With Saturday Morning Cartoons an Official Thing of the Past, Dave Spencer Recalls His Favorites [VIDEO]

I think, maybe, we toss the phrase "end of an era" around too much. Because when an "era" truly comes to an end, it should be momentous. To me, the end of Saturday morning cartoons is the END OF AN ERA!

Now, understand something.

This blog isn't for kids. And, no, I don't mean I'm going to let loose with a lot of PG-13 and R rated expletives.

What I mean is that I don't believe the concept of "Saturday morning cartoons" resonates with kids today like it once did.

There are cartoons EVERYWHERE and available ANYTIME.

So if kids want to see cartoons, they can. Whenever.

But when I was a kid, 99% of all the cartoons there were to see aired on Saturday mornings--with me sitting there in front of the TV, big bowl of cereal du jour in hand.

And for the first time in more than 50 years, that is no longer the case.

(Uh, the part about the cartoons on Saturday morning, not me watching TV while eating cereal. I still do that.)

Anyway, I've toured my memory banks and have compiled for you my five favorite cartoons from Saturday mornings past...in no particular order...and beginning with:

SCOOBY DOO

I consider Scooby Doo and all the incarnations to be my initiation into a love for detective series. I really believe Scooby and the gang AKA those meddling kids and that dog informed by love of the classic Law & Order many years later.

(But Scrappy Doo always WAS and is, to this day, a VERY BAD IDEA!)

LAFF A LYMPICS

More a take-off on the popular Battle of the Network Stars specials that ran during prime time in the 70s than the actual Olympics, Laff a Lympics was a full-on Hanna Barbera showcase. Three teams comprised of Hanna Barbera characters from the 1960s--the Yogi Yahooeys, characters from the 1970s--the
Scooby Doobies, and villains from both--the Really Rottens--battled it out each week for ultimate supremacy. I think the novelty of seeing all these characters together when we would never have otherwise ultimately gave Laff a Lympics its appeal.

SUPERFRIENDS

Being a huge comic book fan, Superfriends was kind of a must. Although never--I mean NEVER--as dark as what was portrayed on the printed page, these were superheroes. I was a superhero junky. Therefore, I had to watch Superfriends. In fact, I was such a huge fan of superheroes--and Spider-man was my favorite--that I set aside time in my early teens to make sure I never missed the next one down. Of course, if it had come on earlier, I wouldn't ever have seen it.

SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS

There was no Firestar in the comics, but every other hero or villain that appeared in Spider-man and His Amazing Friends also appeared in the books. And, again, the Saturday morning story lines were far tamer than in the magazines and didn't feature long story arcs, but it was Spider-man, so I had to watch it.

BUGS BUNNY/ROADRUNNER HOUR

These are the ones I think I enjoy more now than I did then. And I loved them then. When I was a kid, I had no idea the Warner Brothers/Looney Tunes shorts were intended for adults. Still loved 'em. As I got older, I got it, more and more. And now I can watch them and see different things all the time. Very dry humor is a characteristic I never saw back then. True classics.