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THE FALL OF THE BEATLES CARToONS
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When "Batman" premiered on
ABC's prime time line-up in
January 1966, and became
an instant hit, CBS decided
to overhaul their Saturday
morning line-up.
CBS were to focus on
superheros, Frankenstein Jr.
and The Impossibles, Space
Ghost, Mighty Mouse & The
Mighty Heroes, and Superman.
Space Ghost was slotted
opposite the Beatles, and
while the ratings for the
Beatles were reasonable,
at 7.7 a 36% share, Space Ghost
was hot, at 9.66 a 44% share.
Despite the fact that new
episodes were made for the
Beatles series, it was obvious
that a trend had been set.
In the fall of 1967, seven more
weeks of new episodes were made
for the Beatles series which now
aired on ABC at 12 noon (Eastern
time) opposite TOP CAT on NBC
and the second half of the
SUPERMAN/AQUAMAN hour on CBS.
The 1967 Beatles episodes were
more surreal, meant to reach
more than just kids as an
audience. But CBS's strategy
had paid off. JOHNNY QUEST was
CBS's hit, and its lead-in of
SUPERMAN/AQUAMAN prompted ABC
to begin phasing out the Beatles
series by scheduling it at 9:30
am Sunday mornings in the fall
of 1968.
ABC's Sunday morning
clearance rate was and still
is very low. The Beatles last
telecast was Sunday, September
7, 1969. Regarding the
cancellation of the Beatles
show, Fred Silverman (then of
CBS) told TV Guide, "Kids get
tired of shows quickly. They
would rather watch new shows
than repeats of old ones."
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