AdultSwim to be own network(technically), plus news on future and returning shows

Well, the news I'm most happy about is that Venture Brothers was picked up. I've been trying to get people here to watch but I don't think I've turned anybody on to the show.
This clip is for Bowie fans.
Scared Straight, super villain style.

I'm also glad to see a Boondocks cartoon will be coming out.


Other promising shows are Stroker & Hoop, Minori-Team, and Squidbillies (actually, I think these hillbilly squids would work better as Aqua Teen villains).


Adult Swim Announces Venture Bros. Season 2 & More!
More Aqua Teen & 5 new series on sched.

March 24, 2005 - Just when you thought it was safe to watch cartoons after 10PM, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim has announced a number of series that will appear on its fall schedule.

No longer just a programming block as far as television executives are concerned, Adult Swim is about to be promoted to full network status by the Nielsen Corporation, the company that supplies ratings and viewer information to the broadcasting industry. With its ratings removed from the rest of the Cartoon Network numbers, executives and advertisers will get a better idea of how the shows are doing in relation to other AS series instead of trying to compare Aqua Teen ratings to Powerpuff Girls.

At the Adult Swim upfronts today, the "network" announced a number of new shows and the long awaited return of some others. The most anticipated and welcome announcement was one that finally put to rest any questions about the future of the popular freshman series, The Venture Bros. The series will indeed be back for 13 more episodes, to begin airing in early 2006. The delay is due to the fact that, unlike many Adult Swim programs, Venture is animated using traditional animation techniques instead of the computer based animation used on series like Aqua Teen and Sealab 2021.

Also returning will be the ratings black hole, Tom Goes to the Mayor. Not only tanking in the ratings every night it was on but taking everything else on the schedule along with it, Tom will be returning to the schedule with 8 new episodes on April 17th. Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk serves as executive producer, which makes you wonder why it isn't any funnier than it is.

Another series that Adult Swim helped bring back from extinction, the FOX Network castoff Family Guy, finally returns with new episodes in June. FOX will air the new episodes in prime time with Adult Swim running the same episode later the same week during late night. Just before the Griffins crank up the new episodes, FOX's new series from Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane will hit both networks in May. American Dad premiered after this year's NFL Superbowl to great numbers that carried over to the broadcast on Adult Swim.

On the pilots list, IGNFF readers may recognize Lucy: Daughter of the Devil from Loren Bouchard, producer of Home Movies and Dr. Katz:
Professional Therapist. An audio clip ran here last year and got some great reactions from readers. Produced in CGI, Lucy is a young girl who
just moved to San Francisco. Her father, who happens to be Satan, is understandably concerned, particularly after she starts dating a guy named Jesus (pronounced in the Spanish manner). Lucy will premiere in October, 2005.

Also in October is Saul of the Mole People – Saul is an American explorer who proudly plants his flag deep inside the Earth's core. While there,
he encounters the Mole People, who do not understand his ways. Created by Craig Lewis, who has written for such Cartoon Network original series as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, the show departs from the established Adult Swim norm by featuring live actors and costumed characters in a style reminiscent of series like Land of the Lost and The Banana Splits.

Rounding out the October Adult Swim Pilot-O-Rama is Minori-Team, a series that centers on a team of superheroes, composed exclusively of members of minority groups, who join forces to fight against discrimination. Jewcano, Fasto, Dr. Wang, El Jeffe and Quickstop (why do I have a feeling I know which minority "Quickstop" is?) use the power of racial stereotypes to right societal wrongs, one slur at a time. Created by Alex de la Pena, Todd Peters and Peter Gerardi.

Adult Swim will also have a number of new series on the schedule, including a new series based on the long running comic strip, Boondocks. Based on the comic strip from series executive producer Aaron McGruder, Boondocks will premiere in October. Cartoon Network has ordered 15 half-hour episodes of the series, and, according to the Adult Swim PR department, is a provocative family-based comedy brimming with social relevance and satire. When Robert "Granddad" Freeman becomes legal guardian of his rambunctious grandkids, he moves from the south side of Chicago to the quiet and safety of The Boondocks (in this case, suburban Woodcrest), hoping that he can ignore them altogether and enjoy the fourth quarter of his life in peace. But Huey, a 10-year-old left-wing revolutionary, is determined not to enjoy the affluence of suburbia. This attitude is seconded by his 8-year-old brother, Riley, a proud product of contemporary rap culture who lives only to spread chaos and mayhem. Although they torture each other and provoke the neighborhood, they are no match for Granddad, who is eccentric even by "crazy-ass-old-black-man" standards.

Also new this year:

Stroker & Hoop: This new Williams St. series from creators Casper Kelly and Jeff Olsen will premiere in September. Stroker & Hoop makes its series debut with six new episodes following the misadventures of John Stroker, a private eye still mastering the art of lock-picking, car hood-sliding and keeping his gun from falling out of his waistband when he bends over at the grocery store. Together with his partner Hoop, a self-proclaimed master of disguise, and his disobedient talking hatchback named CARR, Stroker is willing to help anyone dumb enough to respond to his 1/8-page ad in the yellow pages. An additional six new episodes of Stroker & Hoop will air in November.

Squidbillies: Adult Swim viewers may remember this series, from Aqua Teen Hunger Force co-creator Dave Willis and The Brak Show co-creator Jim Fortier, that was joked about and supposed to premiere last year. A fairly negative response almost everywhere for the initial concept art and clips didn't help get it on the schedule any quicker but the network swears it will premiere in September. In Squidbillies, a family of cephalopods stranded in the North Georgia mountains raise hell and anger local officials. Six episodes will air in 2005. Or not. Pretend to be surprised if they never show up.

12oz Mouse: Fond of beer and caught in a world of espionage and love, 12oz Mouse unknowingly delights in odd jobs. Six episodes have been ordered. The series, from Aqua Teen Hunger Force co-creator Matt Maiellaro, will premiere in September.

Perfect Hair Forever: The same viewers who remember when Squidbillies was supposed to premiere will remember this show as the one that took its place, assumedly as a joke. Guess the joke was on us, kids; it's a real show. Williams Street, the people who bring us Sealab and Space Ghost C2C, chronicle the adventures of a young, bald boy in a mystical land as he seeks perfect hair. Six episodes are currently in production. Perfect Hair Forever will premiere in September.

Here's the list from Adult Swim for quick reference:

Returning Shows:

Family Guy: Returns in June
Venture Bros.: Returns in early 2006 with 13 episodes
Tom Goes to the Mayor: Returns April 17th with 8 new episodes
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: New season starts July 24th
Aqua Teen Hunger Force: New season begins in December, 2005 that will bring the series to 75 episodes

New Series:

Boondocks: Premieres in October; 15 episodes ordered
American Dad: Premieres in May; first run on FOX with repeats on Adult Swim
Stroker & Hoop: Premieres November; 6 new episodes
Squidbillies: 6 episodes sometime in 2005. Maybe.
12oz Mouse: Premieres September; 6 episodes
Perfect Hair Forever: Premieres September; 6 episodes

Pilots - All currently scheduled to premiere in October:

Lucy: Daughter of the Devil
Moral Orel: Stop motion series from Dino Stamotopolis, a writer on Mr. Show and TV Funhouse.
Saul of the Mole People: Live action series
Minori-Team
link

 

Brak was cancelled, but the first volume is out on DVD.

I love Aqua Teen as well. The Squidbillies are made by the same guys. You've gotta see these things, they're not really squids, they look kind of like Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, except they have 8 tenticles. Oh, and they are rednecks.

 

It'll be like Nick at Night and Nickelodeon.

 

Are you from Canada? Grim Adventures isn't an adult swim show, but I've heard it is over in Canada. I wonder if that means the version we have here is edited. Home Movies was cancelled , Oblongs was a WB show that was cancelled. It's been on Adult Swin in syndication, like Futurama. Space Ghost is in limbo I think. Nobody knows if it's cancelled or not.

TGTTM is ok, it has it's excellent moments though. Jack Black and Kyle as rival bear trap makers in that first ep was epic. When they call eachother and try to make it sound like the Mayor's huge order was no big deal, but they're happy that the other finally got some work. Rats off to ya! LMAO, I was just thinking about the WWII restaurant ep when Tom wakes up and the Mayor explains how he fed him with cat food and moved his mouth for him while he was unconscious in the dumpster, hilarious.