The '90s were a great time for TV. "That '70s Show" was the big thing, "American Idol" didn't exist, "The Simpsons" didn't suck yet, Jerry Seinfeld wasn't working for Microsoft, and best of all, "Pokemon" was still on at 4 p.m. on weekday afternoons.
Fast-forward a moment to 2008. I came home today empty-handed with no homework (I can hear you being jealous). So I did what every lazy American does when he's not obligated to do any work and turned on the TV. After flipping through the channels, I was disappointed to find the only things worth watching were cancelled reruns of "Yes, Dear," and it wasn't even that funny of a show to begin with. My other choices were "Arthur" and "Dragon Tales."
And I thought to myself, "What is this?" Broadcast television used to be at the mercy of children on weekday afternoons. I remember sneaking upstairs to my parents' room when I was five to watch the latest episode of "Batman and Robin" instead of doing my homework. Now I can only get dragons prancing with children in fantasy lands filled with talking ladybugs and Judge Judy (which are both pretty much the same thing). Whatever happened to good afternoon TV?
The franchise died. It died with the '90s. But like the characters in the children's cartoons, it wasn't supposed to die.
The weekday cartoon block emerged in the '60s on independent stations with the classics: "Bugs Bunny," "Yogi Bear," "Tom and Jerry," "The Flintstones," "Underdog." Back then, and even until the late '90s, cartoons were shown in the mornings, generally from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., and in the afternoons from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Kids would be greeted with "what's up, doc?" in the morning before they went to school and in the afternoon after a hard day's work.
Weekday cartoons hit their peak in the '80s and '90s. It was the Pax Romana for kids. Shows were starting as early as 6 a.m. and ending as late as 6 p.m. Fox, Warner Brothers, ABC, CBS, NBC, and various other combinations of call letters were airing weekday blocks and weekend morning programs. With "Pokemon" on Kids WB, "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" on Fox Kids, and "Doug" on The Disney Afternoon, by 1996, no one could foresee the fall of children's cartoons, especially not the children themselves.
Like an anvil pounding Wile E. Coyote, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 hit the major networks airing the cartoons hard in the money groin. While it loosened many limits on TV and radio, the act passed by Congress required every station to air "E/I," or educational and informative, programs. Most of the shows already on the air didn't fall under this criterion. Hence came the slow rise of PBS Kids.
Now what kid was going to enjoy watching that? With few children tuning in, cartoon lineups slowly began to go. Local affiliates began replacing their weekday afternoon lineups with court TV and family sitcoms. Disney Afternoon gave way and Fox dropped its morning lineup. By the turn of the millennium, Kids WB was the only afternoon block left. Their weekday lineup ended in 2006, ending the 40-year control cartoons had on afternoon TV and turning it into a wasteland for local affiliates to dump thier rerun garbage.
Why does Congress get to decide what cartoons are educational? I thought American education was all about "edu-tainment." Who says Daffy Duck swinging into a tree can't teach kids to be careful when playing in the park? Why can't Pokemon battles teach us about the values of courage and honor? And doesn't Yu-Gi-Oh teach lessons of friendship and camaraderie?
Why can't shows packed with action, drama, and adventure teach kids? After all, I would rather read Arthur Miller's All My Sons than listen to a college professor lecture about morality and patriotism. I would rather whisk myself away to the world of Tom Sawyer than have a teacher preach about the book. And I'm sure kids would rather learn from an action-packed funny cartoon than a dull half-reality half-lame show with a purple dinosaur or talking elves.
And there's just the fact that I miss these shows. There's so much nostalgia that comes just from watching YouTube clips of long-canceled shows. I miss coming home and enveloping myself in the world of Pokemon and Digimon. I miss watching the odysseys of kids just like me traveling with cute little creatures, battling others, resolving conflict, meeting people, and saving the world. These shows had drama, passion, lust, humor; everything we could look for in a good TV show.
All my friends dreamed of being just like the characters on TV, to be like Batman and uphold justice, to be like Ash or Tai and be daring leaders, to be like Yugi and be strong in the face of loss. Why take away these role models?
Superb post Gavin, simply put that was both informational and nostalgic, my soul yearned for the 90's again.
When I was a kid growing up in the 90's it all made sense to me. Cartoons in the morning before school and cartoons in the afternoon after school. The rest of the time I assumed was "grown-up time" for adult shows and stuff. I wondered why these cartoon blocks were disappearing and now I know why. The Telecommunications Act of 1996.
No offense to Congress but forcing 'edu-tainment' shows has been the worst thing to do to kids these days. The news shows that have to abide by these rules lack the humor of the old days and all the lessons seem forced. Even worse, I have been seeing a trend where the main character does something wrong and then a deus ex machina comes and fixes the problem. That is not what kids these days should be learning and even though it's "ha ha" funny, it's not "good comedy" funny.
Once again Gavin, thanks for reminding me of the 90's.