Adult Swim
From The TV IV
| Adult Swim | |
 | |
| Founded | September 2, 2001
March 28, 2005 (Network Established (Code: ADSM)) |
| Company | Turner Broadcasting (Time Warner) |
| President | Mike Lazzo |
| Current Popular Series | Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Robot Chicken Metalocalypse |
Adult Swim is a block of adult-oriented animated programming that airs on Cartoon Network Monday-Saturday from 11:00PM to 6:00AM, and on Sundays when the schedule is expanded for an extra hour beginning at 10:00PM. On July 6, 2007, the block extended into Fridays beginning at 11:00PM. The block then repeats all of the programming for the earlier block.
Contents |
[edit] History
Adult Swim grew out of Cartoon Network's previous attempts at airing content appropriate for the kinds of audiences who would be watching their channel at late hours, namely Toonami: Midnight Run which aired primarily anime like Gundam Wing and Outlaw Star along with some very limited original programming, namely Space Ghost Coast to Coast. In 2000, several Williams Street programs debuted during this late night block and made a foundation for the yet to be created Adult Swim. Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and The Brak Show aired between one and three episodes each before disappearing into production.
Due to the popularity of this block and the Williams Street programs, Cartoon Network set Adult Swim into development, which aired on Sundays and repeated on Thursdays. Initially, the block's name was taken literally with its bumpers consisting of a lifeguard with a megaphone talking over a group of elderly people swimming in an indoor pool (i.e. an "adult swim"). The first programs airing on the block included Cowboy Bebop, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Leave it to Brak, Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Home Movies.
When the block began airing five days a week (Sunday-Thursday), the bumps transformed into their current form, namely a black screen with plain white text combined with unusual still art that either is associated with the program it leads into (often used for anime) or a complete non-sequitor (more often used at the end of the block). These bumps appear at the beginning of the block and between each commercial break at the top and bottom of the break. Typically they are seemingly random opinions or statements, but on occasion they are informative with information on schedule changes, DVD releases or new shows. At one time, Thursday nights would feature bumps with white backgrounds and black text written by members of the message boards. This has since been scaled back entirely.
On March 28, 2005 Nielsen Media Research began treating Adult Swim as an entirely separate channel for ratings purposes, much like how Nick at Nite is treated by Nickelodeon with a triggering on/off switch. This also allowed for commercial advertisement more appropriate for the less than child friendly late-night programming.
[edit] April Fool's Day
Since 2004, Adult Swim has traditionally celebrated April Fool's Day by pulling some kind of prank at the expense of the unwitting viewer. Typically, the hoaxes are aimed at anime fans, who are well known on the Adult Swim message boards as an extremely vocal group. The following list compiles the network's history of April Fools pranks:
- April 1, 2004: Programs aired as usual, except all of the characters had mustaches drawn on.
- April 1, 2005: Though not a prank, a very early, unfinished version of the Squidbillies pilot was aired in the place of Robot Chicken this night and initially thought to be a hoax. The network later admitted in the bumps that it was, in fact, an unfinished episode.
- April 1, 2006: Instead of the usual programming, the first couple of hours were replaced with old episodes of Mister T and Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos. The new episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex scheduled for that night were broadcast but with fart noises imposed over the dialogue.
- March 31, 2007: Instead of airing its usual Saturday night anime line-up, the network instead aired the first Perfect Hair Forever webisode followed by the first season of the series show in reverse order and in the style of VHS fansubs. The episodes were changed to look like several generation old videotapes with grammatically incorrect subtitles. At one point, the subtitles shown on screen were actually for an Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode instead.
- April 1, 2007: In a rare prank two-fer, the network had been advertising that it would be airing Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters in its entirety on April Fools Day. Technically, they made good on their promise by showing the first two minutes (which had long been available on the movie's website) full-screen and the entire rest of the film in a very small picture-in-picture window without sound.
- April 1, 2008: At midnight, instead of pulling a practical joke on the audience, Adult Swim instead aired a block of eight stealth premieres under the guise in the schedule of an encore of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, which had its worldwide television debut the night earlier. Starting with a new episode of Fat Guy Stuck in Internet, the ensuing two and a half hours included pilots, unfinished episodes, season and series premieres, as well as new episodes up current programs on hiatus. The block was as follows:
- Fat Guy Stuck in Internet: Second Episode
- The Venture Bros.: The Doctor Is Sin (unfinished first segment, third season premiere)
- Delocated: Untitled Pilot (unaired pilot)
- Superjail: Superbar (unfinished series premiere)
- Young Person's Guide to History: The Duel (miniseries premiere)
- Metalocalypse: Dethwedding (1 month early)
- Robot Chicken: Tubba Bubba Is Now Hubba Bubba (4 months early)
- Moral Orel: Grounded (third season premiere, 4 months early)
[edit] Other Ventures
The network has also expanded into Video-On-Demand services in mid-2004 on several digital cable providers. The video content is separated into two channels, Adult Swim Comedy and Adult Swim Action. Comedy is strictly original Adult Swim content like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Action is licensed content from Bandai, some of which has never been aired on the main network. For instance, S-cry-ed debuted on VOD before being aired in the normal schedule.
Adult Swim was also one of the pioneering networks for online streaming content with the Adult Swim Fix, a group of episodes available between 11PM and 6AM. Often, this serves as a place to premiere new episodes of Sunday premieres and special episodes of older programs and pilots like Space Ghost and Welcome to Eltingville. The video section of the website has since been renamed to, simply, "Adult Swim Video." The video service also airs some internet-only webisodes for Perfect Hair Forever, The Brak Show and 12 Oz. Mouse. It has also been the home for original spin offs like I'm Pissed (starring Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force) and Lowe Country (starring Space Ghost voice actor George Lowe).
Beyond television, the network collaborated with rapper MF Doom and DJ Danger Mouse to create an album consisting of songs about Williams Street shows and, within those songs, samples derived mainly from characters in those shows. They have also produced albums by Dethklok and put on college tour concerts for rappers like Ghostface Killah.
[edit] US Schedule
| Premiere | Encore | New-to-AS Premiere | Special Premiere | Series Premiere | Season Premiere | Season Finale | Series Finale | Stealth Premiere (rare) |
[edit] Upcoming Programming Events
- Death Note series finale July 5, 2008.
- Assy McGee series finale July 5, 2008.
- Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! season three premieres July 27, 2008.
- Recreation of Adult Swim's first night on August 1, 2008.
- Fat Guy Stuck in Internet season one finale August 17, 2008.
- The Venture Bros. season three finale August 24, 2008.
- Metalocalypse 30-minute season three finale August 24, 2008.
- Robot Chicken season three resumes August 31, 2008.
- Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! season three finale September 28, 2008.
- Superjail premieres September 28, 2008.
- Moral Orel season three premieres October, 2008.
- Xavier: Renegade Angel season two premieres October 2008.
- Young Person's Guide to History premieres October 2008.
- That Crook'd Sipp premieres in 2008.
- The Drinky Crow Show premieres January 2009.
[edit] June 30-July 6
[edit] July 7-13
[edit] International Schedules
Adult Swim also airs in Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. Due to different ownership rules and broadcast rights, different shows are broadcast. Some of which do not air on the US Adult Swim including Clone High, Bromwell High, Gundam Seed, and Bob and Margaret.
[edit] Shows
[edit] Anime
- Astro Boy
- Big O
- Bleach
- Blood+
- Blue Gender
- Buso Renkin
- Case Closed
- Code Geass
- Cowboy Bebop
- Death Note
- Eureka Seven
- FLCL
- Fullmetal Alchemist
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
- Gigantor
- InuYasha
- Kikaider
- Lupin the 3rd
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
- Moribito
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Outlaw Star
- Paranoia Agent
- Pilot Candidate
- Reign: The Conqueror
- Samurai Champloo
- s-CRY-ed
- Shin Chan
- Super Milk-Chan
- Tenchi Muyo
- Trigun
- Trinity Blood
- Witch Hunter Robin
- Wolf's Rain
- YuYu Hakusho
[edit] Network/Cable Reruns
- American Dad
- Baby Blues
- The Bob Clampett Show
- Cartoon Planet
- Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos
- Family Guy
- Futurama
- The Gary Coleman Show
- Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
- Mission Hill
- Mister T
- The Oblongs
- Pee-Wee's Playhouse
- The Popeye Show
- The Ripping Friends
- The Smoking Gun
- The Super Globetrotters
- Voltron: Defender of the Universe
[edit] Original Programs
- 12 Oz. Mouse
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- Assy McGee
- The Boondocks
- The Brak Show
- Fat Guy Stuck in Internet
- Frisky Dingo
- Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- Home Movies
- Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil
- Metalocalypse
- Minoriteam
- Moral Orel
- Perfect Hair Forever
- Robot Chicken
- Saul of the Mole Men
- Sealab 2021
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast
- Squidbillies
- Stroker and Hoop
- Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
- Tom Goes to the Mayor
- The Venture Bros.
- Xavier: Renegade Angel
[edit] Upcoming and Developing Series
- Battle Hi
- Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugar Town Candy Fudge
- Delocated
- The Drinky Crow Show
- I Know - Let's Blow up the Moon
- Superjail
- That Crook'd Sipp
- Young Person's Guide to History
[edit] Pilots and Unproduced Pitches
- Captain Sturdy: The Originals
- The Finkel Files
- The Groovenians
- Korgoth of Barbaria
- Let's Fish
- The Lewis Lectures
- Penguins Behind Bars
- Saddle Rash
- Spacecataz
- Stiff
- Tyrone's Inferno
- Welcome to Eltingville
[edit] External Sites
Categories: Adult Swim | Network | Time Warner | Block
