When I was a kid, I loved watching Saturday morning cartoons. My favorites were the Looney Tunes and other Warner Brothers cartoons, but I was a big fan of "Scooby Doo" (until they brought in Scrappy Doo, natch), "Jonny Quest," and to a lesser extent "The Jetsons" and "The Flintstones." I never particularly cared for Mickey Mouse and his crew, nor for Tom and Jerry. (Clearly I gave it a lot of thought at the time!)
I’m just old enough that the shows I liked weren’t heavily tied to product marketing (although I did have a "Scooby Doo" lunch box). "Strawberry Shortcake" and "The Smurfs" came a little later.
Just because I’ve grown up doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy animated shows. Of course the most prominent animated show these days is still "The Simpsons," which I don’t watch all that regularly anymore. It’s become such a fixture that I take for granted that I can catch it anytime I want.
Over the years I’ve enjoyed a lot of the "not for the kiddies" animation that’s come along, beginning with the early "Ren and Stimpy" and "Beavis and Butthead." At the time, we thought both shows were pretty outrageous, but they’re tame in comparison to any given episode of "South Park." I watched "South Park" pretty regularly for the first few seasons and I still watch it when I run across it while channel surfing although its "can you believe we’re doing this?" shtick is beginning to pall.
I’m very fond of many of the "Adult Swim" shows on Cartoon Network just because they’re so odd and filled with non sequiturs. I find twisted brilliance in "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" in particular.
My latest delight is that the Toon Disney channel is running episodes of "The Tick" animated show right now. It’s been off the air for several years and hasn’t been available on DVD, so I’ve been eagerly watching the old episodes all week.
One of the advertising blogs I read mentioned in passing yesterday that it seemed odd that Sharper Image advertises its Ionic Breeze air cleaner on Cartoon Network. I’m guessing it’s because Sharper Image is well aware that plenty of adults watch cartoons and may well be in the market for fresher indoor air.
Do you still watch "cartoons"? What are your favorites?
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