CBS directly produced the series and ordered an entire season, heavily promoting it in the run-up to the
1987–88 season. However, it was abruptly pulled a few days before its debut, and (just like
Little Muppet Monsters) was replaced with an extra half-hour of
Muppet Babies, which was expanded to 90 minutes in order to fill the timeslot after
Garbage Pail Kids was pulled from the schedule. CBS removed the series from their schedule, following protests from
Action for Children's Television, the National Coalition on Television Violence, and the
Christian Leaders for Responsible Television (a part of the
American Family Association). The reasons given were that the series ridiculed the disabled and glorified violence, along with the claim that the program was effectively a
program-length commercial for the
Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. Some advertisers, such as
Nabisco,
McDonald's and
Crayola also pulled out, either due to pressure from interest groups, or because they were unable to pre-screen the series from advanced tapes. A few CBS affiliates, such as
WIBW-TV in
Topeka, Kansas,
KOTV in
Tulsa, Oklahoma,
WBNS-TV in
Columbus, Ohio,
KHOU-TV in
Houston, Texas made known they would not carry the series on their stations, notifying CBS of their pre-emptions weeks in advance of the debut. Despite not airing in the United States, the series did air internationally, including in
Spain,
Italy,
France,
Germany, and the
United Kingdom, among other countries. ==References==