In the Netherlands, that was still the situation in the early 90s pretty much, at least concerning Dutch networks. There were 4 channels, 3 of which were public and one was commercial. However we did have access to a dozen more foreign channels from neighbouring countries Belgium and Germany, and from the UK across the sea.
Saturday mornings for me either meant watching the Dutch channel RTL4 (with all the shows subtitled in Dutch w/ the original audio), or the German channel RTL+ (all dubbed in German). RTL+ had the latest cartoons RTL4 wasn't airing yet, so watching cartoons also meant having a fun way to learn German.
Take my dreams, childish and weak at the seams
Please don't analyze, please just be there for me
Saturday mornings for me at least was based on Super Friends, Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends and in 1984 when we got our first VCR I would wake up early Saturday mornings to record Transformers and a local independant station in Los Angeles would air Three Stooges shorts on Saturday so I didn't have to watch junk like Smurfs or recycled Hanna Barbera crap.
Looney Tunes in their many incarnations was a favorite also.
Robotech rocked.
So much nostalgia. Even for some of the older shows thanks to things like Cartoon Network's Boomerang that showcased such shows.
That maybe true. There are tons of quality kids shows and numerous ways to watch them now. But there was something about Saturday morning TV, right? After five days of school, you could kick back on Saturday morning and from 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM (or whenever Soul Train came on ) all of these channels offered all of this entertainment. In that era of appointment television, of having to actually wait a week to see that new episode, you were rewarded for your patience. And unless you set up that VCR and timer (like I did), you only had one chance to see that episode.
For me, the best example of that whole process was The Alien Costume Saga for Spider-Man: TAS. Missed out on episode one, learned my lesson and taped episode two, and just played that on repeat throughout the week in anticipation of episode three which I also taped. Kept those episodes on tape for years too since there wasn't a YouTube or Disney Plus service back then.
So yeah, Saturday morning cartoons weren't just about the cartoons. Rather it was the anticipation, the waiting, the excitement, the reward, all of that.
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
One of my favorite line up's from the 1995:
Start with Power Rangers, throw in a little Spider-Man in the middle, and end with X-Men and Batman at the end. That's a perfect Saturday morning sandwich!
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
Some of my favorite bumpers from Fox Kids:
These bumpers let you know a commercial was coming and gave you enough warning to remind you that the show was starting.
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
Also wanted to give a shout-out to the educational shows that were featured on Saturday morning. I'm talking about the shows that were genuinely entertaining AND educational. The two that come to mind are Bill Nye The Science Guy and Beekman's World.
For me, Bill Nye always come on ABC around 7:30 while Beekman's World was on at around 11 or 11:30. The beauty of those shows was that they were sketch comedy. Indeed, the creators, writers, and actors on those shows had backgrounds in sketch comedy. The jokes were hilarious and funny. They just threw in some cool experiments to hit the educational quota.
There were other shows too. Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? (which played a part for my love of history and world cultures), CBS' Storybreak, and of course ABC's Schoolhouse Rock shorts.
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."