Inside the death of Saturday morning cartoons

HOUSTON -- Remember the Laff-A-Lympics, Schoolhouse Rock, Scooby-Doo and the League of Justice? Saturday morning cartoons were part of many of our childhoods.

But those weekend morning cartoons have all but disappeared. Several factors are to blame, including increased competition from cable and streaming, Federal Communications Commission regulations and even cultural shifts, the Washington Post reports.

As a result, infomercials, morning broadcasts and non-animated comedies like "Saved by the Bell" have taken over in the time slots when cartoons were once king.

The demise of the Saturday morning cartoons on network TV began in the 90's, but the final gasp came this past Saturday on the CW. The network, like many others before it, says it will now replace morning cartoons with a live-action bloc of TV geared toward teens and families.

So while entertainment insiders debate whether the remaining kids' shows, scattered throughout the week, are better or worse than before, the rest of us bask in nostalgia, remembering a lazy Saturday with "Scooby Doo" and a bowl of cold sugary cereal.