Yes, yes, with the expiration of the CW's Vortexx block Saturday morning cartoons on network television are officially extinct (though, I have to mention, you can still watch cartoons on Saturday mornings on the many stations that air primarily cartoons). Fell through the wiki wormhole and ended up reading the (very thorough) entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday-morning_cartoonThen I stumbled on something truly interesting: listings for TV schedules for network Saturday mornings from the 1960s through today! I began to think: what if I was a kid during these years? What would I be watching? Guys, if you humor me I'd like to play pretend, and you're welcome to join in.
Okay, I'm starting with the 1963-1964 season. Before then, Saturdays were where lots of live action kids programs were being reran but this is the year where the cartoons began to coalesce around Saturday mornings. Apparently, this was mostly because advertisers began to realize the value of a big block of programming aimed directly at kids. Those breakfast cereals and toys aren't gonna advertise themselves! Still, it's pretty much all reruns. Here goes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963%E2%80 ... morning%298:00 Hmmm... Captain Kangaroo is pretty much it for the first hour. I may watch it, might sleep in...
9:00 The Alvin Show
9:30 Heck, yeah! I'll be watching Tennessee Tuxedo!
10:00 Okay, this is a harder one: The Jetsons (ABC) or Quickdraw McGraw (CBS). Considering that The Jetsons only had 24 episodes maybe I originally go with The Jetsons and then turn over to Quickdraw after they cycle through all the episodes.
10:30 I've never seen Fireball XL5, but I like the Thunderbirds, so I'm going with Gerry Anderson's "supermarionation" adventure.
11:00 Beany and Cecil
11:30 Unquestionably The Bugs Bunny Show!
12:00 No idea
12:30 Yay, it's The Bullwinkle Show! That's it for me. I'm off to play outside... unless they're showing some monster flick for the afternoon movie, in which case I'm staying inside all day.
Overall, a pretty good year. Four of those shows are classics of some degree. No network really wins the morning.