What year does the show take place?

[LowdogCraft]

Okay... so I've started to write a SK/Homestuck crossover called SWATStuck, and just like in Homestuck, I want the first page detailing the main character's birthday, with the first main character being Razor. I want to be able to insert the year, but the show doesn't exactly say when SWAT Kats takes place. But, I've got a theory on the year the show takes place in.

Megakat City looks quite like a near-future city, similar to Empire City in the 1985 cartoon COPS. I'm gonna reference this show quite a bit, so... yeah. Anyways, COPS takes place in 2020, so there's one thing. Both cities look somewhat similar, and both cities have laser access, so it seems that SWAT Kats takes place somewhere in the early to mid 2020s so far. Of course, there are some setbacks to this, such as the fact that many movies, tv shows and video games with aliens or space pirates are set far into the future, and we of course know of Mutilor and Tragg, who are both space pirates. We don't exactly know of any other species in space currently in 2015, but it seems pretty plausible that the time period could be pushed back a bit. Maybe to late 2020s to early 2030s.

So, there's no definitive answer that I have yet, but for SWATStuck, I'm sticking with the year 2033. Leave comments on what time period you think the show takes place in!

[MoDaD]

The level of technology and setting to me would seem to suggest an "in the near future" concept from a 1993 perspective. So the year would probably be around 2000, I suppose

This is just a baseless guess on my part. But, while we may not know the year, we certainly know what month the show takes place in:

[LowdogCraft]

Yeah, 2000 seems pretty close now that I think about it. Also, never noticed the calendar always being in July! You have a pretty keen eye, MoDaD.

[thelastmemory]

I noticed that too. The weird thing is, I think the picture on the calendar changes in one episode (can't remember which one), but the month never changes. It's always July.

[Felony]

I could go for the "near future" date and wouldn't be opposed to it in someone's fan fic or what not. However I always felt it is 1993... in another world not our own. WooOOOOooooOOOOoooo... XD A cheat I know. The world's technological advances varied as they had laser weapons, a successful hover vehicle, robots, cyborgs and all but were watching tube televisions, had VCRs, cell phones weren't heavily in use (Manx seems to be the only one with a mobile phone but attached to whatever vehicle he's in) and the like which were of the day the series aired.

[Kooshmeister]

But, while we may not know the year, we certainly know what month the show takes place in:

...or they're too lazy to change the calender and it's actually October!

[Casandro]

Well I'd also be going for 1993 in another world. Things in there are either 1993 or "implausibly advanced".
For example there is no "Internet". Newspapers are on paper. There's TV with actual reporters. All things which were much different by 2000.

Seriously, considering the technical level the SWAT-Kats operate on, they would have had a DVR in 2000 which automatically cross references video clips based on text found in there, not video tapes

[Betaruga]

The tech is definitely outdated even with the sweet technical wizardry. I mean, if you want to surmise how dated that show is, they have no internet.

Updated SWAT Kats would have to pull more stops than radar-jammers to keep Feral and the curious kats of MKC at bay if they have, say, anything like Google Earth, DNA analysis (sorry, but really) modern forensics and even the most recent facial recognition software available today. In 1993 it was sort of feasible, but nowadays? Anyone really savvy could track the SWAT Kats down, for sure.

[Casandro]

..the most recent facial recognition software available today.

Actually they would have easily fooled facial recognition software with their masks. That's all it takes to fake it.

This is a nice talk about the current state of the art in that field, brought to you buy the guy who hacked TouchID.
http://media.ccc.de/browse/congress/201 ... html#video
(the original video file you can get on "Download" should have a live interpreted English sound track)

[Darker]

Somewhere from the early 90s to the early 2000s.
The tech in the show is impressive, but nothing out of the 90s level of ordinary.