Adult Swim's New Kid-Friendly Direction

[PicardMan]

2023 Adult Swim has gone in a bizarre direction, with kid shows like My Adventures with Superman, Unicorn Warriors Eternal, and the Checkered Past block. In the latter's case, nostalgia makes sense as the kids who watched those are in their 30s now. Some believe that Adult Swim is providing a lifesaver for Cartoon Network's unwanted babies, and I guess that's an okay justification for what's going on, but I personally am not feeling the direction of Adult Swim. I mainly watch for the adult action stuff and seeing kids stuff headline Toonami isn't something I personally want, although I understand why people like My Adventures with Superman. What does everyone else think of the new, seemingly kid friendly direction of Adult Swim? I'm sure we probably have a myriad of varied opinions, but let's keep this civil and not have any personal attacks.

 

[Fone Bone]

I don't like that Adult Swim starts at five. I will say this though: Unicorns and Superman are THRIVING on Adult Swim. They would be huge bombs on Cartoon Network itself. You can bemoan the midnight premieres but they are better than the 6:00 AM premieres CN eventually let its action cartoons die during. I wish like hell Cartoon Network had either the ability or the patience to air and make shows like this successful. But I guess Adult Swim will have to do.

 

[PicardMan]

You can bemoan the midnight premieres but they are better than the 6:00 AM premieres CN eventually let its action cartoons die during.

I was under the impression Oulween was going to bring action cartoons back to Cartoon Network and make them as integral to the brand as they were in the 2000s, but it looks like he's just giving them to Adult Swim, or he's okay with action cartoons but the rest of the Cartoon Network brass isn't. I think Cartoon Network is still in it's spamming of Gumball and Teen Titans Go phase.

 

[Fone Bone]

I don't think kids watch action cartoons anymore. All of the "kids" action cartoons on streaming are probably more popular with an older audience than they were intended to be. Adult Swim latching onto that audience may be onto something.

Edit:

Also should point out that during its first year Adult Swim's stuff was TV-PG at worst. It is amazing how mild the first season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force was compared to the later TV-MA stuff. Adult Swim was not always designed to be edgy and profane. It just sort of turned into that.

 

[Moe]

I'm fine with Adult Swim expand to 5 pm, actually 4 pm in my time zone and have no issue with inclusion of family friendly shows like old CN shows from 1990s and 2000s under Checkered Past.

I watch AS more than CN after 2010s.

I don't think kids watch action cartoons anymore. All of the "kids" action cartoons on streaming are probably more popular with an older audience than they were intended to be. Adult Swim latching onto that audience may be onto something.

It seems like 1990s was super popular for action shows and kids were hype into action shows.

but not anymore today and I just found to be weird.

CN isn't done nor dead but there will be new shows that are suited for CN to come, and new TV-PG shows like superhero shows would go to AS instead.

I'm disappointed that WBD sold Batman: Caped Crusader to Amazon and it could went to AS instead.

 

[[classic swim]]

I was already annoyed by the direction of Adult Swim before this. The kiddie stuff is only a mere add-on.

Yes, ACME is hideous for Adult Swim.

But I guess it’s easy for me to have no problem with MAWS because I’m not that passionate about Superman. Plus, Toonami was already toying around with DC content in the past.

All you have to do is watch one single episode of UWE to know little Timothy would rather be on his tablet and puking out those animal crackers he didn’t want with his supper. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal was a step down from a dinosaur bifurcating village people, but it was always going to be a show for animation nerds and Tartakovsky nerds. No in between.


Anyone can turn away from the kid stuff, but within watching anything [as] on their channel for 11-30 minutes, I’m gonna be reminded how it’s all soooo superficial now. You hardly get the Williams Street feel anymore. “Tee-hee we’re Adult Swim and we always got your back!” The marketing has gotten so relentlessly cringey and repetitive and 100% flavorless without actual [as] staff working in office to make something funny again.

 

[harry580]

cartoon network needs to fix this, I thought this was done because streaming but its turned out this caused a identity crisis to Cartoon Network

 

[Light Lucario]

Honestly, I'm okay with both My Adventures with Superman and Unicorn: Warriors Eternal being on Adult Swim. I prefer the former over the latter. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal wasn't bad by any means, but I think it became a bit too focus on exposition and backstory for the last half of its season. My Adventures with Superman was a much more solid and fun series by comparison for me. Unless they were planning to shake up the channel, neither series would have worked on modern Cartoon Network. They'd stick out like a sore thumb, most likely be given the deathslot treatment and would have a harder time finding an audience. Having premiers on Adult Swim and reruns on Toonami gave both series more exposure than they probably would have found on Cartoon Network proper.

I don't know if it's a matter of kids not liking action shows anymore. I have my doubts about that, but I think that executives aren't interested in them when they would rather have easy to watch comedic series on their lineups instead.

I haven't seen Checkered Past, but I think it's a good way of making use of older Cartoon Network shows. It's kind of ridiculous for Adult Swim to start so early, but if Cartoon Network proper isn't going to do much with those hours, might as well give them to Adult Swim. At least having older cartoons fits when the people who are nostalgic for them are adults and kids could easily watch them too.

 

[[classic swim]]

Also should point out that during its first year Adult Swim's stuff was TV-PG at worst. It is amazing how mild the first season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force was compared to the later TV-MA stuff. Adult Swim was not always designed to be edgy and profane. It just sort of turned into that.

It seems abrupt on paper, but at the time of MA being introduced the channel had just gotten their wings after five years and it gave more leeway for variety.

Before the change you kind of had Aqua Teen and Sealab already playing with fire when dealing with S&P. A lot of that tameness was in part due to the hammer being way more strict.

For some, it was a race to be more obscene, but a lot of stuff like Venture Bros would’ve artistically suffered if things hadn’t loosened up.

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

Honestly they really should rename the network at this point. "Adult Swim" no longer has any meaning from its original purpose as a "Cartoon Network after-hours" brand when it now has more total broadcast hours than the channel that created it. Either that or just merge the two back into just one brand.

 

[hobo 7]

Honestly they really should rename the network at this point. "Adult Swim" no longer has any meaning from its original purpose as a "Cartoon Network after-hours" brand when it now has more total broadcast hours than the channel that created it. Either that or just merge the two back into just one brand.

as I cited in another thread, the president of the network did say he wanted to make CN a general animation channel again. maybe he'll slowly merge the two brands later down the line. makes the most sense at this point, otherwise we're headed into another Jetix/Toon Disney situation.

 

[Markus Nelis]

They had to accept this direction because Superman and Unicorn could've been in danger when WBD cancelled/write-off multiple shows on CJ. For the most part AS is still for adults. I'm sure people will enjoy friendly stuff like Unicorn and Superman. In fact, Unicorn saw it's strongest premiere for months so I don't see any signs that people dislike it just because it's on Adult Swim.

And the "kids are still up at 5p" argument: They are up but they don't probably watch TV much. Instead they're on social media or watch content on streaming. When CN was on until 8p, more adults watched the network than kids. The reason they aired Scooby-Doo for months. Everyone knows the franchise.

And lastly, Adult Swim gets more ad revenue than CN and better ratings. Why waste the 5 to 8p slots to CN when it's not even targeting adults?

At the end of the day, if you think Superman doesn't fit AS, don't watch it. If you don't like the direction they're heading, stop watching them as well. Networks change direction every 5 to 10 years.

 

[Goldstar!]

Honestly they really should rename the network at this point. "Adult Swim" no longer has any meaning from its original purpose as a "Cartoon Network after-hours" brand when it now has more total broadcast hours than the channel that created it. Either that or just merge the two back into just one brand.

I agree with this 100%.

The 2 main complaints that I have with Adult Swim becoming more kid-friendly are:

1) Keeping the Adult Swim name makes no sense. Why continue to call the block ADULT Swim when it's now airing during the hours when the kids are still up and has now expanded to air kid-friendly programming like My Adventures with Superman? The entire point of Adult Swim was "All kids out of the pool!", but I suppose now it's, "We're mainly catering to young adults, but you kids can stay in the pool if you want. " Michael Ouelween believes (or pretends to believe) that kids aren't watching TV anymore. How true this actually is is debatable (since CN's neighbor Nickelodeon still runs until 9 PM), but it's fine. If AS gets more viewers and higher ratings than anything else on CN to the point where Mr. Ouleween wants to build the entire channel this one block, then change the ding-dang name into something that doesn't contain the word "Adult". "Adult Swim for Kids" is just plain dumb. Just drop the separate label and call the whole channel Cartoon Network.

2) Sure, it's nice that Mr. Ouleween is brining action cartoons back to Cartoon Network, but why does it have to be at the expense of comedy cartoons? The ONLY new animated comedy that's coming to CN anytime soon is Tiny Toons Looniversity. Everything else is either action focused or a repeat from the 1990s to early 2000s. Where are the new animated comedies? You don't to elevate 1 genre at the expense of the other. There's enough room on Cartoon Network's schedule to accommodate both.

 

[Markus Nelis]

I agree with this 100%.

The 2 main complaints that I have with Adult Swim becoming more kid-friendly are:

1) Keeping the Adult Swim name makes no sense.

Most of the time they air adult content. It's like arguing King of the Hill is such a friendly show that it shouldn't air at all. Plus classic CN shows during AS are basically what adults wanted. Multiple channels have lost their true meaning. Adult Swim's name won't change just because people know what it is and it's popular. Doesn't make sense at all.

 

[Silverstar]

As I opined in a Profile Post yesterday, Cartoon Network keeps losing hours to Adult Swim, but Adult Swim keeps getting more and more kiddified, so I guess it all evens out.

I hated this pivot at first, but upon reflection I think it's just a new direction that all channels undergo every few years when said channel falls under new ownership, as @Markus Nelis pointed out.

Regarding ACME Night getting moved under the Adult Swim banner, I can see why some people (both CN purists and AS purists) don't like this move, but really, ACME was always a gray area, as it would air some content that you could easily see on prime time on some other general network like TNT or TBS. Yeah, as @[classic swim] mentioned, the AS brand is getting softer and progressively more watered down (no pun intended) but as @Fone Bone pointed out, Adult Swim wasn't always super-edgy, profane and stoneriffic; it just morphed into that over time. It's also worth mentioning that ACME Night was Tom Ascheim's baby, so this pivot has kind of been in the works before Zaslav and Discovery came along and Michael Ouleween was put in charge.

Now, onto my brother's points:

1) Keeping the Adult Swim name makes no sense. Why continue to call the block ADULT Swim when it's now airing during the hours when the kids are still up and has now expanded to air kid-friendly programming like My Adventures with Superman? The entire point of Adult Swim was "All kids out of the pool!", but I suppose now it's, "We're mainly catering to young adults, but you kids can stay in the pool if you want. " Michael Ouelween believes (or pretends to believe) that kids aren't watching TV anymore. How true this actually is is debatable, but it's fine. If AS gets more viewers and higher ratings than anything else on CN to the point where Mr. Ouleween wants to build the entire channel this one block, then change the ding-dang name into something that doesn't contain the word "Adult". "Adult Swim for Kids" is just plain dumb. Just drop the separate label and call the whole channel Cartoon Network.

Warner Discovery would probably like to do that (and maybe eventually they will once they find their footing), but right now they're more apt to hold on to the label because a) The Adult Swim brand is a guaranteed ratings grabber and b) due to an FCC loophole, WBD can run more ads during AS than they can during CN. There's another reason, on which I'll elaborate below...

2) Sure, it's nice that Mr. Ouleween is brining action cartoons back to Cartoon Network, but why does it have to be at the expense of comedy cartoons? The ONLY new animated comedy that's coming to CN anytime soon is Tiny Toons Looniversity. Everything else is either action focused or a repeat from the 1990s to early 2000s. Where are the new animated comedies? You don't to elevate 1 genre at the expense of the other. There's enough room on Cartoon Network's schedule to accommodate both.

Well, there is Ivandoe coming up later this month, and hopefully there will be more comedies once WBD gets their financial act together. Regarding action, this move is ironic in that My Adventures with Superman and Unicorn: Warriors Eternal likely would've bombed hard on Cartoon Network; I can imagine CN airing them both at 6 or 7AM with little promotion and no encores, both shows sinking like stones and quietly disappearing with the little to no fanfare because they weren't pushing enough toys off the shelves. I don't think little kids would've taken to either of these shows the way teenagers and young adults have, so while I'm loath to admit it, there just may be a method to all of this madness.

-But before anyone suggests it, Adult Swim Kids is a stupid name.

 

[[classic swim]]

In retrospect, Adult Swim Jr. has more levity now as a long-running joke.

I’m wondering what Lazzo would even think of Checkered Past. I already know he’d never wanna sign off on those recent [as] movies in a trillion years, just being stuck in his own ways.

Lazzo gave CN an opportunity to roam the halls, and besides that he’d probably get behind curating animation he thought was becoming a relic. *see all of their love for Hanna-Barbera, Golden Age animation and the rest of what they knew before [as]*

He just wouldn’t like it all hinging on mainstream fanboyism and desperate corporate measures. He was the boogeyman throughout his time over there for a number of reasons and mainly out of him being headstrong.

I don’t know. Checkered’s still not the worst for the time being but it could only happen under a much more submissive Adult Swim.

 

[Golden Geek]

I think they should use the extra AS time on Saturday for either a weekend block similar to Checkered Past (to not confuse the Monday-Friday "after-work cartoons" branding - they could still show old cartoons, but perhaps a different and more frequently-changing rotation) or to put stuff like My Adventures With Superman and Unicorn: Warriors Eternal on earlier. Heck, it'd be nice to see Fionna and Cake, but I imagine it'll get to spend a while as a Max exclusive before that.

 

[JMTV]

What does everyone else think of the new, seemingly kid friendly direction of Adult Swim?

Meh. It doesn't really bother me, personally. I'm not a big fan of Adult Swim anyway, so I don't really care.

 

[Markus Nelis]

To me the shows that were supposed to air on CN don't really feel that much kiddy. At best they have kiddy elements but these shows feel like they are in the middle of the road. These feel more like teenager shows. More like Total Drama all over again in the late 2000s. If CN was still in that era, they would have aired them.

Times have changed and I think a lot of you agree that it's for the best that Adult Swim airs Superman and Unicorn. As long as most programming can be enjoyed by adults, it's going to be alright. I think we'll will get used to it in a few years and we accept what they're doing eventually.

 

[Tacomaster]

”Kids don’t watch CN anymore” you don’t see Nickelodeon doing this stuff

“CN would have screwed MAWS and Unicorn over” How do you know that? All those action screw overs were under Miller, maybe Ascheim and Ouwleen would have treated them well. Scratch that, I know Ouwleen would have treated them well, because he runs both CN and AS!

“adults watched these shows as kids” they also watched both SpongeBob on Nickelodeon and The Simpsons on FXX airing at the same time as Checkered Past, and they’re both still rolling today so they have appeal to more modern audiences as well. Hell, Simpsons started earlier than ALL the FXX shows!

”Times have changed” and times can change again! All the heads in charge need to do is WANT change!

Say I was a parent. Even if I watched these shows as a kid, would I want to show them to my child as part of Checkered Past… on ADULT Swim? Or show them the family friendly Unicorn and Superman… on ADULT Swim?

If I was an adult who was a fan of adult animation, would I rather watch kids’ shows on Checkered Past or rebranded kids shows on regular AS, or watch Simpsons and Family Guy reruns on FXX? And before you say anything about nostalgia and childhood memories, Simpsons predates all the Checkered Past shows and has had multiple Burger King kids meals as early as 1990 and as late as 2013. Or do you not remember Bartmania?

And if I was a kid, would I rather watch these old reruns of old kids shows I’ve never heard of (even if my parents DO let me watch them on ADULT Swim), or watch new SpongeBob or Loud House on Nickelodeon’s AfterToons? And if I’m a naughtier child who likes “edgier” stuff, go back to “if I was an adult”.

And even if my parents allowed me to watch Adult Swim and we all saw Common Sense Media give MAWS it’s family badge of approval (by the way, what would have been a crowning achievement on CN is now a slap in the face to everything Adult Swim stands for), how are we supposed to watch it on THURSDAYS AT MIDNIGHT, or Saturdays during Toonami… AT MIDNIGHT? Especially since they stop airing all reruns when new episodes are over! Most we can do is watch the next day reruns on Max, which- NEWS FLASH- does not bump up Adult Swim’s precious ratings!