Adult Swim is the name for the adult-oriented television programming block on Cartoon Network, which premiered on September 2, 2001.
Originally a Sunday-only block (that also reran on Thursdays), Adult Swim airs Saturday through Thursday nights at 11 PM (E/P) with an encore airing at 2 AM and then ending with an hour of old classics. The block, programmed by Williams Street Productions, the same group that created Toonami and Miguzi, plays American animated comedy series and shorts geared towards adults and a wide variety of Japanese anime series and OVAs, all intended for mature audiences. The name comes from the name for hours designated at public swimming pools where only adults can swim in the pool.
Originally, all of the bumps shown in between shows featured footage of old people swimming in public pools with a lifeguard shouting through a megaphone dubbed over. The current bumps feature black "cards" with white text on them, which discuss everything from news about the programming to personal staff opinions on unrelated subjects. On Thursdays, Adult Swim airs cards which have viewer mail and "witty" responses to the viewer mail.
Adult Swim has split from Cartoon Network, thus officially becoming its own entity. It shares the same basic cable channel, running at different times of the day. This concept is not new. The "Nick" network originally started the idea back when it first split into three separate entities: Nick Jr, Nickelodeon, and Nick At Night. As of March 28th, 2005, Nielsen Media Research began classifying the Adult Swim programming from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM as a separate network from Cartoon Network. Look for changes in the way the format is run.
Current schedule
All times (and music, as they joke) are Eastern. The programming block's encore begins at 2:00 AM.
Sunday
Monday-Wednesday
- 11 PM - Futurama
- 11:30 PM - Family Guy
- 12 AM - Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- 12:15 AM - Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- 12:30 AM - InuYasha
- 1 AM - Trigun
- 1:30 AM - Big O
- 5 AM - The Popeye Show!
- 5:30 AM - The Bob Clampett Show
Thursday
Saturday
- 11 PM - Futurama
- 11:30 PM - Fullmetal Alchemist
- 12 AM - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
- 12:30 AM - InuYasha
- 1 AM - Super Milk Chan
- 1:30 AM - Cowboy Bebop
- 5 AM - The Popeye Show!
- 5:30 AM - The Bob Clampett Show
Shows: past, present, and future
Despite lukewarm success in Japan, the series Big O was given a second season due entirely to popularity in the U.S.A. and Cartoon Network funding (although its creation and direction were still left to the Japanese creators). Currently, head writer Chiaki J. Konaka has shown interest in resolving the cliffhanger, but Cartoon Network has apparently opted out of more episodes in order to pursue new comedy shows.
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