Adult Swim has long been the king of adult animation, and I’ve finally figured out how the production company has succeeded where so many others have failed. Adult Swim started out as a programming block on Cartoon Network in 2001, but it has grown far beyond that. Now, Adult Swim is responsible for some of the best adult animated shows of the last decade.
Now, Adult Swim carries an impressive reputation behind it. It’s responsible for some great shows, from classics like Aqua Teen Hunger Force to newer hits like Rick and Morty. It often seems like Adult Swim can’t make a bad animated show, and it seems like it’s utterly dominating the genre. Now, I’ve finally figured out how Adult Swim has managed to reach the top of the adult animation scene.
Adult Swim Has Succeeded At A Time When Animation Is Really Hit Or Miss
At large, animation as a medium has been very hit or miss in the past few years. There have been some huge successes, like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Bob’s Burgers, but there have also been some big failures, like Transformers One and Inside Job. Animation is still producing good movies and shows, but there’s no telling what will fail and what will succeed.
There are also problems with the animation industry as a whole. Warner Bros., for example, infamously scrapped Coyote vs. Acme despite rave reviews. Cartoon Network also faces huge problems as it loses its share of the children’s television niche. Even the Japanese anime industry is in trouble as animators face burnout and ever-increasing standards.
Despite all these problems and uncertainty, Adult Swim is doing swimmingly (pun intended). Rick and Morty has already been renewed through its 12th season, while Smiling Friends has been renewed through its fifth season. Adult Swim’s shows have also survived the transition to streaming on HBO Max extremely well. The question is: why is Adult Swim succeeding where so many others are failing?
Adult Swim Has Managed To Tap Into Generation Z Better Than Any Of Its Competitors
A huge reason for Adult Swim’s success in recent years is its ability to cater to younger viewers and particularly members of Generation Z. Gen Z’s sense of humor can — broadly speaking — be defined as absurdist. It’s shaped by the internet and social media, and it changes extremely quickly. It’s a type of humor that has historically been difficult to translate to scripted television.
Now, however, Adult Swim has figured out how to cater to Gen Z. Almost all of its shows have become more absurdist to match Gen Z’s preferences. For example, many of the best episodes of Rick and Morty feature the titular duo getting into preposterous sci-fi shenanigans. Adult Swim’s new programming is deliberately random, and it resonates with younger viewers.
Adult Swim doesn’t just offer absurdist humor, though. Gen Z also responds positively to dark humor and fast-paced, chaotic jokes and stories. Smiling Friends is perhaps the best example of this: so many episodes of that show revolve around maniacal characters, outrageous situations, and dark humor. There’s an entire episode where Charlie and Pim have to console a man with a gun to his own head.
Adult Swim Has Cracked The Code To Doing Internet Humor Effectively
The real secret to Adult Swim’s success, especially with younger viewers and Generation Z, is that it figured out how to translate internet humor to a scripted show. Social media is constantly changing, trends go in and out of style, and trying to adapt that into a scripted show can just come across as cringe. By the time a show is ready to air, any references to memes or internet humor is usually months out of date.
It’s hard to adapt established internet humor to scripted television, but that’s not what Adult Swim is doing. Adult Swim is finding people who already know about internet humor and hiring them to create new content based on that style of humor. Instead of trying to piggyback off a trend months after the fact, shows like Smiling Friends start their own trends.
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Adult Swim Shows |
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Rick and Morty |
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Smiling Friends |
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Haha, You Clowns |
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American Dad |
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Common Side Effects |
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Primal |
There’s a real brilliance in the simplicity of Adult Swim’s plan. They hire content creators directly instead of having writers try to adapt to a younger style of humor. These creators, like Smiling Friends‘ Zach Hadel and Haha, You Clowns‘ Joe Cappa, have already figured out internet humor on their own. Adult Swim is filled with veterans of internet humor, and they’re very good at their jobs.
In addition to the actual programming Adult Swim produces, they also have tremendous marketing that helps them align with Gen Z and the internet even more. The company has built itself up as an absurdist, irreverent product, and they’ve been delivering their content directly to Gen Z via social media. Adult Swim’s branding is so potent that there was a huge trend on TikTok some years ago centered around the song “Running Away” by Vano 3000.
So, Adult Swim not only tailors its content to younger viewers, it also gives it directly to them. That has helped Adult Swim tap into a huge market barely any other shows have. There are some comedy series that use the same tactics, like I Think You Should Leave and Hazbin Hotel, but they’re the exception. No other production company is as effective at getting Gen Z viewers as Adult Swim.
