Baby Blues... Out of Place?

[JohnCrichton]

Eh... this cartoon seems like it should be on Comedy Central or O'Canada... or ABC Family.

It seems so out of place from the rest of the edgier, funnier, more original feeling shows on Adult Swim.

What possessed CN to pick up this cartoon?

Just seems kinda.... odd....

[spectre316]

It is definetly more sitcom-ish. I'm outside of the majority on some moments of Baby Blues -- sometimes it's pretty funny.

But when I have just finished watching my favorite show, Home Movies, nothing grates more on my nerves than that Barenaked Ladies song, "It's All Been Done." What other way to start off a sitcom-like show with a popular song from the 90's. Ech.

[JTurner954]

Yeah, I agree that Baby Blues is out of place. Please don't jinx it into going to Comedy Central. There's too much crap on there (Chris Wild show, Bob and Margaret, Absolutely Fabulous to name a few).

Give it to Canada so I don't have to see it here...and BRING BACK BIG O.

[Killtacular]

That depends on what you mean by edge.

Baby Blues is the third show to actually be adult-focused on Adult Swim(Cowboy Bebop and Home Movies being the other two). It deserves to be on there, not just because because it's funny, not just because what happened to it on WB was unfair, but because advertisers are beginning to get more scarce.

11 pm is an incredibly NOT edgy hour, and most people past college don't like Williams Street shows. They want more Simpsons-like humor from their shows. The advertisers pick up on this and begin to market elsewhere. They don't just air Captain Linger for fanservice.. they mostly air it out of necessity.

[ohmrbill]

Again with the "fanservice"...

But anyway, I agree that it seems out of place, but that's only because the rest of the block is dominated by WS brand humor.

Matt's right about it deserving to be on there, though. It certainly isn't a bad show.

[Zorakfan]

Well said by Matt again.

Just one question about HM:

If it's adult-oriented, why the hell do they have Jason? He's one sick lil' bastard.

[Killtacular]

Home Movies envisions a world where adults relive their childhood and get it right this time, with an adult mentality. Each of the three kids represents different logical paths taken, and you could probably guess what sort of job their personality would derive from. There's always a Brendan or a Jason in everyone's lives.

[Calhoun07]

I also would like to defend Baby Blue's place on Adult Swim. I don't want to see the line up to be pigeonholed into a certain style of humor. If we are going to support this line up to see it grow to a place where Thursday can be a night of new episodes rather than a re-run of Sunday, then I think supporting variety in the line up is also important. Baby Blues appeals to adults in a different way than the other shows may appeal to them, but I still think that's a good thing and it needs to be here.

And yeah, bring back Big O...to Toonami.

[JTurner954]

Originally posted by calhoun07
I also would like to defend Baby Blue's place on Adult Swim. I don't want to see the line up to be pigeonholed into a certain style of humor. If we are going to support this line up to see it grow to a place where Thursday can be a night of new episodes rather than a re-run of Sunday, then I think supporting variety in the line up is also important. Baby Blues appeals to adults in a different way than the other shows may appeal to them, but I still think that's a good thing and it needs to be here.

And yeah, bring back Big O...to Toonami.

Whoever said it had to follow "a certain style of humor"? I doubt Cowboy Bebop is very humorous in tone. Anyway, I am still not liking this Baby Blues show (even though I liked this one a little more). After watching two episodes, I can safely say that my problem with the show is that the humor is too obvious (and the story line too predictable;c'mon, did you actually think the wife would never find out where her husband was going with the kids every weekend?).

And as long as Big O is back on Cartoon Network in some time slot, I'm happy.

[DJRed]

The way i like to think of Baby Blues is that it's what adult swim will become... more or less.
It's obviously for adults. Parents to be specific. Right now adult swim doesn't have much choice but to fill up on William St. stuff. It's the only thing that was adult on the channel before Adult Swim. But eventually (hopefully) William St. will take over thursdays and sunday will become a more animated sitcom kind of day.
And if we're really lucky they might actually find something new that may one day become something as popular as the simpsons or, to a lesser extent, south park.

[JohnCrichton]

Eh.... I see your points of view. And I think it's pretty honorable of you guys to defend another person's creation, but still.... as someone said before, the comedy's too.... obvoius and predictable.

Reminds me of the slew of prime time animated shows that came in and went away after the Simpson's became a huge hit. Making 'em, just to be making them without any true grit or inspiration behind them.

That last episode felt so cliche, and I'm sure it's been done... uh be...fore.... 0_o Anyways! I hate to use a hip and generic term like "edge" but all the other shows take a chance. All the other shows seem to know something about cartoons and what we really want to see out of them. This show's just like... Capital Critters or God the Devil and Bob in how uninspired and uber-PC it is.

I can see one plus from this show, in that it might bring in more viewers who are pretty clueless about cartoons. The regular dad and soccer mom who tune in to see some safe humor about what family life is suppose to be like, then also get introduced to real and good cartoons. Maybe one out of five will actually like it and make it all the way to see the light of Cowboy Bebop. Thus ringing in a whole new slew of viewers giving Adult Swim more ratings, more money, that they can put over to Toonami to give it a new rebirth!

All from one bland show. I guess it has a place..... sorta.

[Killtacular]

All the other shows seem to know something about cartoons and what we really want to see out of them.

"We" don't represent the majority of the 18-34 demographic. "We" are a very small percentage.

Obvious and predictable humor is something that older adults will enjoy. People need to stop thinking that adults enjoy non-sequitir, because they don't. If there is a method to the madness, adults will watch it. The only counterexample I've seen is Family Guy and Futurama, and FOX pre-empts the hell out of those shows, so barely anyone knows they still exist..

[Calhoun07]

Just about every sit com I have seen, even the greatest on TV, is often predictable. You know that in 99% of them, the scheme one character is using will turn on him in the second half of the show. I don't think Baby Blues is any more predictable than any of the other shows out there, animated or live action. Heck, even my favorite sit coms of all time, such as MASH and Cheers and others, have had quite predictable story lines. It's a half hour comedy, not an hour show that continues from week to week with a longer story line, the plots have to be simple and somewhat predictable. That's the nature of TV and the half hour comedy.

[JTurner954]

Originally posted by calhoun07
Just about every sit com I have seen, even the greatest on TV, is often predictable. You know that in 99% of them, the scheme one character is using will turn on him in the second half of the show. I don't think Baby Blues is any more predictable than any of the other shows out there, animated or live action. Heck, even my favorite sit coms of all time, such as MASH and Cheers and others, have had quite predictable story lines. It's a half hour comedy, not an hour show that continues from week to week with a longer story line, the plots have to be simple and somewhat predictable. That's the nature of TV and the half hour comedy.

99%? Maybe you should check that number again.

At least shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy have twists to make it more entertaining. Baby Blues just followed a simple formula that went nowhere. I don't know about the rest of this forum but as soon as they went for a joke, I knew exactly what the punchline would be before they showed it (I'll be fair and say that for about 85% of the show).

[Calhoun07]

Well, I still think it's a rather high percentage...maybe 90%. Family Guy and Simpsons are the rare exceptions, tho I suppose it would be more fair to compare Baby Blues to that show rather than to live action shows, since that is the cloth from which the show was cut.

[Pocket_Squirrel]

I actually haven't taken the time to sit down and watch Baby Blues; but some one mentioned Clerks earlier and that is a show that needs new life on Adult Swim.

[JTurner954]

I saw the movie so if Clerks: The Animated Series is anything like the movie, I'll support it to replace Baby Blues.

[Calhoun07]

Well, Clerks TAS had to tone down much of the humor, but was a great show nonetheless. I suggest you pick up the two DVD set of the series if you haven't seen it.

[JTurner954]

Actually, I'm saving up money to buy the Batman: Animated Series DVD's that come out in a few months. But, I plan to check out the Clerks DVD's someday.

[randomguy]

Regardless of rather or not it's adult, I just think Baby Blues isn't funny. All the adultness in the world won't matter if it can't make you laugh. But this is just my personal feeling... some people really liket the show. At any rate, I sincerely doubt CN would pay to produce new episodes, which means it'll probably be off the air before too long.