The Cartoon Network's nightly programming of adult-themed animation shows is aptly named Adult Swim, and it's invading a house near you.
Fast-food pro-duct superheroes, dysfunctional scientists in an underwater laboratory and a robot-chicken with a short attention span -- Adult Swim has audiences saying no to sleep and yes to animated entertainment.
Every Saturday through Thursday night from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., the network airs a block of cartoons that appeal to adult audiences, particularly college students.
By taking Saturday cartoons to a new and insanely humorous level, the programming has grown from one show to more than 20 since its 2001 inception.
According to Nielsen Media Research, a television ratings tracking firm, Adult Swim helped push the Cartoon Network to the top of cable television ratings. Keying the ratings surge was the 18- to 34-year-old demographic -- regular viewers on a network once aimed mostly at children.
Because of its huge success, The Cartoon Network's nightly programming of adult-themed animation shows is aptly named Adult Swim, and it's invading a house near you.
Fast-food pro-duct superheroes, dysfunctional scientists in an underwater laboratory and a robot-chicken with a short attention span -- Adult Swim has audiences saying no to sleep and yes to animated entertainment. split Adult Swim's affiliation from the Cartoon Network at the end of March. The split created two separate networks, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, delivered on the same cable channel at different times of the day.
Nielson began classifying Adult Swim as a separate network on March 28.
And if the old ratings from Nielson estimates hold true for the new network, it will be
No. 1 in its time slot on basic cable among adults 18 to 34.
An adult-themed, animated spoof of a late night talk show called "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" originally spawned the programming block, premiering in 1993 -- a year after Ted Turner first presented the Cartoon Network.
At the outset, "Space Ghost" was the only program for adults, but Keith Crofford, vice president of production for Adult Swim, noticed the chance to capitalize on adult viewership.
"This quirky little talk show was an island, and we felt it would be good to have some similar concepts and properties," Crofford told reporters in 2004. "It was a tidal change in the audience when people said: 'You know, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have something we could watch when the kids have gone to bed.' "
With unique shows like "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," it's no wonder adults have flooded the cartoon market. Originally created to be guests on "Space Ghost," the characters on "Aqua Teen" may be the most original on television.
Created as fast-food superheroes that save the world from hunger (though the superhero angle has all but disappeared) the program features Master Shake, a to-go cup with a pink straw and no conscience; Frylock, an intelligent box of fries with a goatee; and the self-explanatory Meatwad.
The three share a house in New Jersey next to their human neighbor, Carl, an overweight and repulsive middle-aged man with an Italian accent.
Other hits on the block include Seth MacFarlane's "Family Guy" and Matt Groening's "Futurama," shows that failed to succeed on network television but have now become cult classics among student DVD collections.
To prevent kids from exposure to adult content, the block is purposely differentiated from the rest of Cartoon Network's programming and contains disclosures to advise viewers that the material is intended for a more mature audience.
As the official Web site explains, "Adult Swim is only promoted on Cartoon Network late at night, when the werewolves are out cavorting in the moonlight and life-sized milkshakes do ritual dances of purification under crystal waterfalls in the New Jersey wilderness."
But to see the werewolves and the milkshakes dance, you first have to take a swim in the deep water, where adults swim.
Ty Thompson is a journalism sophomore. Send naked pictures of frat aliens to tyler.w.thompson@asu.edu.
