Saturday morning preview specials

Saturday morning preview specials were aired on television annually to present previews of each network's fall lineup of Saturday morning children's programming.

Every fall, each network would generally air (or, make available to its affiliates) two preview specials for the fall season -- one for their prime-time shows, and another for their Saturday morning schedule.

Typical air times

The Saturday morning previews were generally aired on the network in prime-time, usually the Friday night before the new schedule began. If more than one network started their new schedules on the same date, they would have their previews on different nights on the week of the new schedule.

Format

The preview specials are usually hosted by stars of one or more of the network's popular series and feature an array of special guests. The previews are for new and returning series, with each preview featuring the show's opening credits and a scene from that program. The previews are generally linked together by a storyline or theme. Some of these specials also unveil the network's new imaging for Saturday morning.

Decline

With the changes in direction for Saturday morning, in light of the E/I rules and networks selling their scheduling rights to other companies, the preview specials on the legacy "Big 3" networks all but disappeared by the start of the new millennium, with FOX being the only network to still feature annual specials (even though FOX's Saturday morning block is now programmed by 4Kids TV).

Year-by-year guide

ABC

*1972 - Preview Special (hosted by The Brady Kids from "The Brady Bunch")
*1973 - Sneak Peek (hosted by Avery Schreiber and Jack Burns)
*1974 - Funshine Saturday (hosted by Lee Majors from "The Six Million Dollar Man")
*1975 - Funshine Saturday (hosted by Jim Nabors and Ruth Buzzi from "The Lost Saucer")
*1976 - Sneak Peek (hosted by Jimmy Osmond; featuring Chris Kirby, Dick Clark, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, Marty Allen and The Osmonds)
*1977 - All-Star Saturday (hosted by Kaptain Kool and the Kongs; featuring Lennie Weinrib, Meadowlark Lemon, Robert Hegyes, Shaun Cassidy and The Krofftettes)
*1978 - All-Star Saturday (hosted by Jimmy McNichol and Kristy McNichol; featuring Adam Rich, Danielle Spencer, Donny Most, Donny Osmond, Haywood Nelson, Joey Travolta and Maurice Gibb)
*1983 - (hosted by Dick Clark)
*1984 - Preview Park (hosted by "Weird Al" Yankovic, featuring Wolfman Jack, Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo)
*1985 - Saturday Sneak Peek & Fun Fit Test (hosted by Tony Danza; featuring the droids of "Star Wars")
*1988 - Scooby Doo and Friends
*1990 - (hosted by cast of "Perfect Strangers")
*1991 - (hosted by cast of "Family Matters")
*1992 - (hosted by cast of "Step by Step")
*1993 - (hosted by cast of "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper")
*1994 - Whole New Level of Fun (hosted by cast of "Boy Meets World")
*1995 - Saturday Morning Jam (hosted by Gary Owens, Marquise Wilson, Raven Symone and Zachery Ty Bryan)
*1996 - Preview Party (hosted by Melissa Joan Hart from "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch"; featuring Ian Ziering and the casts of "Bone Chillers" and "Flash Forward")
*1997 - One Saturday Morning (hosted by Charlie, played by Jessica Prunell)
*1998 - One Saturday Morning (hosted by Meme, played by Valarie Rae Miller and Salem from "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch")
*1999 - One Saturday Morning (hosted by Meme, played by Valarie Rae Miller)

CBS

*1974 - Socko Saturday (hosted by cast of "The Hudson Brothers")
*1975 - Dyn-o-mite Saturday (hosted by BernNadette Stanis, Jimmie Walker and Ralph Carter from "Good Times")
*1977 - Wacko Saturday Preview (hosted by cast of "Wacko")
*1983 - Preview Special (hosted by Scott Baio; featuring the Krofft Puppets, and Sorrell Booke and James Best (in-character as Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane from "Dukes of Hazard", respectively)
*1984 - Saturday's The Place (hosted by Joyce DeWitt; featuring Howie Mandel and Ted Knight)
*1985 - All-Star Saturday Spectacular (hosted by Roddy Piper)
*1998 - CBS Kidshow Preview
*2002 - Nick on CBS Preview Fact|date=June 2007
*2006 - KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS Preview Fact|date=June 2007

NBC

*1973 - Starship Rescue (hosted by Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooth from "Emergency!")
*1974 - Preview Revue (hosted by Jimmy Osmond; featuring Johnny Whitaker)
*1975 - Preview Revue (hosted by The Lockers; featuring Michael Landon, and Billy Barty and Johnny Whitaker from "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters")
*1976 - Smilin' Saturday Morning Parade (hosted by Freddie Prinze)
*1977 - C'Mon Saturday (hosted by Andrea McArdle from "Annie"; featuring Arte Johnson, Leonard Nimoy, Muhammad Ali and Ruth Buzzi)
*1978 - Saturday Superstars (hosted by Bay City Rollers; featuring Eric Estrada, Joe Namath and Scott Baio)
*1983 - Yummy Awards (hosted by Ricky Schroder; special appearance by a live-action Spider-Man to promote his animated show)
*1984 - Laugh Busters (featuring Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Kidd Video, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Snorks, Pink Panther and Sons, Mr. T and The Smurfs)
*1985 - Back to Next Saturday (hosted by Keshia Knight Pulliam and Lisa Whelchel)
*1986 - Alvin Goes Back to School
*1987 - ALF Loves a Mystery (hosted by Benji Gregory from "ALF")
*1989 - Who Shrunk Saturday Morning? (hosted by cast of "Saved By The Bell"; featuring ALF, John Candy and Marsha Warfield)

FOX

*1999 - Fox Kids Sneak Preview (hosted by cast of "Malcolm in the Middle")
*2002 - FoxBox Preview
*2003 - Fight for the FoxBox
*2005 - 4Kids TV Preview

=The CW (formerly The WB)=

*1995 - Kids' WB Preview
*2008 - The CW4Kids Preview

References

External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507EFDD1038F937A2575AC0A965948260&sec=&spon= TV: Preview of Saturday Cartoons (1983)] at the "New York Times"