Today’s children are watching more and more TV, which wouldn’t matter if it weren’t for the fact that there is nothing good to watch any more.

Where have the cartoons of my youth gone? Today’s cartoons are full of crappy animation and weird plots, unlike the good old Doug and Rugrats that I grew up with.

All of my favorite cartoons are either off the air, or, worse, still being made. I support the good old shows still being on the air, but there comes a time when a writing staff runs out of ideas and must stop production.

About a year ago I saw an episode of Pokemon where Togepi left Misty for a harem of other Togepi after it evolves and then it turned out that Misty left the group and was just visiting! What’s next? Pikachu leaving Ash for another man…I mean trainer because there is nothing going on between Ash and Pikachu, no I would never imply that…

Nowadays the only place to find the classics is the internet, but about half of them are missing because of copyright laws. Honestly, why say it’s illegal to put something on Youtube if you aren’t going to show it on regular t.v.? That’s like saying, you can’t sell a discontinued product on Ebay.

The show I miss the most right now is Pepper Ann, which has been off the air for me since Toon Disney became part of premium cable. For those not in the loop, Pepper Ann was a spunky red headed seventh grader who had to deal with the tribulations of middle school. It was one of those shows where all the characters were friends in one episode but then suddenly didn’t know each other in later episodes to make way for the plot. You know, the kind of show that promotes character development.

Nickelodeon makes an effort to put the good shows on, but at the most obscure hours of the night. Jimmy Neutron, which has helped me through out my years of high school science classes, is now on at six in the morning to make way for quality programming like Zoey 101. After all Jamie Lynn Spears is both smart and a good role model just like Jimmy… NOT!

Cartoon Network actually has the old cartoons on and at reasonable hours. But they are still missing my favorite, Two Stupid Dogs.

Hopefully I have awakened the inner television addicted child in you, and by now you are probably also yearning for the cartoons of old. Not to fret, for every holiday all the specials come on and with shows like Hey Arnold that cover the smallest holidays. I am sure we will see our cartoon friends soon!