1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: Ridiculous Histories, a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to the show, 2 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much for 3 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: tuning in. Let's hear it for uh Max the young 4 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: man Williams, and you'll see why that's appropriate for this series. 5 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 2: It's true. Does that make us the olds? Ben? 6 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: Oh, geez, well that's an old brown they do? You 7 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: call me Ben Bullen Ed Noel. We've both got a 8 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: little bit of gray in our hairs. 9 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 3: We do, but not a hair falling out, not a 10 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 3: receding hairline to be seen. Both fabulous heads of hair. 11 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 3: That's how it's going to remain. But what we do 12 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 3: have is a pretty rich and h and layered memory 13 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 3: of the past. 14 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: Yes, history is a palimp sayst And this is going 15 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: to be just so you all know, folks. This is 16 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: something we discussed as a series back in a few 17 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: episodes ago, and we were both I think galvanized by 18 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: the sheer gravity of our nostalgia for Saturday mornings. You know, 19 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: it's the one time where you're growing up in your 20 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: your parents maybe are not at work so they're sleeping in, 21 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 1: but you're a kid. You wake up in the morning 22 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: for a specific appointment of destination TA television for sure. 23 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 3: And you know what's funny, Ben, I don't. I did 24 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 3: the research for this, and I didn't mention what I 25 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 3: actually remember even a little more in my formative years, 26 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 3: which was Sunday Morning on Nickelodeon Nicktoons. But we will 27 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 3: get to that and how it ultimately kind of ate 28 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 3: the lunch of what you're describing, Ben, traditional broadcast television 29 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 3: Saturday morning cartoons, because I think when those were really 30 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 3: in their heyday, me and you were truly like little 31 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 3: tykes with our bulls of cereal, you know, sitting in 32 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 3: front of the comforting glow of the TV, like you said, Ben, 33 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 3: maybe while your parents were out. It's something that's just 34 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 3: absolutely exploded during the second half of the twentieth century 35 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 3: in the US, particularly Saturday Morning has been synonymous with 36 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 3: a couple of things that kind of operated hand in hand, 37 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 3: cartoons and advertising. 38 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: There we go, and yes, folks, you heard it right. 39 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: Noel Brown is our research associate for this series, and 40 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: I can't thank you enough. Man. I'm excited to learn 41 00:02:54,120 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: more with you on this. Can you paint the picture 42 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: of the providence or the origin story for us, your 43 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: research shows that it dates back to like the nineteen fifties, 44 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: just after World War Two. 45 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, even earlier than the fifties, I mean you had 46 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 3: a lot of animation being used in commercials, and of course, 47 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 3: like even earlier than the fifties, you had black and 48 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,119 Speaker 3: white cartoons like the Flintstones that were one hundred percent 49 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 3: they were well, Sima Willie was more of a thing 50 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 3: that you would have seen in theaters, but you did 51 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 3: start to see the Flintstones and stuff like that. It 52 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 3: was meant to be family programming, but it would have like, 53 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 3: you know, cigarette ads in it, like it's like Fred 54 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 3: Flintstones smoking Winston's. And then you started to see animation 55 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 3: really being incorporated into commercials. But it wasn't until the 56 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 3: fifties that the big three networks nbcabc's, CBS realized that 57 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 3: they kind of had kids on lock like during the weekends, 58 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 3: captive audience that advertisers and particularly serial and toy brands 59 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 3: really wanted to get their hooks into. 60 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and we could we could look back at 61 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: this time, as you were saying, and we could see 62 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: that there were, you know, the the repackaged stuff that, 63 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: as you said, used to be in a theater like 64 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: Steamboat Willie. They were they were targeting something that advertisers 65 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: still target today. Wu tang is right when they say 66 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: Wu tang is for the children. They would have these 67 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: They would have these live action characters like Bozo the 68 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: Clown or Cowboys, introduce different animated shorts. They would have giveaways. 69 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: You tell your parents to what drink war Oval team? 70 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 2: Oh no, I know. 71 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 3: I think we both immediately thought of the Little Orphan Annie, 72 00:04:57,800 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 3: which we did a whole episode on, By the way, 73 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,799 Speaker 3: the Little Fanny Comics decoder ring. This was a radio 74 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 3: thing though in Christmas story. But it's the same rules 75 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 3: apply where you think it's this magical, you know, being 76 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 3: part of the story, and you're following every week to 77 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 3: get the cipher, and then it turns out that it 78 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 3: translates to drink more ovaltine. And you had these studios, 79 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 3: many of which were making shorts that were screened theatrically 80 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 3: as like the opening act for you know, the feature film, 81 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 3: start to make stuff exclusively for television. Studios like Terry 82 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 3: Toons and Walter Lance. They had back catalog stuff that 83 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 3: they were now kind of repurposing for television. And then 84 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 3: you started to have some of these early TV animation 85 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 3: pioneers like Hanna Barbera really going towards some cost saving 86 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,679 Speaker 3: methods in the way that they made animation a little 87 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 3: less precious than the Walt Disneys of the world. 88 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 1: Let's just say, yeah, at this time, this is new technology. 89 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 1: Legislation is reactive always, right, so they're not being pressing it. 90 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,840 Speaker 1: The buffins and the legal beagles have yet to catch 91 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: up to this new phenomenon. They don't yet regulate how 92 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: many commercials you can have in any show. 93 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 3: All voluntary. We know how that goes, like self reporting, 94 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 3: you know, right. It wasn't until the eighties that the 95 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 3: National Association of Broadcasters or NAB enforced these voluntary guidelines. 96 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 3: So again, up to that point, it was up to 97 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 3: the broadcasters and these limited ad times. They went on 98 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 3: to limit ad times to nine and a half minutes 99 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 3: per hour on weekends and twelve minutes per hour on 100 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 3: the weekdays. By as early as nineteen fifty two, though, 101 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 3: you started to see parents groups getting up in arms 102 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 3: about this early brain rot you know, I mean, you know, 103 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 3: his brain rod is kind of a throwback term. All 104 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 3: these parents have been saying, this is going to rot 105 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,799 Speaker 3: your brain. Sure, right, once old is thou new again? 106 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 3: People used to hate Gregorian chant also true, and I 107 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 3: think we are both huge fans and we should do 108 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 3: an episode on Gregorian chance. 109 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 2: Okay, I believe we've done the Gregorian Calendar. 110 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, we were kind of curmudgedly about it too. 111 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 2: That's true. 112 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 3: Well, you know me and my leapier phobia, so that 113 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 3: sort of figures into that. 114 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 2: But it wasn't. You know, it's early in the fifties. 115 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 3: After this sort of new TV animation thing is kicking off. 116 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 3: In nineteen fifty two, you started to see parents groups 117 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 3: getting up in arms and reaching out and lobbying the 118 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 3: Federal Communications Commission as well as the Federal Trade Commission 119 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 3: to impose limits on violence and sexual innuendo for any 120 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 3: programming that might have been aimed at young younger folks. 121 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: Yeah. A big part of this, by the way, folks, 122 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: is that animation was heavily weaponized in the propaganda of 123 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: World War Two. 124 00:07:58,640 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 2: What a good point. 125 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: You know, there were a lot of evil things that 126 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: were hacking the minds of children to make them hate 127 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: German people or Japanese. Yeah. 128 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 3: Well, and you can see some of those, like I mean, 129 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 3: Walt Disney Company has been around so long they'd rather 130 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 3: we forgot. 131 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 2: That they did a lot of those. 132 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 3: But if you go to the I think I've screamed 133 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 3: about this place on the pod before, but the Walt 134 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 3: Disney Family Museum, which is not affiliated with the Walt 135 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 3: Disney Company. 136 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 2: It's owned and run by the Walt Disney. 137 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 3: Family Trust, and in it you will see some of 138 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 3: these posters and animations, like you know, if Zifioro says 139 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,079 Speaker 3: VI is zimmasta race and all that, as well as 140 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 3: some you know, depicting Asian you know, Asians in very 141 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 3: very offensive and stereotypical ways and all the stuff that 142 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 3: you're talking about. So if you're interested, that stuff exists 143 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 3: and you can still check it out. But it's a 144 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 3: good point. I mean, it is a way of kind 145 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 3: of hijacking the minds of young people. But also it 146 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 3: comes from that tradition of like political cartoons. And you know, 147 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 3: you can say all of a lot with cartoons, and therefore, 148 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 3: what is an animation if not just a more robust 149 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 3: and hypnotic form of a cartoon. 150 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: Right right, Yeah, very well said. And I love the 151 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: idea of protest museums dude. Back when I was in 152 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: Brussels a few years back, they had this awesome problematic 153 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: comic book museum with a lot of tent tins and stuff, 154 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: and right across the street they have another non affiliated, 155 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: non official comic strip museum, fight Museum. It's Yeah, Protests 156 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: five museum, where they pretty much say, the guys across 157 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: the street are evil and colonialists and bonkers, so we're 158 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: I don't want to derail us, but we're painting a 159 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,439 Speaker 1: picture here. It's as you said, no nineteen fifty two, 160 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: concerned citizens are having an outbreak of moral panic. 161 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 2: And I was there want to do right. 162 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: As they're want to do. And now we have the 163 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: origin story or the genesis of programs that seek to 164 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: not just entertain but also. 165 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 3: Educate, stuff like Captain Kangaroo and of course the ever 166 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 3: beloved Mister Rogers Neighborhood, which combined education with entertainment. But 167 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 3: moving into the sixties, you really started to see the 168 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 3: beginning of the Saturday morning cartoon kind of boom when 169 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 3: the Big three again ABC, CBS and NBC really decided 170 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 3: to go all in on this and carved out multi 171 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 3: hour blocks of TV on Saturday and filled them with 172 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 3: animated half hours of programming from folks again like Hanna 173 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 3: Barbara Filmation, which I believe brought us he Man eventually, 174 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 3: and you started to see you know, iconic animated shows 175 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 3: like Scooby Doo, where are You Yep Yep Archie, which 176 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 3: of course had its origins as a comic strip. They 177 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 3: incorporated these you know, belovable ensemble casts. They would sometimes 178 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 3: have musical numbers, like with Scooby Doo, it's like a 179 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 3: Monster of the Week situation. And all of these early 180 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 3: formats sort of like the Twilight Zone Ben, were just 181 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,959 Speaker 3: endlessly aped, you know, copied. 182 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, templatized. Right, this is a situation, folks where your 183 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:29,680 Speaker 1: faithful correspondents Noel, Max and Ben would have a meeting 184 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: where some of our top rast says, well, this show worked, 185 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: can we not do it one hundred times? 186 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 3: No, it's tails all the time, whether it's in music, 187 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 3: record executives, broadcasts, something hits, They're like, we want the 188 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 3: next that thing, you know, whatever, do whatever it takes 189 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 3: to get us the next that thing. Started to see 190 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 3: superhero shows and adventure shows. Again, a lot of this 191 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 3: stuff coming from more traditional medium like comic books popping 192 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 3: up they often times we're sort of it was like 193 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:02,720 Speaker 3: you could tell it was the early days because they 194 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 3: were still sort of treating them like sitcoms with laugh 195 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 3: tracks and mega mega cost efficient aggressive production schedules. 196 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're grinding stuff out. It's really tough for the 197 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: animators at this point to be honest, folks. And now 198 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: we again have our concerned parent groups, our watchdogs, several 199 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: of whom are low key funded by network rivals, and 200 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: they start telling the FCC, you gotta get rid of 201 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: all this violence, you gotta get rid of all this 202 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: commercialism you're targeting children. This is where we see things 203 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: like the Action for Children's Television or. 204 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 3: ACT, which was founded in nineteen sixty eight and worked 205 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,679 Speaker 3: alongside the FCC to help impose some more strict regulations 206 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 3: surrounding television advertising during children's programming. 207 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, because they were like, you were disguising these things 208 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:10,199 Speaker 1: as shows, as entertainment, but what they really are technically 209 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:15,079 Speaker 1: will be, you know, twenty three to thirty minute advertisements. 210 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 3: Ben I think this is a really interesting trajectory that 211 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 3: we're going to get into because it kind of mirrors 212 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 3: a lot of what's going on right now with like 213 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 3: all of the massive insane deregulation that we're seeing, you know, 214 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 3: from this current administration, and like comparing it to you know, 215 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 3: the environmental rollbacks and things like that. Like it's just 216 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,439 Speaker 3: an interesting way of sort of plotting those kind of 217 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,840 Speaker 3: changes and how like the differences in administrations can make 218 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 3: all the difference in what is okay and what is 219 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 3: not okay, you know, culturally speaking, because that's what we're 220 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 3: about to see here. 221 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 2: And a particularly. 222 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 3: Memorable example, Act argued that Mattel's nineteen sixty nine cartoon 223 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:53,680 Speaker 3: Hot Wheels, was essentially just a commercial for toy cars. 224 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 3: And this is coming from a great article on history 225 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 3: dot com how toy promotions took over eighties cartoons. 226 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:03,920 Speaker 2: Really good source there. 227 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 3: And let's see the writer, or David Owen rather is 228 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 3: quoted in this piece, the author of the man who 229 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 3: invented Saturday Morning. And he said, the FCC agreed and 230 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 3: asked stations to log part of the show as advertising time. 231 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the thing, folks. They agreed with Action for 232 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: Children's Television, and they said, we have to go on 233 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: record and note that this is an advertisement disguised as 234 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: a show. 235 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 2: For sure. And it wasn't only about the ads. 236 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 3: It was also just about how much time kids were 237 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 3: spending in front of their TVs. 238 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: Uh. 239 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 3: There were studies being done into the long term effects 240 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 3: of exposure to these kind of binge early binge watches. 241 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 2: Wait what brain rut? Brain right again? Yes? 242 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 3: Yes, yes, yes, of course and that's yeah, what's what's 243 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 3: what's old is now? Well once was old is now 244 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 3: knew again, And parents and teachers were really concerned about this. 245 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 3: We started to see again results coming out of these 246 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 3: more now you've got a little time, you know, longitudinally speaking, 247 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 3: showing that direct marketing associated with these shows and the 248 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 3: time spent front of the shows could cause kids to 249 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 3: have a tough time differentiating between the shows themselves and 250 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 3: the advertisements run within them. And they also just were 251 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 3: not equipped to understand how manipulative these particular tactics were. 252 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 3: As far as they were concerned, they just really liked 253 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 3: the cars, and therefore why wouldn't they want to own 254 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 3: them without thinking that maybe they were being taken advantage 255 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 3: of a little bit, a lot of bit. 256 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: A lot of bit, a bit of a lot, a 257 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: lot of move. 258 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 3: And there's another great source we've found that I just 259 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 3: want to mention from the Saturday Evening post The Rise 260 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 3: and Fall of Saturday Morning Cartoons by Charles Moss. 261 00:15:54,720 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, do check it out, folks. If we fast forward 262 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: a bit to the nineteen seventies, we'll see that these producers, 263 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: these ad clients, and of course, as you mentioned earlier, 264 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:19,440 Speaker 1: in all the big three networks, they responded to these concerns. 265 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: These concerns are cyclical. We're experiencing the same stuff now 266 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six, with people worried about short form 267 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: social media content and how old a person should be 268 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: before they can own a cell phone or check in 269 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: with YouTube. 270 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 3: Right, That's part of what I was teasing earlier and 271 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 3: even beyond that. But like now, instead of the TV 272 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 3: networks getting sued or taking a task, it's the social 273 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 3: media proprietors like Mark Zuckerberg and all of those cats 274 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 3: that are kind of being accused of. Well, I think 275 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 3: it was found to be absolutely the case that they 276 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 3: knew how much this was messing with kids' mind. 277 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: It's one hundred percent, dude. And so all these folks 278 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: realize there is a well spring of money and they 279 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 1: have to play nice with government regulation and citizens groups. 280 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: So they say Okay, we'll make stuff a little bit 281 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: less violent, which is why you don't see somebody's head 282 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: getting blown off by a bullet. 283 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,120 Speaker 3: Right or even with he Man, it was to point 284 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 3: it out on this podcast that I think we both 285 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 3: have enjoyed blank check with Griffin and David. Griffin pointed 286 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 3: out that one thing that you'll see you'll never see 287 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 3: he Man do in he Man cartoons. 288 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 2: Is sword fight. 289 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 3: He's always using the sword to deflect stuff or to 290 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 3: like maybe cut down a tree or something, but never 291 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 3: like stabbing or slicing or even going sword to sword 292 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:49,479 Speaker 3: with another character. 293 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's summoning the power of Gray Skull. 294 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 2: Sure, whatever that is. 295 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: Whatever that is, dude, check out the film. We'll get there. 296 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 2: We'll get that. The hey Man part of it is 297 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:00,639 Speaker 2: a lot of fun, but it's huge. 298 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: But we also have to, like to your point, we 299 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: have to acknowledge that the big dogs didn't just bend 300 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: the knee to these demands to soften action and violence. 301 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,640 Speaker 1: They went a step further and they said, we're going 302 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,160 Speaker 1: to start doing public service announcements. 303 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 2: Yeah. 304 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 3: Well, in nineteen seventy eight, the FTC actually had attempted 305 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 3: to try to ban all direct advertisement to kids under 306 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 3: the age of six. Lobbying groups prevented that from happening, associated, 307 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 3: of course, with the toy companies, the ad agencies, serial industries, 308 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 3: all of that stuff. But rather than you know, poke 309 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 3: the bear, I guess they knew they were sort of 310 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 3: being targeted. That's when they made those decisions to start 311 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:50,960 Speaker 3: essentially voluntarily making this kind of content, stuff like Schoolhouse Rock. 312 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,919 Speaker 3: I'm just a bill, just a little low bill. You're 313 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 3: sitting there on Capitol Hill. 314 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: Yeah. And then you have stuff like NBC's One to 315 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: Grow from nineteen eighty three. 316 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 3: The Bod Squad, which I don't know personally, but I 317 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 3: can imagine that it was about like biology and probably 318 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 3: sort of like slim good body kind of stuff. Or 319 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:10,959 Speaker 3: The Magic school Bus. 320 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 1: Oh, which, by the way, I'm still divided over whether 321 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: whether that teacher in the school bus. 322 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 2: Was Miss Frizz. 323 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,879 Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't know whether Miss Friz was amazing or 324 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: evil or possibly both. There's a diagram. 325 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 3: There is an episode of The Magic school Bus where 326 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 3: they go into the bodies of salmon and essentially get 327 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 3: like ejaculated out of fish's bodies right. 328 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: Right, because they're learning about salmon migration and spawning and all. 329 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 2: Of that stuff. It gets a little icky. 330 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 3: Schoolhouse Rock taught about grammar and civics and things like that. 331 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 3: Fat Albert was another kind of an example of inclusivity 332 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 3: and represented representation and also had a moral kind of 333 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 3: lessons that it through this ensemble character driven kind of 334 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,920 Speaker 3: you know, cass. You also had started to see costumed 335 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:09,680 Speaker 3: kind of things like the Banana Splits, the sid and 336 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 3: Marty Croft company that made hr puff and stuff. And 337 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 3: we're the kind of psychedelic like pre Barney, a little 338 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 3: more edgy kind of kids shows. But it's public service 339 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 3: announcements and news shorts that start getting kind of interesting. 340 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 3: I would love to play an example of each of 341 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:27,479 Speaker 3: these really quickly. 342 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 2: Oh time for comer. Do you ever get that hungry 343 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,639 Speaker 2: feeling after school? Oh? I do. I'm so hungry I 344 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 2: could eat a wagon wheel when I'm slow in the 345 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,440 Speaker 2: draw and I need something to chaw. Hanker for a 346 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 2: good cheese. 347 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,880 Speaker 3: This guy's like a Is he a piece of cheese? 348 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 3: Is he a piece of corn? Is he one to 349 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:53,399 Speaker 3: eat himself? 350 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 4: You know? 351 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 1: It's like our grimmest question earlier, isn't it's kind of. 352 00:20:58,440 --> 00:20:59,120 Speaker 2: Hole in his hat? 353 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 3: I imagine, just just for the folks at home, he 354 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 3: is like a cowboy talking about he's standing next to 355 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 3: a wagon in front of an old saloon. He has 356 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 3: a acaine, but the hole in his hat seems like 357 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,840 Speaker 3: that would imply previous violence. 358 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 2: I'm just putting that out there. 359 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: He's also got a you know, he's got a neckerchief, 360 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: a bandana. Uh, he's got boots but no pants. 361 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 2: No he is, I think he is. I don't know. 362 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 3: He's meant to be a cheese or some weird horrific monstrosity. 363 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: The cheese guy. 364 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:31,160 Speaker 2: He's the cheese guy. 365 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 3: So he is talking about wanting to eat himself, which 366 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:35,919 Speaker 3: is a little odd and also been I know you 367 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 3: were thinking this too, like is this from Big Dairy? 368 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:42,919 Speaker 2: Is this and not? I mean, this is meant to 369 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:43,479 Speaker 2: be a psa. 370 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 3: At the end of it, he shows you how to 371 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 3: make a nice snack, a healthy snack. But we know 372 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 3: now that a grilled cheese sandwich ain't the healthiest of snacks. 373 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 2: So I don't know. 374 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:57,199 Speaker 3: You know this mild actual public service at best, in 375 00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:58,920 Speaker 3: the pocket of Big Cheese at worst. 376 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 2: And then you also have these little news shorts. Think 377 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,200 Speaker 2: like oh with Lynda Ellerby. 378 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,479 Speaker 3: Remember that from when we were kids, it was like 379 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,119 Speaker 3: nick News or something like that. There was, it was 380 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 3: very much a precursor to that. And that's the closest 381 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 3: analog that I could have, like kinda sometimes anchored by kids, 382 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,760 Speaker 3: you know, definitely giving kids a kind of current event 383 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 3: thing in sort of. 384 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,400 Speaker 1: Kids speak, or a feeling of agency. 385 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 3: And maybe even a feeling of kind of being like 386 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:27,720 Speaker 3: the grown ups watching the news, you. 387 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,119 Speaker 1: Know, yeah, yeah, yeah, shout out to wonder shows and. 388 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 3: Beat kids, beat kids, Kids on the Beat, kids on 389 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 3: the street. Right, and all of this, you know, kind 390 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 3: of ushered in a new arrow of Saturday mornings blending 391 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:45,400 Speaker 3: entertainment and you know, admittedly, like we're saying, pretty light education. 392 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,480 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, it's kind of like the window dressing, 393 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: oh of education. Hey, everybody in a box, yes, right right, 394 00:22:54,640 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: everybody remember that crosswalks exist for a reason. But also 395 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: so buy all this stuff. 396 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 2: Always leave a note. 397 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,640 Speaker 3: But of course, the you know, steady march of capitalism, 398 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 3: along with some pretty clever loopholes that the toy industry 399 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 3: along with the animation studios kind of figured out, would 400 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,479 Speaker 3: change a lot of this sort of more you know, 401 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:23,440 Speaker 3: idyllic animation landscape quite a bit, and that all started 402 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:24,920 Speaker 3: with Star. 403 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:31,120 Speaker 1: Wars nineteen seventy seven. Folks, you remember where you were 404 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,640 Speaker 1: if you're at a certain age in life. This was 405 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,200 Speaker 1: Oh gosh, this could be the subject of its own 406 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:41,159 Speaker 1: ridiculous history episode or series. There are a lot of 407 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: podcasts about the Star Wars universe, some of which feature 408 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: our own big sister, Holly Fry that. 409 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's the ultimate Star Wars Fani. 410 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,480 Speaker 1: She very much is. We love we love you, Holley, 411 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: We love hanging out. So this, this Star Wars thing, 412 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:04,879 Speaker 1: audiences around the world loved its box office breaking numbers. Uh. 413 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 1: The the big money that they made was not just 414 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 1: in airing the film in your typical theatrical system of 415 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: the big studios. They monetized and commodified this stuff by 416 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: teaming up with people who were already good at making. 417 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 3: Toys, for sure, But a lot of these toymakers didn't 418 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:32,439 Speaker 3: really take the bait at first. They did not believe 419 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 3: that Star Wars was going to be a success. Big 420 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 3: established you know titans in the in the industry, like 421 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:40,919 Speaker 3: Mattel and Mago. 422 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 2: What happened to mego, I. 423 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 3: Don't think any they don't think they stood the test 424 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 3: of time like Mattel. But they originally passed on licensing 425 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 3: Star Wars toys because again they thought that this was 426 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 3: going to be a flop and not have any cultural significance. 427 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 3: So a small, kind of much more upstart company based 428 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 3: in Ohio Kenner was able to get the deal and 429 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 3: they got that licensing thing, but they actually weren't able 430 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 3: to release any toys until nearly a year after the 431 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 3: movie premiere. But thankfully it was going to be a trilogy, 432 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,240 Speaker 3: it was ongoing and and it was a massive, massive SMAs. 433 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 3: So when Kenner released these Star Wars action figures, the 434 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,880 Speaker 3: demand had been brewing this whole time, and they just absolutely, 435 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:26,440 Speaker 3: you know, rocketed off the shelves in nineteen seventy eight, 436 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 3: and a lot of these, as we know, as you know, 437 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:33,240 Speaker 3: are worth a whole lot of money to this very day. 438 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,399 Speaker 1: Oh are you kidding? I still have some of my 439 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 1: some of my always I did. Nobody tried to rob me. No. 440 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: Kenner had released these figures that you you're probably familiar with, 441 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: so you can see them. They're about three point seven 442 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: five inches toll. They sold millions and millions of these. 443 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: They sold the atat vehicles, these play sets the job 444 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: of the thing. 445 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 3: They also set the tone for the scale of all 446 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,959 Speaker 3: as they Yeah, you know, like G I Joe et 447 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,119 Speaker 3: cetera were kind of like, you know, following suit. 448 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: Yeah, the original G I. Joe's were more like your 449 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: typical dolls. You know. Star Wars was doing something really interesting, 450 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 1: or Kenner was doing something really interesting by rephrasing these 451 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: not as dolls but as action figures, and all of 452 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: the sudden, all the other toy companies, the big dogs 453 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: you mentioned, like Mattel and Mago, they're they're looking around right. 454 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:42,440 Speaker 1: We can only imagine they're chomping their bubblegum cigars and 455 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 1: they say, wait, we can make money by taking shows 456 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: and making toys from them. 457 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:53,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. 458 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,480 Speaker 3: No, it's a good point, Ben about the ged Joe's 459 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 3: originally being much more doll like, because it was not. 460 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 3: It was not until success of the Star Wars and 461 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,120 Speaker 3: the scale of those three point seventy five inch mini figures. 462 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 3: I guess comparatively that that really was sort of codified 463 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,239 Speaker 3: because of how damn successful they were. So even the 464 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,120 Speaker 3: some of these legacy toys changed the course and decided 465 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 3: to go in that direction, and they realized they needed 466 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 3: to either link up with some pre existing intellectual properties 467 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:28,119 Speaker 3: or create some from scratch with the express purpose of 468 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,399 Speaker 3: selling these little plastic figs to kids. 469 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: Yeah, they were saying, you know, we don't even have 470 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: to spend that much money on the writing. Who respects writers. 471 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 1: We just we got to sell these toys. Guys. We 472 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: got some great designs from our graphics department. We don't 473 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:49,359 Speaker 1: have to spend too much time on the names of 474 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 1: the characters. We've got a guy, let's pull him. 475 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 2: He may right, you know, man, it's so funny you 476 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:56,359 Speaker 2: say that. 477 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 3: Another great little conversation on the Griffin and David episode 478 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 3: was just about how this was such a mashup of like, 479 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:09,360 Speaker 3: let's do let's have wizards and sci fi space. 480 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 5: Aliens and swords and you know, vehicles, lasers, guns on 481 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,520 Speaker 5: top of them and all of the names and with 482 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:22,200 Speaker 5: a very very vague, incredibly vague mythology. It's like he man, 483 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,920 Speaker 5: he holds his magic sort of lofts and all of 484 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 5: a sudden he said the words, how do you notice 485 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 5: say the words by the power of Gray Skull, I 486 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:31,439 Speaker 5: have the power? 487 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 2: What power? You know? Talking about the babe with the power? 488 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 3: No, and it's so funny, man, because another thing they 489 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 3: mentioned in some of the dossier stuff that they did 490 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:45,080 Speaker 3: was that the focus groups showed that kids really. 491 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 2: Loved the idea of having power. 492 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 3: And you'll notice that the turtles were also turtle power, 493 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 3: and it was just like they were off to the races. 494 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 3: You didn't have to even have that much of a story, 495 00:28:56,360 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 3: and he man Mattel's Masters of the Universe nineteen seventy, 496 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 3: those executives landed on that winning formula. 497 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 2: They created a little slightly. 498 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 3: Different scales, it pretty close, a little taller five point 499 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 3: five inch figures, and they cooperated with a network television 500 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 3: program that was already in the pipeline in order. So 501 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,479 Speaker 3: this wasn't exactly them making the cartoon for the toys, 502 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 3: but it was might as well have been. 503 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is our inflection point because these guys are 504 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 1: talking to each other, These folks are talking to each 505 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 1: other in the toy making world and the network TV world, 506 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: and the network TV producers are saying, well, we're working 507 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: on an animation thing that's been very hot since nineteen 508 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: fifties on Saturday mornings, and Mattel says, Okay, we don't 509 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: want to have another Star Wars opportunity pass us by Kenner. 510 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 1: Really ate our lunch, but maybe we can get it 511 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: on the ground floor. To your point about power and agency, 512 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 1: a show called He Man and the Masters of the Universe. 513 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 3: He's the most powerful man in the universe and also 514 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 3: a fabulous singer and with great style and a great bob. Well, 515 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 3: it wasn't necessarily them making the cartoon to serve the figures. 516 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 3: There was a conversation going on because again how nimble 517 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 3: the animation was and how quick the production turnaround was. 518 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,479 Speaker 3: They could work with the toy manufacturers to tweak the 519 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 3: show to make it make more sense for the toys 520 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 3: they could manufacture and the time that they had and 521 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 3: get things to market. And then they could you introduce 522 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 3: new characters and immediately have the figure So obviously this 523 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 3: was a smashing success. And then when old, that old 524 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 3: wiley bastard Ronald Reagan entered the White House in eighty one, 525 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 3: much like we're seeing now, he brought along with him 526 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 3: in just an absolute wave of deregulation surrounding all kinds 527 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 3: of aspects of and this really did a number on 528 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 3: the FCC's ability to exercise the same kind of level 529 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:08,840 Speaker 3: of control that they had previously been doing. 530 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:14,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is where we see a resurgence of 531 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 1: a political pattern that occurs in the United States today, 532 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: a lot of what we would call patronage hires, right 533 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:30,720 Speaker 1: or hiring your henchmen and your sycophants. President Reagan maybe 534 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: he was awake enough or aware enough at this point 535 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: to do it. Probably one of his masters told him 536 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: to do it. He appointed a new chairman of the FTC. 537 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: And this chairman is a hitman, right, He's hired to 538 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,160 Speaker 1: do the deregulation stuff I got talking about. 539 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, oh yeah. 540 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: And so this guy passes the FTC Improvements Act of 541 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty which says, hey, we're the FDC. We know 542 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:10,080 Speaker 1: our job is to protect what the public sees and consumers, 543 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 1: but we also are passing this law that makes it 544 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:20,560 Speaker 1: very difficult for us to regulate children's propaganda and advertising. 545 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 2: Yep. 546 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 3: And this directly affect the Gen X era kids and 547 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 3: how much TV and advertising they are consuming on those 548 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:33,720 Speaker 3: precious Saturday mornings. So this deregulation really opened the door 549 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 3: to a kind of a new wave of toy driven 550 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 3: cartoons following that same he man blueprint, just taking it 551 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 3: to the next level. We've got Gi Joe again more 552 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,720 Speaker 3: of a legacy brand. Then we've got newer ones like Transformers, 553 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,280 Speaker 3: My Little Pony gem and the Holograms. They also kind 554 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:52,120 Speaker 3: of had the power care Bears, the care Bear stare. 555 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:54,720 Speaker 2: And I love ThunderCats. ThunderCats was my jam. 556 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: ThunderCats is great. 557 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 2: Start Thundercatter, you know what I mean. Like ThunderCats was 558 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:02,680 Speaker 2: like had a little more story to it. I don't know, 559 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 2: that's how it feels like. 560 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 1: You say that when we're hanging out off air. 561 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,160 Speaker 2: Oh, I do. Yeah, I think it's got cool. 562 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:09,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, well, then I. 563 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 3: Think about it. There's a lot of similarities. I mean, 564 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 3: Lionel holds his sword aloft, I mean the Mamra, the 565 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 3: Dead Carrier version of Skeletor. It's just like it's a 566 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 3: little more sinister. Hey man, is goofy? You know it's 567 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:24,720 Speaker 3: it's and then you know, they really did start to 568 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:25,600 Speaker 3: get a little edgier. 569 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: Oh and then we again we have a star Hawk. 570 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 1: We also have Silver Frocks silver Hawks, thank you. We 571 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: also have full length animated adaptations of these things of 572 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:40,479 Speaker 1: g I Joe and care Bears. Of course, has that 573 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,800 Speaker 1: really creepy feature link that with the face in the book. 574 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 1: You remember, Oh, freaked me. 575 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 2: Out when I was a kid, big time. 576 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, and Witch, it's like a demonic force inside this 577 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 3: book that takes over the mind of the hapless magician's assistance. 578 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:58,240 Speaker 1: It makes the kids all like sunken eye and they're 579 00:33:58,320 --> 00:33:59,960 Speaker 1: they're bad at being friendly. 580 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 3: Ben, I think there were actually two, and it creepy 581 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 3: stuff happens in both of them. Because I think you're 582 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 3: describing the plot of the first one. I can't remember, 583 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 3: but definitely, Oh, there are two, but I'm miss I'm 584 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:15,160 Speaker 3: kind of misconstruing what happens in which because I'm remembering 585 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 3: some of what you're describing. But then the one that 586 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:19,320 Speaker 3: I'm describing, I think took place in like a traveling 587 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 3: circus kind of thing, and like it was almost like 588 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:22,560 Speaker 3: a carnival kind. 589 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,280 Speaker 1: Of situation there, something wicked. This way comes exactly. 590 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,680 Speaker 3: But like we said, we've got critics now calling this 591 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,960 Speaker 3: new wave of shows that we were talking about essentially 592 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 3: program length commercials, the thing the very thing they were trying. 593 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 2: To avoid back in the sixties. 594 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, I got loop pulled back in. Uh, this is 595 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 1: where we see a retisance of other cartoons like pac Man. 596 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 1: Check out our episodes on the early days of video games. 597 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,320 Speaker 2: Apparently had a cartoon right right, And. 598 00:34:55,200 --> 00:35:02,160 Speaker 1: It's all these are all designed not some deep aesthetic purpose. 599 00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:08,320 Speaker 1: They're designed to expose children to games that already exist. 600 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:12,840 Speaker 1: Like the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon series was amazing, but 601 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,800 Speaker 1: it's because they wanted kids to play D and D 602 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,160 Speaker 1: or play pac Man, or you know, get their parents 603 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:20,240 Speaker 1: to buy them. Or Rubiks. 604 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:23,560 Speaker 3: I'm fascinated by what a Rubik's Cube cartoon could have 605 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:24,399 Speaker 3: possibly been. 606 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,080 Speaker 1: We also as. 607 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,520 Speaker 2: Was there also a Magic eight Ball cartoon? I can't imagine. 608 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 3: But we then saw some that I think we all remember, 609 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,240 Speaker 3: or the two of us remember, some of these movie 610 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,319 Speaker 3: tie ins pre existing and kind of more like, okay, 611 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 3: new things coming out, let's have a tie in cartoon 612 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,759 Speaker 3: things like The Real Ghostbusters, which was had to be 613 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:48,320 Speaker 3: called the Real Ghostbuster because there was already a cartoon 614 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:53,719 Speaker 3: called Ghostbusters, completely unrelated to the Ghostbusters movies, Rambo The 615 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,239 Speaker 3: Force of Freedom, which if we can imagine, I mean, 616 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,680 Speaker 3: these are gonna be a little violence, you know, Chuck 617 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,040 Speaker 3: Norris Karate come with. 618 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:05,799 Speaker 1: K's with Ks Karate Commandos. 619 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 3: And I do believe that they got around some of it. 620 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 3: I mean there were still beholden to some of these 621 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:14,040 Speaker 3: you know FCC guidelines, but there were more little loopholes, 622 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,720 Speaker 3: Like I said, with he Man not stabbing anybody or slicing. 623 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 3: Same thing with Rambo and gid Joe. They couldn't fire bullets. 624 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,760 Speaker 3: I think it had to be lasers, and yeah, pewp pew, right. 625 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:27,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, they had to be lasers. People could 626 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:32,000 Speaker 1: fall if they were bad guys, but couldn't show them dying. Right, 627 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 1: And now we have to go to experts like Selma Perak, 628 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:43,400 Speaker 1: professor of Information Media Studies at Western University, and Professor 629 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:47,840 Speaker 1: Purak points out something that I think we've already clocked here, 630 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:52,400 Speaker 1: which is you've got what we call latch key children. 631 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:56,640 Speaker 1: They come home when school, unless they are in extracurriculars 632 00:36:56,719 --> 00:37:00,560 Speaker 1: or after school programs. They take the bus, the Bluebird 633 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: bus hold like three point thirty or what have you. 634 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:07,239 Speaker 1: Their parents don't get off until five. They turn on 635 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:11,200 Speaker 1: the TV, and as Professor Perak says, the TV is 636 00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:15,400 Speaker 1: the babysitter. And explosion of cartoons can be fast food, 637 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:16,160 Speaker 1: junk food. 638 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:18,480 Speaker 3: But now that's of course more like what happens with 639 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 3: the iPad. So while kids loved these shows and we're 640 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:25,759 Speaker 3: super you know, just thrilled to be babysat by the 641 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:30,640 Speaker 3: idiot Box, the parents once again began growing more concerned. 642 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:32,600 Speaker 2: Some of these parenting. 643 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:37,040 Speaker 3: Groups were really worried about how much time their kids 644 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:40,480 Speaker 3: were spending in front of the TV, especially on Saturday mornings, 645 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 3: and so they continued to you know, lobby the FCC 646 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:48,240 Speaker 3: and lawmakers, and the federal government did ultimately step in 647 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 3: and set some stricter regulations about what networks could not 648 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 3: show on Saturday mornings because you know, obviously not wanting 649 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,120 Speaker 3: to run a foul of some of these groups as 650 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:03,760 Speaker 3: they had run ins within the past, and jeopardize these 651 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:08,000 Speaker 3: incredibly massive profits that they were making. The toy companies 652 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:09,799 Speaker 3: and the networks they were kind of leaked up with. 653 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:12,319 Speaker 3: This was like a golden age for them. They were 654 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,600 Speaker 3: just raking it in. So they started to voluntarily put 655 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:20,920 Speaker 3: some of these nineteen seventies style PSAs and educational messages 656 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,799 Speaker 3: at the end of shows like he Man, which was 657 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:27,120 Speaker 3: the first to kind of include these. So let's hear 658 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:29,040 Speaker 3: one of the he Man ones, all. 659 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,120 Speaker 1: Right, folks, to get this is sort of like an 660 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 1: Aesop's parable. This is your big takeaway today. 661 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:37,959 Speaker 4: He Man had to decide whether or not to chop 662 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,880 Speaker 4: down the tree. Now, the trees around you probably won't 663 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 4: speak the way Skytree did, or if they do, we 664 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:48,680 Speaker 4: haven't learned to hear them yet. The trees are living things, 665 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,760 Speaker 4: and when you respect to treat, you show that you care. 666 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:53,640 Speaker 2: About all life. Goodbye. 667 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:58,160 Speaker 1: Indeed, it's a weird total shift for the he Man universe. 668 00:38:58,160 --> 00:38:59,840 Speaker 2: It's a little weird, and I don't think we're going 669 00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 2: to play. 670 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:01,919 Speaker 3: But there was one that was sort of like, if 671 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:05,080 Speaker 3: you ever meet a stranger and they look at you funny, 672 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:06,320 Speaker 3: make sure to tell a parent. 673 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,160 Speaker 2: I'm softening it a bit. If you can imagine. 674 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:13,160 Speaker 1: It's big, very special episode energy, which we'll see later. 675 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:15,360 Speaker 2: Cautionary after school specials. 676 00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:20,520 Speaker 1: Right just so, and we know that this PSA public 677 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:27,719 Speaker 1: service announcement trend created a title wave of other things, 678 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:32,920 Speaker 1: most famously probably g I. Joe's knowing is half the battle. 679 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,879 Speaker 1: We see this replicated. Know what I'm thinking from your 680 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:43,160 Speaker 1: research here is that what we're seeing is honestly a 681 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:48,160 Speaker 1: bunch of very wealthy companies chasing money. 682 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:53,399 Speaker 3: Chasing money and playcating the Standards and Practices Department and 683 00:39:53,680 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 3: you know, the lobbies and the FCC and the parenting groups. 684 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:01,600 Speaker 3: As you said earlier, Ben, in a way of kind 685 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,320 Speaker 3: of checking the boxes but without having to really alter 686 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:09,279 Speaker 3: the main story, aka the the selling point exactly. And 687 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,040 Speaker 3: it was at the end, you know, the kids didn't 688 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:12,719 Speaker 3: want to see it. They could flip. I mean, it 689 00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:15,719 Speaker 3: wasn't like right in the middle or incorporated. I mean, 690 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:17,880 Speaker 3: I guess there were certainly some shows that kind of 691 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,680 Speaker 3: had a little bit more of a moralistic kind of 692 00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:24,400 Speaker 3: through line, you know, but it really was kind of 693 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,439 Speaker 3: shoehorned at the end for most of them. 694 00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:30,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, And I wish they spent more on the mythos 695 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: and more time on the mythos and the writing, because 696 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:35,880 Speaker 1: one thing that always gets me is, like, you know, 697 00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:39,879 Speaker 1: you watch, uh, you watch Star Wars, for instance, right 698 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:44,040 Speaker 1: before it becomes an animated offshoot, or you watch he 699 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:48,920 Speaker 1: Man to your earlier example, what do the bad guys want? Dude? 700 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:50,759 Speaker 2: Why wower? 701 00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:52,280 Speaker 1: But why? 702 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:55,040 Speaker 2: What are the power do? What even is the power? 703 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:55,560 Speaker 2: We don't know. 704 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:59,839 Speaker 1: Skeletor's pissed at Gray School. He wants the power of grace. 705 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:03,799 Speaker 1: What are you gonna do. 706 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:06,040 Speaker 2: Man, he doesn't know, he doesn't know what he'd do 707 00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 2: if he got it. 708 00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:10,200 Speaker 3: He's like Roadrunner, or rather he's like Wiley coyote chasing Roadrunner. 709 00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:12,120 Speaker 2: If he got it, it would be the end of 710 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:14,000 Speaker 2: the show too. He's never gonna get it. We don't 711 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:14,839 Speaker 2: want him to get it. 712 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,759 Speaker 1: And we want you to get this. NOL, thank you 713 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:22,040 Speaker 1: again for the phenomenal research here. 714 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:23,880 Speaker 2: Oh thanks for the fun conversation. 715 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:25,680 Speaker 3: I think this is something that we both remember, and 716 00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:27,880 Speaker 3: we're gonna follow this up with the era that we 717 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:30,920 Speaker 3: all remember for sure, as we got a little older 718 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:34,680 Speaker 3: and started to see the kind of gradual decline of 719 00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:38,480 Speaker 3: Saturday Morning cartoons and the evolution of it into other stuff, 720 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,520 Speaker 3: we're going to start to see, you know, new forms 721 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,600 Speaker 3: of animation, edgier forms of animation, things like MTV. Really, 722 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:48,040 Speaker 3: what enters the chat here is cable that changes everything. 723 00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:50,879 Speaker 3: But that is going to be covered in Part two 724 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:55,600 Speaker 3: of the Ridiculously Commercial History of Saturday Morning Cartoons. 725 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:59,399 Speaker 1: And of course we'll be able to hear our our 726 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 1: friend and colleague, Max the Beachhead Williams chiming in. He's 727 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,959 Speaker 1: got some locked and loaded stuff there. For Part two 728 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:10,920 Speaker 1: of this series, big big thanks to our super producer, 729 00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:14,479 Speaker 1: mister Max Williams, our research associate, Old Brown, Big big 730 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:19,759 Speaker 1: thanks to aj Bahamas Jacobs, as well as our very 731 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:24,359 Speaker 1: own Skeletor Jonathan Strickland aka the Quiztor. Yeah. 732 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:29,680 Speaker 2: That's a great impression, isn't it though? Oh Man, this 733 00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:30,239 Speaker 2: is a lot of fun. 734 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:30,440 Speaker 3: Ben. 735 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:31,680 Speaker 2: We'll see you next time, folks. 736 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:42,360 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 737 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:44,600 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.