One of the many highlights of my childhood was Saturday mornings. I’d wake up at a perfectly appropriate hour (ha! for a child, maybe!) and then I’d immediately head next door to my sister’s room and wake her up. Together we would head out, still sleepy, through the quiet house to the family room. Once there we would instantly turn on the TV and then head into the kitchen where my mom had left out a bowl for us. A little later, we would have them filled with the cereal du jour, possibly Golden Grahams or some C.W. Post, and the milk on top of that with not TOO much spilled on the counter. We might have already started bickering, I’m sure I did something annoying while getting my cereal and thought that Kristen was trying to be the boss of me. Ah, the hardships of being the youngest!! But all this fell by the wayside as we settled down onto the family room floor after picking the channel for the coming hours of entertainment that was Saturday Morning Cartoons.
CW Post Link - so yummy!
There really was nothing like it! A relaxing moment of pure joy where it was just you and your sister watching hour after hour of shows whose main focus was to entertain you! At some point our parents would get up and join us. I have a vague memory of my Dad expressing delight when he’d learn that he hadn’t missed Bugs Bunny. For me, it was such a warm, safe memory that you are so often only lucky enough to experience in childhood.
Dad, of course, had impeccable taste in cartoons as Bugs Bunny was fantastic. Always funny, it was hard to not love that rascally rabbit and the shenanigans he always seemed to find himself in. He was quick-witted, always kept his cool and most importantly, always seemed to be one step ahead of his foes. I absolutely wanted to be all of those things! Add to that a cast of quirky characters, I couldn’t get enough.
The Crazy Crew!
As it turns out, I still love a good book or show with a cast of quirky characters. Somehow having your beloved protagonist backed up by a bunch of folks that bring their own form of crazy to the situation is a winning formula. The first shows that come to mind for me would be How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory. If you are a reader, some of my favorite eccentric characters can be found in Janet Evonavich’s Stephanie Plum books. Are you familiar with Grandma Mazur? Everyone needs one. Just one, it’s about all you could handle!
But Bugs was not the only show on, there were so many other excellent choices! One of my other favorites was The Jetsons. Who didn’t want to “meet George Jetson and His boy Elroy”?? I just listened to the theme song to make sure that I got the lyrics correct and I have to say, listening to it got me so excited. I just knew that the following 30 minutes were going to be pure delight!
Not to be a Debbie Downer but The Jetsons was set 100 years in the future from when it was first produced, making that 2062. George was born on July 31, 2022. That seems way too recent for my taste! The Jetsons picture of the future has not yet come to fruition…no worries though there is still time before we have flying cars or houses in the sky. The Jetsons weren’t all wrong, though. They accurately predicted the advent of the video call (though many of us who have become burnt out on the Zoom call may wish that it wasn’t!) and the smartwatch to allow for even more video calls. All of a sudden The Jetsons kinda feels dystopian! 🙂
There was nothing dystopian about my Saturday morning cartoon routine. Other than the occasional break to the casual Saturday morning to allow for playing in the snow or having a sleepover, it was the perfect start to my weekends. Honestly, if you changed the show just a bit and added in some coffee, it still sounds like the perfect start to my weekend!
Porky Pig