June 21, 2025

REFLECTING ON 10 YEARS

 

            This past year was our 10th anniversary. You may be wondering why there wasn’t much in the way of celebrating it beyond putting a “10” in the site’s logo, showcasing the characters from our first year in our title graphic, and an overall decline in the frequency of new entries. Well, it’s not that there wasn’t a desire to do it, it’s just that life doesn’t care if you have an anniversary or not.

These last two years were riddled with various health and family issues (nothing too serious, just time consuming), as well as increasing business at my day job. All of these combined left very little time to do the in-depth research and writing each entry requires to give you the very best. This very much is a one-man show. But I thank you for sticking around, for those who have been here before. And if you’re new, welcome! Plenty for you to see!

            And it’s not like I’ve been sitting idle. I’ve been going through and steadily updating entries with new information that has been coming out. Improving little things here and there, changing up older entries to match the style of newer ones. Basically a steady remastering of the entire site to provide the definitive experience.

            As we begin our 11th year, I do have to reflect on how much things have changed since I started Saturday Mornings Forever. The nostalgia wave was just steadily growing into the apex that would inspire nothing but reboots, remakes and reimaginings across all media. Saturday morning programs had not yet been invited to that particular party. It was my own personal nostalgia that led to the site’s creation; inspired in large part by the classic programs that returned to television on the then-new network, The Hub (now Discovery Family).

Information, surprisingly, was difficult to come by early on. Only the bigger shows—your Ghostbusters, your Turtles, your Smurfs—had anything of note available about them. But then that nostalgia wave hit. Shows were beginning to get released onto home media; some for the first time, some for the first time in a long time. Continuations were happening in the form of comic books, as were collections of classic comics based on shows. Streaming services filled out their offerings with many shows not seen since their original airings. New merch was in stores thanks to companies like Funko, Mondo and Super 7. Disney, Discovery Family, and, for a time, Nickelodeon were keeping the tradition of Saturday morning cartoons alive by airing their new programs on that day. Even the latest Strawberry Shortcake, though relegated to YouTube before going to Netflix, was uploading new episodes on Saturday. And let’s not forget the new network MeTV Toons, which debuted just a year ago, being largely comprised of shows that lived on Saturdays over the last 60 years.

It has never been a better time to be a fan of Saturday morning television. If you loved those days and want to indulge your nostalgia, there’s something for you out there somewhere. If you’re experiencing something new that you might have missed? Even better—especially if you enjoy it.  

So, here’s to 10 years, Saturday Mornings Forever! Onward to the next 10!

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