Back in the 1970's and the early 1980's the types of commercials that appeared on Saturday Morning TV were hardly what would ever be considered varied. In fact, they were pretty much all the same: cereal commercials and toy commercials. Yes, there was a movie ad here or there, but primarily if you watched cartoons on Saturday Mornings you were exposed to cereal commercials and toy commercials. It kind of makes you wonder how on earth the whole Saturday morning cartoon cycle could have lasted as long as it did. Well, you would ask that question if you didn't know the exact financials of the advertising.

Those goofy cereal and toy commercials brought the networks a staggering $50 million dollars in advertising revenues. Yes, you read that correctly...cereal was worth $50 million. Or, more accurately, the kids who consumed the cereal were worth spending $50 million in advertisement on. Now you know why Saturday morning television lasted as long as it did? Keep in mind, Saturday Morning TV didn't so much end as much as it shifted to 5 days a week Mon - Fri with GI Joe, He-Man and other after school first run shows. More on this later...