Metv Showing bugs bunny, popeye & tom & jerry!

[gaastra]

Bugs bunny, tom and jerry, tex avery and popeye returns to tv on metv it looks like.

https://www.metv.com/stories/saturday-m ... is-january

[Daniel]

Yep, premiered a week ago. Nice to see so many classic cartoons. I'm a big fan of MeTV. Such a great retro channel. Flintstones, Mama's Family, Twilight Zone... yes!

[James]

Speaking of which, learn more about the new weekday morning show, Toon In With Me, from the cartoon curator himself, Bill Leff!

https://animatedviews.com/2021/metv-gen ... -cartoons/

[Daniel]

Aw, little James! Great piece. I remember the thrill of Saturdays. Making sure I was up in time or risk missing! "pop culture aficionado" sounds a lot like me! Fruity Pebbles was also my go to cereal. I'm enjoying "Toon in with Me" for what is, harmless fun. Nice to see Tex Avery shorts on television again!

[Ben]

This looks awesome! Such good memories, and being dine with a genuine care, affection and nostalgic detail. Great that you followed up on this, Big W!

Over here we have an excellent classic movie channel who seem to be in the same mix as packages that get picked up by many of the boutique disc labels like Criterion, Arrow and Powerhouse, and they too are starting up a "Saturday Morning Cinema Show" strand in February, full of the shows and cartoons I used to watch as a kid. From the blurb:

British TV channel Talking Pictures has announced Saturday Mornings at the Pictures, a new vintage programming strand set to air each Saturday between 9 am and 12 pm; Starting in February.

After the success of Runaround and other programs originally aimed at children, the channel looks set to turn back the clock with a nostalgic selection of classic cartoons, films, serials and more, that harks back to the British cinema tradition of Saturday Morning Pictures.

The first week’s schedule: 6th February 2021

09:00: Popeye
09:10: Zorro’s Black Whip
09:40: Children’s Film Foundation: Cup Fever (1965)
10:55: The Lone Ranger
11:25: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
11:50: Superman

Not sure which Popeyes are showing, but it’s potentially the Fleischer originals, while Superman looks also to be the Fleischers, although other shows they have hinted at include Champion The Wonder Horse (yes!) and the George Reeves Adventures Of Superman, so it’s that classic 1950s and 60s escapist era that they are recreating.

The Children's Film (and, later Television) Foundation was a state-sponsored unit that made one hour morality films for and about kids on fairly low budgets, but attracted a who's who of talent behind and in front of camera, often up and coming young Brit stars in the making. Many of these films were well done, at least as well as Disney's one-off TV episodes, and have been starting to surface again on TV here and as extras in some Blu-ray titles, such as Michael Powell's last film, The Boy Who Turned Yellow, which I managed to see again recently after 35 years or so!

There’s obviously something in the air in that the generation who grew up on and experienced these things the first time around are looking to recreate the same feel for newer audiences...or maybe just those eager and ready to feel young again with a huge dollop of nostalgia!!

[ohmahaaha]

I wonder if "The Lone Ranger" in that list is the Format Films cartoon from the late 60s?? I'd dearly love to see that released on disc, but doesn't seem likely. Failing that, I wish an American cable network would show them again.

[Ben]

At a half hour, I’d say it’s the classic live-action show.

[EricJ]

The classic live-action show that's fallen out of copyright and available just about everywhere.
Last time I saw the classic 60's cartoon, it was a little Walmart-bin video-sampler of two cartoons, when they resurfaced on the early days of Instant Netflix, back when it was half Starz's streaming movies, including the Cowboy Channel.
Dang, now I want to see them again. Watched the cartoon growing up, and never realized the plots were all steampunk sci-fi/superhero.

(And we only got ONE season of Runaround over here for 70's Saturday morning, with Paul Winchell hosting. Hadn't remembered that one in years.)

[Randall]

Is Li'l James really "to Blinky's left," as described in the article, or "to the left of Blinky?" I'd swear it's the latter.

One of those old Lone Ranger cartoons (running 22 minutes) appeared in a beautiful deluxe collector's box set of the first two seasons of the live action show. I too would love to have a complete set, as they seem kinda nuts - more "Wild Wild West" than Lone Ranger.

Ah, Saturday mornings... Growing up in Canada, it was pretty exciting when we first got cable channels from the US circa 1979, which allowed us to see US networks for the first time. Finally, I could see all those cartoons being advertised in the comic books! We got stations from North Dakota, and later Detroit, which then made those channels up to 2 hours ahead of us, so it meant getting up pretty early to watch those shows. But it was so worth it. My little brother would be so excited, he'd get up in the middle of the night, like 3am, and sat in front of the TV, watching "snow" until the channels came on around 6am. No 24-hour broadcasting back then!

[Ben]

Haha! The BBC used to show Leon Errol and Edgar Kennedy shorts at 6am, so that’s what used to get me up!

[James]

Is Li'l James really "to Blinky's left," as described in the article, or "to the left of Blinky?" I'd swear it's the latter...

I guess it depends on which kid I am in the picture. But in this case, I am on the left side of the photo, but since we're facing the camera that put's me on Blinky's right side. I've adjusted the wording a bit to make it more clear.

[Ben]

Well when did Rand become Mr Pedantic Cyrenne?

When describing a photo's contents, it’s common practice to make any placements from the viewer's perspective. Actually, I find both of Rand's options to be correct: as you look at the photo, Li'l James is on Blinky's left, or left of Blinky. Any photo caption will take the side of the viewer's eye as they see the image.

Unless Rand has some 360 holographic tech from the future (or Canada, whichever comes first) that places him inside the photo. Or he’s looking in a mirror...

[Randall]

When saying "from Blinky's left," that's what you mean: you are specifically describing it "from" Blinky's perspective, not the viewer's. James was right to change it.

I've proofread about 30 books and dozens of articles by now. I've always been pedantic.

[James]

Rand’s option of “to the left of Blinky” I think addresses Ben’s point about making the placement from viewer’s perspective, since my original wording did change the POV. Just to be safe, I went a bit further with the edit!

And I also think being pedantic is probably in the job description for a proofreader!

[Ben]

I still think it would have been clearer if Li'l James had been one more pixel to the left...