The Saturday Morning Cartoon That Wasn’t

It actually started out as a prime-time TV show, back in the day when prime time started at 7:30 PM ET. The first airing was Friday, September 18, 1964. Yes, I’m talking about Jonny Quest.

Jonny Quest is a program that still today brings fond memories to those who watched it way back when. And there is still a draw to the show, even today, in our senior years.

Why is that? What makes this show stick with us after all these years, and still give us a thrill as we watch the action unfold before us? There are those who say it’s the high-stakes adventures that kids love, or the fact that it showed real-world danger without sugarcoating it. The artwork was exceptional—far above anything else we would see on Saturday mornings. Even the music score felt much more dramatic.

Jonny was the central character, a precocious 11-year-old, who lived in an adult world with his widowed father and a full-time bodyguard. His friend Hadji became his brother and companion for all things adventurous.

I’ve read articles that say, as an adult, Jonny would probably be in therapy for all the dangers his dad put him through, but those who say that just don’t get it. Jonny LOVED the adventures, and his dad was always there to protect him or scold him if he ventured past the set limits, which of course, he always did. And the scolding was never very tough.

Jonny was a typical 11-year-old. He liked adventure. He liked doing things he wasn’t supposed to do. And he didn’t understand fully the real danger that he sometimes faced. But he also knew that his dad—and Race—were nearby to protect him and help him.

Benton Quest treated his son like an equal at times. If they had a project that needed all-hands-on-deck, he expected Jonny to chip in and do his part. And Jonny stepped up to the occasion. Dr. Quest was teaching his son how to be a man.

This was a show about true male bonding in a healthy relationship. There was no doubt Benton and Jonny loved each other, and because of that, they could expect to always be there for each other. And because Benton Quest was a scientist, there were always lots of cool gadgets to learn about. Notice that Jonny did not seem interested in following his father into science. More than likely, he would follow Race into some adventurous future career.

What more could a kid ask for? Adventure, exotic locales, outsmarting the bad guys, and always sure that Dad and Race would be right there at the end of the day.

It may not have been a Saturday morning cartoon originally, but when it became one, it changed Saturday morning—and a lot of us kids watching—forever. That’s an incredible legacy.