Year-End 2017 Report Cards For Adult Animation TV On Adult Swim, FOX, Comedy Central, and TBS
Who sits where? And how do each of the networks look for the upcoming year?
Adult Swim
What Went Right?
Returning series produced quality seasons. Rick and Morty, Samurai Jack, and Robot Chicken all returned with new seasons in 2017 with quality seasons that made most outlets’ top 10 lists. And while the cracks of the foundation are there for Rick and Morty’s future prospects for positive coverage, Adult Swim has successfully given fans what they wanted. Beg for new episodes? The network gives you an April Fools Day marathon of the first episode. Need a premiere date? The network flies Justin Roiland home from Germany to make the announcement on the show’s third season start date. Even the network’s misses, like a silly Youtube doc of Rick and Morty and an online exclusive after show, showed the network has established the animated franchise on the same tier as The Walking Dead…but everything has a shelf life which is why I think 2017 was great for Adult Swim’s new programming.
Lots of new original programming. Apollo Gauntlet? Home run. Tender Touches? A double. The Jellies? On base. Regardless, the network has put the ball into play for new programming and they did it in a variety of ways. Apollo Gauntlet debuted its entire season on AdultSwim.com before it hit television. Tender Touches was a Christmas surprise that wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Both worked and worked well.
Rick and Morty fatigue. On May 19th, 2018, Meghan Markle will marry Prince Harry. A huge event that’s going to get every network in a frenzy and cause all sorts of media hysteria. Wanna know a fun fact about Meghan Markle? Meghan was actually married once before to Trevor Engelson. The moral of the story is, no matter who you are, whether you’re a princess or a TV show…somewhere out there is a guy that is completely sick of your bull shit.
See: Szechuan sauce. As a result of all the bat shit crazy hoopla that came as a result of the Szechuan sauce which saw the show’s furor encompass four panels at San Diego Comic Con, mass hysteria at McDonald’s across the country, and the shit press going nuts as a result, one couldn’t help but notice a sort of fatigue that came to the Rick and Morty franchise by the time the show’s third season was over. All of a sudden, #RickandMorty was rife with “this show is too smart for me” sub tweets, the aforementioned shit press were getting one last whiff of the stink left over with their end of year lists, and Justin Roiland is in a garage being stalked by TMZ. It’s very possible that the Rick and Morty honeymoon could be over, and if it wasn’t for the fact that this show has excellent writers, we’d be worried.
What’s next?
More of the same…which is a good thing. For the upcoming year, Adult Swim has a bunch of new and returning programming on tap. Already for January, Robot Chicken and the upcoming Hot Streets exasperates this point and already we’re getting teases for Lazor Wulf, Venture Bros., and rumors of a streaming service akin to Netflix being revealed. While the network won’t have Rick and Morty levels of interest, it will have enough to be more than formidable for 2018.
Grade: A
FOX
What Went Right?
Despite what some of my colleagues think, I think Family Guy and The Simpsons is starting to come around with quality TV output. Slowly, Family Guy is becoming water-cooler TV once again with their commentary on recent rape allegations while The Simpsons has been playing Nostradamus for a while now. Bob’s Burgers ended 2017 with one of the best Christmas episodes we’ve ever seen of any animated franchise ever, and the franchise is already threatening with another Emmy win and another music album drop.
What Went Wrong?
Comics for The Simpsons are starting to fall by the wayside, but the DVDs came back…is that a good trade-off? Bob’s Burgers comics died off but we got a stellar music album in 2017…is that also a good trade-off? None of FOX’s animated programming made our end of year list for 2017, and this before the Disney acquisition.
What’s Next?
FOX has noted that they plan to be a broadcast network with a wide variety of programming for years to come. Think of Gotham as a good indicator of what they’ll be. A network home for content that isn’t JUST from 20th Century FOX and instead will see content from Lionsgate, Warner Bros., and others. As a result, I think The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers will all stay on the network’s schedule for the next few years, especially with news that Disney has renewed a seven year lease on the FOX lot which is where a lot of these producers work. But, with all of the programming on FOX’s broadcast nets being outsourced with no onDemand on the back end and no rights to merch, the network will have less of an interest in marketing anything which is scary because they already do a shitty job in marketing anything. Maybe one good thing that will come from the buy is Disney cleaning out the FOX Marketing department?
The FX brand should do well, Deadpool and a new season of Archer should be solid.
Grade: C
Comedy Central
What Went Right?
The network introduced us to fabulous 2017 programming such as Jeff & Some Aliens The Gorburger Show and Vinny & The Colonel and gave us solid seasons of returning series Legends of Chamberlain Heights and South Park. They also teamed up with Laura Clery for animated/live-action programming on their social nets and had a solid year of Saturday Mornin-ish Cartoons.
What Went Wrong?
Jeff, Gorburger, and Legends all got cancelled. South Park isn’t quite back to form yet, and with CNN taking their shit off of Snapchat, one has to wonder if Comedy Central’s making any money off of their social content. Kent Alterman hasn’t a clue on how to launch a new animated series though, in fairness, the entirety of Viacom is screwing that up as well. Also, why the fuck would this network post a new season of Legends of Chamberlain Heights on the same night and time as Rick and Morty? Whoever scheduled that one should be fired.
What’s Next?
As of now, we haven’t heard of any new programming coming in 2018. The network has been passing on so many pilots, and sister networks like MTV and Nickelodeon are just as polarizing with their support of a new animated franchise. Make no mistake folks, this network’s doing it wrong by not picking up Jeff & Some Aliens, a show that could’ve really made this year a winner for the network.
Grade: D
TBS
What Went Right?
The network picked up a BUNCH of programming for 2018 that we are eagerly anticipating and this is all on the back of Tarantula which we called the best new series of 2017.
What Went Wrong?
The Cops. Though it wasn’t anyone’s fault at TBS, one has to wonder if the network will replace that pickup with another one. Sad, really, because the show sounded killer, but
What’s Next?
Close Enough, Final Space, and a late-night alternative comedy block being produced by Super Deluxe could prove to be animation heaven for TBS. Oh yea, and new American Dad kicks off next month. It’s gonna be a good year for TBS in 2018.
Grade: B
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