Television: Mr. Mouse Goes to Washington

On The Simpsons, Itchy and Scratchy are a sadomasochistic mouse-and-cat team that enacts scenes of baroque violence in a running parody of kiddie cartoon shows. On CAPITOL CRITTERS, cats really do chase mice -- and the trouble is, it's no parody. The new animated series from Steven Bochco Productions (ABC, debuting Jan. 28, 8:30 p.m. EST) revolves around Max, a country mouse from Nebraska who moves in with his cousin and a ragtag band of rodents living in the basement of the White House. Anyone expecting savvy political satire, however, is due for disappointment. With a few exceptions (Max gets stuck...