"Primal" News & Discussion Thread

[PinkieLopBun]

It got revealed in a trademark a while back, but Adult Swim officially announced today that they've ordered a new show from Genndy Tartakovsky called Primal and is slated for premiere this fall.

Primal features a caveman at the dawn of evolution. A dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival in a violent, primordial world.

Adult Swim Orders Genndy Tartakovsky Animated Series ‘Primal’

Adult Swim has ordered Primal, a half-hour animated series from Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Laboratory creator Genndy Tartakovsky, for premiere this fall. Primal features a caveman at the dawn …

deadline.com

 

[veemonjosh]

Jason DeMarco confirms it won't be airing on Toonami.

 

[Radiant97]

Well, this looks awesome.

 

[PapaGreg]

Genndy: I'm going to make a series based on the best episode of season 5 Samurai Jack

 

[TargetmasterJoe]

Jason DeMarco confirms it won't be airing on Toonami.

Anyone else think that's weird?

Or maybe it's because Primal is going for a mostly slow pace with only small but sudden adrenaline-like bursts of violence?

In any case, holy crap, this came out of nowhere!

 

[wonderfly]

But...but...Toonami!?!? Western animation, come back to us, on Toonami!!

 

[KeldeoKitty]

I thought Genndy was going to move on to Netflix considering other creators did.

But this looks cool, I like dinosaurs. I’ll check it out.

 

[gokaiblue]

Anyone else think that's weird?

Or maybe it's because Primal is going for a mostly slow pace with only small but sudden adrenaline-like bursts of violence?

In any case, holy crap, this came out of nowhere!

I heard Genndy wasn't happy that the new Samurai Jack premiered on Toonami, stating that he thought it should stand on its own. This might be related to that.

 

[PicardMan]

Toonamifaithful reached out to Demarco and he implied it was because the network thinks the show would flop on Toonami. Adult Swim announces Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal. That doesn't seem to go with the narrative that Toonami's a ratings success despite several other warning signs to the contrary. Samurai Jack was the block's last big event and the last non-Dragonball show to ever crack a million viewers. It probably does well enough to still exist, but will never be a focal point for Adult Swim from this point onward. Surprised that they aren't even allowed to air reruns on the block. I guess it shows just how far the block has fallen as ratings unambiguously had a huge decline the moment it finished its run. I don't think the decline of cable in general can fully explain why Toonami lost the ability to get 1 million viewers the exact moment Samurai Jack ended.

 

[spyke]

Toonamifaithful reached out to Demarco and he implied it was because the network thinks the show would flop on Toonami. Adult Swim announces Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal. That doesn't seem to go with the narrative that Toonami's a ratings success despite several other warning signs to the contrary. Samurai Jack was the block's last big event and the last non-Dragonball show to ever crack a million viewers. It probably does well enough to still exist, but will never be a focal point for Adult Swim from this point onward. Surprised that they aren't even allowed to air reruns on the block. I guess it shows just how far the block has fallen as ratings unambiguously had a huge decline the moment it finished its run. I don't think the decline of cable in general can fully explain why Toonami lost the ability to get 1 million viewers the exact moment Samurai Jack ended.

I hink that the decline in viewership of Toonami is PARTLY due to the block airing on Adult Swim and being aimed at an older audience. Like the dying American comic book industry, CN made the mistake years ago of changing Toonami from a block aimed at tweens with edited anime series to a block aimed solely at teens and adults with nearly unedited anime series. By doing this, they effectively stopped growing their audience with new younger viewers (who will potentially grow up to be older teen and adult viewers) and instead are just selling their product to a shrinking audience of jaded older teens and adults who are losing interest in anime.

 

[Gatordragon]

Oh, that looks brutal and cool. I like me some Genndy, so I'll be checking this out.

However, I'm a tiny bit bummed that this isn't an animated adaptation of Primal Rage....

 

[PicardMan]

. By doing this, they effectively stopped growing their audience with new younger viewers (who will potentially grow up to be older teen and adult viewers) and instead are just selling their product to a shrinking audience of jaded older teens and adults who are losing interest in anime.

It sure did work at first, at least until One Punch Man finished. As with Samurai Jack being the last non-Dragonball show period that had a million plus viewers, One Punch Man was the last non Dragonball anime to do that on a regular basis. The first few episodes of JoJo did too, but once the newness wore off, casuals were driven away from the show's bizarre cotent and hardcores already streamed the subs. The fact that Toonami anime not named Dragonball's inability to hit a million was was immediate rather than gradual is obvious proof that it's more than the decline in viewers. A decline in anime fandom doesn't seem likely as anime fandom is supposedly bigger than it ever was. JoJo, MHA were two shows that aired after the Toonami Renaissance that seemed to be huge hits, albeit because of streaming (in JoJo's case, it's amazing because it was streamed subbed only). One Punch Man had the fortune of airing a few months after the sub, while JoJo and MHA aired years later.

Back on topic to Primal, maybe not being confined to the ghetto known as Toonami is a good thing because Toonami is known as the niche geek block. Putting it on regular adult swim can give it the same mainstream audience Rick and Morty does.

 

[BlooMac]

I think another reason why it's not on Toonami, is Adult Swim losing the Fox shows. While Family Guy and Bob's Burgers are going to stay until 2021, they need to start focusing more on original content, Final Space is another example. Toonami can do just fine with whatever else they got, but Adult Swim really needs to maintain itself, if they want to survive without the Fox shows.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

That's actually a really good point BlooMac especially since with the FOX Shows gone AS is probably going to want to start rebranding itself a bit. I mean it will still always have those goofy just out there shows but they aren't really money makers or generate a lot of views. With stuff like Rick and Morty they're bread and butter now they're probably going to want to start showing a different range of adult content and if that means "you know what let's try a more actually serious show that focuses on hardship and struggle instead of just laughs" then that works.

And quite honestly the look and the trailer hooked me really quickly. Probably not as fast as not only is this another Genndy show but that this seems like it's actually trying to not be a focus on comedy. Do you know how rare that is for any animated show out now especially for adults? Like that's something that should get this recognition alone; the idea of an animated SERIOUS series coming out. I'm sure there will be some laughs here and there (though with this art style it's hard to see how that will happen) but I am all for it not being a focus as well as for the struggle of this bloody and brutal friendship. Heh thinking about alomst feels like Genndy looked at The Good Dinosaur and thought "you know what if that movie was a show that instead of being stupid and kind of cute was just awesome and hardcore?" and went from there. I'd believe it.

 

[Leviathan]

I think another reason why it's not on Toonami, is Adult Swim losing the Fox shows. While Family Guy and Bob's Burgers are going to stay until 2021, they need to start focusing more on original content, Final Space is another example. Toonami can do just fine with whatever else they got, but Adult Swim really needs to maintain itself, if they want to survive without the Fox shows.

Good point.

Sony signed up Genndy to direct two movies for them. But I could easily see a scenario in which Sony 86's both movies like they did with Popeye and Can You Imagine? and try to stick him on Hotel Transylvania 4. That would probably ensure a multi-season run for this.

 

[wonderfly]

If the show is actually successful on Adult Swim (instead of Toonami)....we have to consider the possibility this signals the further marginalizing of Toonami. Instead of us getting Toonami on weeknights (like we were hoping) maybe this goes the opposite direction and they marginalize or cancel Toonami?

 

[Yojimbo]

All they had to say was Genndy Tartakovsky. I'll give it a shot. I suppose it will be on a Sunday night AS slot?

 

[Nexonius]

Seems like this is a CN Studios production.

 

[PicardMan]

Invasion America back in the 90s was the last adult oriented animated action or drama show other than Samurai Jack. Invasion America was a flop and Samurai Jack went by because it was a sequel to a nostalgic children's cartoon. Can it escape Invasion America's fate? Admittedly, it looks way cooler than Invasion America ever was and dinosaurs should get butts in seats. The big issue is that Adult Swim has always been known as the stoner comedy block. The anime programming feels widely disconnected from the rest of Adult Swim and this show would feel pretty awkward next to Robot Chicken or Rick and Morty or whatever. I'm hoping they can get the stoner humor crowd to not tune out because it doesn't have a talking milkshake.

 

[Light Lucario]

If the show is actually successful on Adult Swim (instead of Toonami)....we have to consider the possibility this signals the further marginalizing of Toonami. Instead of us getting Toonami on weeknights (like we were hoping) maybe this goes the opposite direction and they marginalize or cancel Toonami?

I don't know if they'll go that far. Despite the ratings and how frequently the lineup changes, I don't think that Toonami is in any danger of being marginalized or canceled. Plus, that's assuming that the show is going to be a big hit on Adult Swim, which may or may not happen. I just don't think we should assume the worst just from this decision. As cool as it would be to have more western animation on Toonami, Primal might be a better fit for regular Adult Swim. Not to mention having some more content for their regular lineup after losing most of the Fox shows is pretty important for Adult Swim.

The trailer was pretty interesting and intense. It might be a bit too bloody and violent for me, but I might check it out since I did enjoy Samurai Jack's fifth season.