80's Saturday Morning

Ah, the Eighties. I knew thee well. The Eighties brought lots of fun things: music, movies, video games, clothes, pop culture. But, my most favorite things about the Eighties were the Saturday Morning cartoons! Man, it was a great time for cartoons! I LIVED for [A] Getting the new Fall TV Guide to see the pictures of what the new Saturday Morning lineup was gonna look like. And [B] Saturday Morning! I was one of those weird kids who liked to tear the pages out of the TV Guide and color them with map pencils or markers. Remember those Bic Banana markers? Those were my favorite, 'cause I liked the way the caps were shaped AND they came with a B&W sheet of cartoons to color (usually Bugs Bunny or Captain Caveman) right in the pack!

But I digress. My point is, the Eighties gave birth to some great cartoons. I think my favorite channel was ABC, since they seemed to have the most number of new cartoons each fall. Plus, they had those cool "informative" cartoons during the commercial intermissions between shows, that taught the evils of things like The Munchies ("they'll make you munch when you're not hungry"..."before you know it, you're not just bored, you're fat!") or my personal favorite Sunshine on a Stick ("anytime is funtime with Sunshine on a Stick"), where some odd-looking talking avocado-thing wearing a tophat, would teach you how to make these frozen snacks by pouring orange ("...or grape juice or whatever turns you on") into an ice cube tray, covering with Saran Wrap and then slowly inserting toothpicks into each compartment, then putting it in the freezer to freeze. Long live the 80's!

So, just for the heck of it, here's a list of the most memorable cartoons I remember watching on Saturday Morning. And on a side note, if some of these cartoons technically were cartoons from the late 70's or so, don't lynch me. I know some of them may have originated in the 70's, but I was still watching them in the 80's, so in my mind, it's all 80's. Oh, and with all this mentioning of the ABC Saturday Morning lineup, for those wondering whether I remember the Menudo intermissions. Yes. Yes I do. And let us never speak of this again. ::shiver:: Anyhoo, here's my cartoon favorites:

• The ABC Weekend Special (esp. loved Bunnicula)
• Alf Tales
• Beetlejuice
• The Bug Bunny/Road Runner Show (a perennial favorite)
• Captain Caveman & The Teen Angels
• Crazy Claws
• The Drak Pack
• Dungeons & Dragons (I totally reserved this game for the realm of the nerd and the avid renaissance festivaler (still do), but for some reason embraced the cartoon. I think it was partly due to hunky Eric the Cavalier, with his Farrah Fawcett hair)
• Fangface (part of the Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show and one of my all-time favorites!)
• Galaxy High
• The Get Along Gang
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (duh!)
• Here Comes Garfield
• It's Punky Brewster! (and don't forget her magical friend Glomer!)
• Jabber Jaws
• Kids Are People Too (as a last resort on Sunday mornings, to make the drudgery of going to church tolerable)
• Kids Incorporated (oy! the headbands! The child's version of Solid Gold)(I remember liking "Ryan" AKA Ryan Lambert. He was the my age equivalent of Duran Duran's drummer Roger Taylor. OW!)
• Kwicky Koala
• The Littles
• Pac-Man
• Pink Panther and Sons
• The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show
• Saturday Superade: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Q-Bert, Space Ace, Kangaroo & The Monkey Biz Gang
• Rubiks The Amazing Cube (Menudo sang the theme song...ACK!)
• Scooby-Doo (another perennial favorite)
• Shirt Tales
• Speed Buggy
• Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (thought Ice-Man was SO hot)
• Teen Wolf and SO many more!