Canceled: A Whole Bunch of Shows, and Your Precious Childhood Memories

So the fatalities are coming fast and furious now for the current TV season. FX canceled The Riches. CBS apparently canceled some show called The Ex List (um...try to stop sobbing?) Christian Slater's much-hyped My Own Worst Enemy got the axe over at NBC. And ABC just canceled Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, and (gasp sob no no) Pushing Daisies.

(If you're a fan of the piemaker, perhaps you'll find some comfort in the rumored talks and plans for a movie? But then again, you may also have been a fan of Arrested Development and have HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE.)

(DEAR GOD MAKE THE DAMN MOVIE ALREADY.)

But get this. Fox has gone and up and cancelled Saturday morning cartoons.

Like, all of them. Like, the very institution and idea of Saturday morning cartoons. Altogether. Boom!

And yet, soooo totally not surprising, what with all the competition from the 24-hour kids' cable networks. You've got Nick, Nick Jr, NOGGIN, Disney, PBS Sprout, the Cartoon Network -- all running cartoons and targeted age-appropriate programming and a shitload of Spongebob non-stop. Add in TiVos and On Demand programming, and kids (and parents) can pretty much order up whatever specific show they want at any time, any day of the week.

And also, GOD. I cannot even fathom the amount of terrible, horrible, just all-around crap cartoons I watched as a kid in the 80s. Every Saturday morning I would creep downstairs -- before the sun was up, when there was nothing even on yet except for creepy low-budget puppet shows on public television -- pour myself a huge bowl of cereal and then sit in front of the TV for HOURS, watching everything from old Hanna Barbera shows and Scooby Doo to Disney stuff like DuckTales and Chip n' Dale (RESCUE RANGERS!!) to the just plain awful toy tie-ins like Rainbow Brite and Care Bears and Pound Puppies. And the Smurfs! And the Snorks!

So, Fox will be airing infomercials on Saturday mornings instead. SWEET. Those things are like stain removal porn.

If you'd like to take a trip down your own personal brain-rot lane of Shows You Remember The Theme Song From And Yet Cannot Remember Your Own Phone Number, spend some time perusing Wikipedia's exhaustive lists of 1970s animated television series and 1980s animated television series.

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Comments

[michele]

i am crying about pushing daisies and dirty sexy money. but i do feel for the kids who won't have cartoons anymore that don't have cable. and in this economy i bet cable is going to get axe in a lot of households soon.

[Amber]

Does anyone remember a cartoon about an almost Victorian city of bears? They practically lived on Wisteria Lane for bears. The toymakers put out a little bear dollhouse in the thick of the show. I think the most challenging conflict they ever had was finding eucalyptus leaves for their visiting koala cousin to eat. I've been trying to think of the name of it for ages, and I can't remember it at all.

[Elaine]

I too will miss Pushing Daisies. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers the Snorks! Anybody else ever watch David the Gnome, Denver the Last Dinosaur, or the Gummy Bears???

[Sils]

Amber, was that the cartoon based off of the Sylvanian Families dolls? I never caught the cartoon, but I had a crap ton of the action fgures. (Similar to Maple Town.)

Elaine, I have an acapella version of the Gummi Bears theme song on my Zune.

I used to watch no less than 7 hours of cartoons in the morning on Saturdays in the 80s. Kids today are ROBBED.

Also, infomercials? They're just driving my Netflix subscription. They couldn't put some sitcoms on? wtf? Family Ties would be nice.

[SIls]

Speaking of things from way back that are being perverted in the name of progress... has everyone seen the "new" Holly Hobbie? http://www.agkidzone.com/hollyhobbie.action

[Belladonna]

No!!! Not Eli Stone!! I guess I was the only one watching it. I don't know why but I just loved that show. I guess it shows how unhip I really have become. I just loved looking at innocent old Johnny Lee Miller knowing that he was the first one to marry Angelina Jolie. Very sad right now.

[Lisa L.]

I am pissed about "The Riches". I'd heard already but just wanted to share my pissed-off-edness.

Cartoons- that wikipedia list sucks because it left off Kimba the White Lion. I looked that up separately and Matthew Broderick was a huge fan apparently and there was much controversy about the Lion King ripping it off. If "Kimba" had been a US production instead of Japanese, The Lion King would have been *shut down* and rightly so. Hummmph!

[mossymama]

I am so upset about Pushing Daisies. I don't know what sadder, me being sad about it or me being this sad about a tv show.

Yes Elaine! I watched David the Gnome, Denver and Gummi Bears all the time. I have to admit my fav was Thunder Cats. Hooooooo!

[Sam]

::coughJem&theHologramscoughcough::

Oh, the USA Cartoon Train - how I both loved and loathed thee, and would now give anything to have you back. Sigh.

Also, Pushing Daisies may be continuing on in comic book form, which, hey - works for Angel, Buffy, and a host of other much-loved programs.

[Suzy Q]

Anyone else remember The Road Runner, Mr. Magoo and the Original Pink Panther cartoons? Just me? Pfft. Am old.

[Heidi]

Elaine: I used to watch Denver the Last Dinosaur (he's our friend and a whole lot more!) every morning before school. And I'm pretty sure I was in junior high. Super dork!

Also, something was funky with our TV so I always thought Denver was turquoise. When I saw him on someone else's TV and he was green I was like, WTF!??!!

Sam: Jem is truly, truly, truly outrageous.

And Michelle: cable just got axed at our house, for financial reasons, luckily there's always something kid-friendly on PBS!

[Marmite Breath]

I always loved Muppet Babies. Go bye bye!

[Amber]

Sils-- you are awesome!! That is exactly what I was talking about. None of my friends ever understood what I meant. "The Gummy Bears? They lived in olden days." Wow. Not even close, friends. Victorian does not equal "olden days" Thanks!! You saved me some hard core brain time.

[Bean]

I AM PISSED about no more Pushing Daisies. Pretty much the ONLY sitcom besides the Office I can bear to watch.

[Karen]

I really, really miss classic Bugs Bunny cartoons. They're hard to find. The Cartoon Network has some crappy new stuff on that I don't even recognize.

[tonya]

I am really going to miss The Riches. I hadn't heard and this just bums me out.

[helenel]

Thanks, Lisa L. - now I've got
"Who's the king of animals in Africa?
Who's the one who brought the jungle fame?"

stuck in my head!

I was just talking to someone about this today. I watched so many things because they were the only things on back in the day, but they were great - like old Abbott and Costello movies, the Dagwood movies, Creature Double Feature, etc.

There's too much choice these days, dad gum it!

Also sad about the Piemaker!

[DianaCLT]

WTF!!!?!?!?!????!?? I was already sad when I heard about Pushing Daisies being canceled - but now Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money?!?!!?? My DVR is going to be out of work soon, just like all of these excellent actors, writers, producers, etc!

As for My Own Worst Enemy...I only saw the Pilot, because it was on at the same time as 2 other shows I record were on. But it seemed like it had potential.

I am terrified for the future of television program. What the hell is left? Yes, I like all the CSIs, but a girl's gotta have some comic relief from all the crime and drama once in awhile!

[Backpacking Dad]

I don't understand. Did you say those 80s cartoons were crap?

Droids.
Garfield and Friends.
Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.
Gummi Bears.
Superfriends.

I could watch 80s cartoons all day long. I'd much prefer them to any show in the last 10 years.

Because I'm still a child. :}

[Liana]

Gummi BEARS! Bouncing here and there and everywhere!

JEM! Truly outrageous trulytrulytruly outrageous...whoooaaa JEM!

HE-MAN. (By the Power of Grayskull!)

Dude- the theme songs! The catchphrases! They are still in my head after all these years, waiting to be brought forth in such a comment section as this!

Oh, and G.I. JOE! American HEEROOE. G.I. Joe is theerreee. (And Knowing is Half the Battle. Go Joe!)

Am I who the only girl who watched both G.I. Joe AND My Little Pony?
MAN- the memories!

[Sils]

Amber, no worries. I had a LOT of thos dolls. I interchanged teh Sylvanian Families with the Maple Town folk. I got one of their houses in the 3rd grade because I had my appendix out(... after telling my mom I was sick for 3 days, her not believing me, and having it rupture. Guilt FTW!) I loved that house. Maple Town had a rabbit named Patti Rabbit and I was thrilled that there was a toy with my name.

Liana, I knew both, but I had a herd of MLP and just a couple G.I. Joe figures. Have you seen the new MLP stuff? I just got a Hasbro catalog in the mail and I was astounded. It kind of makes me want to buy it all just to look at it.

[Sam]

No, Liana, you're not - and don't forget She-Ra and SuperTed!

[JellyBean]

How are kids gonna learn about how a bill becomes a law and conjunctions if they cancel Sat morning cartoons?
Seriously though, Josie & The Pussycats ruled! Anyone remember Sat morning shows that weren't cartoons - Isis? Shazam?