The Best Saturday Morning TV Shows From the 1970s

10. Super Friends

Who needs all of today’s interpersonal conflict and unrepentant evildoers when you can watch a show where everyone gets along and villainy is mostly just a matter of a small misunderstanding? For more than 100 episodes, Superman, Batman and the rest of DC’s Justice League battled the forces of miscommunication with open hearts, open minds and closed fists. It may not have been the most dramatically demanding cartoon in the morning, but it was inevitably fun.

11. Hong Kong Phooey

Another role voiced by film and music icon Scatman Crothers, Hong Kong Phooey belongs to a long line of completely inept heroes whose butts are routinely saved by their sidekick. Sure, it wasn’t exactly groundbreaking material, but certain unique touches (like the fact that Phooey’s martial arts skill comes from an instruction handbook he purchased from a correspondence course) combined with the spirited performances of its leads helped make the show shine in midst of Saturday mornings.

12. The Krofft Supershow

Who said variety shows had to be just for kids? Brothers Sid and Marty Krofft brought the concept to Saturday mornings in 1976 with The Krofft Supershow, hosted by fictional band Kaptain Kool and the Kongs (until the show took a crazy left turn and they were replaced by the Bay City Rollers for whatever reason). Live action segments formed the meat of the show, the most popular of which was “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl,” a story about two reporters who did double duty as crime fighting superheroes.