Just watched an episode of cops. It was indeed a show I enjoyed watching as a child. Perhaps it was poorly branded as it has far more in common with superheros a la TNMNT than with a cop drama. It's also quite possible this is where the Wachowskis sourced inspiration for Morpheus because the police chief is basically a dead ringer for him.
It's an interesting era as it is the peak and the death of cartoons as advertisements. For example, Rocky and Bullwinkle was developed and paid for by IIRC Wheaties.
You can see a clear lack of quality and imagination as Hanna-Barbera loses they're near monopoly due to crappy cost effective animation and lackluster storylines. Laverne and Shirley? What demographic is that supposed to appeal to?
But pretty much most cartoons in the 80s were just extensive ads but this time not for breakfast cereal but for the toy lines.
And you also get the beginnings of Disney's dominance with Duck Tales being so out of place and groundbreaking when it came out in the late 80s that it spawned a sea change of imitation that would define 90s era cartoons.
Will check out the cities shuffle. Never saw that before. Have a lot to say on this, will probably write a bit more later after digesting some more and loving all the contributions here ITT