Classic cartoons stage a comeback on Boomerang

What it is: Boomerang, an offshoot of cable and satellite TV’s popular Cartoon Network, packs its daily schedule with 24 hours of the classic cartoons that Gen X-ers grew up watching.

What it’s all about: You won’t find the “Powerpuff Girls,” “Yu-Gi-Oh!” or “SpongeBob SquarePants” clowning around on Boomerang. The all-classics, all-the-time channel instead devotes its bandwidth to such cartoon stalwarts as Tom & Jerry, Popeye and the SuperFriends. In addition to liberal helpings of favorites from the Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera corrals (showcasing such beloved icons as Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw), there are rebroadcasts of such once-seminal shows as “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons” and, yes, even “The Smurfs.” And if you’ve been wracking your brain trying to remember key plot points of such gone-but-not-entirely-forgotten series as “Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch” or “Valley of the Dinosaurs,” you can relax: Boomerang has ‘em.

Why we like it: Maybe I’ve turned into one of those crotchety old folks who bemoan “progress” and wish we could all go back to those simpler days when not every cartoon came with its own aisle at Toys ‘R Us and Space Ghost was a crime fighter rather than a talk-show host. But I relish the fact that I can turn on Boomerang at any time of the day or night and take comfort in the familiar faces of such old friends as Mr. Magoo and Hong Kong Phooey.

I’ll admit it’s not perfect: I wish Boomerang would ban all Scooby-Doo episodes that include that diminutive hound from hell Scrappy-Doo, and – despite the acknowledgement that it is part of the Cartoon Network – I wish the channel would include a few live-action kiddie shows from the ‘70s (particularly Sid and Marty Kroft’s Dr. Shrinker and The Bugaloos), just so I can see if they were possibly as weird as I remember them being. But for a girl in her mid-30s who can’t tell Dora the Explorer from Kim Possible, Boomerang gives me the opportunity to indulge my inner child with the ‘toons that made me what I am today and leaves me feeling smarter than the average bear.