Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming which was typically scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the 1990s. This genre is often referred to by its critics as "illustrated radio" (a term coined by Chuck Jones), because of its focus on voice performances, music, and sound effects over animation and visual quality.
In the United States, the generally accepted times considered to be Saturday mornings are 8am-12pm Eastern. Most of the stations in Pacific Time generally follow the Central time schedule, which is one hour earlier than Eastern. In addition, until the late 1970s, American networks also had a schedule of children's programming on Sunday mornings, though most programs at this time were repeats of Saturday morning shows that were already cancelled and/or out of production.
In some markets, some shows were pre-empted in favor of syndicated or local programming such as Heathcliff or various programs.
