Back in the days of Saturday morning cartoons, all of the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and later Fox) aired such. While certain franchises came and went, a few became mainstays, airing on multiple networks over the years. However, only a few shows or franchises aired on all of the classic “Big Three” networks (ABC, CBS, NBC). Similarly, in the cable TV era, very few aired on all of the current “Big Three” animation cable networks (Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel); in cable networks’ case, there’s the modern nature of media concentration, as well as those networks being part of massive conglomerates. Meanwhile, streaming services have seen many shows switch services, to the point it’s hard to keep track.
Below is a list of series and franchises that have aired on all of the classic “Big Three” networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. Similarly, I’ll also list franchises or series that aired on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel. Given the musical chairs nature of streaming, I won’t bother covering streaming’s classic “Big Three” (Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video). I’m just looking at US TV networks.
Broadcast TV
The Flintstones (franchise)
The original “Flintstones” series aired on ABC in primetime from 1960 to 1966, with reruns airing on NBC Saturday mornings from 1966 to 1970. However, it proved a popular franchise for all three major networks. Spin-offs “The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show” and “The Flintstone Comedy Hour” aired on CBS from 1971 to 1974.
NBC aired “The New Fred and Barney Show” from 1979 to 1980, then “The Flintstone Comedy Show” from 1980 to 1982, and “The Flintstone Funnies” (repackaged reruns of “The Flintstone Comedy Show”) from 1982 to 1984. The Captain Caveman segments of “The Flintstone Comedy Show” (which co-starred Wilma and Betty) also aired in reruns as part of a short-lived anthology show in 1991-1992 on NBC. Finally, “The Flintstone Kids” aired on ABC from 1986 to 1988.
The Jetsons
While “The Jetsons” only ran for one season in primetime on ABC in 1962-63 (useless trivia: it’s ABC’s first show to air in color), it ended up staying popular in reruns for decades, airing on Saturday mornings alongside first-run shows. For some reason, Hanna-Barbera never made new episodes until 1985, and those aired in syndication.
Reruns aired on CBS in 1964-1965 and 1969-1971, as well as on NBC from 1965 to 1967, 1971 to 1976, 1979 to 1981, and a final airing from 1982 to 1983. The Jetsons’ dog, Astro, also appeared in the “Astro and the Space Mutts” segments of NBC’s 1981-1982 series “Space Stars.”
Jonny Quest
“Jonny Quest” ran for one season in primetime on ABC, from 1964 to 1965. It then ran in reruns on CBS Saturday mornings from 1967 to 1970, on ABC again from 1970 to 1972, and then on NBC from 1979 to 1980. New episodes eventually were produced for syndication in 1986.
Speed Buggy
“Speed Buggy” is one of the various 1970s Scooby-Doo clones, but ended up becoming one of the more popular ones. It helped that Speedy was a popular choice to replace shows that were flops, or to fill schedule holes.
“Speed Buggy” originally aired on CBS from 1973 to 1974, then in reruns on ABC from 1975 to 1976, on NBC 1976 to 1977, and again on CBS in 1978 and 1982 to 1983. Speedy and his driver, Tinker, also frequently appeared on “Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics” (as part of the Scooby Doobies team, made up of then-contemporary Hanna-Barbera characters).
The Wonderful World of Disney (anthology)
The long-running Disney anthology series has aired under various titles, but “The Wonderful World of Disney” is the current and longest-lasting one. While the anthology is a mix of live-action and animation, it has aired on ABC, CBS, and NBC over its existence:
- On ABC from 1954 to 1961.
- On NBC (originally as “The Wonderful World of Color”) from 1961 to 1981.
- On CBS from 1981 to 1983.
- On ABC (again) from 1986 to 1988.
- On NBC (again) from 1988 to 1991.
- On CBS (again) from 1991 to 1997.
- Finally, in 1997, the series returned to ABC after Disney’s purchase of that network, where it’s stayed ever since, though airings have become sporadic (with the rise of Disney Channel and Disney+).
Cable TV
Yogi Bear (franchise)
The “smarter than the average bear” originally debuted in syndication (as a backup segment of “The Huckleberry Hound Show,” before getting his own series), but made some network TV appearances. NBC aired “Yogi’s Space Race” from 1978 to 1979, and “Yo Yogi!” from 1991 to 1992. ABC aired “Yogi’s Gang” aired from 1973 to 1975; Yogi also appeared on ABC’s “Laff-A-Lympics” as the leader of the Yogi Yahooeys, a team of early Hanna-Barbera funny animals.
On cable, Yogi is the only cartoon character I’ve found who regularly appeared on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney Channel. Of course, various Yogi Bear incarnations have aired on Cartoon Network to this day (with “Jellystone!” airings). Nickelodeon aired “Nickelodeon’s Most Wanted: Yogi Bear” from 1990 to 1993, a compilation series made up of the “Huckleberry Hound” shorts, “The Yogi Bear Show,” and the late 80s syndicated “The New Yogi Bear Show.” (Pop Arena’s “Nick Knacks” YouTube series covered this show, and Yogi’s TV history overall.) Yogi also appeared in the “Fender Bender 500” shorts in “Wake Rattle and Roll,” a syndicated weekday morning anthology series that aired from 1990 to 1991. The show then moved to the Disney Channel, where it aired under the title “Jump Rattle and Roll” (no longer exclusive to a morning timeslot) from 1991 to 1994, as the only Hanna-Barbera series to air on that channel.
Multiple outlets
Looney Tunes
“Looney Tunes” is the undisputed king of cartoons with multiple television network airings. Along with being a syndication mainstay from the 1950s to the 1990s, Bugs, Daffy and company aired in multiple incarnations on not only all of the Big Three networks, but also Fox, the WB, TNT, TBS, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. Disney Channel is a major exception (for obvious reasons); however, since Disney now owns Hulu, they do air the reboot of “Animanaics.”
Summing up “Looney Tunes” on the Big Three networks:
- “The Bugs Bunny Show” aired on ABC from 1960 to 1962, with reruns airing until 1968. It then moved to CBS, where it aired as “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour” (joining “The Road Runner Show”) from 1968 to 1971, and solo until 1973. It then moved to ABC for two seasons, before returning (along with the Road Runner) to CBS in 1975 as “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour” (renamed “Show” in 1977). The show stayed on CBS until 1985, when it moved to ABC. On ABC, it first aired as “The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour,” before being renamed “The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show” in 1986. The show stayed on ABC until 2000, marking the final time Looney Tunes aired on a major broadcast TV network. Nostalgia over the air TV network MeTV brought the show back in 2021 as part of their cartoon block, and in 2024 on the MeTV Toons spin-off network.
- “The Road Runner Show” aired as a solo show on CBS from 1966 to 1968, and on ABC from 1971 to 1973.
- “The Porky Pig Show” aired on ABC from 1964 to 1967.
- “The Daffy Duck Show” aired on NBC from 1978 to 1982 (renamed “The Daffy-Speedy Show” for its final season), consisting mostly of the lesser shorts not on “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show.” A few classics, but largely all of those Daffy vs. Speedy 60s shorts.
- “Sylvester and Tweety” aired on CBS from 1976 to 1977, consisting of the cat and bird’s shorts. It got folded into “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show” the following season. In 1982, it was revived when “The Daffy Duck Show” moved to CBS; the two shows were combined into “The Sylvester and Tweety, Daffy and Speedy Show.” This mouthful of a series ran for one season before folded back into “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show” in 1983.
Syndication airings on local TV stations mostly consisted of the 1930s and 1940s shorts not shown on Saturday mornings. It was up to each station to package these as they wished; these usually aired under variants of titles such as “Bugs Bunny and Friends.” (See an example on YouTube.)
On cable, while TNT and TBS aired various Looney Tunes shorts (mostly the same syndication packages local TV stations got), the franchise’s biggest non-Turner/Warner-tied home was on Nickelodeon, where “Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon” ran from 1988 to 1999.
Again, Pop Arena’s “Nick Knacks” series features an episode covering the entirety of Looney Tunes on television, including syndication and cable.
Conclusion
Despite the large volume of American animation, it seems only a handful of characters/shows appeared across all of the major TV outlets. With the modern state of media consolidation and ownership, we’ll likely never see characters like SpongeBob SquarePants or Steven Universe air anywhere outside of their parent companies’ networks.
However, streaming services are still open to third-party programming. For instance, the aforementioned SpongeBob has appeared on Netflix and Prime Video, along with his home service of Paramount+. Also, a “Steven Universe” spin-off is set to stream on Prime Video, while the parent series is currently on Hulu.
If I’ve missed any shows or characters, feel free to let me know in the comments.
Image: Looney Tunes; “Speed Buggy”; “The Jetsons.” (Warner Bros.)
