The lookback : Kids of Adult cartoons

The Flashback  Children's TV

      This time on the Lookback , we are looking at back at the kids of adult cartoons. Wait ,huh?
Oh well got an email   (which is not first)

     Hey Joshuaonline, 

    I like the lookback stuff your site does , but so far have not seen anything about  baby-feid  cartoons , you know the ones where famous characters are younger , like  Tom and Jerry Kids.  You should do that. 

     Yep, an email suggestion  which is nice , and thank you.  The point of this article is about those cartoons where  apparently  our favorite cartoons were given a younger make over. (Hollywood is always about age)
  1. Tom and Jerry Kids
  So, since  "Tom and Jerry Kids"  was already mentioned let's talk about that first.
   You know Tom and Jerry the cat and mouse who were trying to kill each other since the 40's  (longer than most cats and mice live). It was named in our Fox Kids piece  (which you can read here) but we didn't really in depth talk about it.   Well "Tom and Jerry Kids" was one of the many Tom and Jerry Movies and TV shows that came out over the years.
   Hannah and Barbera and Turner  got together (then Turner bought H&B in 1991, but that's another story)  and worked  together to make this series.  It was the last H&B series for Saturday Morning because they got purchased by Turner  and he used them to work for Cartoon Network.

                                
                              Tim and Harry Kids  / (c) 1990 H&B
        It was the First series to kick of the New Fox Kids block on Fox stations (most of them)  on September 8th ,1990 (once of the best dates in History)  The Series featured our favorite cat and mouse as well kids (though in our modern  90's times) it also featured the dogs from the Tom and Jerry Shorts,  Spike and Tyke , who like the regular series  they were still adult and puppy respectively (uhhhh). Also the series  even though called Tom and Jerry Kids had 3 segments that could make it seem like 3 different shows.  The First, was Tom and Jerry  kids , where you had the fun of Tom and Jerry chasing each other , though in kid form this time. (With less violence because it was the 90's  no violence on TV then) , Second , there was the Spike and Tyke segment  which was there to show family love. (or something) Third, we had Droopy dog   and he now had a kid ( nice he finally settled down and had a family).    The  series ran on Fox Kids from 1990 to 1993  with 4 seasons and the standard 65 episodes (because 65 is a good round number) , then repeats moved to Cartoon Network . (Ted Turner's personal cartoon channel )

  2.   The Flintstones Kids (Another show about Pebbles and Bam-bam?*, sigh)
    So , the Flintstones ever wonder how they would be as kids?  (No, I wanna see how the Jetsons were as kids)
        Hanna and Barbera ,owners of the Flintsones, made a new series for ABC (America's Biggest Channel)  in 1986.  "The Flintstone Kids".  We meet Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty, and also their  pet Dino. ( ummm a different dino or the same one meaning...?)
     As most cartoons had at the time , it had segments (kids couldn't handle 11 to 22 minute cartoons at the time ,attention spans were short in the 80's )   The Flintstone kids segment could be the whole show or a part (depending how much story they had)  it  was our main story.  Another segment (that was killed in season 2) is Flintstone Funnies  it was the characters dreams that we get to see.  Segment 3 , Captian Caveman and Son , was  a show with in the show , the characters of our show , watched them watch a show.  Also, Dino's Dilemmas  where we followed  Fred's pet, Dino.  

                        
                          Pocket sized Flintstones, can you catch them all? / Copyright HB
  The series ran  2 seasons of 34 episodes (shame, not even 65).

(*no wait , that was Cave kids)
more after the jump

The LookBack : DIC entertainment Children's programs

The Flashback 

               This time , we take look back at some children's programs (back to this again, huh?)  by a company we've talked about before , DIC.
                         
                           That's our name , wear it out!  
       DIC entertainment was (because things we cover are gone, except for Disney, they are never gone) , launched by a french guy named  Jean Chalopin  in 1971 (the party year) , the original name of the company was   Diffusion, Information et Communication. (uhhhh)   They , as decided to come on over to America  in the 1980's  (the party decade) with the help of a man named  Andy Heyward,   they also  had an animation office in Japan so they could export the animation jobs to themselves.   Remember when we talked about a couple DIC series being on Disney's One Saturday Morning?  There was a reason for that  (I'd hope so)  Capital Cities/ABC  ,which was ABC's company name  from their purchase by Captial Cities (all 50 of them?)  they bought up DIC in 1993. When Disney bought CapCities /ABC they also got guess what? ( ESPN?)  DIC was now owned by Disney. (DICsney).  In 2000  Bain Captial (the famous one)  bought DIC  in 2000  and  they eventually got it sold to Andy Heyward.  Where they became the last bastion of syndicated children's programming.   Eventually , in 2008 (when everything was going just fine , no not really) , it got sold to  Cookie Jar Entertainment (who also is now a dead company, eh circle of life or death).
     
     So , let's get to the shows now.  (Finally,  I was just about to go to CNN.com)
     1.  Dennis The Menace (the animated one from the 80's)
 
         
        Video is kind of loud  ... like the 80's ... so it's not loud in the 80's  
   
    Dennis the Menace is one of those "Cartoons on TV based off Comic strips" things  , about our overall-ed  hero  and his gaggle of friends  and his very big dog.  Even though Dennis is a Menace it's all because he is trying hard to  help. (Like most people )   It ran on Syndication first  in 1986 with 65 episodes (the average of  shows  like this) ,  then CBS saw a star in their eye ( ha! get it? , no ? me neither)  and picked up the series for a season 2 of  a big 13 episodes.  Each episode was  3 shorts inside (again more like average series of the time).  It ran a long time on syndication repeats and on popular cable channels  , like USA for their Cartoon express.

2.  Inspector Gadget   (also a surprise at the end or mistake )
     This was the first , animated series by DIC , came on in 1983 on our favorite channel , syndication  (well ,it's not really a channel , but what do you want from me?).  it was also the first  animated produced in  stereo. (Yeah 80's!)  It was created by  Andy Heyward, Jean Chalopin and Bruno Bianchi.( We mention Andy alot ) 
                               
                                 Go Gadget go !  /  copyright  DHX media (guess who owns DIC now?)
   The series is about  a detective who is half machine  who has tons of gadgets (which ever is convenient for that episode)  he was a bumbling detective who solved crimes and stopped EVIL.  He also had a niece named Penny and a very smart dog named  Brian. (Who then moved to Quahog , wait oh --- never mind) and they solved the crimes or stopped the evil together. The main villains are working for a group called M.A.D  and their leader Dr. Claw. (they just give  medical degrees to everyone don't they?)    
       Gadget works for Chef Quimby , he's the chef of police in Metro City ( hmm   they have  bad crime rate)
   Each episode , since it was the 80's   ended with a PSA .

Wait... we have more (have your credit cards ready)
     Inspector Gadget's field trip  , this show was  a  kind of spin-off with our cartoon hero , created by Dic in 1996 it aired on the History Channel . (Before it became the scary channel with lack of history)  it had 26 episodes , Don Adams returned as the voice . This series was an educational travel show for kids (or people who really like inspector gadget or traveling). It  only featured Gadget , none of the other original animated series characters were there. It ran on  DIC's syndication block in the 2000's.
 


  As you can see it's E/I

more after the jump

New Digital Network : Laff Launches April 15

Broadcast Networks    TV 
     

       A new digital sub-channel network that was announced back in January ; Laff TV launches Apirl 15   on ABC  owned stations , Scripps Media stations, some Cox media stations, and some Meredith stations.  It is a comedy based network, hence the name.
   They will be airing comedy  Movies  from the  Disney, Miramax, and Sony , it will be airing off-network sitcoms of The Drew Carey Show , Ellen , Empty Nest, Grace Under Fire , and Spin City.

  We have their first day schedule  (note :this can change)
   
8AMET  My Mom's  New Boyfriend
10AMET   Empty Nest
10:30AMET   Empty  Nest
11AMET  Ellen (Sitcom)
11:30AMET  Ellen (Sitcom)
12PMET  Vice Versa
2PMET  My Father, The  Hero
4PMET    Spin City
4:30PMET  Spin City
5PMET  Ellen  (sitcom)
5:30PM  Ellen   (sitcom)
6PMET   Grace Under Fire
6:30PMET  Grace Under Fire
7PMET   The Drew Carey Show
7:30PMET The Drew Carey  Show
8PMET   Spin City
8:30PMET  Spin City
9PMET The Drew Carey Show
9:30PMET  The Drew Carey Show
10pmet  So  I Married and Axe Murderer
`12AMET   The Drew Carey Show
12:30AMET  The Drew Carey Show
1AMET   Grace Under Fire
1:30AMET  Grace Under Fire
2AMET  Empty Nest
2:30AMET  Empty Nest
3AMET   The Apple Dumpling Gang
5AMET   Empty  Nest
5:30AMET Empty Nest
6AMET  Indian Summer


From looking ahead it looks as  though Movies will air from  Weekdays  6AMET-10AMET;  12-4PMET; 10pmet-12AMET  3-5AMET  (though some movies can go longer).  While Empty Nest will be on weekdays at 5AM ET (Back to Back) ; 10AMET (back to back) ; and 2AMET (back to back).  Ellen weekdays at 11AMET (back to Back) , and 5PMET (Back to Back).    Spin City Weekdays 4PMET (back to back)  and 8pmet   (back to back) . Drew Carey Show weekdays  at 7pmet (back to back ) ; 9PMET (Back to back) ; 12AMET (back to back).  Grace Under Fire  weekdays at  6PMET (back to back) ;  and 1AMET (back to back).

Weekends seem to include the same mixture of movies and sitcoms , and on Saturdays the mandated 3 hours of E/I programming.

To find out more about Laff visit their website   here.

The Lookback: Children's TV : The Disney Afternoon

The Flashback  Children's TV 
                                              
 
         So  we have told you about Disney's One Saturday Morning and Disney's One too , before Disney owned a broadcast network they   had to find other ways to air their content.  Now-a-days it's  Disney Channel , Disney XD, Disney Junior , and sometimes ABC.  Before then there was  Disney Channel , but it was premium. (Like HBO , though as one channel ,not a bunch ). So they had NBC,CBS,ABC and independent stations air their programs.    Now to FOX , we told in you in our FOX Kids piece that , Fox owned stations (some not owned) aired  some disney shows including "Duck Tales" and "Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers" that Disney syndicated to stations.  So after FOX and Disney got mad at each other  and FOX decided  to launch FOX Kids , many of the fox affiliates that aired the syndicated shows  still aired them or they were moved to other stations.  (usually independent stations )
 
     
  coming in 4 weeks?! I'm there.  youtube/ Disney

  Now on September 10th , 1990 (2 days after Fox Kids started)  The Disney Afternoon started. It was a syndicated block of about 2 hours airing programs made by Disney usually in the afternoon slots the stations would air kids TV shows anyway.
 
What did these two hours entail ?  (Yeah what did they entail?)  Well cartoons from Disney , a mixture of some from Disney airing on other networks , and new ones for the block.
   "Disney's Adventures  of the Gummi Bears" was the first series on the block . (This is the program that ran on NBC and ABC first) ,so why not start your new programming block with it?   "Ducktales" was the first Disney cartoon to air in syndication it originally ran on FOX and independent stations in the country  it was added to the block as repeats.  "Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers" also started in syndication was added as part of the syndicated block   as repeats.   And Disney added  "Talespin".
    Each year a new show was added in the last half hour and the "oldest show" was at the first half-hour and the next season each show moved up one half-hour and the first half-hour show from the previous season was removed.  In the 2nd year the new program was "Darkwing Duck" , it also aired on ABC (two for one) .  This cartoon was a cartoon super-hero show with Ducks.
                     
 ........ oh what expecting a comment? , no comment here just enjoy  Disney/Youtube
The 3rd year (some call it 1992)  "Duck Tales" was removed (it was the first hour show the last season , so it be eliminated )  and a new series came in called "Goof Troop". "Goof Troop" was a cartoon about Goofy and his 11 -year -old son ,  Max. (Goofy had a son?)  It also aired on ABC and The Disney Channel . (not ooh Disney Channel had a fancy phase of the )  In the 4th year ( uhhhh 1993) , "Chip n' Dale" were removed and a new series "Bonkers" came in.  It was a spin-off , of "Raw Toonage". (It aired on CBS so that's why didn't mention it here, also Bonkers didn't air on ABC which is shocking )   In the 5th year  ,"Talespin" was removed and the new series was "Aladdin". It was based of the popular movie that came out two years before (called Aladdin, as well ) ,  It takes  place after the movie. "Aladdin" also aired on CBS (hey! That's not ABC)
       
          Everything in the early 90's sounded like this...don't judge them    youtube/disney

     Also in the 5th year , another program was added  (the 3rd 1/2 hour was now 3 programs depending on the day) "Gargoyles" was also introduced the first two seasons ran on  Disney Afternoon and the final on ABC. (There we are)   It was more dramatic and less comedy  like the other programs.  It's about Gargoyles who are mystical creatures , trying to adjust to Newyork and the 20th century.
   In the 6th year , "Timon and Pumba" was the new series added, it was based off the two charcters from the highly popular "Lion King" movie , that came out just 2 years before.  It also aired on CBS (This is 1995,so you know what 1996 means).  This program also out lived the block by two years... kind of.  (more on that in a second)
   In the 7th year, "Quack Pack" and  "Mighty Ducks" were added. (Good year for Duck theme).  It's 1996 , this is also where the block dies ( awww)  on August 29, 1997. What was coming in 1997? (oooh pick me pick me). Yep The new block "Disney's One Saturday Morning" on ABC. The block died but it didn't. (well I am lost)  On September 1 it was renamed ____________ (in other words it had no name) and it was shortened to 90 minutes. It aired mostly repeats of shows from the Disney's One Sat block at this point. In 1999 it was officially ended. Another reason for it's end was also the stations , if they were now WB affiliates they would be airing Kids WB  in the afternoon ,so no need for the syndicated block , and others were UPN and same reason (with UPN kids).
    Disney didn't give up on afternoons they launched "Disney's One too" which you have already read about , (we hope , for our moral)  If not it's here .    The repeats of the programs and large amount of cartoons Disney was making , they launched Toon Disney , as a spin off of the now Basic cable Disney Channel (The "the" was removed)  and all the programs aired there for awhile.  Toon Disney closed in 2009.

So that's it ..thanks for reading .(How else would you end it?)