The future of adult animated series?

[SuperSuck64]

This is a topic I'm particularly concerned with since it lines up with my aspirations, but what is the future of adult animated shows, assuming there is one? Netflix is a dumpster fire, Adult Swim is owned by the even bigger dumpster fire that is Warner-Discovery, Fox only seems interested in variants on the done-to-death "dysfunctional family sitcom", most of which don't last beyond two seasons, Comedy Central has consistently failed to find a second animated show to last longer than a single season, and MTV has long abandoned both scripted content and anything resembling quality. (The Beavis and Butthead reboot only half-counts since it's made by Comedy Central.) I know there are still other streaming services like Prime, Hulu, Para+, and Apple TV, but I'm wary about the future of streaming and animation both because of the Netflix fiasco and those other services only have one or two cartoons to their name, most of which are either adaptations (Invincible), part of long-running series (SpongeBob, Star Trek, Peanuts), or are from established big names in the industry (Solar Opposites, Central Park).

And don't just say "dO iT InDePeNdEnTlY". Just because Helluva Boss is doing well doesn't mean indie animation as a whole is doing well, and not all of us are best friends with industry pros or have devoted fandoms who will gladly shower us with Patreon/Kickstarter money.

 

[The Overlord]

This is a topic I'm particularly concerned with since it lines up with my aspirations, but what is the future of adult animated shows, assuming there is one? Netflix is a dumpster fire, Adult Swim is owned by the even bigger dumpster fire that is Warner-Discovery, Fox only seems interested in variants on the done-to-death "dysfunctional family sitcom", most of which don't last beyond two seasons, Comedy Central has consistently failed to find a second animated show to last longer than a single season, and MTV has long abandoned both scripted content and anything resembling quality. (The Beavis and Butthead reboot only half-counts since it's made by Comedy Central.) I know there are still other streaming services like Prime, Hulu, Para+, and Apple TV, but I'm wary about the future of streaming and animation both because of the Netflix fiasco and those other services only have one or two cartoons to their name, most of which are either adaptations (Invincible), part of long-running series (SpongeBob, Star Trek, Peanuts), or are from established big names in the industry (Solar Opposites, Central Park).

And don't just say "dO iT InDePeNdEnTlY". Just because Helluva Boss is doing well doesn't mean indie animation as a whole is doing well, and not all of us are best friends with industry pros or have devoted fandoms who will gladly shower us with Patreon/Kickstarter money.

Well we have more dramatic adult animation now then any point in the past: Invincible, Arcane, Blood of Zeus, Castlevania, DOTA, Pantheon, Priminal, etc.

NBC Universal has expressed interest in Adult animation.


Not bad, all things considered.

 

[Mostezli]

This is a topic I'm particularly concerned with since it lines up with my aspirations

You're in luck then if the aspiration is TV-MA content compared to if you wanted to make something for kids old enough to read & write. My stance still hasn't changed in that most animated stuff nowadays is either for toddlers or for teens & up. That whole demo in between those two gets their entertainment elsewhere.

 

[Ace]

Adult animation should focus less on comedy at least the kind of comedy that it's been known for. Do more action and story focused shows.

Simpsons, Family Guy or South Park were successful largely because that was a product of their time. They did stuff that haven't been done in the animated medium before. Hence why many of these shows most people call "Family Guy clones" often don't last very long. They shouldn't be trying to emulate their success but rather just do their own thing. I could make the argument that these shows I mentioned really aren't as funny now as they were in the 90s or early 00s because the audiences changed and these kinds of shows became the norm rather than the exception.

I can say a similar thing with most shows that focus on shock/gross out humor in general. It was funnier in the 90s because audiences weren't used to that kind of thing.

 

[Leviathan]

Adult animation might have an easier time going forward than kids animation.

Children's programming has to contend with plummeting cable ratings, COPPA severely limiting advertising revenue, and billions of hours of free content from YouTube and TikTok acting as competition. So, a day might dawn where execs deem adult animation as more profitable than kids animation.

WBD and Netflix did make cuts to adult animation, but they weren't nearly as severe as the ones they made to kids' animation.

 

[SweetShop209]

It seems like Amazon Prime Video caught wind of this given a 2019 article about the new executives putting more emphasis on adult animation.

Amazon Reportedly Slows Investment in Original Kids Programming

According to the Los Angeles Times, Amazon is shifting its focus to develop content that appeals to entire families, not just children.

decider.com

 

[[classic swim]]

Feels like some of the longest running/notorious adult cartoons are starting to have a cloudy fate.

Archer actually is trying. Everyone begged for them to get back on track, they did but now I don’t know. I actually like what they’re doing right now, but I know it’s not 2009-2011 anymore and they’re on borrowed time if they even start to wrap up.

I’m not sure how the new Danny DeVito cartoon is doing alongside it. I never thought I would ever tap out of Always Sunny for that matter but yeah.


South Park is... well. The specials are what reeled everyone back and what got everyone invested again for the first time in years. And the two last ones show the blatant regret for the Paramount deal already after about a year or two of this building up. Streaming is definitely showing its consequences. At least that one will always be big-big.

American Dad is another one like Archer at this point where I have to wonder when the plug will be pulled.


I could be greatly underestimating the supposed numbers but with so many of these now I’m just not seeing the traction like before.