dino boy

Road Runner, that Coyote's after you. Road Runner, if he catches you your through. -- Theme to The Road Runner Show, which premiered in the fall of 1966.

Showtime! After years of playing around on Saturday mornings to find the right mixture to bring in the young viewers, the networks took the bull by the horns in the fall of 1966 and ushered in the Golden Age of Saturday morning cartoons. No less than 11 new cartoon series appeared during the 1966-67 season. Many of them were action and superhero-oriented thanks to the popularity of ABC's live-action Batman series.

The 1966 season also began the domination of Saturday mornings by two animation studios -- Hanna-Barbera and Filmation. For Hanna-Barbera this would be the second year of original Saturday morning programming. For Filmation this would be the first of many years producing fairly entertaining and slightly better animated fare that featured more action and adventure and less in the way of talking animals.

So, if you have your bowl of Cocoa Puffs in front of you, let's see what you were watching back in 1966.

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No, not the wacky talk show version on The Cartoon Network. I'm talking about the original cartoon that aired in the mid-60s.

Space Ghost and Dino Boy will be released on July 17. And since this is one of those "it's not official yet but it's definitely happening" deals, no details about extras or features have been announced yet, but expect something in the next week or so.

I remember watching Space Ghost when I was a kid, the repeats not the original (I'm not that old), but I remember the show as being teamed up with another superhero named Frankenstein, Jr. Anyone else remember that? I distinctly remember the deep-voiced announcer saying, "Space Ghost!...And Frankenstein, Jr...Jr...Jr," the word echoing for a few seconds. Was this maybe two Hanna-Barbera shows being repackaged for the 70s?

[via TVShowsOnDVD]