21 Years Ago, Cartoon Network Ended Its Coolest Sci-Fi Series (And It’s Been Erased With No Reboot Hopes)

January 17, 2026, 6:30pm

21 years ago, Cartoon Network ended its coolest science-fiction series that was unlike anything else on the network at the time or since, but the franchise has been completely wiped off the map ever since with no hopes of ever coming back with a potential reboot. Some of Cartoon Network’s classics have not had as much as the others. Because while there are some of the classics that are working on new reboot projects and other new entries, there have been some that have been wiped out from streaming platforms and other libraries.

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But then there are a few Cartoon Network classic shows that have been wiped out from its history for one reason or another, and the most notorious example was Megas XLR. The animated series ended its run with Cartoon Network 21 years ago, on January 15, 2001, and the series has since been completely removed from the network’s past. Not only that, but it nearly almost had a revival before getting shut down amidst the early merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery. It’s just been a string of bad luck for this one.

Megas XLR Made Its Cartoon Network Premiere 21 Years Ago

Megas XLR was first created by Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic for Cartoon Network as part of a cool Summer event where the network debuted several different animated pilots with the hopes of getting a full series order. The original pilot, which was known as “Lowbrow” back in 2002, debuted as part of “Cartoon Cartoon Weekend Summerfest” where fans would vote on the pilots they liked the best to become a full Cartoon Cartoon. The series then made its debut in 2004, and would run for a short two season run with the network before its end in 2005.

Megas XLR was unlike anything on Cartoon Network at the time or since. The series followed two slackers, Coop and his best friend Jamie, as they stumble on a mecha that somehow made its way to their New Jersey junkyard from the future. Using his mechanical skills, Coop brought the robot back to life and ended up fighting against all sorts of alien and giant monster threats that would start to pop up. Teaming up with Kiva, a mecha pilot from the future who has been searching for the lost robot, this series was basically a fun parodical take on mecha anime, comics, and all sorts of other great influence it wore on its sleeves.

The series was packed with a ton of action, and often felt cool because it didn’t talk down to kids. It felt like both a series for teenagers, and one that any kid of any age could jump into thanks to its fun jokes. Coop never took himself too seriously, and was the perfect kind of mecha pilot to take on an alien empire. The show was packed with jokes that you might not catch as a kid, but jokes that would end up sticking with you for a long time after once they really clicked.

What Happened to Megas XLR?

But while Megas XLR was such a cool show that was a cult hit with its fans, it wasn’t exactly a popular one with Cartoon Network. The show had relatively low ratings despite the original pilot doing well, and even a stint on Toonami couldn’t save it. The show came to an end after two seasons, and then got hit even harder than ever expected. The series never really got a chance to find success on DVD or streaming releases because it was ultimately written off for tax purposes.

This meant that Cartoon Network could not produce anything for the series domestically let they face legal troubles, and this included any potential future releases. While the series’ brand was successful enough through international digital sales to try and get a new Megas XLR project off the ground when the rights reverted back to Warner Bros., series co-creator Jody Schaeffer confirmed that while a reboot was greenlit it ultimately didn’t happen as a result of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. So any chance of it potentially making a comeback was swept under the rug.

It’s such a shame considering that there’s no high definition release of the series in the United States, and when so much of Cartoon Network’s classic library are in the works on new projects of some kind, Megas XLR is the kind of show that would benefit with an older audience. It was quite literally ahead of its time in many respects, and now it’s not even really possible to revisit the series to see what made it so special. That’s ultimately what makes its cancellation 21 years ago hit even harder.

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