Saturday morning cartoons died on this day in 1992
So long, Smurfs. Adios, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Hello, "Saved by the Bell."
So long, Smurfs. Adios, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Hello, "Saved by the Bell."
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If you were a kid in the 1980s, you'll remember this hallowed ritual. Every Saturday morning, you'd wake up at the crack of dawn (yes, even though school wasn't in session), pour yourself a heaping bowl of sugar-laden cereal (preferably of the
Ralston-Purina variety — the
Donkey Kong box was especially choice) and park yourself in front of the television to watch multiple hours of toy commercials passing as animated entertainment. In between bites of frosted puffs in various shapes and sizes, you'd belt out theme songs about singing chipmunks,
transforming robots and
bouncing bears hooked on something called "gummi berry juice," and track which new toy-ready characters and vehicles you'd be adding to your birthday and/or holiday wishlists.
But unless you're Peter Pan —
and not the Robin Williams version — childhood has to end sometime. And the beginning of the end started 31 years ago when NBC banished cartoons from its airwaves as a new Saturday dawned. Instead, the former home of
Alvin and the Chipmunks,
Captain N: The Game Master,
The Smurfs and
The Snorks decided to go all-in on teen-oriented live-action series, using its own hit,
Saved by the Bell, as a new creative North Star for the Saturday morning audience. NBC also programmed a Saturday edition of its venerable morning show
Today, in the hopes of attracting parents as well as their teens
