List of adult animated television series of the 1990s

For adult animated TV series before 1990, see List of adult animated television series before 1990. For adult animated TV series in the 2000s, see List of adult animated television series of the 2000s. For adult animated TV series in the 2010s, see List of adult animated television series of the 2010s. For adult animated TV series in the 2020s, see List of adult animated television series of the 2020s.

This is a list of adult animated television series of the 1990s (including streaming television series); that is, animated programs targeted towards audiences aged 18 and over in mind. Works in this medium could be considered adult for any number of reasons, which include the incorporation of explicit or suggestive sexual content, graphic violence, profane language, dark humour, or other thematic elements inappropriate for children. Works in this genre may explore philosophical, political, or social issues. Some productions are noted for their complex and/or experimental storytelling and animation techniques. Adult animation is typically defined as animation which skews toward adults.^[1][2][3][4] It is also described as something that "formative youths should stay far, far away from"^[5] or has adult humor^[6][7] and comes in various styles,^{[8][9][10][11]} but especially sitcoms and comedies.^[12] These animations can also "appeal to wide swaths of viewers," including those aged 18–34.^[13][14] AdWeek called adult animation "animated projects aimed at grown-ups, not kids."^[15]

In North America, there is children's animation, adult animation, and young adult animation, with various mature animations in the United States, especially in television series. This page mainly includes series in North America and Europe, on programming blocks such as Adult Swim, Animation Domination, Adult Swim (in Canada), and others, with other mature animations, including web series and animated films covered on other pages. These series should not be confused with cartoon pornography or hentai.

List

United States

Title	Genre	Seasons/episodes	Show creator(s)	Original release	Network	Studio	Age rating	Technique	Source
Æon Flux	Avant-garde	3 seasons, 16 episodes	Peter Chung	November 30, 1991 – October 10, 1995	MTV	MTV Animation	TV-MA	Traditional	[16]
	Science fiction
Liquid Television	Animation showcase	3 seasons, 27 episodes	Japhet Asher	November 30, 1991 – January 1, 1995	MTV	MTV Animation	TV-14	Traditional	[17]
						BBC Enterprises
						Colossal Pictures
						BIG Pictures
						Noyes & Laybourne Enterprises
Capitol Critters	Comedy	1 season, 13 episodes	Nat Mauldin	January 28, 1992 – March 14, 1992[a]	ABC	Hanna-Barbera	TV-PG	Traditional	[18]
			Steven Bochco	1995[b]	Cartoon Network	Steven Bochco Productions
			Michael Wagner			20th Television
Fish Police	Crime	1 season, 6 episodes	based on the comic created by Steve Moncuse	February 28, 1992 – March 13, 1992	CBS	Hanna-Barbera	TV-PG	Traditional	[18]
	Comedy
Beavis and Butt-Head	Sitcom	8 seasons, 222 episodes	Mike Judge	Original series: March 8, 1993 – November 28, 1997	MTV	J.J. Sedelmaier Productions[c]	TV-14	Traditional	[19]
						MTV Animation	TV-PG[d]
				Revival series: October 27 – December 29, 2011	Comedy Central	Film Roman[e]
				2nd Revival series[f]	Paramount+	Judgemental Films[18]
						MTV Entertainment Studios
The Critic	Sitcom	2 seasons, 23 episodes	Al Jean	January 26, 1994 – May 21, 1995	ABC[g]	Gracie Films	TV-PG/TV-14	Traditional	[20]
			Mike Reiss		Fox[h]	Film Roman
						Columbia Pictures Television
						Rough Draft Studios
Duckman	Sitcom	4 seasons, 70 episodes	Everett Peck	March 5, 1994 – September 6, 1997	USA Network	Klasky Csupo	TV-14	Traditional	[21]
						Reno & Osburn Productions	TV-PG[i]
						Paramount Television
Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Comedy	11 seasons, 110 episodes	Mike Lazzo	April 15, 1994 – May 31, 2008	Cartoon Network[j]	Ghost Planet Industries[k]	TV-PG	Traditional[l]	[22]
	Talk show				Adult Swim[m]	Williams Street[n]	TV-Y7[o]	Flash[p]
					GameTap[q]	Cartoon Network Studios[r]	TV-14[s]
The Brothers Grunt	Comedy	1 season, 12 episodes	Danny Antonucci	August 15, 1994 – April 9, 1995	MTV	a.k.a. Cartoon	TV-14	Traditional	[23]
						MTV Animation
The Head	Action	2 seasons, 14 episodes	Eric Fogel	September 1, 1994 – March 1, 1996	MTV	MTV Animation	TV-14	Traditional	[24]
	Adventure
The Maxx	Action	1 season, 13 episodes	Sam Kieth	April 8, 1995 – June 19, 1995	MTV	MTV Animation	TV-14	Traditional	[24]
	Adventure		Bill Messner-Loebs			Rough Draft Studios
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist	Sitcom	6 seasons, 81 episodes	Jonathan Katz	May 28, 1995 – February 13, 2002	Comedy Central	HBO Downtown Productions	TV-PG	Traditional	[25]
			Tom Snyder			Popular Arts Entertainment
						Tom Snyder Productions
Cartoon Sushi	Animation showcase	1 season, 15 episodes	Danny Antonucci	1997 – 1998	MTV	a.k.a. Cartoon	TV-MA	Traditional	[26]
			Keith Alcorn			DNA Productions
			MTV Animation
King of the Hill	Sitcom	13 seasons, 259 episodes	Mike Judge	January 12, 1997 – May 6, 2010	Fox	Film Roman	TV-PG	Traditional	[27]
			Greg Daniels			3 Arts Entertainment	TV-14[t]
						Deedle-Dee Productions
						Judgemental Films
						20th Television
Daria	Sitcom	5 seasons, 65 episodes	Glenn Eichler	March 3, 1997 – January 21, 2002	MTV	Tenth Annual Industries	TV-PG[u]	Traditional	[28]
			Susie Lewis			MTV Animation	TV-14[v]
Todd McFarlane's Spawn	Superhero	3 seasons, 18 episodes	Todd McFarlane	May 16, 1997 – May 28, 1999	HBO	HBO Animation	TV-MA	Traditional	[29]
	Drama
Spicy City	Science fiction	1 season, 6 episodes	Ralph Bakshi	July 11, 1997 – August 22, 1997	HBO	HBO Animation	TV-MA	Traditional	[30]
South Park	Sitcom	25 seasons, 316 episodes	Trey Parker	August 13, 1997 – present	Comedy Central	Celluoid Studios[w]	TV-MA	Traditional[x]	[31]
			Matt Stone			Braniff Productions[y]		Digital Animation
						South Park Digital Studios, LLC.[z]
The Goddamn George Liquor Program	Drama	1 season, 8 episodes	John Kricfalusi	October 15, 1997 – 1998		Spumco		Flash/Traditional	[32]
Celebrity Deathmatch	Sports entertainment	6 seasons, 93 episodes	Eric Fogel	Original series: May 14, 1998 –June 6, 2002	MTV[aa]	MTV Animation	TV-14	Stop-Motion	[33]
	Parody			Revival series: June 10, 2006 – March 30, 2007	MTV2[ab]	The Comedy Network[ac]
						Cuppa Coffee Studio[ad]
The PJs	Sitcom	3 seasons, 44 episodes	Eddie Murphy	January 10, 1999 – May 20, 2001	Fox[ae]	Imagine Television	TV-14	Stop-Motion	[34]
			Larry Wilmore		The WB[af]	Eddie Murphy Productions
			Steve Tompkins			Will Vinton Studios
						Charged Productions[ag]
						Touchstone Television[ah]
						Warner Bros. Television[ai]
Dilbert	Sitcom	2 seasons, 30 episodes	based on the comic strip created by Scott Adams	January 25, 1999 – July 25, 2000	UPN	Idbox	TV-PG	Traditional	[35]
						United Media Productions
						Columbia TriStar Television
Family Guy	Sitcom	22 seasons, 418 episodes	Seth MacFarlane	January 31, 1999 – present	Fox	Fuzzy Door Productions	TV-14	Traditional[aj]	[31]
						20th Television Animation	TV-PG[ak]	Toon Boom[al]
						20th Television	TV-MA
Station Zero	Comedy	1 season, 20 episodes	Tramp Daly	March 8, 1999 – April 6, 1999	MTV	Possible Worlds	TV-14	Traditional	[36]
	Musical					C-Traze Studios
						Upfront Entertainment
						MTV Animation
Futurama	Science fiction	8 seasons, 150 episodes	Matt Groening	March 28, 1999 – present	Fox[am]	The Curiosity Company	TV-14[an]	Traditional	[37]
	Sitcom				Comedy Central[ao]	20th Television[ap]	TV-PG[aq]
					Hulu[ar]	20th Television Animation[as]	TV-14[at]
Downtown	Comedy	1 season, 13 episodes	Chris Prynoski	August 3, 1999 – November 8, 1999	MTV	MTV Animation	TV-14	Traditional	[38]
Mission Hill	Sitcom	1 season, 13 episodes	Bill Oakley	September 24, 1999 – August 11, 2002	The WB	Bill Oakley	TV-14	Traditional	[39]
			Josh Weinstein		Adult Swim	Josh Weinstein Productions
						Castle Rock Entertainment

United Kingdom

Title	Genre	Series/episodes	Show creator(s)	Original release	Network	Studio	Source
The Animals of Farthing Wood	Adventure, Drama	3 seasons, 39 episodes	based on the book created by Colin Dann	January 6, 1993 - 21 December 1995	CBBC	Telemagination La Fabrique
Crapston Villas	Satire	2 series, 20 episodes	Sarah Ann Kennedy	October 27, 1995 – January 19, 1998	Channel 4	Spitting Image	[40]
Pond Life	Comedy	2 series, 21 episodes	Candy Guard	December 2, 1996 – October 10, 2000	Channel 4	Collingwood & Co.	[41]
Stressed Eric	Black comedy	2 series, 13 episodes	Carl Gorham	April 20, 1998 – October 11, 2000	BBC Two	Klasky Csupo	[42]
						Absolutely Productions
Rex the Runt	Comedy	2 series, 26 episodes	Richard Goleszowski	December 21, 1998 – December 16, 2001	BBC Two	Aardman Animations	[43]
						BBC Bristol
						Egmont Imagination
						EVA Entertainment
Angry Kid	Comedy	4 series, 66 episodes	Darren Walsh	January 1, 1999 – Nov 8, 2019	Atom.com	Aardman Animations	[44]
					YouTube	Mr. Morris Productions
					Channel 4[au]
					BBC Three[av]

Canada

Title	Genre	Seasons/episodes	Show creator(s)	Original release	Network	Studio	Source
Kevin Spencer	Black comedy	8 seasons, 112 episodes	Rick Kaulbars	31 October 1998 – 6 November 2005	CTV Comedy Channel	Atomic Productions	[45]
			Greg Lawrence

Latin America and Brazil

Title	Country	Genre	Seasons/episodes	Show creator(s)	Original release	Network	Studio	Source
El Siguiente Programa	Colombia	Comedy	5 seasons, 93 episodes	Santiago Moure	October 29, 1997 – September 1, 2000	Canal A[aw]	Gaira	[46]
		Satire		Martín de Francisco	November 14, 2019		Conexión Creativa
						Canal 1[ax]	Cenpro Televisión

Co-productions

Title	Country	Genre	Seasons/episodes	Show creator(s)	Original release	Network	Studio	Source
Bob and Margaret	Canada	Comedy	4 seasons, 52 episodes	David Fine	June 22, 1998 – December 25, 2001	CTV Comedy Channel	Global	[47]
	United Kingdom			Alison Snowden
						Channel 4	Channel 4
							Philippines Animation Studios
							National Film Board of Canada
							Nelvana

See also

• List of adult animated television series
  • List of adult animated television series of the 2010s
  • List of adult animated television series of the 2020s
• LGBT representation in adult animation
• Modern animation in the United States
• Lists of animated feature films
• Independent animation
• Animation in the United States in the television era
• Cartoon violence

Notes

1. Episodes 1-7)
2. Episodes 8-13
3. Season 1
4. some episodes
5. Season 8
6. Release Date TBA
7. Season 1
8. Season 2
9. some episodes
10. Seasons 1-6
11. 1994–98
12. 1994-1996
13. Seasons 7-9
14. 1999–2008
15. some episodes
16. 1997-2008
17. Seasons 10-11
18. 1994–2001
19. some episodes
20. one episode
21. season 1
22. seasons 2-5
23. 1997
24. Pilot only
25. 1997–2009
26. 2009–present
27. Original series
28. Revival series
29. 2006–07
30. 2006–07
31. Seasons 1-2
32. Season 3
33. 2000–01
34. Seasons 1-2
35. Season 3
36. seasons 1-7
37. (a few episodes
38. season 8-present
39. Seasons 1-4
40. all Comedy Central episodes, a few Fox episodes
41. Seasons 5-7
42. credited as 30th Century Fox Television
43. most Fox episodes
44. Season 8
45. credited as 30th Television Animation
46. two episodes
47. Series 1-2
48. Special
49. Season 1
50. Seasons 2-4

References

Citations

1. Motamayor, Rafael (March 10, 2020). "11 Adult Animation Shows We Can't Wait to See in 2020". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 3, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
2. Vargas, Alani (October 1, 2018). "7 Animated TV Shows On Netflix That Adults Will Absolutely Love". Bustle. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
3. Jaworski, Michelle; Riese, Monica; Weber, Sarah (January 10, 2019). "The 17 best cartoons for adults". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
4. Collider Staff (April 21, 2020). "The 25 Best Cartoons for Adults Streaming Right Now". Collider. Archived from the original on October 4, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
5. Fowler, Matt (March 25, 2019). "The 25 Best Adult Cartoon TV Series". IGN. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
6. Krell, Jason (April 8, 2014). "Why Saying Animation Is Only For Kids Is Bullshit". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
7. Laux, Cameron (November 27, 2019). "Is Japanese Anime Going Mainstream?". BBC. Archived from the original on May 20, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
8. Baron, Reuben (December 23, 2019). "Adult Animation Is Better Than Ever - So Why Does It Draw Ridicule?". CBR. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
9. Barrett, Duncan (November 2, 2020). "Animation nation: how Covid fuelled the rise of adult cartoons". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
10. Sarto, Dan (March 19, 2020). "What Future Lies in Store for Non-Comedy Adult Animation?". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
11. Silliman, Brian (November 2, 2019). "SYFY drawing in more animation with midnight-ish block of adult genre fun". SYFY. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
12. Sanderson, Katherine (June 30, 2020). "The Future of Adult Animation (With and Without Comedy)". Animation Ave. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
13. Kunkel III, Earl Monroe (2009). Why ARE people laughing at rape? American adult animation and Adult Swim: Aqua Teen Hunger Force as contemporary humor (Masters). Lehigh University. pp. 5–6, 9. ProQuest 304916287. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
14. Mak, Phillip (July 10, 2020). "Why is everybody talking about adult animation?". Toon Boom Animation. Archived from the original on August 30, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
15. Sutton, Kelsey (April 12, 2020). "How Adult Animation Became the Hottest Genre for Streaming Services". AdWeek. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
16. Satenstein, Liana (November 6, 2020). "Revisiting the Dystopian Beauty of the '90s Animated Show Aeon Flux". Vogue. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
17. Svetkey, Benjamin (June 14, 1991). "What is Liquid Television". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
18. Cerone, Daniel (February 28, 1992). "'Fish Police' on Endangered Species List : Animation: Prime-time cartoons are an expensive, time-consuming venture. Networks are wary after troubles encountered by post-'Simpsons' projects". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
19. Cohen, Karl F (1997). "Beavis & Butt-head and the S&P Rules". Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 146–148. ISBN 0-7864-0395-0.
20. Cudmore, Libby (January 22, 2019). "It Didn't Stink, So Why Did The Critic Fail to Become a Hit Show?". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
21. Kendall, G. (December 15, 2020). "Duckman: How One of the '90s Edgiest Cartoons Was Forgotten". CBR. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
22. "'Space Ghost Coast to Coast' Is Still Influential and Funny, 25 Years Later". Geek.com. April 12, 2019. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
23. Mendoza, N.R. (October 30, 1994). "Nickelodeon offers monsters in training". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
24. Erickson 2005, p. 568.
25. Perlmutter 2018, p. 167.
26. Perlmutter 2018, p. 114.
27. Cubillas, Sean (November 26, 2020). "King Of The Hill: 10 Ways The Series Changed Since Season One". CBR. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
28. Cabilas, Sean (February 11, 2020). "10 Best Romances In Adult Animation". CBR. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
29. Pursell, Chris (March 23, 1997). "Spicy toons spawn life on HBO". Variety. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
30. Solomon, Charles (11 July 1997). "'Spicy City': Adolescent Humor for Adults". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
31. Bruncati, Danielle (November 18, 2020). "10 Longest Running Animated TV Shows Of All Time, Ranked By Duration". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
32. Pacheco, Dan (November 7, 1997). "Web-toons: Hot Flash?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
33. "Down for the Count: Who's Going to Take the Next Fall in MTV's 'Celebrity Deathmatch'?". Hartford Courant. April 25, 1999. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
34. AWN Staff Editors (January 13, 1999). "P.J.s arrive on Fox". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2021. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
35. Cubillas, Sean (November 12, 2019). "10 Adult Animated Series That Need a Revival". CBR. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
36. "We Watch Station Zero". Vibe. April 1999. p. 168. Retrieved January 6, 2021. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
37. Cabilas, Sean (September 30, 2019). "Top 10 Adult Animated Series (According to IMDb)". CBR. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
38. Erickson 2005, p. 567-568.
39. Perlmutter 2018, p. 399-400.
40. Rees, Jasper (October 28, 1995). "TELEVISION Crapston Villas (Channel 4)". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
41. Crump 2019, p. 244.
42. Perlmutter 2018, p. 602.
43. "Animation archive up in smoke". BBC News. October 10, 2005. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
44. "Angry Kid". Aardman. Archived from the original on September 16, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
45. Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, Prairie Regional Council, CBSC Decision 98/99-1173, 1 (Canadian Broadcast Standards Council November 18, 1999) ("Kevin Spencer is an animated series about a young boy from a dysfunctional family, who, according to the title song, is a "chain-smoking, alcoholic sociopath." The program airs at midnight on CTV. It is rated "14+" and an on-screen icon appears to that effect at the beginning of the show.").
46. "Vuelve 'El siguiente programa'" ['The next program' is back]. Channel Thirteen (in Spanish). November 13, 2019. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
47. Perlmutter 2018, p. 85-86.

Sources

• Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. ISBN 9781476672939.
• Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-1476665993.
• Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1538103739.
• Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved January 3, 2021.