| Genre: | Children's Variety |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 9 |
| Runtime: | 180 minutes (1990–1993) 150 minutes (1994–1996) 90 minutes (1996-1997) |
| Network: | Seven Network |
Agro's Cartoon Connection was an Australian children's television show that aired on the Seven Network from 1990 to 1997. Shown on weekday mornings, it was primarily hosted by Agro, a puppet played by comedian Jamie Dunn. It was originally filmed at BTQ7 from 1990 to 1996, after which it moved to ATN7 in 1997.
Over the years the show had a number of co-hosts including Ann-Maree Biggar,[1] Terasa Livingstone,[2] Holly Brisley,[3] Michael R Gibson (who was known to the audience by the nickname "Gibbo") and guest hosts Ian Calder and Stacey Thomson.
It began as Seven's Super Saturday, later becoming The Super Saturday Show, which only aired on Saturday mornings and was originally only broadcast in Brisbane.
It followed on from a show called The Cartoon Connection which had been hosted for many years previously by Michael Horrocks and Alex Wileman, Wileman went on to do New South Wales lottery broadcasts.
The show consisted of playing a variety of cartoons including Bobby's World, Samurai Pizza Cats and Magic Knight Rayearth while including small editorials presented between the cartoons in a variety of segments. One such example included Ian Calder appearing in a regular segment acting as a character, one of his more popular being Crikey the Clown where he would walk around the streets of Brisbane in an aggressive manner asking questions to anyone he met.
Other shows presented during the series' run included G.I. Joe Extreme, The Bots Master, Eek! The Cat, Bob in a Bottle and Mega Man: The Animated Series. The Sunday morning edition of the program ran under the name The Super Sunday Show and included skits performed by the regulars, as well as presenting the UK animated program The Dreamstone and the science fiction program UFO.
Notably the show's humour was sometimes provocative but always done in a way that would escape the notice of the show's primary audience of children. The program was criticised in Parliament for including product sponsorship within the program itself, rather than simply running commercial breaks.
From 1995, the show fiercely competed with Cheez TV on Network Ten. In an attempt to boost ratings against Cheez TV, Seven replaced Gibson & Thomson with Brad Hills in 1997. In December of that year, Agro and all of the show's hosts were removed, with the programme rebranded simply to Cartoon Connection and only showing cartoons. Cartoon Connection was eventually cancelled in 1999.
Following the show's cancellation, Seven attempted several experiments to revive its breakfast programming for children. Eventually in 2000 Seven shifted the timeslot's focus towards early morning news, occupied by the Sunrise programme instead.
Co-host Michael 'Gibbo' Gibson passed away on 10 June 2024.[4]
| Name | Role | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Dunn[5] | Agro/Host | 1990–1997 | |
| Ann-Maree Biggar | Co-host | 1990–1994 | |
| Terasa Livingstone | Reporter | 1994 | |
| Co-host | 1995–1997 | ||
| Holly Brisley | Reporter | 1995–1997 | |
| Ian Calder | Various characters | 1990–1992 | |
| Crikey The Clown | 1991–1997 | ||
| Michael R Gibson | Gibbo | 1990–1996 | |
| Stacey Thomson | Ranger Stacey | 1990–1996 | |
| Brad Hills | Reporter | 1997 |
|-! scope="row" | 1991| rowspan="7" | Logie Awards| rowspan="7" | Most Popular Children's Program| rowspan="7" | Agro's Cartoon Connection| | [6] |-! scope="row" | 1992| | |-! scope="row" | 1993| | |-! scope="row" | 1994| | |-! scope="row" | 1995| | |-! scope="row" | 1996| | |-! scope="row" | 1997| |