History Creator / AdultSwim

In Latin America, Adult Swim was eventually [[ChannelHop moved from]] Cartoon Network to I.Sat due to [[MoralGuardians negative reviews from the parents]]. Adult Swim has used Spanish SAP audio since 2007. The block was also launched in Brazil on TBS on November 3, 2014.

[[https://www.adultswim.com Adult Swim]] (stylized as [[AllLowercaseLetters [adult swim] ]] or [as]) is a [[UsefulNotes/BlockProgramming programming block]] on Creator/CartoonNetwork shown during the {{watershed}} hours.[[note]]Currently, 5:00 pm - 6:00 am Eastern/Pacific time. If your provider offers both East and West Coast feeds of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim can start as early as 5 pm Pacific and end as late as 9 am Eastern, depending on where you live.[[/note]]

[[https://www.adultswim.com Adult Swim]] (stylized as [[AllLowercaseLetters [adult swim] ]] or [as]) is a [[UsefulNotes/BlockProgramming programming block]] on Creator/CartoonNetwork shown during the {{watershed}} hours.[[note]]Currently, 8:00 pm - 6:00 am Eastern/Pacific time. If your provider offers both East and West Coast feeds of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim can start as early as 5 pm Pacific and end as late as 9 am Eastern, depending on where you live.[[/note]]

For example, due to the local version of Cartoon Network in the United Kingdom being [[AnimationAgeGhetto classified as a kids' channel]] under British broadcasting regulations, the network is forbidden from showing any adult content, even after the UK's 9PM watershed. As a result, Adult Swim blocks would end up on networks such as the U.K Bravo, [=TCM2=][[note]]Occupying a much shorter 2 and a half hour slot only on Friday nights/Saturday mornings to go along with small selection of episodes that went on the website each week (although [=DVDs=] of the shows finally started being released in the UK in late 2008)[[/note]], Creator/{{Fox}} UK[[note]]aired a 90 minute Adult Swim block on Thursday, with the shows repeated Saturday[[/note]], and truTV UK[[note]]on Monday and Friday nights in late 2016, marking the first time the block has been seen on a free-to-air channel in the UK[[/note]]. Some original show shows are currently available on Creator/{{Netflix}}, while the block itself would end up on Creator/Channel4 sibling E4 (as well as E4's ''own'' sibling, E4 Extra, once the channel launced in 2022), with select programming available on-demand via Channel 4's online streaming service.

* ''[[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Gurren Lagann]]'' [[note]]Previously aired on Syfy from 2008-11.[[/note]]

* ''Anime/BladeRunnerBlackLotus[[superscript:†]]'' [[note]]Written off in 2022. Rights now belong to Crunchyroll.[[/note]]

* ''[[Anime/FenaPiratePrincess Fena: Pirate Princess]]'' [[note]]Written off in 2022. Rights belong to Crunchyroll.[[/note]]

* ''Anime/{{Shenmue}}[[superscript:†]]'' [[note]]Written off in 2022. Rights currently owned by Crunchyroll and Sega.[[/note]]

* ''Anime/FLCLGrunge'' (2023)
* ''Anime/FLCLShoegaze'' (2023)
* ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'' (2023) [[note]]Rerun after premiere the earlier Thursday.[[/note]]
* ''Westernanimation/UnicornWarriorsEternal'' (May 2023) [[note]]Rerun after premiere the earlier Thursday.[[/note]]
* ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}'' (October 2022)

[[folder:Upcoming programming]]

* ''Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: The Animated Series'' (TBA) [[note]] Internet-exclusive continuation to ''Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell''. [[/note]]
[[/folder]]

The block is notable for its idiosyncratic [[AdBumpers commercial bumpers]] ([[http://www.bumpworthy.com bumps]]), [[WidgetSeries its strange and cynical yet hilarious original programming]], [[TrollingCreator its habit of openly teasing]] and/or [[DearNegativeReader bashing those fans who complain about its near-weekly-]] and [[InvisibleAdvertising never advertised]]- schedule changes (especially when AprilFoolsDay is concerned), and being nearly the only place on American basic cable TV to run {{anime}} [[AnimationAgeGhetto not aimed at children]]. The name comes from the public pool period in which child occupants must leave the pool, as the lifeguards go on break and the lack of supervision means only the adults can swim, analogous to the network switching to adult-oriented programming. This reference was explicitly invoked in its early years, when its AdBumpers and intro segment showed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDToHQeouq8 video clips from an adult swim pool]].

For example, due to the local version of Cartoon Network in the United Kingdom being [[AnimationAgeGhetto classified as a kids' channel]] under British broadcasting regulations, the network is forbidden from showing any adult content, even after the UK's 9PM watershed. As a result, Adult Swim blocks would end up on networks such as the U.K Bravo, [=TCM2=][[note]]Occupying a much shorter 2 and a half hour slot only on Friday nights/Saturday mornings to go along with small selection of episodes that went on the website each week (although [=DVDs=] of the shows finally started being released in the UK in late 2008)[[/note]], Creator/{{Fox}} UK[[note]]aired a 90 minute Adult Swim block on Thursday, with the shows repeated Saturday[[/note]], and truTV UK[[note]]on Monday and Friday nights in late 2016, marking the first time the block has been seen on a free-to-air channel in the UK[[/note]]. Some original show shows are currently available on Creator/{{Netflix}}, while the block itself would end up on Creator/Channel4 sibling E4, with select programming available on-demand via [=All4=].

* SpiritualSuccessor: The Turner networks have a history of doing ''weird'' things late at night. Creator/{{TBS}}' ''17 Update Early in the Morning''[[note]]basically ''Series/TheDailyShow'', but with less emphasis on the news and more on the anchors' antics -- Bill Tush {a frequent personality in the early days of WTCG/WTBS}, Tina Seldin, the "[[Series/TheGongShow Unknown Newsman]]", the off-camera staff -- as Ted Turner didn't wan't to do news, but the FCC forced him to... [[LoopholeAbuse but they didn't say when it had to air or if it had to be serious]]; it ended in 1979 so it wouldn't present credibility issues when he launched Creator/{{CNN}}[[/note]] and ''Tush''[[note]]a sketch show hosted by the aforementioned Bill Tush, featuring a young [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Jan Hooks]] and [[Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun Bonnie and]] [[Series/That70sShow Terry Turner]][[/note]]; and Creator/{{TNT}}'s ''[=MonsterVision=]'' and ''100% Weird''. Adult Swim proudly carries on the weird, homegrown feel of those shows and the chaotic, low-budget, free-for-all production that WTBS had during its' formative years.

* LighterAndSofter: The "Checkered Past" block, compared to the rest of the network. It is a two-hour block of classic kid-friendly UsefulNotes/CartoonNetwork shows aimed at nostalgic adults.

On March 4, 2019, oversight of Cartoon Network, along with Creator/TurnerClassicMovies, were transferred from Turner Broadcasting to Creator/WarnerBros as part of a larger restructuring at corporate parent [[Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery WarnerMedia]]. While changes were minimal at first, 2023 saw Adult Swim expand beyond its original schedule to prime time slots formerly occupied by mainline Cartoon Network. Adult Swim has been slated to prmiere shows originally meant to air on Cartoon Network, like ''WesternAnimation/UnicornWarriorsEternal'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'', as well as "Checkered Past", a two-hour block of classic Cartoon Network shows like ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' in early evening hours.

On March 4, 2019, oversight of Cartoon Network, along with Creator/TurnerClassicMovies, were transferred from Turner Broadcasting to Creator/WarnerBros as part of a larger restructuring at corporate parent [[Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery WarnerMedia]]. While changes were minimal at first, 2023 saw Adult Swim expand beyond its original schedule to prime time slots formerly occupied by mainline Cartoon Network. Shows originally meant to air on Cartoon Network, like ''WesternAnimation/UnicornWarriorsEternal'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'', premiered on Adult Swim instead, and Adult Swim announced that it would be airing "Checkered Past", a two-hour block of classic Cartoon Network shows like ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' in early evening hours.

On March 4, 2019, oversight of Cartoon Network, along with Creator/TurnerClassicMovies, were transferred from Turner Broadcasting to Creator/WarnerBros as part of a larger restructuring at corporate parent [[Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery WarnerMedia]].

* SurrealHumor: [[invoked]] Most Adult Swim original programs exhibit this in varying degrees, from "wacky" to "WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs".

** ''Aquadonk Side Pieces'' (2022) [[note]] Internet-exclusive spin-off, available on [as]' Website/{{YouTube}} channel. [[/note]]

** ''Alabama Jackson'' (2022) [[note]] Internet-exclusive spin-off, available on [as]' Website/{{YouTube}} channel. [[/note]]

** ''WesternAnimation/Vindicators2'' (2022) [[note]] Internet-exclusive spin-off, available on [as]' Website/{{YouTube}} channel. [[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'' (2023)

* ''WesternAnimation/UnicornWarriorsEternal'' (2023)

* ''Film/TheRoom'' [[note]]Run as an April Fools' Day prank in 2009-2011. In 2012, they teased viewers with a ''fourth'' showing of the movie... only to kick off a special Toonami block instead.[[/note]]

* AprilFoolsDay: Adult Swim has a running tradition of messing with their programs on April 1st, both the night of and the following day. Examples being mustaches drawn on characters, putting fart noises in the shows, running a marathon of ''WesternAnimation/PerfectHairForever'' as dated VHS with badly done subbing, playing ''Film/TheRoom'' (which is what arguably granted the movie more infamy as it now had a wider audience) or even bringing back past Williams Street blocks such as Creator/{{Toonami}} for the night. One year, they dug up reruns of ''WesternAnimation/ChuckNorrisKarateKommandos''.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[invoked]] In 2007, Adult Swim launched a guerrilla marketing campaign for the ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' [[TheMovie movie]] featuring battery-powered LED placards resembling the Mooninite characters being placed in numerous places around the U.S. However, in Boston, police officials mistakenly thought that the [=LEDs=] were bombs, and treated the whole event as such. This event would turn out to be known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare Boston Bomb Scare]], which lead to legal implications being placed on Turner Broadcasting and their contractors, the internet to make mock [[MemeticMutation "Never Forget" memes]], and forced then current Creator/CartoonNetwork head Jim Samples to step down. Cartoon Network as fans knew it would never be the same again, not because of any legal incidents, but of because Samples' replacement, Stuart Snyder, who would become the instigator of the channel’s infamous AudienceAlienatingEra. To this very day, Cartoon Network remains a tug of war between Snyder's successors and the network's older fans. Adult Swim was sparred further NetworkDecay due to Williams Street being a separate operation from the rest of the network.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperGlobetrotters'' [[note]]Aired as 5 a.m. filler. Rights expired after one run in 2006.)

* ''WesternAnimation/SitDownShutUp'' (Rights expired after one run in 2015.[[/note]]

Founded in 2001 by Cartoon Network's Williams Street division (the same studio that organizes Creator/{{Toonami}}), the block was born from two things: the realization that [[PeripheryDemographic a third of Cartoon Network's audience was teenagers and adults]] and the fact that the channel was constantly receiving cartoon pitches that would be perfect for that demographic. Just as Cartoon Network primarily featured cartoons for kids, Adult Swim focused on adult-oriented animation: namely [[BlackComedy black comedies]] and [[DarkerAndEdgier edgy]], [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids largely unedited]] {{anime}}. [[note]]Other channels that have aired anime from the same pool as Adult Swim include Creator/TechTV, Creator/G4TV, and Encore Action.[[/note]] After the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare 2007 Boston Bomb Scare]] that involved an attempt at advertising the release of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForceColonMovieFilmForTheaters'', Adult Swim began producing live-action programming; [[NetworkDecay opinions vary on this]].[[note]]See UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom in the trope list below for details or Adult Swim's [[NetworkDecay/{{Slipped}} entry on Network Decay]] for that matter.[[/note]] Upon Toonami's return in May 2012, Adult Swim would be relegated purely to comedy programming, with the action block once again taking the responsibility of all anime-related programming.

* ''WesternAnimation/KidNotorious''[[note]]in America, this aired on Creator/ComedyCentral[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}''[[note]]in America, this aired on Creator/SpikeTV, back when they had their short-lived competing adult animation line-up, which also included ''WesternAnimation/GaryTheRat'', ''WesternAnimation/ThisJustIn'', and classic episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' from Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} (that had most scenes that were cut for content restored) along with an infamous revival series. [[/note]]