Saturday Morning Cartoons: CBS in 1980

By 1980, I think I must have been a CBS watcher. I don't know what we watched before 9 AM (New Brunswick is one hour later than Eastern Time), but the programming starts with Mighty Mouse (superhero goodness) and Heckle and Jeckle (whom I always thought of as Woody Woodpecker wannabes), and then Bugs Bunny and friends (classic). Fun stuff, and then it gets progressively more "boys' adventure".
Popeye is still cartoon comedy, but with punching. A whole HOUR of punching. Fat Albert was always a strange one. Didn't get the humor or the point, very often, but I suppose it was 12:30 and we were having lunch, getting ready for... Jason of Star Command! I don't remember all that much about this live action sci-fi show, but I have very specific memories of it - I think it was the first time I ever saw people opening doors by waving their hand in front of a light panel, for example. And finally, the big one, Tarzan and the Super 7 - Tarzan, Batman (this is the show with the oddly-colored Bat-Mite, isn't it?), Freedom Force (feat. Isis), and other superhero features like Manta and Moray, Superstretch and Microwoman, and Web Woman. Jason counted as the 7th, I think. The "Super Seven" even became my go-to name for superhero teams when we played at such in the school yard. And course, "In the News" was a segment during commercials or in between shows that taught kids about current events in the world. I don't specifically remember a segment - it was no Schoolhouse Rock - but the spinning globe, newsy music and narrator's voice come to mind easily by force of repetition. I don't however remember watching the kids version of 60 Minutes, "30 Minutes", which must have spun out of In the News.

Anyone else have memories of this Saturday Morning line-up?

Comments

ShadowWing Tronix said…
Did a feature on Jason on my site:
http://bwmedia.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/saturday-night-showcase-jason-of-star-command/

Also did Tarzan.
http://bwmedia.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/saturday-night-showcase-tarzan-lord-of-the-jungle/

Now that the cheap plugs are over, New Adventures Of Batman was the one with Bat-Mite, who became a poor man's Orko. I saw the New Mighty Mouse when TV Land had their "Super Retro Vision Saturday" block, and it didn't quite live up to my memories, but I'm holding hope that the "Great Space Chase" serial still would. It's too bad the Super 7 will end up lost to obscurity.
September 11, 2013 at 12:26 PM
JDJarvis said…
I liked Jason of Star Command when I was young, I caught it on netflix recently and it didn't hold.up as well as Land of the Lost. I always liked Fat Albert myself but I was an american kid growing up in a cruddy city just outside a major citty so I could relate.
September 11, 2013 at 12:43 PM
Siskoid said…
Yeah, I saw Jason on You-Tube and stopped myself from watching an episode all the way through to preserve the nostalgia.
September 11, 2013 at 1:24 PM
Bill D. said…
Man, Filmation owned CBS Saturday morning at this point, huh? Their versions of Mighty Mouse (not the best version, but decent) and H&J (snore...), Fat Albert, and Tarzan and the Super Seven, which was probably my favorite of this whole line-up. I don't think these Batman cartoons hold up as well as the 60s ones Filmation also did (chalk that up to the forced humor of green Bat-Mite and Robin's love for gross foods like peanut butter & anchovie pie), but the Tarzan ones are still pretty good, probably their best "action" show of the 80s until He-Man and She-Ra come along.
September 11, 2013 at 10:19 PM
Lentilite said…
I'm not old enough to remember any of those shows (well, I watched Fat Albert, but that must have been later), but I just want to say that I *adore* the Plaid Stallions blog.
September 12, 2013 at 12:10 AM
The Mutt said…
I was in college by this point, but I tuned in to watch Tarzan every Saturday. I remember they had a few rotoscoped sequences they used over and over. And I loved that they used N'kima instead of Cheetah.
September 12, 2013 at 2:46 AM
http://dcinthe80s.tumblr.com/ said…
I have vague recollections of this CBS programming block when I was younger. We lived in Quebec but somehow still got American channels (we must've had cable). I remember watching the Superstretch & Microwoman and thinking "damn, that's kinda racist". I think my understanding of what was considered racist and what wasn't at that age was heavily influenced by my hyper politcally correct family.
September 13, 2013 at 4:17 PM
Siskoid said…
Depending on what part of Quebec you were in, you were probably getting stations from Maine or Rochester or something.
September 13, 2013 at 5:35 PM
Post a Comment