There are many shows that were lost to time, lasting only a few seasons before cancellation. Many have gone on to build passionate fanbases, including Swat Kats, which aired on Turner Broadcasting in the mid 90s. Despite lasting a season and a half before it got axed on the network, Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron was ahead of its time, and perhaps that’s one of many reasons why people love it so much.

Swat Kats is set in a fictional city run by anthromorphic felines known as kats. The two main characters—Razor and T-Bone—are vigilante pilots who pilot a futuristic fighter jet to take down the bad guys. The only problem is their direct competition with Megakat City’s militarized police force, known as the Enforcers.

Razor and T-Bone were part of the force before they were dishonorably discharged for disobeying orders from Commander Feral.

The Canceled ’90s Cartoon That Was Basically Top Gun With Cats

Despite being one of Turner’s most popular shows in 1994 and more planned, Swat Kats was canned with three unfinished episodes. While the late Ted Turner wasn’t directly responsible for the cancellation, he was allegedly looking to tone down the violence in his cartoons.

“We have more cartoons than anybody: The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Smurfs, Scooby-Doo. They’re nonviolent,” said Turner at 1995’s Variety/Wertheim Schroder Big Picture Media Conference. “We don’t have to worry that we’re encouraging kids to kill each other—like some of the other cartoon programs do.”

A Swat Kats Revival?

In 2022, the show’s creators—Christian and Yvon Tremblay—announced that they were collaborating with India’s Toonz Media Group on Swat-Kats: Revolution. There hasn’t been much movement since then, leaving fans wondering if the revival will ever see the light of day. According to one fan who reached out directly to the Tremblays, they no longer associate with Toonz Media Group, but Swat-Kats is still looking for another home.

While a new animated project is still up in the air, the Tremblays successfully exceeded their funding goal for the first-ever comic about the fan-favorite vigilantes. Its expected release date is this August.