Jim Regan -- Site Reviews
Saturday Morning Supersite
|
Remember when "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," and "George of the Jungle" were cartoons? Remember when Batman's special effects consisted of Whapp!!, Zowie!!, and Kapow!!? Remember when children's games didn't require computer chips? Well, so does Yesterdayland's Saturday Morning Supersite. Welcome to your childhood.
The Saturday Morning Supersite is, to date, the only link available on the Yesterdayland home page. Although there appear to be plans for at least one more nostalgia-based option in the future, the only choice currently available already offers more than enough for some serious childhood flashbacks.
The home page for the Supersite is a fairly comprehensive example of the "index and highlights" variety — which means that, while the visitor will get an immediate idea of what the site offers once the download is complete, that download may take a while. (We're not talking minutes here, but if you're the type that frequently returns to a site's home page, you'll save time by keeping the home page intact, and opening the various links into their own browser windows.)
As well as an overview of the rest of the site, the home page offers a few specials of its own such as the Commercial Corner (currently reprising "You Sunk My Battleship" in QuickTime), a brief movie recommendation, and a Top 10 cartoon-bands list. (The Chipmunks are number five, which isn't bad for rodents — though no threat to The Archies, solidly established at number one.)
But the site's primary reason for being is its catalog of Saturday morning (and other) children's programming — from "Howdy Doody" and "Captain Kangaroo" in the '50s to such 1990s examples as the "Teletubbies." (Though the site states its desire to be "...a living monument to the Golden Age of Children's Television," the Golden Age appears to span the entire existence of the medium.)
Available through keyword search and subdivided by decade, there are literally hundreds of listings for shows — and while many will be familiar, it's a tribute to the site's encyclopedic nature that at least a few will draw a complete blank. (Even though it was broadcast during my prime cartoon viewing years, I appear to have completely missed "DoDo-The Kid From Outer Space".)
Each show's page is topped by a few stills — which may well provide the flash of recognition that a show's name fails to spark — a history/synopsis of the program, and such details as broadcast dates, network and studio of origin, type of program (animation, live action, etc.), and character and cast lists. Tabs at the top of each page als connect surfers to reminiscences left by other visitors, andmessageboards — so the more dedicated fans can swap information.
As well as rekindling your own memories, the Supersite offers YLTV, in which celebrities from Ruth Buzzi to Rip Taylor share their thoughts via QuickTime movies. Features takes a closer look at such hard-hitting subjects as "The Great 80s Smurf Invasion" and remembers such past (and passed) influences as Charles Schulz and Doug Henning. And Boards holds a few non-'show specific' message boards.
Finally, there are the Links — hundreds of links — from official sites, to a "Sesame Street" lyrics archive, to cartoon equivalents of the Web shrines erected for Claudia Schiffer or Julia Roberts. (Though in this case, the worshipee is Olive Oyl.)
The only thing missing here is a collection of the programs themselves. Not a surprising omission, considering such complications as copyright, server space and download times. With luck, these pages will trigger enough internal re-runs to make the digital versions unnecessary.
The Saturday Morning Supersite can be found at http://www.yesterdayland.com/saturday/.