New face of Adult Swim...

[Mr. Idea Box]

A few weeks ago, I asked if Adult Swim should lose an hour. And with the new developments over at Williams Street recently, I thought I should ask this as well...

Does Adult Swim have a new cash cow lined up?

I mean, they kept Aqua Teen running until 2015, they're still airing Robot Chicken because it's easy to write material for it, they just ended Squidbillies two years ago, and it looks like Rick and Morty might be ending after Season 10, possibly even sooner than that.

As for what the new icon of the network could be, I have two options: Either Primal or Smiling Friends.

Primal, while not being a comedic cartoon, broke the mold in the animation bubble, and it might just be Gennedy Tartakovsky's magmum opus. Add to that its current timeslot on Toonami, factoring in some cross-promotion between the two, and we've got a strong contender.

Meanwhile, Smiling Friends is a comedy, and more likely to be rerun on weeknights. Not only that, but people love this show. Like, really love it.

Honorable mentions go to The Eric Andre Show for being pretty much the only live-action show left in production, Birdgirl for being a Harvey Birdman spinoff, except without the Hanna-Barbera characters, Pibby for being beloved as Adult Swim pilots go, and the aforementioned Robot Chicken for being one of, if not the longest-running show on the network.

Thoughts? Opinions? Rambling threads? Please let me know.

 

[aegisrawks]

Nobody ever has a cash cow prepared they just happen.

 

[[classic swim]]

I’d say unless Genndy’s future plans have any weight to them, Primal is over. I thought I heard years back that it was always going to be a limited series. It just got a ton of rightfully earned praise.

Yeah, the kids are all over Smiling Friends. I don’t think it’s as groundbreaking as people put on, but it is keen on keeping Adult Swim the way it should be. And it does dismantle a few things set in place by the comedies before it.

YOLO had a quiet second season premiere a couple nights ago. I found that one to be uninspired and ironically much of what Smiling Friends was critiquing. Maybe this all really is out of my demographic now.

I wanted to like Birdgirl. I really did. Funny as a heart attack. I haven’t watched anything past that first season, but I can imagine they’re wasting time if it’s still a half hour show. Don’t see it lasting forever, and it doesn’t seem like there’s a demand anyway.

Robot Chicken will be done eventually. It’s so easy to make cheap shots, and no one will ever want to give them the proper credit; I just don’t see why they keep going sometimes. It was interesting last season. Seth MacFarlane made a cameo after like a decade. It stopped being as fun once he was no longer part of that main cast.


For better or for worse, Adult Swim’s face will remain unchanged. I don’t see a huge turnaround from the past ten years where people just pick something else.

Once I get those Venture Bros and Metalocalypse movies, I might see myself out.

 

[Mr. Idea Box]

Nobody ever has a cash cow prepared they just happen.

Fair's fair. I agree with that sentiment.

I’d say unless Genndy’s future plans have any weight to them, Primal is over. I thought I heard years back that it was always going to be a limited series. It just got a ton of rightfully earned praise.

Well, at least the finale was conclusive enough.

Yeah, the kids are all over Smiling Friends. I don’t think it’s as groundbreaking as people put on, but it is keen on keeping Adult Swim the way it should be. And it does dismantle a few things set in place by the comedies before it.

So, it's a "maybe" on that show sticking around. I can buy that wholeheartedly.

YOLO had a quiet second season premiere a couple nights ago. I found that one to be uninspired and ironically much of what Smiling Friends was critiquing. Maybe this all really is out of my demographic now.

There are two sides to every coin. Which side you prefer depends on yourself.

I wanted to like Birdgirl. I really did. Funny as a heart attack. I haven’t watched anything past that first season, but I can imagine they’re wasting time if it’s still a half hour show. Don’t see it lasting forever, and it doesn’t seem like there’s a demand anyway.

At least there's something to like about it.

Robot Chicken will be done eventually. It’s so easy to make cheap shots, and no one will ever want to give them the proper credit; I just don’t see why they keep going sometimes. It was interesting last season. Seth MacFarlane made a cameo after like a decade. It stopped being as fun once he was no longer part of that main cast.

Not too surprising, as Seth MacFarlane is one of the poster children for "shows that have outstayed their welcome". Especially when Adult Swim is involved.

For better or for worse, Adult Swim’s face will remain unchanged. I don’t see a huge turnaround from the past ten years where people just pick something else.

I mean, what else could be on their level? You were right when you said Adult Swim should just go, because there's not much that earns lots of airplay.

Once I get those Venture Bros and Metalocalypse movies, I might see myself out.

I don't blame you, but is there anything else on linear television you might want to see after getting those movies in your hands and eyes?

 

[Conttactt]

Because R&M was so huge, AS never even bothered to cultivate other content. They put like 95% of their eggs in that basket and now it’s going to bite them in the ass. You can’t just go out and make a hit, it has to happen naturally.

Primal has lots of praise and accolades, but that’s not something that ever materialized into actual ratings. Average episode of R&M pulls 4-5x the ratings Primal ever could. Part of that is Genndy’s moronic no Toonami premier rule, but even factoring that in its still miles away from R&M. And with one of the main characters dead and serious Primal/Genndy fatigue setting in due to the Toonami run, there’s no real way to expect that to carry the network.

Smiling Friends is popular, but just like Primal, doesn’t have that reflected in its ratings. It’s goofy character designs are hard to sell for marketing, so even if it does good keeping something fresh in rotation that the audience doesn’t hate, it won’t pull in the marketing bucks R&M does.

Birdgirl is corporate mandated trash I never see genuine praise for, Pibby was DoA, and Robot Chicken is probably near its retirement. So no help there either.

YOLO had a quiet second season premiere a couple nights ago. I found that one to be uninspired and ironically much of what Smiling Friends was critiquing. Maybe this all really is out of my demographic now.

Quiet? They aired the damn commercial for it nearly every commercial break for 3 straight weeks. The only way you didnt know when it was starting is if you didn’t watch AS at all.

 

[[classic swim]]

Quiet? They aired the damn commercial for it nearly every commercial break for 3 straight weeks. The only way you didnt know when it was starting is if you didn’t watch AS at all.

How many people actually watched the show was my point. Where’s the C&C on this board? Who’s interested?

 

[Conttactt]

Nobody apparently. But you can’t fault AS for lack of attempts to get people to tune in.

 

[aegisrawks]

While I do agree with you on the premise that people didnt talk about it, Classic Swim.I doubt this website is any measurement for success.

 

[[classic swim]]

You were right when you said Adult Swim should just go,

I don’t recall saying that exactly. I don’t think it should go outright.

I’d rather it be gone than become something that it’s not. Which, yeah. It could get closer to that point some day. Other than that, I’d love for it to stay around.

I don’t have much to look forward to on the [as] front anymore, but I’d still want others to enjoy. It’s not all bad. The festivals have been very fun vacations.

 

[Mr. Idea Box]

I don’t recall saying that exactly. I don’t think it should go outright.

I’d rather it be gone than become something that it’s not. Which, yeah. It could get closer to that point some day. Other than that, I’d love for it to stay around.

I don’t have much to look forward to on the [as] front anymore, but I’d still want others to enjoy. It’s not all bad. The festivals have been very fun vacations.

I appreciate your kind words and self-awareness of other people's opinions.

Still, it's sad that Adult Swim is but a shell of its former self. And not even that one of Marcel's with shoes on, if you catch my drift.