Book excerpt: Mark McCray wasn’t the only boy who loved Saturday morning cartoons, but he may have been the only one to call the networks and tell them what he liked and disliked about them. For instance, he was blown away by the direction Hanna-Barbera took with Josie and the Pussycats, the kids in the wrong place at the wrong time who rose to the occasion and saved the day. It wasn’t long before he was writing his own newsletter, titled The Best Saturdays of Our Lives, which he circulated to animation and television executives, networks, studios, and comic book publishers. The newsletters chronicle the origins of competitive Saturday morning programming—from the 1966–67 season straight through to the 1990s—and they’re compiled in one place for easy reference in this book. You’ll get an insider’s look at the inner workings of the cartoon and television industries, competition between broadcast networks, and how the industry has changed over the years. Mark’s curiosity, probing insights and love of television, come together to create The Best Saturdays of Our Lives.