He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel’s toy line Masters of the Universe. The show, often referred to as simply He-Man, was one of the most popular animated shows of the 1980s.
It made its television debut in September 1983 and ran until 1985, consisting of two seasons of 65 episodes each. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988, at which point USA Network bought the rights to the series. USA aired He-Man until September 1990. The success of the toy-based show in syndication greatly influenced other animation houses to produce half-hour “cartoon commercials”, and considerably changed the syndicated cartoon market.
The franchise has been adapted many times in comic book and comic strip form, and a live-action film was produced in 1987. A rebooted series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, renamed Masters of the Universe vs. The Snake Men during season 2, released on Toonami on August 16, 2002. Two continuation series were released in 2021 for Netflix: one is Masters of the Universe: Revelation for adult audience and another is He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a family oriented animated CGI revival.