In 1993, there wasn’t a character in America more popular than Sonic the Hedgehog. According to a New York Times report from that time, in just two years, Sonic had become “a $1 billion-plus business himself.” Because of Sonic’s initial success, the Times claimed that Sega was not only “threatening to topple Nintendo,” but also “aiming at Disney’s control of the world of entertainment.”

With the hedgehog’s surging popularity, it made sense that Sega wanted kids to have their eyes trained on Sonic even when they turned off their Genesis consoles. The chili-dog-loving speed demon would soon appear in comic books, merchandise, and that fall, animated series. And not just one: Sonic became the first character in animation history to star in two separate shows that aired at the same time.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog — developed by Kent Butterworth (The Ren & Stimpy Show), Phil Harnage (Captain Planet and the Planeteers), and Bruce and Reed Shelly (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!) — premiered on Sept. 6, 1993. The screwball, Tex Avery-style comedy ran for 65 episodes (and one special). Every episode followed Sonic and Tails as they went up against Dr. Robotnik and his robot cronies, thwarting their plans to take over the planet Mobius. The show aired on weekdays in syndication in various markets.

Sonic the Hedgehog, usually referred to as “SatAM,” premiered two weeks later, and ran for 26 episodes over two seasons. This series had a higher production value than Adventures, and unfolded with a more cohesive storyline, despite airing on Saturday mornings on ABC. Even though SatAM and Adventures shared the same main character, who was even voiced by the same actor (Steve Urkel himself, Jaleel White), the two shows couldn’t have been more different from each other.

SatAM’s story was darker, taking place in a post-apocalyptic Mobius where Robotnik is almost in complete control of the planet. Sonic, Tails, and the rest of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, a group of characters created specifically for the series (so, sadly, no Big the Cat), attempt to overthrow Eggman and free Mobius from his evil tyranny.

The series separated itself from the usual Saturday morning fare by having the heroes, at times, fail to stop Robotnik’s evil schemes. The characters also had to deal with grief over the loss of fellow freedom fighters. SatAM was also more mature than Adventures and most other Saturday morning cartoons when it came to the relationship between two of the main characters, Sonic and Princess Sally, his childhood friend and the planet’s rightful ruler. In the second-season finale, “The Doomsday Project,” Sally and Sonic share a celebratory and passionate kiss — certainly not something you would see on Tom & Jerry Kids.

SatAM was developed by Len Janson (The Real Ghostbusters), Bruce Shelly, and Reed Shelly. Both series were produced by DIC, the company behind Inspector Gadget and Captain Planet, and it was DIC’s executive vice president of creative affairs at the time, Robby London, who came up with the idea to produce two different Sonic series. After DIC pitched the darker take to ABC, the broadcast network surprised DIC executives by not only expressing interest in having Sonic appear on their network, but offering the production company an on-air commitment. “Usually they’ll do a development deal,” London told Polygon in a phone interview, “but this property was so hot, they said, ‘You know what? Let’s do it.’”

With a deal in place, DIC wanted to take things one step further by not only having SatAM air on ABC, but also have it air on first-run syndication, which had never been done before. DIC did something similar with The Real Ghostbusters in the late 1980s. After its first season aired on ABC, the second and third seasons aired simultaneously — the second in syndication, the third on the network.

DIC went back to ABC and pitched its idea to Mark Pedowitz, then the senior vice president of business affairs and contracts (and currently the president and CEO of The CW). Pedowitz, who London remembers as being “a formidable, intimating guy,” swiftly rejected the idea, telling London, “If you guys want to do syndication, be our guest, go with God, but you won’t be on our network.”

Disappointed, DIC almost dropped the idea, as the clear choice between syndication and network was network every time. “Network was always the preferred placement,” London said. “The license fees were better, and you got one license fee upfront, without having to piece together the financing. Plus, network shows got better ratings.”

Even with his initial idea shot down, London wasn’t deterred. He went to his boss, Andy Heyward, and presented him with an alternative: “What if we re-approach ABC and do the following — we do two series simultaneously, but they will be completely different, so no one will confuse the product?” Heyward liked the idea, so they ventured back to ABC and pitched what would become Adventures. To their surprise, ABC obliged.

London had no idea as to why this hadn’t been done before, but he did know why it was being done at the time. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” he said. “One thing about Andy Heyward and DIC at the time: We were extremely innovative when it came to the marketing and distribution of our ideas, and they had to be.” While DIC was the biggest independent animation studio in North America, it still had to consistently come up with unique ways to stay competitive against animation studios with major studio backing like Disney, Warner Bros., and Fox — all of which also owned TV networks — and other independent studios like Sunbow and Nelvana. There was a lot of competition for a limited number of time slots, and London said that he and his team at DIC “were required to find innovative ways to finance our shows.”

SatAM ran until December 1994. A third season was planned, but before production could begin, ABC canceled the series. London assumes it was either a ratings decision or a change in direction. Disney bought ABC in 1995, and in a video interview for the SatAM DVD release, writer Ben Hurst said that the show’s second season was up against the most popular children’s show airing at the time, Fox Kids’ Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. And if it wasn’t getting pummeled by Power Rangers in the ratings, SatAM wasn’t airing at all, as episodes were delayed whenever ABC decided to air sports instead of cartoons on weekends.

DIC produced one more Sonic series, 1999’s Sonic Underground, a complete reboot where Sonic and his siblings Sonia and Manik go on a quest to find their missing mother, and again try to overthrow Robotnik, who rules over Mobius. The show ran for 40 episodes, and was followed by two more Sonic cartoons: TMS Entertainment’s Sonic X in 2003, which was the first Sonic anime series to air on Fox, and 2015’s Sonic Boom, a CG-animated series produced by Technicolor Animation Productions. Both ran for two seasons.

Hurst, who died in 2010, became quite active in the SatAM fan community, and even shared details with fans about his attempts to revive the series, either with a full third season or a feature film. Sega passed on those efforts, but the series does live on thanks to Fans United for SatAM, a fan group that has kept the show going in the form of a webcomic. The group has also funded a fan film, and a subsection, Team Sea3son, has been producing a fan-funded, unofficial third season since 2012.

Much like the balloon that flew above midtown Manhattan in the 1993 Thanksgiving Day Parade, the hype around Sonic deflated. Almost 30 years since his first appearance, in the immediate aftermath of his big-screen debut, Sonic is mainly an afterthought as far as video games are concerned. The blue buzzsaw couldn’t make the transition to 3D, and now it’s a small miracle we can get anything close to a good Sonic game. So while today he’s just another face on the character select screen in many Nintendo party games, there was a time where Sonic was king — so popular that he was able to get two animated series made at the same time, something that hadn’t happened before or since.