Throwback Thursday: Saturday Morning Lineup

 One of the great memories of my childhood was the annual changeover of Saturday Morning Cartoons each fall, usually sometime in September. 

When I was a kid, I convinced myself, and several friends that this was done in September to "apologize" for being back in school and to keep kids happy until Halloween got there... 😆 but of course, it simply coincided with the fall changeover of the Network lineups for all shows.

One that still lives with me is, Tarzan Lord of the Jungle, hearing the music and seeing the episodes bring back a lot of childhood memories, most great, a few sad.

On Saturday, September 11th 1976, this great cartoon debuted with, Tarzan and the Lost City of Gold, I was instantly hooked.  The classic characters like Tarzan appealed to me, I liked ones who had a strong history and this one came from the mind of the great, Sir Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Tarzan was voiced by Robert Ridgely and really brought a confidence and strength to the character that had a big influence on me.

It wasn't until much later in life that I'd learn the amazing story of the animation house behind the show, Filmation, but they would go on to do animated series for other American Legends, The Lone Ranger and Zorro.  But they would produce at total of 36 Tarzan episodes over four seasons.  The show would have three incarnations, starting out by itself, then as, The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour, then as, The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour.

Filmation would dominate the CBS Saturday morning lineup for over a decade, producing other cartoons for Popeye, Mighty Mouse, Fat Albert, Superman and live-action shows for Shazam and Isis.  They would later rule after school cartoon time with, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Not all the episodes are available on home entertainment media yet, but I hope that they continue to release them and keep bringing back the great memories. 

Today's kids miss out on so much of the excitement of yesteryear and the thrill of not knowing what was coming to Saturday morning until you saw an ad like this in the summer edition of a comic book.

If you look through the lineup history, CBS certainly had the strongest ones of the, Saturday Morning Cartoon era in television, but CBS also had some of the longest and strongest history in the broadcasting industry.