Commentary : The commercialization of Saturday morning cartoons--what’s a parent to do?

I’ve had my share of failures as a parent, but I’ve always been proud to say, “My child doesn’t watch Saturday morning television.”

Television just isn’t a safe place for children, not without a parent watching over them most of the time. You wouldn’t leave a toddler alone in the mall, would you?

Well, letting children wander unescorted through Saturday morning television is like sending them out to play in traffic.

Sure, my 6-year-old has seen her share of syndicated sitcoms--”The Cosby Show,” “The Hogan Family”--and worn out the VCR with movies on tape.

But the key is I know what she is watching, right down to--and especially including--the commercials (edited out whenever possible on tape.)

It is a simple lesson, and I repeat it to my daughter all the time.

There are lots of scary monsters--advertisers, producers and network executives--thinking of new and creative ways to separate children from their lunch money and parents from their paychecks. And it is unwise to underestimate the power or the relentless nature of the beasts.

Despite my best efforts at counseling, my daughter, Nina, like a lot of her friends, loves the commercials about dolls more than the dolls themselves--which, of course, she simply must have or live forever in shame. And though I’ve always enjoyed her singing, lately she has been humming that Diet Coke jingle, and every once in a while will stand up and loudly proclaim, “I love what you do for me--TOY-o-TA!”

It’s cute the first time, frightening by the 400th.

So I can’t say I was particularly heartened by the announced slate of new network kids’ shows for the 1991-92 season.

Nor was I buoyed by the news that the Federal Communications Commission adopted new regulations limiting the amount of advertising in children’s programming and requiring broadcasters to keep track formally of their efforts on behalf of children’s education and informational needs.

While it’s nice to have a cap on commercial time (between a quarter and a fifth of each broadcast hour) for preteen shows, it does not take into account the advertising implied in the show itself.

And look what they have in store for Saturdays when the new school year begins.

Turning away from the toy-first, show-second series of the “Strawberry Shortcake” flavor, Saturday morning TV is increasingly capitalizing on pre-fab fame, turning famous people into ‘toons, sports superstars into superheroes and live-action, big-box-office movies into TV miniatures.

NBC’s big gun in its kiddie arsenal is bound to be “Wishkid Starring Macaulay Culkin,” featuring an animated version of the star of the movie “Home Alone.”

CBS, a bit behind the times, is bringing on a “Back to the Future” cartoon.

At ABC, music star M.C. Hammer is the animated hook the network hopes will translate into cartoon magic in “Hammerman,” a concept that is going who knows where and did not work for ABC’s just-canceled “New Kids on the Block” cartoon.

So, does everything have to be PBS--”Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers”--24 hours a day?

No. I was a kid, too. Still am. That is why I have this job.

But children’s television, and in particular Saturday morning TV, continues to be used primarily as Madison Avenue’s quickest route to the most vulnerable of consumers.

Give the kids a chance. Give them something to hold on to.

Children’s television should be a place of ideas, whether it be simple entertainment or educational messages.