The Revitalization of Adult Swim in 5 Steps

Ah, Adult Swim. An oasis of refreshing, if somewhat insipid material aimed directly at the older audiences. It was started in September, 2001 on Cartoon Network. And I'm going to leave it at that for you 9/11 conspiracy nutzo's to mull over.

Look, if you're like me, then you're pretty well versed in the programming that the "channel" has shown in the past 9 years. And like me, a lot of people have made videos, lists, podcasts, you name it about their complaints. But I frankly don't like to complain (that much anyway), but instead I have done something constructive with my time: I've worked on ways to make the whole segment feel brand new, and introduce ways to make the brand more approachable to the general audience.

So, if you're with me so far, you must be really bored. Either that or you want to hear what I'm gonna say, right? Either reason works for me! So let's step into the 5 Steps to Revitalize Adult Swim!

Step #1: Pare down all "extraneous" programing:

    The amount of programming available to Adult Swim is pretty fathomable. With full backing by Turner Networks, Williams St. Studios have full rights to provide newer, more "imaginative" programs while resting securely in the fact that there are a slew of options when it comes to syndicated properties. Limited only by amount of imagination, the various shows on Adult Swim are definitely eclectic.Aquas Teen Hunger Force, Home Movies, Metalocolypse, Venture Bros., Moral Orel, Robot Chicken and many other highly recognizable animated series make up the core of what is Adult Swim. And why the hell would it not, given that the entire block airs on a channel called "Cartoon Network"!

(Even though it's become less of "Cartoon" Network, and more of "4Kids as long as they're not kids and more teenagers. Oh, and we also show something called cartoons sometimes" Network.)

And let us not forget the fact that Adult Swim has original, Live Action programs as well! Yeah, let's not... forget that too.

MY RECOMMENDATION: To really strip down to what is "essential Adult Swim", there are two things that must be done to save the credibility of the shows involved.

- First: Reduce the amount of airplay for three shows: King of the Hill, Family Guy and Robot Chicken. Both shows have large fanbases that allow for large draws per airing, to be sure. But there is only so much viewing one person can take of any particular activity before the audience gets sick and tired, and change the channel to watch something like Women's Basketball because they have already seen the same episode 16 times in 3 days on 1 channel. On a positive note, this will open up more spots for classic programs to get some more airplay. Which, in all honesty, is a win-win situation.

- Second: While Tim & Eric are funny, their brand of comedy is very hard to grasp, and really damn annoying to the casual viewer.Where there would be many people saying they should be taken off the air, I'm not one of them. Don't get me wrong: I accustom their comedy like kittens being raped by an anthropomorphic car slathering itself in crap while peeing on a baby. But at the same time, I'm a huge fan of weird and avant-stylistics. What I propose is this: Reduce Tim & Eric's material so that it's spread over entire nights in little bursts. This will allow the audience to get much more acclimated to the style of humor, and provide an adequate draw for much of their fanbase. Then, you proceed to bring back the show in it's entirety. It'll be like a cold, they'll get it eventually.

Step #2: Restructure the Anime Block

     Ah, Anime. What my childhood would have been like if I had never heard of it...

    Oh god. That was scary. So many cardboard boxes...

     Okay, back to it. Anime plays a big part of my life, as it more than likely did yours as well (which is a really dumb thing to say because you're not reading this because you recognize that's Faye Valentine in the pic and are having nasty thoughts right now. Naughty, naughty reader!). And with regards to Adult Swim, some pretty big titles come to mind: Cowboy Bebop (hmmm, Faye-Faye!), Trigun (hmmm, Meryl!), Big O, Fullmetal Alchemist (hmmm, Winry!) FLCL (hmmm, Haruhara Haruko!), Ghost in the Shell (hmmm, Batou... wait I mean Motoko! Yeah, Kusanagi).

    And that one dog-boy anime of no real value.Yes, I do mean Inuyasha. Ugh, makes me a little queasy just thinking about the social raping that show pulled on many fans of Adult Swim. Me included.

    Originally, the Anime block was geared towards an Action bent, meaning that it was supposed to be Action heavy section of programming. You know: swordfights, explosions, weird hair, lots of screaming, cursing, blood, tears, and someone always emerging victorious. You know, usual Saturday nights at a bar, but animated by people from Japan. But as of  late, Kim Manning (the Head of Programming) has been really focusing on more drama-based programs, which in and of itself isn't a bad thing. But it does lead one to wonder: Is the programming schedule on Saturdays being geared towards a more "adult" variation to compete with T&T, TBS, NBC, and all their programming for the rest of the week?

MY RECOMMENDATION: To save the Anime Block, it has to be destroyed. And for ages there has been only one weapon powerful enough to destroy that which must be rebuilt. Unfortunately, the Kool-Aid Man's number is unlisted. However there is an alternative: Guyver Bio-Booster Armor. It brings enough "wow factor" to silence any heavily-thematic series. It's a throwback to the old-school fans. And let's face it: Say "Guyver" to any Anime fan, and they'll start seeing things get decimated. Either that, or Mark Hamill turning into a giant bug from the Live-Action movie made in the mid-90's.

    But wait! There's more!

What about a series where the fans can be rooting for the main character? THAT would definitely be an about-face for many of the shows added to Adult Swim recently! Well, look no further than History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi! A Martial Arts entry about Kenichi Shirihama, who one day meets a girl named Miu Furinji, who helps him begin his journey to Martial Greatness. It's a fun series that's high on energy, plentiful with the laughs, has the occasional fanservice moment (you know, for kids!), and doesn't let up on the punchy-kicky goodness mixed with Martial philosophy. And for many American fans, it has Vic Mignogna providing the voice of Kenichi's Chinese Kenpo teacher, Ma Kensei. So win-win for the fanbase!

Finally, there's Nabari no Ou. It's has all the depth that one can expect from darker anime. But unlike Naruto, these ninjas don't get on your nerves that badly, if at all. Did I forget to mention they're ninjas? No, let me correct that. They're Ninjas! The series is about a kid ("Why is it always a kid as the hero?" he asks redundantly) named Miharu Rokujou, who only wants to own a simple restaurant when he gets older. But unfortunately for him, an incredibly powerful technique imprinted on his soul and many, MANY Ninjas disagree otherwise. This series is gritty and unafraid to make characters bleed for everything. All fights are hard fought and intense, and it's really easy to get into. And come on, who doesn't like a Ninja? This series is the perfect middle ground between Naruto and Basilisk (or as I call it, "Naruto for grown-ups").

Step #3: Create an Old-School Block

    Let's be honest. We all have our own favorites when it comes to Adult Swim's programs. Personally, I love Metalocolypse, Venture Bros., and Harvey Birdman. But there are others that don't like the shows I like. That's okay! It's not my fault they're Zoroastrian Albino Pygmies! But to discount the fact that there are a wide selection of incredibly diverse shows to choose from is in and of itself incredible for any fledgling channel to do. Yes, there are a bunch of shows that definitely faltered from the get-go, but at least they tried to do something different. Any company can produce material that doesn't do what it sets out to do: draw a decent size audience to froth and foam in anger/humor at it's content. I mean hell, it's FOX's bread and butter (cough, cough 24 cough cough)!

    And it's in times like this that one pulls from their great reserves. In this case, what a majority of Adult Swim fans are: nostalgic geeks. And what is nostalgia but crap you liked as a kid that, as an adult, makes you go "I remember THAT!!!" And in times of great need, nostalgia can win ANYBODY over, because we remember that. Never mind that we get it's horrible when we look back at it, it's part of our fond memories. And EVERYBODY has those.

MY RECOMMENDATION: The best thing about the fans of Adult Swim is that they are very much Nostalgic whores (and I include myself in that grouping). And what are the ages of their main fanbase? 18-35. Yeah, we're getting old people! And what are some of the cartoons/shows that we grew up with? Well, like me, there's only one phrase that makes grown geek men wet and most geek women shriek in happiness.


"Autobots! Transform and roll out!"

    You see what I did there? You just totally heard Peter Cullen's voice when you read that!

    To celebrate the thing that keeps Seth Green and Breckin Meyer singlehandedly employed, two things need to happen.

    First, create a block of nothing but old-school cartoons and shows aimed directly at the target audience. This can be culled directly from the list of Cartoon Network programing, or even programs that Adult Swim itself currently holds. We're talking Transformers (1st generation). We're talking He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. We're talking Superfriends. You name it. GI Joe. Centurions. Thundercats. Tigersharks (yeah, the Thundercats knockoff, produced by Rankin-Bass). The Real Ghostbusters.

    Even 90's material or material whose rights are soon coming up in availability! Swamp Thing. Savage Dragon. Toxic Crusaders. W.M.A.C. Masters. Ultraforce. Exo-Squad. Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles. Street Sharks. And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to properties!

    Second, and this is important, involve the fans more in the goings-on at Adult Swim. While some of you may tell me, "But Knight! They already have a thing where they let the fans get involved!" But I have to ask you one thing...

    Why did the people at Williams St. feel that we didn't want want to watch the further adventures of Korgoth the Barbarian...

    And instead give us a show with dated jokes, flat (chested) deliveries, a tired sounding soundtrack, and sexual humor that just isn't funny?






    Here's the simple truth: the fans are not as involved as they would like you to think. It's simple pacification. You tell the fans they're involved in something "important", and they will only focus on being "important" and not actually being the INTERESTED PARTY. So, to prevent being taken advantage of, Adult Swim has to open up the lines of communication and fan involvement to a greater degree. Actual nights where the fans decide the programming, what types of bumps are shown, and even to press their own selections of artists and musical groups that have yet to break open to the general audience. Of course, the general consensus over at Williams Street might be like a 5 year old that won't eat it's veggies. But if they don't trust their fans enough to keep them more involved than what they say they have, they are going to lose them to other channels like the Food Network. And seriously, who watches the Food Network for their off-color comedy?

Step #4: Expand the British Block.

    Ah, British humor! Without it, there would be no Benny Hill singing about the fastest Milkman in the West. No Little Britain taking stabs at every single type of social circle. No Bill Bailey or Eddie Izzard. And some other people who's pic is for some reason on this post and smells of Elderberries and Herring. For the past 45+ odd (odd, odd, VERY ODD) years, the British have somehow replaced their cooking with humor being what they are most well known for, and for that, we are all very grateful.

    So, under a very smart (read: obvious) decision, Adult Swim has decided to take the boundaries of what their program blocks have done, and decided to swim for the Isle across the Aisle (or Pond, rather) and are going for broke with their British Block with The Office, the Mighty Boosh, and other fine (read: available copyrighted) material, there is more they can do to push the British Invasion on American Television.

MY RECOMMENDATION: You have to know your audience to maximize the impact of your programming. And by that, I mean knowing which shows the desired audience want to see on a regular basis, while getting newer viewers to latch onto like some parasitic monster that evolved from Chicken Tandoori. And that's where Red Dwarf comes in. A classic and astronomically hysterically funny series about the last man alive on the Space Freighter Red Dwarf, who is alive because his Stasis tube worked long enough (read: three MILLION years) to make sure he could live after a Radiation Leak killed off the rest of the crew on board. When he does wake up, he finds his (potential) love dead, his cat named Frankenstein had produced kittens that survived long enough to evolve into humanoid creatures, the ship's computer, Holly, has gone senile, and finds that the only person that is able to be "revived" as a hologram to keep Lister sane is the person who had the most interaction with him: Arnold Judas Lister, his immediate superior. Seriously, if you love sci-fi and have not seen this series yet? Shame on you. Track this down and watch it NOW.

    Or maybe you're not a fan of Science Fiction. Maybe you like to curl up to a nice book. Maybe some Joyce, or some Keats? Well, if you're gonna take forever to decide, then DO NOT go to the Black Books book store. Where you will be verbally (and possibly physically) assaulted by the owner (Bernard Black), who's barely kept under control by the accountant (Manny Bianco). If, and when, you are able to escape unscathed, visit the Nifty Gifty gift shop, run by Bernard's only, and extremely emotionally needy, friend (Fran). A joyous time is had by all, as long as you like things to improve things to go chaotically wrong, and witticisms so sharp, that Marie Antoinette would have had her head cut off before her first bite of cake.

    Or how about a series you have no idea about? If you want something completely unknown to you, then might I recommend Spaced? A series about Geeks, by Geeks, and for Geeks. Spaced is about two people, Tim and Daisy, who are both hunting for an apartment, and when they find an exquisite (and cheap) apartment for a couple, they hatch a plan to pose as an actual couple to ascertain said apartment. But once they do, they find that living in their new complex is a lot stranger than they both could ever think of. It's filled with top-notch writing, and is quite possibly one of my favorite British series of the past 15 years.


I was charmed by the entire cast, but about the lead actor? Simon What's-his-name? Yeah, I don't think he's gonna go anywhere...

Step #5: New Creator Content

    No matter how you put it, the people who work with Williams Street put a lot of effort into their shows. And it's apparent that they do. Take the pic to your left. Do you know who that is? That MC Chris. You know? MC Pee-Pants from ATHF and Hesh Hepplewhite from Sealab 2021? Without Adult Swim, he wouldn't be as well-known as he was with Dirt Bike Annie without his effort into the original programs he was involved in. And you know what that got him? A recording contract and his own show (slated for this summer). And everybody (even your GRANDMA) knows who the Aqua Teen Hunger Force members are! I mean, they got a movie, didn't they? And now they are getting another!

    And then there's Brendan Small. Yep, that's all I need to say about him. You guys know the rest.






    But you have to ask yourself a very important question: If we want these people to continue what they do, what can we hope to see when it comes to our beneficial enjoyment?

MY RECOMMENDATION: If you want to keep drawing viewers in, you have to have shows that are a few things.

    They have to be easy to understand.

    They have to be enjoyable.

    And most importantly, they have to be fun. Like. perhaps, a toy?

    If you want something fun like a toy, you have to turn to a man who knows all about toys: Doctor Steel.

    A man who only cares about the fun things in life, Doctor Steel is a mad genius who knows that toys are meant to be played with. So what is his goal? To take over the World, so that people can enjoy themselves day in and day out, while not having to worry about the little things, like running the World.

    He's one part Beakman's World, one part Dexter's Lab, and one part Vladimir Lenin, all wrapped up in Steampunk/Hip Hop impresario attire. He makes his own music. He makes his own toys. Oh, and he has a legion of fans (most, importantly, female) that would be an immediate audience to tune into the weekly exploits of their favorite musically inclined mad toymaker.

    Or maybe you prefer puppets. If you do (don't worry, we know you're Avenue Q fans, thus this addition), then there is only one choice for you: the (most competent) people of Transylvania Television. A series about the daily going's-on at an all monster Television Studio. Furry J. Ackermonster is the newest intern at TV TV, fresh from college. There, he is involved with the daily battles of the Vampire Voldomyr Le Shoc and his attempts to keeps things in order, while the Franenstein Machine is used to revive old programs, turning them into parodies because the machine is incredibly faulty.

    What can I say? It's incredibly funny, incredibly original, and frankly, really worth checking into. Give it a shot.

In Closing:


     Let's face it, Adult Swim is going nowhere. As long as it's on the air, it will continue to churn out new things. Some good, some bad. It all depends on whether YOU, the target audience, are willing to enjoy whatever they throw your way, or rather keep the guys at William Street constantly on their toes. No matter what, you enjoy what you enjoy. Just don't forget that you guys have standards. And if you want them to know, then Let the folks at Adult Swim know. That way, all our efforts to be entertained will not have gone for naught but an endless stream of poorly drawn and incredibly inane shows about incredibly lude jokes about farting, genitalia, or poorly worded put downs.

    Let's save the Adult Swim block before it becomes something that should have ended far sooner than it already has gone.