CBS Kid TV (NBCFan626's Vision)

***CBS Toontastic*** (formerly ***CBS Kid TV*** and ***In Your Eye***) was an American Saturday morning children's TV programming block that ran on CBS as a preview on June 11th, 1988 before it ran as a fully-made TV block from July 4th, 1988 to October 7th, 1995.

## History

In 1988, the network began branding its Saturday morning block as *CBS Kid TV*, and incorporated additional programs over the next few years such as *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, *Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures*, *Back to the Future* and *Mother Goose and Grimm*. *CBS Kid TV'*s break bumpers featured the character Fido Dido. Four years prior to the block's rebrand, the network premiered its first in-house animated series since their original Terrytoons, *CBS Storybreak*; originally hosted by Bob Keeshan, the half-hour series – which featured animated adaptations of popular children's books – was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Program" in 1986. *Storybreak* continued to air on the network in reruns until 1992, before returning in September 1993 with new hosted segments conducted by Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

One of the network's most popular children's programs around this time was *Muppet Babies*, an animated series which debuted in 1984 and ran for eight seasons. At the height of its popularity, CBS aired the program in two- or three-episode blocks. The program was briefly renamed *Muppets, Babies and Monsters* during the show's second season, with the second half-hour of the block filled by *Little Muppet Monsters*, a new series which featured live-action puppets and cartoons starring the Muppet characters. The program lasted three weeks before its cancellation (leaving 15 already produced episodes unaired), replaced by an additional half-hour of *Muppet Babies*. *Pee-wee's Playhouse*, which debuted in 1986, also became a major hit for the network's Saturday morning lineup; known for its bizarre humor, reruns of the series were abruptly dropped by CBS in 1991 – less than a year after the series ended its five-year run – following star Paul Reubens' arrest after allegedly exposing himself in a Sarasota, Florida adult movie theatre.

Another popular series was *Garfield and Friends*, based on the Garfield newspaper comics, which debuted on the network in 1988; the episodes featured a mix of longer-length animated segments and short segments known as "Quickies", featuring characters from the *Garfield* and *U.S. Acres* strips. Although the series had still been doing well in the ratings, *Garfield and Friends* ended in 1994 after seven seasons through a mutual agreement to cease production, after the show's production company nixed a proposal by CBS to reduce its production budget.

One series that never made it to the Saturday morning lineup was *Garbage Pail Kids*, a series based on the trading card series of the same name by Topps Company. CBS heavily promoted the series in the run-up to the 1987-88 season, having ordered an entire season of episodes; however it was abruptly pulled a few days before its premiere (replaced with a third half-hour of *Muppet Babies*), following protests from Action for Children's Television, the National Coalition on Television Violence and the Christian Leaders for Responsible Television due to claims that the series ridiculed the handicapped, glorified violence, and served mainly as a program-length commercial for the cards. Some advertisers (such as Nabisco, McDonald's and Crayola) also pulled out of sponsoring the program, either due to pressure from special interest groups, or because a preview tape of the show was not available in time for review. A few CBS stations (such as WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas; KOTV in Tulsa, Oklahoma and KREM-TV in Spokane, Washington) opted not to carry the program, notifying the network of their decision to pre-empt the program weeks in advance of the debut.

Another series which also never made it to the CBS Saturday morning lineup was *The Noids*, which was based on the *Noid* mascot featured in *Domino's Pizza* commercials and would have aired during the 1988-89 season. The show was scrapped due to complaints that it was nothing but an advertising ploy and not appropriate for children.

## Crew

* Opening theme - "Gracie Films Theme" (June 11, 1988-June 11, 1993), "It's Cartoon Gold" (August 28, 1993-September 17, 1994), & "WBTV Theme" (September 19, 1994-October 7, 1995)
* Theme music composers - Jerry Goldsmith (June 11, 1988-June 11, 1993), Steve Zuckerman (August 28, 1993-September 17, 1994), & Mack David and Jerry Livingston (September 19, 1994-October 7, 1995)
* Music composers - Haim Saban and Shuki Levy (June 11, 1988-July 10, 1989), Richard Gibbs (July 4, 1988-September 26, 1990), Tom Ray and Ben Washam (September 8, 1990-December 4, 1993), Alf Clausen (August 28, 1993-November 12, 1994), The Mothersbaugh Brothers (November 14, 1994-May 20, 1995), Walt Levinsky (August 7-September 16, 1995), & Edd Kalehoff (September 23-October 7, 1995)
* Writers - William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (July 17, 1989-September 26, 1990), Ralph Baruch (September 8, 1990-September 10, 1993), & Rupert Murdoch (September 13, 1993-October 7, 1995)
* Developers - Stephen McDannell Hillenburg (July 4, 1988-September 14, 1990), Robert McNally-Scull (September 17, 1990-March 29, 1991), Mike Scully (August 11, 1991-September 12, 1992), Charles Bluhdorn (September 19, 1992-August 28, 1993), & Paul Germain (September 6, 1993-October 7, 1995)
* Directors - Mark Breslow (August 15, 1988-July 10, 1989), Alan Zaslove (July 17, 1989-September 21, 1990), Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere (September 24, 1990-April 29, 1995), & Paul Sommer (August 7-October 7, 1995)
* Storyboarders - Paul Alter (November 19, 1988-September 12, 1992), Rudy Zamora (September 19-December 5, 1992), Oscar Dufau (January 23-May 8, 1993), Carl Urbano (June 11, 1993-November 5, 1994), & Ray Patterson (November 7, 1994-October 7, 1995)
* Character Designers - Andy Felsher (August 17, 1988-June 11, 1993), Gene Deitch (August 28, 1993-May 23, 1994), Richard Dene Pursel (July 21, 1994-October 7, 1995)
* Overseas Animation Services - Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. (June 11, 1988-September 10, 1993) & Sae Rom Productions Co. Ltd (September 13, 1993-October 7, 1995)

## Programming

*Main article: List of programs broadcast by CBS*

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