Those were the days

For me when Jem came on it was time to turn it off and go play outside.

I was a boy in the 1980s, my dad would call us "little queers" if my brother and I tried watching that.

He was also hyper sensitive because my uncle was gay and he always said it was because he was interested in dolls growing up. The dark ages of rampant bigotry it was.

It’s so different now that the kids can just put on the telly and get it whenever they want. In the old days it was sort of self-regulating, in that the shows were only on in the morning, and parents didn’t need to worry.

If you can, try finding timeshift recordings of old TV. I have a 3 hour block of Saturday morning cartoons from the mid-90s where someone just hit record on their VHS - commercials and everything.

I'm in my 40s, but about once a year I'll get a bowl of super sugary breakfast cereal and plop down in front of the TV to relive my youth.

All introduced by a man in a colourful jumper, who would later go on to be a registered sex offender.

I had to go to orchestra every saturday morning. Play the violin with a bunch of other unenthused kids with pushy parents.

One saturday morning I just told my mum I quit. 6 years of the violin just promptly ended there, and for the first time in my life I watched the Power Rangers. It was majestic.

I always look fondly back on when my brother would wake me up on a Saturday morning "quick, x-men is starting!"