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{{Short description|U.S. children's television programming block (1997–2011)}}
{{Infobox Broadcasting network
{{for|the Australian children's television channel|ABC Kids (Australia)}}
|name = ABC Kids
{{Infobox programming block
|logo = [[File:ABC Kids Logo.svg|177px]]
| name = ABC Kids
|country = [[United States]]
| image = ABC Kids Logo.svg
|available = National
| image_size = 277px
|launch_date = September 13, 1997 (as Disney's One Saturday Morning)<br />September 14, 2002 (as ABC Kids)
|owner = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC, Inc.]] ([[The Walt Disney Company]])
| channel = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
| premiered = {{Start date and age|1997|9|13}}
|slogan = ''ABC Kids is Gonna Rock Your Day!'' (2006-present)
| closed = {{End date and age|2011|8|27}}
|type = [[Saturday morning cartoon]] block (1997-present)
| country = [[United States]]
|former_names = Disney's One Saturday Morning (1997-2002)
|affiliation = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
| parent = [[The Walt Disney Company]]
| formerly_known = Disney's One Saturday Morning (1997–2002)
|website = http://www.abckids.com
| format = Defunct [[Saturday-morning cartoon|Saturday morning]] children's program block
| runtime = {{Plainlist|
* 5 hours (1997–2004)
* 4 hours (2004–10)
* 3 hours (2010–11)
}}
}}
| language = [[English language|English]]
| sister = [[Disney's One Too]]
}}

'''ABC Kids''' (originally titled '''Disney's One Saturday Morning''' until 2002) was an American [[Saturday-morning cartoon|Saturday morning]] [[block programming|children's programming block]] that aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] from September 13, 1997 to August 27, 2011. It featured a mixture of [[animated television series|animated]] and [[live-action]] series from [[Disney Television Animation|Walt Disney Television Animation]] and [[Disney Channel]], aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 14.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Walt Disney Company 2003 Annual Report |url=https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/app/uploads/2015/10/2003-Annual-Report.pdf |website=thewaltdisneycompany.com |publisher=The Walt Disney Company |access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref> This was the only time that Disney Channel content aired on over-the-air television in the United States, but first being Nickelodeon on CBS (owned by Viacom [now Paramount]) two years earlier.

The block regularly aired on Saturday mornings, though certain programs within the lineup aired on Sundays in some parts nationwide due to station preferences for non-[[Regulations on children's television programming in the United States|educational]] programming or scheduling issues with regional or [[ESPN on ABC|network sports broadcasts]].


After five years of mainly reruns of programs introduced onto the block prior to the 2007–08 season, ABC decided it would cease to provide children's programming during the Saturday morning timeslot, and entered into an agreement with [[Litton Entertainment]] to program that period;<ref name="ABCLitton">{{cite news|title=ABC Orders Saturday Kids Block From Litton |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/article/2011/05/24/51447/abc-orders-saturday-kids-block-from-litton |access-date=May 24, 2011 |work=TVNewsCheck |publisher=NewsCheck Media |date=May 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204120253/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/51447/abc-orders-saturday-kids-block-from-litton |archive-date=December 4, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="Littonannouncement">{{cite news|title=Litton Announces "ABC Weekend Adventure"|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110524007282/en/Litton-Announces-ABC-Weekend-Adventure|access-date=May 24, 2011|work=[[BusinessWire]]|date=May 24, 2011}}</ref> the block that resulted from this deal – [[Litton's Weekend Adventure]], which is structured as a [[broadcast syndication|syndication]] package distributed with virtual exclusivity to ABC's [[owned-and-operated station]]s and [[network affiliate|affiliates]] – replaced ABC Kids on September 3, 2011.<ref name="LittonSept3">{{cite news|title=ABC to Premiere Litton's Weekend Adventure on Sept. 3|url=https://www.nexttv.com/article/468736-ABC_to_Premiere_ABC_Weekend_Adventure_on_Sept_3.php|author=Paige Albiniak|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=May 24, 2011|access-date=May 24, 2011}}</ref>
'''ABC Kids''' (or: '''Disney's ABC Kids''') is a children's block of [[animated television series]] and [[live-action]] [[children's television series]]. broadcast on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] network on Saturday-Sunday mornings in the U.S. and was broadcast on [[Baton Broadcast System|BBS]]/[[CTV Television Network|CTV]] in [[Canada]] until 2002. It was formerly known as '''Disney's One Saturday Morning'''.


==History==
==History==
{{main|Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company}}
Sometime around 1997, Peter Hastings, the creator and excutive producer of "One Saturday Morning", who wrote for ''[[Animaniacs]]'' and ''[[Pinky and the Brain]]'' left both shows in order to produce cartoons for Disney and ABC. ABC was told by [[Michael Eisner]] to create a [[Saturday morning]] block that was different from the rest at the time. They asked Hastings to do it. In February 1997, Peter Hastings pledged the idea that Saturday is different from every other day and to represent weekdays as buildings. He also proposed the use of virtual set technology; Although he knew little about it at the time and the technology used was just starting development. Disney and ABC liked the idea. He hired [[Prudence Fenton]] as Consultant Manger and Co-Executive Producer. Together they sampled virtual set technology at [[NAB]] 1997 and chose technology developed by [[Accom]] and ELSET. Rutherford Bench Productions which had previously worked with Disney hired [[Pacific Ocean Post]], POP Sound today, to produce the virtual set. The building was initially a drawing of [[Grand Central Station]] with a roller coaster but evolved into a towering mechanical 1. Even the interior has similarities such as a central high raised room with two wings on left and right sides and another on the south side.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1116677612.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1&query=|title=ABC hopes for virtual success|date=September 15, 1997|work=Variety|accessdate=2009-08-13 | first=Michael | last=Goldman}}</ref>
===Disney's One Saturday Morning===
[[File: Disney's One Saturday Morning.png|thumb|right|Disney's One Saturday Morning logo used from 1997 to 2002]]
After [[The Walt Disney Company]] purchased ABC corporate parent [[Capital Cities Communications|Capital Cities/ABC Inc.]] in 1995, the network's children's program block ABC Saturday Morning, aired such Disney-produced series as ''[[Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series|The Mighty Ducks]]'', ''[[Jungle Cubs]]'' and ''[[Gargoyles (TV series)|Gargoyles]]''; it was one of two networks at the time that prominently carried Disney programming on Saturday mornings, as [[CBS]] also carried Disney cartoons (CBS' were mostly television spin-offs of [[Disney Renaissance]] films, whereas ABC's were mostly other Disney properties). After Disney formally took over ABC's operations, Disney head [[Michael Eisner]] sought to create a [[Saturday morning cartoon|Saturday morning]] block that was different from those carried by its competitors at the time.


In February 1997, Peter Hastings left [[Warner Bros. Animation]] and joined Disney, where he was tasked with overhauling ABC's Saturday morning lineup in order to compete against [[Fox Kids]] and [[Kids' WB]]. He pitched an idea around the concept that Saturday is different from every other day of the week, and the representation of weekdays as buildings. Hastings also proposed the use of virtual set technology; although he knew a bit about it at the time and the technology used was just starting to be developed, Disney and ABC liked the idea. He hired [[Prudence Fenton]] as consultant manager and co-executive producer. Together, they sampled virtual set technology at the 1997 [[NAB Show]] and chose technology developed by [[Accom]] and ELSET. Rutherford Bench Productions, which had previously worked with Disney on other projects, hired Pacific Ocean Post (now POP Sound) to produce the virtual set. The building was initially a drawing of [[Grand Central Terminal]] with a roller coaster added but evolved into a towering mechanical structure. Even the interior has similarities such as a central high raised room, with two wings on the left and right sides and another on the south side.<ref>{{cite web|title=ABC hopes for virtual success|url=https://variety.com/1997/digital/news/abc-hopes-for-virtual-success-1116677612/|author=Michael Goldman|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|publisher=[[Reed Business Information]]|date=September 15, 1997|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref>
===''Disney's One Saturday Morning''===
On September 13, 1997, ''Disney's One Saturday Morning'' was first broadcast as a two hour block on the ''ABC Saturday Morning'' lineup, and originally featured some of the shows that had aired on it.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1116678415.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=|title=Webs roll out season geared to kids|date=August 29, 1997|work=Variety|accessdate=2009-08-13 | first=Christopher | last=Grove}}</ref> It was originally scheduled for September 6, 1997, but due to ABC and all the other networks airing [[Princess Diana|Princess Diana's]] funeral that day, It was pushed back a week later. In 1999 it was extended to 5 hours. On September 6, 1999 a spin-off, ''[[Disney's One Too]]'', aired on [[UPN]] and in [[Television syndication|syndication]] every weekday in the morning or afternoon and Sunday morning.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117743063.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=|title=Mouse brands UPN kidvid|date=July 19, 1999|work=Variety|accessdate=2009-08-13 | first=Chris | last=Pursell}}</ref> ''One Saturday Morning''' aired the final time on September 7, 2002 (by this time it had simply become bumpers and promos; the segments and hosting had been dropped in 2000). Since [[Fox Kids]] was bought by Disney, [[4Kids Entertainment]] took over the block as "Fox Box" and Disney changed the block from '''''Disney's One Saturday Morning''''' to '''''ABC Kids''''' on exactly the same day that Fox Kids was taken over.<ref name="ABC Kids">{{cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117873477.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=|title=Kid skeds tread on joint strategy|date=September 29, 2002|work=Variety|accessdate=2009-08-13 | first=Paula | last=Bernstein}}</ref>


On September 13, 1997, Disney's One Saturday Morning premiered as a two-hour sub-block within the ABC Saturday Morning lineup.<ref>{{cite web|title=Webs roll out season geared to kids|url=https://www.variety.com/1997/tv/news/webs-roll-out-season-geared-to-kids-1116678415|author=Christopher Grove|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|date=August 29, 1997|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref> It was originally scheduled to premiere the Saturday prior on September 6, but coverage by all U.S. networks of the [[Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales|funeral of Princess Diana]] pushed back the premiere by one week to September 13. Disney's One Saturday Morning featured two parts: three hours of regularly scheduled cartoons and a two-hour flagship show that included feature segments, comedy skits, and the virtual world which Hastings had proposed, along with newer episodes of three animated series: ''[[Doug (TV series)|Doug]]'' (which had been acquired from [[Nickelodeon]] in 1996), ''[[Recess (TV series)|Recess]]'' and ''[[Pepper Ann]]''.
During the introduction to ''One Saturday Morning'' as well as other introductions on the block, a tiny [[lightbulb]] icon would appear in a bottom corner of the screen and an announcer would say, "Illuminating Television," stating the programming block's [[E/I|educational programming]]. The lightbulb's chain would be pulled by a hand, and the lightbulb would have an animation (turning into a rocket, falling into a garbage can, jumping in a pool, etc.).


''Doug'', ''Recess'' and ''Pepper Ann'' were each nominally given 40-minute timeslots. The extended 10 minutes during each show's slot were for One Saturday Morning's interstitial segments and educational features. The live-action wraparound segments were originally hosted by Charlie (portrayed by [[Jessica Prunell]]) for the block's first season in 1997, and later by MeMe ([[Valarie Rae Miller]]) starting in September 1998 until 2000; the segments also featured an elephant named Jelly Roll (voiced by stand-up comedian and actor [[Brad Garrett]]), who served as a sidekick to the human host, while the eccentric Manny the Uncanny ([[Paul Rugg]]), host of his own standalone segment where he visited and observed different jobs, made occasional appearances outside that segment.
===''ABC Kids''===
On September 14, 2002, Disney's ''One Saturday Morning'' was rebranded as ABC Kids. The block formally contained new programs, but in the present, all of ABC Kids programs are repeats of [[Disney Channel]] originals.<ref name="ABC Kids"/>


''[[Schoolhouse Rock!]]'', a longtime essential of ABC's Saturday morning block since 1973, also aired as an interstitial segment during ''[[The Bugs Bunny Show|The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show]]'' (along shorts airing on Nickelodeon until 1999), likewise a carryover from the pre-Disney era (it would continue until ABC's contract with then-[[AOL Time Warner]] expired in 2000).
''[[Power Rangers]]'' was previously aired on [[Fox Kids]] until halfway through the ''[[Power Rangers: Wild Force|Wild Force]]'' season, when ''Power Rangers'' moved to ABC Kids for the 2002 Fall season due to the [[ABC Family|Fox Family Channel]]/[[Saban Entertainment]] purchase by Disney in 2001. Starting with the episode "Unfinished Business", the remainder of the ''Wild Force'' season premiered on ABC Kids. During its time on both Fox Kids and ABC Kids the entire ''Wild Force'' season also reran later on [[ABC Family]] (in part both prior to the introduction of and during the [[ABC Family#ABC_Family_Action_Block_.2F_Jetix|ABC Family Action Block]]). The following ''[[Power Rangers: Ninja Storm|Ninja Storm]]'' season also premiered on ABC Kids and then reran later on the ABC Family Action Block. The ''[[Power Rangers: Dino Thunder|Dino Thunder]]'', ''[[Power Rangers: S.P.D.|S.P.D.]]'', ''[[Power Rangers: Mystic Force|Mystic Force]]'', ''[[Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive|Operation Overdrive]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers: Jungle Fury|Jungle Fury]]'' seasons were all premiered on [[Jetix (US)|Jetix]] and then reran on ABC Kids. The ''[[Power Rangers: RPM|RPM]]'' season and broadcasts of the first season of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|Mighty Morphin]]'', newly [[re-version]]ed, aired exclusively on ABC Kids.


Disney’s One Saturday Morning was initially a massive success, beating [[Fox Kids]] during its first season to be the most-watched Saturday morning block on broadcast television.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/1998/tv/news/abc-kids-block-tops-fox-on-saturday-1117470615/|title=ABC kids block tops Fox on Saturday|last=Katz|first=Richard|date=May 8, 1998|work=Variety|access-date=July 14, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> It remained competitive in its second season, beating all of Fox Kids' shows except ''[[Power Rangers]]''.<ref name="lat99">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-mar-09-fi-15344-story.html|date=March 9, 1999|title=The One That Got Away : With 'Doug,' Nickelodeon's Loss May Be Disney's Gain|author=Claudia Eller|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=October 23, 2014}}</ref> The third season remained competitive with its broadcast peers on Fox and [[Kids WB]], with ''[[The Weekenders]]'' being a bright spot for the block; the new series dethroned anime show ''[[Pokémon (TV series)|Pokémon]]'' to become broadcast television's most-watched Saturday morning cartoon, though all of the broadcast networks had fallen behind Nickelodeon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2000/tv/news/the-weekenders-defeats-pokemon-1117781251/ |title='The Weekenders' defeats 'Pokemon' |publisher=Variety|date=2000-05-05 |first=Michael |last=Schneider}}</ref>
''Power Rangers'' ended its run on ABC Kids on August 28, 2010 nationwide due to [[Haim Saban]] having bought back the [[intellectual rights]] to the franchise from Disney and giving airing rights to [[Nickelodeon (TV channel)|Nickelodeon]] in May 2010. Airings ended slightly earlier on August 14, 2010 on west coast affiliates due to a two-week preemption caused by the [[2010 Little League World Series]] and the [[E/I]] recovery that resulted from it. On September 4, 2010, the hour held by ''Power Rangers'' was returned to the local affiliates. After its completion on ABC Kids, ''Power Rangers'' will move to Nickelodeon with repeats of all previous seasons airing on [[Nicktoons (TV channel)|Nicktoons]] starting in October 2010, and all new seasons (starting with the ''[[Power Rangers: Samurai|Samurai]]'' season) set to premiere on the main [[Nickelodeon (TV channel)|Nickelodeon]] channel in February 2011.<ref name="buy back">{{cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118019212.html?categoryid=14&cs=1|title=Saban re-acquires rights to 'Rangers' - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety|date=2010-05-12|accessdate=2010-05-12 | first=Cynthia | last=Littleton}}</ref>


The block received a new brand identity in the fall of 2000; this was followed by the shorts and hosted segments being discontinued on December 16 in a reformatting of the ABC block. By this time, the interstitials within the block were relegated to bumpers and [[promo (media)|program promotions]]. The change proved to be disastrous; by February 2001, ratings had fallen to less than half of its competitors' on Fox, The WB and Nickelodeon.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-02-19/fox-kids-wins-broadcast-ratings| title=Fox Kids wins Broadcast Ratings| work=[[Anime News Network]]| date=2001-02-19| access-date=2018-11-02}}</ref> In Fall 2001, live-action series were added to the One Saturday Morning lineup with the addition of the "Zoog Hour," an hour-long sub-block featuring the [[Disney Channel Original Series|Disney Channel original series]] ''[[Lizzie McGuire]]'' and ''[[Even Stevens]]'' (the sub-block, advertised in promos for Disney’s One Saturday Morning promoting the two programs as "powered by Zoog," was named after Disney Channel's weekend programming block at the time, Zoog Disney).
With the rise of federally-mandated [[E/I]] programming guidelines, some of the network's affiliate groups, primarily [[Hearst Television]] and [[Allbritton Communications Company|Allbritton Communications]], refused to carry any show that did not fulfill E/I requirements (such as ''Kim Possible'' or the ''Power Rangers'' series during their time on ABC Kids) in order to instead free up time to air locally produced programming. However, some stations time shifted these shows either to very early in the morning Saturday or to Sunday, often before local news, ''[[Good Morning America Weekend Edition|Good Morning America]]'' and/or that week's "live" portion of the ABC Kids block began.


A spin-off of Disney's One Saturday Morning, [[Disney's One Too]], premiered on [[UPN]] on September 6, 1999; produced through a time-lease agreement between Disney and UPN, the block aired each weekday (either in the morning or afternoon, depending on the station's preference) and on Sunday mornings, and featured many of the programs shown on One Saturday Morning (including ''Recess'', ''Pepper Ann'' and ''[[Sabrina: The Animated Series]]'').<ref>{{cite web|title=Mouse brands UPN kidvid|url=https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/mouse-brands-upn-kidvid-1117743063/|author=Chris Pursell|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|date=July 19, 1999|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref>
Aside from counting the annual changes to ''Power Rangers'', the block has not refreshed its schedule since the 2006-2007 television season (with the schedule now consisting of discontinued Disney Channel original live-action programs, except for ''Hannah Montana'', which does not end its run until late 2010 or early 2011), making it the only block to not order a new package of shows for its fall Saturday morning season.

===ABC Kids===
On July 23, 2001, the Walt Disney Company purchased [[ABC Family Worldwide|Fox Family Worldwide]], primarily for its [[Television networks preceding Freeform#Fox Family|Fox Family Channel]], which was included in the sale as well as [[Saban Entertainment]], a company in which Fox purchased a 50% interest in 1994.<ref name=FoxFamilySell>{{cite news|title=News Corp. and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for $5.3 Billion |url=https://www.saban.com/html/press/010723.html |work=[[Saban Entertainment]] |date=July 23, 2001 |access-date=February 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202154922/http://saban.com/html/press/010723.html |archive-date=February 2, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="SellToDisney">{{cite news|title=Fox Family costs Mouse less cheese in final deal|url=https://variety.com/2001/tv/news/fox-family-costs-mouse-less-cheese-in-final-deal-1117854788/|author=Carl DiOrio|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|date=October 24, 2001|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref> On September 14, 2002, ABC rebranded its Saturday morning block, as a subtle nod to the [[Fox Kids]] brand acquired by Disney through its purchase of Fox Family Worldwide, to ABC Kids (as a result of the sale, Fox Kids ceased to exist; Fox's children's program lineups would be handled from that point onward by [[4Kids TV|4Kids Entertainment]] until 2008).<ref name="ABC Kids">{{cite web|title=Kid skeds tread on joint strategy|url=https://variety.com/2002/tv/news/kid-skeds-tread-on-joint-strategy-1117873477/|author=Paula Bernstein|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|date=September 29, 2002|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref>

The renamed block originally contained a mix of first-run programs exclusive to the block, as well as reruns of several original series from both [[Disney Channel]] and [[Toon Disney]]. ''[[NBA Inside Stuff]]'' also began airing on the block as a result of ABC's acquisition of the broadcast television rights to the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] from [[NBA on NBC|NBC]] (where the series originally premiered in 1990), starting with the [[2002–03 NBA season|2002–03 season]]'s [[National Basketball Association Christmas games|Christmas Day game]]; ''Inside Stuff'' continued to air on ABC Kids until 2004. The series premiere of Disney Channel's ''[[Lilo & Stitch: The Series]]'' was also held on ABC Kids on September 20, 2003, with a delayed premiere on Disney Channel on October 12, 2003. The new block ditched the imagery of the ''One Saturday Morning'' era in favor of a sports stadium motif, which, in 2006, was changed to a rock concert design that remained throughout the last five years of ABC Kids.

Through Disney's acquisition of Saban Entertainment, the ''Power Rangers'' series moved from Fox Kids to the ABC Kids block. All first-run episodes from the franchise premiered on ABC Kids starting with the second half of the show's ''[[Power Rangers: Wild Force|Wild Force]]'' season (starting with the episode "Unfinished Business"), with the entirety of the ''Wild Force'' and ''[[Power Rangers: Ninja Storm|Ninja Storm]]'' seasons subsequently airing in reruns on [[Freeform (TV channel)|ABC Family]] (the former season aired in part both before the introduction of and during the [[Freeform (TV channel)|ABC Family Action Block]]). However, when Toon Disney and ABC Family jointly launched the action-oriented [[Jetix]] block in 2004, Jetix handled all first-run episode debuts of subsequent seasons from ''[[Power Rangers: Dino Thunder|Dino Thunder]]'' to ''[[Power Rangers: Jungle Fury|Jungle Fury]]'', while ABC Kids aired these seasons in reruns. Due to the low ratings of the ''Jungle Fury'' season, as well as the merger between Jetix and Toon Disney to form [[Disney XD]] in 2009, the ''[[Power Rangers RPM|RPM]]'' season aired exclusively on ABC Kids. After production on ''RPM'' had concluded, instead of producing a new season, Disney produced a re-version of the first 32 episodes of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'', which included a new logo, an updated title sequence, comic book-referenced graphics, and extra alternative visual effects. The re-version aired from January 2 to August 28, 2010 (the 17th anniversary of ''Power Rangers''), after which Haim Saban bought the franchise back and [[Nickelodeon]] acquired broadcast rights to the series.

In the 2004–05 season, ABC Kids dropped its two remaining original series, ''[[Fillmore!]]'' and ''Recess'' (the latter of which was airing in reruns on the block since it ended in 2001). With the transfer of [[Walt Disney Television Animation]] to [[Disney Channels Worldwide]], ABC fulfilled the FCC's three-hour quota by carrying select episodes of Disney Channel live-action comedies and animated series (anywhere between 9 and 13 episodes from a given season) featuring moral lessons and/or educational anecdotes. The episodes were selected by both the "Standards and Practices" division of the network and any educational consultants who were attached to the shows. ''[[The Replacements (TV series)|The Replacements]]'' and ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' were the last two Disney Channel series to be added to the block in Fall 2006. Beginning with the 2007–08 season, ABC Kids programming (with the exception of ''Power Rangers'') became fully automated, putting the same handful of episodes of each show (''The Emperor's New School'', ''The Replacements'', ''[[That's So Raven]]'', ''Hannah Montana'' and ''[[The Suite Life of Zack & Cody]]'') on a permanent rotation for the block's remaining four years.

===Closure===
In March 2010, ABC made the decision to cease providing a three-hour block of [[E/I|E/I-compliant]], repurposed Disney Channel programming sent to its own stations and ABC affiliates. The network chose to lease out the three-hour timeslot and seek other programmers for an agreement to produce a syndicated block, not for the network, but for each ABC station as the network was turning the E/I responsibility back to local ABC stations.

A month later, ABC's affiliate board announced that it had reached a deal with [[Litton Entertainment]], a production company which produced syndicated programming (including educational programs aimed at youth), to produce six, all-new, original half-hour E/I series exclusively for ABC stations for the 2011–12 season.<ref>{{cite web|title=Litton Entertainment to Produce and Distribute Original Programming for ABC Stations for Fall 2011|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2010/04/19/litton-entertainment-to-produce-and-distribute-original-programming-for-abc-stations-for-fall-2011-35358/20100419litton01/|work=Litton Entertainment|publisher=The Futon Critic|date=April 19, 2010|access-date=May 11, 2020}}</ref>

The block aired for the last time on August 27, 2011 without any announcement of its closure, and was quietly replaced by [[Litton's Weekend Adventure]] the following week on September 3.<ref name="ABCLitton"/><ref name="Littonannouncement"/><ref name="LittonSept3"/>


==Programming==
==Programming==
* <sup>1</sup> Program also ran on syndication or [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] prior to the block.
===Current programming===
* <sup>2</sup> Program moved to [[Toon Disney]] for episode premieres.
According to the official ABC Kids website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tv.disney.go.com/abckids/index.html|title=ABC Kids website|accessdate=2010-10-08|work=ABC Kids}}</ref>


All programming is rated TV-G and deemed [[E/I]].
===Former programming===
====Disney's One Saturday Morning====
=====Original programming=====
======Animated======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Title
!Premiere date
!End date
!Source(s)
|-
|''[[101 Dalmatians: The Series]]''<sup>1</sup>
|rowspan=6|September 13, 1997
|September 4, 1999
|
|-
|''[[Doug (TV series)|Disney's Doug]]''<sup>1</sup>
|September 8, 2001
|
|-
|''[[Recess (TV series)|Recess]]'' '''†'''
|September 7, 2002
|
|-
|''[[Pepper Ann]]''
|January 27, 2001
|
|-
|''[[Jungle Cubs]]''<sup>1</sup>
|September 5, 1998
|
|-
|''[[The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]''<sup>1</sup>
|September 7, 2002
|
|-
|''[[Hercules (1998 TV series)|Hercules: The Animated Series]]''<sup>1</sup>
|September 12, 1998
|April 24, 1999
|
|-
|''[[Mickey Mouse Works]]''
|May 1, 1999
|January 6, 2001
|
|-
|''[[The Weekenders]]''<sup>2</sup>
|February 26, 2000
|January 12, 2002
|
|-
|''[[Teacher's Pet (TV series)|Teacher's Pet]]''<sup>2</sup>
|September 9, 2000
|September 7, 2002
|
|-
|''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]''
|October 14, 2000
|September 8, 2001
|
|-
|''[[House of Mouse]]''<sup>2</sup>
|January 13, 2001
|August 31, 2002
|
|-
|''[[Lloyd in Space]]''<sup>2</sup>
|February 3, 2001
|rowspan=2|September 7, 2002
|
|-
|''[[Teamo Supremo]]''<sup>2</sup> '''†'''
|January 19, 2002
|
|}


=====Programming from [[Disney Channel]]=====
{| class="wikitable"
======Animated======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Title
!Premiere date
!End date
!Source(s)
|-
|-
|''[[The Proud Family]]'' '''†'''
! Eastern &<br>Alaska
|August 31, 2002
! Central &<br>Pacific
|September 7, 2002
! Mountain
|
! Show Name
|}

======Live-action======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Title
!Premiere date
!End date
!Source(s)
|-
|-
|''[[Lizzie McGuire]]'' '''†'''
| 10:00am
|rowspan=2|September 15, 2001
| 9:00am
|rowspan=2|September 7, 2002
| 8:00am
|
| ''[[The Emperor's New School]]''
|-
|-
|''[[Even Stevens]]'' '''†'''
| 10:30am
|}
| 9:30am

| 8:30am
=====Acquired programming=====
| ''[[The Replacements (TV series)|The Replacements]]''
======Animated======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Title
!Premiere date
!End date
!Source(s)
|-
|-
|''[[Schoolhouse Rock!]]''<sup>1</sup>
| 11:00am
|rowspan=3|September 13, 1997
| 10:00am
|rowspan=3|September 2, 2000
| 9:00am
|
| ''[[That's So Raven]]''
|-
|-
|''[[The Bugs Bunny Show|The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show]]''<sup>1</sup>
| 11:30am
|
| 10:30am
| 9:30am
| ''[[That's So Raven]]''
|-
|-
|''[[Science Court|Science Court / Squigglevision]]''
| 12:00pm
|
| 11:00am
| 10:00am
| ''[[Hannah Montana]]''
|-
|-
|''[[Sabrina: The Animated Series]]''
| 12:30pm
| 11:30am
|September 11, 1999
|October 13, 2001
| 10:30am
|
| ''[[The Suite Life of Zack & Cody]]''
|-
|-
|''[[Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!]]''
|October 20, 2001
|August 3, 2002
|}
|}


====Special cases====
======Live-action======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
*Some ABC affiliates tape-delay one hour of the ABC Kids block, particularly the animated series within the lineup, to air after the shows airing in their network-recommended timeslots; many ABC affiliates owned by Hearst Television began doing this in July 2010, after ABC announced that it was returning one hour of the block to its affiliates following the removal of ''Power Rangers'' from the lineup, using that returned time slot to add extensions to their weekend morning newscasts.
!Title
*[[KITV]] (Channel 4), the ABC affiliate in [[Honolulu, Hawaii|Honolulu]], and in turn the entirety of the state of [[Hawaii]], airs the first six shows of the ABC Kids lineup over three weekdays (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). Two shows are aired each day from 11 a.m.-12 Noon, preceding ABC's soap opera lineup. This is because of ABC's Saturday afternoon [[ESPN on ABC|sports coverage]], which due to [[Hawaii-Aleutian time zone|Hawaii-Aleutian Time]], airs live five hours behind [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Time]] (six hours during [[Daylight Savings Time]]; Hawaii is on Standard Time year-round) in the late morning (for instance, a 3:30 p.m. EDT [[college football]] game kicking off at 9:30 a.m. HAST) and early afternoons for the [[Saturday Night Football|primetime game]], thus pre-empting ''ABC Kids'' and forcing the shows to air elsewhere on the schedule.
!Premiere date
*During the college football season, ABC affiliates in the [[Pacific Time Zone]] will often realign programming if there is an ''ESPN College Football'' game that starts at 9 a.m. PT, as a noon ET game is often scheduled. Some affiliates will move the ABC Kids programming to Sunday mornings.
!End date
!Source(s)
|-
|''[[NBA Inside Stuff]]'' '''†'''
|colspan=2|September 7, 2002
|}


'''†''' - Program transitioned to ABC Kids
===Former programming===

{|
====ABC Kids====
|- valign ="top"
=====Original programming=====
|width=15%|
======Animated======
* ''[[Even Stevens]]'' (TV-G)
{| class="wikitable sortable"
* ''[[Fillmore!]]'' (TV-Y7)
!Title
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' (TV-Y7)
!Premiere date
* ''[[Lizzie McGuire]]'' (TV-G)
!End date
* ''[[Lilo and Stitch: The Series]]'' (TV-G)
!Source(s)
* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' (TV-Y7-FV, [[re-version|reversioning]], 2010)
|-
|width=15%|
* ''[[Phil of the Future]]'' (TV-G)
|''[[Recess (TV series)|Recess]]'' '''†'''
|rowspan=3|September 14, 2002
* ''[[Power Rangers|Power Rangers: Wild Force - RPM]]'' (TV-Y7-FV, 2002–2009)
|August 28, 2004
* ''[[Recess (TV series)|Recess]]'' (TV-Y)
|
* ''[[The Proud Family]]'' (TV-Y7)
|-
* ''[[W.I.T.C.H. (TV series)|W.I.T.C.H.]]'' (TV-Y7-FV)
|''[[Teamo Supremo]]''<sup>2</sup> '''†'''
|September 13, 2003
|
|-
|''[[Fillmore!]]''<sup>2</sup>
|February 19, 2005
|
|}
|}


=====Programming from [[Disney Channel]]/[[Jetix]]=====
===''Disney's One Saturday Morning'' programming===
======Animated======
{|
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- valign ="top"
!Title
|width=15%|
!Premiere date
* ''[[101 Dalmatians: The Series]]'' (TV-Y)
!End date
* ''[[The Bugs Bunny Show|The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show]]'' (Continued from earlier ABC Saturday morning blocks TV-G, 1986–2000)
!Source(s)
* ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' (TV-Y7-FV)
|-
* ''[[Doug|Disney's Doug]]'' (TV-Y)
* ''[[Even Stevens]]'' (on the ''Zoog Weekendz'' hour, TV-G)
|''[[The Proud Family]]'' '''†'''
|rowspan=2|September 14, 2002
* ''[[Fillmore!]]'' (TV-Y7-FV)
|September 2, 2006
|width=15%|
|
* ''[[Hercules: The Animated Series]]'' (TV-Y)
|-
* ''[[Disney's House of Mouse|House of Mouse]]'' (TV-Y)
* ''[[Jungle Cubs]]'' (TV-Y)
|rowspan=2|''[[Kim Possible]]''
|January 8, 2005
* ''[[Lizzie McGuire]]'' (on the ''Zoog Weekendz'' hour, TV-G)
|
* ''[[Lloyd In Space]]'' (TV-Y7)
|-
* ''[[Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action]]'' (TV-Y7)
|April 2, 2005
* ''[[Mickey Mouse Works]]'' (TV-Y)
|rowspan=2|September 2, 2006
* ''[[The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'' (TV-Y)
|
* ''[[Pepper Ann]]'' (TV-Y, 1997–2001)
|-
|width=15%|
* ''[[Recess (TV Series)|Recess]]'' (TV-Y, 1997–2001)
|''[[Lilo & Stitch: The Series]]''
|September 20, 2003
* ''[[Sabrina, the Animated Series]]'' (TV-Y7) (now shown on [[Cookie Jar TV]])
|
* ''[[School House Rock]]'' (TV-G)
|-
* ''[[Science Court]]'' (TV-Y, later-on known as ''[[Squigglevision]]'', 1997–1999)
* ''[[Teacher's Pet (TV series)|Teacher's Pet]]'' (TV-Y)
|''[[W.I.T.C.H. (TV series) |W.I.T.C.H.]]''
|January 15, 2005
* ''[[The Weekenders]]'' (TV-Y)
|March 26, 2005
|
|-
|''[[The Buzz on Maggie]]''
|September 17, 2005
|January 21, 2006
|
|-
|''[[The Emperor's New School]]''
|January 28, 2006
|rowspan=2|August 27, 2011
|
|-
|''[[The Replacements (TV series)|The Replacements]]''
|September 9, 2006
|}
|}

======Live-action======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Title
!Premiere date
!End date
!Source(s)
|-
|''[[Power Rangers]]''{{efn|name=powernote|An umbrella name for ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force|Wild Force]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm|Ninja Storm]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder|Dino Thunder]]'', ''[[Power Rangers S.P.D.|S.P.D.]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force|Mystic Force]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive|Operation Overdrive]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Jungle Fury|Jungle Fury]]'', ''[[Power Rangers RPM|RPM]]'' and ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''.}} <sup>2</sup> '''‡'''
|rowspan=2|September 14, 2002
|August 28, 2010
|
|-
|''[[Lizzie McGuire]]'' '''†'''
|September 10, 2005
|
|-
|''[[That's So Raven]]''
|September 20, 2003
|August 27, 2011
|
|-
|''[[Phil of the Future]]''
|September 25, 2004
|September 2, 2006
|
|-
|''[[Even Stevens]]'' '''†'''
|February 26, 2005
|September 10, 2005
|
|-
|''[[The Suite Life of Zack & Cody]]''
|September 17, 2005
|rowspan=2|August 27, 2011
|
|-
|''[[Hannah Montana]]''
|September 9, 2006
|}

=====Acquired programming=====
======Live-action======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Title
!Premiere date
!End date
!Source(s)
|-
|''[[NBA Inside Stuff]]'' '''†'''
|September 14, 2002
|August 28, 2004
|}

'''‡''' - Program transitioned from final schedule of Fox Kids/4Kids

===Scrapped programming===
The following programs were planned to air on Disney's One Saturday Morning/ABC Kids, but they were pulled.
====ABC Kids====
=====Programming from [[Disney Channel]]/[[Jetix]]=====
======Animated======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Title
!Planned premiere date
!Source(s)
|-
|''[[Digimon Adventure (1999 TV series)|Digimon]]''{{efn|name=diginote|An umbrella name for ''[[Digimon Adventure (1999 TV series)|Digimon Adventure]]'', ''[[Digimon Adventure 02|Adventure 02]]'', ''[[Digimon Tamers|Tamers]]'', and ''[[Digimon Frontier|Frontier]]''.}} '''‡'''
|November 30, 2002
|<ref name="Fall 2002">{{cite web |title=ABC Television Network Announces Newly Branded "ABC Kids"|url=https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/archive/index.php/t-42754.html |access-date=1 June 2024}}</ref>
|-
|''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]''
|September 17, 2005
|<ref name="Fall 2005">{{cite web |title=Three Series -- "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," "The Buzz on Maggie" and "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" Join ABC-TV's Saturday Morning Line-Up This Fall|url=https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/abc-kids-2005-06-schedule-announced.3829201/ |access-date=1 June 2024}}</ref>
|}

======Live-action======
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Title
!Planned premiere date
!Source(s)
|-
|''[[Cory in the House]]''
|Fall 2007
|<ref name="Fall 2007">{{cite web |title=Disney-ABC Television Group Reveals 2007-08 Kids Lineup|url=https://www.laughingplace.com/enwiki/w/leg/?legacyasppage=News-ID10025420.asp |access-date=29 June 2023}}</ref>
|}
'''†''' - Program transitioned from Disney's One Saturday Morning<br/>
'''‡''' - Program transitioned from last schedule of Fox Kids


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Mrs. Munger's Class]]
* [[American Broadcasting Company]]
* [[The Disney Afternoon]] – a Disney-produced syndicated children's program block that ran from 1990 to 1997.
* [[Disney's One Too]] – a programming block that aired on [[UPN]] from 1999 to 2003 as a successor to [[UPN Kids]].
* [[List of production companies owned by the American Broadcasting Company]]
* ''[[Mrs. Munger's Class]]''

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}


==References==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [https://disney.go.com/disneytelevision/disney1/main.html? Official Home Page of Disney's One Saturday Morning]
* {{official|http://www.abckids.com}}
* [http://www.blastfromthepasttv.com/abc.html Blast from the Past 1990s ABC]
* [http://thatfellowinthecoat.com/fellowonesaturday.php A Tribute to Disney's One Saturday Morning]
{{KidsTVBlocksUS}}
{{ABC Kids}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Abc Kids}}
{{ABC Kids|state=expanded}}
{{One Too}}
[[Category:American Broadcasting Company network shows|Kids]]
{{Former KidsTVBlocksUSA}}
[[Category:Television series by Disney]]
{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company}}
[[Category:1997 American television series debuts]]
{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1990s}}
[[Category:1990s American television series]]
{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 2000s}}
[[Category:1990s American animated television series]]
{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 2010s}}
[[Category:2000s American television series]]
{{Disney}}
[[Category:2000s American animated television series]]
[[Category:2010s American television series]]
[[Category:2010s American animated television series]]
[[Category:American children's television series]]
[[Category:ABC Kids]]


[[fr:ABC Kids]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abc Kids}}
[[pt:ABC Kids]]
[[Category:ABC Kids (TV programming block)]]
[[Category: Children's television networks in the United States]]
[[simple:ABC Kids]]
[[Category: Television channels and stations established in 1997]]
[[tr:ABC Kids]]
[[Category: Television channels and stations disestablished in 2011]]

Latest revision as of 15:12, 2 January 2025

For the Australian children's television channel, see ABC Kids (Australia).
ABC Kids
NetworkABC
LaunchedSeptember 13, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-09-13)
ClosedAugust 27, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-08-27)
Country of originUnited States
OwnerThe Walt Disney Company
Formerly known asDisney's One Saturday Morning (1997–2002)
Sister networkDisney's One Too
FormatDefunct Saturday morning children's program block
Running time
  • 5 hours (1997–2004)
  • 4 hours (2004–10)
  • 3 hours (2010–11)
Original language(s)English

ABC Kids (originally titled Disney's One Saturday Morning until 2002) was an American Saturday morning children's programming block that aired on ABC from September 13, 1997 to August 27, 2011. It featured a mixture of animated and live-action series from Walt Disney Television Animation and Disney Channel, aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 14.[1] This was the only time that Disney Channel content aired on over-the-air television in the United States, but first being Nickelodeon on CBS (owned by Viacom [now Paramount]) two years earlier.

The block regularly aired on Saturday mornings, though certain programs within the lineup aired on Sundays in some parts nationwide due to station preferences for non-educational programming or scheduling issues with regional or network sports broadcasts.

After five years of mainly reruns of programs introduced onto the block prior to the 2007–08 season, ABC decided it would cease to provide children's programming during the Saturday morning timeslot, and entered into an agreement with Litton Entertainment to program that period;[2][3] the block that resulted from this deal – Litton's Weekend Adventure, which is structured as a syndication package distributed with virtual exclusivity to ABC's owned-and-operated stations and affiliates – replaced ABC Kids on September 3, 2011.[4]

History

[edit]
Main article: Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company

Disney's One Saturday Morning

[edit]
Disney's One Saturday Morning logo used from 1997 to 2002

After The Walt Disney Company purchased ABC corporate parent Capital Cities/ABC Inc. in 1995, the network's children's program block ABC Saturday Morning, aired such Disney-produced series as The Mighty Ducks, Jungle Cubs and Gargoyles; it was one of two networks at the time that prominently carried Disney programming on Saturday mornings, as CBS also carried Disney cartoons (CBS' were mostly television spin-offs of Disney Renaissance films, whereas ABC's were mostly other Disney properties). After Disney formally took over ABC's operations, Disney head Michael Eisner sought to create a Saturday morning block that was different from those carried by its competitors at the time.

In February 1997, Peter Hastings left Warner Bros. Animation and joined Disney, where he was tasked with overhauling ABC's Saturday morning lineup in order to compete against Fox Kids and Kids' WB. He pitched an idea around the concept that Saturday is different from every other day of the week, and the representation of weekdays as buildings. Hastings also proposed the use of virtual set technology; although he knew a bit about it at the time and the technology used was just starting to be developed, Disney and ABC liked the idea. He hired Prudence Fenton as consultant manager and co-executive producer. Together, they sampled virtual set technology at the 1997 NAB Show and chose technology developed by Accom and ELSET. Rutherford Bench Productions, which had previously worked with Disney on other projects, hired Pacific Ocean Post (now POP Sound) to produce the virtual set. The building was initially a drawing of Grand Central Terminal with a roller coaster added but evolved into a towering mechanical structure. Even the interior has similarities such as a central high raised room, with two wings on the left and right sides and another on the south side.[5]

On September 13, 1997, Disney's One Saturday Morning premiered as a two-hour sub-block within the ABC Saturday Morning lineup.[6] It was originally scheduled to premiere the Saturday prior on September 6, but coverage by all U.S. networks of the funeral of Princess Diana pushed back the premiere by one week to September 13. Disney's One Saturday Morning featured two parts: three hours of regularly scheduled cartoons and a two-hour flagship show that included feature segments, comedy skits, and the virtual world which Hastings had proposed, along with newer episodes of three animated series: Doug (which had been acquired from Nickelodeon in 1996), Recess and Pepper Ann.

Doug, Recess and Pepper Ann were each nominally given 40-minute timeslots. The extended 10 minutes during each show's slot were for One Saturday Morning's interstitial segments and educational features. The live-action wraparound segments were originally hosted by Charlie (portrayed by Jessica Prunell) for the block's first season in 1997, and later by MeMe (Valarie Rae Miller) starting in September 1998 until 2000; the segments also featured an elephant named Jelly Roll (voiced by stand-up comedian and actor Brad Garrett), who served as a sidekick to the human host, while the eccentric Manny the Uncanny (Paul Rugg), host of his own standalone segment where he visited and observed different jobs, made occasional appearances outside that segment.

Schoolhouse Rock!, a longtime essential of ABC's Saturday morning block since 1973, also aired as an interstitial segment during The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (along shorts airing on Nickelodeon until 1999), likewise a carryover from the pre-Disney era (it would continue until ABC's contract with then-AOL Time Warner expired in 2000).

Disney’s One Saturday Morning was initially a massive success, beating Fox Kids during its first season to be the most-watched Saturday morning block on broadcast television.[7] It remained competitive in its second season, beating all of Fox Kids' shows except Power Rangers.[8] The third season remained competitive with its broadcast peers on Fox and Kids WB, with The Weekenders being a bright spot for the block; the new series dethroned anime show Pokémon to become broadcast television's most-watched Saturday morning cartoon, though all of the broadcast networks had fallen behind Nickelodeon.[9]

The block received a new brand identity in the fall of 2000; this was followed by the shorts and hosted segments being discontinued on December 16 in a reformatting of the ABC block. By this time, the interstitials within the block were relegated to bumpers and program promotions. The change proved to be disastrous; by February 2001, ratings had fallen to less than half of its competitors' on Fox, The WB and Nickelodeon.[10] In Fall 2001, live-action series were added to the One Saturday Morning lineup with the addition of the "Zoog Hour," an hour-long sub-block featuring the Disney Channel original series Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens (the sub-block, advertised in promos for Disney’s One Saturday Morning promoting the two programs as "powered by Zoog," was named after Disney Channel's weekend programming block at the time, Zoog Disney).

A spin-off of Disney's One Saturday Morning, Disney's One Too, premiered on UPN on September 6, 1999; produced through a time-lease agreement between Disney and UPN, the block aired each weekday (either in the morning or afternoon, depending on the station's preference) and on Sunday mornings, and featured many of the programs shown on One Saturday Morning (including Recess, Pepper Ann and Sabrina: The Animated Series).[11]

ABC Kids

[edit]

On July 23, 2001, the Walt Disney Company purchased Fox Family Worldwide, primarily for its Fox Family Channel, which was included in the sale as well as Saban Entertainment, a company in which Fox purchased a 50% interest in 1994.[12][13] On September 14, 2002, ABC rebranded its Saturday morning block, as a subtle nod to the Fox Kids brand acquired by Disney through its purchase of Fox Family Worldwide, to ABC Kids (as a result of the sale, Fox Kids ceased to exist; Fox's children's program lineups would be handled from that point onward by 4Kids Entertainment until 2008).[14]

The renamed block originally contained a mix of first-run programs exclusive to the block, as well as reruns of several original series from both Disney Channel and Toon Disney. NBA Inside Stuff also began airing on the block as a result of ABC's acquisition of the broadcast television rights to the NBA from NBC (where the series originally premiered in 1990), starting with the 2002–03 season's Christmas Day game; Inside Stuff continued to air on ABC Kids until 2004. The series premiere of Disney Channel's Lilo & Stitch: The Series was also held on ABC Kids on September 20, 2003, with a delayed premiere on Disney Channel on October 12, 2003. The new block ditched the imagery of the One Saturday Morning era in favor of a sports stadium motif, which, in 2006, was changed to a rock concert design that remained throughout the last five years of ABC Kids.

Through Disney's acquisition of Saban Entertainment, the Power Rangers series moved from Fox Kids to the ABC Kids block. All first-run episodes from the franchise premiered on ABC Kids starting with the second half of the show's Wild Force season (starting with the episode "Unfinished Business"), with the entirety of the Wild Force and Ninja Storm seasons subsequently airing in reruns on ABC Family (the former season aired in part both before the introduction of and during the ABC Family Action Block). However, when Toon Disney and ABC Family jointly launched the action-oriented Jetix block in 2004, Jetix handled all first-run episode debuts of subsequent seasons from Dino Thunder to Jungle Fury, while ABC Kids aired these seasons in reruns. Due to the low ratings of the Jungle Fury season, as well as the merger between Jetix and Toon Disney to form Disney XD in 2009, the RPM season aired exclusively on ABC Kids. After production on RPM had concluded, instead of producing a new season, Disney produced a re-version of the first 32 episodes of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which included a new logo, an updated title sequence, comic book-referenced graphics, and extra alternative visual effects. The re-version aired from January 2 to August 28, 2010 (the 17th anniversary of Power Rangers), after which Haim Saban bought the franchise back and Nickelodeon acquired broadcast rights to the series.

In the 2004–05 season, ABC Kids dropped its two remaining original series, Fillmore! and Recess (the latter of which was airing in reruns on the block since it ended in 2001). With the transfer of Walt Disney Television Animation to Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC fulfilled the FCC's three-hour quota by carrying select episodes of Disney Channel live-action comedies and animated series (anywhere between 9 and 13 episodes from a given season) featuring moral lessons and/or educational anecdotes. The episodes were selected by both the "Standards and Practices" division of the network and any educational consultants who were attached to the shows. The Replacements and Hannah Montana were the last two Disney Channel series to be added to the block in Fall 2006. Beginning with the 2007–08 season, ABC Kids programming (with the exception of Power Rangers) became fully automated, putting the same handful of episodes of each show (The Emperor's New School, The Replacements, That's So Raven, Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) on a permanent rotation for the block's remaining four years.

Closure

[edit]

In March 2010, ABC made the decision to cease providing a three-hour block of E/I-compliant, repurposed Disney Channel programming sent to its own stations and ABC affiliates. The network chose to lease out the three-hour timeslot and seek other programmers for an agreement to produce a syndicated block, not for the network, but for each ABC station as the network was turning the E/I responsibility back to local ABC stations.

A month later, ABC's affiliate board announced that it had reached a deal with Litton Entertainment, a production company which produced syndicated programming (including educational programs aimed at youth), to produce six, all-new, original half-hour E/I series exclusively for ABC stations for the 2011–12 season.[15]

The block aired for the last time on August 27, 2011 without any announcement of its closure, and was quietly replaced by Litton's Weekend Adventure the following week on September 3.[2][3][4]

Programming

[edit]
  • 1 Program also ran on syndication or ABC prior to the block.
  • 2 Program moved to Toon Disney for episode premieres.

Former programming

[edit]

Disney's One Saturday Morning

[edit]
Original programming
[edit]
Animated
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
101 Dalmatians: The Series1 September 13, 1997 September 4, 1999
Disney's Doug1 September 8, 2001
Recess † September 7, 2002
Pepper Ann January 27, 2001
Jungle Cubs1 September 5, 1998
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh1 September 7, 2002
Hercules: The Animated Series1 September 12, 1998 April 24, 1999
Mickey Mouse Works May 1, 1999 January 6, 2001
The Weekenders2 February 26, 2000 January 12, 2002
Teacher's Pet2 September 9, 2000 September 7, 2002
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command October 14, 2000 September 8, 2001
House of Mouse2 January 13, 2001 August 31, 2002
Lloyd in Space2 February 3, 2001 September 7, 2002
Teamo Supremo2 † January 19, 2002
Programming from Disney Channel
[edit]
Animated
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
The Proud Family † August 31, 2002 September 7, 2002
Live-action
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
Lizzie McGuire † September 15, 2001 September 7, 2002
Even Stevens †
Acquired programming
[edit]
Animated
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
Schoolhouse Rock!1 September 13, 1997 September 2, 2000
The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show1
Science Court / Squigglevision
Sabrina: The Animated Series September 11, 1999 October 13, 2001
Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! October 20, 2001 August 3, 2002
Live-action
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
NBA Inside Stuff † September 7, 2002

† - Program transitioned to ABC Kids

ABC Kids

[edit]
Original programming
[edit]
Animated
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
Recess † September 14, 2002 August 28, 2004
Teamo Supremo2 † September 13, 2003
Fillmore!2 February 19, 2005
Programming from Disney Channel/Jetix
[edit]
Animated
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
The Proud Family † September 14, 2002 September 2, 2006
Kim Possible January 8, 2005
April 2, 2005 September 2, 2006
Lilo & Stitch: The Series September 20, 2003
W.I.T.C.H. January 15, 2005 March 26, 2005
The Buzz on Maggie September 17, 2005 January 21, 2006
The Emperor's New School January 28, 2006 August 27, 2011
The Replacements September 9, 2006
Live-action
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
Power Rangers[a] 2 ‡ September 14, 2002 August 28, 2010
Lizzie McGuire † September 10, 2005
That's So Raven September 20, 2003 August 27, 2011
Phil of the Future September 25, 2004 September 2, 2006
Even Stevens † February 26, 2005 September 10, 2005
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody September 17, 2005 August 27, 2011
Hannah Montana September 9, 2006
Acquired programming
[edit]
Live-action
[edit]
Title Premiere date End date Source(s)
NBA Inside Stuff † September 14, 2002 August 28, 2004

‡ - Program transitioned from final schedule of Fox Kids/4Kids

Scrapped programming

[edit]

The following programs were planned to air on Disney's One Saturday Morning/ABC Kids, but they were pulled.

ABC Kids

[edit]
Programming from Disney Channel/Jetix
[edit]
Animated
[edit]
Title Planned premiere date Source(s)
Digimon[b] ‡ November 30, 2002 [16]
Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! September 17, 2005 [17]
Live-action
[edit]
Title Planned premiere date Source(s)
Cory in the House Fall 2007 [18]

† - Program transitioned from Disney's One Saturday Morning
‡ - Program transitioned from last schedule of Fox Kids

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ An umbrella name for Wild Force, Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, S.P.D., Mystic Force, Operation Overdrive, Jungle Fury, RPM and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
  2. ^ An umbrella name for Digimon Adventure, Adventure 02, Tamers, and Frontier.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Walt Disney Company 2003 Annual Report" (PDF). thewaltdisneycompany.com. The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "ABC Orders Saturday Kids Block From Litton". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. May 24, 2011. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Litton Announces "ABC Weekend Adventure"". BusinessWire. May 24, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Paige Albiniak (May 24, 2011). "ABC to Premiere Litton's Weekend Adventure on Sept. 3". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  5. ^ Michael Goldman (September 15, 1997). "ABC hopes for virtual success". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  6. ^ Christopher Grove (August 29, 1997). "Webs roll out season geared to kids". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  7. ^ Katz, Richard (May 8, 1998). "ABC kids block tops Fox on Saturday". Variety. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  8. ^ Claudia Eller (March 9, 1999). "The One That Got Away : With 'Doug,' Nickelodeon's Loss May Be Disney's Gain". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  9. ^ Schneider, Michael (2000-05-05). "'The Weekenders' defeats 'Pokemon'". Variety.
  10. ^ "Fox Kids wins Broadcast Ratings". Anime News Network. 2001-02-19. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  11. ^ Chris Pursell (July 19, 1999). "Mouse brands UPN kidvid". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  12. ^ "News Corp. and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for $5.3 Billion". Saban Entertainment. July 23, 2001. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  13. ^ Carl DiOrio (October 24, 2001). "Fox Family costs Mouse less cheese in final deal". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  14. ^ Paula Bernstein (September 29, 2002). "Kid skeds tread on joint strategy". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  15. ^ "Litton Entertainment to Produce and Distribute Original Programming for ABC Stations for Fall 2011". Litton Entertainment. The Futon Critic. April 19, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  16. ^ "ABC Television Network Announces Newly Branded "ABC Kids"". Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Three Series -- "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," "The Buzz on Maggie" and "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" Join ABC-TV's Saturday Morning Line-Up This Fall". Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Disney-ABC Television Group Reveals 2007-08 Kids Lineup". Retrieved 29 June 2023.
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