Saturday morning preview specials were aired on television annually to present previews of each network's fall lineup of Saturday morning children's programming. Like for their new prime time counterpart shows, television networks in the United States and Canada would film a preview special for the fall season. These would often air as part of the regular network schedule, or be made available to their affiliates for airing at any time, especially to fill timeslots which contained programming canceled months before.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Overview
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. Specials were staggered between differing time slots and days in order to allow each network's show to stand out.
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, with the continuity between each program preview being fictionalized with a small plot or theme to keep viewers interested. The previews were for new and returning series, with each preview featuring the show's opening credits and a scene from that program. They also unveiled a network's new imaging for Saturday morning programming.
Decline
With the changes in direction for Saturday morning, in light of FCC rules requiring programming to be educational or informational and media consolidation, especially with CBS's Viacom ownership until 2005 and ABC's Disney ownership which caused those companies to market their all-children's networks (Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, respectively) much more than their broadcast counterparts, causing purposeful viewership declines. The exodus of this programming to cable, along with the outsourcing of children's blocks to other parties meant the preview specials on the legacy "Big 3" networks all but disappeared by the start of the new millennium, with Fox being the last network to still feature annual specials (even though Fox's Saturday morning block was programmed by 4Kids TV, which aired on other stations in larger markets in syndication arrangements, meaning that those specials advertised programming that didn't actually air on those Fox stations). Fox, incidentally, abandoned all children's programming in favor of the Weekend Marketplace paid programming block in December 2008; the block was eventually leased in fall 2014 to an outside E/I programmer.
Year-by-year guide
ABC
- 1971 - The Brady Bunch Visits ABC (hosted by The Brady Kids from The Brady Bunch)
- 1972 - The Brady Bunch Meet ABC's Saturday Superstars (hosted by The Brady Kids from The Brady Bunch)
- 1973 - Sneak Peek (hosted by Avery Schreiber and Jack Burns; featuring Bugs Bunny, Superman, Batman, Lassie, Rick Springfield, Goober, and Yogi Bear)
- 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)
- 1979 - The Plastic Man Preview Hour (hosted by Michael Young)
- 1982 - Pac Preview Party (hosted by Dick Clark; featuring Henry Winkler, Frank Welker, Willie Tyler and Lester, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, and Marty Ingels)
- 1983 - Preview Special (hosted by Dick Clark)
- 1984 - Saturday Morning 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 Mary Lou Retton and the droids of Star Wars)
- 1988 - (hosted by cast of Mr. Belvedere)
- 1989 - Perfectly Strange Saturday Morning Preview (hosted by cast of Perfect Strangers)
- 1990 - ABC Saturday Morning Preview (hosted by Roseanne Barr and cast of Family Matters)
- 1991 - (hosted by cast of Family Matters)
- 1992 - ABC Sneak Peek with Step by Step (hosted by cast of Step by Step)
- 1993 - ABC Saturday Morning Preview Special (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 Preview Special (hosted by Gary Owens, Marquise Wilson, Raven-Symoné and Zachery Ty Bryan)
- 1996 - Preview Party (hosted by Melissa Joan Hart, 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 on Friday Night (hosted by Meme, played by Valarie Rae Miller and Salem of Paramount's sitcom version of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
- 1999 - One Saturday Morning on Friday Night (hosted by Meme, played by Valarie Rae Miller)
CBS
- 1969 - CBS Funtastic Preview (hosted by Sebastian Cabot, Johnny Whitaker and Anissa Jones of Family Affair)
- 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)
- 1976 - Hey, Hey, Hey! It's the CBS Saturday Preview Special (hosted by Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, guest starring Joanna Cameron as Isis and John Davey as Captain Marvel)
- 1977 - The Wacko Saturday Morning Preview and Other Good Stuff Special (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 The Dukes of Hazzard, respectively))
- 1984 - Saturday's The Place (hosted by Joyce DeWitt; featuring Howie Mandel and Ted Knight)
- 1985 - All-Star Rock 'N' Wrestling Saturday Spectacular (hosted by Roddy Piper, featuring Hervé Villechaize, Gary Owens, Patti Labelle, Pee-wee Herman, New Edition, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Captain Lou Albano, and Hulk Hogan)
NBC
- 1968 - Saturday Morning Preview Special (hosted by The Banana Splits)
- 1973 - Starship Rescue (featuring Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooth from Emergency!; Billy Barty, Johnny Whitaker and Scott Kolden from Sigmund and the Sea Monsters; and characters from the world of Sid & Marty Krofft)
- 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 Erik Estrada, Joe Namath and Scott Baio)
- 1979 - The Thing Meets Casper and the Shmoo
- 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 (starring Keshia Knight Pulliam and Lisa Whelchel, guest starring the casts of Punky Brewster and Kidd Video)
- 1986 - Alvin Goes Back to School
- 1987 - ALF Loves a Mystery (hosted by Benji Gregory & ALF from ALF)
- 1989 - Who Shrunk Saturday Morning? (hosted by cast of Saved by the Bell; featuring ALF, John Candy and Marsha Warfield)
- 1991 - NBC's World Premiere Cartoon Spectacular
FOX
- 1991 - Fox Kids Preview (This special wasn't aired on television; instead it was released on VHS in a tie-in promotion with KB Toys.)
- 1999 - Fox Kids Sneak Preview (hosted by cast of Malcolm in the Middle)
- 2002 - What's Inside the FoxBox? (hosted by cast of Spy Kids)
- 2003 - Fight for the FoxBox
The CW (formerly The WB)
- 1995 - Welcome Home, Animaniacs! - Kids' WB Preview (hosted by Harland Williams)
- 1996 - Kids' WB! Sneak Peek
- 2008 - The CW4Kids Brand Spankin' New Spectacular Sneak Peek Party (hosted by Hudson Horstachio from Viva Piñata)
- 2010 - The CW4Kids Toonzai Friday Fall Preview (hosted by Sonic the Hedgehog)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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