Jonny Quest and Television

The 1960s

Jonny Quest started Friday, Sept. 18, 1964, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern then moved to Thursday evenings at 7:30 starting Dec. 24, 1964, switching timeslots with "The Flintstones."

New television shows that debuted the same week as Jonny Quest included "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Shindig," "Bewitched," "Addams Family" and "12 O'Clock High." The next week's debuts included "Gilligan's Island," "Mr. Magoo," "Flipper," "Peyton Place" and "The Man from UNCLE."

A summary of the shows appearing during the 1964-65 prime time television season. (Thanks to Mike Esaia for providing this info.)

After the last show 9/9/65, Jonny Quest's timeslot on ABC was taken over by the dance program "Shindig." During the season, it was replaced 6/10/65 by a "Donna Reed" rerun and 6/17/65 by a health care program.

Saturdays in the '60s and the '70s

Jonny Quest's first Saturday morning runs were on CBS from Sept. 9, 1967, to Sept. 5, 1970, and on ABC from Sept. 13, 1970, to Sept. 9, 1972. It was also included in NBC's "Godzilla Power Hour" starting Sept. 8, 1978, then got its own timeslot on Sept. 8, 1979.

Details of 60's and 70's Saturday broadcast times

September 9, 1967-September 6, 1969, Saturdays at 12:30-1:00pm on CBS-TV
September 13, 1969-September 5, 1970, Saturdays at 1:30-2:00pm on CBS-TV
September 13, 1970-September 5, 1971, Sundays at 10:00-10:30am on ABC-TV
September 11, 1971-September 9, 1972, Saturdays at 12Noon-12:30pm on ABC-TV
September 8, 1979-November 3, 1979, Saturdays at 12Noon-12:30pm on NBC-TV
November 10, 1979-April 5, 1979, Saturdays at 8:00-9:00am on NBC-TV

The '80s

The series got another start in reruns on NBC on April 12, 1980. Jonny Quest then became part of the syndicated show, "The Funtastic World of Hanna-Babera," in the late 1980s; however the episodes were both time-compressed (speeded up) and edited to shorten them. Thirteen new episodes were added. At first, the '60s episodes were shown with the new series' opening screen and new title cards at the start. Generic end credits were shown at the end of Funtastic World, along with the credits for the other cartoons in the package. Later, the original opening and closing credits were restored.

Details of 80's Saturday broadcast times

April 12, 1980-September 20, 1980, Saturdays at 11:30am-12Noon on NBC-TV
September 27, 1980-September 6, 1981, Saturdays at 12Noon-12:30pm on NBC-TV
In Syndication from 1987 to 1989 (as "The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera", times vary).

Into the '90s

Turner Broadcasting acquired Jonny Quest as part of the Hanna-Barbera library in 1991 for its new Cartoon Network. It ran on 'Toon from its debut until spring 1996, when 'Toon stopped showing it to give viewers a break before the start of "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" in August 1996. The station said it wouldn't show JQ again for a year, but sometime in late 1996 or early 1997, Toon brought back the '60s and '80s shows in early-morning hours, later moving it to afternoons on weekdays and weekends.

At the dawn of a new millennium

Jonny Quest continues to be shown, although with varying frequency, on the Cartoon Network, usually in the very early morning, off and on during the year 2000 (OK, so that's really the last year of the old millennium) before it disappears once more. Then on April 1, 2000 a new satellite channel is launched -- Boomerang specializes in "classic" 'toons, and Jonny Quest is shown on a regular basis again, often in blocks of time several hours in length (showing up to four consecutive episodes); the blocks themselves are often repeated two or three times per day!

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