Prime time cartoon

A Prime time cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming which is typically scheduled during prime time.

While The Flintstones (originally running on ABC from September 30, 1960 – April 1, 1966) is generally considered the first cartoon to air in prime time, it was preceded by CBS Cartoon Theater, which aired reruns of Terrytoons theatrical shorts for three months in 1956, and was hosted by a young Dick Van Dyke. Following that series, The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show, a cartoon based on an Academy Award-winning animated short, ran for a few months on Friday nights on CBS from 1957 through to until 1958. But both shows were designed to showcase theatrical cartoon shorts.

Many of Hanna-Barbera's original TV series were produced for prime time broadcast, and they continued to produce prime time TV cartoons up until the early 1970s. Such shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show and its spin-off, The Yogi Bear Show, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, Jonny Quest, The Jetsons, and especially The Flintstones were originally broadcast during prime time hours, competing with live-action comedies, dramas, and quiz shows.

The first prime time animated series from Hanna-Barbera was the syndicated The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958) which usually aired in early evenings prior to prime time, though the studio hit its stride in 1960s when it scored with The Flintstones. This was the first half-hour "sitcom" cartoon, and like many of its successors it was originally aired during prime time when the whole family would be watching television. The Flintstones was the first of several prime-time animated series from Hanna-Barbera, which included the acclaimed Jonny Quest, generally thought of as Hanna-Barbera's best television work; however, prime time animation did not produce any other high-rated TV series, and Hanna-Barbera turned its efforts to the growing market for Saturday morning cartoons.

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