Adult Swim
Adult Swim is the name for the adult-oriented television programming block on Cartoon Network, which premiered on September 2, 2001.
Originally a Sunday-only block (that also reran on Thursdays), Adult Swim airs Saturday through Thursday nights at 11 PM (E/P) with an encore airing at 2 AM and then ending with an hour of old classics. The block, programmed by Williams Street Productions, the same group that created Toonami and Miguzi, plays American animated comedy series and shorts geared towards adults and a wide variety of Japanese anime series and OVAs, all intended for mature audiences. The name comes from the name for hours designated at public swimming pools where only adults can swim in the pool.
Originally, all of the bumps shown in between shows featured footage of old people swimming in public pools with a lifeguard shouting through a megaphone dubbed over. The current bumps feature black "cards" with white text on them, which discuss everything from news about the programming to personal staff opinions on unrelated subjects. On Thursdays, Adult Swim airs cards which have viewer mail and "witty" responses to the viewer mail.
Adult Swim officially split from Cartoon Network on March 28th, 2005, thus becoming its own entity. It shares the same basic cable channel, running at different times of the day. This concept is not new. The "Nick" network originally started the idea back when it first split into three separate entities: Nick Jr, Nickelodeon, and Nick At Nite. As a result of this, Nielsen Media Research began classifying the Adult Swim programming from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM as a separate network from Cartoon Network. Look for changes in the way the format is run.
Table of contents |
Current schedule
All times (and music, as they joke) are Eastern. The programming block's encore begins at 2:00 AM.
Sunday
- 11 PM – Family Guy
- 11:30 PM – American Dad
- 12 AM – Robot Chicken
- 12:15 AM – Tom Goes to the Mayor
- 12:30 AM – Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- 12:45 AM – Sealab 2021
- 1 AM – The Venture Bros.
- 1:30 AM – Home Movies
- 5 AM – Lupin the 3rd
- 5:30 AM – Case Closed
Monday-Wednesday
- 11 PM – Futurama
- 11:30 PM – Family Guy
- 12 AM – Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- 12:15 AM – Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- 12:30 AM – InuYasha
- 1 AM – Trigun
- 1:30 AM – Big O
- 5 AM – Lupin the 3rd
- 5:30 AM – Case Closed
Thursday
- 11 PM – American Dad
- 11:30 PM – Family Guy
- 12 AM – Robot Chicken
- 12:15 AM – Tom Goes to the Mayor
- 12:30 AM – Samurai Champloo
- 1 AM – Fullmetal Alchemist
- 1:30 AM – The Venture Bros.
- 5 AM – Lupin the 3rd
- 5:30 AM – Case Closed
Saturday
This schedule varies week-to-week, but is dominated by anime programs. Beginning May 28, 2005, Futurama will be removed from the lineup and Saturday will become all-anime.
- 11 PM – Futurama
- 11:30 PM – Samurai Champloo
- 12 AM – InuYasha
- 5 AM – Lupin the 3rd
- 5:30 AM – Case Closed
Shows: past, present, and future
- American Dad
- The Animatrix
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- Baby Blues
- Big O
- Blue Gender
- The Bob Clampett Show
- The Boondocks
- The Brak Show
- Case Closed (known as Detective Conan in other countries)
- Cowboy Bebop
- Family Guy
- Fullmetal Alchemist
- Futurama
- FLCL
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
- Gundam 0083
- Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- Home Movies
- InuYasha
- Kikaider
- Lupin III
- Mission Hill
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- The Oblongs
- Outlaw Star
- Paranoia Agent
- Pilot Candidate
- The Popeye Show!
- Read or Die
- Reign : The Conqueror
- Robot Chicken
- The Ripping Friends
- Saddle Rash
- Samurai Champloo
- Sealab 2021
- Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
- Stroker and Hoop
- Super Milk Chan
- Tenchi Muyo!
- Tom Goes to the Mayor
- Trigun
- The Venture Bros.
- Welcome to Eltingville
- Witch Hunter Robin
- Wolf's Rain
- Yu Yu Hakusho
Despite lukewarm success in Japan, the series Big O was given a second season due entirely to popularity in the U.S.A. and Cartoon Network funding (although its creation and direction were still left to the Japanese creators). Currently, head writer Chiaki J. Konaka has shown interest in resolving the cliffhanger, but Cartoon Network has opted out of more episodes in order to pursue new comedy shows by order of the head of Adult Swim's Comedy segments, Mike Lazzo, who threatened to quit if they renewed Big O.
External link
Categories: Television programming blocks