Saturday-morning cartoon

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"Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original <a href="/facts/Animated_series/9IWkyjon">animated series</a> and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> on the <a href="/facts/Big_Three_(American_television)/sPIA5F9W">"Big Three" television networks</a>. The genre was a tradition from broadly the mid-1960s to mid-2010s; over time its popularity declined, in the face of changing cultural norms, increased competition from formats available at all times, and heavier media regulations. In the last years of the genre's existence, Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were primarily created and aired on major networks to meet <a href="/facts/Regulations_on_children%2527s_television_programming_in_the_United_States/Q7m2bj12">"educational and informational" (E/I) requirements</a>. Minor television networks, in addition to the non-commercial <a href="/facts/PBS/E6q9udH8">PBS</a> in some markets, continued to air animated programming on Saturday and Sunday while partially meeting those mandates.
</p><p>In the United States, the generally accepted times for these and other children's programs to air on Saturday mornings were from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 1:00 p.m. <a href="/facts/Eastern_Time_Zone/jP4S8j1V">Eastern Time Zone</a>. Until the late 1970s, American networks also had a schedule of children's programming on Sunday mornings, though most programs at this time were repeats of Saturday-morning shows that were already out of production. In some markets, some shows were pre-empted in favor of <a href="/facts/Broadcast_syndication/kdDQIW1Y">syndicated</a> or other types of <a href="/facts/Local_programming/WIQ3mfd8">local programming</a>.
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Saturday-morning cartoon open-in-new

Saturday-morning cartoon