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Adult Swim, usually stylized , is an adult-oriented television network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network in the United States. It features many animated shows, including original programming, syndicated shows, and Japanese anime, generally with minimal or no editing for content. The shows are geared toward an older adult audience over 18, in contrast to the child and pre-teen oriented daytime programming on Cartoon Network.
History
Adult Swim began as a "spinoff" of Cartoon Network, premiering on September 2, 2001 with the airing of Home Movies. The first anime to be shown was Cowboy Bebop. On March 28, 2005, Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting, who runs the channel, split Adult Swim from Cartoon Network so that Nielsen Media Research could treat it as a separate channel for ratings purposes.
Originally a Sunday-only block that also re-ran on Thursdays, Adult Swim now airs:
- Weekdays at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, with an encore at 2:00 a.m.
- Saturdays at 11:00 p.m., with an encore at 2:30 a.m. Shows on Saturdays are often action oriented.
- Sundays at 10:00 p.m., with an encore at 2:00 a.m. Shows on Sundays are often comedy oriented.
Some Adult Swim programming is available on demand on the Internet via Adult Swim Video, a free, ad-supported streaming video service.
The network, programmed by Williams Street Studios, the same group that created Toonami and Miguzi, plays American animated series and shorts geared towards adults, and a wide variety of Japanese anime series, OVAs, and movies. Promotions for Adult Swim have been targeted towards the college age group, which constitutes 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.
Ad campaign bomb scare
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Main article: 2007 Boston Mooninite scare
Turner Broadcasting issued an apology for an ad campaign that caused a series of bomb scares throughout Boston on January 31, 2007. 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, 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.' The statement was shown several times during the programming block and posted on their website."
On January 31, Boston and Massachusetts State Police were dispatched to various places in Boston after reports of suspicious packages were called in. No other law enforcement personnel in any other city were called with regard to the advertisements in the other cities.
On February 1, 2007, Boston authorities arrested two men involved with the scare. Peter Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts, and Sean Stevens, 28, were facing charges of placing a hoax device in a way that results in panic, as well as one count of disorderly conduct, according to CNN.
On February 5, Turner Broadcasting and marketer Interference Inc. announced that they will pay two million dollars in amends, one million to the city of Boston, and one million in goodwill funds. Four days later, on February 9, the CEO of Cartoon Network, Jim Samples, resigned.
Stylistic history
The first Adult Swim logo
Originally, all of the bumpers shown in between shows featured footage of senior citizens swimming in public pools eating, exercising, and doing other pool-related activities, with audio of a lifeguard shouting the words "all kids out of the pool" through a megaphone. The logo at that time was the words "ADULT SWIM" in all capital letters which were shown after a freeze frame of the footage. The shows were announced by a computer generated voice on Saturdays. When the Saturday night block started in 2002, it originally 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 the famous Latin jazz musician Tito Puente, Sr.
On January 12, 2003, the senior citizens were replaced by animated safety manuals featuring Adult Swim characters, the logo was changed to the words "adult swim" in red and a black circle with a yellow penumbra. This logo was also used as a secondary logo in Adult Swim's early years.
The current bumper cards debuted on May 25, 2003 and feature black intertitle "cards" with white Helvetica Neue text on them, which discuss everything from news about the programming, to personal staff opinions on unrelated subjects. Fans get involved too as they have been asked to design their own cards and to submit questions for answering. In addition, the bumpers for the action shows include tilt-shift miniature and other abstract photos of Japan, often accompanied by clips of various Boards of Canada songs.
Adult Swim Video
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Main article: Adult Swim Video
The Adult Swim Fix logo
AdultSwim.com launched a web-based video distribution service, the "Friday Night Fix", on Friday, September 16, 2005, as a way for Adult Swim fans to view programming on the one day of the week that the programming block did not air at the time and was originally available only on Fridays during the hours that Adult Swim normally aired on weeknights. On March 27, 2006, Adult Swim changed Friday Night Fix into the Adult Swim Fix; on March 11, 2007, it was changed again, to Adult Swim Video. Adult Swim Video runs every hour of every day, with content ranging from older and current shows to premiere episodes of new shows from the Comedy block, updated every Friday at approximately 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Every show is available until the next Friday update.
Programming
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Main article: List of programs broadcast by Adult Swim
Merchandise and media offerings
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 the PlayStation 2. The game is a golf game with added fighting and racing levels. A video game based on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is currently in development by Capcom for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and the Wii.
Music
Adult Swim has been known to have a partnership with independent music label Stones Throw Records. Many of Adult Swim's bumpers and packaging have used music from artists such as Madlib, Oh No and J Dilla as well as other artist such as Flying Lotus and Boards of Canada. In 2006, both Stones Throw and Adult Swim created a co-production album entitled Chrome Children.
The network was also part of an earlier studio LP with DANGERDOOM, a musical collaboration between music producer Danger Mouse and rapper MF DOOM, entitled The Mouse and the Mask.
In February 2007, Adult Swim and Definitive Jux joined up to release a free, online EP entitled Definitive Swim. In 2006, Adult Swim and Chocolate Industries released Chocolate Swim, also as a free online download.
In May of the same year, Adult Swim featured a similarly-styled release called Warm & Scratchy, focusing this time on indie rock bands from varying labels and sub-genres.
Video on demand
In mid-2004, Adult Swim launched a video on demand channel on various cable TV providers. 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, and VIZ Media, some of which have never been broadcast on Adult Swim or CN. The anime series s-CRY-ed initially premiered on demand before debuting on the regular block in May 2005.
Select series, including Aqua Teen Hunger Force and The Venture Brothers, 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.
The video on demand section as well offers many videos, and is updated almost daily.
Podcast
Adult Swim offered a video podcast on Apple's iTunes from March 21, 2006, to September 19, 2006. The podcasts featured behind the scenes segments of shows, as well as 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). During its run, the podcast reached number two in iTunes' ranking of most downloaded podcasts.
Website
Adult Swim maintains a web site with news about new shows, clips, and games. The website has an active message board. Williams Street Studios staff frequents the board to answer viewer questions and address comments about Adult Swim programming. Additionally, posts made by fans may also be aired during the block. The website also features exclusive games.
Adult Swim's online games include: 5 Minutes To Kill Yourself, Bible Fight, Candy Mountain Massacre, Orphan Feast, and Viva Caligula.
TV content ratings
From September 2, 2001 to May 7, 2007, The start of each hour of Adult Swim programming was easily identified by the "Parental Advisory: Mature Content" logo (which resembles the warning seen on explicit CDs) followed by a warning that the shows contain material that may not be appropriate for viewers under the age of 17. The age "limit" was 14 until June 2006. Originally, there was no warning, but as the programming became more popular, a message was put up to alert parents. It stated that the appropriate age for viewers was 18 and older. It then went on to say that the viewer could expect intense violence, sexual situations, coarse language, and suggestive dialogue (similar to the one still used in Australia and New Zealand.) When Adult Swim changed to its current format, the description was dropped to shorten the message. Soon after, the warning logo was added and the age was changed to 17. For a while, the spots ran such that the first spot, the "Inappropriate for under 14" warning, runs for the first hour or two - until midnight (and for an equal period starting at 2)- and the "Inappropriate for under 17" warning is run for all shows whose first airtime is after midnight (and then again at 3:30-4:00) due to the addition of TV-MA shows. In addition, on Adult Swim's first night on September 2, 2001, the "TV-14" bug was left on the screen for the entire duration of the block, excluding commercials and promos. On May 7, 2007, Adult Swim shortened the warning to "Adult Swim may contain mature material some viewers might not find suitable" (much like the shortened disclaimer that appears before every episode of South Park) and dropped the "Parental Advisory" screen but is suggested for viewers 18 and older once again.
To date, Adult Swim has deemed episodes of three shows to contain levels of violence and graphic content necessitating their own disclaimer, above and beyond the disclaimer used for the block which states, "Just in case that last disclaimer wasn't enough, this episode contains extreme violence. We would rather run this than cut the violence from the episode because we are American Cowboys." This disclaimer appears before episode 10 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and episode 51 of Fullmetal Alchemist.
Starting with the October 21, 2006 broadcast of episode 26 ("Morning Glory") of Eureka Seven, the "American Cowboys" disclaimer appears before the 1:00 a.m. show; after Eureka Seven finished, the disclaimer carried over to Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG, which did not previously carry the disclaimer.
A disclaimer also shows before every episode of Blood+; unlike the "American Cowboys" white-on-black, this disclaimer has a yellow-and-red bomb visual to accompany the text.
Adult Swim worldwide
Adult Swim has been actively expanding its reach across the world since 2005. Countries like New Zealand, Australia, and the Latin American nations air the block on the Cartoon Network, just like in the United States. However, some international Cartoon Networks don't desire Adult Swim to air on their 24-hour children's network, and the block is licensed to another older-skewing network or Television regulations in there respective countries don't allow it (Ofcom in the UK). Some networks enter into an agreement that gives them rights to the entire block, including its branding and all of its owned programming, but others such as Teletoon in Canada sign a first-right-of-refusal deal for all Adult Swim owned programs and do not choose to use the branding.
Adult Swim blocks outside of the United States are not obligated to remain identical in scheduling to the U.S. equivalent. While they're able to air all programs owned and operated by Turner and Adult Swim, they are permitted to acquire other programs for the block, and even create their own original programming; a move recently exercised by Adult Swim UK.
One common situation throughout the world is Adult Swim's popular program, The Boondocks, tends to get separated from the rest of Adult Swim's programming and ends up airing on another network. While it is an Adult Swim original, Sony Pictures Television owns and operates the show, and distribution must be dealt with them instead of Turner Broadcasting. Therefore, The Boondocks is never included when Adult Swim licenses its block to international networks. The Boondocks even airs in countries where Adult Swim's owned shows have no presence. For example, Sony's Animax owns the broadcasting rights to the show throughout Asia.
Australia and New Zealand
In Australia and New Zealand, Adult Swim is currently broadcast on Cartoon Network six nights a week from 10:30pm. Its final scheduled broadcast is on December 31, 2007, but since January 24, 2008, the Comedy Channel has announced in a series of commercials that the Adult Swim block will be aired on their channel.
- Monday to Thursday (10:30pm to 12:30am) consisted of a two-hour anime block. As of December 2007, series shown included Air Gear, Bleach, Le Chevalier D'Eon, Eureka Seven and InuYasha. Some series were only seen on certain days whereas others ran all four days. The anime block was produced in association with Madman Entertainment.
- On Friday and Saturday (10:30pm to 1:30am) Adult Swim original comedy programming is broadcast. Usually the lineup consists of 90 minutes of programming which is then shown twice during the three-hour block. As of December 2007, series broadcast during this block include Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law, The Venture Bros., Squidbillies and Tom Goes to the Mayor.
- Most Adult Swim series are now being made available on DVD in Australia through Madman Entertainment. This includes shows which are yet to appear on Australian TV at all, such as Robot Chicken and Metalocalypse.
- Before an improvement in the local Cartoon Network feed on June 1, 2006, Adult Swim, just like other programs on Cartoon Network, was pushed back (in New Zealand only) two hours from the time advertised due to time zone differences, which meant that Adult Swim started at 12:30 a.m.
- Adult Swim Australia also airs notices from their notice board on comedy nights. They have a tendency to only air certain notices during certain shows.
- The Adventures of Super Oil and High-Octane can be seen intermittently during breaks on comedy nights. They have access to five episodes (namely "Bowlinger vs Bowlinger", "Tube Panic", "Climber's High", "My True Blue Car", and "Bottle Trouble") which they repeat each week, sometimes playing an episode more than once on a certain night. On occasion, they have been aired on an anime night.
United Kingdom
- The UK network Bravo airs an Adult Swim block nightly, generally from midnight each night. The UK's Bravo channel is owned by Virgin Media Television, although in other parts of the world Adult Swim is a block on Time Warner-owned Cartoon Network. Shows that are 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, 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 along side a new UK animated show Modern Toss.
- In addition to this, an online service, AdultSwim.co.uk, offers 24-hour access to full episodes of various Adult Swim shows including (besides what is already available on Bravo, bar Space Ghost Coast to Coast and non-Williams Street shows) 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. These episodes are offered completely free of charge and are refreshed on a weekly basis. Unlike Adult Swim on Bravo UK the website service is owned by Time Warner.
- Adult Swim is now available on demand with BT Vision.
- Adult Swim is also available on Sky's Mobile TV service.]
Latin America
In Latin America, Adult Swim airs every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Spanish and Portuguese (for Brazilian viewers). However, unlike Adult Swim USA, anime is not a part of the lineup, being broadcasted on the Toonami block in a Monday-Thursday basis. Nevertheless, there remains much fan pressure to bring anime to Adult Swim in the region (pressure that is mocked constantly in Adult Swim's bumpers).
- 20th Century Fox-produced shows, such as Futurama, Family Guy, and American Dad!, are not seen on Adult Swim, but instead aired on FOX Latin America and FX Latin America in a similarly themed block called "No Molestar!" ("Do Not Disturb!" in English, "Não Perturbe!" in Portuguese), which is seen week-nightly on FOX, and Fridays on FX.
- In Chile, VTR, Chile's largest cable system, decided to censor Adult Swim from transmission, and doesn't show it at all, instead replacing it with a relatively short recording of "children's" cartoon episodes which repeats over and over. For some time, users could pay an extra fee to be able to watch the transmission along with VTR's "premium" channels. This situation was not well-received by users, who even started a petition (at http://www.queremosadultswim.tk/). In April 2007, the segment was finally aired uncensored and has been airing with no censor since.
- In 2007, the block lost its first two hours in the countries where it started at 11 p.m. Its encore, which ran from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., was also removed.
Canada
- Similarly, YTV airs some anime originally broadcast on Adult Swim in its "Bionix" block.
- Amp'd Mobile Canada had an Adult Swim channel which features clips from their shows.
The Philippines
- The Philippines is the only country in Asia that airs Adult Swim.
South Africa
Spain
Germany
Russia
Adult Swim airs from approx. 23:30 everyday on the newly (re)launched 2x2 channel. It is somewhat rebranded into the similar logo of "", a simple transliteration, edalt svim. The channel's coverage comprises parts of Moscow, Moscow Oblast, and St. Petersburg.
The programming includes and/or included 12 oz. Mouse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Brak Show, The Oblongs, and The Venture Bros., Robot Chicken, Sealab 2021, Stroker and Hoop, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Squidbillies, Metalocalypse, Perfect Hair Forever, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.
Notes
- ^ a b Adult Swim/CN Split Cements Strategy. ICv2. March 3, 2005.
- ^ Turner, contractor to pay $2M in Boston bomb scare. CNN.com. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
- ^ Ryan, Andrew. Cartoon Network head resigns after Boston bomb scares. boston.com News. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
- ^ http://www.adultswim.com/games/index.html
- ^ Adult Swim Show Profiles. Bravo (UK). Retrieved July 19, 2006.
- ^ http://www.profmedia.ru/actives/2x2/
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