10 Shows Like MTV Downtown If You Like The Classic

The first is Daria, an adult animated sitcom created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn. The show centers on the main character, Daria Morgendorffer.

Daria was an intelligent girl and a high school student who was featured in Mike Judge’s earlier animated show, Beavis and Butt-Head.

Along with her best friend Jane Lane, Daria, and other friends observed the world around them. The show depicts the fictional suburban town of Lawndale and touches on the sarcasm of high school life.

The main characters of this series apart from Daria and Jane were Quinn, Helen, and Jake Morgendorffer.

Daria premiered in 1997 on MTV and it ran for five seasons with thirteen episodes. ‘Is It College Yet?’ marks the finale of this series in 2002.

Mission Hill is another show similar to Downtown. It is also an animated series that focuses on adult sitcoms.

Created by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, the show first premiered on The WB in 1999 till 2000 then shifted to Adult Swim network till 2002.

This show was originally named ‘The Downtowners’, but because the Downtown Show was released first, Mission Hill's name was chosen.

Similar to Downtown, this show was also canceled despite great potential. The show cast diverse characters and focused on a specific era with its unique art style.

It was popular outside of the United States, such as in Canada, Australia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Spain, and New Zealand.

The show basically focused on the difficulties faced by a group of diverse roommates who survived together in a hip neighborhood in a big city.

The third in the line of similar shows like Downtown is The Head. It is a sci-fi adult-based animated series created by Eric Fogel.

The series premiered on MTV in 1994 and ran for two seasons with fourteen episodes until 1996.

The Head is a story about Jim, a trade school student in the city of New York. One day Jim wakes up with a massive enlarged head.

His cranium is grown to extreme height and a purple-colored alien named Roy lives in Jim’s head. The alien teaches him about the possible attack from another alien on the city, while Jim tries to deal with his life-changing incident.

A video game version of this series was canceled before its release. Other main characters of the show are Dr. Richard Axel, Madelyn,  Gork, and others.

Bojack Horseman is an animated drama based on psychological comedy. It was created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg for Netflix.

The show premiered on August 22, 2014, on Netflix and ran for six seasons with 77 episodes till January 2020.

It talks about psychological issues such as depression, mental health concerns, dependency tendencies, and addiction.

BoJack Horseman is a humanoid horse, addicted to booze and self-hate, who decides it’s time to start fresh.

Basically, the series depicts an alternate world where humans and human-like animals live together in a place called 'Hollywoo', the letter D was stolen.

Other main characters include Amy Sedaris, a pink Persian cat; Alison Brie, a human ghostwriter; Paul F. Tompkins, a Labrador Retriever; and Aaron Paul, a talented human slacker.

Another show similar to Downtown is Clone High created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence.

The show premiered on Teletoon’s block The Detour On Teletoon on November 2, 2002. The show lasted for two seasons with 23 episodes before it was canceled on March 2, 2003.

The show follows the high school life of some of the most famous and well-known personalities in the world. Actually, a secret government agency cloned a bunch of historical figures including Abraham Lincoln, Cleopatra, John F. Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Joan of Arc.

The show received many mixed reactions and even welcomed controversies for involving famous personalities in the show.

Nevertheless, it was a fun show and many people loved the school day depiction of historians. The revival of the show premiered on May 23, 2023, on HBO Max.

Undergrads is an animated sitcom series that focuses on four college undergraduate freshmen lives. Created by Pete Williams, the show first aired on MTV from April to August 2001.

After the end of the show with thirteen episodes, it started showing on Teletoon in Canada, and Trouble in the United Kingdom.

A movie based on this series is in development, named Undergrads: The Movie to be released in 2025.

The show explains a typical college beginning experience. The show is very personal to the creator and in some ways reflects his story.

The characters in this series are typical college-going students who deal with basic teenage difficulties.

The topics that are highlighted in this series are involved with college situations such as bad cafeteria food, odd traditions, money issues, peer pressure, student loans, and many others.

This series also revolves around two teenage slackers and a robot. There were two seasons with twenty-six episodes.

Mechanic Coop and his best buddy Jamie find a robot from the future known as Megas in the junkyard of New Jersey.

Coop modifies the robot’s head and replaces it with a classic muscle car and names it XLR (extra-large Robot). Together they must defend the earth from an external enemy’s race called ‘The Glorft.’

Created by Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic, the show premiered on Cartoon Network on May 1, 2004, until January 2005.

The concept of time-traveling is used in this series. Despite its unique concept, the show was canceled due to low ratings.

Beavis and Butt-Head is an animated MTV series about two teen boys who are fans of heavy metal music. They often do idiotic things just because they are lazy and bored.

Created by Mike Judge, the show originally aired on MTV from 1993 till 2011 and then on Paramount+ from 2022 till today.

Initially, the show received many negative comments for its straightforward reply to society's old standing norms and adolescent influences.

The show has inspired two movies, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe.

The show shows the simple lifestyle of two lazy, unintelligent boys who prefer to spend their time watching television, listening to music, and drinking unhealthy beverages. The series returned back in 2022.

The show is about two irresponsible freshmen, Sanford Reilly and Del Swanson, who must live with a smart, responsible pre-med student Joe Tate.

Created by Mark Hentemann, it is an adult animated sitcom that premiered from November 2002 to January 2003 on MTV.

Mark Hentemann is the maker of the famous show Family Guy. The show is loosely derived from the college days of Mark at Miami University.

Sanford and Del are depicted as the heroes of the show whereas, Joe is shown as the villain in most episodes.

The show lasted for only one season with thirteen episodes and had a runtime of twenty-two minutes.

Other main characters include Todd, Ed Bickel, Dean Earhart, Felicity, Cindy Reilly, and Dr. Heminger. This was the only show produced by Warner Bros. Animation for MTV.

Lastly, Good Vibe is an animated sitcom that is based on the adventurous journey of Mondo and his best friend Woodie.

The buddies explore their life on the imaginary beach, Playa Del Toro in Southern California.

Created by David Gordon Green, Brad Ableson, and Mike Clements, it aired on MTV from October 27 to December 29, 2011.

The show featured only one season with twelve episodes.

Montgomery ‘Mondo’ Brando is an overweight teen who is insecure about his looks. Mondo shared his every concern to Woodie after they bacame friends.

The boys explore their lives on the beach by surfing the highest tides, being involved in parties, and chasing pretty girls.

MTV Downtown was canceled because it did not get a lot of acclaim. Despite positive reviews and Emmy nomination, the show could not survive.

Downtown was an amazing show that received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program in 2000 for Emmy.

Many fans were of the view that MTV did not invest much in marketing the show and publicizing it. As a result, the show remained unheard of by many which resulted in low ratings and eventually cancelation of the show.

The 1990s was the time for animation. Many animated storytelling shows were the center of entertainment during that time.

Many of such great cartoons in the late 90s and early 2000s on MTV did not make it after 1 season, such as Undergrads, Clone High, and Mission Hill.

A Reddit fan expressed, “It’s sad that MTV had a real shot at being the premier station for innovative animation, but they chose to churn out a million shitty reality shows instead.”

When The Simpsons became a hit, many networks wished for their own version of the series. Many of them failed due to poor performance or poor reviews.

However, there were still a few of them that managed to establish their name, especially the ones produced by MTV.

Downtown was among the lesser-known cartoons because Daria, Beavis, and Butt-Head were ahead of it. It was released in 1999 summer and portrayed a group of 20 and older teens living in Manhattan.

This critically acclaimed, realistic, animated series highlights the lives of Alex and his sister Chaka, who are extremely different from one another.

Moreover, the characters belonged to different ethnic races. This did not create any adult jokes or try to mock another race.

The show depicted realism with its diverse characters. There are simply some friends who hang out and talk: no heroes, no villains, and no motive.

MTV Downtown is available on Roku. You can watch MTV Downtown Season 1 on YouTube.

You can watch the show on either of these two platform. YouTube has all episodes of season 1, which you can stream for free.

In the case of Roku, the show can be watched on The Criterion Channel on a Roku device.

Roku is a streaming device that acts as a single stop for many entertainment channels. Roku has many products that make streaming fun and entertaining.

Roku has a smart TV, Sound system, remote, and others. The device provides convenient access to free TV shows, movies, live news, sports, and many more.

You must first add the channel to the device then you can enjoy the show. A monthly subscription to the Criterion Channel will cost you $10.99/month whereas an annual subscription costs $99.99.