Is it time for Adult Swim to change?

[Avaitor]

Really curious. Does Disney not find the show as profitable as Family Guy, or are they willing to sell their shows back, FG included?

[Dr. Insomniac]

Yeah, it's weird. They have Freeform, FXX, and several other channels they could use to rerun Fox cartoons. What about the AS deal is more lucrative for Disney?

[Avaitor]

That's the thing, I'm not sure what is more profitable to Disney- Warner purchasing the rights to air these shows or the ad revenue they'll receive by airing them on their own channels.

But with the recent announcement that FXX and Freeform are among the Disney channels that Spectrum will lose, they might see syndication as more profitable once again and [as] could reclaim Family Guy... or not, since it's likely that these channels were on the cutting board in the first place.

[Avaitor]

It's official- season 9 of Bob's Burgers starts airing in October.

Since they've clearly renewed their contract, I wonder what's next. Trying to get Family Guy back makes the most sense, but I have a feeling that Disney may still want to hold onto it. So I have another theory- what if [as] picks up Archer instead?

[Daikun]

Samurai Jack is joining Checkered Past.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I haven't been paying attention to ACME Night, but I noticed a few days ago they were airing the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, and that led me to a wormhole showing just how unfocused their movie selection was, such as the example above. I don't normally care all that much about CN's branding, but it's hard not to think how sloppy it's gotten. Just the imagery of all these kids' movies like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Elf with the Adult Swim logo on the bottom right is hilarious.

[Avaitor]

Acme Night has been a weird spot for CN/[as]. It was initially supposed to be a block meant for families, and it just became a dumping ground for whatever movies they could get the rights to or the occasional Futurama or Samurai Jack marathon.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I guess on the plus side, it hearkens back to whenever networks like Disney Channel would just air whatever random movie they had in their backlog in the 90s. But that was because they had a lack of direction, not out of any intentional aim. It's no coincidence that Nick and Disney narrowing their imports and licensed shows happened around the time they found more success.

And as a whole, ACME Night, Checkered Past, Toonami Rewind, while the appeal to nostalgia is nice on a surface level, they all reek of CN struggling to buy time and desperately hoping that going "Remember this old show you watched as a kid?! Please pay attention to this!" can keep them afloat. But it all reeks of stagnancy instead of a direction. Even CN Real, and we can all say a lot of awful things about CN Real, that still felt like a direction. It was an awful path, but it was still the network pushing itself somewhere. While the current course appears to be turtling up and hoping for the best.

[Avaitor]

Supposedly Michael Ouwleen wants to take Cartoon Network back to its roots as an all-ages channel, ie not exactly for kids, but it feels like he's doing this by prioritizing [as] and phasing out CN as much as he can. Either every new show planned for CN is being pushed back or moved to either [as] or Max, to the point that more and more of CN's daytime schedule is going to older series.

And I don't mind slots for older series, that's always been a part of Cartoon Network's DNA, but a big part of the channel's appeal during the Powerhouse era was that its originals could work for basically every demographic. Shows like Courage are just as entertaining now as they were as a kid, why can't we get more series like that or even Adventure Time or Gumball?

[Dr. Insomniac]

But the problem is it doesn't really feel like it's for all-ages. Just nostalgic adults and maybe a few kids. There isn't anything for adults who want something new, or teenagers. What's on CN now that a 16-year-old would be interested in? Or a 25-year-old who wants more than reheated leftovers? Not even fitting leftovers since instead of getting the rights to some Bakshi movie or asking GKIDS for some anime films, CN is airing Kung Pow: Enter the Fist next Sunday? Seriously? Besides, if getting tons of kids to watch 20-to-30-year-old TV cartoons was an easy success story, networks would've happily done it ages ago instead of now when on-air TV is just rotting thanks to streaming.

It's similar to how bemused I am by all the MeTV Toons hype. I keep seeing people talk about it as if it's a gamechanger on TV instead of just a cute little retro channel, hearing them go "Yeah, Histeria's back on TV! Finally kids will have an E/I show to watch that isn't drivel!" or "They put Police Academy the Animated Series on network TV again!" Like are those guys serious?

[Avaitor]

The lack of new programming is a serious problem, and the few things we're supposed to get on proper CN probably won't spin the needle as they're continuations of older series (Totally Spies, Total Drama). Or maybe they can, supposedly their Tiny Toon Looniversity airings have been a decent success for the channel. I understand why they've been cutting back on programming for the 6-14 demo, as that audience has largely left television behind for YouTube and Twitch, but it's sad to see the big three basically stop trying. Not everyone has abandoned cable, and even then, there's still a chance to get that audience back with streaming and put some of those shows, like Looniversity, on cable.

As for MeTV Toons, it's all old stuff, but a lot of that, particularly Looney Tunes and other theatrical cartoons, have proven to be timelessly profitable. It does seem like this generation of kids is latching onto them more than the ones from 20 years ago, but that's also because they're now easier to watch instead of being relegated to a channel most cable providers won't even carry. I wouldn't say it's a game changer, this isn't even trying to hide that it's CN with no plans for original programming, but it does prove that there's still an audience for cartoons... even if it's old stuff.

And with Acme Hour, I don't even know.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Yeah, is Totally Spies really the kind of show that people would go out of their way to sit down and watch in 2024? Perhaps I'm being myopic and there's secretly a hardcore following for the show that sees more than "Lol, look at the fetishes!", but it seems like the kind of show where you could air 20-year-old reruns or newer episodes and 90% of people watching won't notice the difference.

I never got Total Drama either. I just saw the "Survivor but it's animated in Flash" premise and it never clicked for me, and yet that's been one of CN's lasting imports for a while now.

And yeah, seeing cable ratings utterly collapse is depressing. I remember when shows from 10 years ago like Teen Titans Go achieved 2 million per episode, and now the channel's lucky if they can get 200,000. It's bleak and pretending otherwise is denial. And while I doubt CN will end anytime soon, that's only because the expectations for cable channels are now in the bottom of the barrel than anything else. When was the last noteworthy channel on cable to flat out die instead of getting renamed or restructured?

As for MeTV Toons, I know I'm sounding pessimistic and at least a little dismissive on the idea, but I think it's cool that someone is trying to let out these old shows and shorts on TV, as opposed to giving them no exposure and only letting word-of-mouth do its thing. It's just some of the acquisitions leave questions. 2 hours of Alf every Saturday morning? Really? Or how the only show there that isn't for kids is the boorish Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. And yeah, yeah, I know Flintstones, but Fred and Barney have spent the last couple decades primarily known as cereal box mascots. I doubt casual audiences even register Flintstones as adult animation. Hell, even the people who do see it as that mostly do it out of a sign of formality.

[Avaitor]

Totally Spies and Total Drama have some shooters online, but I don't think that will translate to great ratings. Or maybe that will, just because it's something new on Cartoon Network. Besides the ever-decreasing Cartoonito lineup, the only new things we got in the past year for mainline CN are Tiny Toons and that Ivanhoe show no one talks about. Like I mentioned before, apparently Looniversity gets solid ratings despite premiering on Max, and that's based on a show even older than either of these, so it could happen.

I'm not sure about Total Drama though, it made sense to make a reality show parody 15 years ago when they were all the rage, but despite still being on and supposedly maintaining solid ratings, Survivor is hardly the zeitgeist dominator it was back in the 00's. Even the Total Drama creators made note of this a while ago, which is why the last show in the franchise was a kiddified version like we're back in the 80s for some reason.

In terms of older-skewing shows on MeTV Toons, what else can they really get? Disney won't play ball, and while it sounds like Paramount is willing to lend some of their less-popular works like Terrytoons, I have a feeling that South Park and Beavis and Butthead are just as off-limits as the Nicktoons. Who owns Mission Hill and Baby Blues? Maybe those could air on Sundays. I've suggested before that the channel could reverse-engineer a classic Toonami block (Thundercats, Voltron, Robotech, and Cartoon Roulette stuff should all be fair game), but wouldn't it be funny if they did something similar with early [as]?

Now I want them to get the rights to the first three Lupin series, at least red jacket.

[Dr. Insomniac]

It could happen, but to what end? I'm finding it hard to see a scenario where CN gets out of survival mode and starts prospering again. Because from what I can find, Looniversity's ratings aren't solid, with the last few weeks not even hitting 6 digits. And yeah, we gotta lower expectations for TV ratings with each passing year, but these just aren't good numbers even when adjusting.

In terms of older-skewing shows on MeTV Toons, what else can they really get?

Dr. Katz? The Critic? Those are obscure now so I can picture them being easier to get than any of the big adult cartoons. They probably can't get South Park, though I remember it was syndicated once, but they can probably get something like Duckman.

I've suggested before that the channel could reverse-engineer a classic Toonami block (Thundercats, Voltron, Robotech, and Cartoon Roulette stuff should all be fair game), but wouldn't it be funny if they did something similar with early [as]?

Or go the extra mile and ask Discotek to dub Ashita no Joe and Rose of Versailles, and make a retro 70s anime block with those shows and stuff like Gundam 0079, Future Boy Conan, and Gatchaman.