History of Simpsons competitors

John Smith 1882

My mistake
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I was thinking about how prior to the debut of King Of The Hill, the Simpsons really didn't have any serious, long lasting competitors. That wasn't until the Simpsons was in its 8th season. Prior to that, most of its competitors were utterly pathetic. Shows like Capitol Critters, Fish Police, and Family Dog tried to cash in on the trend that the Simpsons set of adult animation, and they didn't even last a full season. Prior to KOTH, only Ren & Stimpy came close to being a serious competitor, but that was relatively short-lived. After KOTH, there was south Park, which started during season 9 of the Simpsons, and by season 10, there was Family Guy and Futurama. By that point, the Simpsons was clearly past its prime and that would have been a good stopping point if you ask me. However, that wasn't meant to be.

Anything else you consider to be a Simpsons competitor?
 
Beavis and Butthead was often regarded as a competitor. Just like The Simpsons, B&B caused a huge uproar during the early days since they were regarded as even worse role models than Bart was.
 
As has been said, Beavis and Butthead and maybe Ren and Stimpy (I say "maybe" regarding Ren and Stimpy beacuse it was never officially an adult cartoon but in fact a childrens show) were the only notable competitors with The Simpsons during the shows golden years.

So yeah, it does seem that, probably coincidentally, serious competition against The Simpsons status as the king of adult animation for the most part didn't seem to start appearing untill just around the time The Simpsons was starting to slide downhill, or at least just before that.
 
USA network's Duckman lasted four seasons, from 1994 to 1997. 70 episodes, and three Emmy nominations for animated program, although to be fair, back then, this wasn't that hard to do. In fact, Homer Simpson makes an appearance in one episode:
 
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Beavis & Butt-head is a good call. I initially didn't consider it because (1) Mike Judge credited the success of Ren & Stimpy as the reason Beavis & Butt-head was greenlit rather than The Simpsons and (2) I don't believe The Simpsons ever took shots at B&B like they did with R&S (Clip not done yet, "When did you last hear anyone talk about Ren & Stimpy?") (3) In the commentaries they would mention being worried they would lose the Emmy to R&S but but not B&B.
Despite those factors, It definitely counts, just not to the extent of later shows like KOTH, South Park, and Family Guy
 
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