I LOVE THE 80's- peggy style

today's show is brought to you by my favorite

SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS!
(in no particular order)

first off i would like to pay homage to the religious experience that saturday morning cartoon watching in the 80's was. there was no other reason to get out of bed at 6 in the morning and wait before a rainbow colored screen and the light constant beeeeeeeeeeepppp.

we were ready. ready for the onslaught of colors, icons and breakfast cereal commercials. we didn't mind the constant fight amongst ourselves about whether we should watch the ghostbusters cartoon or garfield and friends. it didn't matter. nothing mattered... at least until saved by the bell was over- idicating that



ron popiel



would come on next and try to sell us all on a cheap dry-your-own-food gimick! so we waited, with our cap'n crunch in bowls, ready... waiting for the mind-numbing brilliance of saturday morning tv!



NUMBER ONE-

do the CARE BEARS countdown 5...4...3...2...1!

nothing makes you feel better than to know that you have the care bears on your side- these plush do-gooders were always on the look-out for trouble. and trouble they found. from the kid in the wheelchair who couldn't get all her packages delivered in time because beastly, no heart's evil sidekick had foiled that wonderful plan again, to the trouble they sometimes ran into with each other in care-a-lot. these mongrammed icons, precurser to the emoticon, had us all in our own bedrooms clutching to our very own friendship bear practising the CARE BEAR STARE in attempt to thwart our mother's evil attempts to get us to do the dishes!

NUMBER TWO-

MUPPET BABIES!

in the heart of a nursery, guarded by a nanny we never see, except her green and white striped socks, lay a cast of characters we all loved and adored, known as the muppet babies. from gonzo opening the closet only to find a monster in it or a train headed for us, to fozzy the bear telling awful jokes and having food thrown at him... we just couldn't get enough of the crazy antics these multi-thinged bunch had to give. remember when they lost animal and they had to go into the basement and it turned into indiana jones? remember skeeter... scooter's twin sister who we'd never heard of before and haven't seen since?

NUMBER THREE-

THUNDER CATS/VOLTRON/TRANSFORMERS

don't hate me dudes, but being forced to watch these cartoons because roger was older and mean about it- we HAD to watch all of these and they have forever become one entity to me. don't get me wrong, i still liked them- but somewhere my psyche made like the voltron in trouble and meshed all three into one ginormous, crime fighting beast in my brain. they are one in the same and yet each had their own cool powers. the thundercats and their righteous hair-do's and kiss-esque make-up, voltron with thier cat like awesomenes and of course-- the beloved transformers. i love you optimus prime- your cool but sure voice helps me to know that i am in good hands against the decepticons!


NUMBER FOUR-

dun da dun da dun INSPECTOR GADGET

didn't we all just want to be inspector gadget sometimes!!! there you are watching your favorite show, but you really need a snack and your little brother (who usually acted as the gopher to all older siblings) refused to get it for you... wouldn't it have been great to say GO GO GADGET ARM and reach all the way into the kitchen and get that box of raisins? i say yes! i loved watching that clumsy detective dodge dr. claw and his meniacle cat with the help from his neice and smart dog! and do you guys remember the chief popping out of random places to give gadget his mission? dude i loved this show!

NUMBER FIVE-

i have the power! HE-MAN

the one and only master of the universe is here- along with his trusty steed cringer turned into battle cat, his sexy vixen of a "friend" she-ra and don't forget everyone's favorite comic relief orko! together they fight off the gnarly skeletor and protect the castle of grayskull. if my memory serves me correctly, he-man came on pretty early in the line-up... what a great way to start off anyone's day. oh and don't forget orko at the end of each episode giving the lesson of the day- eat more fruits and vegetables or tell an adult if someone tries to sell you drugs. thanks orko for helping me to stay healthy an safe!


NUMBER SIX-

the SMURFS!
i know you are all now singing the la las's in your head to the theme song- if not- you are now! dude, what the smurf are smurfs? but really, who the smurf cares. all we knew that these little blue mushroom dwellers made our lives seem a little better. after all, we didn't have to grow up being blue and we didn't have to constantly keep an eye out for that wicked villan gargamel and his dumb cat azrael. we questioned why there was only one girl, why that one man smurf seemed like a girl and why papa smurf got to wear red. but these were quickly forgotten as the theme song began.





NUMBER SEVEN-

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

turtles in a half shell- turtle power! yeah dude- so these turtles and a rat got dipped in the crappy green goo that is under NYC and it turned them all BAD A and now they can kick the trash out of shredder with their knum-chuck skills and finish off the day with a pizza! RADICAL! the toys my brother and nephew owned- action firgures, costumes, weapons! love me some turle power man!


NUMBER EIGHT-

PEE WEE's PLAYHOUSE

does this really count as a cartoon- well it's probably better describes as an acid trip- but for the sake of argument and because this is my childhood we are reliving- it falls under the umbrella, as it did fall in the saturday morning line-up. oh where to begin- pictures and people and crazy antics and stupid jokes and weird doings all flash before my eyes as i begin to explain exactly what it was we loved about this show. maybe it was for its sheer strange factor that we watched- completly taken in by the "word of the day" and the big ball of rubber bands or chairy. what was it about ths strange man dressed weird, with a strange voice and wearing red lipstick that we loved so much? who knows- yet we still watched faithfully! shout out pee wee- and by the way loved you on the big screen!




NUMBER NINE-

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS
alivn, simon... theodore! these guys can rock! once upon a time a dude was playing around with a recorder and played back his singing a little too fast and realized that it sounded a lot like little fury creatures singing- and the chipmunks were born. so you throw on some random colored tunics, give them a father-figure and some girlfriends and you make them a pop sensation! later will follow the many albums, the plush dolls and the movie! we watched as alvin and his gang made trouble for the sake of doing good and eagerly waited for dave to finally flip his lid and scream AAAAAALLLLVVVVIIIIINNN!!!!! then we'd giggle with delight!


NUMBER TEN-

who you gonna call... GHOSTBUSTERS!!!

so we just couldn't get enough of the movie- so like they alwasys seem to do... they made it into a cartoon. so venkman, ray, egon, winston and janine were joined by everyone's favorite slimy ghost- slimer! together they fought bad ghosts and continuously saved the lovely people of manhattan from near destruction! dude, my little bro was way into these guys and had all the action figures and he even got a kit for his birthday one year that was a gun and it illuminated a ghost on the wall and then you zapped it off and it would disappear-- it was like... way awesome!



well that wraps it up for today! i know there were many more fantastic toons that i didn't even get to. looks like we'll be looking at a sequal in the near future. but as lavar burton would say-- see you next time!