Beyond The Animated TV Grave is a sub-series of Beyond The TV Grave, and takes a look at short-lived prime time adult animated series that aired on ABC, CBS, or NBC. We turn once again to Hanna-Barbera in the third edition of the sub-series, this time to the 1992 ABC cartoon Capitol Critters. It premiered midseason on the 1991-92 TV schedule and was pulled from the schedule after seven episodes aired.
Background
Capitol Critters had the distinction of being the first prime time animated series to premiere since FOX’s The Simpsons in December 1989. The Simpsons finished the 1990-91 TV season with a 14.0 Household rating, enough to be FOX’s highest-rated show at the time and coming in 28th place overall. Perhaps more importantly, The Simpsons was a cultural phenomenon, at its ratings peak in the early 1990s of what would become at least a 40-year run.
ABC slotted Capitol Critters into the Saturdays at 8 pm time slot starting February 1, 1992, with two special airings the previous Tuesday and Friday. The network actually shuffled their schedule to make room for Capitol Critters, moving some well-known titles in order for their new cartoon to lead off the night. Who’s The Boss? would move from 8 pm to 8:30, while Growing Pains would move from 8:30 to 9:30. Both wound up canceled by the end of the season.
Synopsis
Before settling into its Saturdays at 8 pm time slot, Capitol Critters first premiered on Tuesday, January 28, with a second episode airing on Friday, January 31. The series premiere performed respectably airing behind Full House, garnering a 15.6 Household rating after Full House’s 17.2. Had Capitol Critters averaged a 15.6 rating, it would have been ABC’s sixth-highest-rated series for the season. It served as the lead-in to President George H.W. Bush’s 1992 State of the Union, perhaps to capitalize on the compatibility of the show’s setting or to make a subtle political statement. Regardless, Capitol Critters saw a steep decline for its second special airing, with an 11.1 Household rating after Family Matters’ 13.4. Still, had it maintained that rating for its average, it would still be in the middle of the pack on ABC and arguably have a reasonable shot at renewal.
Where things got really bad for Capitol Critters was when it finally did settle into its Saturdays at 8 pm time slot. Its Saturday premiere mustered only a 6.6 Household rating. That put its ratings among the lowest on the network, and even below quite a few shows on FOX. While it ticked up slightly the following week, each subsequent episode saw a ratings decline. By its seventh episode, it was down to just a 5.4 Household rating. ABC would then proceed to pull Capitol Critters from the schedule, moving Who’s The Boss? back to 8 pm in the process.
Airing only seven episodes, Capitol Critters proved itself to be no Simpsons. Take for example President George H.W. Bush’s treatment of FOX’s flagship adult animated series, compared to the one ABC premiered right before his State of the Union. Just one day before Capitol Critters premiered, President Bush promised in a re-election campaign speech to “make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons.” One would think if President Bush hated The Simpsons, he would really hate Capitol Critters, which also honed in on topical issues like gun control and drug use. The fact he never spoke of it demonstrated its low popularity and irrelevance in pop culture.
While Capitol Critters did start off with some promise before moving to Saturdays, the fact it kept declining in the ratings says the viewer interest simply wasn’t very high. There was also the issue of figuring out exactly who Capitol Critters was for. ABC had partnered with Burger King to create kids toys for Capitol Critters. This may have made sense for some hugely popular cartoons over time like The Flintstones and The Simpsons, but not for a new, unestablished series like Capitol Critters. It was also certainly a choice for ABC to advertise the animated Capitol Critters as from the producers of Doogie Howser, M.D., yet make no mention of the Hanna-Barbera connection. It was almost like Capitol Critters was made for both everybody and nobody at the same time.
Aftermath