By Miguel Mike Medina
If you are the 80s and early 90s baby, Saturdays from 8 am to 11 am were the best hours of your childhood—the Golden Era of Cartoons. Saturday mornings were amazing because of three networks: Fox Kids’, Kids’ WB, and Nickelodeon.
Fox Kids’ had the best lineup of cartoons out of the three networks. Fox Kids’ was the top-rated children’s program block among the major networks until 1998. Fox Kids’ programmed shows like Bobby’s World, Taz Mania, Batman: The Animated Series/The Adventures of Batman and Robin, X-Men, Spider-Man, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Tiny Toon Adventures, and many more.
Bobby’s World and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were two of my favorite shows from Fox Kids’. The theme song is very catchy and memorable. Graphic design for the theme song is impeccable. Bobby’s World lasted seven seasons on Fox Kids’. It’s on streaming services like Amazon Prime and Sling TV.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! Tommy Oliver is every guy’s favorite ranger. Tommy is a legend among the Power Rangers community and is considered to be the greatest Power Ranger of all time. In the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, he was the White Ranger and my favorite the Green Ranger. As the Green Ranger, you knew it was serious business the moment he would take out the flute. Tommy also serves as a love interest to the original Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart. Kimberly was every 90s boys first crush. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was one of the most popular programs in Fox Kids’. The show became one of the block’s highest-rated programs when it debuted in 1993.
Animaniacs was one of Fox Kids’ popular shows from 1993 to 1995 before going to Kids’ WB. Both Animaniacs and Batman served as the top 1-2 punch for Kids’ WB.
Kids’ WB was part of The WB Network. Kids’ WB had incredible shows like Animaniacs, Freakazoid, Superman: The Animated Series, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, and The Pinky and The Brain.
Aside from Saturday mornings, Kids’ WB cartoons would also air on weekdays from 3 pm to 5 pm. It was the best. Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and The New Batman Adventures are shown for that time slot.
The last stop is Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon had memorable programs such as The Ren & Stimpy Show, Doug, Rugrats, Hey Arnold, and so much more.
Nickelodeon’s The Ren & Stimpy Show is my favorite 90s animated series. The show lasted five seasons and had a long-lasting influence on television animation. Ren & Stimpy received widespread critical acclaim after its run. Some episodes from the series were removed off because of the expose of violence, alcohol, religion, etc.
Ren & Stimpy is one of the best cartoons of the 90s and cartoons for adults. Ren & Stimpy is one of the Top 50 most fantastic cartoon characters of all time. The Ren & Stimpy Show is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Kids nowadays will never understand what it was like to wake up early in the morning to watch these iconic cartoons.
We are in the Golden Era of TV Drama and Reality Shows. These cartoons will forever be in the minds and hearts of us 80s and early 90s kids. Hopefully, we see these cartoons on more streaming services platforms, which it’s already happening.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
