Classic Looney Tunes Syndication Question

[aznyin]

I'm enjoying Cartoon Network running Looney Tunes after years of being off the air. It did raise a question from when I watched them as a kid...

Growing up in NYC, WNEW Channel 5 would rotate between the pre-48 aaps and the post-48 with the colorized versions of B&W Looney Tunes every few months. Then on WCBS Channel 2 on Saturday mornings, they would show post 48 toons that never appeared during the week (Rabbit of Serville, What's Opera Doc, A Lad In His Lamp are examples). The weekday syndication toons and the Saturday morning toons never crossed over.

Was this by design or a matter of different syndication packages?

 

[Mario500]

Different programming packages, according to the Ultimate Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes Website.

 

[Marckd]

Prior to 1968, WOR TV I believe had both pre 48 colored and pre 41 black and white colorized Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies while WNEW TV had only the post 48 originally. But Channel 5 got the pre 48 colored ones (mostly Bugs Bunny and a small amount of Proky Pig Cartoons) by the 70's. In 1972, Channel 5 also got the pre 41 Black and white warner brothers cartoons that were colorized and had plenty of Porky Pig. So from 1972 until 1987 Channel 5 WNEW TV/WNYW had the entire Warner Brothers library.

About the Saturday Morning ones. I believe ABC had Warner brothers Cartoons till 1974. CBS had them till 1986 and then ABC had them again. Here is how I believe things worked. Yes the episodes sort of overlapped. The Network Bugs Bunny/Road Runner show/Bugs & Tweety/etc ran edited prints without original openings or closings. What also happened was the networks had "temporary" rights to maybe 60 episodes from the post 48 library at a time. Every couple years about 30 of these returned to syndication and they got the rights for another 30. While the network was running a group of episodes, these were supposed to be withdrawn from syndication for that time period.

Example. in 1975 CBS would run 60 episodes of the post 48 Warner library. These episodes were not to be run on local stations syndicated. In 1977, 30 of these 60 episodes returned to syndication and CBS would grab another 30 out of syndication. Then in 1979 the other 30 they had in 1975 were returned to syndication and another 30 were taken out. I am sure some local stations mistakingly ran episodes that they were not supposed to run due to oversights and the fact they had these epsiodes in their libraries. Not all film departments were diligent on what they were to run in their libraries.

I know in Philadelphia Channel 6 WPVI ran the pre 41 Colorized warner cartoons until 1980. Channel 29 WTAF/WTXF had both pre 48 original color ones and post 48 ones until 1978 as well. Channel 17 WPHL got the post 48 ones in 1978 and had them till 1980. In 1980, WKBS TV Channel 48 acquired the pre 41 colorized warner cartoons as well as the post 48 color ones while 29 had just the pre 48 color ones. Then when Channel 48 went dark both pre 41 colorized and post 48 ones returned to Channel 17. The pre 48 colorized ones would go to WGBS 57 in 1987. The rest would fall out of syndication in 1990 I THINK.

In Boston WLVI had the pre 48 colored ones only. WSBK 38 had pre 41 colorized ones and the post 48 ones until 1986 when they all moved to 25 WXNE in their last year owned by CBN. They remained on 25 after that station became Fox 25 WFXT. Eventually, in 1989, WFXT acqired the pre 48 colored cartoons and in 1990 the post 48 and pre 41 fell out of syndication and into a barter program called Merrie Melodies (which went to Fox Kids eventually and then to Kids WB).

 

[bpatrick]

The "Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour" (later, "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner
Show" as the show expanded to 90 minutes, then two hours) started on CBS
in 1968; the "Bugs Bunny" and "Road Runner" shows were split into two half-
hours (Bugs on CBS, Road Runner on ABC) for a year or two in the early '70s
before rejoining on CBS from 1974-85, when ABC began running the Warners'
cartoons (usually as "The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show").

I don't know the intricacies of the rotation of post-'48s between network and
syndication; I know they never aired simultaneously on CBS/ABC and in syndication,
and that all the network cartoons were post-'48s. And you're right that new opening
bumpers replaced the bullseye and credits (probably as much for time as anything else)
and that the cartoons would end and there was no "That's all folks!" but rather a straight
cut to commercial. IIRC, the between-cartoon bits that had been created for the
primetime ABC Bugs Bunny Show in 1960 were also eventually discontinued.

I also remember that in Dallas in the '70s KTVT had the pre-'48s, KXTX the post-'48s,
and KDFW "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour (Show)."

 

[Marckd]

By 1970 Bugs Bunny was also on ABC. They only split for a short time. ABC had them until the fall of 1975 when they moved to CBS and then back to ABC in 1986. Also NBC had Daffy Duck for a couple years in the late 70's and early 80's. Also Post 48. But a number of post 48 cartoons rotated between syndicated and network run.

ALSO, Johnny Quest, Bullwinkle, and The Jetsons all aired on NBC in the late 70's and were in syndication at the same time with the same episodes. So sometimes shows that were syndicated also ran on networks with the same episodes at times (though not often).

A bizarre movie situation in 1989 happened. Jaws II went to syndication in 1988 and ran in Boston on WLVI 56 early June of 1989. Then a month later it ran on CBS TV. CBS had one more run left on the movie and did not air that last run until after it hit syndication. But within a 2 month period a movie aired both in syndication and network TV.

 

[bpatrick]

I seem to recall that most of those Daffy Duck cartoons on NBC
were from the DePatie-Freleng era (post-1964) and that Speedy
Gonzales appeared a lot in those cartoons. In fact, the name of
the show was eventually changed to "The Daffy/Speedy Show."

Interestingly, when NBC began showing them in 1978 they put them
on at 10:30 AM (ET), right after "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show"
on CBS. For a time, Bugs ranked number one among all Saturday-
morning shows; Daffy, number two.