11 Bizarre '90s Cartoons That Only Ran One Season

11. Capitol Critters

The importance of The Simpsons in the primetime market cannot be understated. An animated sitcom with risque material that angered the right-wing establishment in Washington was unheard of when it debuted in December 1989. Naturally, Matt Groening's hit inspired imitators long before Family Guy managed to succeed in aping the model before morphing into its own voice.

Capitol Critters was one of NYPD Blue creator Stephen Bochco's creations that didn't catch on. The legendary TV producer was no stranger to success, but his flops feature notable failures like Cop Rock, Riding With Death (later an MST3k episode) and the woman president what-if Commander in Chief. Bochco partnered with Hannah Barbera and created a group of mice, rats and other assorted nuisances that inhabit the walls of the Capitol Building.

This was ABC's edgy response to the FOX juggernaut. CBS' FIsh Police was even weaker.

The voice cast was impressive, featuring Bochco's other major discovery Neil Patrick Harris and Bobcat Goldthwait. Harris plays Max, a mouse forced from his home in Nebraska to D.C. and forced to deal with the white house fat cats (literal cats, of course), caricatures of Dan Quayle of George H.W. Bush.

The show's plots revolved around some fairly hot button issues like race and gun control, but the satire just wasn't biting enough to sell it. It was canceled after two months, with the Cartoon Network running what was left of the 13 episodes.