Boy, Saturday mornings sure aren’t what they used to be.

On a recent overnight babysitting stint at my sister’s house, I awakened on Saturday morning and turned on the television with the intention of letting my niece watch cartoons while I fed my nephew his bottle. I was surprised when my niece informed me that she never watched T.V. on Saturday mornings because there wasn’t anything good on, just the local news and reruns of old Disney Channel live action shows like Hannah Montana and That’s So Raven. I was determined to prove her wrong, but imagine my total shock when I discovered that she was right! After flipping through several channels, I realized that the only one with brand new cartoons playing was our local CW/WB affiliate.

Whatever happened to the good old days? The days when unveiling each station’s new Saturday morning line-up every fall was as important as unveiling the rest of the new fall schedules? The days when my sister, brother, and I would awake at 6:30 or 7:00 on Saturdays and plant ourselves in front of the television until noon for what seemed like an endless supply of cartoons?

It got to me thinking about some of the Saturday morning shows that I used to love as a child. Of course, there were scads of them. They came and went through the years, and there were those I loved and those I didn’t care for. But there were a few favorites that I remember fondly even today:

1. The one cartooon that really sticks out in my mind from my earliest years is Josie and the Pussycats. Wow, was I crazy about that show! I can remember papering the closet in my bedroom with stickers of each of the show’s characters. Think of it as Scooby Doo meets the Partridge Family–only with an all-girl band and their friends. I loved the combination of girl power and mystery. (And believe it or not, while Josie got on my nerves, I adored scheming Alexandra. Hmmm. Wonder what that says about me?)

Honorable Mention goes to The Krofft Kids Super Power Hour, which had several different live action shows that included Sid and Marty Krofft’s puppetry. Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Electra Woman and Dynagirl, Bigfoot and Wildboy. I ate it up!

2. Later, I graduated to the misadventures of Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. Think of it as Scooby Doo meets Charlie’s Angels, only with a caveman instead of a dog. (And once again with the girl power/mystery theme. Noticing a trend here?) To my family’s annoyance, I picked up a lot of Teen Angel Taffy’s sayings and started bursting out with expressions like Zowie! I think my sister finally threatened to glue my mouth shut one night when I was sleeping if I didn’t cut it out.

Honorable Mention goes to The ABC Weekend Special, which showcased a different live action show each week taken from a book for children. Some of my favorites through the years were The Haunted Mansion Mystery, Mayday!, The Ransom of Red Chief, and Zack and the Magic Factory.

3. My absolute favorite Saturday morning cartoon ever came along in my later grade school years. Dungeons and Dragons was about six kids who boarded the D&D ride at an amusement park and wound up getting zapped through a portal into the real thing. Amid zombies, orks, and other creatures from the game, the kids tried to survive and get back to their world with the help of the elfish Dungeon Master. The best part was that each kid got their own character designation and a cool weapon. Hank the Ranger had an energy bow, Sheila the Thief had an invisibility cloak, etc. I was devastated when they took it off after three seasons. So imagine my extreme happiness when the entire collection recently came out on DVD! (My niece and nephews love it!)

Honorable Mention goes to Pole Position, a cartoon about a brother and sister team with the Pole Position stunt riding show who drove race cars that talked. (Yes, it was based on the video game of the same name) Think of it as Scooby Doo meets Knight Rider. Didn’t last very long, but a way cool theme song.

There were others through the years. Whoofer and Whimper, Speedbuggy, Thundarr the Barbarian, Rubix. If I really thought about it, I could probably come up with a whole lot more. What about you? Do you have any fond Saturday morning memories? Any favorite shows you look back on with a sense of nostalgia?

And don’t forget to check out the winner of Margo’s contest below!