"You eat dessert without finishing your vegetables, you go to bed in the A.M., you watch the fuzzy channels on cable television...without the fuzz. You've grown up. Shouldn't your cartoons? Cartoon Network brings you Adult Swim, a collection of smart animation for more... grown-up tastes. Adult Swim, Sunday nights at 10:00pm on Cartoon Network."''
—A Cartoon Network voiceover promo, 2001
"Parents strongly cautioned—the following programs are intended for mature audiences over the age of 18. These programs may contain some material that many parents would not find suitable for children and may include intense violence, sexual situations, coarse language, and suggestive dialogue."
—The original sign-on disclaimer/warning from 2001, followed by the iconic pool bumper
Girl: Now that was a good episode.
Father: Wait, it's over? When's it on again?
Father: I'm not waiting a whole fucking week to find out whether Inuyasha and Kagome get together!
— Robot Chicken in the episode "But Not In That Way", after a girl and her father watched an episode of
Inuyasha on [adult swim].
Inuyasha on [adult swim]. "[adult swim] is kind of like 4chan. In the beginning they were both small corners of the world where American anime fans could congregate. Then a bunch of anime-haters hop on board and complain about the content that started it all."
— hwkerins; YouTube user, commenting on an old Adult Swim bumper.
"Remember they used to run 'What-A-Cartoon'? Now it’s 'Where’s-the-Cartoons?'"
— Jerry Beck, Cartoon Brew, on an article about the UK version of The Office being premiered on [adult swim].
the UK version of The Office being premiered on [adult swim]."Maybe I'm suffering from 90's baby "Who Moved My Cheese?" syndrome, but Cartoon Network may want to focus on CARTOONS. […] Even [adult swim] sucks. With the exception of The Boondocks, the Anime-Saturday blocks, and few other shows, it's horrible. Tim & Eric aren't funny. The World Around You is not funny. Where is my adult-oriented funny?!? It's like the very industry I want to be a part of is falling down around me."
— Jhenne Tyler B., Et Tu Cartoon Network?
Shin: Hey, mister. Do you know where I can hide and no-one would find me?
TV Manager: 2 AM, Saturdays?
Shin: Thanks for being such a jerk!
TV Manager: 2 AM, Saturdays?
Shin: Thanks for being such a jerk!
"Attention Toonami Faithful: We heard you. On 05.26.12 #ToonamisBackBitches"
"Watching [adult swim] for the first time was a rite of passage for kids back in the day."
— Jengirl92; YouTube user, commenting on an old Adult Swim bumper.
"If it's hard to believe we'd make a show with evil people and senseless violence, you really haven't been paying attention."
— adultswim.com, upon the release of Superjail!
, upon the release of Superjail! "We knew adults really didn’t care about the quality of animation. With children, if you had something brightly colored and moving, you could make it go. But with adults, they become bored pretty quickly with the dancing brooms unless it’s exceedingly well done. From the start, words were more important than pictures."
— Mike Lazzo; Cartoon Network executive who was formerly in charge of [adult swim]. Note that since he has said this, Cartoon Network has undergone what might be the most infamous form of Network Decay since MTV transitioned away from music videos.
, Cartoon Network has undergone what might be the most infamous form of Network Decay since MTV transitioned away from music videos.Meatwad: Why don't you ask that TV if he'd mind showing me some Futurama? I like me some Futurama.
Master Shake: Well, now we're too damn cheap to receive it, so go the hell over to Carl Central and watch it to your heart's content.
Meatwad: Carl gets Futurama?
Master Shake: He didn't even want it until we started watching it.
— From Aqua Teen Hunger Force in the episode "Bible Fruit", lampshading [adult swim] losing the rights to Futurama.
People ask: Why is [adult swim] showing "Live" Action on a "Cartoon" Network? Good Question! Our reasons are threefold.
2. Cartoons are not live action, and...
Why not? Once again, our reasons are threefold.
2. Anime isn’t live action, and...
We’re [adult swim], the home of Anime, whether we like it or not.
"Why is [adult swim] showing "Live" Action on a "Cartoon" Network? To begin with, live action, when it’s not unnecessarily live, can be cartoony. Cartoons require animation, which by definition is not live action. In other words, Cartoons are a lie. Excluding post-infants and liars, no one likes cartoons, because they’re a lie. We’re [adult swim], now you understand?"
"Yes, they're actually doing an amnesia story. Can I ask you something? Why are you watching this on FOX? Family Guy is a lot funnier on Adult Swim, because we don't cut out the funniest jokes. You probably think you're watching this on Adult Swim right now, don't you? Well, you're not. It’s still FOX."
"You’re watching FOX, but not that FOX, this FOX. The FOX for people who watch FOX on Adult Swim. So remember, that's FOX, on Adult Swim, on Cartoon Network, on FOX."
— [adult swim], when they first ran the Family Guy episode "Big Man on Hippocampus" in response to FOX’s parody.
FOX’s parody. "I'd like to clear up a little misconception that a few fans seem to believe in as gospel: Adult Swim is not a separate entity from Cartoon Network; AS is part of Toon. AS is a 4 hour program block that airs nightly on Cartoon Network which due to the fact that it's considered to be a separate entity for ratings and commercial purposes, has successfully fooled everyone into thinking that it's a separate channel, when it is in fact, merely a program block. Toon and AS are not "sister" networks, the way that TBS and TNT are. It's much more like Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite. Cartoon Network owns Adult Swim, lock stock and barrel."
