<P> A Hanna - Barbera adaptation of the Belgian comic strip The Smurfs became a huge success in the 1980s, bringing with it other series with fairytale - like settings (My Little Pony, Monchichis, Trollkins, Snorks, etc .) Most of the genres made popular in previous generations (funny animals, superheroes, teen mysteries, science fiction and live - action adaptations) continued to appear as well, with the exception of the musical band cartoons (only one of note, the syndicated Jem and the Holograms, emerged in the 1980s); by this time, the bands were engaged in making music videos of their own, and listeners looking for their favorite bands ended up migrating to MTV . CBS and the producing team of Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, acclaimed for their Emmy - winning prime time specials adapted from Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts, brought Schulz's characters to Saturday mornings in The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show; later in the 1980s, the successful Garfield comic strip and TV specials were adapted into the long - running Garfield and Friends, also on CBS . </P> <P> During the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, a glut of younger and junior versions of cartoon characters began appearing on Saturday morning cartoons . </P> <P> Parents' lobby groups such as Action for Children's Television appeared in the late 1960s . They voiced concerns about the presentation of commercialism, violence, anti-social attitudes and stereotypes in Saturday morning cartoons . By the 1970s, these groups exercised enough influence that the television networks felt compelled to lay down more stringent content rules for the animation houses . By 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, which would have effectively killed off the format; the commission ultimately dropped the proposal . </P> <P> The networks were encouraged to create educational spots that endeavored to use animation and / or live - action for enriching content . Far and away the most successful effort was the Schoolhouse Rock! series on ABC, which became a television classic; ABC also had several other short - form animated featurettes, including Time for Timer and The Bod Squad, that had long runs . Just as notable were CBS's news segments for children, In the News and NBC's Ask NBC News and One to Grow On, which featured skits of everyday problems with advice from the stars of NBC primetime programs . </P>

What happened to saturday morning cartoons on cw