Should Adult Swim cater to CN's nostalgic audience?

[GiantWaffle]

I've been thinking about whether Adult Swim should have a block catering to the nostalgic audience of Cartoon Network, airing their 1996-2008 shows. If Boomerang can't do it with them airing half a day of Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo in the daytime, Ben 10 (2016) for two hours, and Chowder, Foster's, KND, Billy and Mandy, and Dexter being the only "old" shows they air (which air at a time at which most people would be asleep), they might as well give the job to Adult Swim. After all, AS is 16+, and most of CN's nostalgic audience are older teenagers and adults, both of whom Adult Swim targets.

It wouldn't be the first time they aired non-adult programming; remember when they used to air Pee Wee's Playhouse, Yogi Bear, Johnny Bravo, and Astro Boy?

However, I'm concerned that some of these shows are far too "kiddie" even for AS standards; MGPAM, Foster's, Lazlo and so on, make King of the Hill look like Mr. Pickles and would feel overall awkward to be shown on Adult Swim.

 

[Daikun]

It wouldn't be the first time they aired non-adult programming; remember when they used to air Pee Wee's Playhouse, Yogi Bear, Johnny Bravo, and Astro Boy?

They didn't air Johnny Bravo, and the only "Yogi Bear" we got were those John K. shorts.

Anyway, they used to cater to the Boomerang demographic when they first expanded to 6AM. They dropped that after a few years when The PJs premiered.

 

[superkeegan9100]

[adult swim] can keep Space Ghost, Cartoon Network can keep...er, whatever moved from AS to there.

 

[JoeMabbon]

They've already got their own nostalgiac fanbase to cater to. Harvey Birdman Reunion Special coming this fall...

 

[GiantWaffle]

They didn't air Johnny Bravo, and the only "Yogi Bear" we got were those John K. shorts.

Anyway, they used to cater to the Boomerang demographic when they first expanded to 6AM. They dropped that after a few years when The PJs premiered.

Actually, it wasn't Yogi Bear. It was some show called Boo Boo Runs Wild; it doesn't look very kid-friendly from what I googled, but I swear I remember seeing a TV-Y7-FV rating on one of its airings on Adult Swim.

 

[Daikun]

Actually, it wasn't Yogi Bear. It was some show called Boo Boo Runs Wild

Hence why I put it in air quotes.

it doesn't look very kid-friendly from what I googled, but I swear I remember seeing a TV-Y7-FV rating on one of its airings on Adult Swim.

It actually premiered before Adult Swim existed, believe it or not. It first aired on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays in 1999, then AS eventually got its hands on it, and they would regularly air it as filler programming.

 

[Light Lucario]

It sounds nice on paper, but I don't think it would work. Adult Swim isn't meant to cater to the nostalgia of old Cartoon Network shows. The closest it gets to that is with shows involving old HB characters and even then, it makes new content to make the comedy more appealing towards adults. I doubt that Cartoon Network would want one of their older cartoons associated with a block aimed at adults. When Samurai Jack's fifth season premiered, even the first four seasons were featured on Adult Swim's site instead of Cartoon Network's.

If they want to cater to older fans of their old shows, it's better to create a block with that purpose in mind instead of forcing Adult Swim into that role.

 

[Golden Geek]

There's a Flintstones made-for-TV movie entitled The Flintstones: On the Rocks that hasn't broadcast on Cartoon Network since 2002 - likely because the content's too adult for modern-day Cartoon Network. (It's nothing terribly raunchy, but implied sex is made into a running gag, and Fred and Wilma's marriage is indeed "on the rocks", which may be a bit heavy subject matter for Cartoon Network today.)

I'd like to see it repeat on Adult Swim again since it's never gotten a home video release of any kind.

 

[Red Arrow]

A last season for Megas XLR could work on Adult Swim... Perhaps Courage the Cowardly Dog too? I can't think of anything else that would somehow make sense.

 

[Radiant97]

A last season for Megas XLR could work on Adult Swim... Perhaps Courage the Cowardly Dog too? I can't think of anything else that would somehow make sense.

Megas XLR? Hell to the yes! Courage? I don't think it could work. While it was quite edgy for a kids show, I think it worked just fine within the limitations of CN's S&P and I feel that any attempt to make it edgier to appeal to the AS crowd would feel forced. It'd also be a drastic tonal shift from AS's usual comedic fare.

I would also suggest a season 6 for Teen Titans but given the success of TTG and how well TT does in reruns on CN, I think it would fit there just fine.

 

[wonderfly]

I don't think the OP is talking about airing new seasons of old shows (like what Samurai Jack did). I also don't think the OP is talking about the crude Yogi Bear/Flintstone type stuff that was created in the late 90's/early 00's (as Adult Swim was coming into existence). He's talking about Adult Swim airing Cartoon Network reruns. Think along the lines of "1996 'Dexter's Lab' episodes on Adult Swim".

Frankly, they may have to consider this, if the Disney/Fox merger goes through, and Cartoon Network loses the rights to Family Guy, Bob's Burgers, King of the Hill, etc....

I'd welcome it. The Core "Adult Swim" hours are 10 pm to 2 am, anything before or after that should be less...."Mr. Pickles-ish". Less "over the top" violence/crudeness.

 

[PicardMan]

Are we talking about an Adult Swim equivalent of the Splat on Teenick?

 

[wonderfly]

Are we talking about an Adult Swim equivalent of the Splat on Teenick?

Yes! YES! That's a very good comparison.

Though "The Splat" runs the whole night, from 10 pm to 6 am. Granted, that's on "TeenNick", a sub-channel. The only sub-channel Cartoon Network has is Boomerang, which is also in need of an overhaul. But what's being proposed here doesn't even need to run the whole night, just for 2 to 4 hours. Anything to spare us from the glut of Fox Comedy reruns. I think it could work.

Similarly, I think on Boomerang, the overnight hours need to have old Hanna-Barbera/Ruby Spears stuff from the 70's and 80's. Cartoon Network (Adult Swim) needs a block devoted to it's reruns from the 90's and 00's, and Boomerang needs a block devoted to it's stuff from the 70's and 80's.

 

[Checkerboard]

Yes, they should by airing classic stuff that is either only on WAC MOD DVD or still in the vault or available yet highly popular.

 

[SpaceCowboy]

No, I think an overnight block on Boomerang would be much more appropriate. Part of the demographic that still watches '90s cartoon shows out of nostalgia are parents introducing them to their young kids. Kids should not be watching AS.

 

[wonderfly]

No, I think an overnight block on Boomerang would be much more appropriate. Part of the demographic that still watches '90s cartoon shows out of nostalgia are parents introducing them to their young kids. Kids should not be watching AS.

If we're talking about reruns of "Johnny Bravo" or "Dexter's Lab", etc, I don't think kids would be the target audience. They would be on Adult Swim (at night) because they are intended for adults who grew up with those shows.

*shrug* Just my opinion.

 

[Fone Bone]

If we're talking about reruns of "Johnny Bravo" or "Dexter's Lab", etc, I don't think kids would be the target audience. They would be on Adult Swim (at night) because they are intended for adults who grew up with those shows.

*shrug* Just my opinion.

It's a good idea. But only if Adult Swim loses the Fox shows. As of now, their schedule is annoyingly overstuffed.

 

[jaylop97]

I don't think the idea would go too far, Samurai Jack was a good attempt of Adult Swim attempting to connect to a CN show but other than that most other shows would feel out of place, sure they do have an audience that would likely enjoy them on the channel, but that is depending on the show like SJ that was a good fit, and other shows it depends on how much appeal they had and will have airing again.

 

[chocolate]

I don't know, this move can backfire on both sides.

 

[ArmorAbs]

I think given what Nickelodeon is doing, from a competitive standpoint it makes far more sense for CN to go through with this move and start promoting Boomerang again as opposed to leaving it alone.

From an executive standpoint, they shouldn't simply cater to those who are feeling nostalgic. Their needs to be genius interest on the part of CN to make this work. If not, give the projects to Netflix, they have been doing great things with their reboots.