I watched a lot of television as a child in the late 1970s through the 1980s. Saturday morning cartoons were perhaps one of television’s greatest inventions, and my generation benefited greatly from them. I will say unapologetically that I am a pop culture kid, and my babysitter was the TV.

My Saturdays started just before 6 AM. I would jump out of bed, the exact opposite reaction I had on school days. I’d hop to the kitchen and make myself a bowl of cereal; my favorites were Alphabets, Cap’n Crunch, Honeycomb, and Cocoa Pebbles. There were a few others that came and went, and I enjoyed most of them. For example, Mr. T’s cereal was pretty good.

Once I had my bowl, I’d go back to the room and sit at the bottom of my bed and watch one cartoon after another after another all morning. I might convince my mother to pour me a second bowl a couple of hours into my marathon. By 12 o’clock, I’d have lunch, then settle down for a movie on the show Creature Features, a series that delved into many of the well-known and many unknown monster movies from the 30s up to the 70s. When that was over, I was outside, in the backyard, playing or riding my bike all over the neighborhood. Simple. Joyful.

From time to time the algorithm sends me into rabbit holes on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok, sparking nostalgia for the innocence of my childhood. Granted, when I look back, I also see that most of the animation wasn’t that good. The themes were predictable and repetitive. Also, there was no diversity of characters. I’ll get to that later.

I never had children of my own, but my brother had three, and I spent a lot of time hanging out with them, watching their cartoons. The cartoons they watched were definitely more creative, crisper, and more daring. The content never hit me. The jokes came from memes, and the themes were far more personal. Gen Z is very different. But I respect their stuff. I still miss my toons.

Kids today have more to connect to, because I didn’t see many characters who looked like me in the 70s and 80s. What the cartoons of my youth did have, besides hitting serious topics, was a lot of moral messages. It was all about making sure we understood there was right and wrong. It also had morally strong leaders to look up to. We wanted to be like some of these characters because they seemed cool and powerful.

There wasn’t as much attention on feelings as there was on the consequences of our actions. At the end of He-Man, we got a quick lesson in how to make a better decision. There’s the episode when Man-at-Arms tells us to be careful with playing practical jokes unless someone loses a finger or an eye. It was dark, but important.

In some weird way, all of that shaped me as a human and the way I approach life.

Today, I want to share the five shows, of the many I loved, that had a profound impact on my life. I’d love to hear about the ones that you most enjoyed as a child.

Super Friends. Superheroes have been a huge part of my upbringing. The first superheroes of my childhood included the Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, and Superman (the Christopher Reeve Superman). The show tackled good and evil through a black and white lens. For a child, that’s OK. There was the Hall of Justice and the Legion of Doom. There were the good guys and the bad guys, no nuance. I learned nuance later in life. Maybe kids today are far more sophisticated, though.

I grew up loving stories about knights, wizards, and dragons. I loved the Hobbit animated movie, as well as the game D&D. That’s why I have to have Dungeons and Dragons, the cartoon, on this list. The premise of the show had six kids, a very diverse group by the way, get onto a theme park ride only to end up in another universe where dark wizards and dragons rule. They’re met by a tiny wizard (who reminds me a lot of Iroh from Airbender). This show was like sugar on top of more sugar; it checked off so many boxes on the things I loved as a kid. 1. Magic. 2. Warriors. 3. Dragons. 4. More Magic.

Battle of the Planets had the coolest ship of any cartoon and a swath of awesome characters. The leader of the group, Mark, was the brooding lead who was fearless but not without his weaknesses. Jason was my favorite. He had a very Han Solo vibe. This show was short-lived, yet satisfying on many levels. When I say this show got serious at times, all you have to do is look at Mark’s storyline – he’s an orphan, and they tackle that aspect a lot.

Ultraman was not a cartoon. Still, this was a seminal series that sparked my imagination. When you watch this series now, it’s so damned goofy-looking. It’s a Japanese show from the mid-60s. It’s pre-CGI. Yet, for the seven-year-old me, it was glorious cheesiness. This is the story of a special forces team with the job of protecting the planet from large monsters. One of their agents has the ability to become a giant himself in the form of Ultraman. I gobbled this stuff up. Also, the intro is basic, cool, and I love the use of reversing the film to create the spin motion back to the title.

Another thing I loved as a kid was cars. I had a large collection of Matchbox and Hot Wheels toys. So, of course, Speed Racer was one of my favorite shows. Like Battle of the Planets had the coolest ship, Speed Racer has the best car, hands down. I think the sporadic nature of the character’s actions and aloofness was the perfect fit for my pre-pubertal strangeness.

These cartoons were fun. They were fulfilling for a young kid who loved fantasy. I learned how to be kind and compassionate to everyone because of these cartoons. I learned how to face life’s challenges because of these cartoons. What were the best shows and cartoons from your childhood?