"Cartoon Network" shows on Adult Swim

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Adult Swim has on rare occasions shared shows with Cartoon Network. When Adult Swim gains the 9PM hour and in turn has another hour in which they cannot play most of their original comedies due to content restraints it is entirely possible some of CN's shows might be shared.

I've heard some odd requests myself. Everything from Megas XLR and Samurai Jack to Adventure Time, MAD, Regular Show and Sym-Bionic Titan. Star Wars was already on Adult Swim for a time. Probably any of the network's PG shows are a possiblity and maybe even some of their Y7 shows.

Personally I'd rather Adult Swim not air more kid's shows because it's aired its fair share and they rarely fit in but that 9PM hour is a whole different beast and one they may enlist CN's help to tame.

What are your thoughts on the possibilities?

[Beat]

Honestly?

If I had my way, the 9-10pm block would be a rerun of the previous nights Conan from TBS. (Monday is a rerun of Friday's Conan, Tuesday is a rerun of Friday's, etc) Airing kids shows is unacceptable and kicking off the block with originals is probably not the wisest move. I also think we can discount the complete ratings nightmare that airing anime would be. Conan would work as a bridge between CN and AS while giving the block some more exposure.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

How does a live-action talk show work for a bridge between CN and AS at all? Conan would probably bomb at 9PM on Adult Swim and content might be an issue as well given it's a late-night talk show. If you want to go that route then reruns of Space Ghost (which probably would also bomb) might do the trick but that one isn't likely going to be seen outside of the 5AM hour other than special occasions unfortunately. It's entirely possible they'll try encores or reruns of Conan on Adult Swim in 2011 (if TBS will let them) but if they did they probably wouldn't be at 9PM. Not when they'd do better at Midnight or even 1AM.

Adult Swim's best bridge shows would be anime but airing their shounen on weekdays much less first, is a pipe dream. Maybe they'd try it on a whim though.

Personally I'd like them to try The Flinstones. It's safe and plenty adult oriented. If it works out they could possibly even make a new Flintstones series specifically for Adult Swim.

Cartoon Network's best bridged shows would be the likes of Regular Show, MAD, Clone Wars and Sym-Bionic Titan. Maybe something they don't play anymore that isn't on Boomerang. That said, I think CN should keep their shows in their hours but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing some of them in Adult Swim's 9PM hour if they have nothing else they can do with it. Beat's more King of the Hill reruns in my opinion but I don't want that show leaving Adult Swim.

[Beat]

How does a live-action talk show work for a bridge between CN and AS at all? Conan would probably bomb at 9PM on Adult Swim and content might be an issue as well given it's a late-night talk show.

Given the huge amount of exposure Conan's gotten through the Tonight Show fiasco, Team Coco vs. Team Leno, etc, Conan O' Brien brings one thing that Space Ghost reruns, nor shounen anime nor AS originals that could safely air at 9pm has, name value. You put any anime, doesn't matter which one, on at 9pm, it's going to bomb and bomb miserably. There's a reason the anime is confined to Saturday at 12:30am for two hours. Right now they don't have an anime library to effectively fill in that timeslot without creating a huge clash with the rest of the block (ie: a night full of comedic programming both animated and live action). Now if they went and bought anime that did, it'd be an entirely different story, but we all know that's not going to happen.

Furthermore, if you're gonna air Conan reruns, you obviously can't air opposite the new ones. Airing them too late might do that.

As much as everyone would love some more Space Ghost BTW, it appears the creators are thoroughly tired of it. As for regular CN shows, if the 9pm hour is supposed to be an introduction to Adult Swim, airing regular CN shows is not going to accomplish. Not that there's anything wrong with their programming from a technical point of view, but it's not really going to set the two blocks apart.

[Nexonius]

My idea for 2011:

Adult Swim takes over 9PM....only from Tuesday-Thursdays, and from Saturdays-Sundays. Leave the Monday and Fridays' 9PM slot to Cartoon Network.

There's Regular Show, MAD, Adventure Time, The Looney Tunes Show, Sym-Bionic Titan, Young Justice, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Total Drama, Secret Mountain Ft. Awesome, and many more CN goodies coming. It would be senseless to go take a hour off on the nights that matter (case and point, Monday and Friday).

[Zyzzybalubah]

My two ideal answers:

1. The Simpsons FINALLY comes to cable and debuts a full-hour on Adult Swim. Uncut (I don't know if it's everywhere, but some syndicated episodes don't have all the scenes originally in the episode) and starting all the way from the beginning! The early seasons are mostly PG-rated material so I think they could work it so that they can air Simpsons on both CN and AS, it's pretty much all in the matter of whether Time Warner wants to dig deep into their pockets and finally do it. If they do, I think they likely would have done it by August (they already acquired and announced The Cleveland Show but that's not even coming until 2013!) At this time, I doubt The Simpsons will be airing on AS.

2. Multiple New Premieres: Adult Swim going into primetime is kind of a big deal here. I mean, even when Adult Swim first launched at 10:00 PM in 2001, they have never been on THIS early. For Cartoon Network to have to give up what is likely to be considered valuable air time, I'm sure the network heads are expecting something that would really have adults tune in. I think it should be some new original series that can actually attract a wide adult audience (on the cable front, in this time slot they are competing against Monday Night Raw, Jersey Shore, NFL Football, etc.) Sure, they could just bump Family Guy reruns to this hour, but IMHO it would be a waste of an hour, just moving King of the Hill to that time would be even more of a waste because it's already not getting the Family Guy/Futurama numbers Adult Swim was likely expecting. These new series should be closer in budget to Boondocks, Family Guy, etc. and should be similar to shows like South Park, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and other various cable hit shows. They could have it be fifteen minute shows but I personally would prefer if they were 30-minutes long.

I doubt either of my two requests would happen, but I think they would be nice and most likely better than what likely will happen.

I'd like to add that Beat does have a good idea about airing Conan reruns in the 9PM slot. I think it would be good exposure for Conan on TBS and could even add to Adult Swim's ratings. Conan followed by Family Guy (or vice versa) sounds like a hot spot for college student viewing there. John's idea of Adult Swim experimenting with this on Tuesday-Thursday is also a good idea. I'm also real curious as to what Adult Swim will play on 9-10PM Sundays when it's premieres of Family Guy and American Dad. My only guess is the previous week or two's episodes. With those two possibly replaying at 10-11.

As for the Flintstones returning, it would be cool as it's the original primetime cartoon, I just don't see it happening. I think Adult Swim should be past the days of playing shows that either regularly air or previously aired on CN (with the exception of the graveyard slots) and with the exception of some wacky surprises from Adult Swim (i.e. PeeWee's Playhouse on AS), I couldn't imagine it being a regular occurrence. A new Flintstones series geared towards adults IMO has some substance. I miss the days when Williams Street made shows based on older cartoons (Harvey Birdman, SGC2C, Sealab) and throwing in some adult humor. I like Adult Swim today, but some of my favorite times were when those shows were on air. Some series I'd like to see them dub over or make new would be: Flintstones, Captain Planet, or even Snagglepuss.

[Space Cadet]

2. Multiple New Premieres: Adult Swim going into primetime is kind of a big deal here. I mean, even when Adult Swim first launched at 10:00 PM in 2001, they have never been on THIS early. For Cartoon Network to have to give up what is likely to be considered valuable air time, I'm sure the network heads are expecting something that would really have adults tune in. I think it should be some new original series that can actually attract a wide adult audience (on the cable front, in this time slot they are competing against Monday Night Raw, Jersey Shore, NFL Football, etc.) Sure, they could just bump Family Guy reruns to this hour, but IMHO it would be a waste of an hour, just moving King of the Hill to that time would be even more of a waste because it's already not getting the Family Guy/Futurama numbers Adult Swim was likely expecting. These new series should be closer in budget to Boondocks, Family Guy, etc. and should be similar to shows like South Park, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and other various cable hit shows. They could have it be fifteen minute shows but I personally would prefer if they were 30-minutes long.



Sounds like AS needs a The Big Bang Theory-type show to air in those timeslot. Something that can attract a wide audience. Maybe a show like Community could work.

I would love if The Simpsons finally made its cable debut on AS. It could easily fill in that slot and would be a nice bridge between CN and AS.

Conan reruns could work, although its rare for a talk show to rerun the next day on another network. I do remember Comedy Central airing reruns of the Late Show many years ago, so its possible. Maybe AS will start their own talk show. How about Tim & Eric Nite Live?:p

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Of course airing Conan opposite of Conan is a bad idea but I was under the impression Conan was going to air around 10PM or 11PM. So while 9PM might work (if content isn't a concern) the hours after 12AM might be a better choice.

Beat you really overlook the power of shounen with young adults. In those hours they'd do plenty well. Potentially better than King of the Hill reruns. Perhaps Conan would do better but with which audience? Wouldn't the people who would tune in for Conan be watching network prime time? This is why expanding to 9PM is just plain a bad idea but all the more so if you run something network prime time viewers can A) watch at a different time and B) wouldn't choose over other programs.

I really don't like the idea of AS getting live-action sitcoms but I guess if they're at least good and exclusive (as in not on other cable networks maybe not in local syndication if possible) then that could be a good draw away from network television.

The Simpsons would be the best choice by far but if they had it we'd have heard something by now. They'd want to gloat about that one. Still not out of the question for the future.

All the more I dislike the idea of AS airing in the 9 hour. If CN could at least keep that hour on Monday and Friday that'd be appreciated but going by when adults would be watching the network airing on Saturday night that early seems rather pointless as well. The situation would probably work out better if CN were to keep 9PM on Friday and Saturday and have those be their premiere nights but I don't imagine they'll go back to Friday comedy premieres when they'd get clobbered by Nick and Disney shows on that night and action would face down similar shows on Saturday.

[Rho]

Personally, I think Simpsons is better suited for Nick@Nite. Also, didn't [as] have a bumper saying they'd never get the show?


As for any CN shows that could air on [as], MAD wouldn't surprise me too much. Same with Adventure Time.

[Space Cadet]

The new Conan show is suppose to air at 11 PM Monday-Thursday.

Also, I don't remember if the press release mentioned that AS would take 9 PM for all the nights. I'm assuming they would, but maybe certain days AS would have the 9 PM spot. Maybe Wednesday and Thursday since CN doesn't really use that hour for much(Tuesday has Tower Prep airing).

[Beat]

A few points:

1- Simpsons would be great, but I think at this point it's the name and sheer volume of episodes keeping Adult Swim from airing it. I have to imagine the rights being a bit more than Cleveland. Would it be worth it? Hard to say. If you had to cut ASA back an hour to afford it, yes. If you had to cut into your budget for first-party shows, not really.

2- Why would AS air MAD? They have Robot Chicken.

3- Conan reruns, 4x a week with a possible alternate Friday schedule would work. Comedy Central actually aired Late Night episodes in prime time for a while. There's a name and an audience that may not watch late nite TV or TBS that they can get. Certainly more so than shounens which can't outdo King of the Hill.

4- A Tim and Eric talk show would never work. Not because of ratings because ratings don't matter when it comes to those two, but because they don't like staying with the same project for any extended period of time.

[Silverbolt]

All I care about is that they show quality ANIMATED shows on the channel in that time frame.

There are plenty of regular CN shows that appeal to older viewers, or they can go back to the old Toonami blocks and take shows from there that did well.

I have no interest at all in seeing reruns of talk shows that I'll likely skip when they are new and wouldn't watch on CN/AS out of principle because they aren't animated

[Andrew T. Hingson]

A few points:

1- Simpsons would be great, but I think at this point it's the name and sheer volume of episodes keeping Adult Swim from airing it. I have to imagine the rights being a bit more than Cleveland. Would it be worth it? Hard to say. If you had to cut ASA back an hour to afford it, yes. If you had to cut into your budget for first-party shows, not really.

2- Why would AS air MAD? They have Robot Chicken.

3- Conan reruns, 4x a week with a possible alternate Friday schedule would work. Comedy Central actually aired Late Night episodes in prime time for a while. There's a name and an audience that may not watch late nite TV or TBS that they can get. Certainly more so than shounens which can't outdo King of the Hill.

4- A Tim and Eric talk show would never work. Not because of ratings because ratings don't matter when it comes to those two, but because they don't like staying with the same project for any extended period of time.

With adults 18-24 shounen at 9PM would do gang busters. There is a presidence for that assumption. Naruto Saturday nights on CN did very well with 18+ (but better with 12-17). They could probably fare well compared to the upteenth rerun of King of the Hill with at least 18-24 but 25-34 draw for KotH could off-set that.

Besides if you want anime off Saturday night 12AM-6AM this satisfies that desire and if it bombs then all the closer you'll be to shounen anime free Adult Swim.

Without a doubt those shounen would do better at 9PM on weeknights than they do at 12AM-2AM on Saturday night.

You do perhaps have a point on getting the younger viewers who wont stay up as late to tune in for Conan though.

EDIT: I got a little help from Bryan (nickandmore) on this one. In the recent season on premiere nights Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Generator Rex have drawn 0.3 or higher and Clone Wars has managed 0.7 with 18-49. I asked Bryan what 0.5 with 18-49 adults came out to and he told me for the 09-10 TV season, there are ~132 million adults 18-49 in the US. So a 1.0 = 1.32 million. Therefore, 0.5 = ~660,000. As you recall Clone Wars didn't do that well in reruns on Adult Swim Saturday nights but 660,000 is better than Bleach typically does on a Saturday night premiere or rerun. Why do Generator Rex and Ben 10: UA do nearly that well or better with 18-49 adults in prime time than Bleach does with that demographic on a Saturday late night? The answer is the time slot. If they aired Bleach reruns at 9PM it could very well do better than Rex, Ben and Clone Wars do with 18-49 (maybe not Clone Wars, it has that brand recognition thing going for it).

How much better could Conan do than that you suppose because I doubt King of the Hill does much better than that at 10PM with adults 18-49.

That is exactly why anime at 9PM make sense.

I will state again however I don't anticipate they will try it and I also fully understand some comedies and probably Conan could do as well or better in that hour.

Another possible snag with Conan is Turner networks inability to get along and share big properties nicely. TBS may not let Adult Swim air it. That's something to keep in mind.

[Kaveh77]

A couple ideas:

Kick off Anime Saturday on Adult Swim with Samurai Jack at 9-10

Play Conan reruns on weekdays

[Beat]

With adults 18-24 shounen at 9PM would do gang busters. There is a presidence for that assumption. Naruto Saturday nights on CN did very well with 18+ (but better with 12-17). They could probably fare well compared to the upteenth rerun of King of the Hill with at least 18-24 but 25-34 draw for KotH could off-set that.

Besides if you want anime off Saturday night 12AM-6AM this satisfies that desire and if it bombs then all the closer you'll be to shounen anime free Adult Swim.

Without a doubt those shounen would do better at 9PM on weeknights than they do at 12AM-2AM on Saturday night.

You do perhaps have a point on getting the younger viewers who wont stay up as late to tune in for Conan though.

EDIT: I got a little help from Bryan (nickandmore) on this one. In the recent season on premiere nights Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Generator Rex have drawn 0.3 or higher and Clone Wars has managed 0.7 with 18-49. I asked Bryan what 0.5 with 18-49 adults came out to and he told me for the 09-10 TV season, there are ~132 million adults 18-49 in the US. So a 1.0 = 1.32 million. Therefore, 0.5 = ~660,000. As you recall Clone Wars didn't do that well in reruns on Adult Swim Saturday nights but 660,000 is better than Bleach typically does on a Saturday night premiere or rerun. Why do Generator Rex and Ben 10: UA do nearly that well or better with 18-49 adults in prime time than Bleach does with that demographic on a Saturday late night? The answer is the time slot. If they aired Bleach reruns at 9PM it could very well do better than Rex, Ben and Clone Wars do with 18-49 (maybe not Clone Wars, it has that brand recognition thing going for it).

How much better could Conan do than that you suppose because I doubt King of the Hill does much better than that at 10PM with adults 18-49.

That is exactly why anime at 9PM make sense.

I will state again however I don't anticipate they will try it and I also fully understand some comedies and probably Conan could do as well or better in that hour.

Another possible snag with Conan is Turner networks inability to get along and share big properties nicely. TBS may not let Adult Swim air it. That's something to keep in mind.

Problems with your theory-

1. Your ratings note 18-49, not 18-34 which AS counts exclusively. While Clone Wars brings the Star Wars name, not even that helped grab ratings for ASA. Because it was a kids show. Conan brings a built-in adult audience which is where the key difference lies.

2. TBS airs Family Guy and American Dad. In prime time. Considering that's AS's cash cow right there, you would think AS could expect reciprocation.

3- They don't have an anime library to support a 5x a week endeavor. What would they air, the same Inu-Yasha everything from webcomics to the cards to Robot Chicken has mocked?

As far as I see it, it's between KOTH and Conan. And while I like KOTH, I'm on Team Coco.

[Blackstar]

Personally, I think Simpsons is better suited for Nick@Nite. Also, didn't [as] have a bumper saying they'd never get the show?

AS also ran a bump which said something along the lines of "Please, FOX, put The Simpsons in syndication (so we can buy it)."

The Simpsons actually wouldn't be a bad fit for Adult Swim, no less appropriate than King of the Hill. Sure, The Simpsons is more of a general family show than an adult show, but the same can be said about KotH. If AS aired more shows like this, it could help the block to expand it's image beyond just being entertainment for stoners and frat boys. Too bad that the 1st season episodes of The Simpsons are virtually unwatchable now.


As for any CN shows that could air on [as], MAD wouldn't surprise me too much. Same with Adventure Time.Why do people keep suggesting that Adventure Time run on Adult Swim? Except for the occasionally salty language and word play and the overall weirdness of the concept, AT is no less a kids' show than anything else on Cartoon Network. However, I could see AS airing Regular Show, since it's basically a mixture of Clerks: TAS and Megas XLR with some elements of Rocko's Modern Life thrown in for good measure. RS primarily focuses on the lives of 20 something slackers, who make up much of AS's target audience.

As for MAD, there's no reason for AS to air this show, since AS already has Robot Chicken. Not that the 2 shows are exactly the same, but they are similar enough for both series airing alongside of each other to seem redundant.

[Eddy]

The Simpsons would be a nice fit, but I just don't see that happening. As for Cartoon Network's programming, I'm not sure what would actually make for a good bridge. Maybe Adventure Time, since it is TV-PG and does have a good amount of older fans, I believe.

I also don't really see any reason why King of the Hill couldn't serve as a bridge either. And, nothing against Conan, but I don't see how his show would fit in as a Cartoon Network/Adult Swim bridge show at all.

If they wanted to show an anime, which I doubt they would, Case Closed could make for a pretty good bridge. Murders aside, it's a pretty tame show. Though do they even have the rights to it anymore?

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Problems with your theory-

1. Your ratings note 18-49, not 18-34 which AS counts exclusively. While Clone Wars brings the Star Wars name, not even that helped grab ratings for ASA. Because it was a kids show. Conan brings a built-in adult audience which is where the key difference lies.

2. TBS airs Family Guy and American Dad. In prime time. Considering that's AS's cash cow right there, you would think AS could expect reciprocation.

3- They don't have an anime library to support a 5x a week endeavor. What would they air, the same Inu-Yasha everything from webcomics to the cards to Robot Chicken has mocked?

As far as I see it, it's between KOTH and Conan. And while I like KOTH, I'm on Team Coco.

1) I figured you'd bring up that I said 18-49. But just how many 35-49 viewers do you think watch Generator Rex and Clone Wars anyway? It's obvious the majority of those viewers are in 18-34 and a sizable chunk in 18-24. Star Wars didn't do so hot on AS because it was oversaturated reruns that were already broadcasted on CN. Those very same reruns do better with adults on CN's hours around 9PM. Leading me to conclude that action fans will tune in for action toons at 9PM. We all know Saturday night is a ratings wasteland even for typically well performing shows (with The Boondocks being the exception to the rule). If that many 18+ young adults will watch CN's action shows at 9PM I'd have to imagine an even greater number would tune in for Bleach, FMA and Inuyasha.

2) They don't own Family Guy or American Dad and that's the difference but make no mistake, AS doesn't like sharing those shows with TBS and would like to play them in prime time if they could. Conan will be owned by TBS because TBS and Adult Swim target the same audience and don't get along so well I don't think AS will be able to get Conan from TBS but we'll see. Maybe they're start playing nice one of these days.

3) Oh they certainly have that. Just how many episodes do each show that runs on weekdays have? As few as 26 but lately they've been letting the ones with more episodes run for longer so I believe the one with the least episodes is Boondocks or if you cut the number of episodes in half hour segments (thus having to add up 2 WS shows for 1 half hour) then Robot Chicken, Aqua Teens and Squidbillies have around 50 or so half hours total.

Now look at their anime selection. Bleach and Inuyasha both have over 100. You may doubt the value of Inuyasha at this point but with Final Act on the horizon they could certainly get good use out of those 100+ episodes of Inuyasha along with Bleach's 100+ episodes. That alone fills an hour for a very long time. FMA has never been a ratings slouch and the original series has 50ish episodes and Brotherhood will have 60ish eventually. Kekkaishi which probably wouldn't get a weekday airing does happen to have about 50 episodes as well and they're probably all dubbed by now. GitS probably couldn't air in the 10 hour much less the 9 but it's got 50ish and Bebop may only have 26 but it would probably do really well despite that.

They have more than enough content to fill 1 hour or even 2.

By comparison the comedy gets stretched tremendously thin running that often but it does well enough for that to not be an issue.

Bleach with Inuyasha, FMA or Bebop at 9PM would do very well. I have no doubt about that. KotH, Family Guy or Conan could do as well or possibly better however but I want them to try it at least. If it bombs then no harm done and I'll never suggest it again but I feel the opportunity is too great to simply overlook. They'd finally make good use of those teen targeted action shows.

And they could still run Conan at 10PM right before TBS airs it or at Midnight after TBS airs it.

[Beat]

1) I figured you'd bring up that I said 18-49. But just how many 35-49 viewers do you think watch Generator Rex and Clone Wars anyway? It's obvious the majority of those viewers are in 18-34 and a sizable chunk in 18-24. Star Wars didn't do so hot on AS because it was oversaturated reruns that were already broadcasted on CN. Those very same reruns do better with adults on CN's hours around 9PM. Leading me to conclude that action fans will tune in for action toons at 9PM. We all know Saturday night is a ratings wasteland even for typically well performing shows (with The Boondocks being the exception to the rule). If that many 18+ young adults will watch CN's action shows at 9PM I'd have to imagine an even greater number would tune in for Bleach, FMA and Inuyasha.

2) They don't own Family Guy or American Dad and that's the difference but make no mistake, AS doesn't like sharing those shows with TBS and would like to play them in prime time if they could. Conan will be owned by TBS because TBS and Adult Swim target the same audience and don't get along so well I don't think AS will be able to get Conan from TBS but we'll see. Maybe they're start playing nice one of these days.

3) Oh they certainly have that. Just how many episodes do each show that runs on weekdays have? As few as 26 but lately they've been letting the ones with more episodes run for longer so I believe the one with the least episodes is Boondocks or if you cut the number of episodes in half hour segments (thus having to add up 2 WS shows for 1 half hour) then Robot Chicken, Aqua Teens and Squidbillies have around 50 or so half hours total.

Now look at their anime selection. Bleach and Inuyasha both have over 100. You may doubt the value of Inuyasha at this point but with Final Act on the horizon they could certainly get good use out of those 100+ episodes of Inuyasha along with Bleach's 100+ episodes. That alone fills an hour for a very long time. FMA has never been a ratings slouch and the original series has 50ish episodes and Brotherhood will have 60ish eventually. Kekkaishi which probably wouldn't get a weekday airing does happen to have about 50 episodes as well and they're probably all dubbed by now. GitS probably couldn't air in the 10 hour much less the 9 but it's got 50ish and Bebop may only have 26 but it would probably do really well despite that.

They have more than enough content to fill 1 hour or even 2.

By comparison the comedy gets stretched tremendously thin running that often but it does well enough for that to not be an issue.

Bleach with Inuyasha, FMA or Bebop at 9PM would do very well. I have no doubt about that. KotH, Family Guy or Conan could do as well or possibly better however but I want them to try it at least. If it bombs then no harm done and I'll never suggest it again but I feel the opportunity is too great to simply overlook. They'd finally make good use of those teen targeted action shows.

And they could still run Conan at 10PM right before TBS airs it or at Midnight after TBS airs it.

1. Well my father for one, and he wouldn't be caught dead watching anime. (For what's it worth, he also likes Brave and the Bold). Just because there's a peripheral audience attached to the Star Wars name or Batman jokes or American series does NOT mean that said audience will cross over to anime which has less of a draw for them. Cut out 35-49 and then make that remaining group the primary audience? Forget it. It'll bomb and bomb badly.

2. I know about the infighting, but the fact it since one has one show you could easily see this sort of show sharing. It's that same show sharing that let the Saved by the Bell stunt pass without incident or licensing fees. I know you hate Conan for some reason, but still.

3. They've been doing pretty well so far. They have three shows that could air at that time, only one of which (Bleach) might do well in ratings. The comedy has been juggled to work and work well, and they're only premiering more of it. There's no want for comedy shows.

I get you don't like Conan for whatever reason (Leno fan?) but the fact remains this is a rare opportunity to bring in new viewers that goes outside even their FOX reruns. And with that type of name, they'd be foolish to refuse in the name of insular programming. And it doesn't get more insular than anime.

[Zyzzybalubah]

Conan would be a good start (and I hope TBS let's Adult Swim use the show at some point for at least a couple months) but the truth is Adult Swim needs some shows with mass appeal that can be identified as "only on Adult Swim." Like I said, they do have good originals (ATHF - older seasons only for me, Superjail, Moral Orel) but they need a show(s) more in the lines of Boondocks on at that time. I'm guessing at the 9-10 PM hour they won't be able to play anything at TV-MA level (which is why I'm ruling out Boondocks at this time, but if MA is allowed, put some Boondocks premieres on either Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday nights on Adult Swim Prime Time.)

Besides ones that currently only exist in my head, aren't The Oblongs coming back? I'm not sure what direction Angus wants to take, but that show was a hit among viewers, why not have that be one of the primetime premieres I'm speaking of?

In response to anime and Cartoon Network original shows being on Adult Swim at 9 PM, I just don't see it at all. I think that by Cartoon Network giving up one more hour for Adult Swim, execs are expecting some big ratings at this time (at least on Sunday-Thursdays.) It could just be Family Guy/American Dad playing at that time and them hoping it will get the success that these shows get at 11, but as far as anime goes, it may get improved ratings among adults since it's on earlier, but will it really be a 100-200% increase from what it regularly gets? Don't get me wrong, I love many anime titles and Adult Swim does have some decent stuff that can get played, but the most I can really see a program getting is 600K at the very best in the 18-34 demographic, but I'm still doubtful. What is the highest rating an anime program on Adult Swim has ever gotten on any night of the week? It's nice that Williams Street does think of the fans and keeps anime, but I honestly won't be surprised (and I think everyone keeps saying it each year) when WS finally lets anime go completely.

As far as Cartoon Network original programs, be it Samurai Jack, MAD, Adventure Time, Megas XLR, or even Regular Show (all shows I like), if they wanted to play these shows at 9 PM when they were already playing on regular Cartoon Network, would they give up the 9PM to just have them under the Adult Swim banner? I suppose you can say when AS is on then it's focused more on the 18-34 demographic then, but who's to say these shows wouldn't get the same ratings in that demographic when they are played at a similar time or one hour earlier on CN? The only way I can see Adult Swim wanting to find out if any of those shows would make a difference on being on AS or CN would be if they played it later in the block at 11 PM, other wise I think they're pretty satisfied with keeping these shows only on Cartoon Network.

The bottom line I have is that Time Warner likely gave Adult Swim an extra hour so they can get adult ratings, either by matching Family Guy's regular 18-34 numbers, exceeding or coming somewhat close to it. If they wanted to play Cartoon Network or even Boomerang shows at that time, then Cartoon Network would have kept that hour.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

1. Well my father for one, and he wouldn't be caught dead watching anime. (For what's it worth, he also likes Brave and the Bold). Just because there's a peripheral audience attached to the Star Wars name or Batman jokes or American series does NOT mean that said audience will cross over to anime which has less of a draw for them. Cut out 35-49 and then make that remaining group the primary audience? Forget it. It'll bomb and bomb badly.

2. I know about the infighting, but the fact it since one has one show you could easily see this sort of show sharing. It's that same show sharing that let the Saved by the Bell stunt pass without incident or licensing fees. I know you hate Conan for some reason, but still.

3. They've been doing pretty well so far. They have three shows that could air at that time, only one of which (Bleach) might do well in ratings. The comedy has been juggled to work and work well, and they're only premiering more of it. There's no want for comedy shows.

I get you don't like Conan for whatever reason (Leno fan?) but the fact remains this is a rare opportunity to bring in new viewers that goes outside even their FOX reruns. And with that type of name, they'd be foolish to refuse in the name of insular programming. And it doesn't get more insular than anime.

The heck you talking about? I love Conan's stuff. Heck I follow the guy on Twitter. Though more of a Colbert fan myself. I've also said I'm all for Adult Swim running it. I'd just like them to try anime 9-10PM. NBC made a big mistake letting go of Conan.

I also don't make decisions on what should air based on what I do and do not like. I don't even like Bleach, I'm just fully aware it's the highest rated anime they've got. I don't rally to get Squidbillies removed from weekdays because I don't like it. I don't rally to get Family Guy off Adult Swim because I stopped liking it. You're the one who tries to cut down shows and get them off the air because you don't like them around here. I just ignore what I don't want to watch. It's pretty easy.

I rally for AS to run anime 9-10PM because that makes sense to me from a audience target stand-point. Young adults are the strongest audience for anime in the US today. They're the ones buying DVDs, buying merchandise and tuning in on Saturday night week in and week out. Place those shows at a more convenient time for them to be watching them and still get their college studying done, enough sleep and what not and they are very likely to do great.

1) You're right, American action cartoons fans are not necessarily anime fans but you really think Generator Rex and Ben 10 do better with 18-34 than Bleach and Inuyasha have? If those shows can draw about as well as Bleach does on Saturday night I have every reason to believe Bleach could do better at 9PM on weeknights.

2) All it really comes down to is if TBS is willing to share a major draw like Conan. If they are, then it's certainly Adult Swim's gain. If they aren't, then Turner networks still lack synergy severly.

3) There's no want for comedy shows? The majority paragraph is worded oddly. They could fill the 9 hour with an hour of Bleach and it would likely do very well. I just figured pairing Bleach with another successful rerun would be better ratings wise and for variety sake. Then 10PM hits and it's business as usual for AS comedy. I honestly do not believe that would bomb. Conan could do better but there's no reason they couldn't have both. There's plenty of time in the night to accommodate both anime 9-10PM and Conan encores along with the comedies they typically like to run on weekdays.

[Beat]

The fact is, the numbers for ASA Saturday- that's pretty much the maximum ceiling for ratings. You have to factor in the fansub factor, people who refuse to watch the shows dubbed, the fact that 99% of the potential viewers are making time to watch on Saturdays (Case in point- ASA loyalists on ASMB) and there's very little room for growth. Top that with the declaration that it's either Y7 material (see below) or dialog-heavy (instant ratings guillotine) only and the idea of anime finding an audience 18-34 at that time which could improve ratings appears farfetched.

Likewise, airing the same type of show you can find on regular CN defeats the purpose of making the hour Adult Swim. It's one thing to get a periphery audience from Clone Wars and laud the crossover. It's another to make that audience the primary target without a huge overhaul.

Meanwhile, there's plenty of comedy programming to air, so there's no dearth of scheduling choices. It all targets adults.

Which leads to a reality that a lot of the haters may be rejoicing. Family Guy's ratings are finally starting to cool. AS needs a new hit to rejuvenate its block on a large scale, and Cleveland isn't due for two years. Furthermore, by not being on network TV, Conan's visible profile will be reduced significantly. By putting Conan on two Turner networks, his visibility is increased.

It's a win-win scenario for everyone, if TBS is down with it. Considering the level of program sharing they've engaged in prior as well as the high profile nature of the show, airing it would make sense.

[GWOtaku]

Samurai Jack is pretty much the perfect CN original to bring to ASA. It can entertain a viewer of just about any age (something that sets Jack apart from many other originals, honestly), it is very well done, it is now old enough that kids who saw it premiere are either in or growing into Adult Swim's target demographic. This Emmy winner can do much more than fill in time on Boomerang.

Conan would be a coup for late night programming no matter where it went.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Very true. Samurai Jack is far too great to be relegated to Boomerang.

While I agree with Beat that airing CN shows on those hours makes turning those hours over to Adult Swim relatively meaningless its all the more reason why I feel AS shouldn't get that expansion when CN could use that time more efficiently for premiereing shows. Premiereing shows on AS at 9PM, bad. Premiere shows on CN at 9PM, good. There's plenty of evidence to suggest this.

Give the anime viewers a bit more credit Beat, if they aired ASA on weekdays at a watchable time for that audience the ratings would be far better than on Saturday. That's just common sense.

[Beat]

Ah, now this is a different argument. It really comes down to how much CN/AS wants that 18-34 demo as opposed to their kid demo. Either way they outdo CN Real.

But the anime, yeah. Considering the draconic standards coupled with the very, very low window for audience growth (Bleach won't be bringing in new fans 4 years into its run, same with FMA while Kekkaishi is a straight up ratings bomb) and an insular audience which notably makes time to watch it no matter when its on (as well as a percentage that only watches the material via direct methods avoiding TV) it would be a poor choice for a timeslot that asks to develop an audience.

And I agree. Play Jack...somewhere. Genndy needs hype if they're ever going to greenlight the sequel film.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

I wouldn't be so certain Bleach couldn't find more viewers. It wouldn't if they made the mistake of beginning a weekday run in the middle of the series and not go back to episode 1 but if they did go back to episode 1 it could very well gain a new audience.

Case in point, DBZ Kai. DBZ has been around for how many years now? Yet kids and adults still dig it and it continues to find new fans with every generation. Granted Bleach has never been phenominally popular to the level of DBZ but it has been the #2 behind Naruto in the US for many years now. Inuyasha likewise could also find a new audience on another weekday run. Where as it has little to no chance of getting more fans at 5AM on a Sunday morning or even 1:30AM on a Saturday night (though the chances are better there). Family Guy finds new fans all the time, so does King of the Hill, so do ATHF, The Boondocks, etc. Why wouldn't the case be the same for Bleach? Quality of the series aside it has done well for itself and given that it's almost certain it will continue to get new fans in the years to come. Because if that was not the case then it wouldn't be around anymore.

As for Jack, CN could play it and they should. Its aged phenominally well and would not stick out among newer cartoons as looking dated or "old hat". Ideally it would air right next to Sym-Bionic Titan on some night but I'd settle for pretty much anything better than just airing on Boomerang. A limited run on Adult Swim would be interesting. Maybe try Jack on Saturday night as a test either next to the anime or possibly right at 9PM on the Saturday expansion in 2011.

[Beat]

Kai is on a second tier cable channel, and while for better or worse DBZ has left an imprint in pop culture, the fact remains that Kai is not doing the utterly insane numbers from Toonami's heydey.

Anime in 2010 is probably more of a turn-off to a potential viewer than anything. There are a ton of reasons for this but what it comes down to is that the material fails to attract viewers outside of a very very small audience. Add in the fact that you're targeting 18-34 primarily with kid and teen centric material (which most teens won't watch except to mock) and you've got a prime recipe for poor ratings and poor returns.

If AS is smart, they're probably either asking for Conan or have some sort of original that would be ready for this hour. Given the timeframe on the hour though, it might be hard to find such a show. Tim and Eric Nite Live won't be ready, the duo are going on tour and conclude their responsibilities to the network with a holiday special due in December. If they can't get Conan, odds are they're going to be relying on Fox reruns.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Kai is on a second tier cable channel, and while for better or worse DBZ has left an imprint in pop culture, the fact remains that Kai is not doing the utterly insane numbers from Toonami's heydey.

Anime in 2010 is probably more of a turn-off to a potential viewer than anything. There are a ton of reasons for this but what it comes down to is that the material fails to attract viewers outside of a very very small audience. Add in the fact that you're targeting 18-34 primarily with kid and teen centric material (which most teens won't watch except to mock) and you've got a prime recipe for poor ratings and poor returns.

If AS is smart, they're probably either asking for Conan or have some sort of original that would be ready for this hour. Given the timeframe on the hour though, it might be hard to find such a show. Tim and Eric Nite Live won't be ready, the duo are going on tour and conclude their responsibilities to the network with a holiday special due in December. If they can't get Conan, odds are they're going to be relying on Fox reruns.

DBZ Kai does really well for Nicktoons but it's on freak'n Nicktoons of course it can't do amazing. On CN it would probably be competiting with Clone Wars or beating it week in and week out.

Dude you don't even know what you are talking about. Why do you think so many anime are on Hulu? Because the young adult audience eats it up. Bleach is no slouch on Hulu either. Personally I don't care for the show but for whatever reason it's ridiculously popular. You keep saying the ratings are bad but compare them to last year and the year before that, ASA is doing better not worse. No doubt you're going to site Moribito and Code Geass, fine whatever but FMA: Brotherhood and Bleach have proven their ratings worth this year.

You vastly underestimate the success of shounen with viewers 18-34. Now keep in mind DBZ showed up on our shores over a decade ago. Those kids and teens are now in Adult Swim's demographic. They still like over the top fights and the usual shounen tropes. Convention attendance continues to rise with the older set. The only thing undercutting this level of progress is piracy and the fact that people can see these shows legally on Hulu and other sties but those sites barely have any dubs (and next to none that aren't from FUNimation unless they're hackjobs).

The Bleach dub audience is entirely left to Adult Swim and its not even on AS Video. Obviously the Bleach dub audience is strong enough to hold its own, it has for years and continues to do so despite being a ways behind the Japanese release with the Japanese episodes being available right after they air in Japan. If you honestly don't believe Bleach could hold it's own at 9PM on weeknights then I consider you ya fool blinded by your discontent with the anime on AS.

I see this as a great opportunity to get the best use out of their anime and make back what they paid for them and if it doesn't work out then they can just as easily try something else at 9PM. I just feel it's an experiment worth trying. The audience is already there and it can grow.

At any rate, I grow tired of arguing with you about anime over and over again. Especially because I don't even like the show I'm constantly defending. But I digress, this thread wasn't even about that.

So anyone else have ideas for what CN shows might find their way onto Adult Swim in some capacity or shall we just close this thread and be done with it?

My final thoughts on the topic is I'm all for classics such as The Flintstones getting trial runs along with the CN originals that CN wont play anymore that have adult appeal such as Samurai Jack and Megas XLR. I for one don't think they should bother with MAD or Adventure Time. Sure both are kind of edgy and have adult appeal but they're gonna get plenty of airtime on CN and they're still rather juvenile. Regular Show and possiblity Robotomy on the other hand make good PG Adult Swim material if they don't pan out with kids. Regular Show might benefit from being an Adult Swim show but I worry it would lose it's charm if they just let it all hang out like Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon did compared to the original Ren and Stimpy. For now it's doing well with kids so no need to move it or re-air it or whatever. Just something to consider should it become even less relevant to the kid's it supposedly targets.

[Beat]

On the actual subject (IE: Completely switching gears in this case) I'm not sure if regular CN shows should be used. Like others have noted, wouldn't it have been easier for CN proper to keep 9-10pm if that was the case? I think Jack should air somewhere, true, but Adult Swim thought about it a while back before saying no. Likewise, Clone Wars aired on Saturdays, and didn't do very well. The timeslot couldn't have helped, though.

[Butterstar]

If any Cartoon Network show were to be put into run on Adult Swim on occasion, I'd say Regular Show. I still have this theory that Adult Swim was going to air it but Turner decided "hey, just remove a few of these swears and we can air this on regular CN".

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Probably not, it was always intended for CN, at least since the Cartoon Institute pilot was made. I'm all for it airing on AS should kids give it the cold shoulder but it seems to be doing fine for now so no need for that.

[The Man in Black]

Adult Swim has on rare occasions shared shows with Cartoon Network. When Adult Swim gains the 9PM hour and in turn has another hour in which they cannot play most of their original comedies due to content restraints it is entirely possible some of CN's shows might be shared.

I've heard some odd requests myself. Everything from Megas XLR and Samurai Jack to Adventure Time, MAD, Regular Show and Sym-Bionic Titan. Star Wars was already on Adult Swim for a time. Probably any of the network's PG shows are a possiblity and maybe even some of their Y7 shows.

Personally I'd rather Adult Swim not air more kid's shows because it's aired its fair share and they rarely fit in but that 9PM hour is a whole different beast and one they may enlist CN's help to tame.

What are your thoughts on the possibilities?

It seems like there might finally be a good timeslot to air Case Closed...oh. :shrug: But seriously, Case Closed probably could have thrived in a 9 PM Adult Swim Hour. I personally think they should air an hour of Megas XLR or something.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Hour of Megas? That'd have to be once a week in order to not burn it out. It's only 26 episodes afterall.

[The Man in Black]

Hour of Megas? That'd have to be once a week in order to not burn it out. It's only 26 episodes afterall.
Maybe Adult Swim should acquire Downtown and/or Undergrads.

[Kiddington]

I personally think they should air an hour of Megas XLR or something.
No, that would never work. As somebody mentioned, Megas has a rather small episode count; even an hour on Saturday/Sunday would get stale pretty quickly, let alone every day.

One episode a week wouldn't be bad, though. I'd be all in favor of seeing it brought back, and maybe given a spot on Friday or Saturday.

[The Man in Black]

No, that would never work. As somebody mentioned, Megas has a rather small episode count; even an hour on Saturday/Sunday would get stale pretty quickly, let alone every day.

One episode a week wouldn't be bad, though. I'd be all in favor of seeing it brought back, and maybe given a spot on Friday or Saturday.
I did neglect to factor in the small (and very unfortunately so) episode count when I said that. I do however still think it deserves even one slot a week somewhere on CN or AS.

[Blackstar]

I'd like to see Megas XLR airing again anywhere (actually, what I really want is a complete DVD set of Megas), but it would be best if the series only aired once a week, say on Saturday and/or Sunday nights, since as previously stated, a nightly run would burn through the (26) episodes pretty quickly.

[Zyzzybalubah]

Might have said it before, but maybe Adult Swim could consider the use of Friday through Sunday for old Cartoon Network shows. Megas XLR, Samurai Jack, Sheep in the Big City, and perhaps smoke titles they still have rights to or can get inexpensively. That would be fun but again, it's all about ratings so I honestly couldn't see those being on Monday-Thursday (only reason I exclude Sunday is because of Fox Family Guy premieres.) I'm pretty sure it will be one of the Fox shows in the 9 PM slot followed by an hour of another one.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

I'm going to place replay value over episode count and argue Megas is worth two slots a week somewhere or even a brief 1 episode a day run (4-5 days a week that's about a month without a repeat).

One episode a day would be preferable to two airing on one day infact but I'll take what I can get. We don't need a rerun of Megas to last half a freak'n year. A quarter of a year is plenty long enough.

[Zyzzybalubah]

Might have said it before, but maybe Adult Swim could consider the use of Friday through Sunday for old Cartoon Network shows. Megas XLR, Samurai Jack, Sheep in the Big City, and perhaps smoke titles they still have rights to or can get inexpensively. That would be fun but again, it's all about ratings so I honestly couldn't see those being on Monday-Thursday (only reason I exclude Sunday is because of Fox Family Guy premieres.) I'm pretty sure it will be one of the Fox shows in the 9 PM slot followed by an hour of another one.

[Tobias]

The problem with the Simpsons is that AS can't afford the price tag for almost 500 episodes.

That's why I think AS should strike a deal with Fox to buy the show one chunk at a time:

- For now, purchase seasons 1 - 5, or the first 100 episodes.

Then, in two years time, purchase seasons 6 - 10, or the next 100 episodes. Two years later, 11 - 15, and so on. It makes the most economic sense for a series that's over 20 years old.