Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim
Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
'' and often abbreviated as
s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
channel
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
that shares channel space with the
basic cable
Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. with Data by SNL Kagan shows that about 58 ...
network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
and is programmed by its in-house production studio,
Williams Street
Williams Street Productions, LLC, d/b/a Williams Street and formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., ...
. It is part of American media conglomerate
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with D ...
. Adult Swim runs nightly from 9 p.m. – 6 a.m.
ET/
PT.
Debuting in 2001, Adult Swim served as the nighttime identity of Cartoon Network, and it was established as alternative programming during late night hours when Cartoon Network's primary target audience would normally be sleeping. By 2005, Adult Swim would be granted its own separate
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
report from Cartoon Network due to its targeting a different audience. The block features stylistically varied animated and live-action shows, including original programming,
syndicated series,
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
, and
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s with generally minimal or no editing for content.
Adult Swim has frequently aired
adult animation
Adult animation, also known as mature animation, and infrequently as adult-oriented animation, is any type of animation, animated motion work that is catered specifically to adult interests, and is mainly targeted and marketed towards adults and ...
features,
mockumentaries
A mockumentary (a Blend word, blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary.
These productions are often used to analyze or ...
,
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
, and
pilots
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
. The block's shows are known for their sexual themes, frank sexual discussion, nudity, strong language, and graphic violence. Many of its programs are aesthetically
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
, transgressive, improvised, and
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
in nature. Adult Swim has contracted with various studios known for their productions in
absurd and
shock
Shock may refer to:
Common uses Collective noun
*Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names
* Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves
Healthcare
* Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emergen ...
comedy.
Along with Cartoon Network, Adult Swim offers an alternate Spanish-language audio feed, either via a separate channel with the English audio track removed as part of a package of Spanish-language television networks sold by subscription providers, or a separate audio track accessible through the
SAP
Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.
Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...
option, depending on the provider.
As with Cartoon Network, Adult Swim's reach through various services totals 95 million American adults as of March 2021.
History
Creation and development (1994-2001)
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
's original head programmer,
Mike Lazzo
Michael Lazzo (born April 10, 1958) is a retired American television producer and the former executive vice president in charge of the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network, and its production arm, Williams Street.
Life and career
Laz ...
, conceived Adult Swim. The block grew out of Cartoon Network's previous attempts at airing content appropriate for teenagers and young adults who might be watching the channel after 11 pm (ET/PT). The network began experimenting with its late night programming by airing anthology shows that presented uncensored classic cartoon shorts, such as ''
ToonHeads
''ToonHeads'' is an American animation anthology series consisting of Hanna-Barbera, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., and ''Popeye'' cartoon shorts, with background information and trivia, prominently about animators and voice actors of the shor ...
'', ''
The Bob Clampett Show
''The Bob Clampett Show'' is an animated anthology television series which ran from 2000 to 2001. The show features animated theatrical shorts from the Warner Bros. library that were animated or directed by Bob Clampett, as well as a selection o ...
'', ''
The Tex Avery Show
''The Tex Avery Show'' is an American animated showcase series of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. cartoon shorts prominently by animator Tex Avery (a.k.a. Fred Avery). In between the shorts, Don Kennedy gives short facts about the cartoons. ...
'', ''
Late Night Black and White'', and ''
O Canada
"O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...
''. Another block,
Toonami
Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
's "Midnight Run", aired the network's action programming uncut with minimal edits. At that time, one third of Cartoon Network's audience were adults.
During the 1990s,
prime time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
animation geared toward
adults started growing popular due to the success of Fox's hit show ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
''. This was followed by a trend of other adult-oriented animated shows throughout the decade, as well as more general-oriented animated series that garnered strong adult followings.
''
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animation, adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast t ...
'', Cartoon Network's first foray into original programming, was created in 1994 specifically for late-night adult audiences. The series was created by
Mike Lazzo
Michael Lazzo (born April 10, 1958) is a retired American television producer and the former executive vice president in charge of the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network, and its production arm, Williams Street.
Life and career
Laz ...
's Ghost Planet Industries, which eventually became
Williams Street
Williams Street Productions, LLC, d/b/a Williams Street and formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., ...
Studios, the producers and programmers of Adult Swim.
Between 4:00 am and 5:00 am on December 21, and December 30, 2000 (while ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' was on hiatus), several new Williams Street series made unannounced "stealth" premieres. ''
Sealab 2021
''Sealab 2021'' is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before t ...
'', ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animation, adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of '' ...
'', ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'', and ''
The Brak Show
''The Brak Show'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Andy Merrill, Jim Fortier, and Pete Smith for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. ''The Brak Show'' serves as a spin-off of the animated television series, ...
'' all premiered unannounced; the official schedules listed the shows as "Special Programming". Prior to that, in
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
, it was stated that
Michael Ouweleen
Michael Ouweleen (born 1967) is an American television executive and screenwriter. He is the current president of The Cartoon Network, Inc., the operating company of Cartoon Network (which includes the Cartoonito and ACME Night blocks), Adult Swi ...
's next project was working on the ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' Pilot with
J.J. Sedelmaier. In a 1999 interview, the indie
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
band Calamine stated they had recorded the theme song for ''Sealab 2021''. While entertaining pitches for a variety of adult cartoons, Lazzo realized the potential for packaging them as a complete adult-focused block. Different names were considered, including "ibiso", which was said to be Spanish for "stop", and "Parental Warning", "Parental Block" but he eventually settled on "Adult Swim".
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
originally intended to launch the adult animation block on April 1, 2001, but was delayed five months.
In June 2001, ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' had recorded an interview with Cartoon Network's former president,
Betty Cohen
Betty Susan Cohen (born July 27, 1956) is an American businesswoman and media executive. She is best known as the founder and original president of Cartoon Network from 1992 to 2001, the CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services from 2005 to 2007, th ...
. She stated there was a new programming block coming out in September that was aimed for an adult audience. During this month at the Cartoon Network Confidential, "Cartoon Network's best originals and outrageous animated shorts for discriminating adults" in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, an upcoming episode of ''
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animation, adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast t ...
'' titled "Kentucky Nightmare", the stealth pilots from December, ''Captain Linger'', and an episode of
''Home Movies'' were screened for free. The screening was part of the Toyota Comedy Festival. On Saturday, July 21, 2001, the ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' panel at
San Diego Comic Con had a trivia game in which the winners won a promotional
CD that had the theme songs to the upcoming Adult Swim Shows.
Everybody who attended got a free Adult Swim
t-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...
that was packaged to look like a roll of bandages that a lifeguard might carry.
At the Comic Con, audiences got to see clips of the upcoming shows and vote for what show they wanted to see as a sneak peek. ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animation, adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of '' ...
'' was the winner and the pilot was screened. The ''
Leave It to Brak'' episode "War Next Door" and ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' episode "The Justice Hole" were also screened, as well as clips to the episode "Sweet for Brak".
In an interview on creativemac.com on July 25, 2001,
J.J. Sedelmaier talked about working on the ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animation, adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of '' ...
'' pilot. On August 12, the first commercial advertising the new block aired on Cartoon Network. Around this time a
press kit
A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the media for pr ...
came out that featured towels and a promotional CD. Another press kit that was designed as a
first aid kit
A first aid kit or medical kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to give immediate medical treatment, primarily to treat injuries and other mild or moderate medical conditions. There is a wide variation in the contents of first aid ...
came with a promo
VHS with info on all the shows. ''
Access Hollywood
''Access Hollywood'', formerly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created ...
'' also highlighted the upcoming premieres. Print ads were shown in an August issue of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''. On August 31, adultswim.com officially launched.
2001–2003
![Adult Swim 2001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Adult_Swim_2001.png)
Adult Swim officially launched on September 2, 2001, at 10pm (
ET), with the original debut airing of the ''
Home Movies
A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...
'' episode "Director's Cut", which had been shelved before airing on its original network,
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
. According to
Linda Simensky
Linda Simensky is a production manager of various works of animation. Simensky served as an executive for Nickelodeon Furniss, Maureen. (February 5, 2008)240 ''Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics'' ''Indiana University Press''. Archived at Google B ...
, "We had a bunch of episodes to screen for
Mike Lazzo
Michael Lazzo (born April 10, 1958) is a retired American television producer and the former executive vice president in charge of the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network, and its production arm, Williams Street.
Life and career
Laz ...
and by only the second episode, he yelled, "Buy it!" Cartoon Network bought the original five UPN episodes and ordered eight more to complete the season. The series' first season was animated in
Squigglevision
Squigglevision is a method of computer animation in which the outlines of shapes are made to wiggle and undulate, emulating the effect of sketchily hand-drawn animation. Tom Snyder of Tom Snyder Productions invented the technique, which his ani ...
; later seasons were done in
flash animation
Adobe Flash animation or Adobe Flash cartoon (formerly Macromedia Flash animation, Macromedia Flash cartoon, FutureSplash animation, and FutureSplash cartoon) is an animation that is created with the Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional) p ...
. The first anime broadcast on the block also aired on the night of its launch, ''
Cowboy Bebop''. ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'' debuted on the block on September 9, with the episode "Escape from Leprechaupolis". The block initially aired on Sunday nights from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am ET, with a repeat of the same block on Thursday nights.
Adult Swim had a
disclaimer
A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship. In contrast to other terms for legally operative langua ...
that read "Parents strongly cautioned—the following programs are intended for mature audiences over the age of 18. These programs may contain some material that many parents would not find suitable for children and may include intense violence, sexual situations, coarse language and suggestive dialog."
Adult Swim's original
bumpers shown in-between the shows featured footage of
elderly people
Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...
swimming in
public pools
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as ...
, eating, exercising, and doing other pool-related activities. It would show signs all around the pool saying things like "Warning Potential Violence", "Warning Strong Language in use", "Caution Sexual Innuendo", "Caution Limited Animation", "No Diving", "No Kids", "Warning Adult Situations", and more. Some of these bumpers were narrated by a
lifeguard
A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/ AED first a ...
who spoke through a
megaphone
A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped acoustic horn used to amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. The sound is introduced into ...
. Most notably he would shout "All kids out of the pool". The logo was the words "Adult Swim" in all capital letters (or often an alternate version of the logo featured the block's name rendered in red and a black circle with a
yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...
penumbra
The umbra, penumbra and antumbra are three distinct parts of a shadow, created by any light source after impinging on an opaque object. Assuming no diffraction, for a collimated beam (such as a point source) of light, only the umbra is cast.
Th ...
, which also used as the main logo from 2002 to 2003), shown after a freeze frame of the footage. Sometimes they were even shown in reverse. The block's original theme music, titled "D-Code," was a remix of "Mambo Gallego" done by the
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
musician Dust Devil, originally played by Latin jazz musician
Tito Puente
Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz c ...
, Sr. When the programs were shown on TV, in the right corner of the screen big red letters would say Adult Swim. Two months later, the lettering was changed to white letters.
Some of the bumps on the block included ''Aquaman Dance Party'' that featured a cartoon
Aquaman
Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially ...
dancing in front of live action
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
footage, ''Captain Linger'', a series of shorts created by
J. J. Sedelmaier, ''Watering Hole'', a series of shorts about animals talking in a bar created by
Soup2Nuts
Soup2Nuts (sometimes referred to as Soup2Nuts Studios, and formerly part of Tom Snyder Productions) was an American animation studio founded by Tom Snyder. The studio is known for its animated comedy series, its use of Squigglevision, a techni ...
, 1960s
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
action cartoons dubbed with the voices of children, a series of shorts called ''Not for Air'' that had the speech of Hanna-Barbera characters bleeped to make it seem like the characters were swearing, ''The New Adventures of The
Wonder Twins
The Wonder Twins (Zan & Jayna) are a fictional extraterrestrial twin brother and sister superhero duo who first appeared in Hanna-Barbera's American animated cartoon, animated television series ''The All-New Super Friends Hour''. The pair can act ...
'', ''What They're Really Thinking'', which had a voice narrate a character's thoughts in a comedic way, and ''Brak Puppet Party'', a puppet show featuring classic Hanna-Barbera characters.
Commercials starring characters from ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', ''
The Brak Show
''The Brak Show'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Andy Merrill, Jim Fortier, and Pete Smith for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. ''The Brak Show'' serves as a spin-off of the animated television series, ...
'', ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law'', and ''
Sealab 2021
''Sealab 2021'' is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before t ...
'' started to appear as well, such as
1-800-CALL-ATT,
Nestea
Nestea is a Swiss brand of iced tea and pop beverages owned by Nestlé, manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company and distributed by Nestlé's beverage department in the United States and by Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW),[Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Euro ...]
,
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
,
Dodge Ram
The Ram pickup (marketed as the Dodge Ram until 2010) is a full-size pickup truck manufactured by Stellantis North America (formerly Chrysler Group LLC and FCA US LLC) and marketed from 2010 onwards under the Ram Trucks brand. The current fi ...
,
Quizno's Sub
Quiz Holdings, LLC, doing business as Quiznos, is an American franchised fast-food restaurant based in Denver, Colorado, that specializes in offering toasted submarine sandwiches. It was founded in 1981 by Jimmy Lambatos and sold to Rick and R ...
, Maximum Hair Dye,
Verizon Wireless
Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divi ...
, and movie promos for ''
Austin Powers in Goldmember
''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers and M ...
'', ''
Kung Pow Enter the Fist
''Kung Pow! Enter the Fist'' is a 2002 American martial arts comedy film that parodies Hong Kong action cinema. Written, directed by and starring Steve Oedekerk, it uses footage from the 1976 Hong Kong martial arts film '' Tiger & Crane Fist ...
'', ''
Jackass: The Movie'', ''
Eight Legged Freaks
''Eight Legged Freaks'' (originally titled ''Arach Attack'', under which it was released in some parts of Europe and other countries around the world) is a 2002 monster comedy film directed by Ellory Elkayem and starring David Arquette, Kari Wu ...
'', and ''
The Powerpuff Girls Movie
''The Powerpuff Girls Movie'' is a 2002 American animated superhero film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series ''The Powerpuff Girls''. It was co-written and directed by series' creator Craig McCracken (in his directorial debut) ...
''.
Brak would also host a segment called ''Adult Swim News''. Due to the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, episodes of ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', ''Cowboy Bebop'', and ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' were delayed. In the winter of 2001 another Adult Swim CD was made available for free to anyone who purchased issue 28 of ''Hitch Magazine'' and the same CD came with issue 29.
When the Saturday night block debuted on February 23, 2002, it was known as ''Adult Swim Action'', with various anime programs displayed on the block from 11:00 pm to 2:00 am ET. Thus, programming on the block was divided between ''Adult Swim Action'' and ''Adult Swim Comedy''. ''Adult Swim Comedy'' was Sunday nights and ran from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am ET. Two days prior, on February 21, Adult Swim stopped airing on Thursday nights. ''
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the American Broadca ...
'' and ''
The Popeye Show
''The Popeye Show'' (Originally titled I'm Popeye) is an American cartoon anthology series that premiered on October 29, 2001, on Cartoon Network. Each episode includes three ''Popeye'' theatrical shorts from Fleischer Studios and/or Famous St ...
'' took ''Cowboy Bebop''s place for 12:00 am and 12:30 am ET. On June 15, 2002, Adult Swim had their first contest called "Adult Swim Happiness Sweepstakes" where winners could win a Master Shake
air freshener.
![Adult Swim Screen-Bug 2002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Adult_Swim_Screen-Bug_2002.svg)
It became increasingly common for Adult Swim to act as a home for reruns of animated series that had been canceled prematurely, such as ''
Home Movies
A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...
'', ''
Baby Blues
''Baby Blues'' is an American comic strip created and produced by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott since January 7, 1990. Distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1995 until January 2022, and distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication as of Janu ...
'', ''
Mission Hill'', ''
The Oblongs
''The Oblongs'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Angus Oblong and Jace Richdale. It was Mohawk Productions' first venture into animation. The series premiered on April 1, 2001 on The WB, and was removed on May 20th, leaving the la ...
'', ''
The Ripping Friends
''The Ripping Friends: The World's Most Manly Men!'' (also known as ''The Ripping Friends'') is an animated television series, created by John Kricfalusi, creator of ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' on Nickelodeon. The series aired for one season on Fox ...
'', ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'', ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
'', and ''
God, the Devil and Bob
''God, the Devil and Bob'' is an American animated sitcom which aired on NBC from March 9 to March 28, 2000, leaving nine episodes unaired. It was created by Matthew Carlson. The entire series was released on Region 1 DVD in the United States ...
'', as well as
burn off
In American broadcast programming, "burning off" is the custom of quickly airing the remaining episodes of a television program, usually one that has already been or is planned to be cancelled, without the intent to attract a large number of vi ...
remaining episodes of said shows that never aired on their original networks, as a result of their premature cancellation. The block obtained ''Futuramas exclusive pay-TV syndication rights in September 2002 for a reported $10 million,
and the series first aired on the network on January 12, 2003.
''Family Guy'' made its debut on April 20 of that year with the episode "
Brian in Love", and immediately became the block's top-rated program, dominating late night viewing in its time period vs. pay-television and free-to-air competition and boosting viewership of both the block, and Cartoon Network itself, by 239 percent.
(
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...
had previously created ''
Larry and Steve
''The Life of Larry'' and ''Larry & Steve'' are two animated short films created by Seth MacFarlane in the mid-1990s that eventually led to the development of the animated sitcom '' Family Guy''. He originally created ''The Life of Larry'' as a ...
'', a cartoon predecessor to ''Family Guy'', that was aired on Cartoon Network's ''
What a Cartoon! Show
''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by th ...
'' in 1997. MacFarlane had also worked on several Cartoon Network shows, such as ''
Johnny Bravo
''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired from ...
'' and ''
Dexter's Laboratory
''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a hid ...
'').
On
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
2002, Brak from ''The Brak Show'' and Carl Brutananadilewski from ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' hosted a New Year's Eve special from 11:00 pm to 3:00 am. This was the first time Adult Swim aired on a Tuesday night.
Beginning on January 13, 2003, Adult Swim was airing five nights a week, Sundays through Thursdays from 11:00 pm to 2:00 am. Saturday Nights were dropped. On February 9, 2003, after the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
All-Star game, Adult Swim aired on
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
on a block called "Adult Swim All Star Extravaganza" as a one time special from 11:00 pm to 12:15 am ET.
2003–2014
![Adult Swim creators](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Adult_Swim_creators.jpg)
On October 5, 2003, Adult Swim was on from 11:00 pm to 2:00 am ET. On October 26, 2003, Brak's Dad from ''
The Brak Show
''The Brak Show'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Andy Merrill, Jim Fortier, and Pete Smith for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. ''The Brak Show'' serves as a spin-off of the animated television series, ...
'' hosted
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
-themed bumps. That same night, Adult Swim hosted a live webcam show on its website, featuring the Adult Swim staff having a party. The ''
Big O
Big O or The Big O may refer to:
Fiction
* ''The Big O'', a 1999 Japanese animated TV series
Mathematics and computing
* Big Omega function (disambiguation), various arithmetic functions in number theory
* Big O notation, asymptotic behavior in ...
'' series finale episode "The Show Must Go On", was supposed to premiere that night at 11:00pm; however, Adult Swim had to reschedule the episode for the next week, on Sunday, November 2, taking the place of the scheduled previously unaired episode of ''Family Guy'', "
When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", to air on November 9. When ''Big O'' premiered on November 2, a rerun episode, "Stripes" was airing but then Adult Swim said it was just a joke and they finally aired the correct episode.
Adult Swim had another New Year's Eve special, this time featuring some of the Adult Swim characters having a party at Brak's house celebrating New Year's Eve. It was on this night where ''The Brak Show'' was officially canceled. On June 15, 2004, Adult Swim launched a
Video on Demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
. On July 19, 2004, Adult Swim had a
publicity stunt
In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...
telling viewers that they needed 1,000,000 people to go to their website so they could "Free Hockey Chicken". An employee was dressed as a chicken in front of a webcam being watched by viewers, and he could not leave the studio until they reached their goal. That same year Adult Swim hyped viewers by asking them to vote which would win in a fight: a "Flying
Shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
or a Flying
Crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
".
In the fall of 2004, Adult Swim started a course at
Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...
with lessons by film professor Ron Russo, author of the book "Adult Swim and Comedy". On Halloween night in 2004, ''
Phantasm'' actor
Angus Scrimm
Angus Scrimm (born Lawrence Rory Guy; August 19, 1926 – January 9, 2016) was an American actor, author, and journalist, known for his portrayal of the Tall Man in the 1979 horror film '' Phantasm'' and its sequels.
Early life
Scrimm was born ...
hosted an ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'' marathon. On November 2, 2004, Adult Swim ran a marathon of the ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animation, adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of '' ...
'' episode "Guitar Control" all through the night, until 2a.m.. The episode replayed 24 times to celebrate Election Day. On November 28, Adult Swim had a week showing off classic bumps from previous years. On March 28, 2005,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
-based
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
began recording Adult Swim
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
separately from Cartoon Network for demographic purposes.
Promotions for Adult Swim are targeted towards the college age and those in their 20s and 30s, constituting the majority of their viewers. According to a September 1, 2004 article in ''Promo'' magazine, representatives travel to 30 universities across the U.S. to promote the Adult Swim lineup, including handing out posters for students' dorm rooms. On April 17, 2004, Adult Swim regained Saturday nights, making Friday the only night where Adult Swim did not air. On March 28, 2005, Adult Swim gained an extra hour, now ending at 6 a.m.. On October 2, 2005, Adult Swim regained the 10 p.m. hour on Sundays, continuing to start at 11 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Adult Swim had a direct and important role in the revival of an aforementioned popular animated series, ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
''. Due to the series' popularity in reruns, the block burned off "
When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", an episode of the series that had been banned from airing on Fox, in 2003. On September 21, 2003, Seth MacFarlane guest voiced on the ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' episode "Super Trivia". In 2004, from July 26 through July 29 Adult Swim had a week dedicated to
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...
where it had him host a ''Family Guy'' marathon showing select episodes. On March 29, 2004, less than one year after beginning reruns on Adult Swim,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
announced it would be renewing ''Family Guy'' for a fourth season and reviving it from cancellation.
Shortly after the announcement,
Jim Samples
James Donald Samples Jr. (born 1963) is an American businessman and media executive. He is best known as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of TNT Latin America and Cartoon Network Latin America from 2000 to 2001, the General Manager an ...
, then-general manager and executive vice president of Cartoon Network, commented, "Bringing ''Family Guy'' to the Adult Swim lineup last April really helped turn the block into a
cultural phenomenon
The bandwagon effect is the tendency for people to adopt certain behaviors, styles, or attitudes simply because others are doing so. More specifically, it is a cognitive bias by which public opinion or behaviours can alter due to particular act ...
with young adults."
''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'' was also revived in 2007 by
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
for similar reasons: impressive viewership in syndication as well as high DVD sales.
In 2006,
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
struck a deal to produce four
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
animated features based on ''Futurama'', and, in 2009, the series was revived in normal half-hour installments beginning in 2010 on
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
.
In a 2006 interview, ''Futurama'' creator
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
explained "There's a long, regal history of misunderstood TV shows, and to Fox's credit, the studio looked at the ratings on the Cartoon Network and how the show does overseas, and saw that there was more money to be made."
Before Adult Swim lost the rights to ''Futurama'' reruns, they aired an all-night marathon from December 26–30, 2007, with the final reruns airing on December 31, thus, marking ''Futurama''
's last airing on the block until 2021. On New Year's Eve 2005, Adult Swim had a countdown for the new year featuring characters from their shows. Beginning on March 27, 2006, Adult Swim's time began at 10:30 pm ET weekdays.
On January 31, 2007, Adult Swim attracted national media attention as part of the
2007 Boston Mooninite panic. Both the Boston Police Department and the Boston Fire Department mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards resembling
The Mooninites
This is a list of characters featured in the Adult Swim animated television series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''.
Main characters
Master Shake
Voiced by Dana Snyder, Master Shake (or simply Shake) is a narcissistic, lazy, shallow, selfish, and idi ...
, characters from ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'', as improvised explosive devices. These devices were in fact part of a guerrilla marketing campaign for the ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' (also known as ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film for Theaters'') is a 2007 American adult animated surreal black comedy film based on the Adult Swim animated series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Fo ...
''. The next day, Boston authorities arrested two men involved with the incident. Peter Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from
Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census.
History ...
, and Sean Stevens, 28, were facing charges of placing a hoax device to incite panic, as well as one count of disorderly conduct, according to
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
(which is also owned by Turner Broadcasting System).
On February 5, Turner Broadcasting and marketer Interference, Inc. announced that they would pay $2 million in
amends
"Amends" is episode ten of season three of the television show '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. It was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon. Advertised as a Christmas episode, it was first broadcast on December 15, 1998.
Plot
It is ...
: one million to the city of Boston, and one million in goodwill funds. Four days later, on February 9, Jim Samples, general manager and Executive Vice President of Cartoon Network since 2001, resigned. Turner Broadcasting later issued an apology for the ad campaign that caused the bomb scares. A statement emailed to ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' from Turner Broadcasting said:
"The 'packages' in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim's animated television show ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. They had been in place for two to three weeks in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, and Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger."
In 2007, Adult Swim announced it would expand to seven nights a week starting that July. Up until then, it was only on Saturdays-Thursdays, with Cartoon Network airing 24 hours on Friday. On July 6 of that year, Adult Swim had its first broadcast on a Friday with an all-night marathon of ''Family Guy'', with one episode, ''
Peter's Two Dads
"Peter's Two Dads" is the tenth episode in the fifth season of the American animated television series '' Family Guy''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 2007. The episode was written by Danny Smith and ...
'', rerunning the April Fools gag of that year, running the first half-hour of ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' (also known as ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film for Theaters'') is a 2007 American adult animated surreal black comedy film based on the Adult Swim animated series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Fo ...
'' in a small square on the bottom left hand corner.
In October 2007, Adult Swim launched a
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
service available on
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
channel 1886.
On January 1, 2009, Adult Swim began airing reruns of ''
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
'' and its
sign-on
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exce ...
time was expanded back from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET. On December 27, 2010, Adult Swim moved its start time from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET, extending the network's daily schedule to nine hours.
On April 1, 2012, as part of their annual
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...
stunt, Adult Swim revived
Toonami
Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
, the defunct Cartoon Network programming block that primarily aired anime and action cartoons. Following positive reception, Toonami would return full-time as a rebrand of Adult Swim's Saturday night action block on May 26, 2012.
2014–2019
![Adult Swim Headquarters](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Adult_Swim_Headquarters.jpg)
On March 31, 2014, Adult Swim's sign-on time moved up to 8:00 p.m. ET, further extending the network's daily schedule to ten hours (and effectively matching the airtime of most nights that
Nick at Nite
Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite) is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET/Pac ...
has). Cartoon Network still airs programming in the 8:00 p.m. ET hour on occasion, primarily in the months leading up to Christmas.
In 2015, Adult Swim launched ''The Virtual Brainload'', the first animated
VR experience from a TV network.
On May 7, 2015, it was announced that Adult Swim had ordered an untitled pilot by
Million Dollar Extreme described as a "sketch show in an almost present day post apocalyptic nightmare world".
Based on that pilot, it was announced on March 3, 2016, that it would go to series with the group presenting it under the additional subtitle
''World Peace'', and the first season consisting of six episodes under the network's traditional eleven-minute episode structure. Adult Swim announced on December 5, 2016, that it would not be renewed for a second season; the network faced internal opposition to its continuation, mainly regarding accusations of MDE's documented connections to the
alt-right
The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
and accusations that the show promoted racism, sexism and bigotry. While the show did not predominantly deal with political themes, Sam Hyde's Twitter feed containing political references and his other controversies like crashing a TEDx talk, added to the suspicion. Buzzfeed writer, Joseph Bernstein, was active in criticizing the show after a heated interview with creator Sam Hyde. He wrote that a source told him the network's standards departments repeatedly discovered and removed coded racist messages, including hidden swastikas. When asked, Hyde explained that despite Adult Swim executives' interest to pick up the show for a second season,
Turner Broadcasting
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
ultimately decided to cancel the show.
On September 28, 2017, Pete Smith, a long-time producer at the studio and co-creator of ''The Brak Show'', retired from the company. On that night, Adult Swim celebrated his career with an all-night marathon of just ''
Bob's Burgers
''Bob's Burgers'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard that premiered on Fox on January 9, 2011. The show centers on the Belcher family—parents Bob and Linda and their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise—who r ...
'' (consisting of episodes that his daughter, Nora Smith, wrote) and ''The Brak Show'', with promos and bumpers made by Pete Smith airing during breaks. This became an annual event, with each following event also consisting of a 10 hour marathon of both shows until 2021, when there was only a two hour marathon of ''The Brak Show''. The following events also added newly produced shorts and interstitials from ''
Cartoon Planet
''Cartoon Planet'' is an American animated variety show that originally ran from 1995 to 1998 and 2012 to 2014 on Cartoon Network. A spin-off of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', the series centered on Space Ghost recruiting his imprisoned evil neme ...
'', which Pete wrote for.
Adult Swim began losing the syndication rights to various
20th Television
20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...
animated series in 2018;
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
acquired the syndication rights to ''King of the Hill'' and ''The Cleveland Show'' that year. On April 8, 2019, it was announced that
FXX
FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...
would acquire the rights to season 16 and beyond of ''Family Guy'' (sharing those rights with sister networks
Freeform and
FX) and season 9 and beyond of ''Bob's Burgers'', with rights to the seasons currently airing on Adult Swim and sister network TBS set to transfer over to the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
-owned networks. ''Family Guy'' was the first to leave on September 18, 2021, with ''Bob's Burgers'' to follow in 2023. ''American Dad!'', which has been a TBS original series since 2014, is set to remain.
On March 4, 2019,
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
announced a major reorganization of
WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
's Turner Broadcasting division, which involves Cartoon Network, Adult Swim,
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
, and
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
being transferred to
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
under a new
Kids, Young Adults, and Classics division. Although AT&T did not specify any timetable for the changes to take effect, WarnerMedia had begun to remove all Turner references in corporate communications and press releases, referring to that unit's networks as "divisions of WarnerMedia".
2019–present
In December 2019,
Mike Lazzo
Michael Lazzo (born April 10, 1958) is a retired American television producer and the former executive vice president in charge of the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network, and its production arm, Williams Street.
Life and career
Laz ...
retired from the company, which was announced by a bumper that aired on the network that month. On April 29, 2020,
Michael Ouweleen
Michael Ouweleen (born 1967) is an American television executive and screenwriter. He is the current president of The Cartoon Network, Inc., the operating company of Cartoon Network (which includes the Cartoonito and ACME Night blocks), Adult Swi ...
, previously the
chief marketing officer
A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a global marketing officer or marketing director, or chief brand officer, is a corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. Whilst historically these titles may ...
of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and Boomerang and the co-creator of ''
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law'', was named the President of Adult Swim, a new position that gives Ouweleen responsibility for all aspects of the network and its properties. Adult Swim faced layoffs in November 2020, resulting in the closing of ''
Pocket Mortys
''Pocket Mortys'', also known as ''Rick and Morty: Pocket Mortys'', is a free-to-play role-playing video game developed by Big Pixel Studios and Tag Games, and published by Adult Swim Games. The game was released worldwide on January 13, 2016 for i ...
'' developer Big Pixel Studios and the cancellation of all of Adult Swim's online live stream series.
Keith Crofford
Keith Crofford (born April 14, 1956) is the former executive vice president of production for Adult Swim, the adult-oriented division of Cartoon Network, and general manager of Williams Street. He was executive producer for several Williams Stree ...
retired from the company in December 2020, which was celebrated with two bumpers featuring Meatwad from ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' and Seth Green and Matthew Senreich from ''Robot Chicken''.
On April 23, 2021, WarnerMedia announced that Adult Swim would merge with
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
's adult animation development teams, under the leadership of Suzanna Makkos.
On September 18, 2021, ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
'' officially ended its 18-year long run on Adult Swim, as the network presented a farewell bumper at the end of the show's final rerun, "
Stewie Is Enceinte
The thirteenth season of ''Family Guy'' aired on Fox in the United States from September 28, 2014, to May 17, 2015.
The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family, consisting of father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stew ...
", featuring other Adult Swim characters waving goodbye to the
Griffin family
The Griffin family is a fictional family which appears in the List of animated television series, animated television series ''Family Guy''. The Griffins are a dysfunctional family consisting of the married couple Peter Griffin, Peter and Lois G ...
. Starting October 18, 2021, Adult Swim began airing shows syndicated from 20th Television in a compressed format for the first time, doing split-screen credits in a similar fashion to Cartoon Network. Some episodes would also be sped up to accommodate additional time slots for advertising sales, similar to sister network TBS. Initially, split-screen credits affected episodes with tag scenes, although this was later fixed by January 2022. Adult Swim regained the rights to both ''King of the Hill'' on November 22, 2021 (beginning with the season 6 premiere "Bobby Goes Nuts") and ''Futurama'' on December 27, 2021 (beginning just as it did on Comedy Central, Syfy, and FXX, as well as how the original run on Adult Swim began and ended, with the pilot episode "
Space Pilot 3000
"Space Pilot 3000" is the pilot episode of the American animated television series ''Futurama''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 28, 1999. The episode focuses on the cryogenic freezing of the series protagoni ...
"), sharing the rights with FXX and in ''Futurama''s case with Comedy Central.
In May 2022, following WarnerMedia's merger with Discovery Inc. to form
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with D ...
, the Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults, and Classics division was dissolved. Adult Swim was moved under the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group, while Williams Street moved under
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
. Michael Ouweleen still oversees both units, while also gaining oversight to Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Special events
Death tributes
Adult Swim occasionally airs bumpers that pay tribute to a recent celebrity death, in which there is no music or sound effects, but only a fade-in, showing the person's name, along with the year of their birth and the year of their death, followed by a fade-out. This has been done for many celebrities, some including
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
,
John Ritter
Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...
,
Harry Goz
Harry Goz (February 16, 1932 – September 6, 2003) was an American musical theater actor and voice actor.
Career
Goz debuted in the 1956 Broadway production of ''Bajour'', co-starring Chita Rivera and Nancy Dussault. Goz played Tevye in th ...
,
Johnny Carson
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...
,
James Doohan
James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, author and soldier, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series ''Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish ...
,
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...
,
Vincent Schiavelli
Vincent Andrew Schiavelli (; November 11, 1948 – December 26, 2005) was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television. Described as an "instantly recognizable sad-faced actor", he was diagnosed with Marfan s ...
,
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...
,
Joseph Barbera
Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera.
Born to Italian im ...
,
Iwao Takamoto
Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He began his career as a production and character designer for Walt Disney Animation Studios films such as ''Cinderella ...
,
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercul ...
,
Bernie Mac
Bernard Jeffrey McCullough (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008), better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American comedian and actor. Born and raised on Chicago's South Side, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined fell ...
,
Issac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...
,
Ricardo Montalban
Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname.
People Given name
*Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...
,
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she playe ...
,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
,
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...
,
Gary Coleman
Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. Coleman was the highest-paid child actor on television throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid S ...
,
Richard Dunn,
Frank Buckles
Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901February 27, 2011) was a United States Army corporal and the last surviving American military veteran of World War I. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 at the age of 16 and served wit ...
,
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
,
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestl ...
,
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running television series ''Columbo'' (1968–1978, 1989–2003), for which he ...
, Eddie Horst,
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
,
Joe Frazier
Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011), nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He was known for his strength, durability, formidable left hand, and relentless pressure fi ...
,
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A membe ...
,
Larry Munson,
Don Cornelius
Donald Cortez Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show ''Soul Train'', which he hosted from 1971 until 1993 ...
,
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...
,
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
,
Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957September 3, 2012) was an American actor. He was best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor a ...
,
Adam Yauch
Adam Nathaniel Yauch ( ; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012), better known under the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bass player, filmmaker and a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed ...
,
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book ''Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 200 ...
,
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
,
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characte ...
,
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Ada Diller (née Driver; July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, actress, author, musician, and visual artist, best known for her eccentric stage persona, self-deprecating humor, wild hair and clothes, and e ...
,
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
,
Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label. He also h ...
,
Ray Harryhausen
Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Might ...
,
James Gandolfini
James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Scree ...
,
Dennis Burkley
Dennis Henry Burkley (September 10, 1945 – July 14, 2013) was an American actor. In a career spanning four decades, he appeared in numerous films and television series. He was best known for his role as Theo in Son in Law.
Early life
Burkley ...
,
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
,
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...
,
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
,
Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
,
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, then ...
,
Yogi Berra
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball ...
,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespe ...
,
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numero ...
,
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
,
Gene Wilder
Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...
,
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
,
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...
,
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka,
Charlie Murphy,
Dolores O'Riordan
Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan ( ; 6 September 1971 – 15 January 2018) was an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. She was best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist for the alternative rock band the Cranberries. One of the most recogniza ...
,
Chris Cornell
Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. H ...
,
Verne Troyer
Verne Jay Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, YouTuber, and stunt performer. He was best known for his role of Mini-Me in the ''Austin Powers'' film series. He had cartilage–hair hypoplasia and was ...
,
Stephen Hawking,
Jon Schnepp
Jonathan David Schnepp (May 16, 1967 – July 19, 2018) was an American producer, director, voice actor, editor, writer, cartoonist, animator, and cinematographer.
Schnepp was known for the documentary film '' The Death of "Superman Lives": What ...
,
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
,
Kevin Barnett
Kevin Rees Barnett (born May 14, 1974) is an American former volleyball player. He played for the United States national team at the 2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United ...
,
Stephen Hillenburg
Stephen McDannell Hillenburg (August 21, 1961 – November 26, 2018) was an American animator, writer, producer, director, and marine science educator. He is known for creating the Nickelodeon animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants' ...
,
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
,
Monkey Punch
, known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series ''Lupin III''.
Life and career
Katō was born in Hamanaka, Hokkaido; he began drawing at a very young age, but did not draw manga until junior high school, when h ...
,
Rutger Hauer
Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.
Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...
,
John Witherspoon
John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense reali ...
,
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman (September 13, 1937 – January 30, 2020) was an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at all of the Big Three television networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as '' ...
,
Neil Peart
Neil Ellwood Peart OC (; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush. Peart earned numerous awards for his musical performances, including an ...
,
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team.
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
,
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...
,
Fred the Godson
Frederick Thomas (February 22, 1985 – April 23, 2020), known as Fred the Godson, was an rapper from The Bronx, New York. At his death in April 2020, he became one of the most notable New Yorkers to have died of COVID-19 complications early in ...
,
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...
,
John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
,
Grant Imahara
Grant Masaru Imahara (October 23, 1970 – July 13, 2020) was an American electrical engineer, roboticist, and television host. He was best known for his work on the television series '' MythBusters'', on which he designed and built numero ...
,
Herman Cain
Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...
,
Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. During his two-decade career, Boseman received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, ...
,
Joe Ruby
Joseph Clemens Ruby (March 30, 1933 – August 26, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer, and music editor. He was best known as the creator of the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Ken Spears. In 1977, they c ...
,
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...
,
Billy Joe Shaver
Billy Joe Shaver (August 16, 1939 – October 28, 2020) was an American outlaw country singer and songwriter, as well as an actor.
Biography
Shaver was born in Corsicana, Texas, and raised by his mother, Victory Watson Shaver. Until he was 12 ...
,
Naya Rivera
Naya Marie Rivera (; January 12, 1987July 8, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and model. Recognized for her work on the popular musical comedy-drama series ''Glee'', she received various awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and ...
,
Ken Spears
Charles Kenneth Spears (March 12, 1938 – November 6, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer and sound editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Joe Ruby. In 1977, they co-found ...
,
Alex Trebek
George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...
,
MF Doom
Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...
and
Billy Kametz
Billy P. Kametz (March 22, 1987 – June 9, 2022) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his work dubbing anime and video games.
Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Kametz began his voice acting career in 2016 when he moved to Los An ...
.
In addition, they also made a memorial bumper for
Sherman Hemsley
Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Dea ...
, but did so in 2014, two years after his death, adding "Sorry, we just found out. That shit sucks."
When news broke of the death of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' voice actor and animator
C. Martin Croker, who died on September 17, 2016, the network paid tribute to him by playing the first ''Coast to Coast'' episode in his memory the following night, with two bumpers also made in tribute. Toonami also paid tribute to Croker that week with a bumper featuring T.O.M. and S.A.R.A. saying farewell to former host Moltar (voiced by Croker).
Following the death of
Norm Macdonald
Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...
on September 14, 2021, Adult Swim aired an hour of ''
Mike Tyson Mysteries
''Mike Tyson Mysteries'' is an American adult animated television series, and is the first collaboration between Warner Bros. Animation and Williams Street. It premiered October 27, 2014 on Adult Swim. The series features Mike Tyson solving myster ...
'', where he played Pigeon, on the 14th and the 15th.
April Fools' Day stunts
Adult Swim has an annual tradition of celebrating
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...
by tricking and fooling their audience by altering programs or airing different and obscure programs. The pranks generally start at 12 a.m. ET on April 1, technically considered part of the March 31st schedule, with an additional prank on the April 1st schedule rarely.
* Starting in 2004, all of the regularly scheduled episodes were aired with random mustaches drawn on the characters; however, the next night the episodes were aired again this time without the random mustaches.
* In 2005, Adult Swim aired an early, unfinished version of the ''
Squidbillies
''Squidbillies'' is an American animated television series created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made ...
'' pilot, instead of ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
''. Right after the rough cut, it was announced that the animated series would premiere later in October 2005.
* In 2006, Adult Swim aired old re-runs of ''
Mr. T
Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud, May 21, 1952), is an American actor. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'' and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III''. He is also known for his ...
'' and ''
Karate Kommandos
''Karate Kommandos'' (also known as ''Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos'') is an American animated television series that originally aired in 1986 as a syndicated five episode mini-series. It was created by and starred Chuck Norris as himself, and ...
'', and then aired episodes of ''
Fullmetal Alchemist
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology magazine ''Gangan Comics#Monthly Shōnen Gangan, Monthly Shōnen Gangan'' between July 20 ...
'' and ''
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'' with fart noises added to the dialog.
* On March 31, 2007, Adult Swim aired every episode of ''
Perfect Hair Forever
''Perfect Hair Forever'' is an American adult animated television series created by Mike Lazzo, Matt Harrigan, and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. The series revolves around a young boy named Gerald ...
'' in reverse order. The episodes were digitally degraded to look like several generations-old videotapes with grammatically incorrect subtitles in
Engrish
''Engrish'' is a slang term for the inaccurate, nonsensical or ungrammatical use of the English language by native speakers of Japanese, as well as Chinese and other Asian languages. The word itself relates to Japanese speakers' tendency to s ...
. At one point, the subtitles shown on screen were actually for an ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' episode.
* On April 1, 2007, Adult Swim had been advertising that it would be airing ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' (also known as ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film for Theaters'') is a 2007 American adult animated surreal black comedy film based on the Adult Swim animated series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Fo ...
'' 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
Picture-in-picture (PiP) is a feature that can be found in television receivers, personal computers and smartphones, consisting of a video stream playing within an inset window, freeing the rest of the screen for other tasks.
For televisions, pic ...
window with its sound played over
SAP
Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.
Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...
during normal programming.
* In 2008, Adult Swim aired a night of unfinished sneak peeks, pilots and stealth premieres of future upcoming shows in place of its regularly scheduled programming, featuring ''
Fat Guy Stuck in Internet
''Fat Guy Stuck in Internet'' is an American science-fiction comedy television series created by John Gemberling and Curtis Gwinn for Cartoon Network's late-night adult-oriented programming block Adult Swim; and ended with a total of ten episode ...
,
The Venture Bros.
''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animation, adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on ...
, Delocated, Superjail!, Young Person's Guide to History, Metalocalypse,
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
,'' and ''Moral Orel''.
Some of these premieres included introductory segments hosted by Robert Osborne from
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
. The repeat block did air the scheduled ''ATHF'' movie, with bumps teasing the viewer about missing the premieres.
* In 2009, Adult Swim aired ''The Room'', a List of films considered the worst, critically panned 2003 independent film that was considered a cult classic, with Sex scene, sex scenes obscured with black boxes. That was followed by the ''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' episode List of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! episodes, "Tommy", which featured the star and director of the film Tommy Wiseau.
* In 2010, Adult Swim re-aired ''The Room'' for a second year in a row, with bumps featuring Tommy Wiseau being interviewed on ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast''. Sex scenes remained censored, but the TV Parental Guidelines, parental rating was raised to TV-MA.
* In 2011, ''The Room'' was aired once again with the TV-MA rating and was followed by a 15-minute special titled ''Earth Ghost'', a CGI version of the ''Lowe Country'' pilot shown on Adult Swim's website in 2007.
* In 2012, Adult Swim replaced its lineup with
Toonami
Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
, a former programming block from
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
. After first playing the opening sequence of ''The Room'', the scene switched to the Toonami host T.O.M. noting that it was April Fools' Day before introducing that week's scheduled episode of ''Bleach (TV series), Bleach''. The Toonami bumps and programming would continue throughout the night, featuring ''Dragon Ball Z'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam Wing'', ''Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Tenchi Muyo!'', ''Outlaw Star'', ''The Big O'' season 1, ''Yu Yu Hakusho'', ''Blue Submarine No. 6'', ''Trigun'', the original version of ''Astro Boy (1963 TV series), Astro Boy'', and ''Gigantor''. T.O.M. also presented a review of ''Mass Effect 3'' and promoted the recent DVD releases of the series featured. Subsequently, on May 16, 2012, Adult Swim announced via Twitter and later by a press release that Toonami would return to Adult Swim on May 26, 2012, as a regular weekly Saturday night programming block.
* In 2013, Adult Swim featured images of cats throughout much of its programming. All of the bumps contained videos and images of cats, while the episodes of the live-action shows aired that night had cat faces covering up the faces of the actors. The [adult swim] logo was replaced with "[meow meow]".
* In 2014, Adult Swim premiered an eighth episode of ''
Perfect Hair Forever
''Perfect Hair Forever'' is an American adult animated television series created by Mike Lazzo, Matt Harrigan, and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. The series revolves around a young boy named Gerald ...
'', seven years following the series finale. This was followed by an unannounced ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' marathon featuring creator-chosen episodes (including the full version of "Fire Ant", which has rarely been aired on TV). During the marathon, bumps were included between episodes showing outtakes and commentary from the writers and staff. The prank streamed on a loop on Adult Swim's website the next day.
* In 2015, Adult Swim aired a 6 hour marathon of ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'', with superimposed coins on the screen, replicating the "Coin Hunt" game from Adult Swim's online live stream show ''FishCenter Live, FishCenter''. The main characters of the show collected points by hovering over the coins during the episodes, with the points counted and tabulated throughout the night. Master Shake was ultimately declared the winner. ''FishCenter'' streamed live during the whole event, featuring special guest Trixie Mattel, Zach White, a guitar music performance from Jared Hill, and several confused call-ins.
* In 2016, advertisements were shown for the April Fools' broadcast, recapping their 12-year history of pranks and hyping up that year's prank.
When midnight did occur, regular programming played, with the implication being that the prank for 2016 was that there was no prank.
* On the broadcast night of March 31, 2017, all the regularly scheduled episodes after midnight had a weird audio mix, including added laugh tracks, ''Seinfeld'' stings, robotic and pitch-shifted filters added to particular voices, various sound effects and alternate musical pieces.
* On April 1, 2017, the evening portion of Adult Swim was replaced with the unannounced ''Rick and Morty'' Season 3 premiere, "The Rickshank Rickdemption". It aired repeatedly from 8:00p.m. until midnight on TV, shortening
Toonami
Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
in the process, and streamed on a loop on Adult Swim's website. Newly commissioned ''Rick and Morty'' idents and announcement promos for upcoming shows and seasons aired during the prank. The episode then repeated every night at 10:00 p.m. until April 7.
* On the broadcast night of March 31, 2018, Toonami aired its anime after midnight in Japanese with English subtitles, breaking the block's policy of only playing dubbed anime. The subbed anime included the stealth premiere of ''FLCL, FLCL Alternative'', the 2004 film ''Mind Game (film), Mind Game'', and most of Toonami's scheduled programming for that night. The short ''Scavengers'' finished off the block at 5:45 a.m. The block aired special bumpers with T.O.M. and S.A.R.A. and a game review of ''Nier: Automata'', all dubbed to Japanese with English subtitles. The Adult Swim logo was also changed to Japanese (stylized as [アダルトスイム]). The originally scheduled programming affected by the prank aired normally the following week.
* On April 1, 2018, Adult Swim aired an animated parody of ''Rick and Morty'' titled "Bushworld Adventures", created by Michael R. Cusack, at 11:00 p.m., instead of ''Rick and Morty'' and ''Mike Tyson Mysteries''. It follows Rick and Morty in Australia going on wild adventures in search to find the green cube that was left at Bendigo. All of Adult Swim's nature-themed bumpers that aired throughout the hour were Australian-themed. The short also streamed on a loop on Adult Swim's website.
* In 2019, Adult Swim aired ''Gēmusetto, Gēmusetto Machu Picchu'', an anime parody that ran continuously from midnight to 5:45 a.m. It was simulcast both on TV and on Adult Swim's online live stream, with a live Q&A with creator Max Simonet, Maxime Simonet airing after the program on the live stream. The special was simulcast on Action (Canadian TV channel), Action in Canada as its second-to-last program ever (with an episode of ''NTSF:SD:SUV::'' airing as the last program at 5:45 a.m.), which rebranded into a new 24/7 Adult Swim (Canada), Adult Swim network in Canada at 6:00 a.m.
* In 2020, Adult Swim aired "Post's Game", a night of sneak peek programming hosted by Post Malone and friends, playing casual games during the broadcast. The prank started with a tease to a new season of ''Gēmusetto'', only to be interrupted by Malone. New episodes of ''Primal (TV series), Primal'', ''Dream Corp LLC'', ''Tigtone'', ''The Shivering Truth'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'', ''Lazor Wulf'', ''12 oz. Mouse'', and ''Tender Touches'' aired. The series premieres to ''YOLO: Crystal Fantasy'' and ''JJ Villard's Fairy Tales'' were also shown, along with the pilot for ''Smiling Friends'', a ''Rick and Morty'' short by Studio Deen, and a new trailer for the second half of ''Rick and Morty'' season 4. Malone made silent cameos on each show (aside from ''Primal'' and ''Smiling Friends'') via green screen. ''Smiling Friends'' was quickly uploaded to the website due to popular demand. The Adult Swim network in Canada simulcast the event. ''FishCenter'' streamed live during the event on the website, taking calls from viewers.
* In 2021, Adult Swim became Adult Swim Junior from midnight to 12:45 a.m., with "kid-friendly" versions of normal programming and station bumpers. The ''Rick and Morty'' episode "Total Rickall" (renamed as ''Rick and Morty Babies'') and the ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' episode "Revenge of The Mooninites, Revenge of the Mooninites" (renamed as ''Aqua Child Hunger Force'') were dubbed over by children, with new intros, revised scripts to remove inappropriate language, and re-edited scenes to remove adult content. Promos aired during the prank featured more Adult Swim series made "kid-friendly". Both episodes were rerun from 12:45 to 1:30 a.m. The prank simulcast on Adult Swim in Canada and was streamed to YouTube.
* In 2022, Pibby and Bun Bun, the main characters from the ''Come and Learn with Pibby'' proof-of-concept short, appeared in Adult Swim’s programming and bumpers from midnight to 2:00 a.m., occasionally having characters and the environment be visually corrupted. The prank repeated from 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., simulcast on Adult Swim in Canada, and was streamed to YouTube. Adult Swim later posted a compilation of all the corruptions done in the night's prank. A ''Pibby''-related song played over the network sign-off at 5:59 a.m.
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
added the short, and themed the Adult Swim hub around the prank for the following week.
Alternate reality games
Adult Swim began an Alternate reality game, ARG campaign on August 27, 2017, by airing a cryptic Bumper (broadcasting), bump "transmission" during a new episode of ''Rick and Morty''. The bump referred viewers to a Twitter account. Players were told that they were trying to rescue a stolen AI named Delilah. Weekly bumps provided puzzles to be solved by viewers with solutions submitted via Twitter. The solutions were then confirmed by both the Twitter account and subsequent bumps. Later in the game, Delilah was forced to self-destruct to prevent a security breach. The Twitter account then rebranded itself as a marketing company and claimed that the entire game was an experiment. Soon after this, a new Twitter account followed all the previous account's existing followers. This new account informed everyone that they were searching for their missing sister named Amelia. The bump transmissions then started referring viewers to this new Twitter account as well as several new Instagram accounts, continuing to provide puzzles that required solving. Some players have used Discord (software), Discord to work together as a team in a dedicated server to solve the puzzles and share theories about the game. The ARG has been consistently broadcasting new messages and puzzles every Sunday since the initial August 2017 broadcast, with only a short hiatus during the 2017 holiday break. On March 25, 2018, it was revealed that Amelia was safe and had been for quite some time. Players learned that Amelia's messages asking for help were actually sent 3 years prior and that their delay in being received was caused by time dilation. This revelation effectively completed the second chapter of the ARG, it also alluded to the next phase which has just started as of June 2018.
Programming
Original shows currently in-production and seen on Adult Swim include ''The Eric Andre Show'', ''Rick and Morty'', and ''Smiling Friends''. Adult Swim is best known for its inaugural slate of programming, which were mainly parodies and remakes based on
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
cartoons (including ''
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animation, adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast t ...
'', ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animation, adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of '' ...
'' and ''
Sealab 2021
''Sealab 2021'' is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before t ...
'').
Adult Swim also airs
syndicated programs from
20th Television
20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...
(''
Bob's Burgers
''Bob's Burgers'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard that premiered on Fox on January 9, 2011. The show centers on the Belcher family—parents Bob and Linda and their three children, Tina, Gene, and Louise—who r ...
'', ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
,
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
''), original series produced for sister network TBS (American TV channel), TBS (''American Dad!''), and have acquired and co-produced various
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series. Adult Swim is currently one of the only networks in the United States that broadcasts anime (besides Disney XD) and the only network that airs such programming aimed at young adults and teens rather than children.
Currently, most anime and Action film, action-genre programming air on Saturday nights as part of
Toonami
Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
, a former Cartoon Network programming block that was relaunched by Adult Swim on May 26, 2012, as a "block-within-a-block".
Cartoon Network shows that have gained a following among older viewers have also aired on Toonami; in particular, ''Samurai Jack'' proved popular enough in reruns to warrant a Samurai Jack (season 5), revival in 2017.
Merchandise and media offerings
Official website
Adult Swim's official website features full episodes of shows, online streams and podcasts, music streaming, comics, a programming schedule, and a section dedicated to its Toonami programming block.
User accounts could once be made on the site, initially for the site's Internet forum, messaging boards, which launched in May 2003 and shut down in October 2016. By 2018, the only main functionality for user accounts left was for creating profiles and participating in the live stream chatrooms. User accounts were permanently disabled in January 2021, following the removal of the chat function.
A store was available on the site, although initially only through the main Cartoon Network store from 2001 to 2004. The store later spun-off into its own website, the Adult Swim Shop, in 2004, and ran until 2012. Another store, As Seen on Adult Swim, launched in 2013 and only sold a single item at a time until 2017, when a QVC-like show was launched with the same name on the Adult Swim streams. The site later shut down in January 2021, following the end of the series in November.
Video on demand and online streaming
In mid-2004, Adult Swim launched a
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
service on subscription television providers. The service includes several episodes from various Adult Swim original series, syndicated series, and anime licensed for Toonami. The anime series ''s-CRY-ed'' initially premiered on demand before debuting on the regular block in May 2005.
Adult Swim introduced online video streaming in 2006, providing a free online video on demand service for recent and older episodes of select programming. Initially, some episodes premiered on the website early, although eventually episodes began appearing 1–3 days after broadcast. This became a week after broadcast in June 2010.
In August 2011, Adult Swim began requiring TV Everywhere authentication for most episodes on the site, greatly reducing the amount of free content. This service was combined with the Adult Swim mobile app in 2014. Around this time, Adult Swim began posting every episode of select series online for free viewing, although some of these were removed in 2015 when Hulu acquired the rights to multiple shows, and once again in 2020 when sibling service
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
launched.
Most of Adult Swim's library is available on HBO Max, while select series are available on Hulu. Some series are also available on Tubi, a free ad-supported streaming service.
Several Adult Swim shows are also available for purchase on iTunes, Google TV (service), Google TV, Amazon Video, Amazon, Microsoft Movies & TV, and Vudu.
Video games
Adult Swim once had many Adobe Flash, Flash-based online games available on their website, including ''Robot Unicorn Attack'' and ''Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself)'', but all of the games were removed in 2020 following the discontinuation of Adobe Flash Player. Starting in 2005, Adult Swim began publishing mobile games, including those based on Adult Swim franchises and original content. In 2011, the division Adult Swim Games was created to publish original indie game content, largely focusing on the Gamer, hardcore gamer market.
Music
Adult Swim has partnerships with several independent music labels, and has co-produced and released compilation albums with Stones Throw Records, Ghostly International, Definitive Jux, and Chocolate Industries through their own label, Williams Street Records. Many of Adult Swim's bumps and packaging make use of instrumental and electronic music. Various music is also often borrowed from artists signed onto a wide array of different labels, including Warp Records and Ninja Tune Records.
Live events
Adult Swim has held various live events throughout the years through its Adult Swim Presents division. The network frequently appears at San Diego Comic Con, often holding sneak previews, games, musical performances, among other things. Since 2018, the network has held an annual Adult Swim Festival, with a mix of music, comedy, panels, and more. 2018 and 2019's festivals took place in Los Angeles, and had select performances streamed live on the Adult Swim Streams. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 and 2021's festivals were held online, through prerecorded videos and live streams on YouTube. The 2022 festival, known as the Adult Swim Festival Block Party, took place in Philadelphia, with highlight reels and select full performances being streamed to YouTube.
Podcast
Adult Swim offered a video podcast on iTunes from March 21 to September 19, 2006. The podcasts featured behind-the-scenes segments of shows and exclusive content; such as an interview with ''Saved by the Bell''s Dennis Haskins and a look at Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha's ''Metalocalypse''. The podcast reached number two in iTunes' ranking of most downloaded podcasts.
A new audio-only podcast, called the ''Adult Swim Podcast'', was launched on July 11, 2019, hosted by Matt Harrigan. In regular episodes, Harrigan interviews different Adult Swim contributors, show creators, and actors. Max Simonet was later added as a co-host, with interviews still done solo by Harrigan. The podcast also featured a few spin-offs, such as a companion podcast for season 4 of ''Rick and Morty'', a tournament bracket competition for Adult Swim's original comedies, and a tournament bracket for Toonami programming; most episodes of these spin-offs aired live on the Adult Swim Streams. No new episodes of the ''Adult Swim Podcast'' have released since November 2020. Adult Swim also teamed up with Abso Lutely Productions to produce season 2 of the ''This is Branchburg'' comedy podcast.
Live streams and web series
On September 25, 2013, Adult Swim began simulcasting their channel through the Adult Swim mobile app and website, although TV Everywhere authentication is required. Both the East and West Coast feeds are available.
In late 2014, Adult Swim added several free 24/7 service, 24/7 live streams to their website, most of them airing Marathon (television), marathons of different shows on a loop. One of the live streams, a feed of the Williams Street office's fish tank, became its own series: ''FishCenter Live'', and led to the creation of the Adult Swim Streams.
The Adult Swim Streams consisted of several online-exclusive originals, usually broadcast live, and featured a chatroom, similar to that of Twitch (service), Twitch. Many of the shows also accepted calls from viewers to interact with the hosts or change the course of a program.
Select shows aired daily on the service, these included:
* ''FishCenter Live'': A parody of ''SportsCenter'' and the flagship series, consisting of Matt Harrigan, Max Simonet, Dave Bonawits, Andrew Choe, and Christina Loranger narrating over footage of the Williams Street fish tank. Fish scored points through games started by the hosts and games played by callers. Special guests, like musicians and comedians, often performed.
* ''Stupid Morning Bullshit'': A morning (later, evenings) talk show hosted by Sally Skinner, discussing strange news stories and current events.
* ''Williams Street Swap Shop'': A phone-in trading show in the vein of tradio programs hosted by Zachary White and Matt Hutchinson. A spin-off, ''Traveling Tuesdays'', had Zach visit places around Atlanta.
* ''Bloodfeast'': A Crossword Puzzle, crossword puzzle solving show hosted by Max Simonet and Dave Bonawits that frequently used surreal content intended to disturb viewers, including animations, poetry, and short films. The show received two animated TV spinoffs, ''Tender Touches'' in 2017, followed by ''Gēmusetto Machu Picchu, Gēmusetto'' in 2019. A stream spin-off known as ''Bloodfeast Presents'' featured musical performances using the same special effects to create unique visuals.
* ''Desperate Losers'': A show hosted by various Adult Swim employees that had them play with scratch-off tickets in an attempt to supplement their incomes. The show alternated between the Williams Street streaming studios in Atlanta, Georgia and a New York City streaming studio, until the New York City studio's closure in early 2020.
Some shows aired weekly or on special occasions, these included:
* ''Assembly Line Yeah!'' : An arts-and-crafts show hosted by Jiyoung Lee and Anca Vlasan.
* The Last Podcast on the Left, ''Last Stream on the Left'': A podcast-style show hosted by Ben Kissel, Henry Zebrowski, and Marcus Parks. The hosts discuss dark or disturbing stories, conspiracy theories, and paranormal happenings.
* ''Digikiss'': A live one-on-one video dating show where viewers could ask questions and watch the date unfold.
* ''Truthpoint: Darkweb Rising'': A show hosted by dril and Derek Estevez-Olsen, a parody of InfoWars.
* ''As Seen on Adult Swim'': A show hosted by Nick Gibbons, in the style of a home shopping network program, selling Adult Swim merchandise and giving away a rare item as the last item every night to a winner of a contest.
* ''Development Meeting'': A show hosted by development coordinators Walter Newman and Cameron Tang where viewers could pitch programs to Adult Swim. Unfinished sneak peeks to upcoming productions were also shown until 2019. One pitch, ''Skeleton Landlord'', eventually made it on air as a part of ''Infomercials (TV specials), Infomercials''.
* ''
Toonami
Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
Pre-Flight'': A show hosted by Jason DeMarco and Gill Austin, where they discussed programming, took fan questions, and showed sneak peeks to upcoming promos and game reviews.
* ''Block or Charge'': A comedy clip show hosted by Rex Chapman and David Helmers, based off Chapman's tweets.
* ''The Cry of Mann'', ''The Call of Warr'', and ''The Weather'': Three series from Wham City, where viewers could call in and either play characters or change the story.
Some of the live stream shows aired edited down versions of their shows on the network on Fridays at 4:00 am, under the collective name ''Williams Stream''.
Several previously recorded web series are also available on demand on the website, including ''On Cinema, On Cinema at the Cinema'' and its spin-off ''Decker (TV series), Decker'', which later became a TV series for Adult Swim. Archived episodes of Adult Swim Streams programming are also available.
Almost all of Adult Swim's then ongoing web series, including the Adult Swim Streams as a whole, were cancelled by November 2020. Adult Swim Smalls, a shorts program produced by ''Off the Airs Dave Hughes (producer), Dave Hughes, was the only web series to remain. Some series, like ''On Cinema'', have continued on independently. New web series, including spin-offs of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' and ''Rick and Morty'', started releasing in 2022.
Currently, the website features several free live streams consisting of marathons of specific Adult Swim programming, with the mobile and OTT apps including a few more streams. Additionally, there is ''Channel 5'', a live stream consisting of various Tim & Eric productions made for the network, along with original series made for the stream, TimAndEric.com sketches, content made for Jash, and the Super Deluxe series ''Tim and Eric Nite Live!'' Some of the marathon streams had chatrooms similar to the live stream, though these were removed along with the live stream chatroom in January 2021.
Mobile and OTT applications
Since its premiere in 2001 Adult Swim executives have worked extensively to extend the network's reach to viewers in venues outside of the normal pay-television services. This includes the launch of the adultswim.com website and the release of apps for various mobile and Over-the-top media service, over-the-top platforms providing access to current and past Adult Swim programming, live marathons, live and pre-recorded original programs and the nightly online simulcast of the Adult Swim broadcast. Currently apps are available in the U.S. only for Amazon Fire TV, Android (operating system), Android (including Google Cast on Android TV), Apple TV, iOS, Chromecast, Roku and Xbox One. Due to licensing agreements certain parts of the apps including access to the network's live simulcast and most episodes of their shows require the viewer to use their subscription-television provider or OTT-platform username and password to authenticate their right to access such content. A downside to these apps is the fact that, unlike free-to-air television, they are not currently compliant with U.S. closed captioning requirements.
International
Adult Swim has been actively expanding its reach across the world since 2005. Localized versions have aired in Australia, Russia, Brazil and the rest of Latin America. Adult Swim is usually not paired with Cartoon Network due to local market conditions or government content restrictions and regulations – such as Ofcom in the United Kingdom.
In such markets, Adult Swim programming is licensed to other broadcasters instead.
Africa
In November 2018, Adult Swim made its African debut in South Africa's MultiChoice's streaming service Showmax featuring shows such as ''Rick and Morty'', ''Samurai Jack'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'' and ''Eagleheart (TV series), Eagleheart'' at launch. In June 2019, the brand was temporarily made available on TNT Africa, TNT as a programming block.
Australia and New Zealand
The Australian and New Zealand version of Adult Swim was broadcast on Cartoon Network until December 31, 2007. Shows aired at that time were ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', ''Sealab 2021'', ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', ''Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law'' (which also aired on Special Broadcasting Service, SBS), ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'', ''Home Movies'', ''
The Venture Bros.
''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animation, adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on ...
'', and before its closure, ''Squidbillies''. The comedy block aired every Friday and Saturday and an action block aired during the week, including mature anime like ''Cowboy Bebop'', ''InuYasha'', ''Bleach'', ''Air Gear'', ''Black Cat (anime), Black Cat'' and ''Ghost in the Shell''.
Presently, original comedies have premiered on The Comedy Channel in Australia. The block would return on The Comedy Channel in March 2008, with ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' joining the lineup on July 1. The channel has also aired ''The Boondocks (TV series), The Boondocks'', but not under the Adult Swim banner. To date, Adult Swim has grown considerably with the block now airing every Saturday from 12 to 2am AEST and 6:30 to 7:30 pm AEST to keep with the late night tradition of the former block.
Adult Swim's programming has been released to DVD region code#4, Region 4 DVD by Madman Entertainment, including shows that have never been shown in Australia. Madman Entertainment has also released R4 exclusive DVDs not available in the United States, including Volume 2 and 3 of ''Moral Orel'' and complete collections of ''Minoriteam'' and ''Assy McGee''. The ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' (also known as ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film for Theaters'') is a 2007 American adult animated surreal black comedy film based on the Adult Swim animated series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Fo ...
'' has also been quietly released to DVD.
After moving to The Comedy Channel in January 2008, Adult Swim stopped airing in New Zealand until 2021.
In October 2013, Turner Broadcasting in partnership with MCM Media and Movideo launched an Adult Swim
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
service.
In June 2016, Channel 9 signed a two-year deal with Turner Broadcasting to air a block of Adult Swim shows on 9Go!. After the deal expired, 9Go! did not renew with Turner Broadcasting, and thus the block was shut down.
In February 2021, TVNZ began airing Adult Swim programming on TVNZ Duke in New Zealand. Shows that are currently airing on the channel, such as ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'', ''Birdgirl (TV series), Birdgirl'', ''Eagleheart (TV series), Eagleheart,'' ''Mr. Pickles'', ''Primal (TV series), Primal'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'', ''The Eric Andre Show'', ''The Shivering Truth'', ''
The Venture Bros.
''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animation, adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on ...
'', and ''YOLO: Crystal Fantasy'', are available to stream for free on TVNZ+.
Canada
Teletoon's English and Télétoon, French-language service previously offered adult-oriented blocks that carried Adult Swim programming and aired similar shows: Teletoon at Night and Télétoon la nuit. On February 2, 2012, then-parent company TELETOON Canada Inc. announced that it would be launching a Canadian version of Adult Swim (Canadian TV channel), Adult Swim, sharing channel space with the Canadian version of Cartoon Network (Canadian TV channel), Cartoon Network as one specialty channel just as its American counterpart does. The block launched on July 4, 2012.
From September 2015 – September 2017, all of Adult Swim's original series was aired exclusively on the block.
Meanwhile, YTV (TV channel), YTV has aired anime series that premiered on Adult Swim in its Bionix (TV programming block), Bionix block. G4 Canada, G4's Anime Current block, Razer's (now MTV2 (Canada), MTV2) Kamikaze block, the defunct Scream (later Dusk (TV channel), Dusk), and Super Channel (Canada), Super Channel have also aired various anime titles that were broadcast on Adult Swim. In June 2009, G4 Canada launched ''Adult Digital Distraction'', programming that featured many Adult Swim shows. In late 2011, the block was discontinued due to pressure from the CRTC on account of the channel Channel drift, deviating from its original format (which was to air technology-related programming). The block would be briefly relaunched before being dropped again in 2012.
''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' aired on Bell Media's CTV Comedy Channel (formerly The Comedy Network). In December 2013, sibling network Much (TV channel), Much began airing ''Childrens Hospital'' and, later, its spinoff, ''Newsreaders''. They also aired the short-lived series ''The Jack and Triumph Show''.
In October 2014, Netflix began streaming ''
Mike Tyson Mysteries
''Mike Tyson Mysteries'' is an American adult animated television series, and is the first collaboration between Warner Bros. Animation and Williams Street. It premiered October 27, 2014 on Adult Swim. The series features Mike Tyson solving myster ...
'' the day after its U.S. television premiere.
On February 25, 2016, Williams Street launched a Canada-specific subscription video-on-demand service for iOS and Android (operating system), Android devices.
The app contains the majority of Adult Swim produced content, including programming not seen on Canadian television.
New premieres are added soon after their U.S. broadcast, with the exception of new episodes of ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'' and, initially, ''Rick and Morty'', which are added the day after its premiere on the Canadian block. The app was discontinued in November 2018.
On March 4, 2019, Teletoon and YTV's current parent company, Corus Entertainment, announced the launch of a full-time 24/7 Adult Swim network on April 1, 2019, as a rebrand of Action (Canadian TV channel), Action. This marks the first time an international version of Adult Swim was launched as its own television channel. With the channel's launch, the Canadian block, as well as Teletoon at Night, were both discontinued as both channels would now focus exclusively on age-appropriate programming. The Canadian Adult Swim block was dropped on March 3, 2019, and Teletoon at Night closed on March 31, 2019.
France
The block was launched on March 4, 2011, and airs nightly from 11p.m. to 6a.m. on Cartoon Network France. It has aired ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', ''Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law'', ''Metalocalypse'', ''Moral Orel'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'' and ''Squidbillies''. Like most international Adult Swim blocks, it does not air
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
and action shows. Most of the block's programming is not dubbed and airs with English audio and French subtitles.
In the early 2000s, there was a late-night block called "DZAQC" (pronounced "Désaxé"), which carried the 2001 Adult Swim look, but did not have any adult shows, except for ''Home Movies'' and ''Captain Linger''. ''Case Closed (manga), Case Closed'' was aired on Cartoon Network and Toonami. DZAQC aired random Cartoon Network shows and old promos in English with French subtitles.
A new Adult Swim block launched in March 2015 on :fr:L'Enorme, L'Enôrme TV. The block stopped broadcasting in June 2016.
On May 15, 2019, Warner Media France announced through a Twitter post that Season 4 of ''Rick and Morty'' would air exclusively on Adult Swim in November. In the same post, they announced that a new Adult Swim block would launch in France in July 2019.
On July 24, 2019, Adult Swim France announced on Twitter that the block would return at 11p.m. Central European Time, CET on Toonami (French TV channel), Toonami. From this day on, Adult Swim's French counterpart airs each night on Toonami between 11p.m. and 2a.m. with on-demand services available on French online TV and on-demand provider :fr:Molotov TV, Molotov TV.
Germany
The Adult Swim block was launched on January 28, 2009, on WarnerTV Serie, TNT Serie (now known as WarnerTV Serie). In 2016, TNT Glitz became WarnerTV Comedy, TNT Comedy (now known as WarnerTV Comedy) and took over Adult Swim. Programs on the block include ''American Dad'', ''Assy McGee'', ''Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil'', ''Metalocalypse'', ''Moral Orel'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'', ''Rick and Morty'', ''Stroker and Hoop'', ''
The Brak Show
''The Brak Show'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Andy Merrill, Jim Fortier, and Pete Smith for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. ''The Brak Show'' serves as a spin-off of the animated television series, ...
'', ''Venture Bros.'', ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'' and ''The Eric Andre Show''.
Italy
In Italy, several Adult Swim series such as ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'', ''China, IL'', ''NTSF:SD:SUV::'' and ''Mr. Pickles'' are available on-demand via TIMvision and, since 2021, on Amazon Prime Video. ''Rick and Morty'' and ''Final Space'' were also dubbed in Italian for release on Netflix, The Boondocks (TV series), ''The Boondocks'' aired on Comedy Central (Italy), Comedy Central and MTV (Italy), MTV, while ''
The Oblongs
''The Oblongs'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Angus Oblong and Jace Richdale. It was Mohawk Productions' first venture into animation. The series premiered on April 1, 2001 on The WB, and was removed on May 20th, leaving the la ...
'' aired on Italia Teen Television and All Music. On Facebook, Adult Swim Italy has confirmed the possibility of airing on Cartoon Network (Italy), Cartoon Network and Boing (Italy), Boing. In 2018, ''Robot Chicken'' and ''Rick and Morty'' were released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc from Eagle Pictures in that country.
Latin America
In Latin America, an Adult Swim block aired during the overnight hours on Cartoon Network beginning on October 7, 2005. It was originally carried on the regional version of the channel, when it was pulled off and picked up by I.Sat on November 19, 2007, another Turner Broadcasting System Latin America-owned-and-operated network, due to the fact that it was received with negative reviews from parents.
On December 1, 2010, I.Sat revealed that it was cutting Adult Swim programming due to low ratings, adding: "No matter if we add new shows, it would not work". Adult Swim once had a SAP audio in early 2007.
In 2014, it was announced that Adult Swim would return to Latin America that same year. Adult Swim premiered on the Brazilian feed of TBS (Latin American TV channel), TBS on November 3, 2014.
Adult Swim relaunched in Latin America on April 3, 2015, on I.Sat, in English with Spanish subtitles, premiering ''Rick and Morty'' and many other shows for the first time on the region.
On January 6, 2018, the block began broadcasting throughout Latin America on TBS (Latin American TV channel), TBS. Unlike I.Sat, this block was being broadcast in Spanish.
After ceasing broadcasts on I.Sat and TBS (Latin America), TBS, Warner TV, Warner Channel began airing the block on May 2, 2020, for Latin America and Brazil, now showing the [as] logo and new content, such as ''Final Space'' and the rest of ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'' and ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'' series.
The block lost the schedule from Monday to Thursday and Saturdays on September 14, airing only on Mondays at midnight, and the following month, it stopped releasing new bumpers. On November 15, Adult Swim dropped out of Warner Channel's programming, being its last broadcast on November 8, 2021.
On June 24, 2021, HBO Max announced a list of some original Adult Swim content that will be available since the platform's launch, including: ''Rick and Morty'', ''
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...
'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'', ''Primal (TV series), Primal'', ''
Squidbillies
''Squidbillies'' is an American animated television series created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made ...
'', ''The Shivering Truth'' and ''Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell''. Its launch took place on June 29, 2021.
Russia
From its relaunch in March 2007 to March 2021, 2×2 (TV channel), 2X2, a Russian channel specializing in animation, aired Adult Swim's original series. There was a separate Adult Swim block, and also an English-language block, where shows were broadcast in English without dubbing, both now being defunct. Adult Swim–produced shows that have aired include ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', ''Robot Chicken'', ''Moral Orel'', ''Sealab 2021'', ''12 oz. Mouse'', ''
The Venture Bros.
''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animation, adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on ...
'', ''The Brak Show'', ''Stroker and Hoop'', ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'', ''Squidbillies'', ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', ''Frisky Dingo'', ''
Perfect Hair Forever
''Perfect Hair Forever'' is an American adult animated television series created by Mike Lazzo, Matt Harrigan, and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. The series revolves around a young boy named Gerald ...
'', ''Metalocalypse'', ''Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil'' and others. 2×2 also broadcast many of the anime that premiered in the U.S. on Adult Swim, although not on 2×2's Adult Swim's schedule. Some shows including ''The Boondocks (TV series), The Boondocks'' and ''Rick and Morty'' also premiered outside Adult Swim's block.
On November 1, 2019, 2x2 announced an addition of the Adult Swim section on its site with library containing selected Adult Swim series broadcast earlier on the channel and also new series, like ''The Heart, She Holler'', ''Off the Air (TV series), Off the Air'', ''The Eric Andre Show'', ''Dream Corp LLC'' and ''Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter'', premiering directly on the site uncut. After the discontinuation of Adult Swim shows on 2x2 in March 2021, the shows were removed from the site. ''Rick and Morty'' is available on another streaming service, ''KinoPoisk'', although 2x2 still maintains TV broadcast rights and has the last premiered episode available for a small amount of time after the premiere.
Spain
In Spain, Adult Swim was a programming block that aired on Fridays from midnight on the TNT (American TV network)#Spain, TNT channel, between 2007 and 2012. Despite the fact that the block no longer exists in Spain, several of its original series have their own section on the HBO Europe, HBO streaming platform.
In December 2020, Adult Swim returned alongside Toonami as a premium pack of the Orange TV service. In it, there are more than 600 episodes of 19 different series such as ''Rick and Morty'', ''Metalocalypse'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'', among others.
United Kingdom and Ireland
In 2002, CNX (TV channel), CNX was launched in the United Kingdom as a spin-off of Cartoon Network. It featured much of the content found on Adult Swim and Toonami, anime shows and adult action films, but closed operations after a year in 2003.
A nightly Adult Swim channel was launched on July 8, 2006, on the now defunct Bravo (UK TV channel), Bravo owned by Living TV Group, Virgin Media Television, generally starting at midnight. Shows that were previously a part of the UK's Adult Swim block are ''Robot Chicken'', ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', ''Sealab 2021'', ''The Brak Show'', ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'', ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', ''The Venture Bros.'', ''Moral Orel'', and ''Metalocalypse'',
[. Bravo (UK). Retrieved July 19, 2006.] Non-Williams Street shows on the block include ''Stripperella'' and ''Kid Notorious''. The first "action" series was the anime ''Afro Samurai'', which aired on May 4, 2007, alongside a new UK animated show ''Modern Toss (TV series), Modern Toss''. On July 7, 2008, Adult Swim ceased to broadcast on Bravo.
Former Sony Pictures Television channel TruTV (UK & Ireland), TruTV started airing Adult Swim shows every night from 11 pm to around 3 am in November and December 2016. It broadcast episodes of ''Rick and Morty'', ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...
'', ''Mr. Pickles'' and ''
Squidbillies
''Squidbillies'' is an American animated television series created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made ...
''.
The UK Adult Swim website offers free access to full episodes of shows including ''Squidbillies'', ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'', ''Minoriteam'', ''Stroker and Hoop'', ''Moral Orel'', ''12 oz. Mouse'', ''
Perfect Hair Forever
''Perfect Hair Forever'' is an American adult animated television series created by Mike Lazzo, Matt Harrigan, and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. The series revolves around a young boy named Gerald ...
'', ''Metalocalypse'', and ''Frisky Dingo''. Revolver Entertainment began distributing original Adult Swim series on DVD in the UK and Ireland.
Fox (UK and Ireland), FX aired ''Robot Chicken'', ''Titan Maximum'', ''Venture Brothers'' and ''Metalocalypse''. These shows were advertised with [adult swim] branding. They began airing on June 5, 2010, in conjunction with the channel's regular schedule and ended on November 27, 2010. On December 14, 2011, the ''Robot Chicken: Star Wars'' trilogy appeared on Syfy (UK and Ireland), Syfy at 10 pm. The block began airing on TCM 2 starting on January 4, 2012.
Adult Swim returned to UK and Irish television starting with a new block on the Fox (UK and Ireland), FOX channel on September 4, 2015.
This was discontinued in September 2017, and Adult Swim was then not broadcast on television, although ''Rick and Morty'' has since moved to Comedy Central (UK and Ireland), Comedy Central and is available to stream on Netflix in the UK and Ireland.
Adult Swim once again returned to the UK with a new block on E4 (TV channel), E4 in February 2019. This block shows Adult Swim shows as well as some other shows being able to stream on All 4 such as ''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'', ''Rick and Morty'' and much more.
High definition channels and service
A high-definition television, high-definition feed of Adult Swim is available on many subscription-television providers, and is shared with its daytime counterpart Cartoon Network. The high definition feed broadcasts in 1080i High-definition television, high-definition on nearly all providers, and was launched on October 15, 2007 along with Cartoon Network HD. Like all WarnerMedia networks, Aspect ratio (image)#4:3 standard, 4:3-sourced content is Video scaler#Scaling by television channels, stretched on the high definition feed to fill the 16:9 aspect ratio, 16:9 Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio. Exceptions include 4:3-sourced content that has been remastered to high definition, such as ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'', ''
Cowboy Bebop'' (since 2015), ''Samurai Jack'' (since 2018), ''Home Movies'', ''King of the Hill'', and ''Futurama'' (all three since 2021), and any recent programming that intentionally uses the 4:3 aspect ratio for its visual style, such as season 1 of ''The Eric Andre Show'' and ''Jack Stauber, Jack Stauber's OPAL''. Network bumpers and promos were still made in the 4:3 aspect ratio until 2010, and therefore also appeared stretched on the high definition feed. The network's HD content airs with letterboxing on the standard definition channel. As of 2013, many subscription providers carry the high definition feed (along with Cartoon Network HD) and downscale it for the standard definition feed.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adult Swim
Adult Swim,
2000s in comedy
2001 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Adult animation studios
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network programming blocks
Television programming blocks in the United States
Williams Street