Adult Swim's New Kid-Friendly Direction

[aegisrawks]

This is a terrible decision, CN has never been known as a preschool channel and every attempt at airing that kind of show has flopped miserably. Even CN Real didnt get such miserable ratings.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Given the lack of any updates on the PPG updates ant Annecy and this comment by Craig McCracken a few weeks back, I think the odds of PPG on Checkered Past have gone up. It doesn’t seem like we will actually have a reboot airing on Tv any time soon.

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They may still want to avoid associating PPG with the AS brand, but recently shows like Dexter got DVDs that still call them CN rather than AS shows, so it seems they can still merchandise the show as a CN product for kids. The Checkered Past shows are also all on Max’s CN hub rather than their AS hub. It seems like their association with AS is strictly linear. They are not even streaming on the AS website.

 

[Leviathan]

I think WBD is still confused about what they want Cartoon Network to be. They gutted Cartoonito but are still greenlighting preschool shows.

This is assuming all of these shows actually see release and don't go the way of that stop-motion Wacky Races show unveiled last year.

 

[Corwin Haught]

Given the lack of any updates on the PPG updates ant Annecy and this comment by Craig McCracken a few weeks back, I think the odds of PPG on Checkered Past have gone up. It doesn’t seem like we will actually have a reboot airing on Tv any time soon.

x.com

x.com

They may still want to avoid associating PPG with the AS brand, but recently shows like Dexter got DVDs that still call them CN rather than AS shows, so it seems they can still merchandise the show as a CN product for kids. The Checkered Past shows are also all on Max’s CN hub rather than their AS hub. It seems like their association with AS is strictly linear. They are not even streaming on the AS website.

It was announced today that Foster's Funtime was greenlit, so Craig will be busy with that for a while.

 

[JMTV]

Please tell you are kidding and that wasnt EVERYTHING that CN announced. They HAVE to have something more!

Yeah, we'll find out in Annecy tomorrow because.....man, if CN don't announce something new tomorrow, it's over.

Well, looks like we finally got something...

New ‘Regular Show,’ ‘Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends’ Series Unveiled at Annecy (EXCLUSIVE)

New ‘Regular Show,’ ‘Fosters' and ‘Scooby Doo’ shows were unveiled at Annecy Animation Festival.

variety.com

Granted, no new original series for CN that has been announced, but eh, it's better than nothing.

We Baby Bears is still ongoing, internationally it is airing new episodes of a new arc, most likely US gets a release late Summer/Fall.

It's unknown if another season will be made, however.

Okay, fair enough.

When the Hasbro deal ends, j get the strangest feeling that Discovery Family is going to become the new Cartoon Network…

You know what? I'm here for it. If they want to turn Discovery Family into Cartoon Network 3, then go for it. Just get rid of the Hasbro content and Discovery reality shows, and place with WB and CN content and call it a day.

So... Will that new Scooby Doo "anime" air on AS as well?

I doubt it. It'll most likely be on Max.

So with the announcements for Cartoon Network, they seem to be aiming at preschoolers rather than being the "edgy kids' channel" they were known as from the 1990s-2010s.

I mean, they have been doing that for a while now. Hell, the current Pastel era looks and feels preschool-y compared to previous eras.

I hope the announcements at least have calmed down conspiracies about Cartoon Network dying. It's just having a metamorphosis into a lighter and cutesier network.

I hope so too. I said this many times before, but Cartoon Network is not dead. It just changing to what we know before. The brand will still be around, just not what we were used to.

I think that creatives saying their work was dumped on Adult Swim for being too violent for Cartoon Network were telling the truth now we know what we know.

I mean, they have been doing that ever since Unicorn and Superman moved to Adult Swim. It just that now it has become a lot more noticeable.

Scooby-Doo will probably stay on Cartoon Network, but I'm still wondering if Iyanu will get dumped on Adult Swim at the last minute for being "too violent."

Who knows? Plans changed all the time.

This is a terrible decision, CN has never been known as a preschool channel and every attempt at airing that kind of show has flopped miserably. Even CN Real didnt get such miserable ratings.

Sadly, preschool content is the only thing CN can do since kids 6-11 don't watch cable TV anymore. Even if the shows don't feel preschool in nature, little kids shows that has humor and being episodic is their bread and butter. It's a shame, but it is what it is.

Given the lack of any updates on the PPG updates ant Annecy and this comment by Craig McCracken a few weeks back, I think the odds of PPG on Checkered Past have gone up. It doesn’t seem like we will actually have a reboot airing on Tv any time soon.

Yeah, I was disappointed about that, but who knows? Maybe they'll announced it down the line? IDK, but Craig is busy with the Foster's Home reboot.

They may still want to avoid associating PPG with the AS brand, but recently shows like Dexter got DVDs that still call them CN rather than AS shows, so it seems they can still merchandise the show as a CN product for kids. The Checkered Past shows are also all on Max’s CN hub rather than their AS hub. It seems like their association with AS is strictly linear. They are not even streaming on the AS website.

True. It is just weird how WB treated CN Classic library like that. CN Classics on Adult Swim on TV, CN Classics on Max and digital platforms without the CKP/AS label. It just strange.

I think WBD is still confused about what they want Cartoon Network to be. They gutted Cartoonito but are still greenlighting preschool shows.

Then again, Cartoon Network had suffered an identity crisis for a long time all thanks to corporate mergers and management changes, so they didn't have enough time for things to settled.

 

[PF9]

I think [as] can stand to have a second movie block, centered around adult animated movies in general (both Western and anime) airing at midnight on Friday/Saturday. Obviously movies based on the properties of Paramount Media Networks won't be allowed, but it would be a good way to diversify the movie programming of the block.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

I don’t know if there are enough American adult animated films to sustain such a thing, using just the WBD library. Can you think of anything specific they should air?

Anime films have aired on AS and Toonami before, but on special occasions mainly. They eventually became too costly to license for films that usually just aired once. Now Toonami only does marathons during holidays instead of movies.

 

[Tacomaster]

I don’t know if there are enough American adult animated films to sustain such a thing, using just the WBD library. Can you think of anything specific they should air?

• The two Aqua Teen movies
• The Futurama movie quadrilogy
• The Venture Bros movie
• The Metalocalypse Movie
• Sometimes Sausage Party rotates into the Turner film rotation
• All 26 films in the DC Animated Movie Universe

That’s 34 films here, although most of them are DC themed.

 

[PicardMan]

It's kind of a weird trickle down effect from Cartoon Network's apparent attempt to appeal to preschoolers, but it looks like the "big kid" shows are going to Adult Swim and clash greatly with them. Edgy comedies like Rick and Morty and Smiling Friends are still there, but they are on the same network as Invincible Fight Girl and My Adventures with Superman. Adult Swim just feels really disjointed now being the home of their edgy originals and edgy anime titles like Ninja Kamui, along with Cartoon Network's unwanted babies. It's just weird.

 

[JMTV]

It's kind of a weird trickle down effect from Cartoon Network's apparent attempt to appeal to preschoolers, but it looks like the "big kid" shows are going to Adult Swim and clash greatly with them. Edgy comedies like Rick and Morty and Smiling Friends are still there, but they are on the same network as Invincible Fight Girl and My Adventures with Superman. Adult Swim just feels really disjointed now being the home of their edgy originals and edgy anime titles like Ninja Kamui, along with Cartoon Network's unwanted babies. It's just weird.

I mean, it is what it is. There's nothing we can really do about it.

But hey, at least Cartoon Network's unwanted babies gets to be shown somewhere rather than being banished off to the Shadow Realm.

 

[Tacomaster]

It's kind of a weird trickle down effect from Cartoon Network's apparent attempt to appeal to preschoolers,

Does Cartoonito not still exist somehow?

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

It's kind of a weird trickle down effect from Cartoon Network's apparent attempt to appeal to preschoolers, but it looks like the "big kid" shows are going to Adult Swim and clash greatly with them. Edgy comedies like Rick and Morty and Smiling Friends are still there, but they are on the same network as Invincible Fight Girl and My Adventures with Superman. Adult Swim just feels really disjointed now being the home of their edgy originals and edgy anime titles like Ninja Kamui, along with Cartoon Network's unwanted babies. It's just weird.

It’s really funny how Ninja Kamui got replaced by My Adventures with Superman. The transition from Superman (which honestly could’ve aired with a TV-Y7-FV without many changes on the 2000s Toonami) last week to everyone getting naked at the hot springs in Zom 100 was hysterical. By the way, I actually saw an ad for Zom 100 right after Sailor Moon last night! The ad showed the episode would be TV-MA as usual, and the gore shot of the zombie pig. They also aired ads for My Adventures with Superman featuring Android 18… I mean, Supergirl.

Usually the ads during Checkered Past are pretty tame (I haven’t seen the generic viagra commercial in months) with ads for Nickelodeon kids shows (and none for CN kids shows). Rewind ads on the other hand seem to be targeting the same audience as Saturday Toonami. It makes sense as there’s audience crossover between the two Toonami blocks. Plus they want to let anyone drawn back in to Toonami by the nostalgia know they have new shows on Saturday too.

 

[Tacomaster]

It’s really funny how Ninja Kamui got replaced by My Adventures with Superman. The transition from Superman (which honestly could’ve aired with a TV-Y7-FV without many changes on the 2000s Toonami) last week to everyone getting naked at the hot springs in Zom 100 was hysterical.

Talk about whiplash

Usually the ads during Checkered Past are pretty tame (I haven’t seen the generic viagra commercial in months) with ads for Nickelodeon kids shows (and none for CN kids shows).

Wait, for real? Nickelodeon kid show ads on Adult Swim?

I mean, probably local cable insertions in the same way CN snuck their ads onto Nickelodeon back in the day, but dang.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Talk about whiplash

Wait, for real? Nickelodeon kid show ads on Adult Swim?

I mean, probably local cable insertions in the same way CN snuck their ads onto Nickelodeon back in the day, but dang.

The ad placement may be the doing of Directv. Nick is presumably just buying ad space trying to lure in kids who may leave the tv on during early adult swim hours, when kids cartoons are still on. This week there were more Nick ads than Checkered Past promos on its own block. They have been airing Nick ads pretty consistently for months though. Mostly general Nickelodeon ads, sometimes promoting new episodes of shows like Monster High or SpongeBob.

 

[Bluebaron]

Will season 3 of the superman show be a little darker?

 

[Checkerboard]

Yeah, that is true. I cannot imagine being a teen or young adult watching Cartoon Network without the shows and presentation looks and feels like I was being talked down to me.

That's partly the main reason why I stopped watching Cartoon Network in the mid-2010's, not because of the shows (okay, some of them are), but because the bumpers and promos and the presentation looks and feels kiddy to me. I feel like I'm watching a pseudo-preschool channel rather than being a Cartoon Network.

100%
Until 2007 the channel looked neutral, ever since then it caters more and more solely to kids in all regards. It's off putting, to the point I prefer AS or even Nick.

 

[Checkerboard]

• The two Aqua Teen movies
• The Futurama movie quadrilogy
• The Venture Bros movie
• The Metalocalypse Movie
• Sometimes Sausage Party rotates into the Turner film rotation
• All 26 films in the DC Animated Movie Universe

That’s 34 films here, although most of them are DC themed.

That's a good start. 30+ weeks. If they made a deal with Crunchyroll the licensed movies could be endless. Heck, maybe they could even get to air Beavis and Butthead. THAT would be the ultimate win of Adult Swim.

 

[PF9]

• The two Aqua Teen movies
• The Futurama movie quadrilogy
• The Venture Bros movie
• The Metalocalypse Movie
• Sometimes Sausage Party rotates into the Turner film rotation
• All 26 films in the DC Animated Movie Universe

That’s 34 films here, although most of them are DC themed.

I don’t know if there are enough American adult animated films to sustain such a thing, using just the WBD library. Can you think of anything specific they should air?

Anime films have aired on AS and Toonami before, but on special occasions mainly. They eventually became too costly to license for films that usually just aired once. Now Toonami only does marathons during holidays instead of movies.

They don't have to just come from WBD

 

[Moe]

They don't have to just come from WBD

I don't believe that any channels should be locked to properties that they own.

Back in 1980s, cable channels air shows and movies that they don't own like Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon for example.

I remember about studios weren't allowed to own syndication companies, so that ended in 1990s.

 

[Conttactt]

It’s really funny how Ninja Kamui got replaced by My Adventures with Superman. The transition from Superman (which honestly could’ve aired with a TV-Y7-FV without many changes on the 2000s Toonami) last week to everyone getting naked at the hot springs in Zom 100 was hysterical. By the way, I actually saw an ad for Zom 100 right after Sailor Moon last night! The ad showed the episode would be TV-MA as usual, and the gore shot of the zombie pig. They also aired ads for My Adventures with Superman featuring Android 18… I mean, Supergirl.

Usually the ads during Checkered Past are pretty tame (I haven’t seen the generic viagra commercial in months) with ads for Nickelodeon kids shows (and none for CN kids shows). Rewind ads on the other hand seem to be targeting the same audience as Saturday Toonami. It makes sense as there’s audience crossover between the two Toonami blocks. Plus they want to let anyone drawn back in to Toonami by the nostalgia know they have new shows on Saturday too.

It’s amusing, but will ultimately only be a temporary laugh. It’s very rare for Toonami to land TV MA seinen content, so once Zom ends here in a couple weeks, we are likely going back to a better tone match MHA promos. Really, Zom is the kind of show that usually wouldn’t get promos at all but there’s nothing else on the block so it has to.

Will season 3 of the superman show be a little darker?

As we saw from the script leaks, “season 2” wasn’t an actual new season and just the second half of the original order, which was all made for CN. Season 3 is a proper new season, so they could adjust the tone better for AS. However, keep in mind the show is still on Max, so they may want to keep it acceptable for the kids section.

I don’t think they will greatly change the tone, but I do think they won’t bother with some of the minor censorship issues they would have needed for a CN run.