Was E/I meant to kill network cartoons?

[TMC]

Maybe that's a bit of an extreme accusation to make but either way, lets first take things back to see how we ultimately got here. Back in 1969 we got Hot Wheels on ABC, which was the first 30 minute animated TV series based on a toy-line. To make a long story short, this inevitably didn't go over so well with both parents and the FCC, who naturally viewed the show as little more than a half-hour toy commercial.

Regulations were soon put into place to ensure that nothing like this would ever happen again. And by 1974, rules were made so that no television show could be based strictly on merchandise (especially toys aimed at children). This however didn't stop popular shows from spawning toys afterwards.

By the early '80s under the Ronald Reagan administration, the government passed legislation relaxing this regulation and every cartoon (He-Man, G.I. Joe, and Transformers were pretty much the big three) was suddenly just as they feared in 1969: A half-hour commercial for toys. To put things into proper perspective, even the Rubik Cube by 1983, had its own weekly animated series.

Some of them tried to appease wary parents and such by adding 30 second "morals" to the ends of episodes (e.g. G.I. Joe's "Knowing is half the battle!" segments), but by 1990, the FCC realized what a horrible mistake that whole experiment had been and started trying to get back to how things had been prior. It should be noted that major related factor involved regulations on advertising in and of itself, and the programs were seen as a loophole to get around those rules as well as make money off elementary kids.

[TMC]

While it's actually absolutely understandable to not want glorified 30 minute toy commercials (let's put it this way, imagine your kids always nagging you to buy them toys that they saw every week on their favorite cartoon), it's another to try to force shows to be educational. Let's think about it for a moment, kids already spend several hours each weekday at school. Do you seriously believe that the first thing that they would want and hope once they get home or when Saturday arrives to be taught even further? I don't know, maybe it just comes across as a bit naïve on the part of those who pushed such a thing.

And to make matters worse, stations wanted to skirt around this anyway, considering the requirements (for those who don't know, broadcast stations are supposed to show E/I programming on Saturday or Sunday from 7a-10a.) involved airing a minimum of three hours of content. As a result, we may have gotten PBS shows syndicated (which in itself, kind of problematic since they weren't designed to feature commercial breaks) or older programming like The Jetsons being passed off as "educational".

To go even further with how problematic the requirements are, ever since Antenna TV launched in the year 2011, they would around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, show a 48 hour marathon (with the exception for three hours on Christmas morning when they would simulcast New York's WPIX showing the Yule Log) old Christmas themed episodes of TV shows. So where does the E/I problem fit in, well if Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day falls on a weekend day, that means that three hours of their marathon can not be shown?

[Mario500]

Originally Posted by TMC

And to make matters worse, stations wanted to skirt around this anyway, considering the requirements (for those who don't know, broadcast stations are supposed to show E/I programming on Saturday or Sunday from 7a-10a.)

I do not believe those stations were required to have such programming only in that time period on those calendar days specifically (you may learn or remind your self about the current requirements here (personally I do not like them and wish some members of the Congress of the United States would have them repealed))

[tlc38tlc38]

Bring back Looney Tunes to Saturday mornings!

[Svenfan1234]

Some E/I cartoons aren't at all bad. Dragon Tales, Arthur, Cyberchase, Between the Lions, Zoboomafoo, Wishbone, etc. are all awesome for example... and Clifford the Big Red Dog.

[Mario500]

I agree that some "E/I cartoons" are not bad at all, but they could had still been made without the rules requiring certain stations to broadcast programs like them.

[tlc38tlc38]

Honestly, if cartoons were still on ABC, CBS, etc...on Saturday mornings, they'd be horrible CGI computer animated so we're not really missing that much.

[Frank Gannucci]

Kinda off topic, but E/I programming sometimes causes problems like this

Broadcast stations are supposed to show E/I programming on Saturday or Sunday from 7a-10a. Since Antenna Tv launched in 2011, every Christmas Eve and Christmas Day they would have a 48 hour marathon of Christmas episodes of Tv shows (except for three hours on Christmas morning when they would simulcast New York's WPIX showing the Yule Log. Both Antenna Tv and WPIX are both owned by Tribune). Only problem is when Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day falls on a weekend day, that means that three hours of their marathon would not be shown and I can only imagine the uproar it would cause on message boards If Antenna Tv Deemed it necessary to preempt the Yule Log in favor of the obligated E/I programming when they can show it at a later time.

[Svenfan1234]

^Oh, definitely. Last year from 1-2pm on Christmas Eve that part was pre-empted so they could show more E/I shows. I don't know why...?

[MrCleveland]

I think E/I's Litton Entertainment KILLED the network cartoon!

Educational Shows SHOULD be entertaining whether live or animated! Sesame Street is a perfect example! And the first 25 years of Sesame Street is VERY entertaining! Seeing a kid with a pet llama, Paul Simon singing a hit tune to the children, even some trippy creative cartoons.

Elmo's Sesame Street isn't like that...

[Svenfan1234]

Sesame Street was still very good until Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures IMO. then it kept on going downhill from there.

[Mario500]

Originally Posted by Frank Gannucci

Kinda off topic, but E/I programming sometimes causes problems like this

Broadcast stations are supposed to show E/I programming on Saturday or Sunday from 7a-10a. .

Did you miss one of my previous messages in this discussion?

Originally Posted by TMC

And to make matters worse, stations wanted to skirt around this anyway, considering the requirements (for those who don't know, broadcast stations are supposed to show E/I programming on Saturday or Sunday from 7a-10a.)

Originally Posted by Mario500

I do not believe those stations were required to have such programming only in that time period on those calendar days specifically (you may learn or remind your self about the current requirements here (personally I do not like them and wish some members of the Congress of the United States would have them repealed))

[TMC]

You kids today with your streaming services and TikTok will never understand Saturday morning cartoons.

[TMC]

It's been a long time since I've posted an old ET clip. This one features a segment from the October 21, 1995 weekend edition of Entertainment Tonight where Bob Goen (Goen - who had previously hosted the short-lived 1988 CBS game show "Blackout" and was the final host of the daytime version of "Wheel of Fortune" from mid-1989 until its cancellation in 1991 - co-hosted the weekend editions at the time alongside Julie Moran) teased a segment looking at the initial Children's Television Act and how it was doing in terms of making children's television more educational.

Known as the Children's Television Act of 1990 (which sought to require the FCC to, among other things, count educational programming as a factor in a station's license while reducing advertising in hopes of increasing educational programming on regular television {vs. just PBS}. The bill had been allowed to become law without a signature from then-President George H.W. Bush); by 1995 the legislation in the eyes of those seeking more overtly educational programming left much to be desired, as while shows such as CBS' "Beakman's World", FOX's "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?" and the PBS/syndicated "Bill Nye the Science Guy" garnered praise; a number of stations were being "creative" in defining educational programming, counting shows such as "America's Funniest Home Videos", "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers", "Biker Mice from Mars" and even "Yogi Bear" as educational shows.

Ultimately, pressure from FCC commissioner Reed Hundt and the Clinton White House resulted in the Children's Programming Report and Order in August 1996 (among the things it did was provide much stricter controls on what constituted educational shows; require 3 hours of educational programming between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. by the fall of 1997 and mark said shows with an "E/I" (for educational/informational) tag.

Interviewed are Valerie Schulte of the National Association of Broadcasters (who opposed further government action); UC-San Diego professor Dale Kunkel (who supported stricter action from Washington on the matter) and Massachusetts Democratic Congressman (now Senator) Ed Markey (who at the time was the ranking member of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee).

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by TMC

and mark said shows with an "E/I" (for educational/informational) tag.

This is why I can't watch Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on ME-TV. It's bad enough their logo takes up most of the corner, but that E/I is a huge distraction. I have fond memories of watching this show as a kid every Sunday. For many years I have wanted to see it again and now when I'm finally able to I have to deal with this E/I crap on my screen.