Tuesday, September 13, 2005

paid programming

Saturday morning cartoons are an important part to a child. Getting up early, at the crack of dawn to watch thirty minutes of pure cartoon action was a weekend ritual. Cartoons were hilarious, but it always seemed like the good shows were cancelled for no reason at all. Trying to find these shows was made easy with the arrival of DVD collections, but to me it just isn't the same anymore. Watching the He-man DVD made me realize that the show was crap, there was now plot, inconsistencies and the only reason I watched it was because I fit perfectly into the age demographic.

Saturday morning cartoons have two main goals: to advertise for toys, and to make you buy as much sugar coated cereal as possible. Kids don't even notice what is happening, but they want the toys and they eat the cereal. Back in the 80's it was all about kids playing with Cold War action figures in their backyards and blowing up twigs and the enemy's hidden fortress. That would be followed by a live action shot of a kid falling down or something and a big cartoon tiger or leprechaun giving them the cereal they needed for the strength to do what they couldn't when they fell down. All the advertisement jingles were memorized and are still recognizable years later. Maybe children are being taken advantage of by toy manufacturers. Not everyone can afford to buy everything they see on television. There is always some kid that has the toy you always wanted. Jerk. Eating cereal all day will make you sick. Somehow the thought of Saturday without animated uselessness or carcinogenic corn puffs doesn't sound like Saturday to me.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Dude.. this crap is hilarious.. I just found your blog today.. im about to choke from laughing.. its true about the he-man DVD's I was soo excited when I saw it there in bestbuy but when I got it home and starting watching em.. I only made it through like 2 or 3.. thinking.. maybe thundercats will be better... anyway man.. thanks for posting.. that was a treat.