A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs created or adapted for television broadcast with a common series title, usually related to one another. Cartoon series either appear once a week or daily during a prescribed time slot and are usually created to be open-ended, not with a predetermined number of episodes. These programs typically share the same characters and a basic theme.

Structure

The duration of each episode varies depending on the individual series. Traditionally, series are produced as complete half-hour programs; however, many cartoons series are produced as animated shorts of 15 minutes or less, which can then paired with other shorts to fill a set time period. Cartoon series are sometimes grouped together according to network programming demands. Thus a particular cartoon series may appear in a number of formats or time block, such as The Batman/Superman Hour.

Content

In general a cartoon is a piece of art, usually developed for humorous intent. This usage dates to 1843 when Punch magazine applied the term cartoon to satirical drawings in its pages. Since, the cartoon, and later the cartoon series, has been used for comedy. However, animated programs have fallen into other genres such as the action/adventure series (for example, Speed Racer and G.I. Joe).

The 1990s was a renaissance of the cartoon series for children and adults. Various broadcast networks and media companies began creating television channels and formats designed specifically for airing cartoon series. Companies that already had these types of formats in place began to revamp their existing models. Examples of these are:

• Cartoon Network
• Disney Channel
• Fox Kids
• Kids' WB!
• UPN Kids
• Nickelodeon
• Toon Disney

Among the many popular cartoon series shown during the 1990s were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Garfield and Friends, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Goof Troop, Duck Tales, The Ren and Stimpy Show, and Rugrats.

The 1990s also produced cartoon series such as The Simpsons, Beavis and Butt-head, King of the Hill, Family Guy and South Park which contained more mature content than those of traditional cartoon series, whose primary audience had been children. The series ReBoot, which began as a child friendly show, shifted their target age group to ages 12 and older, resulting in a darker and more mature storyline.Hetherington, Janet L. "As Mainframe's technology reaches adolescence, there's a 'ReBoot' Renaissance". Animation Magazine #59. Vol. 11, Issue 8, September 1997.

See also

• List of animated television series