Super-Ambitious Failed '90s Shows That Were Light Years Ahead

Aeon Flux is an avant-garde sci-fi animated series. It shows female assassin Aeon Flux from Monica. Her mission involves infiltrating the strongholds of the neighboring country, Bregna, set in a cyberpunk dystopian future.

Air Dates: November 30, 1991 - October 10, 1995. This series ran for 16 episodes.

Why It Didn't Catch On: People hailed it as one of the most daring shows.science fiction seriesPeter Chung created it. It was political. Monica built an anarchist society. Bregna ran a police state. Political commentary and sci-fi did not mix then. MTV did not mix them either. Aeon dies at the end of every short film. She dies at the end of half-hour episodes. Peter Chung meant this. It did not make a hopeful series. It showed a hostile dystopian future.andThe hero bites it? Maybe too much for the 1990s.

Why It Could Work Today: Modern society likes a dystopia. Look at this.The Handmaid's TaleorAltered Carbon. Dark, dystopian, political commentary now takes over the airwaves. Throw climate change in. A dystopia is not a distant thing anymore. Audiences relate now more than ever.

This superhero parody follows Dexter Douglas. A geeky teen gains superhuman strength and agility from a computer bug triggered by a "secret key sequence."

Air Dates: September 5, 1995 - June 1, 1997. This series had 24 episodes.

Why It Didn't Catch On: It aired too early.Courage the CowardlyDogIt premiered on Cartoon Network in 1999. Then Invader Zim followed on Nickelodeon in 2001. Cartoons got weird by the end of the '90s. Animators started making shows for older audiences. Adult Swim grew popular over the next decade.Invader Zimon Nickelodeon in 2001. Cartoons got weird by the end of the '90s. Animators started making shows for a slightly older crowd. Adult Swim surged in popularity over the ensuing decade.Freakazoid!Would have been a great addition to the network. (Although Cartoon Network did air the reruns from 1997-2003, where it became a cult classic.)Cartoon Networkdid air the reruns from 1997-2003, where it solidified its status as a cult classic.

Why It Could Work Today: We live in a golden age for superhero movies and TV. DC is popular on TV. Arrow, Supergirl, and Black Lightning show this.Arrow, Supergirl, andBlack Lightning. A superhero parody fits perfectly. Weird cartoons are in high demand.Rick and Morty,anyone?

Based on theImage Comics seriesSam Kieth created this. A homeless superhero protects his social worker and friend Julie from the all-knowing Mr. Gone, both in the real world and the fantasy world.

Air Dates: April 8, 1995 - June 19, 1995. This series had 13 episodes.

Why It Didn't Catch OnThe Maxx is both real and confusing. In the real world, the Maxx is a homeless guy in a cardboard box. In the Outback fantasy land, he is a warrior protecting the Jungle Queen (Julie in real life). Mr. Gone, a bad villain, mocks the Maxx and Julie. Small creatures from both the Outback and reality help him, looking human. The show was abstract, sometimes pretty, often horrific. The show's main idea tackled processing trauma, heavy stuff for teens.

Why It Could Work TodayA show for teens showing how hard it is to process trauma, especially violation and intimacy, matters now more than ever.Euphoriaand13 Reasons WhyThis attempts that, butThe Maxxdid something no one has copied.

Marshall Teller (Omri Katz), who also played Max inHocus PocusMoves to a Midwestern town that is "the center of weirdness for the entire planet." His best friend Simon (Justin Shenkarow) helps him investigate the supernatural mysteries around town.

Air DatesSeptember 15, 1991 - April 12, 1992 (19 episodes)

Why It Didn't Catch On: The sci-fi/horror craze had not arrived yet. Audiences did not want a primetime show about a town with a werewolf, creepy Tupperware, and zombies in pajamas.forever,and zombies in pajamas. (Even cult classicTwin Peaks, which debuted in 1990, got canceled after two seasons.) Plus, some characters were children from broken homes, and adults were the villains. If the show aired years later, when we hitBuffyandX-Filesterritory, Eerie, Indiana, might have gotten more seasons. The show gained enough popularity for a 1998 spin-off series (Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension), but that only lasted one season.

Why It Could Work Today: Eerie, Indiana, walked soStranger Things could run. Kids solve mysteries while biking in a small Indiana town that is a hot spot for strange activity. Also, Eeriehas aTwilight Zone-like quality; each episode is a separate adventure—and The Twilight Zonejust got a reboot. There is a large market for weird and unexplained things, especially in a town that seems normal on the surface.

Created by Chris Carter (The X-Files), Millenniumfollows Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), a freelance forensic profiler and former FBI agent who can see the world through the eyes of various fiends.

Air Dates: October 25, 1996 - May 21, 1999 (67 episodes)

Why It Didn't Catch OnMillennium got three seasons and a cult following. The show did not get the wide appeal of its spiritual predecessor.

People fear government spying. Phones listen to us. True crime now gets more attention.X-Files got a revival season. Chris Carter himself wants to do a Millennium revival season.X-Filesgot a revival season, and Chris Carter himself even wants to do aMillenniumMillenniumrevival season.

The show follows friends in an unnamed city struggling to grow up. Kevin hates living with his brother because he is a social outcast. Andy daydreams about a perfect career but struggles to pay rent. Andy's girlfriend Gwen, and their roommates Posey and James join them.Mission HillThis show addresses the unrealistic promises of the American dream.

Air DatesSeptember 23, 1999 - July 16, 2000 (13 episodes)

The show failed to connect.:Mission HillMission Hill offered a mature look at twenty-something culture in the late '90s. It was a cartoon, but it lacked cartoonish elements, which likely ended it. At that time, the American dream seemed real. Why would viewers watch young people struggle to pay rent? Should they not be partying or enjoying not living with their parents? It just didn't feel relatable yet.

The show could work today.Millennials struggle. A new report shows this generation probably won't match their parents' salaries and they are not buying homes. They are broke, and the American Dream is too.Mission HillMission Hill mirrors the 2010s millennial struggle almost perfectly.

Set in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the show tracks the ups and downs of teenagers in the social circle of 15-year-old Angela Chase (Claire Danes).

Air DatesAugust 25, 1994 - January 26, 1995 (19 episodes)

The show failed to connect.: It was too real.Boy Meets WorldandSaved by the Bellhad serious episodes, but they were one-offs.My So-Called Lifedealt withmajor social issuesof the mid-1990s. Unlike happy-go-lucky shows, these issues remained part of the story. The show showed teenage years as hard and confusing, not fun and whimsical.

The show could work today.: In one word:Euphoria. The HBO teen drama follows a teenage substance user and touches on the same issues.

Earth 2follows space-faring colonists stranded on an alien planet 22 light-years from Earth.

Air DatesNovember 6, 1994 - June 4, 1995 (21 episodes)

The show failed to connect.: The crew encounters a time-warp dimension hole, bloodthirsty aliens, spiders, and strange, complex things. This is fine, but the lack of humor makes the show totally bleak.

The show could work today.: It is basicallyBattlestar GalacticameetsLost. Plus, it is close to Netflix's Lost in Space reboot.Lost in Spacereboot.

The series tracks college sweethearts John Loengard (Eric Close) and Kim Sayers (Kim Ward) through the 1960s. They try to stop an alien race plotting to conquer Earth by twisting history.

Air Dates: September 21, 1996 to May 31, 1997 (20 episodes)

Why It Didn't Catch On: It's The X-FilesAudiences did not embrace it. Mulder and Scully were college sweethearts in the 1960s. The show focused on conspiracy theories, Project Bluebook, and government corruption. These topics gained traction in the 2010s through documentaries and podcasts. Poor acting, weak dialogue, odd editing, and bad CGI hurt the show.

Why It Could Work Today: The X-Filesgot a revival season, and so didTwin Peaks. Today's audiences enjoy the bizarre, the strange, and the unexplained. They also feel nostalgia for eras they never lived. Conspiracy theories are fun now. Questioning the government's surveillance? That is also popular.

The sitcom stars Chris Elliott as Chris, a 30-year-old paperboy living above his parents' garage.

Air Dates: September 23, 1990 to March 8, 1992 (35 episodes)

Why It Didn't Catch On: The show's premise was basically, "What if Dennis the Menace was 30 years old?" It paid respect to 1960s and 1970s sitcoms. It also aimed to twist the genre. The show failed because it was weird. Very weird. The episode "Spewey and Me," a parody of sitcoms of the 1960sand '70s, but it was meant to subvert the genre. It failed because it was strange. Really strange. The episode "Spewey and Me," a parody of E.T. the Exra-TerrestrialandMac & Me, almost did not air. Spewey was a gross, vomiting alien that looked like a deformed fly. However, the show's creators wanted it to be a hopeful story of rebirth.

Why It Could Work Today: Eastbound & Down, Arrested Development, andIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 'Nuff said. Each hugely popular show follows unconventional, narcissistic, and sociopathic characters doing strange and sometimes disgusting things. If Charlie Day can chomp a mall Santa, an alien can throw up on TV. It might've been strange back then for a sitcom to star a cast of unlikable characters, but audiences eat up that today.

Set in 2193, police officer Darien Lambert (Dale Midkiff) travels two centuries into the past. He apprehends and returns criminals who escaped prison in the future.

Air Dates: January 20, 1993 to December 3, 1994 (44 episodes)

Why It Didn't Catch OnThe show has a fun idea but poor execution. Lambert travels back to the 1990s, but the setting lacks any cool future feel. Time-traveling criminals, called "fugitives," commit normal crimes. One fugitive harasses a country singer; another blackmails a politician; a third works with the mafia. Lambert's sidekick, a computer named Selma, sometimes becomes an attractive woman.

This show could work today.There is a history of short-lived space cop shows likeLife on Mars, Continuum, Haven, and TorchwoodThese shows keep appearing. People want to watch authority figures catch lawbreakers with weird powers or superhuman abilities, not just common criminals.

Mercy PointMercy Point is a science fiction medical drama set on the galaxy's edge. The show tracks doctors and nurses in a 23rd-century medical facility treating humans and aliens in the new age of space travel.

Air DatesOctober 6, 1998 - July 15, 1999 (9 episodes)

Why It Didn't Catch OnAudiences did not accept "ERThe show played it too straight in space. It might have worked better as a "dramedy" because of its over-the-top VFX and silly episode plots. Also, in 1998, there was little outside-the-box thinking for a hospital in 2249 besides artificial wombs, holographic X-rays, and zero-gravity operations.

Why It Could Work TodayWe have a better idea of what 2249 looks like now, and we have the CGI to support it.Battlestar GalacticaIt ran for six years and had an impressive run, andWestworldWestworld is one of the most popular shows on television. Audiences focus on the future, so something likeGrey's Anatomy-in-a-space-station could actually work.

Set in 2040, the show follows former NYPD detective Patrick Brogan (Ted Shackelford) and his partner Jack Haldane (Rob Youngblood) as they adapt to life as officers on the planet Altor.

Air DatesOctober 3, 1994 - July 24, 1995 (24 episodes)

Why It Didn't Catch OnThis space show played it too straight. Cheesy acting, comical alien prosthetics, and the series being set just decades in the future almost made it a parody.

Why It Could Work TodayScience is advanced enough now that living on another planet seems close. Look atThe Expanse,which features a detective who lives and works in an asteroid belt.

Jack Noseworthy (Event Horizon, Idle HandsEd Bellamy stars as a motorcycle-riding, leather-jacket-clad dreamboat. On his 20th birthday, he learns a childhood medical experiment implanted a microchip in his skull. This chip makes him a genius but ends his life at 21.

Air Dates: 1994-1995.June 15, 1994 - September 7, 1994 (13 episodes)

The show failed to gain traction.The show had poor dialogue. A noisy soundtrack played random top 40 hits. Editing was choppy. The premise was corny: Ed learns about his microchip when someone (a young Adam Scott) breaks into his home and gives him a videotape. Ed then runs because he and a random girl (Lisa Dean Ryan) in his bedroom are framed for a slaying. He dies at 21. That is how the show finishes. It makes you ask why a secret agent spends 13 episodes trying to kill Jack when the agent knows Jack will expire.

Today, the show could work."Teen sci-fi/drama" exploded since the '90s. The CW'sThe 100.Follows a group of post-apocalyptic adolescents. It is a British comedy.Misfits.Features five juvenile delinquents. They gain superpowers after a freak electrical surge, and evenRoswell.Got a reboot. People did not want to watch teens do adult things then, especially in a weird sci-fi setting.