The Many Failed Adult Swim Clones

In the late 2010's and early 2020's, there was a trend of networks cashing in on the success of the Adult Swim late night programming block intended for mature audiences, so other networks (and some of them having nothing to do with comedy or cartoons) toss their hat into the ring and made their own late night animation blocks!
These Adult Swim clones fizzled out by 2021 for varying reasons, with the biggest reasons being that the shows were terrible and that cable is a dying medium. Most of these blocks also lacked the absurdist and experimental charm Adult Swim had and merely were corporations trying too hard to appeal to zoomers.

[@Bflorio12]

very early on in Adult Swim's run, Comedy Central tried out an adult animation block (that didn't have a name) on I believe late night Sundays. It had The Critic, Clerks, Dr Katz, South Park, Bob and Margaret, Undergrads, and Atom TV

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Comedy Central had a second attempt at an adult animation block, consisting of South Park, The Cleveland Show, Beavis and Butthead (2022), and Digman. Sadly it only lasted a few months

[@Bflorio12]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews i think Duckman was on the original one too!

[@greghairston7937]

The Fact that there was a programming block that aired mostly internet shows is pretty impressive cuz it's rare to see internet shows air on tv and even when they do, they are just retooled versions of the original. So, one day there will be a block that airs nothing but internet shows like HTF, Homestar Runner, AVGN, Eddsworld, Nostalgia Critic, and even some newer shows like Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, Murder Drones, Monkey Wrench, & Battle for Dream Island.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

That would be awesome, also G4TV should've aired those shows

[@greghairston7937]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews That's what the G4 revival should of been, if they done that, they would have been taken off the air a second time, but nope, they shut down again becuz they were talking about controversial stuff and also low ratings. The G4 Revival should of also have blocks that showcased Flash Animations, Let's Plays, Reactions, Goanimate Cringe Compilations, Fanart, Fangames, Criticism, and more.

[@TajmirTheRandomFan]

no one couldn't compete with Adult Swim, no matter how hard they tried, no one couldn't try and beat it.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Well, except Comedy Central and FXX

[@nakazoo4225]

Fox did great... on other channels

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

@@nakazoo4225 Such as FX, FXX, and The CW

[@Staggervore]

There was another competing adult animation block back in 2003 that aired on Spike TV (Now Paramount Network) it was called The Strip which included shows like the adult centric revival of Ren and Stimpy known as Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon and two other shows, Gary The Rat and Stripperella

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

I believe they also played Kevin Spencer

[@rockoorbe2002]

ADHD had pretty good content, but FOX treated it as filler since that used to be MADTV's slot. Worst of all, they screwed up Golan the Insatiable which i think was the best show of tge bunch. They really turned the shorts into something very unwatchable after they turned it into a 1/2 hour series.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

It did marginally better on FXX, but they pulled the plug in July 2016.

[@dalicebroadcastnetwork]

What's Better Adult Animation On TBS Or The Big Bang Theory On TBS

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

I like both honestly

[@allisoncurty650]

4:14 Did you say Close Enough? I wish they could somehow show it on Adult Swim and eventually come back! I love J.G. Quintel!

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

It's a mystery why it didn't premiere on Adult Swim in the first place...

[@capitalm4605]

I vaguely remember spike tv running animation when they first started. Tried to revive Ren and Stimpy and a show called Gary the Rat.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Yep, and also Kevin Spencer

[@taejasper1343]

While I may disagree with many of the points you made in this video, ArtieRacoon, you still did a good job with explaining your opinions in it, bro! Well done, dude! Keep it up, man! And thank you so much for your content! I'm glad that it exists, 'cause it's all really interesting! You do a lot of really good videos, my guy! They're awesome! I love it so much!

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Just because the blocks were bad, doesn't mean I can't like them!

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Also thank you for the support! Which points did you disagree with if I may ask?

[@MarioPlota9612]

TBS 2D didn’t last long because it started when some of their shows were gearing up to leave TBS like family guy

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

True, but they could've swapped it out for King of the Hill or Futurama when they made a grand return to Adult Swim in late 2021

[@bubbasworldjamesbean6596]

i got some good news(so recenntly i asked dave byers if he could bring back some tom and jerry and looney tunes shorts back to the rotation and he said that some of those shorts will be brought back soon so expect the rotations improving even more)

[@DanielLave25280]

So Many Failed Blocks and Dang Poor Those Shows That Have Those Stupid Tax Write Offs Because Of that Stupid Merge

[@taejasper1343]

Yep! I hate it, bro!

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Warner Bros should've merged with MGM instead

[@DanielLave25280]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews Yeah I Don't Why They Went With Discover But I Am Agreeing With You MGM Will Be Better

[@TajmirTheRandomFan]

Blame the at&t merger, besides, If MGM merged with Warner Bros, we will have the massive MGM animated library again, but alas, it would've been different.

[@taejasper1343]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews Yeah, because they're merged with Amazon and all of their catalog is on Amazon Prime Video! So Warner could have their catalog be on there too if they merged with Amazon! That would be great! And then they'dake money again, we the fans get great content more often from them again, it's a win-win, baby! Everybody gets what they want!

[@cynthiapickett7403]

It WAS ridiculous (as I said before, Adult Swim should have been given its own channel in the first place)

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

It should have split off into its own channel by now, all channels need to start out as "blocks" and build up their library and status before becoming a whole new channel.

[@ultraflamz64]

Fun fact that's semi related. Elray Network once aired Clerks the animated series in 2019 as part of a Jay and Silent Bob marathon

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

That's awesome

[@drewwisemanmusic424]

Bro TZGZ slapped. I recorded that block like every week for a while.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

To be honest I miss it

[@drewwisemanmusic424]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews me too brother

[@annamorearchives]

I actually did watch some of TZGZ.

[@mr.goodboi2780]

No TV execs seem to know what to do with animation. It's kind of sad to watch.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

For whatever reason, only Cartoon Network and Adult Swim partially know what they are doing

[@thebatterymill]

Ironic American Dad! barely gets reruns on a cable network it is home to

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

It airs on Adult Swim way more than TBS

[@dalicebroadcastnetwork]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews I Think You Mean It Airs Much Earlier On Adult Swim

[@thebatterymill]

Also is it fair to consider cable TV as being on life support? That medium is struggling but it’s not like any major players are leaving it behind yet

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

We'll see...

[@thebatterymill]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews I would consider it on “life support” status if a major player/basic cable channel exits the business

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

@@thebatterymill Mainly the boomers and elite are keeping cable alive at the moment, INSP and FOX News is basically taking the lead at high ratings

[@WVerse905]

My favorite adult animation is Gary and his Demons

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Good one!

[@annamorearchives]

*A full-fledged television network tries to compete with a programming block...* That sounds VERY embarrassing and witless. *FACTS.*

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Which one are you referring to?

[@annamorearchives]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews Mostly SYFY and FXX. But I honestly miss some of them like TBS 2D (which actually aired AS shows), and most of TZGZ, this is actually (and unsurprisingly) my very first time hearing of HTF on El Rey Network and Mondo Animation Hour, maybe could've known while ERN was still around.

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

Sci fi channel had one adult animation before they did the adult animation block with mostly Cyanide and Happiness and Mondo Media productions just a single adult CGI comedy Tripping The Rift made by Teletoon and it was back when Syfy channel could still spell the shortening of science fiction it was also during the time of the extremely weird sci fi buffers

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

I'm aware of that, Syfy had a single adult animated show in the past, but not a block.

[@dalicebroadcastnetwork]

GTA V Dead Men Walking (Scrap Yard) Theme Playing In The Background

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Good song choice honestly

[@normadgarmez7026]

The only channel that could take on adult swim in the schedule they have is Comedy Central. That is if they tried to be their own thing.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

And also FXX, but who knows how much of the longer that channel will last. Disney has been axing their international networks since 2019

[@audiovisualcringe]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviewsafaik FXX is mostly just simpsons reruns now, after burying everything else circa 2022 the only original show on there nowadays is it’s always sunny in philadelphia but very rarely

[@Se7enBeatleofDoom]

Animation domination high def never came close to adult swim popularity but it had its own identity but it was a confused identity. ADHD didn't know if it wanted to be 90s nostalgia, appeal to stoners, one half of the programming barely feels TV-14 to Mr Pickles levels of gore. The last year of block got super preachy and political in the worst hypocritical kind of way. ADHD had bumpers combining edgy humor, while the shows depended on racial stereotypes humor and gay jokes.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

And that's what we call "The 2016 effect". That's why South Park season 20 turned out the way it did.

[@candydream16]

shout out to crack-duck though, amazing cartoon that deserved to be on adult swim but never got to

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

I haven't seen or heard of that one, could you tell me more?

[@kristenrock7831]

Play close enough Play close enough is coming back on Netflix

[@ABCEasyas--]

I don’t remember Close Enough. I remember Regular Show though.

[@JJUniverseChannel]

I subscribe your channel man 😎!

[@nintendofan365]

Id also count NickMom as an Adult Swim clone. Sure, none of the shows were animated, but the shows just had edgy humor and it was on a preschool channel Nick Jr. The block was doomed since it started it ended in 2015 it was bad.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

I was considering making a video on NickMom, but Chadtronic already beat me to it

[@linklickz]

no wat they allowed mondo cartoons to air lol

[@annamorearchives]

It's always the channels you least expect, except G4 of course.

[@linklickz]

i always knew el rey as the channel with the lucha wrestling shows@@annamorearchives

[@DeathStar1977]

To me, Syfy died the day they cancelled Happy!, a mistake that needs to corrected soon if not for Peacock. Anyone else agree? #SeeHappy #SaveHappy (for #PeacockTV)

[@kristenrock7831]

Family guy coming to Family guy coming to Disney junior

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

In your dreams

[@GEICO72]

You used to live in Maine, huh?

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Yeah, how did you know?

[@GEICO72]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews bro you don’t remember me?

[@kristenrock7831]

Little angel sucks It is a bath

[@dalicebroadcastnetwork]

Atleast tbs 2D Made The Big Bang Theory & Friends Come On Way Earlier With Friends Airing In The Morning & TBBT Airing At Midnight My Local CW Affiliate KTLA 5 Since September 2011 After Removing Sex & The City From Their Lineup Has Been Airing The Big Bang Theory Every Midnight At 12:35am-12:37am

[@kristenrock7831]

Bluey on adult swim Bought on kids

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

What?

[@ryanwilkins2233]

Are you going to make a video of MTV ripoffs?

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Maybe

[@ABCEasyas--]

Plus, abbreviating the block to ADHD sounds ableist.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Its not.

[@ryanwilkins2233]

Do you think MTV is a adult swim clone now?

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

MTV first aired two whole decades before Adult Swim even existed

[@ryanwilkins2233]

​@@ArtieRaccoonReviews so adult swim is the ripoff of MTV

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

No, Adult Swim always has been its own thing

[@20thCY]

MTV = Music Television (however now it's reality TV) Adult Swim never aired music videos or reality TV. They really just mostly focused on adult animation

[@ryanwilkins2233]

​​@@20thCYtake out the M

[@ryanwilkins2233]

MTV is one of the ripoff adult swim.

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

MTV existed two whole decades before Adult Swim, so that's illogical

[@dalicebroadcastnetwork]

It Would Be Cool If nick@niTe Had KZbin Shows Like Hardstop Lucas Simon Brea Smosh

[@ArtieRaccoonReviews]

Would be, but it does not fit the channel in my opinion

[@dalicebroadcastnetwork]

@@ArtieRaccoonReviews That's Why I Edited It By Adding Smosh & Removing The Following Channels