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| 13 | {{Audience Alienating Premise}}s in WesternAnimation. |
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| 16 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfKidDanger The Adventures of Kid Danger]]'': An {{Animated Adaptation}} based on a [[Series/HenryDanger then-still-airing TV show]] is not going to do very well in today’s climate. No thanks to countless [[Creator/HannaBarbera Hanna-Barbera]] shows from {{The Seventies}}, they’re almost always seen as cheap cash-grabs, which is why they are almost completely non-existent in the 21st century. Making things worse is that the series that this show is based on is rather divisive as well, meaning that the people who didn’t like the original show would immediately stay away from its {{Spin Off}}. The show did very little to distinguish itself from its parent series, which justifies its existence even less. It was cancelled shortly after it aired due to being nigh-universally panned. |
| 17 | * ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory''. The show is about a {{homeschooled|Kids}} 7-year-old played by Creator/JonahHill, who is forced to attend elementary school when his gay parents hit hard times, and thus has little idea on how to act like a kid. That could have worked very well... if not for the fact that both the title character and his father were unrepentant {{Jerkass}}es, especially to the daughter character (who was an unfunny and rather [[{{Deconstruction}} darkly]] [[AbusiveParents played]] [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Meg Griffin]] ripoff). Not helping matters was the fact that one of the parents [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe wasn't actually gay but rather gave in to a gay relationship because the other wouldn't leave him alone despite several restraining orders]] -- this aspect already angered quite a few people in the gay community. It also contained a recurring subplot about Gregory attempting to date his principal, who is in her 70s, and his infatuation was portrayed ''far'' too sexually to be considered a PrecociousCrush. The show reeked of TooBleakStoppedCaring, was met with poor reviews, and ended after just 7 episodes due to poor ratings. It says something when Fox hates it enough to [[BuryYourArt erase it from their websites]]. |
| 18 | * ''WesternAnimation/AssyMcGee'' is about a CowboyCop named [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Assy McGee, who is a talking ass.]] Unsurprisingly, it suffered low viewership that got it cancelled quickly, and it's one of the few shows Creator/AdultSwim treats [[CreatorBacklash with disdain]]. (Ironic enough, one of their longtime reruns also once featured a similar type of show in-universe, "[[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Sherry and The Anus]]". And then there's [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Hamster Butt World]]...) |
| 19 | * It isn't hard to see ''WesternAnimation/BattleTech1994'' as having one of these. Besides being based on [[TabletopGame/BattleTech something]] with [[ContinuityLockout sprawling pre-existing mythology]], it's set during the very beginning of the Clan Invasion, meaning a setting a new viewer had no chance to learn anything about was being invaded, by an enemy even people in the show had never seen before, upsetting a status quo new viewers would know absolutely nothing about. There were also the somewhat conflicting ideas of how it tried to stay true to the source by showing that [[WarIsHell war involves horrific destruction]] and also being kind of futile, while at the same time promoting itself by [[WarIsGlorious making war look awesome]] with having the soldiers piloting [[HumongousMecha gigantic deathbots]] (there was even an action figure line). Something the younger viewers the show was trying to attract to the franchise probably had trouble reconciling. Despite ending on a cliffhanger the closest it's come to being followed up was [[CanonForeigner having some of the characters later appear in series novels]]. As of the "Wars of Reaving" sourcebook it's been established in-canon as a giggleworthy propaganda cartoon. |
| 20 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' ran right into this trope. An OddballInTheSeries, it tried to replace the timeless "warring robots that turn into vehicles/animals" premise with "[[GreenAesop technorganic beings against robots in a nature vs. technology battle]]". It also had a notably dark and serious tone despite being [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids aimed at children]] and the heavily serialized nature of the plot led to a lot of ContinuityLockOut. It’s been VindicatedByHistory (somewhat; there are fans that still consider it [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]]), but it wasn’t successful at the time and the planned sequel, ''ComicBook/TransformersTransTech'', was cancelled in favor of [[Anime/UnicronTrilogy a total reboot]]. |
| 21 | * ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' struggled to gain fans thanks to its risky decision to not use any villains from Batman's iconic RoguesGallery, instead using lesser-known or outright obscure villains from the comics; even characters like the Joker or Catwoman were rendered absent. As many find said gallery to be part of why Batman is so memorable to begin with, many ''Batman'' fans chose to ignore the series. It did manage to get some fans and eventually brought in some more classic villains, but it got the axe before its first season had even concluded, with its remaining episodes being burnt off in a late-night slot. The fact that it was also [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] also raised concerns at the time of its run, since the early 2010's were marked by a dissastisfaction towards CGI replacing 2D animation, doubly so as previous DC animated series had mostly been 2D and highly praised for their animation (though the contemporary ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' would prove popular in spite of that). |
| 22 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Bordertown}} '' is about a police officer who works at the UsefulNotes/{{California}}/UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} border for border patrol. Along with his family, he [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin lives in a town at the border]] while having neighbors who are Mexican stereotypes. The premise alone came across as racist to many, especially with how controversial an issue illegal immigration and the treatment of immigrants at the border is. Since the show is about taking jabs at certain ethnic groups, people who are a part of said groups would not be interested, which limits the show’s audience by default. Combined with the show’s ugly character designs, it's not hard to see why it only lasted one season. |
| 23 | * What could possibly go wrong with ''WesternAnimation/{{Bubsy}}''? A lot, actually. This cartoon is based on a [[VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} video game series of the same name]]. The problem? The original games that the titular bobcat hails from are considered mediocre at best by the general consensus. As a result, it is easy for audiences to assume that the cartoon is terrible purely because it is associated with a brand with a less than stellar reputation. [[OneEpisodeWonder It never made it past its pilot.]] |
| 24 | * Creator/DisneyChannel's ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'', while generally liked by most of the people that watched it (a select few of which consider it a legit CultClassic while most of the others merely consider it SoOkayItsAverage), is a very stereotypical SliceOfLife tween sitcom aimed at little girls that [[GrossOutShow takes place in an overflowing garbage dump infested with sentient anthropomorphic flies and various other types of insects who may or may not have gained their anthropomorphism from prolonged radioactive fluid/gas exposure]]. These reasons lead to the show [[ScrewedByTheNetwork only lasting one season]]. |
| 25 | * ''WesternAnimation/ClerksTheAnimatedSeries'' was an AnimatedAdaptation of a profane, low-key indie cult film with virtually no cursing and DenserAndWackier plots. It was a show that wasn't going to capture anything but the nichest of audiences (and especially didn't fit on a major network like Creator/{{ABC}}) and was unsurprisingly cancelled after only two episodes, though reruns on Creator/ComedyCentral and Creator/AdultSwim made it a CultClassic. One of the only reasons it was greenlit in the first place was because ABC wasn't doing too hot in the ratings at the time and were ''desperate'' for any kind of potential hit series... but in the middle of production, ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' became a smash success for the network and [[ScrewedByTheNetwork they quickly buried]] ''Clerks'' to give that show an extra half-hour. |
| 26 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' did moderately well in most senses, but it was significantly maligned with this issue more than Creator/SethMacFarlane's other shows. Being a SpinOff of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', it was to take the series [[TokenMinority token black guy]] Cleveland Brown and [[RecycledInSpace basically make the same show, but "black"]], with a larger slant towards satirizing African-American culture... written by a team of largely white and Jewish creatives. The show ran for four seasons, but it's the first of [=MacFarlane=]'s shows to be cancelled with zero chance for a revival (Cleveland and his new family since transplanting back into ''Family Guy''), with a dominating criticism that by nature, it didn't endear itself to the black audiences it was simultaneously catering to ''and'' mocking, and non-black audiences just didn't want "''Family Guy'', [[MinorityShowGhetto but with a more niche demographic]]". [[CreatorBacklash Even MacFarlane seems to agree]] based on an extended [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall-breaking gag]] in the ''Family Guy'' episode of Cleveland's return: |
| 27 | -->'''Joe''': [[UncertainAudience Who was your show's audience? Who'd you make it for?]] Some black guy who never met another black guy? |
| 28 | * Upon its premiere in Fall 2002, the MTV cartoon ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'' met its ([[ShortRunners pretty quick]]) demise because of this. Among other things, the fact that a member of the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist cast is a clone of UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi that is a {{Jerkass}} party animal [[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/jan/31/pressandpublishing.india actually led to protests outside of the Indian offices of MTV]] because Gandhi is [[SacredCow a very revered person over there and people felt insulted as a result.]] In the years since its cancellation, though, the series has become VindicatedByHistory and is now a CultClassic considered one of the best cartoons of the 2000s, and [[NetworkToTheRescue it was announced in 2021 that MTV and HBO Max would revive the show for a 2-season order]]. Further, that character ''wasn't supposed to be Gandhi anyway''; the whole point of his character is that he was always jealous of being in the shadow of his source. |
| 29 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' could be [[TropeCodifier this trope's codifier for the medium]]. It revolves around a StrawCritic -- [[ThisLoserIsYou a fat, bald, acerbic, whiny loser]] -- but portrays him sympathetically as often as not, particularly regarding his struggle against his boss's and popular culture's AntiIntellectualism. The second season is LighterAndSofter; Jay gets a romantic interest with a CousinOliver attached. To the show's credit, it maintains its high level of humor and benefits from the more varied character dynamics. But even so, the show never truly found its niche; on ABC in Season 1 it didn't fit in with any of the network's "wacky family" comedies, and when it made its ChannelHop for Fox in Season 2 it would be ScrewedByTheNetwork. |
| 30 | * ''WesternAnimation/DaBoomCrew'' is an interesting case; it’s not that the show has a bad premise, but rather, that it uses its premise incorrectly. It’s about a group of kids who make their own video game, but one day, they get transported to a world that they claim is identical to the game they made. With that said, the show doesn’t seem to want to roll with this premise, since the kids don’t recognize anything that they see, despite technically creating it all themselves. This particularly bad plot hole made it hard for audiences to get invested, as did its constant TotallyRadical attitude. It was quickly yanked off the air after only four episodes (although 13 were officially made). |
| 31 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheDayMyButtWentPsycho'', the AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/TheBumTrilogy'', was instantly met with vitriol the day it was announced due to its premise revolving around sentient butts. Nobody gave the show a chance, so it ended up getting shafted to Creator/{{Netflix}} for its second season. It certainly did not help that the original books it was based on fell victim to AdaptationDisplacement, meaning few people at the time were aware of the fact the show was originally a series of books with the exact same premise and similarly heavy usage of ToiletHumour. |
| 32 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}''. Revolving around a tenth grader who gets a year of detention for a prank he didn't do, and his encounters with numerous high school stereotypes in his investigations, many took no interest in the show's concept for sounding like like a high school ClicheStorm. Not helping was that the show's extremely tight continuity made [[ContinuityLockout getting into the series after its first episode nearly impossible]]. This may have contributed to the show's inability to find much of a market outside of Canada and Australia, especially in the United States where it got ''colossally'' ScrewedByTheNetwork, which led to the show's premature cancellation. However, the overwhelming majority of those who did give the show a chance have deemed it to be a top-notch series and it has become a highly acclaimed CultClassic in the years since. |
| 33 | * ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' has six teenagers who go on an amusement park ride only to be transported into a world of perpetual war, forced to become mystical warriors in order to fight an evil mage trying to overtake said world as well as defend themselves and their TeamPet, whose cuteness masks [[TheMillstone its true nature and whose presence repeatedly impedes the sextet from completing their mission or ever getting home.]] This made it too dark and depressing for kids, and older kids and adults also stayed away as they saw it as another "[[AnimationAgeGhetto actiony cartoon for kids]]". Plus, it was more violent and expensive to produce than your average SaturdayMorningCartoon. All these factors turned American fans off and the series was canceled [[CutShort before any real resolution occurred.]][[note]]It's worth nothing that [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the show did end up finding an audience in Brazil]], where it is still a great source of 80/90's nostagia to this day.[[/note]] |
| 34 | * This is the reason Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}'' was abandoned after one season. It's 70s CopShow theme in a middle school setting was too confusing for the target audience which were children and pre-teens. And those mature enough to understand and appreciate the concept, weren't nearly enough to make up for the show's lack of ratings. However, the show for what it was became a CultClassic over the years. |
| 35 | * ''WesternAnimation/FishPolice'' falls into this. In spite of starring colorful talking fish, it is loosely based off an adult 1980s comic. On top of that it is an adult cartoon produced by Creator/HannaBarbera, explaining why it only lasted 6 episodes. |
| 36 | * ''WesternAnimation/GaryTheRat'', in spite of the talented and acclaimed Creator/KelseyGrammer voicing the title character, still suffered from this. The plot has an AmoralAttorney [[KarmicTransformation transforming into his true nature of an anthropomorphized rat...]] [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane for whatever reason.]] In addition to living in a CrapsackWorld where there is [[TooBleakStoppedCaring virtually no one to root for]] (except for his elderly and sickly mother, who he hates for unclear reasons), Gary ''remains'' a self-centered asshole for the most part, [[IgnoredEpiphany apparently taking nothing away from his experience.]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And whenever we're treated to a flashback with human Gary, his face is always conveniently obscured.]] The failure of this cartoon, along with that of ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}'' and '''especially''' ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'' caused whatever animation block Spike TV was hoping to create to end up dead in the water and effectively [[GenreKiller killed any hope of Viacom launching an adult animation block]] for several years. |
| 37 | * Several critics and reviewers have pointed out this as the cause behind ''WesternAnimation/GodTheDevilAndBob'' only lasting one season. The show sounded too religious for secular people and too disrespectful of {{God}} for religious people. The fact that it tries to [[GodIsFlawed do comedy with God]] but never really dares to go too far is a problem, as fans of edgy shocking comedy like ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' felt the show was too tame and fans of spiritual-based family-friendly shows thought it was too cynical. The fairly bland art style probably didn't help, either. |
| 38 | * This is what doomed ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodeFamily'' from the start. It's a SpiritualAntithesis to ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', a show that works because the deeply conservative regions of the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates are well known in other areas of the continent (and probably the world), and those living in those regions are more flattered than anything to have a well-written sitcom set in the area. ''The Goode Family'', on the other hand, is set in the strongly liberal [[UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco Bay Area]], whose culture is much more obscure and whose people felt insulted. As such, the humor and satire in ''The Goode Family'' was incomprehensible and the setting too surreal for most viewers, the only people whom it'd really appeal to being those familiar with the area and who either are dissatisfied with living there or can take a joke at their expense. It was yanked off the air as soon as its first season finished. Being put in a FridayNightDeathSlot didn't help either. |
| 39 | * The premise of ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'' is that the title band's leader, unable to come up with his own lyrics, creates his songs by driving his bratty teenage sister crazy every episode and then stealing her diary for lyrics. Many balked at the show from the [[SadistShow extremely unsympathetic-sounding premise]], and those who were able to get past found an extremely offbeat, lightning-paced series with a lot of SurrealHumor, NoFourthWall, and a StrictlyFormula. The result was a very niche cult show with just as many people who deemed it one of the most stupidly awful and nonsensical animated series ever created as there were those who adored it as a brilliantly unique and creative show that was TooGoodToLast. The divisive character designs of co-creator Todd Kauffman (who also did the character designs for the first season of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'', another show that has received polarized reception for its character designs) added to this. |
| 40 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'' [[AmericansHateTingle never really did well in Australia]]. Most kids weren't allowed to watch it because of its adult jokes and late-night airings, and adults were turned away by the FunnyAnimal cast. |
| 41 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMuppetMonsters'' needing to live up to the far more successful ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' while being paired alongside it leaves this taste. As animator Scott Shaw! put it: "The concept of this second half-hour was neither simple nor particularly well-developed." Basically, these three Muppet monsters live in the basement of the Muppets home and have their own TV station that they use to broadcast shows, exclusively to the Muppets living above them. Failure to produce the animated segments on time resulted in it swiftly being cancelled after three episodes. |
| 42 | * ''Franchise/LooneyTunes'': |
| 43 | ** Wanting to get in on the popularity of anime, Creator/WarnerBros came up with ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'' which re-invented ''Looney Tunes'' characters as intimidating crimefighters in a dark {{cyberpunk}}ish setting. Unfortunately, people who would've been interested in the ''Looney Tunes'' were turned off by the dark-looking setting and action emphasis, and people who wanted to see [[AnimalSuperheroes anthropomorphic superhero]] action were put on their guard by the fact that the characters were based on FunnyAnimal cartoons famous for {{zany|Cartoon}} {{slapstick}}. Due to backlash, the premise was changed into a much more standardized superhero cartoon that received mixed reviews at best. Further attempts were made to fix the show in the second season by [[LighterAndSofter lightening things even further]] and reintroducing nearly all the other classic characters, but despite that and angling even more obviously for another season, the show was cancelled after that season ran its course. |
| 44 | ** To a lesser extent, this might also be the reason ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' never became the smash hit [[Creator/CartoonNetwork the channel]] was hoping for. {{Sitcom}} fans were turned off by the FunnyAnimal cast and many ''Looney Tunes'' fans didn't care for the show throwing all the characters into the format of a sitcom set in suburbia. It didn't help that the first season [[UncertainAudience wasn't sure what style of comedy it wanted to lean into or even the age of its target audience]], meaning that by its more fully-realized and well-regarded second season, Warner Bros. was already working on a new ''Looney Tunes'' project to replace it. |
| 45 | * This is ''the'' reason ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' flopped. Fans of the usually fantasy-themed ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' franchise found the SliceOfLife elements dull and {{cliche}}, while most SliceOfLife fans couldn't get beyond the fact that the cast is all brightly-colored talking ponies. It's still a controversial topic in the MLP fandom decades later. |
| 46 | * ''WesternAnimation/NinaNeedsToGo'' is about a little girl having a PottyEmergency every episode. And we do mean [[StrictlyFormula every episode]], despite the main character's [[EveryEpisodeEnding equally common insistence]] [[AesopAmnesia that she's learned better than to let it become an emergency]]. It's naturally a very divisive show. |
| 47 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Pelswick}}'' was unable to gain much of an audience due to taking too many risks at once. It had a paraplegic protagonist, which is [[LeadYouCanRelateTo a pretty big risk by itself, unfortunately]], especially since it made the bold choice to have it not define his character. Then it was set in a FantasticComedy (the protagonist receives advice from a GuardianAngel only he can see), and some of the people who liked the reality aspect found the fantasy aspect [[MindScrew confusing to the point they couldn't enjoy it]], as well as having an unconventional art style which some people find off-putting in and of itself. For good measure, the show employed mature humor about political correctness and then aimed the series at kids, complete with a far-from-subtle [[AnAesop Aesop]] structure that older people were turned off by. All of this resulted in being cancelled after 26 episodes and not released on DVD with a handful of fans (Creator/{{Funimation}} wanting to focus more on ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheRockStar'' certainly didn't help matters). |
| 48 | * ''WesternAnimation/PenguinsBehindBars'' was a surprisingly serious {{prison}} drama... set {{in a|World}} {{world of|FunnyAnimals}} cartoon penguins. One would think this would have a place on Creator/AdultSwim, but even there, every other show outside of {{anime}} (which can be said about adult animation as a whole) was a {{comedy}}. The {{pilot}} aired once, was met with mixed to negative reception from baffled viewers, and never aired again. |
| 49 | * Fox's ''WesternAnimation/PeterPanAndThePirates'' was a cartoon with some great writing and storytelling, that was surprisingly gothic and occasionally scary at times. Why didn't it do well? Well, it's about Franchise/PeterPan, and yet it takes itself deadly serious and has more mature storytelling than you'd expect given the source material. Hence, little kids who might be drawn in by Peter Pan got scared away, and older kids who'd enjoy the story took one look at who it's about and [[AnimationAgeGhetto decided it was kiddy]]. The original novel was very dark in its way, as well (at the end, Tinkerbell is dead, and Peter is too childlike to remember, or care, who she was, for example), but thanks to {{Disneyfication}}, anything that returns to the spirit of the original alienates ''everyone''. |
| 50 | * ''WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain'' was an [[ExecutiveMeddling unneeded]] {{retool}}ing of the already-popular series, ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', where the duo are forced to live with [[TheScrappy the least popular character]] from ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''. Two episodes from ''Pinky and the Brain''[[note]]"Pinky and the Brain... and Larry" and "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets in This Town Again"[[/note]] were made to show that changing the show was a bad move, but the higher-ups didn't get the memo. It was clear that the staff hated working on the show as they put "It's what the network wants, why bother to complain?" in the show's lyrics and had Brain interrupt the end chorus saying "I deeply resent this". The show only lasted 13 episodes. |
| 51 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePrince2021'' is an American, ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''-style animated sitcom based off UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily, with the eponymous main character being Prince George, changed into a crass, adult-voiced Stewie Griffin {{expy}}. Right from the get-go, the show had to be delayed significantly [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents due to many of the jokes already becoming tasteless]], specifically the jokes of Prince Phillip as a decrepit zombie who constantly needs to be defibrillated, which -- even if the real Prince Phillip didn't die at the age of 99 before the show's premiere -- is the definition of a joke that wouldn't age well. The other two Royal Children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were also used as subjects of mockery. People just weren't interested in a show that uses three real children as the basis for a ShallowParody of the Royal Family (given just how private the lives of three kids are and how publicly dysfunctional the rest of the family came to be in 2020-21, there's not a lot that can be meaningfully exaggerated), and otherwise, it's a low-grade knockoff of [[AnimatedShockComedy a tired adult animation formula]]. Given how [[InvisibleAdvertising remarkably surreptitious]] Creator/HBOMax was with its release (its actual release date was only announced the day prior), it's clear that even they knew nobody wanted to see a show about this [[CreatorBacklash and just wanted to just get it over with as soon as possible]]. |
| 52 | * ''WebAnimation/TheRedApeFamily'' is about the titular family of primates moving to UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} after Earth had been been over-run by pollution. That, in it of itself, doesn’t sound all that bad; the real reason that this cartoon rubbed people the wrong way is because it revolves heavily around [[UsefulNotes/{{Bitcoin}} NFTs]], with the main apes even being based on the Bored Ape Yacht Club line of [=NFTs=]. Since the product that the show was trying to promote is a heavily controversial practice, this means that [[OvershadowedByControversy the show was bound to gain controversy as well.]] Audiences were highly opposed to there being a cartoon that promotes a well-hated practice, which explains why it was QuietlyCancelled after [[OneEpisodeWonder only three episodes]] (that and the funding drying up, as nobody was buying the NFT collection the show was selling - the complete crash of NFT prices not long afterwards didn't help either). |
| 53 | * ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'' is extremely notorious in part because of this. It tries to simultaneously be a drama and an AnimatedShockComedy that takes every single vulgar, offensive and tasteless joke imaginable and takes them even further, and failing at both. The drama is too [[{{Narm}} ludicrous]] and [[{{Glurge}} forced]] for viewers who might otherwise be interested, and even if they weren't, they would have still been turned away by the depravity and [[{{Squick}} overall grossness]] on display. Meanwhile, the comedy crowd didn't find any of the jokes funny. Unsurprisingly, this led to its extremely short run. An episode-specific example is by far the most well-known and polarizing one, the episode "[[Recap/RenandStimpyAPC1x02RenSeeksHelp Ren Seeks Help]]", in which Ren engages in multiple [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals highly disturbing]] acts of [[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty animal cruelty]] which are ''all'' PlayedForLaughs. So thoroughly was the audience alienation that even the announcement in 2021 that Comedy Central would revive the series once more was met with mixed reactions, simply because they had the same characters. |
| 54 | * ''WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'': The show's main humor is incredibly fast-paced {{dialogue}} to the point that adults can get lost, and unlike ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', there isn't much in the way of {{Slapstick}} to balance it out -- the main duo are able to laugh off whatever AmusingInjuries they're subject to as if it didn't even happen. On top of that, it aired at a time when the AnimationAgeGhetto was only just starting to be broken, so most grown-ups wouldn't have expected much from what was to them another duo of {{Funny Animal}}s. Since the preexisting Franchise/SamAndMax franchise was a CultClassic even at the time, any veteran fans interested wouldn't be enough to sustain the show for more than a season. |
| 55 | * ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'' is an Australian/Canadian cartoon about a twelve-year-old WholesomeCrossdresser superhero. While the series became a minor CultClassic, it never got a second season and faded into semi-obscurity after a very short run. |
| 56 | * This was a big reason why ''WesternAnimation/SpicyCity'' is largely forgotten outside of a [[CultClassic Cult Following]]. Being a very adult and overly sexualized cartoon [[AnimationAgeGhetto in 1997 turned away mainstream audiences and critics]], while its ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt''-esque style with surprisingly well-written and deep plots didn't go over very well with most people who [[JustHereForGodzilla only showed up for the smut]]. While it actually got decent ratings, in the end, its audience was just far too narrow for it to [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes ever even get a home release]], and Creator/RalphBakshi refused to allow the network to fire his writing team and hire professional screenwriters (presumably to retool it into something more mainstream to avert this) which sundered any chance of it ever getting a second season. |
| 57 | * The Spike TV show ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}'', despite being an ambitious experiment, didn't go too far on account of this trope - the animated comedy about a stripper superheroine, produced by Creator/StanLee and Creator/PamelaAnderson, couldn't find an audience - the superhero parody was [[ScifiGhetto too dweeby for the mature theme]], and the [[AnimatedShockComedy sex comedy aspect]] was too crass when contrasted with the superhero plot. For modern audiences, there's also the ValuesDissonance at play since the series relied heavily on semi-outdated stereotypes such as portraying the [[WomenAreWiser women as smart and competent]] while portraying the [[AllMenArePerverts men as dim and perverted]] (for the most part, anyway). |
| 58 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCatsRoar'', a DenserAndWackier reboot of ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'' in the vein of fellow Warner Bros. Animation series ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' (which it had a {{Crossover}} episode with). ''[=ThunderCats=]'' fans were outraged at the tonal shift, with a particular contingent upset that it wasn't a continuation of the [[WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011 2011 series]]. Meanwhile, non-fans were reluctant to watch the series ''because'' said outrage discouraged them from trying it out, and children couldn't fully enjoy it due to it being an AffectionateParody of the original 1980s show, which never got anywhere near the levels of PopCultureOsmosis as other 1980s action properties like ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]]'' or ''[[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Transformers]]''. The early backlash resulted in its first season immediately becoming its last, long before it aired on television. |
| 59 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheWackyWorldOfTexAvery'' attempted to hit on the trend of renewed interest in classic animation (spurred on by shows like ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'') by doing a show dedicated to and named after Creator/TexAvery, one of the medium's biggest early innovators. Unfortunately, it backfired, because doing a show named after a man who had been dead for seventeen years couldn't help but look like a ghoulish attempt to piggyback off his legacy, and [[ToughActToFollow immediately placed it in comparison with all manner of classic cartoons that it bore little resemblance to and couldn't hope to live up to]]. Quite tellingly, the show only really saw success [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff in territories where Tex Avery was less known]]. |
| 60 | * ''WesternAnimation/YoYogi'' has this on multiple levels: The teenage demographic the show was aimed at [[AnimationAgeGhetto would never give Yogi the time of day regardless of what form he took]], and older fans would be put off by the show's attempts to be "hip." Needless to say, the failure of the show not only convinced NBC to stop airing Saturday morning cartoons, but it is one of the instrumental causes of the death of Saturday morning cartoons. |
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