Morning Cartoons Are Back!

In the immortal words of Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, “Good News Everyone!” Starting this week morning cartoons are back on the air for our kids to enjoy in all their retro nostalgia goodness. Over the air digital channel MeTV is airing a block of classic cartoons every weekday at 7am. Chicago radio personality and MeTV’s anointed “cartoon curator” Bill Leff will be hosting a block called “Toon In With Me” feature classics such as Bugs Bunny, Popeye, Tom & Jerry and more. With all the bad we got in 2020 its nice to have a small bright spot, even if it something as silly as morning cartoons. Morning cartoons have always been a nice memory for me and being able to watch them with my own kids makes it even more special. But why is it so special, it the time of day, the sugary cereal, or maybe some magical combination of the tow that makes it the perfect way to start any morning.

As a kid growing up in the 80’s and 90’s watching cartoons in the morning was something of a ritual, especially on Saturday mornings. Waking up on a weekend morning was always a treat knowing that I had morning cartoons to look forward to, along with a big bowl of cereal with way too much sugar usually. It was like the warm up for the weekend and a nice break after a week of school. It was the one thing I could always count on, a nice 3-4 hours of cartoons. Through the decades it went from shows like Looney Tunes and The Flintstones, to more action oriented show like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men. But no matter what the show was there was always fun to be had in those early morning hours. Over the decades though these programming blocks faded away and cartoons were relegated to cable tv channels like Disney or Nickelodeon. Now kids can watch cartoons whenever they want, wherever they want. Many households these days don’t even have cable tv, most tv is streaming from Netflix or other internet service, and more likely on a phone or tablet than on a television. Life is lived on demand and doesn’t have to revolve around an arbitrary schedule made by network executives and advertisers. In theory this is progress and makes things more accessible, but it also takes away some of the appeal of morning cartoons. Ironically our connected lives have made us more disconnected from each other, the morning cartoons extinction is just sign of the times.

With everything going on in the world right now, having to be quarantined, socially distance, along with our obsession with our phones and social media, some old cartoons might just be the shot in the arm we need. So grab your kids and the most sugar filled cereal you can find and Toon In to MeTV to start your day. Check out MeTV and find out your local channel and schedule. Along with these morning cartoons MeTV also airs tons of old classics like The Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan’s Island, The Dick VanDyke Show and much more. With the pandemic putting most new TV shows on pause its a great time to enjoy some wholesome family classics.