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34-454: Little Muppet Monsters is a Saturday morning television series featuring the Muppets that aired three episodes on CBS in 1985. The first season of Muppet Babies did so well in the ratings, that CBS decided to expand the series from a half-hour to an hour, pairing Muppet Babies with Little Muppet Monsters . They called the hour-long package Muppets, Babies and Monsters . The show

68-502: A minimum of 14 hours programming for children of different ages each week, as a public service; 2. That there be no commercials on children’s programs; 3. That hosts on children’s shows do not sell." On October 16 and 17, 1970, ACT co-sponsored the First National Symposium on Children and Television. The Symposium's theme was "Facts for Action," which invited guests to discuss the content of television for children at

102-431: A revised code limiting commercial time in children's programming to twelve minutes per hour. Additionally, the hosts of children's television programs were prohibited from appearing in commercials aimed at children. This latter measure led to the near-disappearance of locally produced children's shows on American stations by the mid-1970s, as longtime advertisers on those programs saw no point in continuing if hosts beloved by

136-701: A young audience could not pitch the companies' products themselves, instead of the station using pre-recorded commercials, which they felt would be more likely ignored by viewers. However, that part of the code had little or no effect upon networks, as few of their shows had formal masters of ceremonies. In 1977, ACT, together with the Center for Science in the Public Interest , petitioned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ban television advertising targeted at children too young to understand

170-713: The U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission , the networks to remove those shows from the air by the start of the 1969-70 television season, and the programs were replaced by the likes of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? , H.R. Pufnstuf , Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines , and other light comedy-fantasy programs. In 1970, ACT first petitioned the FCC to ban advertising from children's programming. In 1971, then-President of ACT, Evelyn Kaye Sarson, presented

204-465: The 1960s and 1970s as performed by alternative rock artists. The Netflix animated series Saturday Morning All Star Hits! parodies the mid-1980s to early 1990s era of Saturday-morning animation, such as Thundercats , Care Bears , ProStars , and Denver, the Last Dinosaur . The science fiction animated series Futurama also spoofed 1970s and 1980s Saturday-morning cartoons in

238-499: The 1970s, these groups exercised enough influence, especially with the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission , that the television networks felt compelled to impose more stringent content rules for the animation houses. In 1978, the Federal Trade Commission was openly considering a ban on all advertising during television programming targeting preschoolers, and severe restrictions on other children's program advertising, both of which would have effectively killed off

272-504: The 1990s. Such examples included Disney's Disney Afternoon in syndication, Fox 's Fox Kids , UPN 's UPN Kids , CBS 's CBS Saturday , The WB 's Kids' WB , and Amazin' Adventures (later Bohbot Kids Network) in syndication. From 1992 however, the "Big Three" traditional major networks and their affiliates began replacing their Saturday-morning animated programming with weekend editions of their morning magazines . and live-action teen-oriented series. Multiple factors contributed to

306-525: The Frog , Private Eye", "Muppet Sport Shorts" with Animal , "Gonzo's Freaky Facts and Oddball Achievements," and "Fozzie's Comedy Corner", among others. Although thirteen episodes were produced (most of which were incomplete at the time of cancellation), only three of them ever aired. According to Muppet performer Kathryn Mullen , and the Henson Company archives, Marvel Productions failed to deliver

340-744: The Masters of the Universe and continuing with such series as The Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . These were heavily criticized by ACT, but were nevertheless successful. As well, several more lighthearted series appeared, popularized by Hanna-Barbera’s The Smurfs and Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies . These included series based on popular video games , such as Saturday Supercade . Despite increased competition from cable television networks (such as Nickelodeon , Cartoon Network , and Disney Channel ), Saturday-morning and weekday cartoon blocks continued to remain popular in

374-576: The Masters of the Universe , and the controversial Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future . Throughout the 1980s, ACT criticized television programs that featured popular toys such as G. I. Joe and He-Man , maintaining that they "blur(red) the distinction between program content and commercial speech ," and successfully barred one program, Garbage Pail Kids , from the air. It also opposed

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408-487: The United States, The CW continued to air non-E/I cartoons as late as 2014; among the "Big Three" traditional major networks, the final non-E/I cartoon to date ( Kim Possible ) was last aired in 2006. This era continues to be satirized and/or spoofed in popular culture. The tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits was released in 1995, featuring covers of Saturday-morning cartoon themes from

442-453: The change, among them the introduction of people meters that children found difficult to operate in the mid-1980s, an increasingly competitive market fueled by the multi-channel transition , a boom in first-run syndicated content and the introduction of home video and video games , increasing restrictions on advertising and educational content mandates , and broader cultural changes stemming from an increase in no-fault divorces and

476-445: The commercials were for vitamin pills, even though the bottles said, 'Keep out of reach of children' because an overdose could put them in a coma," said Charren. Responding to ACT's campaign, vitamin-makers voluntarily withdrew their advertising. In addition to petitioning for the FCC to ban advertising, ACT requested the FCC to publish a public notice of their guidelines for children's television. The guidelines included: "1. That there be

510-510: The concept of selling , as well as advertising for high- sugar foods (e.g., breakfast cereals, candy) pitched to older children. In 1981, then-President Ronald Reagan appointed Mark S. Fowler , a conservative Republican , as chairman of the FCC. As Fowler, a longtime proponent of deregulation, along with Republican colleagues on the commission, had determined that children's television should be dictated by marketplace considerations without regard to any effect on children's health or welfare,

544-417: The end of the post-World War II baby boom . Attempting to pair the newscasts with the remaining cartoons was largely unsuccessful because the two program formats drew widely different audiences that did not lend themselves to leading in and out of each other , leading to viewership oddities (such as NBC's children's block having an average viewership age of over 40 years old); by the late 2010s, all of

578-500: The episode " Saturday Morning Fun Pit ". Action for Children%27s Television Action for Children's Television ( ACT ) was an American grassroots , nonprofit child advocacy group dedicated to improving the quality of children's television . Specifically, ACT's main goals were to encourage diversification in children's television offerings, to discourage overcommercialization of children's programming, and to eliminate deceptive advertising aimed at young viewers. The ACT

612-706: The final episode of Muppet Babies titled "Eight Flags Over the Nursery". Saturday-morning cartoon In the United States, the generally accepted times for these and other children's programs to air on Saturday mornings were from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone . Until the late 1970s, American networks also had a schedule of children's programming on Sunday mornings, though most programs at this time were repeats of Saturday-morning shows that were already out of production. In some markets, some shows were pre-empted in favor of syndicated or other types of local programming . Beginning in

646-477: The format; the commission ultimately dropped the proposal. The networks were encouraged to create educational spots that endeavored to use animation and/or live-action for enriching content, including the Schoolhouse Rock! series on ABC which became a fondly-remembered television classic. With the 1970s came a wave of animated versions of popular live-action prime time series as well, mainly with

680-518: The full season's animated segments in time for airing. CBS responded by rerunning episodes of Muppet Babies to fill the second half hour until Marvel finished the series' animated segments. Due to high ratings from the Muppet Babies reruns, the network decided not to pick up the remaining episodes of Little Muppet Monsters . The three completed episodes never appeared on television after their initial air dates. Plans to officially re-release

714-414: The head of the FCC with a petition, wrapped as a Christmas present, asking for an end to advertising on all programs for children. When this tactic failed, in subsequent years, it sought a more limited prohibition, namely eliminating commercials for specific categories of products. In 1971, ACT challenged the promotion of vitamins , usually fruit-flavored ones that resembled candy, to children. "One-third of

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748-490: The major American networks had shifted to live-action documentary programming, ostensibly targeted at teenagers to meet the educational mandates but less likely to cause a clash with the newscasts. This documentary programming also benefited from having less restrictive rules for advertising compared to programming targeted to children. Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were largely discontinued in Canada by 2002. In

782-479: The mid-1960s, the Saturday-morning timeslot would feature a great deal of series appropriate for children, although most of these were reruns of animated series originally broadcast in prime time and adventure series made in the 1950s, as well as telecasts of older cartoons made for movie theaters . Later in the decade, the slot would be dominated by superhero and action cartoon series, influenced by

816-693: The next several years saw the cancellation of many long-standing and Emmy-winning shows such as Captain Kangaroo , Schoolhouse Rock , Kids Are People Too! , Animals, Animals, Animals , and the CBS Children's Film Festival , all of which ACT had vigorously fought to keep on the air. To ACT, this was an abrupt reversal of some 12 years of progress. That era also saw the debut of many toy-inspired programs, which ACT contended were nothing more than program-length commercials: G. I. Joe , My Little Pony , The Transformers , M.A.S.K. , He-Man and

850-457: The passage of the Children's Television Act of 1990, establishing formal guidelines for children's programming, including rules governing advertising, content and quantity. This represented a rare instance at the time of the FCC departing from its ideologically driven program of reversing broadcasting regulations imposed in the 1960s and 1970s. Co-founder Peggy Charren commented in 1995, after

884-489: The proposed introduction of Channel One News , a television news show designed for children featuring advertiser-based programming, into public schools, an effort which met with only limited success, due to lucrative inducements the company made to financially-strapped school boards of that time. ACT brought many cases before the courts, including Action for Children's Television v. FCC , 821 F.2d 741 (D.C. Cir. 1987) often cited in media law . ACT's efforts culminated in

918-624: The show in MuppetZine issue #3 (Winter 1993). "The concept of this second half-hour was neither simple nor particularly well-developed," he said. "A trio of new (live-action) Muppet Monster Kids, working from the basement of the adult Muppets' home, create their own television station which broadcasts only to the TV sets in the house upstairs. Their 'shows' were such regular segments as "Pigs in Space: The Animated Series", " Kermit

952-491: The success of Space Ghost . These were heavily criticized by parents for their violence. By 1972, most action programming had been removed from the Saturday-morning slot, following pressure from parents' lobbying groups such as the Action for Children's Television (ACT). These groups voiced concerns about the presentation of commercialism , violence, anti-social attitudes and stereotypes in Saturday-morning cartoons. By

986-484: The three episodes have not been made. Despite its quick cancellation, the theme song to Little Muppet Monsters lived on; the instrumental version of the song became the closing theme for Muppet Babies and remained so until the show ended in 1991. In 1991, segments of the animated "Pigs in Space" and "Kermit the Frog, Private Eye" from the second episode of Little Muppet Monsters titled "Space Cowboys" were re-shown in

1020-501: The time. Fred Rogers , a popular children's show host on public television , gave the keynote speeches, "The Ecology of Childhood," which examined the effects of television on children, and "Course of Action," which discussed legal and political ideas that could be used to create change in the children's television industry. In 1973, responding to concerns raised by ACT, the National Association of Broadcasters adopted

1054-402: The voices of the original casts, as well as imitations of the highly successful Scooby-Doo combining teen characters and talking animals with supernatural mystery stories. By 1982, under President Ronald Reagan , the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had loosened programming and advertising regulations, leading to the era of "half-hour toy commercials", starting with He-Man and

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1088-483: Was anchored by three young Muppet monsters: Tug (performed by Richard Hunt ), Molly (performed by Camille Bonora ), and Boo (performed by David Rudman ). The three have started their own basement show following an incident where Scooter has them put in the basement after Molly and Boo played water polo in the living room. They are joined by Nicky Napoleon (performed by James Kroupa) and his Emperor Penguins as their music act. Storyboard director Scott Shaw discussed

1122-555: Was founded by Peggy Charren , Lillian Ambrosino, Evelyn Kaye Sarson and Judy Chalfen in Newton, Massachusetts in 1968. It had up to 20,000 volunteer members, eight staff members, and an operational budget of $ 225,000 by the mid-1980s, but declined financially and to four staff members before disbanding in 1992. About 70% of funds came from the group's membership, while the rest came from foundation grants (e.g. Markle Foundation ) and fees from lectures and book sales. ACT's initial focus

1156-713: Was the Boston edition of the syndicated Romper Room , a children's show which promoted toys tied into or branded with the program to its viewers. In the late 1960s, ACT also targeted Saturday-morning cartoons that featured superheroes and violence, including The Herculoids , Space Ghost , Birdman and the Galaxy Trio , Journey to the Center of the Earth , The Lone Ranger , Super President and Fantastic Four . The group influenced, through pressure it exerted upon

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