Where have all the cartoons gone?

Recently I awoke early on Saturday morning with really nothing to do. I had my chores done and didn't have anything that needed my immediate attention. So, I decided to sit on the couch and turn on the television. I was thinking to myself that I would watch some good old Saturday morning cartoons. I hadn't done that in a long time. I remember the good old days when (yes even before satellite) I turned on the TV around 8 am, tuned in to one of the local channels and had four hours of entertainment. There was Bugs Bunny, Reboot, Transformers, G. I. Joe, etc. Then at 12, the cartoons ended and American Bandstand came on. But, I was in for a shocking surprise when I turned on the television that day.

To my horror, only one local channel had a cartoon lineup. This couldn't be!! Where did all the cartoons go. And what is even worse, the cartoons were replaced with infomercials and news programs. What in the crap?! Listen people, I watch the news at night and work my brain all week long. I want some mind numbing entertainment at least on the weekends. AHHHHHH!!!

Then when I didn't think it could get any worse, I flipped to the channel that had a cartoon lineup and it wasn't like the ones when I was a kid. They all had a educational point or a moral point to each episode. I don't want that. I want to see Wile E. Coyote fall off a cliff. I want to see robots in disguise blast each other. I want to see Bob and Glitch fight Hexidecimal or some other virus. I don't want to learn about anything. I get educated during the week. And for moral values, those are supposed to come from parents. At least that is where I got mine from.

The only saving grace that I seen on this dreadful day was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yes. Finally, a cartoon that didn't want to teach me anything. I was actually surprised to see them still around. It did what a cartoon is supposed to do, be entertaining. I feel sorry for kids today. And don't give me that bull about cartoons rotting kids minds. Correct me if I am wrong here...but cartoons were around before today's age. In fact, they were around when the people making the laws, regulations, and restrictions today were little kids. So, if the cartoons didn't destroy them, then why in the world are they being taken off the air?

I have a couple of theories. The ones that make up these regulations are the ones that were denied as a child of such pleasures and now want to make sure no one gets to enjoy what they could never have. Another theory is that we listen to all the ones that complain about the littlest things and make the government do what they are supposed to do. If you don't want your kid watching a program, then TURN IT OFF!! Simply change the channel and tell them they are not allowed to watch it. It's called parenting. The government shouldn't have to do the parenting.

I know that there are a couple of people that noticed this problem. But there is nothing that can really be done about it. Tis a sad sad world when you can't even watch a good old fashioned Bugs Bunny cartoon or watch the Autobots defend the earth from the evil forces of the Deceptacons.