All Age/Gender Appeal Current CN Originals vs The Previous CN Originals

[Sketch]

I see this criticism from time to time that the current Cartoon Network series more specifically the "bro-coms" Regular Show, Adventure Time and The Problem Solverz are written too boy-centric in such a manner that only tween boys would really like them while the likes of Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Ed, Edd n Eddy have wider appeal for all audiences.

On another board a guy I was debating this with said the heavy use of dialogue including the following words "dude", "sweet", "awesome" and the like was particularly grating and he felt having shows like that more or less doomed the current generation to utter those words. He must have had a heck of a time sitting through the dialogue of a lot of cartoons in the early 90s.

I happen to know plenty of adults who not only like Regular Show and Adventure Time but they also consider them some of the better cartoons to come from CN studios right up there with the greats of CN's earlier years. I also have come across plenty of girls that like these "bro-coms" plenty well but it cannot be denied these shows are trying to appeal to boys.

While everyone has their preferences those of us who analyze cartoons perhaps a little too much still have some guidelines in judging the appeal of shows and how broad that appeal may be. There are some very niche shows that have come along which really only suit the viewers you know the writers were trying to entertain and there's probably no better example of that than Megas XLR. That show had it's audience in mind and ran with it but of course there is a danger of being too niche. Particularly when it's something you're doing for a paycheck.

At any rate the question remains, do the current Cartoon Network originals lack the broader appeal of the old ones? Do you think many parents watch these shows with their kids like parents who watched Dexter's Lab and PPG with their kids did in years prior? Or perhaps the general appeal of those older CN originals isn't really any more wide and it's a myth that parents watched them with their kids back then. Furthermore, does it matter if these shows skew specifically towards the 9-14 boys demographic?

[Kiddington]

At any rate the question remains, do the current Cartoon Network originals lack the broader appeal of the old ones?

Hmm... no, I don't really think so.

You said it yourself; a lot of adults you know enjoy CN's current output. While I myself don't really have the benefit of talking to people around me about animation (seriously; my entire family views all forms of animation as "kiddy fluff", and they all think I'm nuts because I still watch cartoons), from what I can see online, the current CN originals do seem to have a decent adult following. Adventure Time and Regular Show in particular; while I'm not crazy about AT (it's too creepy and weird for me to enjoy on a regular basis), I do see a lot of older people comparing it to the types of animated shows they watched as kids, and most people that I see seem to enjoy it. Regular Show does have some pretty clever writing (outside of the titular duo's usual "dudebro" mannerisms), so I think that should have some pretty good adult appeal as well. I love it myself; best thing CN's done since Foster's... but obviously, I don't speak for everyone.

I think when you're talking about something like this, though, it really all depends on what "Select Adult Individual X" finds entertaining. The older CN originals have a pretty good following of adult fans... that being said, my parents are both adults, and they basically hated every single cartoon I ever grew up with, which very much includes those same CN originals from the late 90's/early 00's. "Adult Appeal" isn't an ironclad principle; Dexter's Lab has a lot of adult fans, but I'm sure there are plenty of adults who would watch it now, and firmly shake their heads in disapproval. Same goes for Adventure Time and Regular Show, or any other CN original really. A lot of it simply comes down to individual taste.

On a broad appeal level, I don't see most of today's originals being that far off from the older ones. Some of the stuff running on CN does have a pretty smart and clever writing team behind it. Obviously, there are outliers (Johnny Test is a steaming load of garbage that most kids shouldn't even find entertaining), but as a whole, CN's comedy programming has a lot more broad appeal today than it did, say, five years ago.

[Avaitor]

Kind of, not really. Some of the more shows do have appeal for older fans, but it always seems like by the end, they start to lose attention. The interest for Chowder and Flapjack was dwindling by the end for it's older fanbase, and Adventure Time is already starting to lose it's adult following. It's possible that Regular Show can as well before long.

I think both AT and RS are good shows whenever I watch them, but I don't keep up with them. same with Sym-Bionic Titan when it was on. I know of one person my age who watches Adventure Time, and even has a Finn wallet, but besides him, I can't think of too many people outside their target demographics that watch these shows. Meanwhile, I was able to get my mother to watch a lot of the Cartoon Cartoons with me, and she knew people around her age that would watch some of them as well.

I'm not sure if it's entirely the reason, but I think the all-age appeal of the earlier shows is what drew older viewers to them. The current CN comedies seem like more of a "bro" thing, particularly among older boys, which only goes so far in terms of fanbase. But I just could be talking to the wrong people when it comes to this.

[Foggle]

Most of the Adventure Time fans I know are female, actually.

[Avaitor]

True, I know a lot of female AT fans as well. Just about all online, but they exist.

Regular Show, however, not so much from what I've seen.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's better than it has been since the originals came around, but IMO, it's not quite there yet. Other than Flapjack, I don't feel like the "adult" part of the humor has felt very natural and in many cases takes away from the main purpose of the show. Chowder tried embracing it at several points and it never quite worked, and Adventure Time to me works better when it isn't trying to talk to the audience through weirdness but keeps it natural. Regular Show just naturally appeals since the content is so universal, but I think my problem is that it's too broad for me, which is why I only really watch it every now and then.

It's a hard middle ground to hit, but at least they seem to be trying to hit it now as opposed to when they had stuff like Gym Partner and Lazlo ruling the channel.