel and Toon Disney. Disney Channel reaired four shows on "Block Party," a two-hour block that aired on weekdays in the late afternoon/early evening.
4Kids TV was an American television programming block and Internet-based video on demand children's network operated by 4Kids Entertainment. It originated as a weekly block on Saturday mornings on the Fox network, which was created out of a four-year agreement reached on January 22, 2002, between 4Kids Entertainment and Fox to lease the five-hour Saturday morning time slot occupied by the network's existing children's program block, Fox Kids. It was targeted at children aged 7–11. The 4Kids TV block was part of the Fox network schedule, although it was syndicated to other broadcast television stations in certain markets where a Fox affiliate declined to air it.
ABC Kids was an American Saturday morning children's programming block that aired on ABC from September 13, 1997 to August 27, 2011. It featured a mixture of animated and live-action series from Walt Disney Television Animation and Disney Channel, aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 14. This was the only time Disney Channel content aired on over-the-air television in the United States.
Fox Kids was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a joint venture between the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox) and its affiliated stations, it was later owned by Fox Family Worldwide.
Little Shop is a 1991 animated fantasy comedy television series that aired on Saturday mornings on the Fox Kids TV network, about a teenager and a giant talking plant. Little Shop was based on the 1960 Roger Corman film The Little Shop of Horrors; Corman served as a consultant. The concept of the adaptation is credited to Ellen Levy and Mark Edward Edens, and the series was produced by Tom Tataranowicz. The horror elements in previous versions of the story, in which characters are eaten by the plant, are toned down for children in this series.
New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of New World Entertainment and eventually of News Corporation.
Disney's One Too was an American two-hour Sunday-to-Friday children's programming block that aired on UPN from September 6, 1999 to August 29, 2003. A spin-off of the Disney's One Saturday Morning block on ABC, it featured animated series from Disney Television Animation aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 11.
A weekday cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated series programming that was typically scheduled on weekday mornings and afternoons in the United States on many major television networks and in broadcast syndication since the 1960s.
Fantastic Four is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The program, featuring character designs by Alex Toth, aired Saturday mornings on ABC from September 9, 1967, to September 21, 1968. It lasted for 20 episodes, with repeat episodes airing on ABC for three years until the network cancelled the program. It was also rerun as part of the continuing series Hanna–Barbera's World of Super Adventure.
Rude Dog and the Dweebs is a 1989 Saturday morning cartoon television series developed by Sun Sportswear, based on the Rude Dog character featured in clothes advertising. The series was produced by Marvel Productions and animated by AKOM.
Mad Jack the Pirate is an American animated comedy-adventure television series. The show was created by Bill Kopp and was directed by Jeff DeGrandis. On American television, the show was broadcast on Fox Kids.
Bureau of Alien Detectors is a 1996 American animated series by Saban Entertainment that aired on the UPN network's weekend-morning cartoon block UPN Kids. It was touted as "X-Files meets the A-Team," and only lasted for one season.
Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series is an American animated children's television series based on the original live-action version of the same name created by Jim Henson. NBC aired this spin-off program on Saturday mornings at 10:00 AM for one season during 1987. It was later shown in reruns on Disney Channel from May 5, 1990 to June 1995.
Piggsburg Pigs! is a Fox Kids animated comedy series from Ruby-Spears Productions, which originally aired in 1990.
Saban's Around the World in Eighty Dreams is a French animated series that first premiered on Canal+ on November 13, 1992, and later aired on TF1 in December 1993.
Stuart M. Rosen was an American voice director and voice actor.
Silver Surfer, also known as Silver Surfer: The Animated Series, is a 13-episode animated television series based on the Marvel Comics superhero Silver Surfer, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The series aired for one season on the Fox Kids Network in 1998.
Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist is a children's animated series created by Saban Entertainment. The series first aired in the United States from 1 February 1996 to 12 February 1997 through Saban's syndicated "Saban Kids Network" strand, totaling 52 episodes. The series began airing in France on TF1 on September 1, 1997, and on Fox Kids in 2001 in Europe.
Disney XD was a British and Irish pay television channel. First launching in October 1996, it originated from the United States block of the same name, and was operated under a joint-venture between Fox Television Entertainment and Saban Entertainment, before moving along to the Euronext-operating Fox Kids Europe. It rebranded itself to Jetix in January 2005 after The Walt Disney Company's prior-purchase of Fox Family Worldwide in October 2001, and then reached its final name in August 2009 after Disney acquired Jetix Europe.
