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Adult Swim
CountryUnited States
NetworkCartoon Network (nightly from 8:00 PM–6:00 AM ET/PT)
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia (General)
Burbank, California (West Coast)
Programming
Language(s)English (Spanish with SAP)
Ownership
OwnerTurner Broadcasting System (Time Warner)

Adult Swim (stylized as [adult swim] or [as]) is an American cable network that operates every night 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., Eastern and Pacific Time, over the same channels used by the Cartoon Network. Both networks are owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner, Inc. The network is programmed by Williams Street Studios, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, which also developed two prior television programming blocks seen on Cartoon Network: Toonami (which later became a block on Adult Swim in 2012) and Miguzi. The name comes from a phrase used by public swimming pools to label designated times when children are restricted from using the facilities in favor of adults.

Debuting as a programming block on Cartoon Network in 2001, Adult Swim was established as alternative programming during the late night hours when Cartoon Network's primary target audience, children and teenagers between the ages of 7–15, would normally be sleeping. Much of Adult Swim's general content is known for its risqué, unorthodox and often bizarre presentation, while many of the series features are developed in stark contrast with traditional American television programs. The network was granted its own Nielsen ratings report due to differing target demographics, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand.[1] The block features stylistically varied animated and live-action shows including original programming, syndicated series mainly consisting of Fox animated programming, short films, OVAs, and Japanese anime, generally with minimal or no editing for content.

In the United States, Adult Swim has frequently aired recent or older adult animation features, Japanese anime, mockumentaries, sketch comedy, pilots, live-action, and their subsequent short-lived series and spin-offs. Shows may have sexual themes, frank sexual discussion, nudity, strong language, and graphic violence. While the network features comedies and dramas of all types, many of its programs are aesthetically experimental, transgressive, improvised, and surreal in nature. Adult Swim has contracted with various studios known for their productions in absurd and shock comedy.[2]

In February 2015, Adult Swim was available to approximately 96,390,000 pay television households (82.8% of households with television) in the United States.[3]

History

Creation and development

See also: Space Ghost Coast to Coast

Cartoon Network's original head programmer Mike Lazzo conceived[4] (and continues to operate) Adult Swim. The network grew out of Cartoon Network's previous attempts at airing content appropriate for young adults who might be watching the channel after 11 p.m. (ET). The network began experimenting with its late night programming by airing anthology shows like ToonHeads and Late Night Black and White, both of which presented uncensored classic cartoon shorts. Space Ghost Coast to Coast, one of Cartoon Network's first forays into original programming, was created in 1994 specifically for late night audiences. The series was created by Mike Lazzo's Ghost Planet Industries, which eventually became Williams Street Studios, the eventual producers and programmers of Adult Swim.

During early mornings in December 2000 (while Space Ghost Coast to Coast was on hiatus), several new Williams Street series made unannounced "stealth" premieres. Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and The Brak Show all premiered unannounced;[5][6] the official schedules listed the shows as "Special Programming".[7]

Early years and revived series: 2001–07

Several creators and writers of Adult Swim shows at the San Diego Comic Con 2006 Adult Swim panel. From left to right: Keith Crofford, Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, Scott Adsit, Dino Stamatopoulos, Tommy Blacha, Brendon Small, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer.

Adult Swim officially launched on September 2, 2001 with the debut airing of the Home Movies episode "Director's Cut",[8] which was shelved before airing on its original network, UPN. The first anime broadcast on Adult Swim also aired on the night of its launch, Cowboy Bebop.[9][10] The block initially aired on Sunday nights, with a repeat of the same block on Thursday nights.

On March 28, 2005, Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System split Adult Swim from Cartoon Network to allow Nielsen Media Research to treat it as a separate channel for ratings purposes.[1] Adult Swim operates similarly to Nick at Nite, as that channel also shares channel space with another cable channel (in their case, Nickelodeon) and is treated as a separate service by Nielsen due to differences in target demographics. Promotions for Adult Swim are targeted towards the college age and those in their twenties and thirties, 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.[11]

It would become increasingly common for Adult Swim to burn off episodes of shows that never finished airing on its original network, Mission Hill, Baby Blues, The Oblongs, and the Family Guy episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein". Adult Swim also had a direct and important role in the revival of two popular animated series: the aforementioned Family Guy and Futurama. Family Guy premiered in reruns on Adult Swim on April 20, 2003, and immediately became the block's top-rated program, dominating late night viewing in its time period vs. cable and broadcast competition and boosting viewership by 239 percent.[12][13] On March 29, 2004, less than one year later, Fox announced it would be renewing Family Guy for a fourth season and reviving it from cancellation.[12] Shortly after the announcement, Jim Samples, 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 with young adults."[13]

Futurama was also revived in 2007 by Comedy Central for similar reasons: impressive viewership in syndication as well as high DVD sales.[14] Adult Swim obtained Futurama's exclusive cable syndication rights in March 2002 for a reported $10 million,[15] and the series first aired on the network in January 2002.[16] In 2006, Twentieth Television struck a deal to produce four direct-to-video animated features based on Futurama, and, in 2009, the series was revived in normal half-hour installments beginning in 2010 on Comedy Central.[14] In a 2006 interview, Futurama creator Matt Groening 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."[17]

2007 Boston bomb scare

Main article: 2007 Boston Mooninite panic

On Wednesday, January 31, 2007, both the Boston Police Department and the Boston Fire Department mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards resembling two characters from the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force as improvised explosive devices. These devices were in fact part of a guerrilla marketing advertising campaign.

The next day, Boston authorities arrested two men involved with the incident. Peter Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts, 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[18] (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: one million to the city of Boston, and one million in goodwill funds.[19] Four days later, on February 9, Jim Samples, general manager and Executive Vice President of Cartoon Network since 2001, resigned.[20]

Turner Broadcasting later issued an apology for the ad campaign that caused the bomb scares. A statement emailed to The Boston Globe 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, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. 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."

Later years and expansion: 2007–present

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, rerunning the April Fools gag of that year, running the first half-hour of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters in a small square on the bottom left hand corner.

Angus Oblong, creator of The Oblongs, said new episodes of the series will return to Adult Swim.[21] Adult Swim stated on July 4, 2010 that they asked studios to produce new episodes and "some said yes, some said no".[22]

On December 27, 2010, Adult Swim's sign-on time was moved one hour earlier, from its longtime start time of 10:00 p.m. ET to 9:00 p.m. ET, extending the network's daily schedule to nine hours.[23] Furthermore, on March 31, 2014, Adult Swim's sign-on time was moved 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 has.[24]

Stylistic history

Original Adult Swim channel logo, used from September 2, 2001 until May 25, 2003.

Adult Swim's original bumpers shown in-between shows featured footage of elderly people swimming in public pools, eating, exercising, and doing other pool-related activities. Some of these bumpers were narrated by a lifeguard who spoke through a megaphone. The logo was the words "Adult Swim" in all capital letters, shown after a freeze frame of the footage.[25] When the Saturday night block debuted on February 23, 2002, it featured clips from the various anime programs displayed on the block. The original theme music for Adult Swim, titled "D-Code," was a remix of "Mambo Gallego" done by the Melbourne musician Dust Devil, originally played by Latin jazz musician Tito Puente, Sr.[26]

On January 12, 2003, the senior citizens were replaced by animated safety manuals featuring Adult Swim characters. The logo changed to the words "adult swim" in red and a black circle with a yellow penumbra. The current bumps debuted on May 25, 2003 and feature black intertitle "cards" in white Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold type.[27] The cards discuss everything from programming news to personal staff opinions on unrelated subjects. In addition, the bumpers for the action shows include tilt-shift miniature and other abstract photos of Japan, often accompanied by clips of various Yesterdays New Quintet songs. The most recent bumper cards have the "[adult swim]" caption somewhere within photographs of places – often with roads or road signs throughout the world.

The bumps occasionally pay tribute to a recent 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, including Vincent Schiavelli, Macho Man Randy Savage, Elizabeth Taylor, Alex Toth, Harry Goz, Frank Buckles and Andy Griffith, Neil Armstrong, Johnny Cash, John Ritter, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Gary Coleman, Richard Dunn, Steve Jobs, and Yogi Berra.

At certain times during the evening, the bumps will give a programming lineup for an upcoming date. When this format is given, certain shows will be given a specified color (indicating a premiere), with a caption at the bottom that reads "All Times and Music Eastern." The music in the background has a decidedly Indian flair.[28][29][30]

In 2009, King of the Hill featured unique bumpers which only air when the program is being shown. They include the fictional restaurants, shops, organizations, and local services seen within the show itself and act as sponsors during the bump followed by an actual sponsor (such as "King of the Hill is brought to you by Strickland Propane, and by the United States Air Force" and "Tonight's King of the Hill episode is brought to you by The Arlen Barn. The best meatloaf in the county, and now serving sandwiches").[31][32][33] On December 25, 2009, the network began to air "Promos of the Decade", a special bump that showed some of the best promos since Adult Swim's debut in 2001. The air times in many of the promos were crossed out in yellow.

On March 31, 2014, adult swim re-branded their bumpers. From 8pm to 11pm (ET/PT) on their first day and from 8pm to 12am (ET/PT) from their second day onwards, the new bumpers include live action pans of landscapes, signs, objects, and animals with the Adult Swim logo embossed in them, sometimes hidden. Also the advisory sign-on bumper has changed from the traditional black and white bumper to a live shot as well.[34] The content warning message is "[adult swim] may contain mature material some viewers may not find suitable". Adult Swim still airs the traditional black and white bumpers and advisory bumpers nightly from 12am to 6am (ET/PT), during the overnight hours.

April Fools' Day stunts

The heavily promoted April 1, 2007 airing of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters on Adult Swim muted and featured in a small picture-in-picture screen in the bottom left hand corner during a simultaneous airing of the Family Guy episode "Peter's Two Dads", while an obnoxiously large and noisy on-screen graphic promotes the movie's airing.

Adult Swim has an annual tradition of celebrating April Fools' Day by tricking and fooling their audience by altering programs or airing different and obscure programs.

  • 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.[35]
  • In 2005, Adult Swim aired an early, unfinished version of Squidbillies, instead of Robot Chicken.[citation needed]
  • In 2006, Adult Swim aired old re-runs of Mr. T and Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos, and then aired episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex with fart noises added to the dialog.[36][37]
  • On March 31, 2007, Adult Swim aired every episode of Perfect Hair Forever in reverse order. The episodes were digitally degraded to look like several generations-old videotapes with grammatically incorrect subtitles in Engrish. At one point, the subtitles shown on screen were actually for an Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode.[38]
  • On April 1, 2007, Adult Swim had been advertising that it would be airing Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters 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 window with its sound played over SAP.[38]
  • In 2008, Adult Swim aired a night of unfinished sneak peeks of future upcoming shows in place of their typical programing.[citation needed]
  • In 2009, Adult Swim aired The Room, with sex scenes obscured with black boxes.
  • 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 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 Video in 2007.
  • In 2012, Adult Swim replaced its lineup with Toonami, a former programming block from Cartoon Network. 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. The Toonami bumps and programming would continue throughout the night, featuring Dragon Ball Z, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Outlaw Star, The Big O season 1, YuYu Hakusho, Blue Submarine No. 6, Trigun, 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.[39]
  • 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]".[40]
  • In 2014, Adult Swim premiered an eighth episode of Perfect Hair Forever, 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 shown on TV). During the marathon, bumps were included between episodes showing outtakes and commentary from the writers and staff.[41] The entire stunt was replayed all day the following day without advertisements on the network's live feed webcam.
  • In 2015, Adult Swim aired a marathon of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, featuring a version of the "Coin Hunt" game from Adult Swim's online Fish Center program.
  • 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.

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Adult Swim

Adult Swim has a history of unique original shows such as The Venture Bros., The Boondocks, Metalocalypse, Squidbillies, Robot Chicken, Black Dynamite, Rick and Morty and Aqua Teen Hunger Force (also known by various alternative titles). A few of their shows are remakes or relaunches of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons — Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Sealab 2021, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast's spin-off series, The Brak Show. Adult Swim has also had success with several syndicated programs such as Family Guy, King of the Hill, American Dad!,[42] The Cleveland Show, Bob's Burgers, and The Oblongs.

The channel also has a history of showing anime series now relegated to its Toonami programming block on Saturday nights which currently consists of Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dimension W, Hunter x Hunter (2011), Samurai Champloo, Naruto Shippuden, One Piece, and Parasyte -the maxim-. Select Cartoon Network programming has also aired on Adult Swim, such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Sym-Bionic Titan, ThunderCats, Samurai Jack, and Beware the Batman.

Merchandise and media offerings

Official website

Adult Swim's official website features adultswimtv.com (formerly Adult Swim Video),[43] forum message boards,[44] online video games,[45] music downloads,[46] shopping (until April 16, 2012),[47] mobile phone downloads, adult swim show sites,[48] and the programming schedule for Adult Swim.[49]

Online video streaming

Beginning in 2006, Adult Swim Video (originally named Adult Swim Fix upon launch) offered a free online video on demand service for recent and older episodes of a selection of its shows. In June 2010, they began delaying episode availability on Adult Swim Video by one week after original television broadcast. Previously, episodes had appeared 1–3 days after broadcast. In late 2012, the service was rebranded as "adultswimtv.com". However, now the service has no name.

In August 2011, Adult Swim introduced Adult Swim Gold, a paywall available for cable and satellite subscribers with TV Everywhere authentication to see full episodes of Adult Swim programs. The selection of full episodes available on Adult Swim Video for public viewing without using Adult Swim Gold was greatly reduced from the prior offering.[50] As of June 2014, the service has been combined with "Watch [adult swim]" (see also "Live Stream in the United States") with the latest episodes available only to subscribers.[51]

As of December 2013, over 30 online-exclusive shows are available on the website.

In 2014, Adult Swim began posting every episode of select shows online for permanent free viewing. However, some of the shows that had all their episodes available for free (Such as Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, and Moral Orel) have been removed as Hulu gained the rights to the shows, exclusively for Plus users.[52] Around the same time, Adult Swim added a 24/7 live webcam to their official website that streams marathons of different shows all day long on a loop. Nowadays, there are multiple marathon streams; for Tim & Eric shows, Venture Bros. and Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

Video games

Adult Swim partnered with Midway Games in 2005 to begin development on video games based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Brak Show and Sealab 2021. The game based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am, was released on November 5, 2007 for PlayStation 2.[53] The game is a golf game with fighting and racing levels. A video game based on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law has been released by Capcom for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii.[54]

Various third-party, Flash-based games, such as Robot Unicorn Attack and the Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself) series, are also available for free play on the Adult Swim website.[citation needed]

Adult Swim have also published a number of iPhone and iPad games, including Robot Unicorn Attack 1 & 2, Amateur Surgeon and Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself): Wedding Day.[55]

In December 2012, the Valve Corporation announced costumes for the online first person shooter Team Fortress 2 based on Adult Swim characters.

The video game Saints Row: The Third features an in game "radio station", which shuffles a collection of songs that were featured on Adult Swim shows.

The video game Poker Night 2 features Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. as a main character.

On February 15, 2013, Adult Swim published Super House of Dead Ninjas on Steam under their Adult Swim games publishing label.

Adult Swim games continued to publish select indie games on Steam including Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe, Völgarr the Viking, Jazzpunk[56] and Duck Game.

Music

See also: Williams Street Records

Adult Swim has partnerships with several independent music labels, and has co-produced and released compilation albums with Stones Throw Records,[57] 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.

Video on demand

In mid-2004, Adult Swim launched a video on demand service on cable television providers, branded as "Adult Swim Video".[citation needed] The comedy section features several episodes from various Adult Swim original series, while the action section shows anime series and movies licensed by Bandai Entertainment, Geneon Entertainment, and Viz Media, some of which were never broadcast. The anime series s-CRY-ed initially premiered on demand before debuting on the regular block in May 2005.

Several Adult Swim shows are also available for purchase on iTunes. Furthermore, as of November 22, 2006, some Adult Swim shows can be bought and accessed from the Xbox Live Video Marketplace, PlayStation Video Store, and the Amazon Video on Demand Store.

In October 2013, Turner Broadcasting in partnership with MCM Media and Movideo launched a video on demand service Adult Swim Australia.[58] The site features a library of 1500 Adult Swim episodes and short video clips from various Adult Swim series.

Podcast and Adult Swim Mobile

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.

Live Stream in the United States

Beginning on September 25, 2013 Turner Broadcasting System's The Cartoon Network Inc. began the live streaming of the Adult Swim channel through the Watch Adult Swim mobile app[59][60] and on the Adultswim.com Video on Demand service known as "AS LIVE".[61][62] To access the live stream the user must be a subscriber to and log-in through their cable or satellite provider service account. Once authenticated the user can then select either the East or West Coast feeds to view the live feed which is optimized to play on both on a wireless Internet and cell data (i.e. 3G/4G) services.

Currently the Watch Adult Swim service is available to subscribers of approximately 100 different cable and satellite providers including AT&T U-verse, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast Xfinity, Cox, DirecTV, Suddenlink and Verizon FiOS, and new cable providers are added frequently as needed.

Unlike its traditional broadcast counterpart, the AS Live internet stream does not show the same commercials. This is primarily due to a contractual agreement between most American broadcast networks, including Turner owned properties, and the union SAG-AFTRA which represents television and radio performers and ASCAP and BMI which acts on behalf of music composers and performers for royalty payments. Under this agreement [citation needed] broadcast networks are required to pay a certain royalty fee to performers for commercials that they appeared in, provided voice-over or musical performance in. To usurp this Adult Swim broadcasts either a still card with a picture of an owl and the words "Please Stand-By Commercial Break" or Adult Swim program promos.

As of September 2015, the Adult Swim live stream now contains seven channels:[63]

  • FishCenter Live: a live feed of the aquarium at the Adult Swim offices with a fish-themed call-in show that takes place weekdays at 4pm EST with re-runs starting at 7pm EST.
  • Marathon: 24-hour marathons of select Adult Swim shows, changing (usually) every day. Most of the time, however, the daily marathons are actually just 3 hours of programming on loop.
  • Toonami Marathon: Weekly marathons of select Toonami programming of past and present, changing every week. Toonami Pre-Flight, a talk show about and for Toonami, airs every day at 5pm EST, with new episodes once every week. The daily marathons here are also just 3 hours of programming on loop, with different episodes every day. On Sundays, the stream repeats the Toonami block from the day before.
  • Off the Air: A marathon of Off the Air, containing short films from the internet
  • Tim & Eric: a 24/7 marathon stream consisting of Tom Goes to the Mayor, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Check It Out with Dr. Steve Brule, and Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories.
  • The Venture Bros.: A 24/7 marathon stream of every episode of The Venture Bros.
  • Lunchtime Games: A live feed of Williams Street staff playing video games while eating lunch. Has call-ins like FishCenter and re-runs constantly.
  • Ghost Planet: A special Space Ghost: Coast to Coast stream released in chapters, each chapter contains a few episodes and some extra features (some from the DVDs) edited together into a program about an hour long. Currently, there are 5 chapters.
  • Simulcast East (requires cable subscription)
  • Simulcast West (requires cable subscription)

App

The new Adult Swim app for Android and iOS released in 2011 and is rated 17+.

International

international channel availability

Adult Swim has been actively expanding its reach across the world since 2005. As with the United States, the block airs in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Brazil and the rest of Latin America. Other Cartoon Network markets choose not to air it due to local market conditions, licensing programs to other broadcasters or government content restrictions or regulations – such as Ofcom in the United Kingdom. In those markets, where regulation issues arise, the block is licensed to other networks or television stations instead.[64][65]

Australia and New Zealand

Main article: Adult Swim (Australia)

In October 2013, Turner Broadcasting in partnership with MCM Media and Movideo launched a video on demand service Adult Swim Australia.[58] The site features a library of 1500 Adult Swim episodes and short video clips from various Adult Swim series.

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 SBS), Tom Goes to the Mayor, Home Movies, The Venture Bros., 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 and Ghost in the Shell.

The channel is no longer on Cartoon Network, but the comedy shows are now airing on The Comedy Channel in Australia.[66] The block returned on The Comedy Channel with Robot Chicken and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, in March 2008, with Aqua Teen Hunger Force joining the lineup on July 1.[67] The Boondocks also airs on the same channel, although it is not under the Adult Swim banner and instead airs separately.

To date, the Adult Swim lineup on The Comedy Channel has grown considerably with the block now airing every Saturday from 12 to 2 a.m. AEST and 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. AEST to keep with the late night tradition of the former block. The new incarnation also premiered a lot of other Adult Swim shows including Moral Orel, Titan Maximum, Robot Chicken: Star Wars, Frisky Dingo, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job and Childrens Hospital (airing uncensored with profanity intact), along with the latest additions but aired at a different time, Metalocalypse and The Venture Bros, the latter making it the third show with Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Harvey Birdman to have been aired on both the old and the new block.

Some series that aired on Adult Swim have been released to Region 4 DVD by Madman Entertainment, including shows that have never been shown on Australian television before. Madman Entertainment has also released R4 exclusive DVDs not available in the USA, 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 has also been quietly released to DVD.[68] After moving to The Comedy Channel, Adult Swim does not currently air in New Zealand.

Canada

Main articles: Adult Swim (Canada) and Teletoon at Night

Teletoon's English-language service in Canada has an adult-oriented block called "Teletoon at Night" (previously known as "The Detour") that airs programming similar to Adult Swim every night. Adult Swim programs that have aired in the past include 12 oz. Mouse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Metalocalypse, Robot Chicken, Squidbillies, Stroker and Hoop, The Boondocks, The Venture Bros., Home Movies, Tom Goes to the Mayor and Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! aired on Bell Media's The Comedy Network. Since July 2007, seven of the fourteen Adult Swim programs airing on The Detour were canceled and replaced by Canadian-produced adult cartoon shows. Robot Chicken was the last Adult Swim series on the block. Teletoon's French-language service also has an adult-oriented block called "Télétoon la Nuit" that airs shows like The Boondocks, Family Guy, Home Movies, Robot Chicken, American Dad! and Futurama.

Meanwhile, YTV aired anime series that premiered on Adult Swim in its "Bionix" block.[69] As well, G4's Anime Current block, Razer's (now MTV2) Kamikaze block, the defunct Scream (later Dusk) and Super Channel have all aired various anime titles.

In June 2009, G4 Canada launched "Adult Digital Distraction", a programing block featuring many Adult Swim shows. In late 2011, the block was discontinued due to pressure from the CRTC on account of the channel deviating from its original format (which was to air technology-related programming). The block had briefly been relaunched featuring Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Eagleheart, NTSF:SD:SUV::, Delocated, Metalocalypse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Superjail!, and The Venture Bros. but was once again discontinued in 2012.

On February 2, 2012, Teletoon Canada Inc. announced that it would be launching a Canadian version of Adult Swim, sharing channel space the Canadian version of Cartoon Network as one speciality channel. The block launched on July 4, 2012.[70] By September 2015, all of Adult Swim's original series moved to the block.

In December 2013, MuchMusic began airing Childrens Hospital and, later, its spinoff, Newsreaders. It also include the short-lived series The Jack and Triumph Show.

France

The block was launched on March 4, 2011 and airs every night from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Cartoon Network France. It has aired Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Metalocalypse, Moral Orel, Robot Chicken and Squidbillies.[71] Like most international Adult Swim blocks, it does not air Fox 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 "Dezaxe", which carried the 2001 Adult Swim look, but did not have any adult shows, except for Home Movies. Case Closed was aired on Cartoon Network and Toonami. Dezaxe aired random Cartoon Network shows and old promos.

Germany

The block airs on TNT Serie (a German-language version of TNT). Programs on the block include Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Assy McGee, Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil, Metalocalypse, Moral Orel, Robot Chicken, Stroker and Hoop, The Brak Show, Venture Bros. and Supernanny.

India and Pakistan

In India and Pakistan, an Adult Swim block airs on WB Channel, an English general entertainment channel owned by Turner International India.

Latin America

In Latin America, an Adult Swim block aired during the overnight hours on Cartoon Network.[when?] It was originally carried on the regional version of the channel, when it was pulled off and picked up by I.Sat, another Turner Broadcasting System Latin America/Time Warner-owned network, due to the fact that it was received with negative reviews from parents.[vague][citation needed]

On October 29, 2010, I.Sat revealed they were cutting Adult Swim programming due to low ratings, adding: "No matter if we add new shows, it would not work".[72] 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.[73] Adult Swim premiered on the Brazilian feed of TBS on November 3, 2014.[74] Adult Swim was relaunched in Latin America on April 3, 2015 on I.Sat, premiering Rick and Morty for the first time on the region.

Poland

Although the Adult Swim channel does not exist on any of Poland's channels, AXN Spin (which is an offshoot of AXN Poland) airs Robot Chicken and The Boondocks.

Russia

2×2, a Russian channel specializing in animation, features a prime time Adult Swim channel featuring Adult Swim's original series. The block begins at 0:10am and shows are aired in Russian. There was an English block, now being defunct. Adult Swim produced shows that have aired include Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Sealab 2021, 12 oz. Mouse, The Venture Bros., 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, 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 also premiered outside Adult Swim's block.

United Kingdom and Ireland

Main article: Adult Swim (UK & Ireland)

In 2002, 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 owned by 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,[75] 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. On July 7, 2008, Adult Swim ceased to broadcast on Bravo.[76]

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, Metalocalypse, and Frisky Dingo. Revolver Entertainment began distributing original Adult Swim series on DVD in the UK and Ireland.[77]

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 at 10 p.m.[78] The block began airing on TCM 2 starting on January 4, 2012.[79]

Adult Swim returned to UK and Irish television starting with a new block on the FOX channel on 4 September 2015.[80]

Turkey

Main article: Adult Swim (Turkey)

High definition channels and service

A high definition feed of Adult Swim is available on many cable and all satellite service providers. The high definition feed was launched on October 15, 2007. 4:3 content is stretched on the high definition feed to fill the 16:9 aspect ratio, with the exception of a few select programs, which are pillarboxed to preserve the original 4:3 aspect ratio.

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